"Miss, Miss" and thoughts on foreignness

Life in the classroom continues to keep me on my toes. The classes have finally, FINALLY been split up into smaller sections based on language skills and there appears to be a inverse ratio between students per class and the ability to hear yourself think. Now the average class size hovers around 10 or so which is perfect. The kids are all eager to have a native speaker in the room and have with startling accuracy guessed my accent as "either Canadian or American," about as close as you can get to Maine. 

Something funny happens to vowels when native Greek speakers use English -- for instance i's become ee's and so when the students are trying to get my attention what I end up responding to is "Mees, Mees." No last name, I don't think they come across many Driscoll's in Athens. But generally they are very interested in the U.S. and many of them know a great deal more than I remember knowing about American politics. In a current events course one student expressed the idea that if the earth is a body, the U.S. is the pulse -- with this kind of perspective it's no wonder they're closely following the election, the falling market, and all the other weary stateside news. Overall the classroom has been great -- I've been able to teach small sections by myself (Dead Poets Society and "The Road Not Taken") and the kids seem pretty receptive. It is reassuring to have actual teachers in the room, though, as I'm not exactly one for disciplinarian measures. We'll see how long I can get away without them. 

I've been thinking a lot recently about why people choose to do things like this -- leave home, leave the country and separate themselves an ocean away from everyone they know. Consider the so-called "Lost Generation" and the expatriates who made Europe seem like the U.S.'s glamorous and free-spirited alter-ego. Isn't it strange that now when college grads pack up and move abroad they're oftentimes doing so under the pretenses of "finding themselves?" I think I have to reject the term. Wouldn't it be easiest to find yourself where your self has always been, safely in the context that you grew up in, nestled in among your roots? Maybe people do things like this not to find themselves, but to lose themselves, even if only for the duration of their stay. To not have the stability offered by hearth and home, to not know where they ought to be going and to literally not even know how to ask. Are we finding ourselves or are we hoping to wake up not knowing where we are or what we've gotten ourselves into? Of course, as any well-trained (think Pavlov) liberal arts graduate will tell you the answer is probably "both." In letting oneself be lost, eventually, inevitably you find your way. 

Or so I hope. 

Psychiko/Halandri Double Feature

Two days into the first full week. The seventh graders have finally taken their placement exams to figure out if they'll be in EFL (English as a Foreign Language), ESL (Second), or ENL (Native). I've got the graded grammar sections with me -- my first official teacherly duty -- and now we're only waiting on their compositions. But, since they haven't actually been placed yet, their classes haven't started. We've been watching films during most of the middle school class periods and discussing them to a small extent. Essentially filler until the smaller classes are determined. 

Other notes on the school. So, the Hellenic-American Educational Foundation is actually two schools on one campus. If both are Ivy League (everyone's favorite standard for discussing educational grandeur), Athens College is Harvard or Yale and Psychiko is Brown or Columbia. A.C. was founded decades earlier (1925 to Psychiko's 1980) and sort of tastes like it: a bit stale, dusty, and nearly all the teachers are closing in on retirement. Classic prestigious institution. Psychiko has a more innovative philosophy and a somewhat more relaxed classroom dynamic. I'm glad to have been placed in Psychiko. As for the teachers there: they've hired a lot of new people this year and when I say people what I mean (with no exceptions to my knowledge) is beautiful women in their early 30s. This is apparently nothing new according to a friend who did the program a few years ago.  Maybe the Greek teaching demographic just happens to be gorgeous? Maybe. 

Back in our neighborhood, Halandri, Erin and I have continued our explorations for nice coffee shops, restaurants and really any place that can offer a few hours of air conditioning in the afternoon. Halandri is a northeastern suburb of Athens, but not suburban at all by American standards (at least not those I've known). The streets are bustling and beeping until midnight, there are shops, great places to eat -- mostly Greek food (it is possible to get sick of gyros, by the way) -- and even its fair share of Athens' notorious stray dogs. We're still on the hunt for an English language bookstore and Indian food, but maybe we'll find them this weekend. 

In other news: all of the fellows were cleared for a day off to go to Crete for a long weekend at the end of October. Sevi, another of the fellows, has a cousin who's getting married and we've all been invited. Greek wedding! Something to look forward to.

