Match the Faces with the Names, Ages and Nationalities

Here they are, the darlings, bright-eyed and raring to go. Things
went as well as can be expected this morning, on Day 1. They are all
so precocious and eager to impress each other, and me. I love teaching
foreign
students,
especially those fresh off the boat (figure of speech which dates me),
still sleepy-eyed from jet lag (there, that’s more modern) yet wide awake
to a strange, foreign land.

I think that’s the main reason I’ve stayed in this job so long (other
than the extremely long and frequent vacations and the free office supplies)
– the sense of wide-awake wonder that reminds me of my first experiences
abroad, when everything was new and nothing could be taken for granted.  Rarely
have I been so alive, and being surrounded by bright young people undergoing
that same experience provides a vicarious rush every time. No matter how
tired or sick I feel when I walk into that classroom, the awareness boost
and
adrenaline
high easily carry me through the hours of contact time.

Admittedly, I did make some mistakes this morning, like matching up
for a pairs exercise the 35-year-old very serious Peoples’ Republic of
China
Ministry
of Commerce
Sub-Official with an 18-year-old high school senior from Venezuela who’s
got that J-Lo thing going on.  Who knew?

Cultural stereotypes ran true to form, as the only four students not
present and accounted for at 9 am were the four Latin American students.  All
of my Latin American students. Two came in late with stereotypically
inventive excuses.  The other two transferred out before attending
the first class.  Perhaps my reputation as a hard ass preceeds me.

more dispatches from the educational trenches as the semester develops….