Episode 2: Schlecten Tagesbuch Tagen
So if you just read Episode one, then I can give you a little German lesson. Well, okay it isn’t so much a lesson as a translation. This episode is titled: Bad Diary Days. So now you know two German words for bad. Though it seems, in most situations that schlimm is a bit stronger, but I could, of course, be wrong. I guess that isn’t really the point.
I remember one particular day last week being singularly bad. (Once you get over how clever that sentence is you can continue…go ahead and take a minute.) I was tired, and cranky, and most likely a sixth grader made fun of me. (Which they, of late, have stopped doing.) I can’t remember specifics because it was one of those days you just sort of block out of history. Well, I do remember there was no coffee. I also remember that while I was waiting for the bus some kids stole my Mütze (which in English is known as: A cap, a stocking cap, a beanie, a skullcap, or a toboggan), which happens pretty much everyday, but it just made things worse. Then, if the day followed suit with most other days, a kid jumped on, or punched or kicked me. Maybe even all at once. Such is the hazard of raus blieben (staying outside). At any moment outside the walls of the school I am no longer considered in any way a teacher, and really at any moment inside the walls I am only ¼ teacher and ¾ student.
I was at a low point. I remember feeling kind of stupid and pointless. Here I was, working at a school full of kids who didn’t even listen to me, and who might just be better off without me. Negative thoughts abounded. That is how the bus found me. I found a seat next to one of my favorites (who I internally refer to as ‘Little Rachel’ after a good friend I had in college, Rachel Wingo) whose name is Alica (pronounce Alisa). We started talking, in German. It was a conversation limited by both my German, and the fact that she is in 2nd grade. She told me about how one of my other favorites, Lukas, who is in her class, was always asking when I was coming to teach English. It seems he was a big fan of mine. (One of the oddest things is that the class he is in is my most difficult, yet it contains a lot of the kids I refer to as favorites…) Just before her stop, Alica also said: “Ich will nicht aussteigen,” (I don’t want to get off the bus). In other words she was a fan of mine as well. It was a great reminder of my importance here, reminders like that usually happen when I start feeling bad. Every day since then Alica has asked me to sit with her on the bus, but so far the buses have been too full to choose seats.
So if you just read Episode one, then I can give you a little German lesson. Well, okay it isn’t so much a lesson as a translation. This episode is titled: Bad Diary Days. So now you know two German words for bad. Though it seems, in most situations that schlimm is a bit stronger, but I could, of course, be wrong. I guess that isn’t really the point.
I remember one particular day last week being singularly bad. (Once you get over how clever that sentence is you can continue…go ahead and take a minute.) I was tired, and cranky, and most likely a sixth grader made fun of me. (Which they, of late, have stopped doing.) I can’t remember specifics because it was one of those days you just sort of block out of history. Well, I do remember there was no coffee. I also remember that while I was waiting for the bus some kids stole my Mütze (which in English is known as: A cap, a stocking cap, a beanie, a skullcap, or a toboggan), which happens pretty much everyday, but it just made things worse. Then, if the day followed suit with most other days, a kid jumped on, or punched or kicked me. Maybe even all at once. Such is the hazard of raus blieben (staying outside). At any moment outside the walls of the school I am no longer considered in any way a teacher, and really at any moment inside the walls I am only ¼ teacher and ¾ student.
I was at a low point. I remember feeling kind of stupid and pointless. Here I was, working at a school full of kids who didn’t even listen to me, and who might just be better off without me. Negative thoughts abounded. That is how the bus found me. I found a seat next to one of my favorites (who I internally refer to as ‘Little Rachel’ after a good friend I had in college, Rachel Wingo) whose name is Alica (pronounce Alisa). We started talking, in German. It was a conversation limited by both my German, and the fact that she is in 2nd grade. She told me about how one of my other favorites, Lukas, who is in her class, was always asking when I was coming to teach English. It seems he was a big fan of mine. (One of the oddest things is that the class he is in is my most difficult, yet it contains a lot of the kids I refer to as favorites…) Just before her stop, Alica also said: “Ich will nicht aussteigen,” (I don’t want to get off the bus). In other words she was a fan of mine as well. It was a great reminder of my importance here, reminders like that usually happen when I start feeling bad. Every day since then Alica has asked me to sit with her on the bus, but so far the buses have been too full to choose seats.
posted by Keith @ 7:22 PM
1 Comments:
teachers aren't supposed to have favorites!! however, I have my own too. Fatuma is doing well. I'm glad that those kids can brighten your day.
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