This week at Exodus was one of my best weeks in Indianapolis. On June 20th, we were able to celebrate World Refugee Day with my students, as well as other members of the Burmese population on a farm called Indy Urban Acres.
I have to admit that sometimes it is easy to forget how much of a difference we actually make. Working in the office, entering data, and keeping track of attendance are all important parts of the upkeep of the organization, but I often find myself losing track of what we are actually working toward. This has made me realize how much I really enjoy actually working directly with the people that we are serving. Sure, the office work is needed; it's crucial to the efficiency and structure of the organization. But now I realize that when I decide to go out in the real world and pursue a career, if I'm not working with the people then I'd rather not work at all :)
Lately I've been feeling a little burned out; I've been tired and running out of money and trying to keep up with all of my intern projects at the office. And to be honest, I think I've been losing a little bit of my motivation to do a good job at my work. I'm sure we all go through this in every job we ever have. When we first start, we feel excited and ready to tackle new challenges because we understand that we are going to be making a difference. However, you reach a point where you start losing sight of that difference and start forgetting why you signed up for this job in the first place. When you wake up in the morning, you want to sleep in that extra hour. You are counting the minutes towards the lunch break and 5:00, and when you get home from work, it's all you can do to make your way up the stairs to your bed. I think a lot of Americans go through this, and for some people, this phase never ends. Americans work extremely hard, and it makes us worn out and unable to do much else besides lay on the couch on our days off. And I gotta tell ya, that life is not for me.
However, every once in a while you are pleasantly reminded of the reason why you took the job in the first place. Maybe it's the fact that you get 4 weeks of vacation. Maybe it's that really big Christmas bonus. For me, it was World Refugee Day. I finally got to go to work dressed as my actual self: shorts, a headband, and a grubby tank top. And why? Because this was a day to celebrate what it means to be a refugee, and we were going to the farm. Indy Urban Acres is an organic farm in Indianapolis that grows food for low-income families in the city that can't afford to buy healthy things to eat. For World Refugee Day on June 20th, we took our students out to their gardens to work together with the staff and do some farming for the community.
The coolest part about this whole day was that many of our students were farmers or worked on farms in their home countries, so I could tell that being able to be outside and doing something that was familiar to them did a lot of good. After arriving to the United States, being placed in an apartment with neighbors they don't know and trying to learn a language that many of them have no experience with is a challenge in and of itself. Most of us are unable to imagine this kind of reality, so next time you think your life is hard, maybe think twice about that and think about some people who might be in your own community going through an experience not unlike that of the refugees. And use that to do some good in the world.
The farming day was also good for me, because not only had I grown up around farming communities, I also worked on an organic vegetable farm the summer before I went to college, and so pulling weeds was definitely something that I had done before. But I was no match for some of the students; I don't think I've ever seen such fast weed-pulling in my life. They worked like pros, swift and mighty. We worked in pairs, so I got to work across from one of my students, and it was really nice to be able to have a conversation outside of English class with him. He taught me some words in his language, one of which is "Siama" which means "teacher." He now calls me Siama, and now I know whenever that word comes up in conversation, someone's talking about me! He told me that in Burma his English teachers were very bad, and that when he had questions, he often had to go without answers. Since he is one of my most inquisitive students, he told me how much he appreciates that I answer all his questions the best I can. It's moments like this when I am reminded that yes, I am in fact making a difference. This is why I wanted this job. This is why I need to wake up every morning.
At the end of what was the most rewarding day of my summer, I walked back to the car with another student of mine. I asked him if he enjoyed the day, and you know what he said? "When I farm, my heart is good. When I am at home, my heart is sad." I was so happy that the students could get a day to go out and do something that they loved and something that was familiar to them. I'm sure in their daily routines they feel as though everything is a struggle, from going to the grocery store to riding a bus to speaking English to paying bills. Things that we think of as easy, as things to check off our simple to-do lists, are real challenges for some people. So to give them a day to do something that they are good at, something they know that they can do, made them happier than any English class I've given them.
So, if you have a minute, take some time to learn about refugees and about the journey they make. And if you have any living in your home community, volunteer and help them out. Because although it may seem like a small difference, to someone else, it could mean the world :) Thank you
Anna
Sunday, June 23, 2013
Sunday, June 16, 2013
Trading Spaces
Welcome back to my blog, "A Summer of Refuge." So far I've already spent a whole month here at Exodus and there still is never a dull moment!
