A Merry Overseas Christmas

This is the first time I've ever been away from home for Christmas. It definitely snuck up on me. All of a sudden it was just about Christmas without even a hint of its approach. No battles for the last space in a crowded shopping mall's parking lot, no discussions with friends about what they were getting their parents in hopes of finding some brilliant new idea to give a break from the traditional sweaters and ties, no pond hockey, no decorations on lawns and in windows, no lights, no 24/7 Christmas movies on tv, no carols...nothing! I received a jolt at school the other day when the head teacher was writing a letter and asked me what the date was. "Poush 8th", I replied. "No, I mean the English date", he said. "Oh...umm, Dec.23". Wait, what?!? How was it possible that Christmas was only 2 days away? Well, it was possible, and it's sad thinking about my family at home all celebrating together and me being so far away. But, I decided to bring some Christmas to Nepal and found there's nothing like the excitement of a 7 year old to cheer a person right up. I spent almost all day yesterday with my nephew getting ready. We awoke to the news that one of the political parties had called a strike and there would be no school. This was met by extreme joy by Pratik and a brief moment of fear by myself when I thought my plans for xmas might not be possible (because, of course, I had left it until Dec.24 to go out and buy the things I needed). But, luckily the strike didn't apply to shops. Just schools and buses mostly. So, we managed to fashion some stockings with some red material and a stapler and we made a tree and fireplace out of coloured paper. I'm quite proud of our work, in fact (see photo on right). Pratik had lots of fun stapling and decorating, and he was bouncing around all day asking all kinds of questions. I don't know if I've ever seen him as happy as he was this morning to find full stockings and gifts. He's even convinced that he can see reindeer footprints on the roof now that were definitely not there yesterday.

At school, there is lots to be excited about. I've been given the key to one room and with it the permission to do whatever I want with the interior. In addition to building it as a music room, I've been working to also include a small library there. I've hauled all the old books out that had been sitting in a locked wardrobe, just collecting dust and providing snacks for a pair of mice. Now, I'm in the process of organizing and cataloguing what we've got. Some time has opened up during the school day for me because about a dozen student teachers have arrived from the university to do their teaching practice for one month and can cover off classes. I'm just teaching class 3 English and class 5 math each day with the rest of the time to work on other projects, which are all keeping me rather busy. The head teacher decided to have all these student teachers report to me in my new "office" and soon-to-be library / music hall. Thus, tacked onto his already lengthy introduction for me of "volunteer from Canada, educational consultant and personal advisor" is now "chief librarian and student teacher team lead". They've each promised to bring in some additional book donations by Sunday and have been helpful at sorting through some of the books written in Nepali.

Things have been moving fast, downright lightning speed by Nepali standards, so I've been doing most of the book-writing at home as well as preparing other documents like the library project plan, some Child Friendly Education teaching guidelines, and some English speaking practice points for classes 3-7 (mostly in the mornings before school). I'm very excited about the library because reading in leisure time is really not much a part of the culture here. I'd like to be able to give the students easy access to books that they can enjoy reading and have them happily accelerate their learning on their own time without even knowing it. I'm hoping to make the room comfortable, welcoming, bright and colourful so that they'll enjoy being there as an inspiring change from the drab brick and cement world of their classrooms. They're showing a tremendous amount of curiosity about the room already as I'm working away and trying to get their hands on some of the storybooks they've seen me sifting through. All good signs I reckon.

So, life is moving along quickly here without me hardly noticing. Barely anything strikes me as out of the ordinary these days and I find that I, myself, have developed quite the head wobble, usually meaning "ok", "yes" or "I'm leaving now", as well as other very much Nepali gestures. I call people towards me with my fingers pointed downwards and twist my hands like I'm screwing in a lightbulb if I'm confused about something. It's also started feeling very natural to give and receive things only with my right hand while touching my elbow with my left hand, and to touch a person and then my forehead a few times if I accidentally bump them with my foot (both of which seemed like very awkward things to do for quite some time). Hopefully, I can refrain from doing any of these sorts of things when I eventually return back home again, but try not to look at me too oddly if it takes a bit of time to break the habits.

Happy Holidays and Much Love to All from Nepal!