Washington D.C.



Rachael, Me, and Lauren in front of the White House



I'm not in England yet--I leave on Thursday!!  Rachael got in from England last night, so I'll have a few days to show her around town and school.  She's met most staff at school.  They were so warm and welcoming to her and showed her that humor is definately a part of our staff culture.  Rachael will fit in just fine.  She has already received a request from one staff member's five-year-old daughter, who is obsessed with princesses, that Rachael teach her to "talk like a princess" because she was delighted by Rachael's accent.  So, I guess there will be "English lessons" going on at Steele for the next few months!

Last week was an amazing week in Washington D.C. where Fulbright teachers from--get this--U.S.A., England, Scotland, Ireland, Czech Republic, Hungary, France, India and Mexico met for professional development, planning and advice sessions, a D.C. tour, walking around Georgetown, and getting to know our exchange partners. I'd never been in our nation's capitol before, and it was quite special to experience it for the first time not only through my eyes, but through the eyes of so many people from other countries.  I felt grateful and proud.  Though I am over-the-moon excited to go and live in England and attempt to assimilate (if even for the short time of five months), this whole experience has made me very reflective about how proud I am of my country--warts and all--and of my beautiful state of Colorado.

But, oh, what a wonder this world of ours is!  I listened all week, spellbound, to the other teachers and alums of the program describe--with equal pride of country--their parts of the world.  I enjoyed hearing all the various accents and lilting cadances, (much like the five-year-old princess) and picked up on the regional differences in dialects in each country and even differing regional terms.  For example, what we call dinner, Rachael calls tea, yet another British teacher from another region argued that tea is in the afternoon, and dinner is the evening meal.

On the last night of the conference, each country group represented their cultures with presentations ranging from skits to power points to dances and song.  India put on a fashion show featuring exquisite saris; Mexico danced boisterously; Czech Republic and Hungary also danced and showed power points ancient castles and verdant landscapes that made me want to go there; Scotland inspired us with poetry, while England sang camp songs and performed a rowdy reel.  I'm not quite sure what France was trying to do, but it involved people waiting for each other while smoking cigarettes, and when they met, there were kisses on cheeks and lots of "Bonjours".  They were apparently replaying their experience of trying to get their group together to come up with and rehearse a skit, relating the stereotype of the French having little concept of time.  It was hilarious!  Lastly, there were the Americans.  Earlier in the week we had discussed the concepts of the individualist society and the collectivist society.  In a collectivist society, people tend to think of the good of the group as opposed to the individual, whereas an individualist society honors the accomplishments, drive and will of the individual, and the "pull-yourself-up-by-your-bootstraps-and-get-'er-done" attitude.  The U.S.A. tends toward the--you guessed it--individualist society, and that was perfectly demonstrated by the fact that the American group (the largest of the groups) never got together as a cohesive group with one idea, but rather splintered off into several groups, each with a different idea to present.  One teacher from Oregon read a Native American folktale while a Bostonian recited "The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere".  One group sang "Take Me Out to the Ballgame", and a proud mom presented a power point family album depicting "A Year in the Life of an American Family."  There were a couple of other planned presentations, but they sort of fizzled out because it was getting late.  But all in all, though disjointed and imperfect, the "individualistic" performances of Team U.S.A.  demonstrated that each slice of this American Pie is rich with the flavor of pride for its own unique culture.

As I flew back to Colorado Springs after my wonderful week in D.C., I reflected about how, since I was a little girl, I never imagined that I wouldn't see other parts of this earth and experience the way other people live.  It's taken me a while to get there, but I'm finally there and can't wait to begin my adventure of living and teaching and exploring abroad.  England, here I come!