Nonverbal communication

Monday was President's Day, and a holiday for my class. Tuesday's class was cancelled because of winter weather. Somehow, after only two days of class, the week still feels exhausting. 

I went to get my students this morning, taking a snap of Moby and I as I waited for the massive vehicle to warm up at least a little bit. Yep, you can see four rows of seats, two car-seats, and just out of the picture is the most unhelpful ice-scraper ever made. The ice scraper might be more helpful if I 

could fully reach the windscreen when standing on the ground.

Most of the caseworkers don't like to drive Moby, so I typically get the pleasure of driving him. At first, I was afraid, I was petrified (...Did you start singing too???) but I've gotten used to it. It makes me chuckle when I turn the ignition only to have our solitary cassette tape start blaring Nepali music.

Most of our students/clients live in a housing complex not far from my teaching site. We've established a meeting point at an old gas station. Almost every morning, I pull up to the gas station and see two of my most faithful Bhutanese students, waiting stoically in the cold, occasionally smoking a cigarette. 

For the entire first month, their faces were always serious and almost dispassionate. They rarely came to class in December. Their caseworker called them finally, asking if they would come to class in January. The caseworker (who is from the same cultural background) told me, "They said they will come. But you have to remember, they might not come. Culturally, they will always say yes, but that doesn't really mean yes." 

That first day in January, I drove to the gas station, wondering if I would have any students at all. It always makes me smile to see my students standing in a line outside the gas station, patiently waiting for me in front of the "No Loitering" sign. The men dress in Western clothes, although sometimes they are wearing the traditional cloth hat called a topi. The older women are always awash in colors, wearing traditional cloth wrapped around their thin bodies in blues, reds, and yellows.  

Since that day in January, there have always been at least two men waiting for me at that stop. Sometime in January, despite the arctic temperatures, something thawed in our relationship. Now, Naina Singh and Sher Man return my smile and wave as they finish their smoking and climb into the van. As new students arrive, these two men shepherd them into the van, showing them how to buckle seat belts or open the door. They proudly say, "Good morning, teacher!" 

I should add that my conversations in the van are hilarious. By the end of my trip to collect students, there are normally at least two languages being spoken, and sometimes as many as five or six. Most of our students live in proximity to others who share their language. If absent students are part of the Nepali community, I'll normally ask Sher Man or Naina Singh if they know if they are coming. The response is a flurry of Nepali directed at me, which is completely incomprehensible to me, and then a much more helpful "Go" or a hand gesture to wait longer. 

There are several new students who live in a housing complex adjacent to the apartment block. One woman, Dil Maya (which is an incredibly common Nepali name judging by how many Dil Mayas are in our program), has been running late most days. As a result, I've begin to drive by her building on my return trip, hoping to hurry our departure a little bit. She wasn't at the gas station today, so I asked my regulars if she was coming. I got shrugs in response and gestures to drive past her house. I acquiesced and slowed down as I drove by her house. A man was standing on the stoop, smoking a cigarette, watching us with mild interest. Sher Man caught his eye, and through entirely non-verbal communication, managed to communicate that we were wondering if Dil Maya would join us today. The man went into the house, came back out, responded with a hand wave of his own, and Sher Man informed me, "She not come today." There was no need for a cell phone! 

I had to share this last picture. I keep reminding myself that I need to slow down. I have misread a number of things because I'm reading really quickly. I was substituting for another English teacher a few weeks ago. Her class is held in a local Baptist church. As I got on the elevator, I glanced at this sign:

At first glance, I thought it said, "Please do not pray on the elevator!" That seemed a trifle odd, particularly in a church! 

On cold days like today, I'm especially thankful for a roof over my head. (For those not in this area, today is a chilly -12 C.) I certainly will always have one with my family, but another roof has also been provided. At the end of January, I contacted an organization I used to work for, that has two apartments for international staff who routinely return to the USA. Since one apartment was empty for the next few months, they agreed to let it to me. So, on Feb 1, I moved into a "new" apartment. Ironically, it is the same apartment I moved into on February 1, 2012, when I moved back from the UK. (Could that have been three years ago?) This will be home for another two months. After that, we will see what doors open!

Classes are going well, as ever changing as always. My regulars are doing really well, truly making me proud of them. On Tuesday, I might have as many as eight new students, nearly doubling my roster. Several of my students have progressed to being able to hold simple conversations with me, which is a vast improvement from when I would get blank stares in response to anything I said.

