An update.

I got an email (and a phone call and a fedex) from the Peace Corps a couple days ago saying that my Eyeglass Prescription Form is incomplete; in other words, I need to buy some glasses so that they know what my measurements are in case I lose my glasses while I'm overseas. So I rushed out and bought some glasses and faxed in the form...hopefully all is well and my medical clearance is coming soon. It should be, since this is the only thing that they said was missing.

On Tuesday I started my 3-week job teaching conversational English to a group of Chinese students. If you have ever thought that Asian students (not Asian-Americans, but actual Asian-Asians) were demure, quiet and well-behaved, you can just forget it. To put it bluntly, I hate them. Those words usually don't come easily to me, but they do right now. They are rude as all hell and have the attention span of a kindergartner, especially if you put them in front of a computer. That is all I have to say about that.

(Actually, it's not.) So with that said, I am starting to second-guess my upcoming job as an English teacher in Eastern Europe. I'll be teaching high school students. I am not one of those people who loves kids or has so much to say to them, and I am certainly not a fan of teenagers. Do I really want to teach high schoolers for two years??? Can I put up with them?

This is crazy talk, because the point of joining the Peace Corps was (and still is) to help people. I want to make a difference and I also want to do something special and something adventurous. Still, my experiences so far this week have not led me to believe that teaching is something I'll be passionate about, in the long run.

That is not entirely true though. The people that I want to teach are the immigrants, refugees, migrant workers; the people that came here out of necessity who HAVE to learn English for the sake of their families' futures. You know, the ones who actually want to be there. Not some little punks who came here because their daddies made them come...like the ones I'm teaching now. I don't know if it is possible to ever avoid them, though. In the ESL industry, you cannot be picky because there are so many of us who teach it.