Sadly there isn’t much exciting news from today. We had a slightly challenging tutoring session (one student snapped at another one for “hogging” our attention) and Jean-Jacques and I are in the process of discussing our goals for the meetings. I remind you again that we’re dealing with a radically different educational system where the students want teachers to talk at them for hours on end, instilling them with wisdom. Well, as you can imagine, neither Jean-Jacques nor I teach in this style, so our world views can clash with those of some of our tutees. (They feel that there are only so many hours in a day and every second must be meaningfully used, not wasted by talking about how one person gets nervous about speaking in front of people.) I have empathy for the students, but I firmly believe that we need to continue running classes the way we have been because it’s a good exercise for the students. The majority of them enjoy our time together, but I think some of them are starting to be less thrilled by the meetings.
Other than that it’s been a relaxing day. It’s misting outside and I’m happy to be inside wearing my comfy pajama bottoms that I bought in Scotland. I read some of a murder mystery I started the other day, took a two hour nap, washed and hung up a load of laundry, and ate a new noodle dish for lunch. This evening we’re going to watch a movie, eat grilled cheese sandwiches for dinner, and probably play a board game on the iPad. It sounds like the perfect way to spend a drizzly Saturday evening.
