Teaching stories

Story 1:
I was teaching 6th grade. We were playing a game and it was my job to pick people to come to the front of the classroom. They don’t understand “come up here.,” so I have to motion them to them to get them to get up. How would you do this? Following the American body language, I motioned a boy to the front by turning my palm up and moving my fingers toward and away from my body…bad mistake. Apparently that motion is reserved for prostitutes propositioning new clients…No recovery from that one. I thought I would die after I realized why everyone was hooting and hollering. Sad part is I did it a few more times after that!

Story 2:
On Tuesday we were tired because we had taught 5 classes in a row. A nice teacher had us sit in her room during our break. As we sat there a group of about ten 9-year-olds walked into the classroom and saw that we were tired. Immeditatly I felt little hands begin to massage my shoulders. Other students picked up pick posters and used them as fans. Other students began massaging my arms. Other students began feeding us fruit. I leaned back in my chair and let them do their thing. I had heard about the great massages offered in Thailand, but I’m pretty sure my massage that day topped them all.