A sad realization

Today, Rachel, Hannah, and I began teaching a new class. Now, you may be thinking, "Hey Crazy- aren't you just about to wind down classes? Why did you add a new one?" Yeah...I think Hannah and Rachel were thinking the same thing. But, this is a class that I will continue into the summer when I don't have anymore classes in the schools. That's a good thing, I promise.

We met in a room maybe twice the size of a Union bedroom (not big, trust me) with 6 students. They are all still in high school, but they have excellent English. This 'school' that they attend is actually a private tutoring organization. Most of these students come from families that are a little more well-off than most; their parents send them to this school as a supplementary education. They're very conversant.

Because this was the first class, I was prepared for it to be rocky. The thing about teaching ESL/EFL is that you never know what you're going to get: they may speak fabulously, they may speak nothing, they may understand a lot but speak little, there may be a mixture of all the aforementioned levels. It's hard to plan for a class sight unseen. I take my Mary Poppins' bag of ESL tricks everywhere so that I can pull out a different plan on the fly. I've learned by experience.

Today, we played several games and worked on several activities. One of those activities was Hannah's letter game. After the students created their words, we asked them to choose four of those words and write a story in their groups. One of the groups ended up with a story about several people getting drunk on vodka. Later, we played a hypothetical scenario game. Each group had to pretend that they were stranded on an island but could choose 5 items to take with them. Some of them chose practical, MacGyver items. One of the guys, though, chose several things that- on the surface- seem like basic, 15-year-old boy silliness: alcohol and a house full of beautiful women.

It wasn't until later that the sad realization truly sank in for me. These concepts are not just idle jokes. These comments were formed out of the influence of his society. In this society, women often have little value outside of physical appearance and usefulness. Drinking alcohol to many Ukrainians is the same as drinking Coke to an American. Both of these "silly" comments stem from an education that he's been getting all his life...just by being a part of culture.

I look around and see these vices everyday, but it didn't occur to me until today just how much it may affect younger generations.