Hiya...Speaking Abroad (#1)

Well, I've already mentioned that people here are a bit quieter than at home. Clearly, some of us stick out like a sore thumb as we saunter through town shouting to each other (yes, even though it may be your normal speaking volume, it sounds like shouting when compared with the locals--check out their stares, YOU ARE LOUD). I smile without actually speaking more as a hello or a thank you here because I am sometimes afraid of what octave might arise out of my throat--and certainly I don't want to be one of those people. :)

Most interesting to me is the responses I get when purchasing items in shops, especially gift shops at tourist attractions. Before the transaction is even complete, I am being thanked. I hand over what I want to buy. "Thank you," the cashier chimes with a curt nod. I feel bizarre saying 'you're welcome', so when he/she has finished ringing me up, I take my bag and say, "Thank you." Well, of course, I get a "Thank you" in return. It is endless and hilarious and I know of no way to stop it except to leave with a smile.

"Cheers" is another favorite expression. Used almost everywhere in the UK, it may mean just about whatever you would like. Personally, I like sitting on the trains (as I've said before) and watching the refreshment cart make its way down the aisle. Maybe it is because it reminds me of Harry Potter extracting his gold coins and chiming, "We'll take the lot!" As much as I might be tempted to say that, I remind myself that it is simply packaged food and pop so I haven't bought anything off the "trolley" just yet. Still, it is fun to watch the man or woman selling snacks slide down the aisle saying "cheers" to anyone who buys anything, or simply gets out of his or her way so the aisle may be cleared for sales.


My favorite local use of language incorporates "cheers" into a different expression: "Cheers, love." This lovely and warming expression was bestowed upon my ears as I exited our tour bus in London; these words from the bus driver's mouth made me feel like we were very good friends for just a moment. I know the use of the word "love" as a person is a very generic term here, but I can't help but find it extremely pleasant. It is much more appealing than the American "sweetie" or "honey" which can feel patronizing at times, depending on who is speaking and how they are used. Perhaps some Brits feel the same way about "love" but it just doesn't seem to carry that sentiment---it just seems friendly.

In general, people here are very polite in their manner of speaking. Body language and tone convey attitudes of annoyance much more accurately, but their actual choice of words doesn't reveal anything except polite words. At home, I feel like the accepted and traditional way to speak in public is to be polite but we are losing that more and more every day. I notice even in the things I hear my teenage students say in front of me or walking in the halls with their friends at school, that I wouldn't have dared to say near adults when I was their age. They curse a lot more, and don't seem to have learned the difference between how to speak to adults or out in public and with their friends in private. This translates to adults in American culture also speaking with less refinement and manners, too. For the most part, the British seem to still value manners in speaking more than we do. Even still, I can see the change happening here, too. At Sherwood Forest, for example, there were some British teens visiting the site as well; one girl was mad at her mother and was cursing loudly at her. The mother did admonish her for her use of language but you could see that this was not the first time the girl had chosen these words. Robin Hood would be appalled at a child speaking to her mother this way! It is not only a cultural thing but also a generational thing---look at how the speech in television and film has incorporated more and more strong language (cursing) as a natural part of daily speech. So, while manners in speech might have lost their way faster in America, they are changing a bit everywhere because of global media influence. The attitude just seems to be, "So what? I don't care what anyone thinks. I will talk how I want!" Very ego-centric; but I think it's mostly because no one has really taught them anything else. I understand it, but it still bothers me--I think words are so important and we are thinking less and less as a culture about what words mean and how they make us sound when we speak. People need to think more and speak less sometimes. That's why writing is so nice...it makes you see what you are saying.





(random side note: At least we finally have a President who can speak well again--the last 8 years were torture for those of us who care about words!)

Class...What Class? (#7)

Since we have arrived, we have done nothing but acquire knowledge. Just by watching people in the airport, or a train station, you can gain an immense amount of knowledge about the culture and attitudes that surround you. So much of this experience involves just being here and being a part of the culture so that you might become absorbed into a bit and more aware of your natural inclinations, whether they match or contrast with the local behavior. So, when I say 'What Class?' it is not for lack of instructional time; all of our time here is instructional time. While we do have "class" and discuss the stories and theories we have read about, it is very comfortable and open, and it really wouldn't be as meaningful if we wouldn't venture out of "the classroom" into the moors, the towns, the abbeys and the forests. We are learning the mannerisms of a culture: the way people communicate, what they consider proper etiquette in public, and what they consider important to their culture and to life. People in all of the UK truly value their history. Not only tour guides at museums and other tourist sites, but even local cab drivers or pub bartenders are happy to tell you stories of the town you are in, including fascinating details about the buildings, owners of shops, and famous people who once lived there. They appreciate and are proud of where they live and want to pass it on.

Knowledge acquired directly from a person can be extremely interesting. It differs from the experience of hearing it from a teacher in a typical classroom in the States because you are here. You trust the authority of the cabbie telling you about Isaac Newton because as he tells you the famed man lived here, you speed by a restaurant in the middle of the country with an apple on its sign that's named for him. When a tour guide talks to you about Bill Clinton smoking pot, it differs from the newscaster at home. It isn't a scandal, but simply a funny local story to mention as you stroll past the Oxford house Clinton resided in at the time (see right) of the supposed smoking.

In addition to guides and stories, you simply must get out and see it for yourself and become part of landscape, the tales and the people. Hiking the moors in Yorkshire puts you in the experience of the Brontes and their characters, just as bounding through Sherwood Forest gives you a slice of hanging out as Robin Hood might have. And all the book copies you possess with the famous names of Lewis Carroll, Geoffrey Chaucer, Lord Byron, George Eliot and so on cannot compare to striding past their stone slab tomb markers inside of Westminster Abbey in London. Don't forget that Queen Elizabeth I and numerous other English monachs elaborate tombs are also within these walls--these kings and queens truly did exist; they are no longer just names in a history book.

I've learned to appreciate the culture and the history that surrounds it. At home, I feel too many people are losing the history, their own history, of where they live and along with it they lose a sense of the importance of the past and all the greatness that came before them. I am fortunate to have a family who loves to tell stories and I value that. I always knew that stories play a huge role in learning and understanding, but not until I was here did I realize that I may have underestimated the role of telling tales. The locals here seem to realize that everything should be passed on--there is no significance or insignificance for you never know whose interest you might peak, what important connection might be made or how that knowledge may affect the future understanding of the space in which you stand or the people who stand there. While I may not previously have a personal connection to spaces here in the UK simply being here and taking it all in through my senses allows those histories and stories to come to life in me, too. For example, I knew nothing of Edinburgh Castle before visiting (see left), but standing near the cannons and walking through and in the space made the stories of battles and monarchs real to me. I am taking this important realization back to my classroom. While I have always noticed students' interest in stories that connect to their assignments, I never realized what large a role I might play in their understanding and interest in their local culture. In telling them about George Remus and his swimming pool or his bootlegging operation (5-10 minutes from where they live) when we study The Great Gatsby or explaining why we have The Underground Railroad Museum in Cincinnati when we read To Kill a Mockingbird (sad, most of them have no idea why) I am not only helping them understand their novels, but helping them appreciate or at least know their culture and history. Now if I can just get them to experience some of the culture also, not just hear it from me but really put them in the space around them, that would really make the learning more relevant and real to them.