EXAMINE

In an email I wrote to Sree today, I said: Oh! and India is in me now. I just talk to people and never cut them or myself off. I just got in "trouble" for not returning to my exam block after my supposed 15 min. break. It cracks me up, but not most Americans.

Time is entirely different to people in India. But ultimately the value is what’s underneath. When someone stops to talk to me about my trip I feel it is only fair to say more than, “it was a great, life-changing, amazing experience.” But the GHS schedule (and American culture) doesn’t allow much time for interactions beyond quick snippets of sentiment. Talking to people and spending time with people is valued highly in India. Indians’ relationships are strengthened through the willingness people have to listen and hear what you have to say. Though that’s a generalization, it’s a fairly safe one considering my personal experience.

Now the clock ticks for midterm exams. For an hour and forty-five minutes students articulate in writing what they have learned. Then the teachers grade them. We are also grading the second quarter work and figuring out quarter grades. Yesterday it took me an hour to grade five exams. I have 49 upperclassmen exams and 54 freshmen. How long will it take Ms. Steinhorn to grade those exams? This mathematical word problem brings back the strain and intensity of teaching English. I do enjoy reading the exams and any student writing for that matter; it’s just tiring and time consuming. And it really matters what comments I write in the margins and at the end. I assume students learn from those marked up papers. I like to give each student the time he or she deserves for the time he or she invested in the paper.

Examining me and who I’ve become as a result of this exchange still bewilders me. I’m really the same person, but something somewhere has changed. I don’t think too much about it (not too much time :0) and it shouldn’t be overanalyzed. But it’s vital to me not to forget my time and connections in India. One thing I did was schedule an after school presentation. I hope to schedule a few more public speaking forums. Sharing my experience allows me to give back what I was given in India. What exactly that is can’t be defined but I bet people hear it in my voice and see it in my stature.

Music: “I’ve Got You Under My Skin” Frank Sinatra- My Way: The Best of Frank Sinatra