First day of Spring

Yesterday was a day so nearly perfect that I want to note it.  In contrast to today's gray skies, March 21st was a day so clear and free of wind that it was impossible to resist being outside.  And if, instead, you had to go to work, like I did, your heart was still out there, surging with hope for the coming Spring in the remembered sound of melting snow dripping from eaves as you walked from the parking lot to the building. 

    And so I recklessly dropped my guard against politics and religion in the classroom, by thinking of the environment as students answered the question: "How did you get to class?"  Most of these adult immigrants can't afford cars, and some of them are ashamed of it.   "It's good to walk," I said, "for exercise and to reduce carbon emissions."  I wrote greenhouse gasses = carbon emissions on the board, and got my best student to translate it into Mandarin for the majority of the others.  Most of my students are Chinese, with a few from Columbia, France, and Switzerland. 

    When I asked what we were talking about, "global warming" came zinging back.  The French student said he had a friend from Finland who said that growing up in his seaside village, he could walk out on the ice for six months of the year, but now there's only a month of ice. 

   The European students were most voluble, but their sentences were slow, tentative.  Until I said, "And we, the U.S., are the worst," thinking of our huge consumption of the world's oil supply (I think we use 25%) for our relatively sparse population.  And the floodgates opened: "Kyoto," came several voices from around the room.  The Swiss man slashed the air with his pencil above his notebook: "U.S. the only one not writing!"   

    "Yeah, that was bad," I said, writing on the board that U.S. didn't sign the Kyoto Treaty.  Someone else, shaking his head, said, "I understand Bush.  I understand her."  I wrote him/her; he/she on the board.  Gendered pronouns are hard for the Chinese because they don't have them in their language.  "Him," the student corrected himself, then  "I no... I not understand Bush." 

     I said that many Americans, and pointed to myself, don't understand him either.  A woman from South America said, "How did he win president if everybody not like?"

    So we got out the map of the U.S. and studied it, dividing it into red and blue states.  I tried to avoid religion in the analysis. Al Gore's name came up, and there was talk of his movie, an "Inconvenient Truth."  I wrote the title on the board, wanting to leave them with something positive that they could do.  "See this movie," I said.  "I think it's translated in your languages."   

    Going home, I was so happy at the level of environmental awareness in the class.  And - as always - I was grateful for the chance to model, especially for the Chinese, the greatness of this country's tolerance of free speech.  The European students, being used to this freedom, directly criticized Bush.  The Chinese students have never criticized him directly, but have come out against his policies, especially around the Iraq War.   

    When I got home, I'd planned an afternoon at my desk, but couldn't resist the brilliant light streaming in the windows from the midday sun on snow.  I grabbed it, throwing on my parka and pulling on my ski-boots. The dogs and I piled out the door, and made for the huge power-line field near our house, where I clamped on cross-country skis.  The snow was perfect: crusty enough to bear my weight in a fast, easy glide, but with an inch or two of fresh powder on top for control.  Sandwiched in intense light, I worked up a sweat in no time.  It was the best ski I've had in years.   

    Back at home, I roasted a chicken with root-vegetables for dinner, a perfect ending to a glorious day.  It was one of those rare days of a satisfying balance of mental and physical stimulation, a ratio I've been fine-tuning all my life.                                

Comments

[Ronni Bennett]

Fascinating report on your students. I know it's a small, unimportant point, but I'm curious at the dropping of articles - "the" in particular. I've heard that often from people for whom English is their second language. Are there not articles in Mandarin? And how handy it is to not have gendered pronouns. Think of all the trouble we have in English with our convoluted uses of "him and her" and "he and she" to avoid the masculine pronoun when we mean everyone.

[Diana]

This is such a wonderful post. You make it look so easy, the writing up of one's day with all of the thoughts, feelings and interactions with a variety of people but I know it's not. I often try to do what you just did here and it's hard to get right like this. I felt like I was right there in the classroom.

[Ned Smith]

Keeping the balance is the key to "the good life". I always say all things in moderation - especially moderation. The Dalai Lama adds another element to the equation. He said that Europeans (he was including Americans) are very careful now to maintain their physical fitness, watch what their diets etc. but they often neglect their spiritual fitness. Meditation works for me

[Tabor]

Yeah for free speech!! Yeah for teachers!!

[Annie in Austin]

You may never know the full effects of this day on your students, but I'll bet you have made a difference.
But celebrating the first day of spring with a ski session is so very, very Maine of you, ML!

Annie

[M Sinclair Stevens]

I just got back from my first visit to New York City and I literally threw myself into the garden. I lay on the grass and looked up to the newly-leafed out cedar elms, checked out all the new flowers which had come into bloom, and got my hands dirty. The contrast with slushy New York made me all the more aware of how green my garden is right now (we had some rare rain in my absence) and how quiet it is, even though I live near downtown.
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I always enjoy comparing your notes on Chinese with mine on Japanese. Japanese doesn't have articles either, nor do its nouns have gender or number. Far from resulting in genderless speech, Japanese has words and inflections used only by men or by women. I've read that foreigners learning Japanese from their Japanese girlfriends often end up sounding funny because they pick up feminine speech patterns.

[Terri]

I was captivated with this entry. You drew me right in with your exquisite writing. And the subject was so timely. I really enjoyed hearing the various thoughts and feelings from your students.
But just having returned from Paris, that was the same attitude toward Bush, the war and the environment that I also encountered. Even sales clerks (when they realized I was American)lost no time putting Bush down. AND I....I was even faster to assure them "I" did not vote for him, nor do I agree with ANY of his policies from the war to the environment, and everything inbeween.
You did have one of those perfect days, Mary Lee. But even better....you took advantage of it. You savored it and then...you shared it with us. Well done.