Sunday, July 7, 2013

Teaching, Village Life, and the Székely "Powwow"

I've now been in Transylvania for a week and I feel that I've successfully shifted from Phase 1 of my summer (ie. Explorer of Grandiose Cities and Connoisseur of Family Reunions) to Phase 2, The Village Teacher.  Part of this process has been learning to be a gracious guest.  For anyone who has not experienced this, Eastern Europeans are deeply hospitable.  There is an extensive list of things I cannot do without insulting my hosts, including: any kind of chores, any kind of kitchen preparation or clean up, any kind of payment or reimbursement for expense.
I am very thankful to have such generous hosts but my sense of Puritanical American guilt is still getting in the way and I feel like I should be doing more.  On the other hand, though, I am working as an English teacher for free, so I suppose that's my side of the bargain.  I'd better make sure I give teaching my best, then.

As I mentioned in my last post, my three youngest groups of students are responding very well to my lessons and seem to enjoy them.  On Friday, a group of girls from Class 3 (ages 8-11) came up to me after class and wanted me to "autograph" their notebooks.  It was sweet.  The little ones in Classes 1 and 2 are about 4-7 years old; these kids love singing and learning English words from interactive songs.  (I might have to branch out with what we sing, though: on Thursday, I woke up extremely sore in my quads.  I couldn't figure out why I felt sore, after all, I hadn't been biking, hadn't been running.  I realized in class that I was sore from repeatedly squatting to touch my knees and toes before springing back up again during "Head Shoulders Knees and Toes."  I never realized this could happen).
Hungarian children in ethnic dress at the festival
My teenage students are still my biggest challenge.  Getting them to talk is like pulling teeth.  No one ever wants to raise his or her hand when I ask a question.  I'm really not able to assess their English skill level because no one is willing to participate enough for me to understand where they're at.  Thursday was incredibly frustrating.  I had K and Sz to help translate (and to offer moral support) but I still felt like a failure of an English teacher after class was over.  I had chosen to show a short 2 minute video with subtitles to generate discussion.  Unfortunately, what I thought were simple questions ("Where does this video take place?") were met with blank stares and confusion.  I had to ask K and Sz to translate everything I said, and then translate the students' reluctant answers back to me.  By the time class was over, I wanted to bang my head against the door frame.  It was definitely not my finest hour.  Friday's class was better, thanks to some lesson plan advice from my friend Neil who recently taught English in Italy.  Instead of relying on my students to participate in discussion, I taught a concrete lesson on prepositions and had each student write two examples of sentences with prepositions in his or her notebook.  This approach was much better, and I'm not dreading tomorrow's class.   
Romania is home to many failed housing projects.  According to a man I met on the train from Budapest, Romanians aren't known for their sense of money management; people will acquire a sum of money and begin building an overly ambitious home, only to run out of finances and abandon the project.
Since the village is so small, I've seen my students quite a bit outside of class.  I'm hoping this will help them get used to me.  Yesterday, S (my 14 year old host sister) and I went for a walk to the park and ran into 4 of my teenage students.  To my surprise, they wanted to ask me about life in Minnesota and the kind of music that I liked.  Their English is better than I would have known from class, so perhaps they just need some confidence-boosting to speak out more.
Volkswagen in Czíkszereda
The nearest town, Czíkszereda, hosted a festival this weekend whose name has no English translation but essentially constitutes a Székely Hungarian powwow.  This celebration, now in its twenty-third year, involves ethnic costume, dance, music, and a communal Catholic mass that leaves the largest church in Transylvania overflowing with worshipers.  My host brother, sisters, and I had to listen to the mass from outside.  The participants (in costume) depart very early in the morning from their respective villages and travel to the town by horse-drawn wagon.  This gathering is very special to Hungarians in Romania because the dictatorship of Nicolae Ceaușescu was deeply repressive towards non-Romanian ethnic groups.  Hungarians weren't allowed to speak their own language, let alone celebrate their cultural traditions.
Largest Catholic church in Transylvania
I'm learning to appreciate the slow pace of life around the village and revel in the beauty of nature.  S took me walking through some of the most scenic parts of the village, and today my host parents and K took me into the mountains to see the forest.  The scenic views are absolutely incredible.
Transylvanian Sunset
On Friday night, K and A (my host brother) invited me to come along with them to the (only) local pub.  We met Sz and several other friends there and hung out until midnight or so.  I felt weird drinking with teenagers but here drinking isn't a big deal.  People in the village are generally responsible; binge drinking and teenage parties gone awry aren't issues here.  In fact, when Sz and I went outside to get some air (smoking is allowed inside) and I was hesitant to leave my drink, I had to explain to him the trend of GHB and Rohypnol that is a constant threat.  "Rape culture" isn't part of life in the village, apparently.  Which rocks.  I mean, it's always best to be alert and conscientious about these things but village life is refreshing in many ways.  Well, it's getting late and I want to be ready for teaching tomorrow, so I will leave you with some pictures.
High in the mountains
Cows, horses, and dogs roam freely in the village

1 comment:

  1. Hey girl, have the teens ask you questions about social things like music, movies, driving, rights of passage, high school, expectations. Anything controversial or seemingly "naughty" will keep them engaged.

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