29 March 2010

(Mis)Education

I feel like ranting this morning so bear with me. So after months of searching and dealing with idiots asking me "are you sure you can live in Ghana?" I finally managed to get a job here in GH at the end of January. I don't think I've ever been so depressed about getting a job before and I couldn't even moan about it to anybody because they wouldn't get it. I know you shouldn't look a gift horse in the mouth but the job I got was as a flippin' teacher. "What's wrong with being a teacher?" I hear you say. Well, nothing; but if I had to make a list of all the jobs I would like to do, teaching would be languishing somewhere near the very bottom. I have the utmost respect for teachers but since I swing back and forth between loving kids and hating them, I didn't really think that would be the job for me.

Anyway, after endless amounts of bullshitting, I managed to snag a job as a teacher at a swanky International school here in GH. So I basically have no clue what I'm doing and since they apparently don't believe in the concept of orientation I was basically thrown to the dogs. It's hard enough being in a school where some of the pupils are just seven years older than me but I may have um embellished my experience a tad . Some of the teachers have been pretty helpful and understanding but they've got their own crap to deal with so the help has been understandably limited. The pay is apparently "good for Ghana" but well, you could have fooled me. I definitely have fewer outgoings than I did in London but I'm trynna save up for a masters and it's not looking too good.

Surprisingly, this is the first time in my life that I don't generally have a feeling of doom and gloom as I head to work but I can't say I love this job either. It's a weird feeling to have. The kids are interesting. I think that initially they were awed by the sight of a teacher who didn't look "teacher-ish" and they were pretty well-behaved but they're sure showing they're true colours now. I love my grade 7s because, as cheesy as it sounds, you actively feel as though you're teaching them something. The grade 9s are another matter because they're at that "I think I'm so cool because I'm about to turn all of 16" stage. I have a group of about 5 boys I actively feel like punching because they insist on flirting with the females in the class (moi included!) instead of concentrating on the beautiful poetry of Lord Byron. I mean really. Who could ignore Lord Byron? Lol. As for my grade 8s? Well they sure are special. They are known for being the noisiest class in the school and they do their best to live up to their reputation.

What really pisses me off about this place though is the lack of any kind of punishment system here. If a student does something wrong you can make them clear the teacher's table at lunch or make them stand on stage and apologise to the whole school. O_O

Mate, that's not a punishment. That's a slight inconvenience. They don't even have detention for Pete's sake! When I was in boarding school, we had Saturday night detention (usually to coincide with a school dance or some other cool ish you wanted to go to) and that was only a medium punishment. KMBT. No wonder these kids walk around with a swagger in their step. They know you basically can't do jack to them. Where's the famous Ghanaian sense of discipline and respect? A lot of the other teachers seem to think it's because they're all so rich. I've been around rich people for a good chunk of my life and no offense but the way white people with money act and the way black people with money act is on a whole 'nother level. Don't blame the money. Just act right.

These kids give me joke though. I made a reference to Jodeci or a band like that the other day and they all had the blank stare going on strong. Excellent way to make you feel really old. But then some of them go "but Miss have you heard of Chipmunk? Tinie Tempah? D'banj?" I had to let them KNOW! About have I heard of Chipmunk and Tinie Tempah? Where were they when we jamming to "Wifey" and "Fire Alie"?

In all seriousness, this job is interesting and no matter what happens I think I'll be glad for this experience but mehn my journey to my masters degree needs to speed up!

Edited to add: I saw the Vice Principal yesterday and she said the school board are extremely happy with the job I'm doing and the kids seem to like me. Well that's a shock. I guess my bullshitting skills aren't so bad after all.

