Ya, I hear ya, in the background balling. What happened to your sweet summertime dress? - Amos Lee lyrics
Finally, I am in San Remo!!
There are 160 tutors training in this city, all of us living in cramped suites at a (somewhat shady) hostel/hotel. However, the location was about 3 feet from the beach, the weather is hot by day but chilly and cozy by night, and we are, all things considered, in ITALY.... few of us have thought about the bad food or odd accommodations long enough to complain!
The training itself has been a somewhat intensive course designed with the intention of preparing us for teaching English in a summer camp setting and to children with very little foundational knowledge. We have spent the time learning games and songs, scheduling our class days, and simulating exercises! I must admit that these seemingly ridiculous activities have resulted in much humor and brought together a very disparate group of people: legitimate school teachers who are just doing this program as part of their summer holidays, directionless college graduates in search of an excuse to go to Europe, random theater actors from England, etc. We are a bit of everything rolled into one Australian, Canadian, English, Irish, and American mix, but somehow, it has worked.
Every day during my lunch hour and after training was over at 4:30pm, I have changed into my bathing suit and sat on the beach or by the pool. Melville wrote that we witness something mysterious about ourselves and our origins in the contemplation of the sea, something vast, sublime and incomprehensible, and I would tend to agree. I have usually sat, read, or slept, absorbed in the completely inactivity of my body (and usually my mind) after months of continuous labor. The sound of water crashing has provided the perfect welcome, quiet, without the unnecessary burden of words, explanations, qualifiers. A relevant quote comes to mind: "...to be without time, or rather in time with no concern for time, free of the passions and troubles of the soul, experiencing something like calm in the face of things and of oneself." (http://www.reasonproject.org/archive/item/happy_like_god/)
In the evenings, we gather in the balconies to drink (very cheap) wine, sing to Jason’s guitar, and sometimes go out dancing, only to wake up early the next morning to learn songs about little green frogs, big great moose, and what the crocodile said to the orangutan! The humor of our binary existence has not been lost on anyone, including our supervisors, who have seen some individuals roll up to training in the morning with dragging feet and oversized, (very) dark sunglasses.
Now, the week is coming to an end and we have each received our placements! I will be working in Milan for the next two weeks! On Saturday morning, off we will go, by train or bus or car to our own corners of northern Italy, potentially never to see each other again. I have forged some good acquaintances during these last five days, so I am personally hoping that at least some of them last!
No comments:
Post a Comment