I used to both fear and dread Mondays. When I was working part-time back at home I would have to either wake up extremely early to get primped and ready to serve coffee to caffeine-needy people, or just.. well, work.
That has changed. I no longer dread nor even fear Mondays. I suppose that is one of the benefits of up-and-going somehwere new to work and live.
But Mondays can still mean preparation. And today I had to prepare to teach and assist at our local agricultural high school.
What is an agricultural high school, you might ask?
Well, let me tell you..
At our agricultural high school here in town, yes, we have only one high school. Our students study the fine arts of whatever high school students tend to study in Japan along with gardening, growing corn, raising livestock, and caring for plants and foliage. It is really rather exciting.
And the school grounds are very new, very lavish and everything is tastefully painted a nice almond yellow. No, I’m not being sarcastic. The yellow is nice!
It was at this school today that I taught the third year class for the first time. And thus, first times teaching means first time introductions.
Thank you for wondering, yes, everything went well and fine. I have to say though that showing the students a shopping flyer from a local food store back home, or say, a pizza menu brings about some startled reactions. Reactions including, ‘why are your pizzas so big in Canada?’
And have you thought about it? Are our portion sizes ‘that’ much bigger in Canada?
Anyways,
During the lunch our on Mondays I am often invited to play indoor soccer with the students during the forty-some minute lunch break.
I have to say, plaing soccer in slacks and a dress shirt is new to me, but it doesn’t take me long to get into the game. I really enjoy soccer.
Language barriers fade to a near zero and everyone ends up running around the gym passing and dodging ill shots that are aimed for the net but often fly at one’s piece de resistance, or face.
Today one of those very ‘shots’ or flying soccer balls came for me. It’s just that it wasnt’t my face..
Infront of a mix of students and other teachers I neatly took a soccer ball to one of the more delicate areas of the male anatomy. That’s about all the ‘spelling out’ of it I will do.
Needless to say I was in a heap on the floor for a split second. There was a gasp of silence for a moment as one of the ‘teachers’, me, was down. It didn’t last long. A hail of smiles and broken laughter soon follows and I was up laughing along with everyone else. The game carried on and the lunch bell soon swept us all back up and on our ways about the day.
I am rather glad really that I was taken by surprise like this today. With both students and teachers present I was given the opportunity to look a little ‘human’ infront of everyone. Something for which I am glad.
In a culture of being careful, following the rules, and knowing your place it isn’t always easy to break down the walls between say, student and teacher. But with a little help today (haha) students saw that I was just another guy, a friend -maybe, who enjoys a good game of soccer and crumples when thocked by a soccer ball.
All in another Monday’s work.
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