Currently listening to:Brazen-Skunk Anansie

15 March 2010

100 truths about me

I stole this from Love Was the Egg and L Hash Jay. So out of sheer boredom and as a procrastination tool to avoid my mountain of marking, here goes:


1. Last drink→ Pineapple juice w/ a hint of ginger (Blue Skies baaaaaby!)

2. Last phone call→ The Musician (completely unexpected)

3. Last text message→ My friend's mother thanking me for my mothers' day text

4. Last song you listened to→ Melt my heart to stone- Adele

5. Last time you cried→ Last week at work. Reeeeeally embarassing.



SIX HAVE YOU EVER:

6. Dated someone twice → Haha yes.

7. Been cheated on?→ Hell yes. See The Musician.

8. Kissed someone?→ Is this a trick question?

9. Lost someone special?→ Yes. Unfortunately more than once.

10. Been depressed?→ Yes, particularly for the majority of 2004 and 2009. 2010 will not follow these God-forsaken years!

11. Been drunk and threw up? → Yes



LIST FOUR FAVORITE COLOURS:

12. green

13. mustard 

14. purple

15. black



HAVE YOU:

16. Made new friends → Many different times

17. Fallen out of love → Yes

18. Laughed until you cried → Once or twice

19. Met someone who changed you → Yes 

20. Found out who your true friends were → Still finding out....

21. Found out someone was talking about you → Yes and I've also heard them doing it when they thought I was asleep. Oh the joys of boarding school/ university.

22. Kissed anyone on your friend's list → No!

23. How many people on your friends list do you know in real life → Six

25. Do you have any pets → Nope

26. Do you want to change your name→ I did when I was about 10 but I love all my names now.

27. What did you do for your last birthday → Absolutely nothing but Friday's Afro, Afrocentric, and Nsoromma all took me out for dinner at various times during the week.

28. What time did you wake up today → 5:10 a.m

29. What were you doing at midnight last night → Watching old episodes of The Office (US Version)

30. Name something you CANNOT wait for → 2nd April. Yes just that date. I don't have to say why do I? :-p

31. Last time you saw your mother→ November but I saw my Daddy last week.

32. What is one thing you wish you could change about your life →I can't limit it to one.

33. What are you listening to right now → Waving Flag byK'naan

34. Have you ever talked to a person named Tom → Yep. Went to school with quite a number of them.

35. What's getting on your nerves right now? → Smelly people who feel no way in assaulting you with their B.O. at 6 in the morning. They should be arrested under a bio-hazard act imho.

36. Most visited webpage → Google Reader and BBC

37. What's your name→ Sankofa. The real one will not be revealed on these nets :-p

38. Nicknames→ Domzy, Nanz

39. Relationship Status → Single (again)

40. Zodiac Sign ---Libra


41. Male or female or transgendered Female


42. Primary----- St. James'

43. Middle School → I'm not a Yank

44. High school → Again, I'm not a Yank but my secondary school was Ardingly College

45. Hair color → Brownish blackish

46. Long/medium/short → Medium

47. Height → 5"6/ 5"7 I swear it alternates between these every time I get  measured

48. Do you have a crush on someone? → Not a soul at the mo. It might liven things up a bit though...

49: What do you like about yourself? → My lips I guess

50. Piercings → Many

51. Tattoos → One

52. Righty or lefty → I'm so right-handed it's not funny. I feel for my left hand sometimes.



FIRSTS :

53. First surgery --- Last year's oral surgery

54. First piercing → ears

55. First best friend → Henrietta from Madonna Primary School

56. First sport you joined → Netball

57. First pet → have never had one

58. First vacation→ does moving countries count? If it doesn't then I  guess it would be Dusseldorf, Germany

59. First concert → Brighton's Party in the Park with the likes of 911, Craig David, Jamelia, Westlife (when they were called Westside) etc. Oh the days of Southern fm

60. First crush → Nathan from Isleworth



RIGHT NOW:

61. Eating → Waakye

62. Drinking..... Water

63. Already missing→ London shopping and cooler weather. Yes, really.

64. I'm about to → Start marking

65. Listening to → singers on American Idol

66. Thinking about → How I really need to start my marking and how I've wasted my weekend once again

67. Waiting for → Godot



YOUR FUTURE :

68. Want kids? → Sometimes it's yes, sometimes it's no. I think I want at least one though. I think...

69. Want to get married? → Definitely

70. Careers in mind → Publishing, literary agent



WHICH IS BETTER WITH THE OPPOSITE SEX?

