My dad is in ICU. I flew in to Chicago, as planed months ago, on Saturday evening. Sunday morning we were in the hospital.
He has a perforated colon that they cannot patch.
I spent the night with my mom in his room. We're taking out the breathing tube in about an hour and a half. He doesn't need it though, he should be able to breathe on his own, nothing is wrong with his lungs. He just had it in overnight to make everything easier on him after the surgery that didn't work.
Monday, March 10, 2008
Sunday, March 2, 2008
When Germany and US Politics Collide
So this story is several weeks old now. But at the primary season may be drawing to a close, this may be as good a time as ever to write about it.
I have a group of 8th graders who I actually really adore. I don't run lessons with them, only assist in their classroom once a week. But they're always really excited to see me and call me Ms. Neill (instead of Mrs. Neill, Indira, Ms. O'Neil, Mrs. O'Neil...the list goes on). They're actually pretty good kids, though I couldn't imagine having to control them by myself because they're so high energy.
They all know about the primaries in the US and who Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama are. One of them even knew the name John McCain, but nothing about him. Their assignment for that day was to split into 2 groups and come up with 'campaign strategies' for Clinton or Obama. Really just though, reasons someone should vote for one or the other. Predictably, most of the girls wanted to be on Team Clinton, the boys, Obama.
But not this one girl. She absolutely refused to be on the Clinton side and absolutely had to write for Obama. She stood up and stormed to the other side of the room, leaving the other girls behind. It should obviously be mentioned that she is the only Black student in the class. Actually, my students are a pretty diverse mix of Western and Eastern European, Turkish, Indian and East Asian kids. But there are remarkably few African students at the school. While I do not know for certain, this girl in particular probably has one Caucasian parent and one African parent, or maybe her parents moved from America to Germany or something. Basically, she looks mixed race and not like the students who have two parents from Africa.
I found it really remarkable that in the 8th grade, where boys against girls is the defining nature of their social interactions, she identified so very strongly with her race as to cross over enemy lines. I should also say that generally, students don't seem to form cliques based on race either. You don't see the students of Turkish decent in one corner and the Europeans in another. But it is also of note that I teach at a very middle class school, virtually all my students were born in Germany and their parents have white-collar jobs. It's considered the best school in Bremen.
But, still, she absolutely had to side with Obama.
When asked to give a reason why Obama should be the nominee she said something like "Well, Black people were slaves. So he should now get a chance. He would be a symbol." The teacher told her that none of Obama's ancestors were slaves so that wasn't a good reason. But the part about him being a symbol was good.
I really wish I could see inside this girl's head. Why this American presidential race resonates with her in such a strong way, whereas her being Black appears not to alter her interaction with schoolmates. She is by far in the minority when it comes to ethnicity, but why is it here that it shows itself so strongly? Why in the 8th grade does this cause her to break ranks with her gender and cross over?
Perhaps with non-American children, that whole question of Race vs. Gender could actually be addressed in a really interesting way.
Oh, and it was hilarious because literally, most of the discussion did become "Change!" "Experience!" "Change!" "Experience!"
And then there was the one girl who thought that Hillary should get to be president because her husband cheated on her.
I have a group of 8th graders who I actually really adore. I don't run lessons with them, only assist in their classroom once a week. But they're always really excited to see me and call me Ms. Neill (instead of Mrs. Neill, Indira, Ms. O'Neil, Mrs. O'Neil...the list goes on). They're actually pretty good kids, though I couldn't imagine having to control them by myself because they're so high energy.
They all know about the primaries in the US and who Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama are. One of them even knew the name John McCain, but nothing about him. Their assignment for that day was to split into 2 groups and come up with 'campaign strategies' for Clinton or Obama. Really just though, reasons someone should vote for one or the other. Predictably, most of the girls wanted to be on Team Clinton, the boys, Obama.
But not this one girl. She absolutely refused to be on the Clinton side and absolutely had to write for Obama. She stood up and stormed to the other side of the room, leaving the other girls behind. It should obviously be mentioned that she is the only Black student in the class. Actually, my students are a pretty diverse mix of Western and Eastern European, Turkish, Indian and East Asian kids. But there are remarkably few African students at the school. While I do not know for certain, this girl in particular probably has one Caucasian parent and one African parent, or maybe her parents moved from America to Germany or something. Basically, she looks mixed race and not like the students who have two parents from Africa.
I found it really remarkable that in the 8th grade, where boys against girls is the defining nature of their social interactions, she identified so very strongly with her race as to cross over enemy lines. I should also say that generally, students don't seem to form cliques based on race either. You don't see the students of Turkish decent in one corner and the Europeans in another. But it is also of note that I teach at a very middle class school, virtually all my students were born in Germany and their parents have white-collar jobs. It's considered the best school in Bremen.
But, still, she absolutely had to side with Obama.
When asked to give a reason why Obama should be the nominee she said something like "Well, Black people were slaves. So he should now get a chance. He would be a symbol." The teacher told her that none of Obama's ancestors were slaves so that wasn't a good reason. But the part about him being a symbol was good.
I really wish I could see inside this girl's head. Why this American presidential race resonates with her in such a strong way, whereas her being Black appears not to alter her interaction with schoolmates. She is by far in the minority when it comes to ethnicity, but why is it here that it shows itself so strongly? Why in the 8th grade does this cause her to break ranks with her gender and cross over?
Perhaps with non-American children, that whole question of Race vs. Gender could actually be addressed in a really interesting way.
Oh, and it was hilarious because literally, most of the discussion did become "Change!" "Experience!" "Change!" "Experience!"
And then there was the one girl who thought that Hillary should get to be president because her husband cheated on her.
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