My Multicultural Classroom

One of my goals in life was to travel and see the world, though I really had European destinations in mind.

Thanks to the musical South Pacific - which was popular when I was in high school - and Elvis Presley’s Hawaiian movies - as well as the adventure book, Kon Tiki, which we studied in grade 8 - I was also intrigued by Hawaii and the Polynesian Islands.

Eventually I did visit a few places in Europe. I also travelled to Israel to study - and ended up teaching at an international school there. And after retiring from teaching, I did get to Hawaii.

But my biggest international adventure came during my 40-year teaching career, as I taught students from all over the world. Living in Montreal, I taught English to French-speaking soldiers… In Ottawa I first taught English to international college and university students - then to immigrants from all over the world. 

Here are a few. This group comes from Somalia, Iran, Korea, Sudan, Rwanda and Afghanistan.

The students in the top photo (on a university field trip) are mostly South American.

All shared their personalities - and their stories. All taught me so much!

Like the student who told me that, in her country of birth, because of her religion, she is considered a “non-person”: Do you know what that means?! she asked. It means that in my country, anyone can kill me and not be punished… because I’m not a person!

Another woman was thrilled at the opportunity to go to school. In her country, women were not allowed to be educated…

I learned so much!

What I’m trying to say is: I may not have travelled all over the world, but people from all over the world travelled to my classroom - and they all taught me so much!

 

Toronto Festival Fun

Terry and I were in downtown Toronto recently when we heard the sound of a choir singing...

We headed over to find out where a public concert might be taking place.

Outside Toronto City Hall,  a choir was providing the background music for a free open-air fashion show...

It was all part of an annual Filipino cultural festival.

We stayed for a while, listening to the music.

So glad we came across it, just by chance!

Aloe Vera As Food?!

I usually take my camera everywhere - in case I happen to see something I'd like to post on my blog.

That's just what happened the other day. I was "only" going to pick up some milk at a nearby supermarket, but when I arrived, the first thing I saw in the produce department was this aloe vera - large leaves reminiscent of plants I encountered in Hawaii.

I've never seen aloe vera in the food section of a Canadian supermarket before! (Or any supermarket, for that matter!)










My own aloe plant is much smaller. It shares a pot with a small palm tree and another fragile plant. I find they do better together, for some reason.

I have the plant in case I want some fresh aloe vera gel to use as a lotion on a burn. I used to break off a piece and squeeze it to get the gel out - then rub it on the sore area. But I haven't used it as medication in years. Mostly it's just another indoor tropical plant I enjoy having around.

When aloe vera gained fame as a natural skin cream in North America in the 1960s and 1970s, my mother went to the health food store and bought some pure gel to rub on her skin.

My father, intrigued by all the health benefits aloe reportedly possessed,  poured himself a tablespoon and swallowed it: If it's that good for the outside of the body, imagine what it will do for my insides, too.

Are you sure you are supposed to eat that stuff? I remember asking. Not everything you rub on your skin is edible. (I have no idea if he continued to take a daily dose!)

I didn't buy any aloe vera at the supermarket, but I was intrigued: Is it used as food? I did a google search and came up with this website with recipes.

Hmmm. Should I begin to think of my little plant as something to add to my salsa? Would it make a difference to my health? (I think I'll read a bit more about it before I try.)

Made in Hawaii Weddings? Or Albums?

Both times I visited Hawaii, I was surprised at the number of Asian brides I saw in white wedding attire having pictures taken on Waikiki Beach.

Hawaii must be a popular spot for destination weddings, I commented to our Segway guide as we passed a bridal couple - and their photographer -  standing on the sand.

They don't all get married here, he told me. Some of them are already married. They have come here to have pictures taken for their wedding album.

His comment reminded me of a wedding album one of my immigrant students showed me years ago. Instead of pictures of the wedding, the album had photos of the couple in different outfits with different backdrops. Was this the same thing?

I looked up Hawaiian wedding photography online to see if this is a service commonly offered by photographers: pictures only, no wedding. But I was only able to find information on destination weddings (which seemed surprisingly affordable!)

So I'm not really sure whether these brides and grooms are in Hawaii to get married - or simply to add exotic photos to their wedding albums. But you do see them often on Waikiki Beach.

Attitudes About Laziness... In Other Places

When I was teaching newcomers to Canada, I was fascinated by cultural differences regarding work. I remember talking to a student from Hong Kong, a woman who was upgrading her computer skills while gaining Canadian work experience at a half-day internship at a local school office. In Hong Kong she had been a teacher and a school administrator. She was a hard worker. The only complaint the Canadian school had about her was that she didn't walk around the office - she jogged.

