American Teacher in Ecuador

The Christmas Party at my school was quite the event.   The party was to start at 7:30 so we had decided to show up fashionably late, at 8:15.  The doors were just then unlocked at 8:15.  The place was decorated beautifully.  There were speeches, a prince/princess contest, and more speeches.  We sat at our tables patiently. Although the school throws a great party,  there was nothing to eat or drink for 3 hours!  Not even water.  Just before dinner was served at 10:45, we got a glass of wine.  Dinner was fine and I thought we were going home.  But then they brought out the Johnny Walker Red.  We all grabbed one glass, then another, and the whole party changed from a subdued, well-behaved, polite party to a fiendish, crazed, dancing party. We raged on until I think it was 1:30 in the morning?  Suddenly I found myself being whizzed away in a car driven by one of the partygoers. On the way, we stopped in...

OK, I feel the need to vent.  Teaching in a language school in another country and culture is an extremely frustrating process. The main reason for this is that the schools are in the business for the money.  Management at the school I'm at does not care one iota if students learn English or not.  As long as they're paying the monthly fee, they will continue to pass students to the next level year after year. For example, my Teens 5 kids have been in the teens program for 5 semesters, or 2.5 years.  Many went to the Children's program for up to 4.5 years before that.  90% of my students don't speak English.  They don't understand basic greetings like, "How was your weekend?  Did we already do this page?  Where were you last week?"  I am presented with a classroom of blank faces every single time I ask a simple question. The tests are set up to include all these extra points for things like class participation, homework, and "online act...