Offer still stands on the snail mail, I've been annoying the mailroom guy daily. All I need is an address. 

Love.

First days & birthdays

Hello loves.

School started on Thursday and so far the kids seem great. The seventh graders are tiny little things and because here middle school doesn't begin until seventh grade, they are as of yet unscathed by perpetual malaise and cynicism. They are all so doe-eyed  at their new school. The other classes I've worked with are a 10th grade  Drama and the Arts course and a senior exam skills class to prepare for all the placement exams for American and British schools. Drama and the arts is covering "Trifles" which I acted in for a one act competition in high school. There are some girls in that class whose English is so nuanced and easy that I wonder if they are perhaps native speakers. The seniors are less interested in English only because it is not a part of the Greek national assessment exam in the spring. So it goes at Psychiko College.

At home, and the apartment is slowly beginning to feel like home, all is well. Our laundry machine finally works and for lack of a drier we hand things up on our back porch. An instance when the relentless heat comes in handy. We had everyone over last night for my 23rd birthday celebration -- fancy cake, strong drinks -- and then went in to Psiri, an area of downtown Athens. Late night, but a nice was to bring in 23. 

Photos of the apartment have been requested, but so far I only have a few of my bedroom and the views from the balcony. I'll add more later. If anyone has a spare digital camera (!!) feel free to send it my way. I hope everyone has a lovely, lazy Sunday wherever you are.

Here are the photos:

My beautiful quilted bed.

View out front, through pine trees.
My desk and one of the sliding doors onto the balcony.
View from the side of the balcony, to Athens and mountains beyond.

The first week seven hours ahead 9.9.08

Hello all, 

Andres hassled me last night to post something here because that's what this is for. So here it is, Mr. Millan.

The first week has been fantastic, the transition has been much easier than I expected. The fellows are all finding their close friends among the group and still everyone is getting along very well, how long the uber-friendly phase will last is yet to be seen, but we are still safely in it for the time being. Greeks are a wonderfully welcoming people who love to hear silly American girls try to speak their language what what I'm sure can only be described as brutal accents. I've been trying my best with the language, and I'm picking up a couple of words

 a day. Still limited to the bare basics, of course, but I did manage to tell a friendly cab driver that "I want two gyros, please," unable to provide them, he still laughed an said "excellent."

This past three day weekend we all went to Naxos, an island in the Cyclades range which is known for the white washed houses, blue shutters, teal seas. It didn't disappoint. We spent at least seven hours everyday at beaches, swimming, climbing rocks, and I finished a couple hundred pages of East of Eden. The perfect weekend. 

Back at school today, we met the Psychiko English Department teachers all of whom are young and excited to have some native English speakers around. Classes begin Thursday after the state required Holy Blessing of the school year which I'm looking forward to a lot -- wouldn't exactly have flown at Deering or Kenyon. Overall, the classes seems like they'll be a lot of fun, and I will probably also be working on the literary journal, and perhaps with the French club -- vying for the annual trip to France! 

I'm sending some stuff in the mail later this week, so send me me your address and I'll send you some Greek love notes. 

A late-added arrival entry (Written 8.29.08)

So, I made it. Hardly a glitch in travel, slept a good deal on the New York to Athens leg. Arrived this morning at 10, went to campus to get our orientation package, met the other fellows and then headed to our apartment for the year. The fellows seem quite nice, very friendly. The final fellow doesn't arrive until tomorrow, but Im sure we'll all find our friends in the group throughout the first few weeks. Erin and I are living together in a neighborhood called Halandri, north of Athens, and about half an hour bus ride to school. 

The apartment is incredible. My room has two sliding doors that open onto a balcony that wraps around the house. I'm sitting there now, looking at swaying pinecones (have I even left home?) and arid mountain landscape on the horizon (yes, I have). Erin and I spent the afternoon unpacking and taking naps -- very easy to do with a warm crosswind in your bedroom. The air is dry and there is some sort of creature making a loud scratchy noise in one of these trees. A frog? A bird with emphysema?

Tonight we're heading into the city for dinner and exploration. With the jet-lag we're not yet brave enough for Greek dining time (9 or 10), but soon we will be! This weekend we're hopefully heading to beaches and I'll let everyone know how they compare to Higgins. 

Love you all, thanks for all your well wishes upon my departure.