foursugars|fivespice

1. You work more hours than you should. It sounds paradoxical, since you’re not actually receiving compensation for the hours you spend at your computer… well, not monetary compensation. You can’t put a value on experience, right?

2. You’ve experienced the Metro version of Murphy’s Law at least once in your first month, whereby your naive plans to arrive at work early (and look super industrious) mysteriously disintegrate into a series of holdings at successive stops, offloading onto platforms, and technical difficulties. But when you barely make the train? You’re golden.

3. The coffee/tea mug you use might as well have your name stamped on it, because it’s never more than 6 inches from you from the moment you top it up in the morning. It’d be embarrassing how much you drink, if it weren’t for the fact that you’ve got a second job to pay the rent and you’re back to the college dilemma: sleep, sports, or social life? 

4. You love events. Not just for networking, which everyone sort of loves to hate/hates to love, but for the free lunches. Because, please, who serves pizza anymore in DC? It’s all about the quinoa salad, roast beef sliders, and baby bundt cakes now. Free tacos at intern happy hours (because, let’s face it, you can’t bond properly if you’re always in the office) don’t hurt, either.

5. Somehow, you end up moving furniture around on a regular basis, as sort of a real-life demonstration of “how many grads does it take to place 86 chairs in 7 even rows with 1 aisle?” (Don’t try to do the mental math, it’s not rewarding.) On the upside, you can check weightlifting off the day’s to-do list.

6. You are inexplicably and completely drawn in to what you do. I love what I get to work on - although for some it might be love/hate - and I get to work with super smart, interesting people. Which, in the end, really makes the whole deal worth it. 

No classes today, as I had to go to Copiapo to get my “en tramite” (visa waiting) document that means I’m no longer illegally here in Chile. Came back for some lesson planning with Mauricio for our 3-student class of juniors; I really hate using the textbook listening exercises, which simultaneously seem the most contrived, least interesting, and most awkward activities possible. I told him I’d come up with some reading and listening comp exercises of my own, so I’m trolling the internet for clips from Mean Girls, The Simpsons, TED talks, and BBC podcasts that are hopefully more engaging than fake dialogues about trains arriving late…

Best moment of the day: Making friends with the local librarians. We got back early, so I went over to the Caldera library, which is approximately the size of (or smaller than) your average McDonald’s back home. The librarian behind the desk looked up from his newspaper, immediately broke into a grin, and started asking me how teaching has been, if my students are behaving, if I’m liking Caldera. He even helped me pick out a couple of books before sending me on my way; I’m glad to putting down roots here!

So things are largely going swimmingly, but lesson planning with my teachers today has reminded me that I’ve got to be clear on all of the program details. We’re here to teach listening and speaking, in a classroom of our own, with the kids to ourselves for at least 45 minutes. But one of my teachers wants me to be a literal co-teacher, with the two of us teaching everything from grammar to reading comp to speaking all in the same period with all of the kids. Now, I’m all for helping improve English as much as I can, but… not only do I doubt my ability to teach grammar all that well, it’s not what I’m meant to do. Quandary numero uno. 

Enter lesson planning and fun ways to teach the grammatical structures of regret and hypotheticals, simple past, and gerunds. Also enter fun ways of teaching endangered animals, sports, aches and pains, and daily routines to middle schoolers with basic English skills. Quandary numero dos, tres, cuatro… 

On the upside, I love my sixth graders, the chattiest group of classroom monkeys yet, and I think I did okay with my seniors (they’re a teeny bit harder to woo… I don’t know if I’m cool enough for them, but the way to their heart may be through English slang. Recommendations appreciated.). I’m finding I’ve got sway with the troublemaker boys and the quiet girls, which are polar opposite groups, but I’m not gonna fight it. 

Last day of observation tomorrow, along with the first day of girls’ football practice! (Apparently, when you mention that you’d like to get involved with the girls’ football team, the next day you’ll have been appointed assistant coach.) Not sure when I’ll find the time or energy to keep training for this half-marathon I impulsively signed up for, but that’s for tomorrow’s worries. Tonight, some research on panda video clips and then sweet suenos. 

no, not for president. for something far less exciting, i suppose, to everyone but me. for law school. after an agonizing week of no clear idea of where i wanted to go and what i wanted from it, it smacked me like a gust of wind.

so yale, here i come! in one year’s time, i will land in new haven, ready for the next great adventure of my life. in the meantime, i’ll just enjoy dreaming of how i’ll decide on what to do when i’m there.