I know, it's been forever...

Nearly three weeks of school have passed and I have yet to post a single blog. My apologies. School started with much anticipated chaos. There was no schedule. There was no schedule for two weeks. Each morning, the teachers would have to come to school and find out if they had any classes. I was told that it was impossible to have a schedule before school started because some of our teachers also teach at another school and my school had to wait to find out the other school's schedule. Of course the other school was waiting on our schedule...so round and round we went.

It's nice to be back in school. I'm teaching four days a week. I teach 6th,7th,8th,9th and 11th forms. I was going to teach the 10th form but they were just too impossible for me to deal with and I told my coordinator that I wouldn't teach that class. In Ukraine, kids have the choice of leaving secondary school after the 9th form. They can go to a technical school and study a trade, to a college (though it's really more like community college) and work towards a degree or they can stay in the secondary school and try for a university after the 11th form. Last year there were three 9th form classes. I taught two of these 9th form classes and I liked them alright; but this year, only three of my students returned. The 10th form is made up entirely of students I didn't have from the "bad" 9th form class. I taught two lessons to them this year, in their 10th form class, and it was the most annoying two hours of my life. They wouldn't do anything. I asked them to open their books. Nothing. I asked them simple questions. They just stared. Or slept. Or played on their cell phones. I'm glad I don't have to teach them.

My favorite class is my 11th form. There are 15 girls in that class and three boys. The girls are really sweet and they try hard. They at least make me feel like I'm teaching them something. My second favorite class is my 7th form. The four obnoxious boys leave to be with another teacher when I come and I'm left with the sweetest, most earnest group of kids.

We are working with new textbooks this year. They are books I was able to purchase through the grant I wrote last year with Jennifer. The books are all in English and that has been a difficult transition for my kids. They are used to working with books that translate everything into Ukrainian and so it's been tough not to have what I call "the Ukrainian crutch". I observed the lessons of one of my collegues, Sasha, and I was shocked by how much Ukrainian he spoke in his class. No wonder the kids don't know English, the teachers speak so much Ukrainian to them!

Bar celebrated its birthday at the beginning of September. I don't know how old it is exactly, 600 and something. There was a big celebration in the town that day, and in the evening, a DJ from Vinnystia came and played music at a new restaurant in town. Everyone was all excited about the "big city DJ" coming to town. It was funny. Really, the DJ wasn't any better than someone spinning records in their friend's basement during a kegger.

I spent Bar's birthday with Anya and her family. She invited me to BBQ with her family at her house in the country. Anya's mother works and lives in Spain and she was back to visit her kids for the month. Anya's mother has been building a house on the outskirts of Bar for 10 years. Even after 10 years, it is only a shell of a house because Anya's uncle works on it only in his spare time. It was fun to meet Anya's mom and eat with her family. I met her aunts and uncles and cousins. Her family was a lot of fun and they made me miss my own relatives.

I don't know what else to report. Things are going good. I can't believe I've been in country for a year. The time went so fast and I know this next year will fly by too. The next group of TEFL volunteers will be arriving soon in country. I guess that makes me a veteran. I promise I will blog again soon!