Take the time to smell the Roses!

I am about to write a blog that I hope doesn't end up being entirely too long because I have so much to do before bed tonight!

First of all, today I was coming home from one of my first days at WORK, and I was extremely exhausted. I have a rather long commute,and after waking up at 6am combined with a full day of teaching takes the energy right out of you. The commute ideally includes a train in the morning from the metro stop 5 minutes away from my house, and I ride for 35 minutes on a slow train until I arrive in Monza, a city just north of Milan. After I arrive at the train station, I then must take a bus or walk to the school which takes about 15-25 minutes based on your choice. However, this morning I chose to take the bus, and it took 30 minutes due to waiting and traffic! I was so annoyed. Tomorrow, I will walk to the school or take a more direct bus, on advice of a friend at school. If I miss trains, the whole process becomes much more complicated. Cough, I wont get into it!

In any case, I arrived home dragging my feet, and I entered the courtyard of my apartment complex after the long transit! There are beautiful rose bushes that grow alongside the walkway-white and red, and I passed them thinking about how I wanted to smell them. The thought of actually smelling the roses hadn't even crossed my mind because I was focused on getting home and on my schedule for the evening--I did not have "time" to "smell the roses" because there was "too much to do!" I didn't walk five steps before I realized what a huge hypocrite I was and how insanely self-punishing I was being. I literally about-faced in that instant, and I returned to the roses to smell them for at least 30 seconds--all of the roses, each one! I then laughed hysterically at myself in my cliched and literal enactment of the expression.

I have gone to school these two days dressed in the only "teacher outfits" that I can muster out of my wardrobe, and I have to go on a shopping trip to buy more professional clothes. I have really enjoyed these days at school because everyone has been very welcoming to me--both the Italian and English teachers, the principals, my coordinators, and the director of the school. It is a bit daunting to start teaching next week and to have complete control over the class; these days I have only been shadowing primarily the one art teacher with whom I will be collaborating to teach these children.

I never thought I would be a teacher at this level of education, and it is a very interesting and illuminating experience for three reasons:

1. I have never been on this side of the teacher-student relationship, and I realize how extremely difficult it is to be a good teacher who cares about their students. I never thought about all of the preparation goes into creating stimulating lessons that cover the material within certain time frames.

2. I am also learning how teachers think behind the scenes in reaction to their students' progress. I can't imagine how hard it will be to give some of those students bad grades, especially in art.

3. The Italian schooling system is so very different! It is very traditional, strict, and bureaucratic. They have different teaching objectives that are slightly archaic to meet for every year, and it is not a very conducive environment for the well-rounded contemporary education of the children. I will write a blog solely on the education system soon, but it is too complicated to explain tonight.

Overall, the students for the most part are extremely polite, and I was impressed with the overall respect and regard given to their teachers, and they are all very curious in class. In the hallways, they all make sure to greet every teacher, and at the end of the day the line of students leaving look up, smile, and say: "Arrivederci Prof!"--those that study English speak to me in English. There are so many rules for the children in this school, and it is a very stressful for them in my opinion. They all carry these HUGE bookbags around with wheels, even the little ones. Middle school: They also aren't allowed to go to the bathroom during or after class, and they can't walk in the halls alone--they are only supposed to "go" during their breaks of the day. This makes it very uncomfortable to turn them down, and I will warn my students that they should make a point to use the bathroom before my class so I am not put in an awkward position. (This goes for me as well!).

The classes I have entered thus far have been very rewarding experiences. Particularly in the first year of middle school, the students look up to the teacher with gleaming eyes as they ask questions. They are so curious,innocent and sweet, and they all brought up their designs yesterday to ask questions or ask for my approval: "Prof, is this okay--look what I've drawn--these are the people and--is this what we were supposed to do?" it makes me happy, and it tickles me to see the light in their face when I say nice things about their drawings. The one student said, "Prof, what do you think? Usually I am very bad in art." I responded--"I don't believe that one bit, I think you are really great." "Really!!"--he was so content.

Yesterday we taught in Italian, but the students following the English program asked me questions in English. (Students in their first year of middle school) They have already reached a very proficient level of English, it is very impressive. Many of them have cute little British or Australian accents because their teachers in the elementary school have passed it on to them. After the high school, I have noticed, the students usually pick up an American accent because most of the middle/high school teachers are American. haha. Next week, I will be taking those in the Veicolare (English Speaking) program to a different room to learn. However, I enjoyed conducting the lesson in Italian and responding to all of their little questions.

My challenge:

Italian Fact of the Day:

I went to by a hair straightener because the Italian hairdresser on Saturday gave me a huge crop of bangs!! I am now a very exaggerated Italian-looking girl, and my wavy unruly hair is not very hospitable to this new bang-do.

Of course you can't find hair straighteners in any of the stores that you might guess like the profumeria, the store for cosmetics and hair products, or a general department store, very small called UPIM. Instead I had to find a Electrical-Domestics store. It is usually frustrating that you have to walk all over creation to find different stores that specialize in your category of product, and sometimes, in the case of my hair straightener, it almost doesn't make sense that they would sell that with Mixers and coffee machines. whatever...


Fact: Italy still has tons of specialty stores, and the owners take much pride in their products and customers. Their are specialty stores of every kind, and the service is incredibly personable.

In fact, I approached the woman behind the desk who was chatting casually with her family members hanging about the store, and I asked, "Excuse me mam, you don't happen to sell hair straighteners?" They weren't displayed in the store, and I was sure that they didn't sell them. However, in fact, she had them in her back room! She went back as if she was pulling out high-quality Tiffany diamond-rings out of the safes for my viewing consumer pleasure. She then laid five out on the table in front of me, presenting me with an array of shapes and sizes, and she gave an extensive description of each one. It was as if hair-straighteners were her sole product, and she was very proud to display the variety and their function--as if she had just finished making them in the back room. I decided on one, and I left contented.

Now I have a hair straightener to tame my new bangs, and you know a little more about Italian specialty stores and customer service.

I was so tired last night, I couldn't finish the blog. Soo, I have just finished my coffee, and I have to get ready for my commute to school! On an ending note, I think we should all "take the time to smell the roses."