My new car, classes, and the ESL angels

I bought a car! At long last. It is a little Toyota Yaris, a tiny sedan, smaller than a Corolla. I bought it yesterday afternoon from a woman who works at the Toyota dealership. Unlike most every other used vehicle I looked at, this one is actually has a well-kept interior. The school I work for gives foreign hires the option of taking out a car loan with them. It is thanks to this benefit that I was able to purchase the car.

My school schedule is still getting worked out. There are 3 ESL teachers at school (including myself), and we are spending a lot of time sorting out students' schedules and testing kids to determine who needs services. While I am eager to teach, I am also nervous. Some of my colleagues are confident in my abilities and like what they know of me and have seen in the classroom thus far, but others are apprehensive of my skills and will be monitoring me. I think the lack of confidence is not so much rooted in my newness at the school, but rather, my youth.

As I mentioned earlier, there are 3 of us teaching ESL, all female. Yesterday, the joke of the day came from the school's IT coordinator who would enter our classroom/office and say, "Good morning, ESL angels," and then answer herself, in a high pitched voice, "Good morning, Charlie." I'm just glad that I'm not asked to teach in a spandex jumpsuit!