Are you single?

Yesterday was my first day to go to the high school where I will be observing. I am assigned to a Filipino teacher who I will co-plan with and eventually pretty much start teaching his classes. He seems very nice. He kept asking me about American movies I've seen, and couldn't believe I hadn't seen The Mummy. I told him my favorite was Gone with the Wind, and he instantly said, "Clark Gable!" So we're off to a good start I guess.

Most of the classrooms are probably around 20'x35', but some are a little larger while others are a little smaller. There are 60 desks in each room, and at least 50 students in each class. The students stay in their classrooms while the teachers rotate rooms every hour. The high schools here begin directly after elementary school, so the Year 1 students (freshman) are 13 and Year 4 (seniors) are 16. The students wear uniforms, calf length plaid skirts for the girls, khaki pants for the boys, and white shirts for all. The teacher's uniforms are pink shirts and khaki pants, but we were told we didn't have to wear them.

The part that stays in my mind the most about my first day at school was when I went to the second English class in the afternoon. I had just introduced myself to the class, and there were a lot of whispers and giggles that I had to ignore while I walked to the back of the room to find my seat. When I got to the back the teacher finally said, "They want to know if you're single!" The entire room waited for the answer, like it was the key to all the world's problems or something. When I said, "No I'm not married," the entire room erupted into a roar of giggles. Yep, it almost felt like home for a second.