need to squelch

Today in class, for some reason it became "Ask Ms. B all sorts of personal details." They always throw me off-balance with that.

I think it started with asking what my first name is. "Ms." I said. They're relentless little buggers, and one had seen it somewhere and remembered it. They told me about a former teacher who told his first name, and Jennifer said, "You should get with him! He's cute!"

And it was all just downhill from there. Somehow they got their work done, but there was far too much speculating on my partying and fucking habits. It was mostly in good fun, and many kids were not in class so they felt more buddy-like, and I didn't have the stamina to squelch it. It just can't happen again.

Matchmaker delinquents? I think I'll pass. Though I might cruise to that school and check out the hot teacher they want me to hook up with.

Speaking of that ... so, I called Dayton again just now and DIDN'T hang up this time. We had a long talk. I'm far more baffled now than before. He is SUCH A STUBBORN COOT. And so am I, but he can actually make me look semi-reasonable in comparison. And I don't mind being the reasonable one, but I'm not going to be the acquiescing one. Anyway, he recognized cultural differences at work here. I wonder, why is it that cultural differences are playing SUCH a role? We just keep butting up against these things that cause such problems. Why are things so hard?

Cutest thing a kid said today? When I said, "Hey, you're gonna clean that up, right?" [chocolate on desk] "Yeah," he said. "I brought it for you, but it was in my pocket and got all melted and gross." Ah, that's sweet. Like a little 4-year-old bringing a baby bumblebee. What made me think of that? Because this kid insists that cultural differences are impossible to overcome. Oh, he loves me, but I'm the exception to how he interacts with white people, he says. He likes to tease me for being Alaskan, and I do hope I can get him to push past his rigid notions of cultural differences.

But why? Maybe he's right. Maybe I never can be happy with somebody from a different culture. Then again, I KNOW I can't be happy with somebody from the same culture, so acknowledging his correctness would be a vow of lifelong celibacy, and I'm not quite ready for that.

Second cutest thing a kid said today? I was yelling at Gera for being Senor Hablador, leaning over the desk to do it quietly (which is far scarier), and the kid beside him said to me, "You have beautiful eyes." Of course my immediate reaction is to tell him to be quiet and stop trying to divert my attention. "No! I mean it!" "Yeah," said Gera, "But don't try to say nice things to her like that because she hates it." Why? Because it's usually BS. Like Eddie Haskell. But I'll just acknowledge Yomar's compliment and move on. (Both the chocolate and the eyes kids aren't creepy or inappropriate at all about it - don't worry, I'm not going to get fired or anything.)

So, my little delinquents bring me chocolate, tell me I'm beautiful, and try to hook me up with hot guys? Hm. Maybe my job doesn't suck as much as I think.

No, it does. I hate it in many, many ways. And the shit's going to hit the fan soon with my evaluation, so stay tuned blog fans.