I'm back in Edmonton and dealing with minus 30 degree weather (I don't remember it ever being this cold in Toronto, let alone the average daily temperature!) I'm really grateful I have a few days to adjust back to reality before starting classes on Monday. My vacation was perfect, especially the two weeks joining in on Carole's life in Tarsus. I wanted to put up some pictures on here, but don't worry, they are different from the ones I put up on
Facebook!
I spent several days observing Carole's classes. It's always entertaining to mess with students' minds (eventually I was labeled "fake Miss Nickle" and Carole was "our Miss Nickle). The school is very nice, the lunch at the cafeteria was always delicious, and Carole even has a
Smartboard! The only downside was the students... they have unbelievable behavior issues. I won't go into detail... you probably wouldn't believe it. I even observed a Turkish teacher's English class to make sure it wasn't just Carole's class, but it was much worse!
When I didn't go to class, I relaxed in Carole's gorgeous apartment with her perfect cat, Charlie. On Christmas morning we decided to dress him up as Saint Lucia for a photo op. Too cute.
Christmas morning we had a brunch with her friends then went to the Haman baths in the afternoon. It was such a memorable Christmas; relaxed and joyful. Christmas Eve was more formal with a potluck at the school director's apartment for all the foreign teachers. We got dressed up for fun and the food was amazing. One of the teachers,
Birute, even made a boneless turkey (by removing the bones and carefully reshaping by filling it with stuffing before cooking).
As in any expat community, there were some strange personalities, but for the most part, I really really liked Carole's co-teachers. And the Christmas Eve party had such a family fell, and when we tried to have a gift exchange, the resulting confusion over rules and general chaos reminded me of home! It was even more scandalous, though, because one (attention-seeking) teacher kept stealing gifts from the people who were most attached to their gift, even though she didn't actually want the gift!
I spent several days observing Carole's classes. It's always entertaining to mess with students' minds (eventually I was labeled "fake Miss Nickle" and Carole was "our Miss Nickle). The school is very nice, the lunch at the cafeteria was always delicious, and Carole even has a Smartboard! The only downside was the students... they have unbelievable behavior issues. I won't go into detail... you probably wouldn't believe it. I even observed a Turkish teacher's English class to make sure it wasn't just Carole's class, but it was much worse!
When I didn't go to class, I relaxed in Carole's gorgeous apartment with her perfect cat, Charlie. On Christmas morning we decided to dress him up as Saint Lucia for a photo op. Too cute.
Christmas morning we had a brunch with her friends then went to the Haman baths in the afternoon. It was such a memorable Christmas; relaxed and joyful. Christmas Eve was more formal with a potluck at the school director's apartment for all the foreign teachers. We got dressed up for fun and the food was amazing. One of the teachers, Birute, even made a boneless turkey (by removing the bones and carefully reshaping by filling it with stuffing before cooking).
As in any expat community, there were some strange personalities, but for the most part, I really really liked Carole's co-teachers. And the Christmas Eve party had such a family fell, and when we tried to have a gift exchange, the resulting confusion over rules and general chaos reminded me of home! It was even more scandalous, though, because one (attention-seeking) teacher kept stealing gifts from the people who were most attached to their gift, even though she didn't actually want the gift!
No comments:
Post a Comment