When told that her running made her co-workers uncomfortable, she was surprised. In Hong Kong, only lazy people walk, she replied. Running shows I'm a hard worker.

In Canada, nobody runs, I reassured her. Well, maybe firefighters... (Did she conclude that we are all lazy? I didn't ask!)

I thought of this student when someone I know mentioned that she was expecting a friend from Japan to arrive for a short visit. She's only coming for 3 days, she told me. It's hardly worth it because it takes her two days to get here and two days to go back.

Do people only get one week's vacation a year in Japan? I asked.

No, they get two - but apparently if they ask for the second week, they are considered lazy. Nobody asks for their second week off! 

Sharing Children

I was going to title this post "Giving Away a Child" - but I thought it sounded too callus... And I don't believe this tradition is done in a cold-hearted way...

Teaching English to students from other countries was a fascinating experience - partly because of the interesting stories I heard... Here are two - from different countries - that share a similar idea: that children belong, not merely to a couple, but to a wider, extended family.

I first encountered the custom of "sharing children" when chatting with a student from China, a middle-aged man who had been sent to study for a year at the University of Ottawa. In those years, spouses rarely accompanied students - perhaps the thought was that students would be less likely to defect - and choose to stay in Canada - if their family members were all back home.

In any event, I remember asking the student if he had any children, and he replied, Yes, I have a daughter who is a teenager, so my wife isn't alone back home.

Then, after a moment's pause, he added: Actually, she isn't my daughter - she's my niece. My wife never had any children, and my sister, who had six, felt sorry for her. So when she had another baby, she gave her to us.

Really? I asked. Do people do that often?

Sometimes, especially if the family with a lot of children doesn't have enough money to educate them all - and the couple who doesn't have any children is well-off.

I was left pondering this ultimate act of kindness... willingly giving up a child...

The next time I encountered a similar situation was a few years later, when teaching immigrants to Canada. I was talking with a pretty young woman who had recently arrived.

Are you here with your family? I asked.

Just with my husband, she replied.

So all your family are back home?

Well, my mother is in the USA with my brothers, she explained. So we can visit them whenever we want.

Then, after a pause, she quietly added: I have a strange situation. My mother lives in the USA but I didn't know she was my mother until recently. I always thought she was my aunt.

She explained: Back home, my parents lived with my grandparents - my father's parents. We lived in a big house together with my father's brother and his wife.

My mother had three sons, and when I was born, my grandfather told her: You have three children, and your sister-in-law doesn't have any. Give this child to your sister-in-law. My mother didn't want to, but she had no choice. The grandfather was boss. So I was raised in the same house with my parents and my brothers, but I thought my aunt and uncle were my parents.

It was very hard on my mother - she hated living like that - so when my brothers immigrated to the USA, she went with them. I didn't know she was my real mother until I visited her there - and she told me.

So you have two mothers.

She nodded. Then after a pause, she added softly: I would never give away my child...

That's Not the Way I See It

As a university student, I shared an apartment with a Arab woman who was studying to become a lawyer. (She eventually went on to become a judge - but that's another story!)

One of my favorite movies is on TV this afternoon, she told me one day when neither of us had a class. Come watch it with me - it really is a great movie!

Is it in Arabic? I asked.

She nodded.

Well, I won't understand it...

Don't worry. I'll explain everything to you.

So we sat down to watch the only Arabic movie I have ever seen...

The setting was a large modern city, perhaps Cairo or Beirut; the characters, a happy young couple dressed like any North Americans or Europeans. I don't remember all the details, but at some point early on, the wife's younger sister appeared in the story. Before long, she became ill with a mysterious illness. Nobody could understand why she was getting sicker and sicker every day.

Everyone, of course, was very concerned... Doctors were called. But the young woman didn't improve.

But (as movies can't go on forever), eventually the mystery was revealed. The girl was lovesick: She was in love with her sister's husband!

At this point, I threw up my hands in disbelief.

That girl is a spoiled brat! I exclaimed. She needs to grow up...

My friend looked horrified... Wait, and you'll see what happens. It has a happy ending.

So I waited...

After thoughtful consideration, the older sister told her husband to divorce her - and marry her sister.

Isn't it wonderful how much she loves her sister? my friend commented as the movie ended. She even gave up her husband so that her sister would get better...

I didn't know what to say. I think I muttered something like.. That would not be a happy ending in any North American movie I know!

The experience taught me an important lesson: It showed me that people from different cultural backgrounds viewing the same series of events may well see them in a totally different light - and in the end, come up with radically different conclusions.

We can't assume that everyone sees things the way we do!