This week, our department moved offices. Whereas before the Housing and the English programs were in the same office, we are now in separate offices. A Monday afternoon was courageously spent taking apart shelves, hauling books, and moving computers to a new and improved office space. Most people were happy about this change, mainly due to the fact that "now we will be able to get a lot more work done!" Gotta admit, I was not quite so thrilled. Smaller office, more closed off, and less people to talk to. I definitely have gotten into a habit at work of talking to whoever is in the office, probably because everyone is just so interesting. So now we have half the people, and although I really like the English people, I miss those in Housing as well. Occasionally I walk down the hall to the old office and reminisce about the old times when the housing and LCORE interns were in the office alone during staff meetings, pretending like we were the ones in charge. Sure will miss that place!
One thing this internship has taught me about myself is that I can be pretty chatty. When I'm not teaching, I'm usually in the office doing some sort of work or another, which can range from lesson plans to cutting out flashcards to laminating things to keeping track of attendance and making binders. There are just a million things to be done, and I'm very glad to be able to help out with them. And it keeps me on my toes, but it doesn't change the fact that I feel uncomfortable working in an office with several other people and not talking to them. I think I'd be a great character on "The Office." After about 5 minutes of silence, I start to become anxious and then begin to ask random questions and start conversations, even though I know that people are probably doing important things on their computers. I think for the most part people are happy to talk to me, but I should probably work on that one for the future: "Remember, Anna, people are here to work!"
Apart from the office, my students are inspiring to me, as always. And sometimes downright hilarious. One of my students told me that he was a cowboy in his home countrry. "A cowboy," I thought. Interesting...turns out he was a cow herder, but hey now, isn't that pretty much the same thing? He'll always be a cowboy in my book :)
Another thing that I have come to do at my internship is start teaching a night class. This means that I can take three hours out of my work schedule a week anywhere I want, which is pretty nice. Teaching this class also means that I have to organize the volunteers who come to teach and give a ride to some of the students who are physically unable to walk the distance. And this is where the Butzmobile (my red minivan) comes in handy. Not only can I give students rides, I can take up to 6 people! I'm sure that Exodus wishes they could make more use of my van, but alas, the sweet soccer mom vehicle shall remain mine. I keep forgetting to put up the two middle sits that I have stowed-and-goed, so I always feel terrible when I open the door for the elderly students and they have to climb all the way to the back, probably asking themselves why they didn't just walk. "Remember, Anna, to put those seats up!" Still hasn't happened, but I promise it will before the next class!
Teaching the night class is a whole different ball of wax. Currently I have about four volunteers that come to teach the different levels, but usually at least one of them is missing, so we really have to make do the best that we can. If any of you reading this are volunteers anywhere, please don't flake out! Even though you aren't getting paid and you probably deserve the occasional day off, your commitment is important as well and trust me. You are needed and depended upon way more than you think you are. So if you are thinking about volunteering at a shelter, or teaching classes or at a nursing home, that is absolutely wonderful and I wholeheartedly encourage it. Just make sure that it's something that you know you can really commit to every week. Do that for me, will ya?
Internship aside, I haven't talked a lot about what it's been like to really live on my own. It's been pleasantly very nice. I have my own room to sleep in, a kitchen to cook in, a bathroom to shower in, in a very nice part of the city. With my friends from school I like to go to Broad Ripple and either have a drink or get something to eat. I also go grocery shopping at Kroger...I feel so domestic! Cooking and ironing my work clothes and buying my own stuff all the time. Feel like a real adult. Except for one small detail: I need to learn how to budget. I thought that I was pretty good about this, but it turns out I was quite mistaken. Rent, utilities, gas, groceries, I can handle, while everything else becomes a major life decision. I'm certainly not complaining that I'm poor, but I'm just learning how to work my way around not having a lot of extra spending money. I think the first thing I need to do is learn to buy things in bulk!
Also, I've been trying to adopt a more healthy lifestyle over the summer. At the beginning, I was running almost every day until last week sometime when I pulled a muscle or a tendon in my calf, and now it hurts to run so I've been trying to lay off it for a while. My dental hygiene has also improved vastly. I'm not sure why, but not only do I brush my teeth once a day, but I also floss and use mouthwash. Now next time i go to the dentist he better not tell me I'm not doing a good enough job. Nothing's worse than the dentist criticizing you as he takes a metal pick to your teeth and gums and asks you questions that you can't answer because his tools are in your mouth. Oh, the dentist...
