Day 17: Take a Bow

Haha yes, I fell down... it was a great sight apparently; I hadn’t caught my wind before I realized that Keri was crying from laughing. I don’t blame her, I was laughing pretty hard too. It was one of those epic falls you only see in movies, the kind where the person is basically horizontal in midair at some point... no piddly slips with splits for me, I’m in it to win it :) I’m totally fine though minus the bruised bum and ego. Both will heal! And no, haven’t had another migraine (thank goodness) but have been feeling ill to my stomach all day starting last night. I am usually in science right now (I’m beginning my journal at school) but have been feeling progressively fluish so I decided to stay in quiet, dark Mrs. B’s room for the next 50 minutes until school is out and I can go home. I’ve been hearing a lot of stories about kiddos getting parasites from the local food when they first arrive, I don’t know if that’s what’s causing me so much upset on this trip. That and the bacteria here are different and I’m not used to them, not to mention the way they cook meats. Haven’t had sheep head yet and it looks unlikely that I will before I leave (even though Tim does want to try and get Keri and I to a restaurant that serves horse before next week) but most all of the meats are served after being boiled. Just boils my stomach a little... myself and the other teachers here who have traveled from around the world to staff the school dream of lettuce, the only vegetables available right now are questionable tomatoes and cucumbers, cabbage, and of course spotless, perfect beets. So that’s why this is a primarily meat and milk society! Sorry, I feel like I go on food tangents quite often. It’s not the only cultural difference I have been noticing, I swear! It does press on my mind (and my tummy) often though.

Today was Mrs. B’s and my “Cherry Blossom Tea Ceremony” and it ended quite differently from how it started. We began by reading a book about Sakura trees and the significance of cherry blossoms to the Japanese people and the kids were already squirrely. Next we made cherry blossoms from pink tissue paper and some stencils I drew out yesterday, some ribbon and a few staples. I was playing my low key Japanese music from my laptop, turned up the volume as high as it would go, but the kids couldn’t hear it over the chatter. So Mrs. B explained how important meditation and reflection is, and used that as a way to gain silence. It didn’t quite work until she told them to “stop talking” altogether... the symbolism may have been a large expectation right after recess, but they follow commands just fine :) After cherry blossoms were made, we handed out the worksheet I made for the students’ music-listening exercise. We played some of my music for a few minutes, had them close their eyes, and then had them draw a picture of what the music looked like to them in their heads/made them feel and write a sentence or two about it. They started quieting and calming down after that; at one point, I looked around the classroom and saw them meditating (well, the version of meditation most all of us know and I’m not sure if it’s correct... from my kids I saw legs crossed, hands on top of knees, fingers creating the “okay” symbol, head thrown back and mouth agape) while listening to the music. After this, Mrs. B took them into the hallway to explain tea ceremonies and the customs involved while Mr. Denis (the aide) and I set up the classroom for the tea ceremony. We put down some yellow butcher paper to represent the eating area, scattered the cherry blossoms the kids made about the middle, and set each student’s place. We didn’t have paper plates at the school, so we decided that coffee filters resembled the shape of Japanese fans and therefore would not only work but were cultural :) we also put each of their names on a label on the filter so that each student had their very own place. Made it more intentional and a bigger deal to them, and also allowed Mrs. B and I to practice a little classroom management by putting kids where we wanted them. After the little plastic teacups were all placed and the small tea cookies were precariously perched on the coffee filters, we went and retrieved the class from the hallway. You could tell when they walked in that the room had transformed into a pagoda before their eyes. They silently filed in, took off their shoes and bowed to Mr. Denis and I (the hosts, apparently). It was remarkable; they quietly sat down and waited for their tea, listened to the music, and contently nibbled on their cookies. There were no, “I don’t want to sit next to so and so”, or “what’s her name got a bigger cookie”, or “why do we have to sit here like this? I’m bored”. I greatly underestimated my guests. They took everything very seriously and seemed to truly enjoy the experience. As they all munched and sipped in practical silence, Mrs. B read the haiku’s they had written the day previous and students beamed as they heard theirs being shared with the class. It was very special, and I think the kids took a lot from it. Sadly, there wasn’t enough time to do everything we’d planned (we even skipped math today to fit it in!) but we will continue tomorrow during cultural studies time and hopefully I will have enough time to slip in my student voice aspect at the end (I want to video a few students talking to me about what they learned about Japan).

Working at an international school is so different from any other experience I’ve ever head, especially in schools. The kids here have been all over the world, either living at or on vacation to other places. Their cultural awareness and respect for the cultural differences of others astounds me, even at the younger ages. It seems as though there is a general understanding that a person’s background contributes to who they are but doesn’t define them. The focus remains on the person as an individual and, since everything is different here, uniqueness is cherished and seen as a valuable asset. It spills over into other aspects of school as well. Kids with speech difficulties, due to language or otherwise, kids with attention issues, kids with strange behavior... all of the above are given ample opportunity within their classroom to be an equal part of it. I know that teachers are supposed to do that regardless and facilitate its happening in their classroom culture, but it actually happens here. Everyone is valued, and (as Anastasia said in her interview yesterday) each child is considered for the person they are and not what they know. It’s been a neat thing to see, especially in a classroom with such little kiddos :)

Well, it’s my host brother Alexander’s 11th birthday today so I went up to his classroom during lunch to sing to him and have the birthday cake he was so excited about! I didn’t want to eat cake before having something more substantial for lunch (especially with a sour stomach), but thankfully a kid didn’t want their school lunch so Keri and I thought “Jackpot!” and snatched it up. The college kid in us follows everywhere I’ve learned; free food is still free food, even if it is a questionable sandwich from a Kazakh restaurant. After that was ELL with Mr. Cloyed and now I’m here!

School is almost out and my bus comes soon, that and I’ve about unloaded the whole day, so I guess I’ll leave you alone now :)

Chels

P.S. We have talked to Tim about everything we’ve learned and seen with our host family, especially since the kids’ home life is such a mystery to the staff and administration. We’ve heard her hit the boys and yell/cuss at them, and sadly the boys also talk about it, but there is neither Child Protective Services here nor any jurisdiction for the school to intervene apparently. It’s a really painful situation, so the best we are trying to do is help the boys to make good decisions and work with them through their homework and questions in a manner that shows patience and understanding. We sadly can’t control what their mother does, but we can control what we do; so we’re trying to be kind and helpful to the boys, and helping them to keep out of trouble. All is okay though, I don’t think it’s because she’s a particularly angry person, I think she just gets frustrated with them. If we can chip away her frustration, she’s usually fine. So that’s the game plan! And prayer... lots of prayer.

P.P.S. Yeah, I think Keri and I would love to talk about our experience to the SOE faculty! We have a lot we would love to share, that’s for sure :) and just so you’re aware, Tim and his family took a position at the QSI school in Chengdu, China for the upcoming school year, so I don’t know if JanTerms in Astana will continue unless other relationships are forged... it seemed as though the other teachers were extremely receptive, but a contact person to coordinate may be another thing. Just wanted to let you know! And I’ve been considering a place like QSI Astana or QSI Astana itself for my first teaching job and don’t know if I could do international teaching with the distance from family and such, but hey anything can happen :)