SIENA (#77)
The first day of school was great. The kids were really nice, curious, and not too intimidating. To read the continuation of this story, click on the ""read more"" button below for all the details.
Click here to read part one of the story.
After gym we had “grammatica” (Grammar {italian}) I expected to understand nothing, and since the teacher spoke only italian, I expected to be left out. I was right about being left out, but I did understand some of what he said.
For about 15 minutes, I think he talked about me, and how they would handle me in the class. He said he would give me a separate lesson, and separate work, and I would not be expected to participate. Most of this I understood, and the rest was over my head.
For the next hour, we had geometry. The teacher was not there (who was also the teacher of Algebra and Science). We had a substitute. Here, in Italy the substitutes are more like babysitters. She seemed very interested in me, and had many questions, so she devoted the class to people asking me questions.
The kids started out kind of shy, because they thought that their English was bad. So, they asked in Italian, and Kathy translated. The substitute asked, “Do you play an instrument?” I said no, and explained that I used to play the trumpet. The kids really started warming up there, and then they couldn’t stop asking questions. It was actually really fun. For about two hours they asked me questions, I answered questions, and then we just chatted about stuff. We talked about which teachers are good, which are not, and they tried out some English swears, and exercised their knowledge of American music, including:
Eminem
Linkin Park
Black Eyed Peas
Evanescence
Queen
The White Stripes
Outkast
Limb Bizkit
50 Cent
Blink 182
Michael Jackson
Nirvana
And they hadn’t heard of many of my “obscure” favorites. When the bell rang, they all asked if they could walk home with me, but that day my parents and sister were walking home with me, so I suggested that we walk the next day.
The first day of school was great. The kids were really nice, curious, and not too intimidating. To read the continuation of this story, click on the ""read more"" button below for all the details.
Click here to read part one of the story.
After gym we had “grammatica” (Grammar {italian}) I expected to understand nothing, and since the teacher spoke only italian, I expected to be left out. I was right about being left out, but I did understand some of what he said.
For about 15 minutes, I think he talked about me, and how they would handle me in the class. He said he would give me a separate lesson, and separate work, and I would not be expected to participate. Most of this I understood, and the rest was over my head.
For the next hour, we had geometry. The teacher was not there (who was also the teacher of Algebra and Science). We had a substitute. Here, in Italy the substitutes are more like babysitters. She seemed very interested in me, and had many questions, so she devoted the class to people asking me questions.
The kids started out kind of shy, because they thought that their English was bad. So, they asked in Italian, and Kathy translated. The substitute asked, “Do you play an instrument?” I said no, and explained that I used to play the trumpet. The kids really started warming up there, and then they couldn’t stop asking questions. It was actually really fun. For about two hours they asked me questions, I answered questions, and then we just chatted about stuff. We talked about which teachers are good, which are not, and they tried out some English swears, and exercised their knowledge of American music, including:
Eminem
Linkin Park
Black Eyed Peas
Evanescence
Queen
The White Stripes
Outkast
Limb Bizkit
50 Cent
Blink 182
Michael Jackson
Nirvana
And they hadn’t heard of many of my “obscure” favorites. When the bell rang, they all asked if they could walk home with me, but that day my parents and sister were walking home with me, so I suggested that we walk the next day.
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