Looking For The Greener Grass: A Week in the Life Episode 5

Recently I made an appointment with Mr. E to see if he would be interested in giving private lessons. I ended up meeting with him, Mr. O, Mr. A, and Captain. I learned that they are all too busy to give private lessons. They were more than willing to help out in other ways. My friend Lisa went to the meeting with me. While there, she explained my many frustrations with their program. Why do I have 5 teachers teaching me instead of 1? With 5 teachers, how do they know what each other is teaching? Why do the classes start one day at 1pm and the next at 9am? Why are some teachers 25 minutes late while others start exactly on time? Why does the program seem to change so frequently? Why, in Captain’s grammar class, are we talking about the alphabet and what sounds each letter makes in a level 4 class?

It turns out there are valid reasons for all of those things. The schedule is all over the place and there are a variety of teachers because generally the students are 17 & 18 year olds who are bored easily. Having changing schedules and teachers helped keep the students’ attentions. Around 85% of the students come from nearby countries who already speak a version of the language. We covered the alphabet on our first day because these students can speak and understand with great comprehension but their letters and pronunciations are different. Basically, they are catering to the students who make up the largest population.

I was afraid Captain might take offense since I questioned his teaching method but he didn’t seem offended. He was actually quite complimentary and explained that he had seen improvement in my writing in just a few short weeks. He said I might be one of the better writers. Later in the week when I actually showed up to his grammar class, he announced that we would cover the alphabet again that day before grinning at me. Well at least he can joke about it. Afterwards, we actually had a pretty great grammar lesson.

In between classes, I’ve been hanging out with Harry and Shelly. We’ve been working on reading out loud together. We also take breaks and I learn about their home country. I’ve put pieces together that Shelly is here with her family fleeing the war. They don’t have plans to return and hope eventually to move elsewhere as a family. I’ve learned that Harry is sick of corruption in his home country and is wanting to make a new home here. I’m sure the war is part of his reason for his being here as well. The rest of his family would like to come but for now they must stay put. One of the first times we hung out, Harry was doing something else so I told Shelly I was buying her snacks. The next time, Harry insisted on paying for mine. I resisted but he insisted. The following day, I insisted that it was my turn. He refused because it’s not part of their culture to let someone pay for their things. I’ve been so thankful for their friendship. Even though they are about 15 years younger than me, they look out for me and take care of me. They always get excited when I show up to class. I have also noticed how we can converse with each other for long periods of time. I’ve been remembering back to our first level days and how little we could talk to each other. It’s neat to see how we have all grown.

One day I left art class early because I was making fajitas for my friend. I told art class about this and Ellen said she’d like to try them. The following day, I took some to share with the class. I think the fajitas were a hit because I didn’t take any home with me. Quickly into the taste testing, they made sure I hadn’t cooked them with pig meat or oil. I told them that I respect their culture and would never do something like that.

Afterwards, Marty told me that he had never talked to a foreigner before talking to me. He had seen some and thought they were strange insinuating that maybe I’m not so strange. Later while we were working both he and Kadie made several comments that I need to remember them after the class. I think my statement that I respect them flipped a switch in our relationship. I think in that moment that I switched from weird foreigner to friend.

One day, I saw Roni on the bus. I had met her one day when her class was combined with mine because my teacher was absent. She has the kindest smile. She knows some English and told me that I could ask her questions when I get stuck. I had a chance to get to know her better on that bus ride. She moved to this country 2 years ago with her immediate family to escape the war. She still has relatives back in her country. I asked if she missed her home country. She does. They would have never moved here if it weren’t for the war. She said that everyone loves their home country the best. She hopes the war will end soon and she can go home. I told her that war is evil and I was sad for her.

I hosted Thanksgiving this year for the first time ever. We had trouble finding a Turkey. Finally one of the ladies called her village friend. The villagers killed and cleaned the Turkey for her. I’d say we had one of the freshest turkeys this Thanksgiving. We had quite the spread of food. I can’t really say that anything was missing from our meal. I made deviled eggs for the first time ever.

Earlier that day, I went out to the University to meet with Mr. O for our private lesson. He hadn’t shown the previous week and so I conferred with him the day before Thanksgiving that he would in fact be there. He got a little huffy and said that he came and didn’t find us the previous week so he left. In spite of this, he said he would be there the next morning. So Thanksgiving morning, even though I had lots to do, and it was raining, I put on my rain boots and jacket and headed to the University. He didn’t come. After 20 minutes, Harry and Shelly went to his office to see if he had forgotten. I waited to see if he showed up. Another 15 minutes went by and Mr. A informed us all of the teachers had been in a meeting and they were coming in a few minutes. After another 25 minutes passes and I had waited a total of an hour, I decided to bail. I was frustrated at wasting 2 hours of my life on a busy day. But in the midst of all situations, there are things to be thankful for. I was thankful for the rain and especially thankful at how the dreariness of the day made the fall leaves even brighter.