Another reason why I think I've been spending so much money is because I like to eat healthy food. And not in the way of calorie counting, but more in the way of fresh food that doesn't come out of a box. There are a few bad things about eating this way. The first thing is that unlike box and bag food, real food actually expires, and fast. And when I only have one mouth to feed, I can't be cost-effective when buying fruits and vegetables because if I buy too many at a time they go bad before I get the chance to eat them all. Another bad thing about eating this way is that fresh food tends to be a bit more expensive, and when you cook (literally cook) for yourself there are a lot of ingredients you have to buy. Never thought I'd be stocking my cabinets with baking powder, cornmeal, spices, and olive oil at the age of 21, but I gotta say that I enjoy cooking and want to keep at it. And now that most of the essentials are bought, hopefully in the next month I'll spend less money and be just as healthy.
Well, there you have it! Not only do you know more than you want about my work, but you also get a glimpse of what it's been like for me to live on my own. Thanks for reading and I'll post again next week!
Anna
This week, our department moved offices. Whereas before the Housing and the English programs were in the same office, we are now in separate offices. A Monday afternoon was courageously spent taking apart shelves, hauling books, and moving computers to a new and improved office space. Most people were happy about this change, mainly due to the fact that "now we will be able to get a lot more work done!" Gotta admit, I was not quite so thrilled. Smaller office, more closed off, and less people to talk to. I definitely have gotten into a habit at work of talking to whoever is in the office, probably because everyone is just so interesting. So now we have half the people, and although I really like the English people, I miss those in Housing as well. Occasionally I walk down the hall to the old office and reminisce about the old times when the housing and LCORE interns were in the office alone during staff meetings, pretending like we were the ones in charge. Sure will miss that place!
One thing this internship has taught me about myself is that I can be pretty chatty. When I'm not teaching, I'm usually in the office doing some sort of work or another, which can range from lesson plans to cutting out flashcards to laminating things to keeping track of attendance and making binders. There are just a million things to be done, and I'm very glad to be able to help out with them. And it keeps me on my toes, but it doesn't change the fact that I feel uncomfortable working in an office with several other people and not talking to them. I think I'd be a great character on "The Office." After about 5 minutes of silence, I start to become anxious and then begin to ask random questions and start conversations, even though I know that people are probably doing important things on their computers. I think for the most part people are happy to talk to me, but I should probably work on that one for the future: "Remember, Anna, people are here to work!"
Apart from the office, my students are inspiring to me, as always. And sometimes downright hilarious. One of my students told me that he was a cowboy in his home countrry. "A cowboy," I thought. Interesting...turns out he was a cow herder, but hey now, isn't that pretty much the same thing? He'll always be a cowboy in my book :)
Another thing that I have come to do at my internship is start teaching a night class. This means that I can take three hours out of my work schedule a week anywhere I want, which is pretty nice. Teaching this class also means that I have to organize the volunteers who come to teach and give a ride to some of the students who are physically unable to walk the distance. And this is where the Butzmobile (my red minivan) comes in handy. Not only can I give students rides, I can take up to 6 people! I'm sure that Exodus wishes they could make more use of my van, but alas, the sweet soccer mom vehicle shall remain mine. I keep forgetting to put up the two middle sits that I have stowed-and-goed, so I always feel terrible when I open the door for the elderly students and they have to climb all the way to the back, probably asking themselves why they didn't just walk. "Remember, Anna, to put those seats up!" Still hasn't happened, but I promise it will before the next class!
Teaching the night class is a whole different ball of wax. Currently I have about four volunteers that come to teach the different levels, but usually at least one of them is missing, so we really have to make do the best that we can. If any of you reading this are volunteers anywhere, please don't flake out! Even though you aren't getting paid and you probably deserve the occasional day off, your commitment is important as well and trust me. You are needed and depended upon way more than you think you are. So if you are thinking about volunteering at a shelter, or teaching classes or at a nursing home, that is absolutely wonderful and I wholeheartedly encourage it. Just make sure that it's something that you know you can really commit to every week. Do that for me, will ya?
Internship aside, I haven't talked a lot about what it's been like to really live on my own. It's been pleasantly very nice. I have my own room to sleep in, a kitchen to cook in, a bathroom to shower in, in a very nice part of the city. With my friends from school I like to go to Broad Ripple and either have a drink or get something to eat. I also go grocery shopping at Kroger...I feel so domestic! Cooking and ironing my work clothes and buying my own stuff all the time. Feel like a real adult. Except for one small detail: I need to learn how to budget. I thought that I was pretty good about this, but it turns out I was quite mistaken. Rent, utilities, gas, groceries, I can handle, while everything else becomes a major life decision. I'm certainly not complaining that I'm poor, but I'm just learning how to work my way around not having a lot of extra spending money. I think the first thing I need to do is learn to buy things in bulk!
