Dreaming of India

I can't stop thinking about India. I've been devouring websites, articles, travel blogs, books, videos, and photos in an attempt to prepare myself, even though I know nothing can really prepare me. I know that all of my basic assumptions will be challenged, and that it is best to assume nothing at all. I know that for all of my travel experience, this will be my first true adventure. This will be the first time I leave the familiarity of the Western world.

Here are my favourite writings about India so far:

With the Kama Sutra Tucked Under My Arm: My Madcap Misadventures Across India - I started reading this book about a year ago and I'm finally getting around to finishing it now. Travel writing that reads like a novel.

Our two rupees worth - Hilarious blog belonging to a couple living in India for a year. Clear illustration of why you can't assume anything over there.

Nathan's collection of India essays - These were originally emails my boyfriend wrote to his friends while he was living in Ahmedabad 8.5 years ago. His descriptions are a feast for the senses.

And of course... a few photos (Also courtesy of Nathan. I haven't asked his permission yet, so I hope he doesn't mind!):

"There were several families of groundskeepers that lived at Sangath itself. This is one of their younger members. As much as I enjoyed the architecture of India, I found its people to be the real works of art."

"Palitana is a mountain in the Saurashtra region of Gujurat, topped by 863 Jain temples. There are almost 4,000 steps on the marble staircase which leads up the mountain. Here, two pilgrims return from paying their respect to the temples."

"Inside the temple complex, there are thousands upon thousands of shrines, all carved out of marble and other stones. The site has been under construction for about 10 centuries."

"The "Blue City" of Jodhpur, as one might expect, is exceedingly blue. Here I was only trying to take a picture of the calf wandering past one of the very blue walls, but after snapping the photo I saw that a rather taken-aback-looking woman had wandered into the doorway. I apologized as best I could in Hindi. But then her children (two fearless girls of about five and seven) discovered me and my digital camera, which they thought was the greatest things since sliced bread (though I'm not sure they would have ever had sliced bread, come to think of it). That broke the ice, and everyone went away smiling."

"From the enormous 16th century Mehrangarh Fort which looms above town, Jodhpur appears as a surrealist's ocean of cubicle blue dwellings. Originally the blue paint signified the house of a Brahmin, but in these modern times, everyone can paint their house blue.
This photo was taken during the festival of Diwali, which is celebrated as New Year's throughout much of India. The festivities involve insane numbers of fireworks and firecrackers, which would periodically be lofted above the city, exploding at eye level."

"A small village of wonderfully sculpted mud, home to perhaps half a dozen gourd-farming families."

"A grandmother in the village. She said that it was okay for me to photograph her, but I could tell that she was nervous. Still, this is perhaps the single best photograph that I took in India."


I can't wait until I have my own stories and pictures to share. T-38 days.

Smorgasboard

Two days so far at new school and so far, so good. The kids are generally (relatively) well-behaved and I like the staff... or at least the staff that I've met. If I had to gripe about one thing, it'd be that the school is so large, it's almost as though 3/4 of the students and teachers don't exist. There are other Classroom Canada teachers working there... people whom I know and who live in my building, and I never even see them! One of the things I really liked about my last school was that we all gathered for meetings every morning, and most of us hung out in the staff room together on breaks. There are a few really nice changes, though: A much quicker commute, free lunches, and afternoon breaks (at least in theory -- I haven't taken one yet). Also, they have filmmakers coming in to work with the kids every week. They're going to be making a documentary with animation woven in. Really cool!

Lately I've noticed that the alarm clock on my phone is confused; it's been going off when it isn't supposed to. Today, I learned the hard way that it is also randomly deciding not to go off when it is supposed to. An early morning text message is the only thing that saved me.

On a radically different note, I am officially going to India April 3rd-16th. Crossing my fingers that Nathan will still be there when I arrive (he may have to jet off to Brazil or China or Godknowswhereelse instead). I was going to wait longer to book my flight, but the flight I wanted (decent price, direct flight, on the dates I wanted) was close to selling out, so I took a leap of faith. I know I will enjoy it either way, but it would be so much better to be there with my man.

I'm also going to Sweden! March 19-21 in Goteborg. I'm there to teach a dance workshop, though, so I doubt I'll have much/any time to see anything. Still, I'm pretty excited.

One thing's for sure... life is never boring 'round here.

Just when I was starting to settle in...

I'm flying to Edmonton tomorrow morning and, as much as I'm really looking forward to seeing my dad and being surrounded by Canadian accents again, leaving is going to be hard. I've been deprived of one goodbye and am having a really difficult time with another. Nothing is going to be the same next week when I get back.

