PTA

Tonight we had our PTA at school. This means that parents come in and sit in their children's seats, and I give a half hour presentation on who I am, why I'm in Taiwan, what my teaching goals and philosophy are, and what our daily curriculum is composed of. So, no pressure right? Right...

Despite my fears, though, and the monumental pressure my boss put on me, it turned out all right. I think the parents saw that I was a bit nervous speaking in front of them, and did their best to be a pleasant audience. In turn, they seemed very nervous to have to speak English to a native speaker who is (apparently) qualified to teach it to their children. Everyone was nervous, and so everyone wound up relaxing a little bit. Especially after I said a few phrases in what was pretty passable Chinese, which was a hell of a crowd pleaser.

So, all in all, it went well. I had good talks with each set of parents, and received a whole bunch of new ideas for working with their children. I'm not to the point yet where I really want to stay past the semester, but I am to the point where I'm feeling a little better about making it to February at all.

It's late now, though, and I should sleep before I get up to do it all again. Ah well, ah well.