So I had a pretty surreal experience last night. I found out just how amazingly small this world really is.
My co-worker Karina who lives above me in my apartment building had a guest stop in for a few days. She is a friend of Karina's family back in Colorado and was traveling around South America when she stumbled into some medical problems. Friends of the family are always great, you've never met them but you need to treat them like a long-lost relative even though you'll probably never see them again.
In any case, I stopped by to show Karina my new horrible haircut (my spanish DEFINITELY needs to improve) and get a woman's opinion about the extent of the damage. After I was assured by Karina that it wasn't too bad, she got a phone call and took it in another room. This left me alone with the familial friend, Mandee.
I found out that Mandee was a fellow international educator although not in the same vein as Karina and I are in. She teaches ESL to Bosnians in a language institute. We got to talking about how she got into the field since most people from Colorado don't rush off to Bosnia to teach ESL. It eventually came out that she had lived overseas as a kid (just like me) and chose her profession based on the idea of continuing to travel. Being the curious person I am, I asked her where she had lived and was surprised that we had a common school from our history - Jakarta Embassy School.
International educators will recognize that this is not the current name of the school in Jakarta currently - but it was the name of it back in the 1970s. I asked her when she was there and it turns out that we attended the same school at the same time! How amazingly weird! I've found this woman who went to the same school as I did 30 years ago.
I had goosebumps at this moment and couldn't resist asking her a question that men are never supposed to ask women, "How old are you?" When she replied that she and I were the same age, I was absolutely floored. At that moment we both realized that we were classmates from Kindergarden and 1st grade!!! Now THAT's something I never would have expected to happen on the average Tuesday night.
What a small world indeed...
Wednesday, August 23, 2006
Sunday, August 20, 2006
the power of being bilingual
Its been a month now since I've moved to Peru and I must admit, I am having a great time. Now if only I could find the time to actually get work done. Even now, at 8:45 on a Sunday night, I am finding it hard to concentrate on the task at hand and find myself making an entry here instead of doing my work. I guess those habits learned as a kid die hard...
I just got back from a brief shopping expedition. I needed to get some new shoes for VB practice and I also grabbed a new nalgene bottle so I can drink some water at work while I teach. I walked over to Larco Mar - an upscale shopping area here in Miraflores and made my purchases. The fun part - I never spoke a word of english in the process and I feel really good about that. There's something gratifying about speaking the native tongue and conversing in another language.
Long time (or even somewhat recent) readers will recall my former position was in another overseas school, in Holland. They speak another language there and yet I never made any post about speaking Dutch over the last 18 months. Truth be told, I was one of the many English speakers in the Netherlands that never learned to speak Dutch simply because I was never required to since almost everyone speaks English. That isn't the case here in Peru. Almost no one speaks English and if you don't have a basic understanding of Spanish, you're sunk.
I was fortunate enough to grow up overseas and having lived in Mexico for two years back in the early 80s, I learned to speak a little Spanish. Thanks to Mrs. Huijsman at ASF in Mexico City for making this transition to Peru a little bit easier. *Odd note - Mrs. Huijsman was my Spanish teacher yet her name is Dutch; mere coincidence?* I can't imagine what it must be like for the other newbies here that don't speak a lick of Spanish. I mean, I know what its like to feel totally isolated because you don't speak the language so I guess I can imagine but its still not something that I want to relive at the current moment.
So even though tonight's shopping expedition wasn't the most trying of situations to need another language, I still did enjoy it. Just like the conversations that I have with the cab drivers (except the one about American politics - I never learned those words from Mrs. Huijsman and found it difficult to express my true opinion) and the maid and the other locals that I've bumped into, I find it nice to have the background that I do in Spanish and a little comforting to know that I can at least carry on a conversation as if I were a 10 year-old native speaker.
A 10 year-old with a wicked sense of humor... ;)
So to all those out there who haven't learned a second language I give you this little piece of advice - try one on for size. Its truly an empowering experience.
I just got back from a brief shopping expedition. I needed to get some new shoes for VB practice and I also grabbed a new nalgene bottle so I can drink some water at work while I teach. I walked over to Larco Mar - an upscale shopping area here in Miraflores and made my purchases. The fun part - I never spoke a word of english in the process and I feel really good about that. There's something gratifying about speaking the native tongue and conversing in another language.
Long time (or even somewhat recent) readers will recall my former position was in another overseas school, in Holland. They speak another language there and yet I never made any post about speaking Dutch over the last 18 months. Truth be told, I was one of the many English speakers in the Netherlands that never learned to speak Dutch simply because I was never required to since almost everyone speaks English. That isn't the case here in Peru. Almost no one speaks English and if you don't have a basic understanding of Spanish, you're sunk.
