Catching up

I can't believe it is 4 weeks since I last posted something, as I can't think what I have been doing since then. Just work, work, work mostly with lots of preparation for the students' exams, which are next week.  Luckily we are not involved in running those, so now we can only cross our fingers and hope that at least some of them pass. Some will do well, I am sure. We have been involved in running extra listening practices and extra speaking practices; it has been quite nice to meet other students during the speaking. Some of them are very good. It's also meant a little extra money, which is good.

Right now I am trying to find summer work and it has sent me into a depression. (That, and it's raining today, for some reason). Seemingly all TEFL work in the UK over summer is for summer schools for teenagers, and most of the roles include supervising activities and day trips as well, some even include living on site and helping with day to day things like mealtimes. It means a long working week, whereas I would prefer to find something which is mostly teaching like I have been doing here. It is typical that the one job I have found which I actually like doing is not a job you can do easily in the UK. It's not just me saying this, I was looking on a EFL forum and people all say the same. Pay is also not very high, which makes living in nice places like Bath or Oxford (where they have the schools) quite difficult. I had forgotten how much it costs even to rent a room there. Rent here has been reasonable.  If I wanted to go back abroad to teach then of course there are many opportunities. I'm just not sure that's what I want to do.

Etna spitting out cloud

Jo and I have been making the most of the sunshine and visiting the sandy beach which is outside Catania. Sadly it is not within walking distance, being past the port and near the airport, so the roads are too big and busy to walk along. That's ok because there is a bus - it could be a really good shuttle bus route, going there and back in 10 minutes, but no, it's once an hour and so we stand and wait for it at the bus station and then we always have to wait ages for it to take us back. Yesterday after a relaxing day on the sand (despite a really awful dj or perhaps it was someone's uncle playing music and talking over it at the lido), we took 2 hours to get home, even though by car it would take about 15 minutes.

Etna has been spitting out ash so we watched her yesterday as little white clouds appeared over the top, often changing, it was quite entertaining (for me anyway).

We are both now looking forward to returning because it has been a while since we saw family etc, but we will also miss things like the sun, the coffee, granitas etc. I went for a granita with a local lad a couple of weeks ago, which was nice because he was encouraging with my Italian and having to speak in Italian really helped me to practise. He spoke clearly and he understood me so I don't know why some of these people in shops give me such strange looks when I try to speak to them. He had the typical Sicilian hairstyle, longer on top, that Jo doesn't care for, but I don't mind, I've grown used to how they look now and I fear I will find all Englishmen scruffy, pale and unattractive. I have managed to go a little browner (by my standards, not by anyone else's) and have dyed my hair darker, (to fit in?). It's too late to go for a Sicilian romance, not that it's an option, you realise, but it was nice to meet up with this lad a couple of times because it's what I should have been doing for ages, and what I should keep doing, having fun. He loves Back to the Future too, as much as I do, which was fun. In the English version, where Marty's dad is in the coffee shop, he says to Lorraine, "You're my density" when it should be "destiny." I was delighted to find out that in the Italian version, instead of "destino" he says "delfino" which means "you're my dolphin"! I thought this was perhaps even better.

It will be sad to finish teaching some of my students, we've had a nice time in some classes. I have made sure that I have told them the most important things like to pronounce their "s" on the end of third person verbs (they just don't), and many other common mistakes that come from Italian being their first language - our students all say the same things.

some sort of courgette?

I still have to find a job, book a flight and sort out the rest of my life (all without granita and coffee, this is going to be hard. For those of you who think that's all I eat, I deny it - I bought some lovely fresh salad from the market last week, and also a lovely melon (there were a million on sale). The trouble is I've been having to eat salad with things every day since as you just can't buy a little bit of anything there. I saw watermelon bigger than your head. And weird long courgettes. And round ones. You have to be subtle taking photos if you don't want to look like a total tourist.

More food

We are continuing to drop in to the cafe when we can and last week we tried something Jo spotted behind the counter - crema di caffe - a light, airy and very sickly concoction that seemed to be all air and caffeine. After a few spoonfuls of this smooth and sweet delight, it was almost enough. But I finished mine and spent the afternoon on a caffeine high. This might explain why I have trouble going to sleep.

The temperature has gone cooler at last and we have had rain and thunder, and maybe even some rumblings from Etna? Who knows. It could have been my imagination. I don't really have the right clothes but attempts to get some have been fruitless as well. Like the UK, it seems unless I want to spend a fortune, clothes are just as rubbish.

I still haven't settled into a food routine, and while it is tempting to eat out at the cafe (I think most people seem to eat their lunch there, it is always so busy) I also want to save money. At the weekend in another place, everyone seemed to be having breakfast which I thought was fun. However, the local supermarkets are not cheap, especially for (I can't remember the word. This is what happens.) Stuff for the bathroom, anyway. It is all expensive. I need snacky things I can eat quickly and today I found some nice wrapped focaccia slices that stay moist - the bread here seems to dry up or go solid very fast which is not nice. I also found something I have been looking for, for ages - since my trip to Como in 2007 in fact - but more of that another time.

I am a bit frustrated that I have not got on with learning Italian. It is having the time to sit and look at what I learned in Babilonia, and also finding someone to practise with. I tried to arrange a meeting with someone from the conversation site but I have not met anyone yet. I have started to talk a little with our Italian flatmate, who is not around often, but I sometimes see her preparing food at unusual late hours. She is only young and we managed to have a short chat and a laugh, so that is good. I am also trying to speak to the secretaries in work, who are very encouraging and like to help. Valeria taught me the word for to sneeze today (as everyone is sneezing) and then proudly said in front of the others, tell them what I taught you today! But sadly, the word had gone completely out of my head about 45 seconds after she told me.

The week is just full of work which is how I suppose all working lives are - Monday to Friday is full of planning and then teaching and even though I have the mornings and afternoons up to about 3pm, I feel I should be looking at lessons the whole time - I am not yet able to relax even when I am repeating a lesson, more or less, to a second group. I am sure it will happen with time. But at the moment it feels fairly stressful and also I am not even sure how much I enjoy it - I do not enjoy worrying about it before, during and after, to the extent I cannot switch off when I come home. I have been listening to my meditation tracks and hoping that helps. I also think sometimes it is a bit boring if you are sitting doing nothing in the class while the students are doing their exercises. But perhaps I ought to be doing something like monitoring and encouraging them. Unfortunately my room is not big enough for me to move around much to see what they are doing. Everyone seems okay though mostly. Sometimes I find it hard to explain things clearly and soon realise when they did not understand. People do not say if they do not understand so I have to find ways of checking. On the whole the students are keen and hard working and it is most rewarding when they have a nice time and enjoy what they are doing. This happens occasionally. I would love it to happen more!

I am speaking English with more of an Italian accent on the end of words. I can't help it. It is just natural. I heard another teacher doing it too.