This must be the first of September, the day that in Belgium the schools reopen after the summer holidays. The sun is shining brightly in the deep blue sky, but it's a bit chillier so this must be autumn indeed. I put my school books in my bag, together with a new pen and a new notebook, give Christine a last hug, and off I go. Back to school...
I arrive at ten 'o clock, perfectly on time (yes, today there are special hours...) and one of the assistents immediately directs me to my new class, being the third grade of the "scuola media". That's a bit disappointing because I had hoped to still have a bit of time to adjust myself to my new life at school, but unfortunately I wasn't granted any respite. I was pushed into the lion's den right away. The worst thing of it all was that this time I wouldn't have to sit in class, where I could blend very well into the background. No, this time I'd have to stand in front of it! And from personal experience I know very well what a handful 14 year-old kids can be. Then again, they say that poachers make the best game keepers so if that were true I should be more than allright. :-D Mara was already standing there too and she immediately pointed at the centre of the stage, meaning that I should do the main act this morning. That's what I was already afraid of, but I didn't have any choice. Twenty pairs of eyes were staring at me with big interest (perhaps the kind of interest cats display when they're looking at little birds?). I took a big sigh...
- "Goodmorning! I'm Peter!"
- "Goodmorning Peter!", all the kids shouted back at me most enthusiastically. Hmmm... that already went well, didn't it?...
I briefly introduced myself and then asked all of the children to introduce themselves too. I added some extra questions like "Have yo got any brothers or sisters?" or "What are your hobbies?" so that nobody would get away as easily as to just state their name. Then the tables were turned and the students were allowed to ask me as many questions as they liked. To my surprise I was quickly getting the hang of things and it felt again like more than twenty years ago when I was teaching Astronomy to children of about the same age. I truly enjoyed standing there in front of the class. Perhaps it was partly because of my urge for attention, something my disability often provokes and usually to my detriment. But mostly I felt glad that I could do something for those children. To help them and possibly even to give them a brighter future because obviously a decent knowledge of English will become ever more important. It's such a rewarding experience... Perhaps I also have to admit that due to my disability, deep inside, I have always remained a bit of a child, which in this case would be an advantage. It makes it easier to relate to the children, and vice versa. Yes, I truly felt that they considered me as "one of their own" in stead of "one of the teachers". The hour flew past and in the end the children all stood up and gave me a warm applause. I humbly bowed at such a token of appreciation. I felt deeply moved...
In this class there were a couple of children who were a bit behind of the rest. Some of them because they're a bit slower and need an extra bit of attention; but one had only just arrived from Macedonia and one even from Brazil. The Brazilian boy came to Mara and me in order to ask if I wouldn't give him a couple of private lessons because he was so eager to learn. I discussed this with him, Mara and another teacher who's responsible for looking after the kids who need the extra attention and I said that if there would be four or five children interested that I could do this for only a few Euros per lesson each. To me it doesn't matter if I have to spend the hour in front of two or five children, and five still isn't too much so that not everyone would get the personal attention required. All we still need to look into is a venue because Busana is more than a half an hour's drive. Perhaps if we could find something half-way we could go ahead with the idea.
Mara and I were about to say goodbye when I looked into the classroom of the second grade. All of the children were looking at me through the open door and making gestures like thumbs up and funny waves. I asked Mara if she didn't want me to briefly say "hello" to those children as well. And she immediately replied that it would be a wonderful idea. So there I went again. I immediately noticed that the class of the second grade was a lot more "lively" than the third, where most students were a bit shy. Not in this class! There were three or four real rascals here, but the "nice" kind though. :-)
- "If you could already introduce yourself", Mara suddenly told me, "then I can pop out for five minutes or so because I have to do something urgent."
- "Huh???"
There I was... all alone at the mercy of these children. After five minutes she indeed returned, briefly, just to see that I was doing allright and then leaving me alone for the rest of the hour! Well, there was absolutely nothing to be worried about. I introduced myself and they did the same. Then they started asking me questions. Lots of questions. Whether I liked "womans". I corrected the smartass and wrote "women" on the blackboard, stressing its correct pronunciation. I asked the entire class to repeat and they happily did. "Women" rolled like a thunder throughout the school building! I replied that I liked one "woman" in particular and again they enthusiastically repeated me. Then I threw the ball back at the smartass and asked him whether he liked women.
- "Yes!", he said, "Pamela Anderson!" :-D
- "But... she's old!", I replied, "she's even older than I am!" And then I mimed what happens when you've had a facelift and you're having trouble laughing. The kids thought it was hilarious. Obviously I wasn't going to demonstrate what else dear Pamela had already had lifted... :-D
Throughout the question session I also got to explain the expression "used to". Which turned out to be most helpful during the rest of the class because when someone asked me whether I liked Michael Jackson, I could explain that he used to be a singer. But not anymore. Because he's... dead (making cut-throat gesture). Obviously none of the kids were going to admit that they ever used to play with dolls or teddybears, although one of them was ready to admit that he used to play with Lego stones. "But not now!!!", he immediately added, "I'm playing with a Playstation now!" Well, they thought it was funny to hear me confess that I used to play with Lego as well...
Again the hour was over when I though it had only just started. The kids applauded even louder, if at all possible, than those of the third grade and they were begging me to stay. Mara came in and explained that this would not be possible. She had asked the head master for a few hours for the second class also, but the budget wouldn't allow it. After all, it's only a small school. I proposed that I would do the second class for free then. After all, what's most important for me is to give something back to the community, for as much as I can. This experience was so rewarding that I truly wouldn't mind doing it for free. And if I could do it on the same day as my lessons for the third grade, so much the better. Mara promised she'd take my offer back to the head master and let me know. Although she added that it may create a legal problem because normally, as a "third person", there are strict conditions before someone can stand in front of a class. But about twenty minutes later she already called me to say that the head master had agreed and that he wanted to thank me for my generosity. Well... How about that?... Again, I felt so deeply moved.
So that's it. I'm going to be an assistant English teacher at the Busana school and next year my hours will probably be doubled. But that's not all. In the evening I got a call from Cosetta's aunt, who used to be an English teacher but who's now slowly retiring. Whether I wouldn't be interested to take a similar position in a school in Casina. Of course I would! Five minutes later the head master of the Casina school called me to offer me a twenty hour contract! The nice thing is that it would be four hours for five saturdays in a row, saving me a lot of driving over and back. Tomorrow I'll be going to Casina to meet the head master and to discuss the details.
Slowly things are moving, aren't they? Oh... I'm so happy... :-)
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