Friday mornings

I love Fridays.  Who doesn't?  But these days i have a particularly good reason for loving them: Friday teacher's meeting and assembly.

None of the other teachers can comprehend my dogged determination to attend these functions, despite their insistence that I don't have to go.  After all, no other NET in the school bothered, and the teachers themselves probably think they are incredibly boring.  Plus, I don't speak a word of the lingo. 

At today's meeting, the principal tried to conduct the meeting in English to make me feel more comfortable, bless her heart.  But this would be entirely contrary to my purposes of being there, so I begged her to continue on in Cantonese.  Much to everyone's relief.

How much would the teachers hate me if my presence forced them to conduct their meeting in English?  They would eventually ban me from the meetings. 

So what IS my purpose, if not to actually comprehend anything?  This is the perplexing part that the teachers can't wrap their heads around. 

Small vignette (feel free to skip):  When i was in Japan, my sempai Steven was somewhat disturbed by a certain teacher we worked with.  I adored her.  He asked me how it was possible that I could love someone who was so disrespectful to the kids?  I told him," What do you mean?  she LOVES the kids, and they love her!"   She uses a rough tone of voice but her eyes are sparkling and they are laughing. (  I had a teacher in the 8th grade that called us all sorts of names: pubescent pimple puss, dirty lazy slobs, and so forth, but he was being ironic and a stereotypical cartoonish bastard, and we understood he was being humorous). 

Why was it Stephen didn't get the joke, when he is such a fun and funny guy himself?  Because he understood Japanese.  he knew she was calling them all kinds of names.  All i had to go on was body language because i didn't speak a word at the time.  And her body language informed me it was all in good fun.

But body language is such an important communication tool.  You can learn so much from watching people interact, even if you don't understand a word of it. 

For example, after attending just a couple of meetings, I already feel safe to announce I know who are friends, and which teacher is kind of a social outcast.  I know who holds a slightly more important role in the school.  Who really is listening and paying attention and who just pretends to be listening.  I know who waits their turn to speak and who interrupts.  i know who sits quietly and who is having running conversations with others.

And i have a great deal of respect for a teacher I hardly talk to, but makes it a point to sit near the social outcast so he is not completely isolated, but he clearly doesn't like him much either because they don't sit right next to each other and have only the politest communications.

See?  this kind of social information I can't get from sitting by myself alone in the staff room. 

the second reason why i like the meetings is that it gives me a good 30 minutes of uninterrupted time to listen to the tones of Cantonese, and I try to echo in my mind every word that's said to see if i can at least mentally approximate the sounds I am hearing; I'll work on how to physically make the sounds later.   I am blessed to live in the one place in Hong Kong where foreigners don't go, so there is quite alot of opportunities to hear and use Cantonese, or at least, more than most other places, if only I could catch what is being said.

So. like a baby, I am trying to surround myself with Cantonese and listen first, and work on babbling later. 

Conducting the meeting in English would make everyone uncomfortable, and i couldn't observe them in their natural habitat.  its like learning about lions in a zoo.  Plus i couldn't listen to Cantonese.  Plus they would ban me from the meetings eventually.  I am so glad the principal didn't decide to go ahead with her plan to conduct the meeting in English.

 I also enjoy the Friday assembly for the same reasons, and for watching the kids and how they are managed and how they manage themselves.  I also realized today that the kids bussed in from mainland China are the ones who are always late to the assemblies.  i guess because they have to cross the boarder every day, they are always late.  because they are late, they cant participate with their peers; they have to stand in a separate area on the side and join their class after the assembly is over.

Now I know who the immigrants are, it'll be interesting to see in the classroom if these children become friends with each other out of solidarity and necessity, or if they will find a way to blend in with their classmates and make relationships with HK locals.  When it cools down a bit, I want to spend at least a couple of days a week playing on the playground with them to further observe these relationships.


I love Fridays!  And of course, i love Friday afternoon most, when I leave for the weekend!  :-)