My Tutor
Today I came home, from a nearby village, tired, tired of speaking in Romanian, and physically tired to the core. I wanted to cancel my weekly Romanian lesson, and lay in my bed. But I couldn't, becuase my tutor doesn't have a phone -- making last minute cancellations impossible. Even if she did have a house phone, calling her a half an hour before the lesson would do no good, becuase she would have already left her house, heading here.
I'm glad I didn't (couldn't) cancel. Every lesson that I go into tired, angry, and distracted - I come out of in a better mood. (poor her though, when I'm agity, I don't want to learn, and usually have a scowl on my face). I don't know what it is about her -- we really understand each other, have great conversations, and spend most of our lesson time reading stories and poems. She loves literature, and loves explaining it (she is a literature teacher at the school), and I love watching how excited she gets about words -- specific words. From her my vocabulary has gotten very rich -- maybe I don't use the words I learn that often, or in everyday situations, but when I use them, they are fitting. It's nice to have the exact word you want to say now and then.
I was describing my relationship with my tutor to another volunteer right before he met her. He was confused, becuase he said by my description, he thought she would be much younger (She's 62, and lives with her grandson). I don't know what it is, but we just connect, and she always helps me relax, and want to learn -- even when I'm exhausted and it's cold outside. But most importantly she makes me feel connected. Like someone knows me as a person, not just as the American. Yes, more than one person here really knows me. I'm not saying that. It's just every time I talk to her, through her words, she reminds me that she knows who I am, and understands a bit about how I work. And I like that.
I'm glad I didn't (couldn't) cancel. Every lesson that I go into tired, angry, and distracted - I come out of in a better mood. (poor her though, when I'm agity, I don't want to learn, and usually have a scowl on my face). I don't know what it is about her -- we really understand each other, have great conversations, and spend most of our lesson time reading stories and poems. She loves literature, and loves explaining it (she is a literature teacher at the school), and I love watching how excited she gets about words -- specific words. From her my vocabulary has gotten very rich -- maybe I don't use the words I learn that often, or in everyday situations, but when I use them, they are fitting. It's nice to have the exact word you want to say now and then.
I was describing my relationship with my tutor to another volunteer right before he met her. He was confused, becuase he said by my description, he thought she would be much younger (She's 62, and lives with her grandson). I don't know what it is, but we just connect, and she always helps me relax, and want to learn -- even when I'm exhausted and it's cold outside. But most importantly she makes me feel connected. Like someone knows me as a person, not just as the American. Yes, more than one person here really knows me. I'm not saying that. It's just every time I talk to her, through her words, she reminds me that she knows who I am, and understands a bit about how I work. And I like that.
This entry was posted
on Thursday, April 17, 2008 at 12:10 PM.