71. Lips or eyes → Lips

72. Hugs or kisses → Kisses all the way. I'm not too big on hugging

73. Shorter or taller → The taller the better. Ideally 6"3/ 6"4

74. Older or Younger → Older

75. Romantic or spontaneous → Can't I have both? I guess romance lasts longer but I get bored easily...

76. Nice stomach or nice arms → Stomach

77. Sensitive or loud →
After Koforidua Boy allow sensitive men, so I guess loud wins by default

78. Hook-up or relationship → The original anti-relationship girl is growing up so definitely relationships here.

79. Trouble maker or hesitant→ Trouble maker



HAVE YOU EVER :

81. Drank hard liquor → yep

82. Lost glasses/contacts → More than I can even count

83. kissed on 1st date – yes

84. Broken someone's heart → So they claim

85. Had your own heart broken → Severely bruised

86. Been arrested → Yep. The days of doing stupid things out of sheer boredom are now over (I hope)

87. Turned someone down → Yes, yes, and yes. Usually every time I had to venture out to Woolwich a.k.a "Little Lagos"

88. Cried when someone died → No

89. Liked a friend that of the same sex? → Not in that way



DO YOU BELIEVE IN:

90. Yourself → Yes

91. Miracles → Yes but not those ones at church when the pastor is screaming prayers at you, bathing you in his spittle whilst simultaneously pushing you to fall down so you can prove you "caught" the Holy Ghost. [[[side eye]]]

92. Love at first sight → Hell no

93. Heaven → Yes

94. Santa Clause → I din't even believe in him when I was 7. Like my parents are going to allow a fat, old, white man to take the credit for their presents. KMT

95. Kiss on the first date? → Yes

96. Angels → Yes



ANSWER TRUTHFULLY:

97. Is there one person you want to be with right now? → Yes

98. Had more than one boyfriend/girlfriend at one time? → Nope. If you actually get me to commit, I'm a one-man woman. If there's no explicit commitment however, well then....

99. Wish you could change things in your past?→ Yes

100. Are you posting this as 100 Truths? → I guess so



Currently listening to: Death- Nneka

13 March 2010

Anybody out there?

I feel like hanging my head in shame. I don't know what happened but I guess I lost my urge to blog for a while there so um Merry Christmas, Happy New Year and Happy Ghana Independence to everybody out there! Not that there hasn't been anything to blog about. Far from it. I finally managed to get a job here which I like and hate alternatively (but more on that later). I fell in like and had a brief relationship with a man who was ultimately yet another disappointment (more on that later too). So my first foray into dating after The Musician was ultimately a failure but at least it wasn't too damaging.

My apathy towards blogging seemed to extend to commenting on my favourite blogs but reading them kept me going and I'm now ready to rejoin the blogosphere. The writer of my new favourite blog Rantings of a Man-hater has unfortunately decided to abandon me but the old faves like Ramblings of a Procrastinator, Wo Se Ekyir, Adventures from the Bedrooms of African Women, MighTy African, and of course, Life... and Living It held me down.

My own brand of twi (the most widely-spoken Ghanaian language) that I like to call "twinglish" has improved immeasurably so yay for me! I'll end here and I'll be back with tales of men and (mis)education but not before I leave you an image of the sun as it was seen in Ghana a few days ago. Isn't it luvvverly? Don't know much about the science behind it and I don't much care I just liked the pretty.


Here's Chris Daughtry of American Idol fame smashing Gaga's Poker Face to sing us out!


Currently listening to: Africa- Amadou and Mariam ft. K'naan (chooooooon!)
 
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