I don't teach on Fridays. Instead, I supervise intakes and assessments for new students. It is nice to at least get to meet my students before they pitch up in class, and I think it reassures them to know it will be a familiar face. This past Friday, I wore a necklace from India, one with several strands of small blue beads. Two caseworkers, both originally from Nepal, commented on my necklace. The first man, Lol, looked at my necklace in shock and said, "Where did you get that?" I told him that I bought it from friends who live in Goa.  "Wow," he said. "In Nepal, a man would give that kind of necklace to his wife when they are married.  Usually, it's green, but it's like that."  He proceeded to introduce me to the two students I would be testing, who were both Nepali/Bhutanese. They looked confused by my name, until he said in Nepali, "Aasha."  Both faces lit up with smiles as they nodded approvingly at me.

After I began the assessment, a different caseworker popped his head into the conference room.  "Can I say something to them quickly?" he asked. Interruptions work both ways between our departments of Employment, Resettlement, and ESL, so I nodded. He had a quick conversation with my future students, and then did a double take when he saw my necklace.  "Can you wear that necklace?" he asked me teasingly. We rehashed essentially the same conversation, ending with Rohit telling me that my Nepali students would all think I was married.

As I've been writing, another friend has been messaging me on Facebook. He speaks Arabic and always calls me Amal. I love having a name that translates into other languages. Inevitably, my students' faces light up when they hear my name in their language. To my Spanish-speaking students, I can be Esperanza. To my Nepali speaking students, I can Aasha. To my Arabic-speaking students, I can be Amal. I haven't had any Somali students call me by my Somali name, but I believe it is Rayeyn. Some of my newest students speak Tigrinya (from Eritrea) and Kurdish, so perhaps I can learn how to say Hope in two more languages soon!

The New Class

As I wrote earlier, my new position included a new class. My currently class should come equipped with a revolving door. It is open enrollment (accepting students at any point in the year) and multilevel (from non-literate students to students who already have an intermediate level of English). To complicate it further, my students are newly arrived. When I began the class at the beginning of December, my students had all been in the country less than a month. 

Since my students are so recently arrived and do not have licenses or vehicles, our program provides transportation to the class. I got to be the lucky person to do so. So, each morning, I climb (literally) up into Moby, our older-than-me massive van, and drive to meet my students. 

I don't mind driving Moby anymore, although I was nervous the first time I tried to maneuver around the parking lot. I've gotten used to the beast that he is, and we've even ventured onto 83 today and reached speeds of up to 65 miles an hour without falling apart. We can even listen to NPR together, although I have to turn it off when my students climb in. The speakers only seem to work at the back, and I wouldn't want to deafen anyone! There seems to be an unspoken competition between my students to see who can sit in the passenger seat. I can't blame them...it reminds me of sitting on the upper deck of London buses! 

My new position unfortunately meant that I needed to surrender my old class, the one I have been teaching since July 2013. I stopped back to visit my class when I returned from the Middle East. It really brought so much joy to my heart to sneak into class and hear eruptions of excitement from my students. I got hugs and handshakes, compliments and a whispered "Teacher...do you have a boyfriend yet? No? Ok, I'll keep praying." 

I'm thankful that we've been able to keep in touch, even though I'm not their teacher anymore. I was showered with Christmas cards and Christmas presents. We're trying to find time for a "class reunion"! And last Friday, I met with one of my dear friends for coffee. Her English has improved so much. It really reflects her diligence and perseverance. She's now taking classes at a local community college, but she still comes to our English class a few days a week. She tells me that the other class is good, but our class is full of friends. Those words make me feel as though I've done my part. Life as an immigrant or a refugee can be very lonely and isolated. Everyone should have a place where they will be missed if they don't show up, someone to call if they need help, and someone to laugh with about mistakes and funny moments. I had a very unique combination of students in that class. While I don't think every class will have the same strongly developed sense of community, I hope they come close.

Recap :)

August through January has been a blur of milestones, because of travel and life changes. I will attempt to recap, but I'm already looking forward to another good year of more changes!

August involved a flurry of a new roommate in the apartment (my mother), new ESL classes, a new baby in the family (my cousin had a sweet little girl) and beginning to work on developing a proposal for my thesis project (a requirement for graduation). I blissfully reduced my employers to one!

