I, for the most part, love my students. They may have a hard time sometime, and sometimes they are completely ridiculous and disobedient and I want to scream at the top of my lungs...but for the most part, I really like them.
Yesterday I had a meeting at a big higher institute here with the Vice Rector of Academics, so I could talk about IT (partly for me and my class, partly for The Man). I had to go just after classes ended, so I was leaving around the time the students were scattering out. As I was walking out to the road, I hear my name being shouted behind me. One of my students, Queen, was running up behind me. "I want to walk with you, Ms. Kim!" So we walked and talked. Small talk, mostly, but it was nice.
As we were walking, we were coming to a treacherous area on the road - the dirt road slopes dramatically and is all sandy and slippery. Normally I'm in my hiking boots, so I don't mind, but today I was looking nice in my work slippers. I had a feeling of dread as we walked towards the slope, and I start to whimper.
Queen says, "Hold my hand, teacher!" And she led me down a softer, more stable area of the road. But I still panicked a little bit. And I ended up, in the end, shrieking down the hill and planted my foot accidentally in a large, deep pool of dirt and sand. Of course, I squealed. And there were other students watching us at the bottom of the hill, and they all shouted (as I screamed), "Oh no, Ms Kim!!"
Don't worry, I made it down alive. Queen saved me.
There's a villa at the end of the hill, and Denise knows the men in the villa. In fact, I believe they have quite a fancy for her. One of them heard my screams, and came out to see myself shin-deep in dirt. He laughed and said, "You should have told me you were coming down! I would have carried you!" I said, "That's frisky, mister." And he thought about it and responded, "Well, I would definitely carry Denise..."
I got on a moto and Queen with the other students started an argument with the moto driver. Apparently he wanted to rip me off, and they all got on his case and started to scold him. In Kinyarwandan, of course, so I am not positive what was said. But it was for me. I loved that.
When I was coming back from the meeting (which went excellently! The Vice Rector is a wonderful gentleman. And super helpful with IT world. And he even was gracious and kind when I asked him if I could visit him at his house in Tanzania sometime. Just you wait!), I was riding on a moto and opted to take the same hilly road back to school. Some more (different) students were hanging out there, and I gave a wave. All of a sudden I heard screams and squeals and, "I love you, Ms Kim!" shouted while I whirred by on the moto-bike. I feel like they like me, too.
It's super nice to feel appreciated and liked, especially by my students. Of course, I know they get annoyed with me and my many quizzes, and my scolding them when they don't listen to me...but I think they really like me through it all. That's nice. AND rewarding.
Yesterday I had a meeting at a big higher institute here with the Vice Rector of Academics, so I could talk about IT (partly for me and my class, partly for The Man). I had to go just after classes ended, so I was leaving around the time the students were scattering out. As I was walking out to the road, I hear my name being shouted behind me. One of my students, Queen, was running up behind me. "I want to walk with you, Ms. Kim!" So we walked and talked. Small talk, mostly, but it was nice.
As we were walking, we were coming to a treacherous area on the road - the dirt road slopes dramatically and is all sandy and slippery. Normally I'm in my hiking boots, so I don't mind, but today I was looking nice in my work slippers. I had a feeling of dread as we walked towards the slope, and I start to whimper.
Queen says, "Hold my hand, teacher!" And she led me down a softer, more stable area of the road. But I still panicked a little bit. And I ended up, in the end, shrieking down the hill and planted my foot accidentally in a large, deep pool of dirt and sand. Of course, I squealed. And there were other students watching us at the bottom of the hill, and they all shouted (as I screamed), "Oh no, Ms Kim!!"
Don't worry, I made it down alive. Queen saved me.
There's a villa at the end of the hill, and Denise knows the men in the villa. In fact, I believe they have quite a fancy for her. One of them heard my screams, and came out to see myself shin-deep in dirt. He laughed and said, "You should have told me you were coming down! I would have carried you!" I said, "That's frisky, mister." And he thought about it and responded, "Well, I would definitely carry Denise..."
I got on a moto and Queen with the other students started an argument with the moto driver. Apparently he wanted to rip me off, and they all got on his case and started to scold him. In Kinyarwandan, of course, so I am not positive what was said. But it was for me. I loved that.
When I was coming back from the meeting (which went excellently! The Vice Rector is a wonderful gentleman. And super helpful with IT world. And he even was gracious and kind when I asked him if I could visit him at his house in Tanzania sometime. Just you wait!), I was riding on a moto and opted to take the same hilly road back to school. Some more (different) students were hanging out there, and I gave a wave. All of a sudden I heard screams and squeals and, "I love you, Ms Kim!" shouted while I whirred by on the moto-bike. I feel like they like me, too.
It's super nice to feel appreciated and liked, especially by my students. Of course, I know they get annoyed with me and my many quizzes, and my scolding them when they don't listen to me...but I think they really like me through it all. That's nice. AND rewarding.
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