Also, I've been trying to adopt a more healthy lifestyle over the summer. At the beginning, I was running almost every day until last week sometime when I pulled a muscle or a tendon in my calf, and now it hurts to run so I've been trying to lay off it for a while. My dental hygiene has also improved vastly. I'm not sure why, but not only do I brush my teeth once a day, but I also floss and use mouthwash. Now next time i go to the dentist he better not tell me I'm not doing a good enough job. Nothing's worse than the dentist criticizing you as he takes a metal pick to your teeth and gums and asks you questions that you can't answer because his tools are in your mouth. Oh, the dentist...
Another reason why I think I've been spending so much money is because I like to eat healthy food. And not in the way of calorie counting, but more in the way of fresh food that doesn't come out of a box. There are a few bad things about eating this way. The first thing is that unlike box and bag food, real food actually expires, and fast. And when I only have one mouth to feed, I can't be cost-effective when buying fruits and vegetables because if I buy too many at a time they go bad before I get the chance to eat them all. Another bad thing about eating this way is that fresh food tends to be a bit more expensive, and when you cook (literally cook) for yourself there are a lot of ingredients you have to buy. Never thought I'd be stocking my cabinets with baking powder, cornmeal, spices, and olive oil at the age of 21, but I gotta say that I enjoy cooking and want to keep at it. And now that most of the essentials are bought, hopefully in the next month I'll spend less money and be just as healthy.
Well, there you have it! Not only do you know more than you want about my work, but you also get a glimpse of what it's been like for me to live on my own. Thanks for reading and I'll post again next week!
Anna
Sunday, June 9, 2013
Liberty
And welcome back to what I know is everyone's favorite blog, Summer of Refuge! Just kidding, but I sure hope someone likes reading it.
This week was an especially impactful week for me. Besides the fact that the Pacers lost the game on Monday (since being in Indy I have suddenly become a random Iowan die-hard Pacers fan), class discussions have been very interesting and eye-opening. One of the things we try to incorporate into our classes, especially the advanced levels, is American culture and American history. This week, we did a lesson on the United States' independence and the Revolutionary War. The students were very interested to learn about this, since the US is considered by many to be the world's greatest power and we can't pinpoint exactly why the US has been so successful in this way. The question is: how did it all begin?
We started with Patrick Henry's favorite quote: "Give me liberty or give me death." Although all of us grew up hearing this quote since we were little kids and reading it in the history books before we really could appreciate what it meant, I can't imagine what it must be like for my students to hear this for the first time. Even though it's hard for us to think this way, let's try to really think critically about the country we live in. We have liberty around every corner. Anyone can go to the library and get a book. Everyone has access to at least some education, which the government encourages. If I hate Obama, I can publish it on my Facebook wall and maybe the worst thing that will happen to me is that I will get some nasty comments. I'm allowed to have a Facebook if I want to. I have a president, not a dictator. I cannot stress enough the fact that not everyone is given such luxuries. Yes, I know that I'm speaking from a white middle-class perspective and like every other sociologist out there, I'm aware of the economic, racial and gendered disparities out there. Not everyone is given the same opportunities, but at least we can say that we all have certain human rights as citizens of the country. The idea of "give me liberty or give me death" struck the students in such a tender way. I could see each one of them, individually, beginning to understand the meaning of the concept, smiling, nodding, and saying, "I like this. This idea, I like." The reason people become refugees is because in their home countries they aren't given freedom. What they're given is oppression, threats, civil war, and corruption. Violations of basic human rights are a good reason to get out, and once they come to the United States, they've come so far and been through so much that I often feel like it's my responsibility to guide them the rest of the way. It's the least I can do.
Another quote we talked about in class was "all men are created equal." Yeah, we know that at the time this quote didn't really include women, or non-white men for that matter, but at least it's something that we can strive for as Americans. This quote really sparked some discussion in my group. For once, they talked and I listened. They talked about how in their country, men in uniform abuse their power. They go to the fronts of lines, demanding goods for free. When refused, they say, "I'M A GENERAL! DON'T YOU KNOW WHO I AM?" They beat citizens, they steal, they give advantages to those who can offer them the most money. One thing in particular that I remember was, "Military, and people with money, all same." If you don't have money and you're not in the military, you don't stand a chance. We even talked about how in one country, Burma, to get education you must pay money. If you don't have money, you don't get to go to school. All men are not created equal.
