Postscript It ain't Easy

Mother: "Time to get up and get ready for school." Son: "I don't want to go, nobody likes me there. The students don't like me, the teachers don't like me, even the secretary doesn't like me." Mother: "But you must go, you are the director!" What do teachers and students have in common? Lack of motivation...... of course not all are like that. Holidays are long and there are many, classrooms are not very inviting, I am told due to lack of funds. Self-help could be a cheap solution and students interested in pleasant surroundings would be helpful. ( Several obviously aren't, as the areas in front of schools proves, so sad, even plants damaged, torn off on a small gardening strip, some appear to consider litter more attractive than flowers.) Often, all too often I would say, school finishes early, (I have seen kids returning from school between 9 and 10 a.m. maybe because the kids are too advanced?) or teachers are on strike yet again! Children get accustomed to being "free of school" and those with ignorant parents possibly also to being "not restricted" by respect and self-discipline. Not everybody can afford to send the children to private schools in order to enable them to get a good education. Quite a few children travel by taxi to and from school. (I recommend for comparison: "Al Jazeera English documentary: dangerous school routes) This remains me when I was young, walking 5 km to grammar school so that I can save the bus fare and buy myself paperback literature. I wonder how many children here still read books? How many non-academic parents encourage their siblings to do so? I noticed that the spelling in English of those folks who learnt this language as a foreign language, is often very bad. Interesting, for those who speak German, this pigeon English is easier to understand than for an average British or American person. The spelling could easily be improved by lots of dictating exercises. If you get the spelling wrong you might end up saying something you don't mean. One can find identical words in different languages, but with a different meaning. In Arabic the word "Fluss" means money, in German river, "Gift" in German means poison, in English present or talent. One way to get misunderstandings. Kids often ask me for sweets, "Bonbon" or chocolate. One little boy who received a muffin a couple of hours earlier, returned, requested chocolate and even named the brand, a medium-priced imported product. As I advised him that I have no chocolate in the house, he declared that bonbon would also be okay. I declined and suggested he returns the next day. So he enquired what he'll receive then. This proves he is educated (knows brands) and has good taste. While I've been advised by local women not to hand out sweets ("they'll be at your doorstep every day, tell them to go to the small shop near your house"), I now understand why these kids can't buy there, the shop-keeper only sells cheaper sweets. By the way, there is delicious, locally produced jam on the market, the tinned one costs less, is just as excellent and quite cheap. Winter has arrived, cold and damp, around where I live it presently takes place from approximately 16.00 hrs until 10 a.m. , nevertheless I am looking forward to spring and summer, and so do my cats, they just love the sun.