In Deutschland: Warum Nicht?

Today I felt like a real teacher. Perhaps it is weird that it has taken pretty much an entire school year to feel that way, and though I would like to blame (I originally wrote it blaim, but I blame German spelling) my language comprehension skills, I think I should really just chalk it up to training. I was kind of thrown into this whole teaching gig after a lifetime of promising myself I would never be a teacher. My parents are both teachers, so as a child I spent a brief amount of time thinking teaching was the only real profession on the planet. I think it is easy enough to do that, especially as a child seeing as the most real things to you (or at least to me back then) are your parents, siblings, classmates and teacher. The point is when it got time to be rebellious, the first thing I thought to do was rebel against the teaching profession. It is a rebellion I have held on to, to this day, mostly because signs keep pointing me in that direction. I know, I should think of teaching as a noble profession, being one of the only jobs that involve dealing with homework again (not having homework is probably the greatest thing about being out of school), and one chooses to deal with this homework in order to stand in front of a group of children most of whom don’t really want to learn. It’s a bit of a harsh judgement on school children, but I am allowed to say it because I’m a teacher and I work with those school children (plus I know school is boring...), and we’re always harder on our jobs than our normal lives.
Anyways, back to the point. I felt like a real teacher because I was called into a conference with the principal. Being a seasoned professional student, I have a natural resistance to meetings, especially when they involve a principal. My first thought is always: okay, what have I done to deserve this, and how can I sneak out of it? Now being a teacher, of course, the meeting was about students, specifically an event that happened yesterday on the bus. Unfortunately, the students involved were among my biggest fans, children that normally defend my honour should any of the other children attempt to mock me in earnest. Ordinarily they give me a hard time, but that is the way friendship generally works. Somehow it got around that these kids make fun of me a lot, though conveniently left out was the fact that they were just messing around. The meeting was intended to clarify this, though it was mixed up because there were also other things involved. Plus I won’t pretend my German is perfect. Anyway, I tried to give the facts, letting go of friendship alliances I would hold if I were a student and not a teacher. The kids weren’t bothering me, but did give considerable grief to two other adults. I spent the rest of the day waiting for the hammer to fall, for the kids involved to be mad at me or no longer be my friends. Instead, a strange thing happened. I met with a teacher and one of the kids involved and though the child was upset, it was more sadness. As he explained what he was in trouble for, he fought back tears, but I began to realize that there was an error. Tomorrow I will have to attempt to get the problem corrected, probably setting back the teachers opinion of my German comprehension to caveman level, but I suppose that’s what a real friend would do in this situation.
In other news, my spider bite has worked itself out, as most things tend to do, so I will not be visiting the doctor quite yet. My fellow Altes Lager trainee, Gary, on the other hand will be going tommorow on my orders (is it just me or does tomorrow just seem wrong?). He came down with a sudden sore throat and fever. After discussing his symptoms on the way to the drug store, and a bit of thought I decided it was Strep. throat. (Last year I believe I correctly diagnosed this in Maria). A quick check of the internet confirmed my suspicions, so I suggested he visit the doctor, which I believe he will do tomorrow. (Still seems wrong, tomorrow I mean.) Going through that reminded me of my love of diagnosing people, and taking care of sick people, but I don’t think I have it in me to go through medical school.

Disclaimer: I have no idea who Finnagan is or why I must write Finnagan in italics, but it sounded very SNL Sean Connery on Jeopardy.

posted by Keith @ 10:05 PM