And I thought, no wonder they loved these quotes so much. These sayings express ideas that are forbidden in their countries, unheard of. I think that in these quotes my students really found something to become fond of and passionate about, and left class with a growing contentment in knowing that our founding fathers really had some good ideas, and here they are living in this very country. Sure made me proud as a teacher. That was a proud moment, indeed.
On a less serious note, I'm really getting to know my fellow interns and coworkers outside of class. Our office has four different desks in it, so usually I'm always accompanied by someone. I find it kind of awkward to share a room with someone and not talk to them, so I think sometimes I overcompensate for this by talking whenever I can. One of my fellow interns is from West Africa, and the other day we literally stood by a big world map in the office and spent half an hour looking at the continent of Africa and talking about it. This is what I really love about working with people of different backgrounds, you really learn something new every day. Another coworker, as I found out, had apparently driven through my luxurious hometown of Cedar Rapids, Iowa. The other day he asked me, "Anna, I know you're from Iowa, but where exactly?"
ANNA: "Cedar Rapids."
COWORKER: "Is that the city that smells bad?"
ANNA: "Probably."
COWORKER: "I think I drove through there once. A lot of cereal factories?"
ANNA: "Yep, that's the one."
COWORKER: "Huh. Yeah, it's not the nicest place, is it?"
As you can see, he had a lot of nice things to say about my hometown river city that reeks. I almost asked him if he was from a big white house in a clean Chicago suburb, but I resisted the temptation. Not trying to make a bad impression on anyone :) Sorry about the sass, old Anna blog coming out!
Either way, the internship continues to go well. As I teach more and more classes, I think I'm becoming really attached to being a teacher. Sure, I don't mind the office work in the off-hours, but there's something about being in the classroom and giving people life skills that really keeps my motor running. Hopefully I'll be doing more of the same things in the future.
Thanks for reading this one and I hope you enjoyed it! New one next week!
Anna
This week was an especially impactful week for me. Besides the fact that the Pacers lost the game on Monday (since being in Indy I have suddenly become a random Iowan die-hard Pacers fan), class discussions have been very interesting and eye-opening. One of the things we try to incorporate into our classes, especially the advanced levels, is American culture and American history. This week, we did a lesson on the United States' independence and the Revolutionary War. The students were very interested to learn about this, since the US is considered by many to be the world's greatest power and we can't pinpoint exactly why the US has been so successful in this way. The question is: how did it all begin?
We started with Patrick Henry's favorite quote: "Give me liberty or give me death." Although all of us grew up hearing this quote since we were little kids and reading it in the history books before we really could appreciate what it meant, I can't imagine what it must be like for my students to hear this for the first time. Even though it's hard for us to think this way, let's try to really think critically about the country we live in. We have liberty around every corner. Anyone can go to the library and get a book. Everyone has access to at least some education, which the government encourages. If I hate Obama, I can publish it on my Facebook wall and maybe the worst thing that will happen to me is that I will get some nasty comments. I'm allowed to have a Facebook if I want to. I have a president, not a dictator. I cannot stress enough the fact that not everyone is given such luxuries. Yes, I know that I'm speaking from a white middle-class perspective and like every other sociologist out there, I'm aware of the economic, racial and gendered disparities out there. Not everyone is given the same opportunities, but at least we can say that we all have certain human rights as citizens of the country. The idea of "give me liberty or give me death" struck the students in such a tender way. I could see each one of them, individually, beginning to understand the meaning of the concept, smiling, nodding, and saying, "I like this. This idea, I like." The reason people become refugees is because in their home countries they aren't given freedom. What they're given is oppression, threats, civil war, and corruption. Violations of basic human rights are a good reason to get out, and once they come to the United States, they've come so far and been through so much that I often feel like it's my responsibility to guide them the rest of the way. It's the least I can do.
Another quote we talked about in class was "all men are created equal." Yeah, we know that at the time this quote didn't really include women, or non-white men for that matter, but at least it's something that we can strive for as Americans. This quote really sparked some discussion in my group. For once, they talked and I listened. They talked about how in their country, men in uniform abuse their power. They go to the fronts of lines, demanding goods for free. When refused, they say, "I'M A GENERAL! DON'T YOU KNOW WHO I AM?" They beat citizens, they steal, they give advantages to those who can offer them the most money. One thing in particular that I remember was, "Military, and people with money, all same." If you don't have money and you're not in the military, you don't stand a chance. We even talked about how in one country, Burma, to get education you must pay money. If you don't have money, you don't get to go to school. All men are not created equal.
