I have just a little over a month until I’m going home for the winter break. 34 days, 6 hours, and 14 minutes to be exact. The other day, someone asked me what I missed most. The first thing that popped into my head was what I said: “Beer and Pizza”. If that person asking that question had been a guy, the conversation would have ended there, with a nod in agreement. Unfortunately, the questioning individual was a female. “Beer and pizza? Not your wife?” In hindsight, my best response would have been to pull the fire alarm and run, but no, I continued. I explained that Beer and Pizza was my term of endearment for my wife. I know she didn’t believe me, but I cannot back down now. Like a teachable moment, this should have been a learnable moment for me, but I really doubt it was.
Teachable moments are moments that arise unexpectedly throughout the day and can be used to help educate a student. Sometimes I am present when they happen. I will occasionally take a student out for a walk in the hall as reward for good behavior. The reward isn’t really the walk; it is the candy I hand out with some worldly wisdom included for free. What kid wouldn’t appreciate that?
While gazing out the window with an eight-year-old boy, we were treated to a viewing of a dog taking a crap on the frozen lake. I didn’t look out before I asked, “What do you see out there today?” “There’s a dog pooping.” Marvelous. A lone dog hunched over on the frozen lake and me without my camera. The teachable part of the moment was when we discussed how it would be frozen by the time he walked home. Unfortunately, neither one of us thought of making a ‘poopcicle’ joke at the time.
My wife has convinced me that I haven’t written about my walk to school and dead people. Since the terra firma here isn’t so firma, regular cemeteries won’t work. The ground, when thawed, feels like a sponge when you’re walking on it. So instead of burying someone after they pass away, they stay above ground. And the cemeteries are not a centralized collection of caskets and tombstones. They seem to be placed randomly around the village, including next to walkways. That does make sense, since cemeteries elsewhere are near roads. I walk by three ‘cemeteries’ on my walk to school each morning. One casket is placed so close to the trail that a person can bump into it if you’re not paying attention. The cemeteries in the village are not very big, usually just a half-dozen or so in each group. I don’t know how it is decided where to place a casket, or who decides. I was a little disappointed at Halloween when nobody hid behind these casket boxes and jumped out at people. I think it would be funny even on Thanksgiving.
I am looking forward to spending some time at home. Not having a store in town isn’t as difficult as I thought it would be, but it will be nice to expand my menu once in a while. Although having chili and rice twice a week hasn’t diminished it’s appeal to my taste buds. I sure miss my Beer and Pizza.
In your defense, you can't talk to beer and pizza on skype ... well, you could, but you can't get the benefits (if there are any) of beer and pizza that way. Fortunately, your relationship with your wife is multidimensional, and the intellectual and emotional aspects benefit from being able to communicate, even without being there in person. (Yes, I did just use "intellectual" in reference to you and Monica. I am amazed as well.)
ReplyDeleteAnd as to the caskets, that is kind of freaky.