September proved more memorable.  I clarified my thesis topic, deciding that I wanted to create an English program for teenagers that would teach peace and conflict resolution through English lessons. Another cousin (Havenbird!) got married in a beautiful ceremony on the family farm and a day later, I left for the Middle East to begin work on my thesis in an appropriate context.

October was spent in a little town called Beit Sahour, which is adjacent to Bethlehem, in the West Bank. I helped to run a coffeeshop, learned how to make a killer Caramel Latte, baked sweets for the coffeeshop and hungry friends, taught a lovely group of guys to play Dutch Blitz, enjoyed falafel for dinner on a regular basis, went to weddings, and danced and laughed until the days blurred together. The intersection of identity and language became a little clearer and a lot more complex through conversations with Palestinian youth. 

In the midst of it all, I interviewed (Skype) for jobs in China, Taiwan, Turkey, and Saudi Arabia, and viewed countless other job offers. Completion of my project meant that graduation would become a reality in December, and my plans included a job in a nice warm climate. None of the jobs seemed quite right. The job in Taiwan was at a language institute and would include teaching a lot of young learners. The job in China was with a new program and they wanted me to assume the head teacher position, which would include massive amounts of program planning as well as teaching. The job in Turkey was unpredictable hours. The job in Saudi came with a number of perks meant to counteract the restrictions of the culture, but I was still unsure. 

In the quiet of a Bethlehem afternoon, I read a staff email from my teaching job in the USA, announcing a new position that would opened in November. This position offered more hours and would involve teaching an intensive English class for newly arrived refugees. After an email conversation that lasted about a week, I surprised myself and submitted my updated resume and letter of interest to my supervisor. 

Around the same time, my 3 1/2 year old niece announced during a 1 a.m. Skype call (1 a.m. for me!) that "Mommy and I are getting a new baby!" I squealed at a volume that rivaled the squeal of my apartment-mate in Beit Sahour when she found out earlier that evening that we had a mouse. (The mouse became known as LeRoy and he was relocated successfully to the garden after several weeks.) Th news that there would be another baby in the family filled me with excitement and added to my growing sense that maybe I shouldn't take a job overseas just yet. 

I left Palestine at the beginning of November. I'm not sure if I left part of my heart there or if I brought part of Palestine home in my heart, but regardless, the six weeks I spent there had an incredible impact on me. I flew via Frankfurt, Germany, and arrived later the same day in Rome. A friend had spent a month in Italy studying Italian and we had planned to spend the last few days of her time in Rome together. I arrived around midnight at a gorgeous apartment, a few hundred feet from the Spanish Steps. 

The next few days were spent revisiting Rome. I enjoyed a coffee at a coffeeshop founded in 1760 with a long history of famous patrons. I wandered with camera in hand to some of my favorite sites. Meredith and I window shopped and savored gelato and delicious meals at some of her favorite spots.  We talked as I struggled to begin to make sense of my last two months, trying to understand freedom, injustice, reconciliation, and peace. Our trip culminated in a fantastic morning vespa tour of the "hidden" history of Rome. Valerio and Ipazzio were excellent tour guides. 

On November 9th, I left Rome to fly back to D.C., flying again through Frankfurt. I sat an airport coffee bar, struck by the irony that as I left one place divided by a massive wall, I was watching news stories on the 25th anniversary of the collapse of another wall. Berlin's wall may be history, but the wall cutting through Palestine still stands. 

I arrived in the USA later that day, a Sunday, and my new position officially started on Monday. I burrowed under my blankets to keep warm as I tried to plan a multi-level ESL class for refugees who had been in the USA less than a month and simultaneously finish my project. Cold, gray November days blurred together as my eyes became strained from endless hours of looking at a computer screen and reading about teaching strategies.

December 8th was the first day of my new class. December 13th was the deadline for my capstone project and the deadline for proposal submissions for an ESL conference. December 21st was the due date for my comprehensive exam. In any spare minute, I searched for possible apartments to rent (My parents are now both back in the USA and living in their apartment, which I had been renting in their absence.) December was a month were every minute counted and if I wasn't editing my thesis or writing a lesson plan, I was thinking about what I still needed to do. 

Miraculously, I survived. My supervisor accepted my thesis, my comprehensive exam completed on time, my classes stopped being quite as overwhelming to plan, and the committee for the ESL conference accepted my proposal without revisions.