And I thought, no wonder they loved these quotes so much. These sayings express ideas that are forbidden in their countries, unheard of. I think that in these quotes my students really found something to become fond of and passionate about, and left class with a growing contentment in knowing that our founding fathers really had some good ideas, and here they are living in this very country. Sure made me proud as a teacher. That was a proud moment, indeed.
On a less serious note, I'm really getting to know my fellow interns and coworkers outside of class. Our office has four different desks in it, so usually I'm always accompanied by someone. I find it kind of awkward to share a room with someone and not talk to them, so I think sometimes I overcompensate for this by talking whenever I can. One of my fellow interns is from West Africa, and the other day we literally stood by a big world map in the office and spent half an hour looking at the continent of Africa and talking about it. This is what I really love about working with people of different backgrounds, you really learn something new every day. Another coworker, as I found out, had apparently driven through my luxurious hometown of Cedar Rapids, Iowa. The other day he asked me, "Anna, I know you're from Iowa, but where exactly?"
ANNA: "Cedar Rapids."
COWORKER: "Is that the city that smells bad?"
ANNA: "Probably."
COWORKER: "I think I drove through there once. A lot of cereal factories?"
ANNA: "Yep, that's the one."
COWORKER: "Huh. Yeah, it's not the nicest place, is it?"
As you can see, he had a lot of nice things to say about my hometown river city that reeks. I almost asked him if he was from a big white house in a clean Chicago suburb, but I resisted the temptation. Not trying to make a bad impression on anyone :) Sorry about the sass, old Anna blog coming out!
Either way, the internship continues to go well. As I teach more and more classes, I think I'm becoming really attached to being a teacher. Sure, I don't mind the office work in the off-hours, but there's something about being in the classroom and giving people life skills that really keeps my motor running. Hopefully I'll be doing more of the same things in the future.
Thanks for reading this one and I hope you enjoyed it! New one next week!
Anna
Sunday, June 2, 2013
The English Language
Thus ends the second week of my internship with Exodus Refugee Immigration! Although it's been a short week due to Memorial Day, the work has been constant and there is never a dull moment.
I've realized over this past week that given the right circumstances, I'm actually pretty fond of teaching English. I remember when in the Dominican Republic in a room of over 20 children and preteens, I thought that teaching English to non-native speakers was something that I really didn't see myself doing. Not that I didn't have a good experience, because I developed quite a relationship with those youngsters and I miss them a lot since being home in the states. But my teaching work with Exodus is very different, and in a very nice way. I teach English to only adults, so that in itself always gives me a sigh of relief. First of all, these students are coming to class because they want to and because they want to learn the language. I mean, you can't even say that of all college students because some take classes "because they have to" or are even in school "because their parents make them." Not the case this summer, though. These are dedicated learners who work hard and study in order to better live their lives, not because anyone is making them go.
Also, I think I just relate better to adults than to children. Sure, I like kids as much as the next person, but I (like my mom) have a very low tolerance for whining. Yes, there are a lot of adults who whine, but it seems to be more common around children and younger people who don't yet understand the value of education. Once I learned that lesson, I became a lot less whiny about going to class, doing homework, etc. My students at Exodus are certainly not whiners. They see class as an opportunity, not a task or a chore. They come to class eager to learn, eager to pronounce correctly, and eager to understand and make those bilingual connections. And this, my friends, is what makes me love teaching these classes. My students have been through a lot, and they are so deserving of this opportunity to learn the language of their new country. And I'm proud to be able to say that I am helping them adapt and guiding them on their way to self-sufficiency.
