I am doing something I really thought I would never do...teaching at an elementary school. As much as I, Chelsea, love children, I have never felt the call to teach young kids. As a teacher in the States, I always thought high school was great because not only could you teach them things but you could relate to them on a personal level.
When I got back to Czech this school year, the Lord said, "haha. That's what you thought then. Now I'm going to give you some little tiny kids that literally can't understand you, because they don't speak English and see how you do with their behaviour issues then!" I am a big enough person to admit to you that I was terrified! I have to say that first day when I walked in and my contact (and former student) met me, I knew then and there that the Lord answers prayers, because the first words she said were, "we don't really know what we are doing, but we are excited to have you here! We want you to be happy, the Czech teachers to be happy, and the students to be happy. It will be great!"
Since then I have felt so welcomed at this school by everyone. I even went away to the mountains for a weekend with teachers. One of the other English teachers and I have discovered a common love of super heroes and have begun watching some films and shows together and metting for dinner.
And those holy terrors we call kids, they have been so great! Don't get me wrong, they are just as mischievous as American children, but they always ask such cute, simple, English questions and always desire to try to say something to the foreigner (aka me), such as "you have good shirt, Miss Chelsea."
I have also realized how much vocabulary of the extremely basic math I have forgotten. While I may remember how to do it, I do not remember all of the exact technical terms for it, especially not on the fly as I am expected to. Thank God for Google!
While some days are still trying and I don't know that elementary school is my long-term calling, I do know that I am called there for now, for today and I will work at it with all my heart as working for Him. And I must say getting a sweet compliment from an eight year old in broken English doesn't make the day go to badly either. ;-)
