ENM

Alright, so I've had three whole days of teaching at my school now. Let me tell you a little bit about it. First of all, I am teaching at the ENM Academy, which stands for English 'n Math Academy. That's right, 'n instead of and. I think that's all I need to say about that. Oh, and the school has four three month semesters, and when I tried to tell someone that these were actually quarters and not semesters they looked at me like I was crazy, so I dropped it...

Also, I started teaching classes on the last week of the semester, so I have no idea what these kids have learned so far or really what needs to be accomplished by the end of the week. I'm not too worried though because everything seems to be really go with the flow at this school. Because this is a private academy there really aren't grades or passing or failing, as long as the kids show up every day and do their homework everything seems to be fine in the administration's eyes.

The teacher I replaced was named Frank, and everybody seems to be very happy he is gone. Apparently this guy was just not that excited about teaching, and slacked off a lot. This is another reason for the confusion in my first week, as I am following his basically nonexistent lesson plans.

Ok, its really not all bad I just wanted to vent that out for a second. The teachers are all extremely nice, I've been given coffee and pizza and sandwiches and candy every day, there is a very generous spirit here. The kids are also great, obviously 8-14 year olds have a lot of energy and can be a bit annoying sometimes, but I have had a really good time with them. I have now met all of my classes and they are all very good at shouting back English at me when I ask them to repeat. They are all also the most excited hang man players I've ever met. As I walk around the hallways nearly every student I see shouts Hi! at me, and when I respond and say how are you today every single one chants 'I am fine how are you' in a semi robotic voice then runs away. Really cute.

Both my school office and my apartment are on the fifth floor of their respective buildings, and despite the elevator access I have been taking the stairs lets say 80% of the time. So we'll see how long that lasts. We're on our forth day of rain in a row now, and this Saturday I swear rain or shine I am making my way up that mountain I see on the edge of town. It's been over a year since I've been up a mountain and I need, really need, to get up there.

I hope everyone is awesome! Love from me!!