However, that's not to say that you don't have to be flexible while doing this job, because you most certainly do! Most days, I don't get through all the material that I want to because I constantly have to stop in the middle of the lesson to explain a new word of vocabulary or a grammar lesson so that all of the students can understand and we can move forward. Every once in a while I'll be at the table with them and will say a word or a concept and be facing a table full of blank stares." Of course," I think to myself, "they don't know what that word means." Time to get up from the table, go to the white board, and make sense of things that I've never even thought about. For example, the other day I was teaching a lesson to a pretty beginner group of students. We were talking about family, and the members of the family. The lesson plan said to use the word "memory." Even though I probably should have skipped over this concept entirely, I wrote the word "memory" on the board. Students: blank stares. Anna: all right, how do I explain this? "Um...well, a memory is something that happened in the past that you remember!" (really should have had a dictionary for that one.) Students: blank stares. Anna: what do I do, what do I do? "OK, here I'm drawing a PICTURE of my FAMILY." Students: less blank stares. Anna: "What is family?" One student: "Mother, brother, sister..." Anna: "Very good!" I had to think of a family memory, and fast! My family probably has lots of memories, but I wanted something that clearly was in the past. Well, how about when my little brother was born? So I drew a picture of me, my mom, my dad, and two older brothers and a little baby that signified my little brother, John, when he was born. And yes, he was the cutest thing.
Now, just so I don't end up taking up two pages about the half hour I used trying to explain "memory," basically I used a lot of hand gestures, made a chart about past present and future, had to explain that now in the present my brother is fourteen years old, what it means to be born, the year I was born, that 2013 is the present, yesterday is the past, therefore yesterday is a "memory." I kept digging myself into a deeper and deeper hole, but eventually I think most students came out of it understanding the concept of past, present and future. Good enough for me. This is just an example of how flexible you have to be when teaching very basic level ESL students :) Quite the experience, and like I said, NEVER a dull moment.
Now, as you can only imagine, I don't speak in my normal fast native English way with the students, or even in my normal tone of voice. Lots of hand gestures, lots of repetition, lots of slowww speeech. So when I get out of teaching a three-hour class, I am still in that mode of speech, which can be pretty funny. The other day I came out of class and was talking to a fellow intern, without realizing that I was now out of English class and was talking to a native speaker. After about five minutes, she said, "Anna, I'm actually not five years old. You can talk normal now." In this way, readjusting can be pretty comical. At least for the people around me.
Sometimes I make such connections with my students and am able to see eye to eye with them that I forget why they're here. I guess I'm so used to working with people from different countries that I kind of start to see everyone in the same way. But when I am reminded of the fact that they are refugees who were, at one point, facing such atrocities in their home country, I can't help but feel very fortunate for myself and very grateful that they are able to come here. For example, one of the students got lost on the bus the other day. When I heard about that, I felt immediately empathetic. I remember when I was seventeen living in Chile, taking the bus late at night to my friend's house in Santiage in an area I didn't know well. I got on the bus very late and was one of only three people. And I couldn't remember which stop was the right one, because everything looked the same to me. Eventually, all the other people got off and I was all alone, and we had probably already gone through the route about twice and the busdriver told me this was the last time going around for the night, and he would have to drop me off somewhere in the next 20 minutes. I hadn't been so scared in my whole life. So when I heard he was lost, I felt so scared for him because I knew what that was like. But then one coworker mentioned, "Well, he's been in guerilla warfare before, I'm pretty sure he'll survive this until we find him." I didn't know what that was like. Sometimes we forget how fortunate we are never to have had to face such things and never to have had to fight in order to survive, and then be shipped to a new place where we don't have money, food, or know the language. But then I remember, this is why Exodus is here. This is the work that we do. And I couldn't be more happy to be doing it.
That's all I got for this week, but please let me know what you think! Also, Exodus always welcomes donations, so if you have anything to donate (clothes, food, houseware, toys, etc) please let me know! Anything and everything is vital and needed. Thanks so much for reading and I'll post again next weekend!
Anna
I've realized over this past week that given the right circumstances, I'm actually pretty fond of teaching English. I remember when in the Dominican Republic in a room of over 20 children and preteens, I thought that teaching English to non-native speakers was something that I really didn't see myself doing. Not that I didn't have a good experience, because I developed quite a relationship with those youngsters and I miss them a lot since being home in the states. But my teaching work with Exodus is very different, and in a very nice way. I teach English to only adults, so that in itself always gives me a sigh of relief. First of all, these students are coming to class because they want to and because they want to learn the language. I mean, you can't even say that of all college students because some take classes "because they have to" or are even in school "because their parents make them." Not the case this summer, though. These are dedicated learners who work hard and study in order to better live their lives, not because anyone is making them go.
