Back at Shonai Chuu

I feel like I've been through a lot this last week and a half. Today I played some basketball with a few of the older boys from Shonai after having school lunch. I've been playing with these guys pretty regularly now in my short time (3 and a half weeks total) at Shonai Chuu. On the court I couldn't be happier - having a nice pick-up game, usually with fair teams and pretty upbeat and polite dudes. Off the court, in the classroom, is a whole different situation. It's not that I've been the direct target of disrespect. In a way I actually feel respected by these kids because they're willing to listen to me in a way they don't with their regular English teacher, and they are almost always friendly with me.

What really bothers me is that they are allowed to do things in the classroom that are beyond what I consider near to acceptable but are considered a part of everyday life at Shonai Chuu. I can see that when clumps of kids are chatting and not listening to my "American English pronounciation" of a few words - this may not be so bad. But it seems these kids are being brought up to think that it's ok to talk while the teacher is. Or to bring a stray dog into the classroom (this happened yesterday). Or to eat their lunch before everyone else begins eating (a huge cultural no-no). Or to tackle and write on each others' faces with big black pens (I was with one of the English teachers when this happened, and she barely looked up as we walked past these 2 kids). Or to go to the bathroom using urinals that don't have water running in them (this bathroom is also the one the men teachers use, and it really reeks and needs cleaning...its the worst place I can think of at that school). Or to grow up learning to pronounce the word "were" like "waar" because their teacher teaches them that its proper English. Or to hit each other during class and bully one another (one student was punching another student kind of hard in the kidneys, to a point where I felt the need to get in his face to stop him from continuing).

I don't mean to dwell on the negative here...because there really is a lot of good I can say about these kids, their teachers, and the school. I'm just complaining to feel a little better and to give everyone a small sense of what I've been going through lately. Last week was a lot more difficult than this one, and 2 grades of students will be watching "Shrek" tomorrow, so maybe I won't feel like I have to be on high alert like its been so often (to be fair, this 'being on guard' feeling only applies when I've been working with the 2nd and 3rd graders (14-15 year olds) - the 1st graders (+/-13 year olds) have been really awesome to work with). Also, I'm finished working at Shonai on Friday, so I have only three more days there for a while. And, one of their English teachers is leaving on Friday as well, so when I come back I'll be working with a new teacher. Things might be better when I come back...