My first full week began on Monday. For some of my first and second year courses, I was still giving the presentation about myself. However, on Monday, I also gave my first real "lecture." Since I was still lacking many of the necessary supplies, such as textbooks, to prepare for my more advanced students, I decided it would be a good idea to base the entire class on Columbus Day. (I actually got the idea from a fellow ETA.) I originally had a Columbus Day poem prepared for the class to read with a painting to analyze, but of course, the room we were in that day didn't have a computer. Instead, we jumped pretty much straight to a story game in which I give a list of words that they must use in a creative story. We also had a debate/discussion on the pros and cons of exploration in the past, present, and future. In general, I thought it was a fun and beneficial way to conduct a class of only five people.
That night, my German pal Niklas came over for tea and to speak in Russian. He speaks English fairly well too, but we're both here to learn Russian so it's really pretty beneficial practice for both of us. We found ourselves talking mostly about differences and similarities between Germany and the United States. After hours of speaking English in school, it's nice to have my evenings to practice Russian.
(Right: Monday night dinner - pelmeni and bread with Nutella)
Tuesday was scheduled very similarly to Monday. I had a less proficient class in the morning, followed by a more advanced class in the afternoon. However, in addition to some of the students from my normal class, my fellow teachers invited a couple groups who are currently pursuing Masters' degrees in criminal and civil law. This made for a very, very large group. I had the same Columbus Day lesson plan, which as I soon found out, did not work quite as well with large groups. It was still a good class, but I simply found it much more difficult to control and keep quiet. Also, about halfway through the class, I realized that about a third or half of the Masters program students barely spoke or understood any English... This explains the disappointingly low amount of participation.
I'm not sure if I mentioned before that, for the entire time I've spent in Tyumen thus far, our dormitory hasn't had heating or hot water. As you might imagine with temperatures hovering in the 30s and 40s for a week, I wasn't exactly warm much of the time. On Tuesday, however, the city completed most of its work on the pipes in our area and our heat turned on. We even got hot water for the day! Ironically, Tuesday was probably the first day since I've been here that we haven't needed any heat. Temperatures are back up into the 50s and now I have to crack open my windows to keep it from getting too hot.
That night, my German pal Niklas came over for tea and to speak in Russian. He speaks English fairly well too, but we're both here to learn Russian so it's really pretty beneficial practice for both of us. We found ourselves talking mostly about differences and similarities between Germany and the United States. After hours of speaking English in school, it's nice to have my evenings to practice Russian.(Right: Monday night dinner - pelmeni and bread with Nutella)
Tuesday was scheduled very similarly to Monday. I had a less proficient class in the morning, followed by a more advanced class in the afternoon. However, in addition to some of the students from my normal class, my fellow teachers invited a couple groups who are currently pursuing Masters' degrees in criminal and civil law. This made for a very, very large group. I had the same Columbus Day lesson plan, which as I soon found out, did not work quite as well with large groups. It was still a good class, but I simply found it much more difficult to control and keep quiet. Also, about halfway through the class, I realized that about a third or half of the Masters program students barely spoke or understood any English... This explains the disappointingly low amount of participation.
I'm not sure if I mentioned before that, for the entire time I've spent in Tyumen thus far, our dormitory hasn't had heating or hot water. As you might imagine with temperatures hovering in the 30s and 40s for a week, I wasn't exactly warm much of the time. On Tuesday, however, the city completed most of its work on the pipes in our area and our heat turned on. We even got hot water for the day! Ironically, Tuesday was probably the first day since I've been here that we haven't needed any heat. Temperatures are back up into the 50s and now I have to crack open my windows to keep it from getting too hot.
(My dormitory with pipe repair in progress in the street)
On Wednesday, I only had one class and it was in the economics and management division of the university. In other words, I had to go to a different building just down the road from my primary building. I had a semi-advanced group with whom I spent the day talking about myself and answering any questions they had. As for tonight's (Wednesday night's) activities, I plan on putting a little more effort into my lesson plans, now that I have a clearer idea of what I'm expected to do. I also plan on walking around with Niklas and Nikolai, his friend.
what is in the pelmeni?
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