My diploma arrived in the mail in January. It's official! I will walk in our graduation ceremony in May but it was celebration enough to finally see that piece of paper announcing that I am FINISHED! And now, one week remains in January! Although it still seems surreal that I don't have to do homework, I already find myself thinking about other ways to continue academically. My advisor and her husband were traveling in January and offered me the chance to house-sit for them, since I have yet to find an apartment that fits my budget. As I look around, their tables are decorated with my Arabic flashcards, International Phonetic Alphabet flashcards, printouts relating to teaching pronunciation and developing literacy, and a stack of library books. 

As I think about what I've just written, I'm amazed. I am blessed. In 2014, I visited Tanzania, Brazil, Palestine, and Italy. I turned 30. I graduated with a M.Ed TESOL. I started a new job. I learned more about my strengths and grew in some of my weak areas. I stopped caring about some things and became more passionate about others. I've been encouraged and supported by friends and family around the globe (literally!). It has been an incredible year. 2015 holds a lot of promise as well!   

I.Love.Brazil.

A week ago, we were leaving Newark for Brazil.  It has been an incredible week.

I'm so thankful for the group.  Jan (my academic advisor and the faculty member leading the trip) and her husband Rod are doing a great job as leaders.  The students are a wonderful bunch.  They have really committed themselves to a challenging first week and have bonded well.  We are also blessed with some fantastic Brazilian contacts (through Jan) on the ground who have been the driving force behind the trip.

We spent Tuesday at a prestigious high school, participating in two chapels and spending every break with students of various ages.  Kids in Brazil either go to school in the morning or the afternoon, so we had two different groups of students that we interacted with.  Once they got over their shyness, an incredible mass of Brazilians huddled around each of us, hoping to talk to the "norte americanos".  Normally, one or two of the kids in the group spoke English pretty well and would translate for their friends.  Before too long, we realized that EVERYONE in Brazil knows at least one word in English: selfie!  Almost every student wanted to take a self portrait with us! :) Then of course, we also needed group pictures and on it went...This was repeated at the next two schools on Wednesday and Thursday and Friday morning.

Tuesday afternoon was spent at an orphanage.  One of the teachers, who has been planning our trip, is currently teaching a "community service" class.  He takes students from this upper class high school on a weekly basis to this orphanage to serve the kids there.  It is really cool to see the way these high school students jump right into help.  I think their teacher is a great role model for them.  The picture below is of Joyce and me after an afternoon of face-painting.  Joyce is a high school student who speaks English very well and has a very sweet personality.  I've enjoyed getting to know her.

We all have been getting mass requests to be friends on facebook with the students!  I have added over 100 new friends on facebook since getting to Brazil!  At this point, I think it is easier to add everyone.

Starting on Wednesday, we became the teachers.  We decided on pairs before leaving the USA and were supposed to prepare two lessons that we could teach that were adaptable to a variety of ages and levels. This is quite a challenge for the MC students, none of whom are English education majors.  (Thanks to this trip, a number of them have talked about declaring a TESOL minor though!)  Due to Jan's busy schedule, I worked with the students to help them refine their lessons.  Everyone was a little anxious on Wednesday morning.

All went well!  We got used to the siren of a bell (seriously, their bell at the end of class sounds like an air raid warning) and the fact that everyone would mob us at the breaks between classes.  Each pair taught at least one lesson in the morning and one in the afternoon, in addition to assisting in two other classes and doing a large group lesson with Jan.  My partner Sara and I taught a lesson on body parts, using Simon (Sara!) Says, the song Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes, and the song Father Abraham.  We had a great time.

Friday, we returned to the same high school, this time to teach English rather than do the chapel.  It was so much fun to see some of the same kids again.  However, by this point, I had hardly any voice left!

Friday afternoon, we rushed home, packed frantically, and left for a camp outside of the city.  Jan's father built the camp and it has continued to be used for church camps.  This weekend was for youth, which in Brazil seems to mean anyone 15 and older who is still single.  I'll have to write more about the camp later!  :)

Londrina

Hello from Brazil!

I arrived with my traveling companions in Sao Paulo at 9 a.m. this morning.  We had a brief layover and then took our connecting flight to Londrina.  We got here at about 3 p.m. and settled into our rooms.  We are staying at a school, a seminary actually.  The 8 girls and I are staying in a lovely apartment, the three guys are in another apartment, and our faculty couple have a little cottage, all in the compound of the seminary.

