Life as a Language Assistant

Yesterday there was no buses as I said meaning that I had to wake up at 7:45, throw on a pair of jeans and a shirt and peek my head through the window to see if any of my students were there.  Nope, of course not meaning that I could go back to bed.  Yesterday I didn’t do very much.  Lounged around, made lunch, read my book, and went to taiso (an exercise class I joined last week)!

As for today, I normally have 2 classes.  My favorite class is at 9AM and then I am going to meet another group for the first time at 11AM.  Let’s start with the 9AM class.  These students are very nice and also very good at English (this does not happen ever).  It just so happens that this is also the class that stands me up the most often.  For example, this morning I got up early to make sure I got all of my copying done (sometimes there are lines) and went to my class.  There were no students so I walked my butt over to the office and told them, they informed me that the students had “devoir de maths,” to me meaning math homework.  I said alright and she told me to talk to their English teacher so that the Math teacher warns her so that I can then be told that they don’t have class.  When I was walking back to my room, I saw one of my students who is Scottish and took the opportunity to ask him what “devoirs de maths” actually means.  He told me that it is a math test and explained to me that “devoirs” can mean either homework or test.  Supposedly “devoirs de maths” is during a free period like study hall normally. Apparently they consider time with the English Assistant a free period.  Cool.  It is reasons like this that my job feels useless.  I am always put on the back burner and am considered at the bottom of the totem pole.  What makes me even more frustrated is that this is the THIRD (maybe fourth?) time that I have been stood up by this class.  And for them I always go out of my way to make their class more fun/interesting because they understand more than “I am 16 years old and I have one sister” for example.  So now I am going to hang around until 11 until my next class (this could be quality sleeping time, not anymore though)!