I was fortunate enough to grow up overseas and having lived in Mexico for two years back in the early 80s, I learned to speak a little Spanish. Thanks to Mrs. Huijsman at ASF in Mexico City for making this transition to Peru a little bit easier. *Odd note - Mrs. Huijsman was my Spanish teacher yet her name is Dutch; mere coincidence?* I can't imagine what it must be like for the other newbies here that don't speak a lick of Spanish. I mean, I know what its like to feel totally isolated because you don't speak the language so I guess I can imagine but its still not something that I want to relive at the current moment.
So even though tonight's shopping expedition wasn't the most trying of situations to need another language, I still did enjoy it. Just like the conversations that I have with the cab drivers (except the one about American politics - I never learned those words from Mrs. Huijsman and found it difficult to express my true opinion) and the maid and the other locals that I've bumped into, I find it nice to have the background that I do in Spanish and a little comforting to know that I can at least carry on a conversation as if I were a 10 year-old native speaker.
A 10 year-old with a wicked sense of humor... ;)
So to all those out there who haven't learned a second language I give you this little piece of advice - try one on for size. Its truly an empowering experience.
Thursday, August 17, 2006
home to pedophilia
Ok, so its been a while since I've updated and I should be writing more about my arrival in Peru and all the changes that have been happening since I arrived. I know I should be doing that but honestly, I've not been in the mood to reflect on all that at the moment. Instead, I question the reputation of my chosen profession with the public at large.
I just got done reading that the found the murderer of JonBenet Ramsey - a grade school teacher named John Karr. He fled the US to avoid the investigation and tried to get a job - teaching - in Thailand. Its yet another case of a terrible thing happening to a child by a person who is an educator. Why is it that this profession is always making the headlines with child molesters and murderers topping the charts?
I'm a professional through and through. I wear a tie at least 4 out of 5 days in the week to look like a professional. I am prepared for my job on a daily basis and always ready to help a child learn. I spend extra time with them when the concept isn't completely understood, sometimes meeting with them after school. But because this profession is a great place for pedophiles to find prey, I worry that the parents of my children will assume the worst when I spend extra time with their child.
Many people say that teaching is a noble profession and that I should be proud to be such an influence in the lives of youth. After the incidents involving Mary Kay Letourneau, Debbie Lafave, and so many male pedophiles (so many that I can't even begin to name them all), how am I to feel any honor in my profession? I know that 99.9% of teachers are decent, kind, caring individuals who know to keep their privates private, I'm just tired of the teaching trade getting the reputation as the place where pedophiles can get their fix.
I swear there should be a more severe punishment for teachers who do such things with children. We are entrusted with children and their well-being, maybe if some form of neutering was involved with punishment, people would think more about becoming a pedophile while being a teacher. I'm not one to want more rules or laws in the world but c'mon, what needs to happen to someone to deter them from hurting a child when they are in a position of trust?
I just got done reading that the found the murderer of JonBenet Ramsey - a grade school teacher named John Karr. He fled the US to avoid the investigation and tried to get a job - teaching - in Thailand. Its yet another case of a terrible thing happening to a child by a person who is an educator. Why is it that this profession is always making the headlines with child molesters and murderers topping the charts?
I'm a professional through and through. I wear a tie at least 4 out of 5 days in the week to look like a professional. I am prepared for my job on a daily basis and always ready to help a child learn. I spend extra time with them when the concept isn't completely understood, sometimes meeting with them after school. But because this profession is a great place for pedophiles to find prey, I worry that the parents of my children will assume the worst when I spend extra time with their child.
Many people say that teaching is a noble profession and that I should be proud to be such an influence in the lives of youth. After the incidents involving Mary Kay Letourneau, Debbie Lafave, and so many male pedophiles (so many that I can't even begin to name them all), how am I to feel any honor in my profession? I know that 99.9% of teachers are decent, kind, caring individuals who know to keep their privates private, I'm just tired of the teaching trade getting the reputation as the place where pedophiles can get their fix.
I swear there should be a more severe punishment for teachers who do such things with children. We are entrusted with children and their well-being, maybe if some form of neutering was involved with punishment, people would think more about becoming a pedophile while being a teacher. I'm not one to want more rules or laws in the world but c'mon, what needs to happen to someone to deter them from hurting a child when they are in a position of trust?
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