I found out after I left work today that I won't be going back to my school. Something to do with funding issues. My agency is lovely and they've already found me a new position for after the break, but... I'm heartbroken. Deeply heartbroken.

I've also recently found out that my boyfriend's being sent to India for work. He leaves Sunday and we don't know yet when he'll be back. It's looking as though he may be there for several months.

So I guess that's it. Everything in my life right now that's important to me... gone. Hopefully I'll get the rest I need over the break so that I can come back ready to start a new life. Again.

To Miss with Love and Disagreement

Thanks to Victoria's recommendation, I discovered To Miss with Love -- a compelling blog written by an anonymous inner-city school teacher in London. It is so fabulously well-written that I've found myself glued to it. So far, I've read over a year's worth of entries in a single evening. And yet... I can't help but disagree with a lot of what she has to say.

She goes through phases with the points she's trying to make. Just when I think I've established a trend, she'll switch to an entirely different one. First (in reverse chronological order), it was all about private schools. Private schools are automatically better than state schools. They breed children who take their studies seriously (which I know to be false because I attended private school--two of them--and they filled me with contempt) and who feel a sense of entitlement (which is apparently a good thing, because it gives them the confidence it takes to succeed). State schools inevitably fail to produce the same calibre of learners. Even the brightest students are doomed and will never live up to their potential. Most of the rest are on their way to the streets or prison or both.

Apparently this also has something to do with private schools not wasting time on frivolous subjects and creative education. Right. Well, I can sort of see where she's coming from. I'll admit I haven't been here long and my sample is small, especially in terms of mainstream education, but... for all the talk there is around here about creative education, I haven't actually seen it. My hunch is that it's a fad that most teachers don't actually understand and haven't properly implemented. In which case, yes, it probably is a giant waste of time.

Next, we take an interesting glimpse at the difference between students in Britain and India. We learn that "bad behaviour" in India involves wearing trousers with pockets on the outside, whereas Britain struggles with kids who constantly throw things and break into fights in class. Clearly, the fact that Indian children are grateful to go to school while British children feel entitled (wait, where did I see that word before?) to an education can be blamed for this discrepancy. Clearly, the solution is to eliminate state schooling. Nevermind that, say, Canada's education system is primarily public and doesn't see anywhere near the same level of chaos as what you'd find in a typical British school. Nor would you expect to find that same level of behaviour nearly anywhere else in the world, publicly-funded or not. I do think she has a point: We, in the Western world, do take a lot of things for granted. But I think it's far too simplistic to say that public education is at the root of all evil. And what was that again about a sense of entitlement being a good thing??

Finally, I'm on to the part about how children in the UK are not held accountable. Now here's some thinking I can get behind. She's right. You cannot hold a student back in the UK. I'm not even sure whether they get graded on their work (can someone clarify?). I think they just get tested on their abilities at the end of the year; the results of which are meant to reflect more on the school and the teachers than on the students. Why should they care about trying hard in school? It doesn't matter to them until it's too late... after they've already decided that they're not good enough and don't care about going to university, anyway.

Anyhow, for all the arguments I make, I still think To Miss with Love is an excellent blog that all educators should read. I submit that its author is obviously very experienced and a talented teacher, and I no doubt have a lot to learn from her. Debate on these topics is long overdue.

Beware the chocolate croissant

My boyfriend has a Yelp addiction. In many cases, it has found us yummy Indian/Thai/insert delicious ethnic food here. In others, it has left us stranded and hungry and confused (Note to Yelp contributors: please make sure you use the correct address). The latter cases are nearly enough to put a girl off Yelp entirely...

In this case, though, it served to keep him busy during a bout of insomnia and give me something to repost in my blog. Since I'm running low on creative genius of my own, I want to say thank you, Yelp. I guess you're alright, after all. Oh, and Nathan, you're pretty neat too.

I hate writing one-star reviews. I know that there are decent, hard-working people on the receiving end of them -- people who are just trying to get by, and are no doubt doing the best they can do. I should have empathy for them, not ire.

No, scratch that -- I love writing one-star reviews; I love wreaking my petty, seething, vengeance upon the universe, in a more or less harmless fashion. I get some much-needed catharsis, and nobody gets hurt. So with that in mind, let us not be shy: I want this ASDA to be expunged from the face of the earth.

Not because it resides in the middle of a blighted, industrial wasteland whose only conceivable raison d'etre is the eventual arrival of some post-apocalyptic zombie horde. Not because it is surrounded by so much asphalt and automobiles that it resembles one of the less attractive suburbs of Detroit. Not because it represents the pinnacle of the soul-less big-box retail monstrosities that are killing off the sweet and funky high street shops around the world.

