SIENA (#39)
Today, at school, my father came in to talk to my Technical drawing teacher as well as the history teacher. He was going to talk about different ways they can include me in the class. By the time he left he had agreed to visit my History class and discuss Politics!
First, my dad talked to the technical drawing teacher when I was in History class. All went well, and the teacher agreed to photocopy some things for me, so that I could study the same material they were studying, but my dad could help with the translation. This is exactly what my father and I thought I needed.
Then my dad talked to the history teacher. During this time, I had a break while some of my other classmates were in Religion class. The kids who don't study Religion go to another study type room. For the past two weeks, I have been going with them. (I didn’t really find it crucial to learn about Catholicism). On my way downstairs to get to the unused room, I saw my dad chatting with my history teacher.
We kind of sat around, and looked at my Italian book, because they had nothing better to do. We looked outside, and it seemed very nice. We had no teacher, and there just so happened to be a door leading outside from our room, so we decided to go outside.
We were sitting on the benches in the garden, when my history teacher walked out. He didn’t seem to care that we were outside, so we kind of talked with him for a little bit. Then he turned to me and said (in Italian) next week, your father will come into our history class and answer everybody’s questions about American politics.
I said ok, and he left, and then it hit me.
My dad is coming into a school filled with kids who hate Berlusconi and even more George Bush, and he’s answering questions!
Excuse my language, but what the heck was he THINKING?
Good luck pops
COMMENTS from the original blog
2004-03-18 07:37:18 stefano
Re: Dad to talk about US Politics at San Bernardino? (by Alex)
NB: Alex's Dad actually agreed to discuss post-war American History, not Politics. Although I suppose if you are Italian, this might be a distinction without a difference.
2004-04-13 00:27:08 Roz
Re: Dad to talk about US Politics at San Bernardino? (by Alex)
So, how did it go? How about some New -York- Times -quality coverage?????
Roz
2004-05-05 17:11:4139 Barbara
Re: Dad to talk about US Politics at San Bernardino? (by Alex)
One thing I found so wonderful about traveling to foreign countries is that most people you meet are smart enough to separate citizens from a country from the politics of that country, so Italians (or at least most of them) will recognize that not all Americans support George Bush. When we were in Palermo, Sicily a year ago, the waiter who greeted us realized we were Americans and immediately said "George Bush" and made a slash motion across his throat. This was shortly after the US entered Iraq and most Americans were too afraid to travel abroad. By the way, the waiter was extremely friendly to us, as I am sure the students at your Dad's school were to your Dad.
Today, at school, my father came in to talk to my Technical drawing teacher as well as the history teacher. He was going to talk about different ways they can include me in the class. By the time he left he had agreed to visit my History class and discuss Politics!
First, my dad talked to the technical drawing teacher when I was in History class. All went well, and the teacher agreed to photocopy some things for me, so that I could study the same material they were studying, but my dad could help with the translation. This is exactly what my father and I thought I needed.
Then my dad talked to the history teacher. During this time, I had a break while some of my other classmates were in Religion class. The kids who don't study Religion go to another study type room. For the past two weeks, I have been going with them. (I didn’t really find it crucial to learn about Catholicism). On my way downstairs to get to the unused room, I saw my dad chatting with my history teacher.
We kind of sat around, and looked at my Italian book, because they had nothing better to do. We looked outside, and it seemed very nice. We had no teacher, and there just so happened to be a door leading outside from our room, so we decided to go outside.
We were sitting on the benches in the garden, when my history teacher walked out. He didn’t seem to care that we were outside, so we kind of talked with him for a little bit. Then he turned to me and said (in Italian) next week, your father will come into our history class and answer everybody’s questions about American politics.
I said ok, and he left, and then it hit me.
My dad is coming into a school filled with kids who hate Berlusconi and even more George Bush, and he’s answering questions!
Excuse my language, but what the heck was he THINKING?
Good luck pops
COMMENTS from the original blog
2004-03-18 07:37:18 stefano
Re: Dad to talk about US Politics at San Bernardino? (by Alex)
NB: Alex's Dad actually agreed to discuss post-war American History, not Politics. Although I suppose if you are Italian, this might be a distinction without a difference.
2004-04-13 00:27:08 Roz
Re: Dad to talk about US Politics at San Bernardino? (by Alex)
So, how did it go? How about some New -York- Times -quality coverage?????
Roz
2004-05-05 17:11:4139 Barbara
Re: Dad to talk about US Politics at San Bernardino? (by Alex)
One thing I found so wonderful about traveling to foreign countries is that most people you meet are smart enough to separate citizens from a country from the politics of that country, so Italians (or at least most of them) will recognize that not all Americans support George Bush. When we were in Palermo, Sicily a year ago, the waiter who greeted us realized we were Americans and immediately said "George Bush" and made a slash motion across his throat. This was shortly after the US entered Iraq and most Americans were too afraid to travel abroad. By the way, the waiter was extremely friendly to us, as I am sure the students at your Dad's school were to your Dad.
1 comment:
Well, I never answered Roz.
It went really well. I had a blast. In fact, I remember it as if it were yesterday.
The kids were pretty curious and I mostly let them ask questions. They wanted to know about how popular George Bush was and his foreign policy, especially his war in Iraq. I remember pointing out that Italy might look more unified from outside than it does from within.
But my favorite part was when they asked about guns. They clearly thought that lots of Americans own guns, that we use them pretty frequently and we need to because it is so violent. I told them about our home in Oregon where I grew up and many such homes in rural America where we don't even lock our doors. I also turned that one around on them as well. I pointed out that life in Tuscany was pretty violent and scary without the State from the end of the Roman Empire right up to the modern State of Italy in the 19th Century.
"Why do you think all the country houses look like fortresses and have bars on the windows?" I asked. They did not know! But they sure thought about it...
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