June 10, 2010

June 10, 2010

The last light of the sun creating a pink cotton candy of the underbelly of the clouds in the distance has brought an end to my day. A day as strange as the idea of how delicious those clouds look and this day started as the same day the week before had begun. I have already mentioned how my ordinary travels to the city and school of Smidary, I ride the bus with several of my students, I will not go through the details again of the travels. I will write though, the irregularities of the week before repeated.

I once again found my arrival in Smidary was with just one student when I have been used to having at least 15 or so. Once again I made the same walk to the school with apprehension and slight bit of annoyance pertaining to me, maybe, being left in the dark once again. The same as the week before though I walked into the school and started to see some of my students, this time when I walked into the teacher’s lounge I was thankfully met by the one English-speaking teacher in the school. She was very apologetic, but she nor had anyone informed me the reverse of the week before was happening at the school. Both the sixth and ninth classes were out on a school trip and I was not to have my first two lessons. This meant I had arrived in Smidary, the smallest village I teach in, at 7:30 in the morning and I wasn’t to have my first class until 10:45. I was at a complete loss as to what I could do to occupy my time for the next three hours. I had already taken care of all my lesson plans for the day and using the computer for three straight hours to look at the internet did not sound appealing.

Although the size of the village is near nothing, I had never actually walked anywhere beside from the bus stop to the school or from the school to the train station, neither path leads me through the interior of the village. Therefore, I made my decision to spend the free time I had to discover what I could of this village I had been teaching the children of for nearly ten months.

As I left the school I was highly fearful of finding anything worth my time and being stuck to do nothing, but ponder my existence, after a short walk, sitting in the teacher’s lounge by myself in silence. This melancholy spirit had been brought upon me after I had inquired with the English-speaking teacher as to what I could find if I went walking about the village and she had shrugged her shoulders, she was doubtful I could find anything of interest. What was nice? I set out on my walk with no expectations, no thoughts of finding anything even of the slightest of interest. And I guess if you think about it, if you have no expectations, you can find no disappointment.

I did know there was an old church in the center of the village, and although, I had been told it was nothing to be seen, it was in its direction I headed. I had a lot of time on my hands; I decided to take a very round-about way of getting to the church. I was simply amazed at the buildings this village had. All the teachers at the school must be overly exposed to these times of buildings because where they found no interest, I found myself looking at one building for nearly twenty minutes. I could not decipher what it had been constructed for and it had definitely been neglected. It looked to me as though it could have been the home of some type of lord or duchess from back in the times of feudality. I am probably wrong, but with the fact I am reading all these English authors who write of the old English times of titles, like dukes, lords, and duchess’.

I found more and more these same type of houses throughout the village, obviously overlooked by the inhabitants of the village as nothing more than average homes, but for me coming from where I have come from I was simply amazed by their intricate, beauty. I only knew the people of Smidary realized the history they possess in their city. The church, which I was warned about as being dull, was far from it. It was definitely run down, the façade was in definite need of repair, but it was really a church which was unlike I have seen on this trip. For nothing more than the fact that it had been so neglected yet it still held a humble magnificence.

After my walk I sat down in a park read a while and before I knew it, it was time to head back to my classes. Who knew I could entertain myself in village the size of Smidary, but I did and I was completely overwhelmed by what this tiny village held. Back at the school I had my two classes, which I having them prepare speeches I am going to record with my little video camera to bring back home. It is a little funny because I am asking them to tell me about themselves, where they live, what are their favorite subjects, and more trivial things, which follow the same theme. But, then, I suggest to them to include in their speech what I great teacher I have been. The funny thing, as I collected their prepared speeches, is I found them all writing nearly the exact same thing about me, “Mr. Corbin is the best teacher.” It is going to be great to have on video. Maybe I can put together a movie of sorts and some it at job interviews. Just a video a whole bunch of Czech children repeatedly referring to me as the “best teacher,” I don’t need to mention how much I actually coached the children.

After Simdary, I headed back to Novy Bydzov to eat a little lunch before I head to Chlumec for my final class of the day. I took the bus again to Chlumec and turning the corner to my school I found not one of my students waiting for me to start class. Every one of the students had decided to skip their English lesson. I went up and spoke with the assistant headmaster and she told me through Google translate to just go home and that she would make some phone calls to ensure the students show up for their final class. This is the strangest part of the situation however. I walked across to the bus stop and right at the bus stop is a little bar I always sit in to wait for the bus. The problem this time is I got too caught up in a game of chess on my computer and I missed my bus. I was left with the decision of either waiting another hour and half in that bar for the next bus or trying to walk the five miles back to Novy Bydzov.

I choose the latter. However, after making my walk for nearly a mile a car pulled up next to me. It was supposedly a guy and his girlfriend who lived in my city. They asked me if I wanted a ride and without the apprehension I probably should have had, I jumped into the car. It turned out this guy I had never noticed before said, he spoke decent English, “He had seen me at the Matrix.” Well, this guys kindest got me back to Novy Bydzov in a hurry, which was a wonderful surprise as I really wasn’t looking forward to continuing the rest of the walk.

When I got back to Novy Bydzov I had made plans with one of my friends from the city to try to teach him some more about DJing. I did that for about an hour then headed home for dinner and bed. It was probably the weirdest day I have had so far in relation to my teaching. It is these type of days I cherish though, they give me memories I will not be soon to forget.