No, this particular ASDA needs to be expunged from the face of the earth because of a pastry. A chocolate croissant, to be exact, served from the institutional processing facility which they had labeled "CAFE". Why was I so foolish as to attempt to partake of an ASDA café, you ask? Because I was trekking across this desolate wasteland in search of a real-estate viewing, and because I was tired and needed a nibble and had been walking for miles and it was freezing outside. Now at least I know: next time, perish in the cold. Really. It's better that way.

So anyhow, yes, the chocolate croissant deeply offended me. As did the truly bad coffee that came with it. And the thick mass of assuredly non-recyclable hydrocarbons that it was served upon, although I probably could have recycled that as a frisbee, on second thought. But anyhow, the croissant was the main thing...

How bad was it? Put it this way: growing up as a street urchin in the redneck wilds of America (semi-true story!), I often scrounged 2-day-old pastries out of the bins behind supermarkets, and I never once found a croissant as bad as this. On the outside, it was as oily as a fresh-squeezed Minke whale; on the inside, it was as dry and crunchy as the Atacama desert. The "chocolate" was probably biological in origin, but if the dry, crusty, foul residue had actually originated from a cacao plantation, it only arrived at ASDA via the digestive tracts of the plantation's ailing and disgruntled slaves. The next time I encounter a croissant as tough as this, I'll use it to bowl a game of cricket or assault an Italian prime minister. I'll certainly never attempt to *eat* it. Lesson learned!

Oh, and the flat I was viewing? Gorgeous place. Absolutely perfect everything, at a very reasonable price. And just across the street from the ASDA - O joy! Within 3 minutes I'd made one of the easiest decisions of my life: to never set foot in this neighborhood again, if I could at all help it.

There. I've said my peace. I've warned the world; there's nothing more I can do. Maybe now I can sleep in peace... maybe now the nightmares will stop...

Not a slacker

I know, I know... I haven't posted anything here in over two weeks. But I swear it's not (only) because I'm lazy. I just don't really have anything new to report.

The best I can do is to tell you that:

- I have a slew of dance gigs coming up (including one in Sweden!)
- I'm going back to Canada (Edmonton) for half-term break
- I finally signed up for a gym membership on Monday, but have only been once so far (and have already lost my membership card)
- I've decided to put myself through a week-long sugar detox
- I'm crossing my fingers for something that I can't reveal publicly until it's confirmed

Everything else is chugging along as usual.

Behaviour Management

I was not an easy child. I was stubborn, underachieving, and prone to tantrums, and I feel deeply sorry for anyone who had to deal with me during those years. But I was also very self-aware and I remember trying, futilely, to explain that I would cooperate better if I were approached in a different way.

That memory forms the foundation of my theories about behaviour management. Figure out what makes a child tick and they will instantly respond to it. No tears, no stress. It usually works.

Children in London, however, are a different story. While all children need boundaries, British children need those boundaries to be tight and strictly enforced. This is the land of the stiff upper lip, where children are meant to be seen and not heard. They are accustomed to adults who are firm, distant, and regularly cross. Doomed is the teacher who tries to accommodate their pupils, for they will take that as a sign of weakness and promptly exploit it.

While I am not necessarily a fan of this approach, it is not without its merits. I've personally compromised on a balance that involves being kind, warm, fun, and encouraging most of the time, but quick to snap on my "don't mess with me" face the moment a child oversteps a boundary. I've noticed that many of the most successful teachers I've witnessed tend to do the same. I like this balance and I will probably stick with it no matter where I'm teaching.

The problem, though, is that a one-size-fits-all approach will never work for everybody. There are always going to be children who don't respond well to being scolded and punished for their misbehaviour. One of these children is in my class.

He's one of those kids who is always causing trouble of one sort or another; causing disruptions, bothering other children, refusing to listen. He winds up being told off over and over again throughout the day ("What's wrong with you?" "Why is it always you?") and spends at least a quarter of each day in time out. Clearly, something isn't working.

I tried talking to him about it today. I asked him what he liked about school (playing with others and maths) and what frustrated him (his teacher getting cross). I asked him if he knew why he did things to make her cross and he said that he didn't (and denied misbehaving to begin with). Then I said something that made his ears perk up: "I want to help you." I told him we could work toward him not getting in trouble all the time, but that he had to help me too. He agreed.

So that's my goal. So far, my hypothesis is that he simply isn't ready for the subdued, rigid structure of Year 2 in Britain (what 6 year old boy is, really?). He has excess energy that needs a better outlet, and would also benefit from some coaching on anger management. More positive attention probably wouldn't hurt, either. This site has some really good suggestions. I'm not sure yet how I'm going to go about this, though, given that I'm not his teacher (and his teacher has very different ideas on how to react to him). Your suggestions are welcome.

