Well, I have officially been in this wonderful place known as England for a month now. As I look back on this past month I can't believe how fast it has gone by. I feel like I'm finally starting to get a grip on life in England. The first two weeks were spent doing what they call "INDUCTION" which is British lingo for what we Yanks would call "ORIENTATION". To say that these two weeks were packed with information would be an understatement. Not only was I learning about Just Youth, I also learned about Catholicism, the order of priests that work with Just Youth (the Spiritans), England in general, and I also began to learn about the nine other people I am living with. It's hard now to recall all the specific things I learned, but I'm sure it's all (okay... maybe the majority of it) is stored somewhere in my brain. Some notable events from those two weeks are: my first English "cinema" experience with the other volunteers; getting lost in Manchester (for the first time); going on a day long walk through the English countryside; and going to visit England's oldest city (Chester).
Now, some of you may be freaking out about me getting lost in Manchester, but I did what the very wise and wonderful Heidi told all of us YAGMs to do at Orientation... I looked and acted like I wasn't lost. I knew two things while I was wandering around Manchester: 1) I knew I needed the 93 bus and 2) that I needed to find the Red Hot Buffet (that's where I KNEW the 93 bus stopped at) So, for about 45 minutes I walked around trying to find this bus stop. During my wanderings, I found another bust stop good ol' #93 came to! I was so excited that I had finally gotten myself "unlost". I saw the bus coming around the corner and I couldn't help but smile knowing how awesome I was! The bus got closer and I became even more excited at the thought of finally being able to get home! Then, the bus did a funny thing... it drove right on by me! I was so confused as to why it did this! The smile immediately left my face. I now had to come up with a new plan. I started to walk away from the bus stop and wandered back into the middle of the shopping centre... trying to remember how to get to the Red Hot Buffet. To try and make this story a little shorter, I eventually found the bus stop and got home. The next day as I was recounting this story to my boss she asked me if I had signaled the bus to stop. I must have had a very confused look on my face because she started to giggle and tell me that the buses don't stop unless you signal them to. So, I learned that in England, you basically have to hail a bus like you would hail a taxi in the States! I felt a little silly, but it was a learning experience. Ever since then I have remembered to "signal" the bus.
One thing that I thought would be challenging that I have actually found quite enjoyable is living with so many other people in one house. There are nine of us total (soon to be ten) living under the same roof. Two volunteers are from Ireland, one is from Germany, another is from Sweden, and there is another from the Philippines. There are two priests in the house as well. One is from Nigeria and the other is from Tanzania. Last, but not least, is a Christian Brother from Ireland. It has been great getting to know all of them more and working with them in such a unique setting as Just Youth. We have some good laughs making fun of each other and where we come from. It is all meant in good fun, of course. I can already tell that saying goodbye to these people at the end of the year is going to be very difficult, but I shouldn't be thinking about that yet! This community is truly what I like to call, " A mini U.N."
I have been in to schools a total of three times so far and I have loved every minute of it! Last week we did two "Discovery Days" for year 7 students (11/ 12 year olds). Basically, what a Discovery Day boils down to is there is a theme for the day (Get Connected was our theme) and we have different activities that try to help the students "discover" more about that theme. It was great fun and I can't wait to go back into the schools. I think the funniest part of the two days for me was how interested the students were in the fact that I was from America. They all knew right away where I was from! At first that kind of shocked me.. how could these kids know where I am from based on my accent? The more I thought about it, I realized that if someone from England were to come into my school back home, I would know right away where they were from. But, the FUNNIEST moment was when two boys came up to me during a game we were all playing. The one boy looked up at me, with excitement in his eyes and said, "I've never met an American before!" It was made all the more adorable by his accent (which has not gotten old yet for those of you who might be wondering). He made me smile every time I saw him through out the morning. The other boy proceeded to tell me that he had only met two other Americans before. I asked him who they were, knowing that I probably not know who they were... boy was I wrong! He said that he had met Tom Hanks and Robin Williams! Are you kidding me?!? It's so funny to think that I am now the third American he has met and I in no way compare to those mega stars! I was sad to leave the school on Friday. Though I had not gotten to spend too much time with them, they will forever be in my heart as the first students I got to work with.
I know this post is long, but just hang in there a little longer. It's been awhile since my last post and many things have happened....
I learned a very important lesson on Friday when we were in the school. The day before (which would have been Thursday) I was so focused on making sure the students got their reflection sheet done that I forgot to do one very important thing. I forgot to actually interact with them. I felt myself go into "teacher mode". I became so obsessed with them completing their "assignment" that I completely neglected the real reason I was there. I had forgotten to connect with the kids! It was hard for me to not be in teacher mode around these kids because that's what I had been trained (so to speak) to do when I was around students. I felt terrible when I realized what I was doing. Thankfully, I still had the next day to try and correct my mistakes. Friday turned out to be 110% better than Thursday. I took the time to sit down with different groups of students and talk to them about where I was from (they were all SO curious about America) and I also got to learn a little bit more about where they were from. At the end of the day, when we were evaluating the day, I mentioned this to the rest of the team and one of the leaders said that sometimes it's more important to take that time to connect with them than it is to make sure whatever task you are doing actually gets completed. I got into this mind set that these were my students and I had a lesson plan and I needed to accomplish all of my objectives or I would have failed them. When in reality, I failed them when I failed to take the time to connect with them. Hopefully, this lesson sticks with me and from now on the connections I form with the students will be my first priority! Sorry for the long post, but I'm done now. Stay tuned for more exciting adventures from ACROSS THE POND.
CHEERS!
