This summer I had the opportunity to again go to Turkey as a freelance Teacher Trainer working on a CTS Primary course with SELT Academy. This year I was in Konya.
It was a fabulous 2 weeks with trainees from Algeria who both delighted and inspired me and fellow trainers from around the world that made me laugh daily. I wasn’t sure at first about leaving hubby and my now 2 yr old sausages behind for a second time, but I dragged along a friend I adore for the ride and away I went. What can I say, I’m sure glad I did 🙂
When I arrived in Konya I was greeted by a stinky cramped hotel room that backed onto a noisy alleyway and had electrical wires hanging out the bathroom wall. I really wasn’t feeling it. Homesickness and missing my tucking my little sausages into their beds wasn’t helping. I didn’t sleep a wink the first night in fear of bed bugs and electric shock and any other yucky thing my sleep deprived mind could conjure up.
How quickly things change though. A new hotel room, meeting my colleagues properly, seeing the school, meeting my trainees… Everything from that moment just kept getting better and better. I fell in love. Deeply in love. With my trainees. My colleagues. Konya. Turkey. It was a magical two weeks full of smiles and laughter. Not even the oven-like conditions in the air-con-less classrooms could dampen my happiness (well, maybe a little).
Whenever I think of my time in Konya, I smile.
My wonderful trainees made me smile. Especially their jazz hands and, well, total awesomeness.
The best trainees in the world
Everything is better with jazz hands
And who doesn’t love a trainee that brings the whole class ice-cream?
Lovely Jesus saves us all. Hip Hip hooray for ice-cream on a hot day!
In fact, even though I was sad to say goodbye to my lovely Algerians, I’m so happy to have known them.
A happy goodbye? We walked and we walked and we walked….all the way to lunch
My wonderful colleagues made me smile.
The trainers and their pilot, Tarik.
My daily bus rides made me smile. And laugh. A lot!
Benjicek-cek-cek ja jsem Benjomil…
Everyone’s buddy. Buddy.
Actually, My colleagues didn’t just make me smile. They made me laugh out loud on a daily basis.
Tuna comes from trees. Not inebriated donkeys.
My favourite…
Ben quote, “Is it under the table?”
Magdi quote, “No, it isn’t”
Anette quote, “Is it in the tree?”
Juan quote, “Tuna!!!”
So many things to make me laugh and smile. Hichem bringing me tea. Juan telling alphabet jokes…..
My favourite cheeky monkey.
The Pink Panther aka HJ
Sitting on a terrace late into the night with a cuddly frog called Buddy. So much to smile about!
Buddy, Buddy, Buddy. No words!
Meeting and working with the lovely and talented Juan Alberto Lopez Uribe, author and creator of popular TEYL blog Children Learning English Affectively, has inspired me to write more on this blog. There is a real blog post coming. I just need to put aside some time to write it. And my new ‘school’ year’s resolution is to post more frequently.
In the meantime, if you are looking for a way to get your young learners smiling and laughing, I highly recommend two of Juan’s blog posts inspired by our carry on in Konya….
Affective puns for young language learners and alphabet riddles for young learners
and while you are there, there are tonnes of other great posts on Juan’s juan in a melon blog (see what I did there, Juan?), like this fab one he posted today listing 50 ways to use flashcards affectively (and effectively!)
Thank you juanderful Juan for encouraging me to dip my toes back into the blogosphere. I promise to set aside some time for a real post real soon. Starting with one just for you.
How many days have you wasted lately?
Until next time…..
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