Weather has surprised us!  Although we knew we were arriving during winter in the Southern Hemisphere, we anticipated warmer days.  At the moment, I'm wearing a shirt, a sweater, and a sweatshirt on top! Apparently, a cold front moved in two days ago.  Housing is chilly to say the least.  We are making do, having found some extra blankets and thankfully, the water heater was fixed!  I had decided to forgo showers as long as possible if we only had cold water!  We also were told that the weather is to be cold tomorrow morning, maybe even in the forties, but that it should warm up.  I hope so!

This group of college kids are a great bunch.  I feel every bit of 30 around them, but they are a goodnatured, friendly group.  They have accepted my somewhat nebulous position on the team as a member, but also a semi-leader.

Today has been a long day, but a good one.  I am ready for bed, but I'm also taking another graduate class and I have homework to do before I go to sleep.  We have an early day tomorrow.  We will be spending the morning at a school, participating at chapel for two groups of 400 students, and then we will be going to an orphanage in the afternoon.

I have a feeling the next 16 days  will fly by....

I have a really sweet young Moroccan woman in my ESL class.  Her language skills are pretty low to be in my class, but she tries very hard.  I can see the struggle on her face as she searches for the words to express herself.  She knows I'm studying Arabic (when I have the time), and she often tries to say something in Arabic to see if I can help her find the words in English.  More often than not, I'm not certain of what she is saying.  On the odd occasion, I've been able to parse together meaning with her.  Yesterday, we had one such conversation.  After little success, she finally looked at me and said, "Teacher, I wish you could learn Arabic faster!"  She is a gem!

Steel City

Sunday through Wednesday, I was in Steel City for an adult education conference, hoping to glean a wealth of information on teaching English to adults.  While the conference was somewhat anticlimactic, I still enjoyed getting to see a new city.  

This was my favorite house, dubbed La Petit Maison Verde. 

This is the very last picture of me as a 29 year old!

The conference may not have been all that I hoped for, but it was still a good experience and a fun trip.  Now, I have high hopes for my two conferences next week, which will take me out to the West Coast!

Birthday Surprise

My "sister", my one student and friend who is my age, decided to surprise me on my last day of class before leaving for a conference.  She knew I would be away on my birthday.  CL stopped at a store on her way to class to get a cake.

She also gave me a pair of handmade slippers!  Her aunt (who is still in China) made them.  I think they are awesome!!

The best moment of all was my students singing Happy Birthday to me.  It isn't a matter of language, because their language is advanced far above the level of Happy Birthday.  I might not be able to articulate it. I felt such love and kinship and I felt so blessed to be loved and cherished by these dear people.

Breaking the Silence!

It has been too long since I've posted anything at all!  Even though I'm currently writing a mini-paper due in two hours, I had to break the silence!

Although life has been busy, I continue to love my teaching job.  I had to share a delightful picture of my dear, dear students.  They are such joys.

As you can see, I have ten regular students now.  They represent seven countries and six different first languages.  I leave our class each day thinking that I have the best job in the world.

I really don't appreciate the assessment test my students take each term.  It is purely a reading test.  The students will read charts, graphs, or small texts, and answer multiple choice questions about the information.  It really isn't fair that my students are only tested on reading, but the past two terms, I've really made a concerted effort with my students to practice all four skills of language (reading, writing, listening, and speaking).  Rather than dismissing the test as the necessary evil, I did my best to teach them that they do have to take the test, but it doesn't test everything, and still provide them for opportunities to see their growth through other assessments as well.

When my class got their results, I had two students improve two full levels, one student improve one level, and one student was within one point of a full level gain as well! The three who stayed the same in their testing scores are my three learners who have been in the USA for 20-30 years (and one had just come back from 5 weeks in Korea).  These students would be considered fossilized learners, and it is very challenging to change patterns that have been set for such a long time.

I know these tests don't show everything but still, it was so encouraging for the students!  My administrator was impressed by the fact that all seven students on my roster were present to take the test, not to mention the results.

The best outcome was that even Hsiao Lien, who stayed the same on her test score, has improved in her spoken language.  We have been working on pronunciation and verbs a lot!  She often uses the simple present when she should be using the past, and I recently found out that Mandarin doesn't have verb tenses! Now it makes sense why she doesn't remember to use a different tense! However, if I ask her, she can produce the correct tense.  I'm so proud of each of my students.  They try so hard!  And they are doing well! There is still a lot of room for improvement, but so much of that is simply because they need more opportunities to use English in conversations with fluent English speakers.

But for now, teacher and students alike are ready for a relaxing Christmas break!