Jet Lag
Posted January 1, 2007 9:20 pm (about 604 days ago)
So, if you didn’t read my blogs back in the nineties (before the word “blog” existed), I tend to analyze EVERYTHING; if you can’t tell already. I was using a French laptop to send out some e-mails but of course I forgot that the French keyboard is arranged differently than the U.S. ones. I type pretty quickly on American keyboards, but on foreign ones I type, like, one finger at a time. I kept my e-mails very short and quickly logged off. It really made me think about my students who don’t like to read or type papers. I take those things for granted, but this little experience reminded me of why some people shy away from “book learning.” For example, I’ve never finished reading a “real” book in Spanish (there are so many words that I don’t understand). It’s so tedious to look up those words, and even though I usually get the gist, I miss the nuances, which makes the reading dull. I don’t think that I’m stupid, but in the Spanish-language world I’m no Einstein. After friends get finished critiquing my writing it looks like someone spilled a bottle of red ink on my paper. What a blow to the ego. It really reiterates the need for educators to focus on SKILLS, including typing. Many of my students with the worst grades have the sharpest minds. It just isn’t reflected in academic work.I have to say that while traveling is empowering, it’s also humbling to be in a situation where you don’t have a good grasp of the language and aren’t familiar with the norms and customs of a society. I probably know a few dozen French words, and even fewer rules of pronunciation, so no matter how smart that I think I am, my methods of expression are severely limited. At times I probably come off as rude when I’m merely ignorant. Ah…The joys of visiting a foreign country.
Well, it’s my fourth day in Paris so I have plenty more to write about, but I’m gonna try and get some sleep. There’s so much to experience on the rest of this trip so I gotta get some rest. More blogging soon, including some observations on race and ethnicity. Aw yeah…..
When you come home, after things calm down a bit, you must come over for dinner. I can\'t wait to hear about all the things that you have neglected to mention here.