Also, I think I just relate better to adults than to children. Sure, I like kids as much as the next person, but I (like my mom) have a very low tolerance for whining. Yes, there are a lot of adults who whine, but it seems to be more common around children and younger people who don't yet understand the value of education. Once I learned that lesson, I became a lot less whiny about going to class, doing homework, etc. My students at Exodus are certainly not whiners. They see class as an opportunity, not a task or a chore. They come to class eager to learn, eager to pronounce correctly, and eager to understand and make those bilingual connections. And this, my friends, is what makes me love teaching these classes. My students have been through a lot, and they are so deserving of this opportunity to learn the language of their new country. And I'm proud to be able to say that I am helping them adapt and guiding them on their way to self-sufficiency.
However, that's not to say that you don't have to be flexible while doing this job, because you most certainly do! Most days, I don't get through all the material that I want to because I constantly have to stop in the middle of the lesson to explain a new word of vocabulary or a grammar lesson so that all of the students can understand and we can move forward. Every once in a while I'll be at the table with them and will say a word or a concept and be facing a table full of blank stares." Of course," I think to myself, "they don't know what that word means." Time to get up from the table, go to the white board, and make sense of things that I've never even thought about. For example, the other day I was teaching a lesson to a pretty beginner group of students. We were talking about family, and the members of the family. The lesson plan said to use the word "memory." Even though I probably should have skipped over this concept entirely, I wrote the word "memory" on the board. Students: blank stares. Anna: all right, how do I explain this? "Um...well, a memory is something that happened in the past that you remember!" (really should have had a dictionary for that one.) Students: blank stares. Anna: what do I do, what do I do? "OK, here I'm drawing a PICTURE of my FAMILY." Students: less blank stares. Anna: "What is family?" One student: "Mother, brother, sister..." Anna: "Very good!" I had to think of a family memory, and fast! My family probably has lots of memories, but I wanted something that clearly was in the past. Well, how about when my little brother was born? So I drew a picture of me, my mom, my dad, and two older brothers and a little baby that signified my little brother, John, when he was born. And yes, he was the cutest thing.
Now, just so I don't end up taking up two pages about the half hour I used trying to explain "memory," basically I used a lot of hand gestures, made a chart about past present and future, had to explain that now in the present my brother is fourteen years old, what it means to be born, the year I was born, that 2013 is the present, yesterday is the past, therefore yesterday is a "memory." I kept digging myself into a deeper and deeper hole, but eventually I think most students came out of it understanding the concept of past, present and future. Good enough for me. This is just an example of how flexible you have to be when teaching very basic level ESL students :) Quite the experience, and like I said, NEVER a dull moment.
Now, as you can only imagine, I don't speak in my normal fast native English way with the students, or even in my normal tone of voice. Lots of hand gestures, lots of repetition, lots of slowww speeech. So when I get out of teaching a three-hour class, I am still in that mode of speech, which can be pretty funny. The other day I came out of class and was talking to a fellow intern, without realizing that I was now out of English class and was talking to a native speaker. After about five minutes, she said, "Anna, I'm actually not five years old. You can talk normal now." In this way, readjusting can be pretty comical. At least for the people around me.
Sometimes I make such connections with my students and am able to see eye to eye with them that I forget why they're here. I guess I'm so used to working with people from different countries that I kind of start to see everyone in the same way. But when I am reminded of the fact that they are refugees who were, at one point, facing such atrocities in their home country, I can't help but feel very fortunate for myself and very grateful that they are able to come here. For example, one of the students got lost on the bus the other day. When I heard about that, I felt immediately empathetic. I remember when I was seventeen living in Chile, taking the bus late at night to my friend's house in Santiage in an area I didn't know well. I got on the bus very late and was one of only three people. And I couldn't remember which stop was the right one, because everything looked the same to me. Eventually, all the other people got off and I was all alone, and we had probably already gone through the route about twice and the busdriver told me this was the last time going around for the night, and he would have to drop me off somewhere in the next 20 minutes. I hadn't been so scared in my whole life. So when I heard he was lost, I felt so scared for him because I knew what that was like. But then one coworker mentioned, "Well, he's been in guerilla warfare before, I'm pretty sure he'll survive this until we find him." I didn't know what that was like. Sometimes we forget how fortunate we are never to have had to face such things and never to have had to fight in order to survive, and then be shipped to a new place where we don't have money, food, or know the language. But then I remember, this is why Exodus is here. This is the work that we do. And I couldn't be more happy to be doing it.
That's all I got for this week, but please let me know what you think! Also, Exodus always welcomes donations, so if you have anything to donate (clothes, food, houseware, toys, etc) please let me know! Anything and everything is vital and needed. Thanks so much for reading and I'll post again next weekend!
Anna
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