Personhood and Politics

My chili is simmering in the kitchen, perfect time to sit down and write a bit about today. Today I had to be at school at 8am, which means I had to be up and moving at 6:30 this morning. This is quite a struggle for a spoiled college student, who spurned outright any class beginning before 10am. At 6am the idea of Grad school looks better and better all the time. Despite my early morning battle to get my body working, I am enjoying classes very much.

One of the classes I assisted in today was a large group in their 12th year. The whole hour was dedicated to them asking me questions about myself, my country, and my impressions of Berlin and Germany. I recognized some of the kids from other groups. Consistently there are a few kids who are brave enough to ask most of the questions, while the rest are quiet listening. Up to this point I've been surprised not to have entertained many political questions. Actually, there has only been one thus far: "What do you think of Bush?" I offered a diplomatic, but also clearly unfavorable response. They actually clapped when I said that I had never been a Bush supporter and was happy to be able to voice my opinion in the last election.

Other than that, politics have been surprisingly absent. When I commented on this to Günter - the 64 year-old husband of Marion, the couple I'm currently staying with - he says probably because they feel so hopelessly impotent in a political system that doesn't care about them, they have lost interest in politics. Somehow I think this is oversimplifying the matter. I think politics, and especially the idea of America, fills and surrounds their bi-cultural lives. I prefer to take their lack of desire to interrogate me on the politics of my country as a sign that they can separate a person from the government under which they live.

This was particularly clear when one of the boys asked me the highly political, but also deeply personal question, "Where were you on 9-11?" I told them that I was in Mexico. I felt the interest of the students peak. I told them how I found out, at first thinking it was a misguided joke of my prank-loving Mexican friends. I told them how it dawned on me that this might not be a joke, and how I felt when I wandered into the international students lounge just in time to see the second tower fall. I told them how alone I felt, how I felt light years away from home, loved ones, and compatriots. As I finished my abbreviated tale of that day, I geared up for the inevitable political follow up questions about the war, and our bellicose leader. None came. A moment of silence followed my little story, and the weight of it lifted. Then came the more questions, about school, teachers, and daily life in the U.S. For some reason this made an impression on me. I was a person, not a flag, a symbol for all the good and bad actions of my government. It was very humane. Or maybe they were just scared to ask the questions they really wanted to ask. It's hard to know.

Classroom (Mis)Adventures

So, here I am IN BERLIN! My new hometown in Germany. It's quite a town. The public transportation is so good, that you can get anywhere in a half hour. It's so good that one of the other kids in the program said she's not getting enough exercise because there is a train stop close to everything. I've also got a high school ID, which means I can ride all public transport for 26 euro instead of 90. It's totally illegal and kind of ridiculous, because I'm 23, but I'm not complaining!

I just got a room in an apartment lined up. It has been very stressful being homeless. I'm staying with a very nice older couple, who have been very good to me. My living situation has actually been pretty good, just very temporary. I went mushroom picking with them last weekend in the area around Berlin. Berlin is strange. There are no burbs, it's just city city, then bam, you're in the woods. Very different from good All-American urban sprawl. It might have something to do with the whole Walled City thing that happened not so long ago. Anyway, I like it.

I had my first solo lesson today (which I'm not technically supposed to do, but they needed someone.) It wasn't too bad. It only took me about 15 minutes to make someone cry. That's a new record for me. So, I went into it having no idea about their English abilities. All the other groups so far have been older, and really good at English. These kids were 8th graders, and didn't understand much of anything. I tried to talk very slowly and do lots of pantomiming. I wanted them to interview each other, I gave them a list of questions, name, place of birth, hobbies, etc. Then I wanted them to introduce their partners, so I could get to know them too. So, some understood this. I went around to each group and tried to help. It was hard because I couldn't use German to explain. I am not supposed to. So, some still didn't get it. I saw one group with all kinds of answers written down, they seemed to get it so I asked if they might want to show the others. The one girl said yes. So I had them get up. The other girl was all confused. She was just supposed to sit there while her partner introduced her, but apparently she didn't understand a word of the whole thing. Her partner had written down her answers, as well as her own. So the girl was all confused, didn't understand what I wanted her to do (which was actually nothing), and she started to cry! Man, What could be worse? I felt terrible! The was a teacher on call who came to help. Meanwhile, the rest of the class is getting riled up. Keep in mind, these are not nice, rich, little prep school kids. This is a tough school. (See picture above - The accompanying article from last May tells of a knife fight in which a kid got seriously hurt) 76% of the kids in school grew up speaking a language other than German. There are kids from just about every country you can imagine in class, all trying to get along. So, when things starting going down hill, I knew the potential for total chaos to break out. I told them to quiet down, and singled out one girl who totally ignored me and seemed to be some sort of leader. I was a little worked up, but I kept my voice calm, and I told her that she had to respect me. Somehow she seemed to get that. Anyway, she chilled out and so did the rest of them. She actually then volunteered to go first. She introduced her partner, and did a good job, and he did the same. Everyone laughed a bit, even the girl who had been crying. And from there on thing went a bit better. Damn, there were a few moments there, where I though hell was going to break loose. Now at least I know there abilities, and I can do things for them that will be more appropriate for there level. Damn it's hard to teach a language you never had to learn yourself. I wish I were teaching Spanish, then at least I would know what it's like to sit on the other side. I think the next lesson will be tear free. It was really intense, I must say..

So, now that I've rattled off that long tale of classroom misadventures, I will sign off for the time being. I've got to get to bed, tomorrow is another school day.