Thanksgiving Day
For Thanksgiving Day, I was asked to do presentations at another school near me for the English classes there. I presented in four different classes and it was pretty fun meeting all these students.
I went to my normal school (it's called a classical school-they study humanities) and around 9:30 a teacher from the art school came and drive me to the art school. When I arrived I was able to walk around the school (it wasn't very big) with the teacher and she even bought me coffee. They have coffee machines everywhere here. Then I went to my first class and presented.
The first class was good. They asked a lot of questions and were generally excited about me being there. Then the second class were all in their last year, so they weren't as jumpy and excited as the class before. They kind of had a "too cool for school" kind of attitude, but they were still really nice. The third group I presented to was made up of two classes from the first year. So they were very excited to meet me and they listened very well. They were honestly the best class. The last class of the day were from the 3rd year and mostly my age but they were kind of loud and not very focused. It was the end of the day though, so I can understand why.
After the first year class, a lot of the student came up asking for my Instagram. I've noticed that when I meet new groups of people, it's always the younger ones that are the most excited to meet me. Having exchange students is very common here, so most older students have met exchange students before, but younger grades haven't. A lot of them are also infatuated with America for some reason so they are always asking me questions about it.
I was given a book of poetry made by residents of Matera by the second teacher I met. The first teacher was the one that drove me there and was the teacher of the first two classes. Then the second teacher was the teacher for the last two classes I presented for. I also received a drawing from one of the younger students as a thank you for coming.
I really did enjoy the school, but it was hard work trying to teach for so long. My mouth hurt from talking so much and I don't know how teachers do it everyday. If my American teachers are reading this right now, just know that you are doing a good job!
We didn't have a Thanksgiving lunch or dinner, but some of the other Americans here did a whole Thanksgiving celebration with their family. They had to convert recipes, find out where to buy a full turkey, and other things like that. It was super hard for them, but I know that had a lot of fun.
My mom and I planned a phone call for that day I was able to say hi to everyone in my family before they started eating lunch. It was really quick but nice to hear from everyone. I think the thing I missed the most were my grandma's cinnamon rolls. I always look forward to those the most on Thanksgiving and I was so jealous when I saw pictures of them on Facebook!
Anyways I hope you all enjoyed you Thanksgiving holiday!
Imogen
I went to my normal school (it's called a classical school-they study humanities) and around 9:30 a teacher from the art school came and drive me to the art school. When I arrived I was able to walk around the school (it wasn't very big) with the teacher and she even bought me coffee. They have coffee machines everywhere here. Then I went to my first class and presented.
The first class was good. They asked a lot of questions and were generally excited about me being there. Then the second class were all in their last year, so they weren't as jumpy and excited as the class before. They kind of had a "too cool for school" kind of attitude, but they were still really nice. The third group I presented to was made up of two classes from the first year. So they were very excited to meet me and they listened very well. They were honestly the best class. The last class of the day were from the 3rd year and mostly my age but they were kind of loud and not very focused. It was the end of the day though, so I can understand why.
After the first year class, a lot of the student came up asking for my Instagram. I've noticed that when I meet new groups of people, it's always the younger ones that are the most excited to meet me. Having exchange students is very common here, so most older students have met exchange students before, but younger grades haven't. A lot of them are also infatuated with America for some reason so they are always asking me questions about it.
I was given a book of poetry made by residents of Matera by the second teacher I met. The first teacher was the one that drove me there and was the teacher of the first two classes. Then the second teacher was the teacher for the last two classes I presented for. I also received a drawing from one of the younger students as a thank you for coming.
I really did enjoy the school, but it was hard work trying to teach for so long. My mouth hurt from talking so much and I don't know how teachers do it everyday. If my American teachers are reading this right now, just know that you are doing a good job!
We didn't have a Thanksgiving lunch or dinner, but some of the other Americans here did a whole Thanksgiving celebration with their family. They had to convert recipes, find out where to buy a full turkey, and other things like that. It was super hard for them, but I know that had a lot of fun.
My mom and I planned a phone call for that day I was able to say hi to everyone in my family before they started eating lunch. It was really quick but nice to hear from everyone. I think the thing I missed the most were my grandma's cinnamon rolls. I always look forward to those the most on Thanksgiving and I was so jealous when I saw pictures of them on Facebook!
Anyways I hope you all enjoyed you Thanksgiving holiday!
Imogen
Sounds like you've been enjoying your time and making the most of your opportunities. I'm jealous of your travels and I miss being in Italy; I spent a week in Noale and Venice this past summer. It's fun to read your commentary and thinking, especially as it relates to teaching. Now you know our pain! Haha, I hope you're having fun and learning lots. Happy holidays! - Mr. McCarthy
ReplyDeleteSounds awesome! Nice job Imogen doing those presentations. Sounds like you are having a good experience- so happy for you! Sure do miss you too!
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