First Days of School

It's the unofficial end of summer. Officially. I've finished my first three days of school and as far as first days go, I'll say they were a success. Most of my classes seem good except for one painfully quiet class (there could be worse things). Here are the highlights from the week:

Our Principal is a Dwight Shrute look-alike. He doesn't have quite the same personality but when you talk to him you're almost expecting to hear, "Fact: JBHS is the best school ever." He disappoints every time. It is a well discussed topic among the faculty but I'm not sure if he's in on the joke.

Popular names circa 1993-94: Charlotte, Rachael, Allison and for boys: Adam and Sean.

The guy I am teaching the Contemporary issues/journalism class is very loud, very talkative and has been teaching the course for a number of years. So he's definitely been taking the lead but I think as we get more comfortable with one another it will be fine. Oh, and by the way, he was "teacher of the year" last year. I'm hoping I can learn a thing or two from him.

We gave a "quiz" on day one. Mostly current event/government type questions. The good news is: everyone knew George Bush was the President and only one person missed the VP. Other fun answers: For Secretary of state we got, Condoleeza Rights, "that black lady," and even a shout out to Jodi Rell the Connecticut governor. (At least they knew she was someone in government.) When asked to write what they know about Obama and McCain's platform, someone just wrote "pro-abortion" for Obama and "oil" for McCain. Four of 27 passed.

In my sophomore World Geography class, we were talking about the American culture and identity and I had given them a short reading called, "The Sacred Rac." It tells the story of the Asu tribe who worships the animal, the "rac" (much like the sacred cow of Indian). The story is really about the USA (Asu) and our obsession with the car (rac). The woman who wrote the story cleverly writes about how we care for our cars, the benefits and the negatives of cars. Anyway, we are reading it together and at the first mention of the "sacred rac," I hear little boy giggles. At points there is mention of the "racs" growing - more giggles. Finally, I ask, "what is so funny?" And as I am saying it, I get it. The term rac in their sophomoric minds, also refers to a woman's chest. What fun 14 year old boys can be.

Same World Geography class: I tell them I spent the last year in Bangalore, India. A hand goes up. "Wait, isn't that in China?" I say, "You mean India?"
"No, that city you said, Bangkok."
"Oh, no I was in Bangalore. Bangkok is in Thailand."
"Well, isn't that in China?"
A third party jumps in. "No, you idiot. Thailand is a country."
"So isn't it next to China then?"
His friend says, "no, it's like, near Japan. It's like an island."
It could be a long year.

In other news, I think McCain might have given the Presidency to the Democrats. If he thought he was going to woo Hillary voters by simply picking a women, then he really doesn't get it. From what I have learned so far, she is an ardent pro-life supporter, she wants to drill her native Alaskan land for oil, she voted to ban gay-marriage, she has no foreign policy experience, plus she, by her own admission, is sort of a newcomer to politics. Seeing as McCain is not exactly a spring chicken, am I supposed to see this as a sound, responsible decision. What if he kicks the bucket in office? We'll be under the leadership of a inexperienced, socially conservative beauty queen who still is not convinced that global warming is in part, caused by pollution. Interesting choice, McCain. We'll see you for a final farewell in Minnesota.