My Precious

It finally happened. I have been banned from a class.

Okaay it's not really that bad - the students are particularly unenthusiastic and they're behind anyway, so I've been relocated to another classroom so I can be put to better use. As their teacher said, "You're too precious to go to waste in this class!"

Some "native speakers" hanging out in Krems

"Precious"... that word has such strange connotations to me. Firstly, it makes me think of my friends sarcastically complimenting me for being dressed like a 10 year old girl, which made me chuckle inappropriately when the teacher said this. Then, I think of some sort of rare, expensive jewel, which also seems kind of strange to me. But then I thought about it a bit. A native speaker IS a rare, expensive thing. These students have been watching American movies and TV their whole lives but very few have ever really had a chance to speak to an American, to see what kind of things we say in real life. I'm sure the teachers of these classes don't walk in saying 'What's up guuuys?" or many other things that may be considered "slang" but are just considered to be normal conversation for me. Not to be self-centered, but English is an important language in the world, particularly in business and tourism. I don't know how many times I've heard people on a train conversing in English, though it is obvious that neither is speaking their native language. English is the most commonly spoken language in the word (except Chinese?) and having a basic understanding of it helps make an international life easier.

For that reason, I'm lucky; I speak English pretty darn well, though not perfectly, let's be honest! English is an interesting language because it's constantly changing. I have a theory that slang in English progresses faster than slang in any other language because the native speakers are a. striving to differentiate themselves from other English speakers, and b. striving to differentiate themselves from people who don't speak English natively. The United States and England have only been separated for approximately 400 years, but there's still plenty of terms the Brits use that I've never heard of (hob? aubergine? bin?!).

In Krems-Stein

Anyway, I can't judge my students for not taking advantage of talking to me, because I struggle to take advantage of the 8 million Austrians surrounding me. This year has been full of a lot of self discovery, but unfortunately a large part of that discovery is that I'm antisocial and I don't like looking foolish and making language mistakes. Also, I could talk to any old Austrian just to practice German, but I don't know what to talk about! So, instead, I adventure Vienna by myself (citybike, a free bike service, is currently rocking my world), read great books and occasionally make small talk with the man who works at Spar.

In other news, my school had its Maturaball on Saturday! I took the opportunity to be the only person to speak English to my students at this event, and had a great time! It was fun to see my favorite teachers, it was fun to see my favorite students, it was fun to dance like a crazy American.

Not that I'm counting, but I counted and I've got 11 weeks left here in Austria. It's kind of refreshing to know the exact number. The time pressure encourages me to go out and go see the museums I have been meaning to see, while also making me want to end everything on a good note. It's easy to stay positive in the springtime when trees are blossoming and people are outside and bunnies are bounding across fields.