Why did you go?

So I promise, dear readers, that eventually I will work out this crazy schedule of mine and then I will post more regularly.

I have officially been in Taiwan for one month. It doesn't feel like it at all. Everything is still so new and different. Time flies in this country.

I started two new classes on Saturday. They went pretty well, although they could have been more exciting. They're both really small and all the kids are in junior high.

Remember that age? You're pre-pubescent or maybe early in the game of raging hormones. You hate everything and everyone most of the time. You certainly don't want some crazy foreigner who calls herself a teacher forcing words down your throat.

Actually, I find that kids here aren't nearly as bad as the ones at home. One of my nieces is that age and these kids are cake compared to her. I mean that with the greatest amount of love, of course.

But, they still don't really just warm up to you all that quickly here. I find that acting absolutely insane and like you just don't care how much of an idiot you look like generally does the trick. The kids get to make fun of me. I finally get something out of them. We all win.

It turns out both of these classes are in almost the exact same place in the book and they're about the same size. This makes my lesson planning for the day super easy. Of course it also means I'm practically on auto-pilot for the second class because it's like deja vu and all I can think about is what I'm going to get for dinner after class.

That said, both of my co-teachers seemed to really like me. They were both impressed that I managed to get through all of the material. I've learned early in the game to appreciate my co-teachers as much as possible. It kind of sucks being them. They get paid way less than me and have basically double the work. They see these kids twice a week while I see them once. Any material I don't cover, they have to cover in addition to the stuff they already have to get through.

I'm still working out my class flow, but so far I've managed to get everything I need to crammed into my two hours. I'm glad that, as far as I can tell at this point, things are going to go pretty well with my co-teachers. I've heard that can make or break a class.

Saturday went pretty well though and I can't ask for much better. But I ended up a little homesick once I realized I had been gone for a month. I was a little like, "Oh wow it's only been a month," coupled with, "Oh wow, it's already been a month."

Complicated I know. This is my brain all of the time.

Since I was feeling a little down I decided to spend my entire day in my room. I think it doesn't help that my sleep schedule has been really disjointed. I just slept and watched movies all day. Actually, it was nice to just not think about anything.

Even when I was at home my mind would go a mile a minute thinking about the future or tomorrow or that conversation I had four days ago. Now, being overseas, it's impossible to get my brain to stop and it's exhausting sometimes.

Honestly, going to class is like a break because at least my brain is only thinking about the one thing: How am I going to teach this class?

But my recuperation time is over and it's back to the daily grind. Luckily, I have that super fun class with the play-dough tonight so it should be a fun day.