Day 12: Kit Kat

Hi Suzie! So today was a great Friday, full of different things... Today was our visit to a nearby village school with the U.S. Embassy to distribute toys to some 1st graders. It was incredible, the press was out and everything. Three or four reporters jammed into this little room with 30 some odd 3 to 6/7 year olds... was quite the sight. Some of the kids were wearing traditional Kazakh garb and the event was opened with gift giving followed by a song by a little girl and an old Kazakh dance. This cultural experience was great and so different from anything we've had thus far. It was great to be a part of seeing so many happy kids thanks to QSI and the Embassy. One eye-opening thing was talking to a woman from the school while we were there. She said that the three classrooms we visited and gave gifts to were the only three rooms in the entire three story building (educating over 270 kids throughout the day) that had heat. And without the big buildings in Astana available to break the wind passing over the tundra steppe, it gets to be mighty cold in the winter. The children were so disciplined, the older ages stood when we entered and exited a room. They were also wearing similar clothing; not uniforms, but looking almost exactly like uniforms! Just with small differences. They sang to us in Kazakh and were quite like most all the Kazakh's I've interacted with here; they didn't smile much. There's absolutely nothing wrong with it, just different! We Americans are so used to smiling at everyone and all the time, but here they probably think we're obnoxious for it. Their culture is much more reserved and private. It's just something to recognize and I've been trying to respect it. Anyway, the school seemed glad to have us and it was quite the whirlwind event.

Well, as you know, it is Friday. You also know what that means. Kids are living in Zero-Motivationland. My ELL teacher had them work for the first 20 minutes or so and then they could play games, so I of course played Mafia with a group of middle schoolers... you know, it's funny; no matter where I go, the arguments of kids and preteens are always the same, especially when playing games :) one universal that I've found among many! After ELL I went to my science class and prepared my classroom. I decided I couldn't take it anymore and I was shifting my sub-ly duties into a more creative, teacher role. I planned a Jeopardy review game for their lesson, complete with increasing difficulty and rules. It was wonderful to kind of loosen things up in there, the kids were laughing and
joking. I of course had to explain what Jeopardy was and they wanted to hear more about Alec Trebec, go figure. At the end of the day, one girl came up to me (very quiet girl, didn't say much except to ask to go to her locker and get the right notebook every day at the beginning of class) and asked if their normal teacher was coming back and I said that he was on Monday. She sighed and said, "oh no, but you made this fun" and shuffled out the door after a hardy goodbye. Its those little interactions you don't expect that are most affirming; here I thought nobody wanted the sub in the room trying to crack jokes and discuss learning... I guess it just made me happy to think that my review lesson was received well :)

And now for a weekend full of studying and other frivolities! This Sunday we'll be going to Swan Lake with our host family and tomorrow we'll be going to a coffee shop owned by an American woman I was told (by a stranger on the plane/airport shuttle actually!) I should say hi to. That and the indoor bazaar's supposed to be pretty cool. We haven't heard from you in a while and are starting to get worried, if you're receiving these please let us know! We aren't sure if you're getting them or if something has happened to you... anyway, would love to hear back. Thanks :)

Chels