In other news, I am still frustrated to high heaven with this weather and London's inability to cope. I was stuck on my train for 2 hours this morning because the train in front of us broke down. I didn't get in to work until 10. Then my train on the way home was discontinued partway through due to chaos at Victoria station. It doesn't help the behaviour situation, either, when the kids aren't allowed to go play outside.

Ohhhhh when will it be spring?!

It was love at first sight...

We've only just met, but it's official: I'm in love with Oxford. Sometimes you just know right away. I mean, it has everything going for it... it's beautiful, quirky, cozy, lively, full of brilliant/interesting people, you can walk across town, and it only takes an hour and as little as £4 to get to London. That's no worse than travelling within London! They even have weekly West Coast Swing dances, which is more than I can say for The Big Smoke.

Also, the locals manage to make snow seem fun:




And when your extremities can't handle the cold a second longer, there is always a neat little pub with a fireplace you can dash into... or a swanky tea house, serving some of the finest coffee in England.

I really think I may have just found my niche. I'm looking at PGCE programs for September, and the program at Oxford Brookes University just shot right to the top of my list.

Don't snow days imply... snow?

As we all know from my pre-Christmas adventure dragging luggage through 5 miles of slush, London is thoroughly incapable of dealing with snow.

I learned this the hard way (again) yesterday when I arrived at my school, after an hour-long ride (which normally takes 20 minutes) on an unheated bus, only to find an empty carpark and a sign indicating the school was closed. Needless to say, I wasn't too pleased. I am now on the school's text messaging system, though, so I should at least be notified next time. And I was able to learn in advance that today would be another snow day.

The thing is... there isn't even that much snow. In Central London, where I live, there isn't really any at all. There is a tad more out where my school is, but not so much that I couldn't get there.

I totally understand that London hasn't made an investment in the infrastructure required to handle inclement weather because it doesn't make economic sense. The kind of weather we're experiencing now is atypical. I get that. But I'm hearing all these stories about people's cars getting stuck in the snow because they don't have snow tires. Since when do cars (with or without snow tires) get stuck in an inch of snow?

The rail service baffles me even more. If you're lucky enough that your train is running at all, you will be serenaded throughout your journey by the sound of a beached whale. You may even get stuck at a station for ten minutes, as I did, because the doors have frozen open.

I feel as though I'm living in an alternate universe... one where an inch of snow equals a foot. Maybe that's true. After all, it does feel impossibly cold here. It's currently 0 degrees celcius but it might as well be -20.

Ah well, at least I get to enjoy an extended holiday. My pocketbook really doesn't like it, but the rest of me does. I'm off to Oxford tomorrow, followed by a lazy Sunday. By Monday, I should feel fully refreshed and prepared to finally (hopefully) begin the school term. If it isn't another snow day.

PS - Today is my four monthaversary of being in London. I'd be lying if I said I still loved it here, but I do love being in Europe and I think a big part of my affection will be back come spring.

There's something that's been bothering me...

British people tend to say, "I've got," rather than, "I have." Even I've taken to saying it with disturbing frequency. It seems fundamentally wrong to me on a number of levels; but since even the most highly educated people in England seem to use it, I finally decided to find out whether it is considered to be grammatically correct.

A quick Google search revealed that the answer to that is under continual debate. Some grammarians consider it to be incorrect usage, some consider it to be the only correct usage, and most (it seems) consider both forms to be correct. Though I am but an amateur grammarian, I remain firmly planted in the first camp.

Here's why:
1. Have got is redundant and unnecessary.
2. Have is in the present tense, whereas got is in the past tense.
3. To have is passive, whereas to get is active.

On that last point, I believe I have gotten is correct where the emphasis is on the action of getting rather than condition of having. In that case, it is akin to passé composé (i.e. "j'ai eu").

Note, however, that I used gotten rather than got. Apparently this is also a point of contention, with the British preferring got as the past tense of get. I can only understand this if it is being used on its own, without the auxiliary have (i.e. "I got this for you"). "I've got this for you," just sounds wrong but, "I've gotten this for you," is perfectly fine. "I gotten this for you," is also wrong.

Maybe I'm just biased toward what I always heard growing up, but sometimes I feel as though (well educated) North Americans speak better English than the English do. Still, I fear this will be a losing battle. My cadence, phrasing, vocabulary, and vowel sounds are rapidly shifting to become more British. I can't help it.

I just hope I never forsake my Ts and Rs.