Arrivederci!

Hi there,

A group of students from the option 'Tourism' has left for Germany last week: a 14 training days in various working places such as a tourism agency, a hotel, a museum, …; they wanted me to go with them but I had to turn down the invitation. I won't see them anymore since they're coming back on the 3rd of May, that is after my departure. I'm already missing them.

Colleagues are asking me whether I enjoyed staying here and whether I'll ever come back for holiday… I don't want to be harsh but it is true that I'd rather spend my holiday in some other place. I told them that crowded beaches in summertime have never been my favourite destination anyway. One guy joked that I had met some lady and was about to stay. I thought for a moment that this lady should have been quite exceptional to make me stay, but did not tell my thought. Some Passionaria fighting for political change maybe, or some character of that kind, just like in the novels. And like a hero I would have embraced her fight and staying here would have had a sense then. Just like in the novels…

But let's get back to reality: on the whole, I've liked the experience and I would do it again, in some other place though - Am I a bit of a masochist? Now, if you look at it as an anthropologist or a sociologist would do, it's quite an experience to stay among a community you don't belong to. Three months is enough to get a rough idea on how this community works.
Spending several months in a foreign country wasn't new to me and I sort of like being a stranger.
As a future teacher, I cannot say I learnt a lot what methodology is concerned. But I learnt a bit more about myself –a never ending job, as you know– and the way I interact with students; I had a rather good relationship with them but I am aware this can become an handicap sometimes, as a teacher. Once some of them had started to call me 'Vince' instead of 'Professore', I knew there was something wrong!

As I mentioned before, school in Italy finishes at 1.30pm. If you think students study a lot in the afternoon, you're wrong! At least from what I saw… Level is quite low and discipline very, very loose. There is an easy-going atmosphere, quite the opposite of what I too often felt in our Belgian schools. Students do not act aggressively, and most of them seem happy. Basically they come when they feel it and they do more or less what they want, that is chatting and joking with friends… or staff members. Sometimes you hear a teacher shouting but it does not really make any difference. Both teachers and students are used to the big confusion, that's how it goes in the street, at home, everywhere… I call it 'confusion' –and so would you– but this is 'communication', social life –South Italian style.

I also enjoy talking about my little country –there is so much to say– and then noticed how students would listen to me…

The big challenge here was the location. No movie theatre, no library, no swimming pool, nothing but concrete houses, bars and shops. The kind of town our Dardennes brothers would love to film in. I knew Italy was not made of historic sites and sunny terraces only, but still… Anyway, I wasn't here for leisure, was I? The week-ends were a bit long, that's all. A chance there were the newspapers and that end-study paper to work on.

I admit I'll be happy to be back in Brussels. I wonder what kind of school I'll be teaching in next year. I know I'll be thinking for a while of the students I met here. I like to imagine them in 'my' school next year and me being their teacher for the whole year -instead of an assistant for 3 months. But more importantly, I wish they learnt something at the end.

See you soon,
Vincent