School Reporter Gets the Scoop

One of my many gifted students interviewed me for the school newspaper (of which he is the editor), and the principal of the school liked the interview so well, that she reposted it in the local internet news about Ialoveni. Here it is for your reading pleasure... in Romanian.

(INTERVIU) Tim Schneider: „Sunt străin în ţară, dar vin cu pace!” - I am an alien in this country, but I come in peace.

http://ialovenionline.md/index.php/opinii/2257-interviu-tim-schneider-sunt-strin-in-ar-dar-vin-cu-pace

Thanks for making me sound so good, Nick.

The Language of Crows

There are crows everywhere here in Ialoveni. They circle every evening and night, and they make me think of magical things. When I was young in Japan I read a story about a little boy that turned into a crow. I have a children's book now in both Romanian and English called, "The Crow King." They have always been birds of mystery, and they are more so here in Moldova. Sometimes I think I'm the only one who can see them as the rest of the people around me seem to ignore them completely.

By the way, Moldovans have a saying, "Don't be a white crow."

The Language of Crows

Crows gather

in the white-barked birch --

strange dark leaves

that absorb the last rays of

November sun.

My mind is cloudy

with crows.

They fly in clusters

dotting the sky

like the musical notes

to some half-forgotten tune.

 

A Moldovan Moon

They grumble and curse --

old men discontented

with life,

raucously calling each other

crude names.

I keep listening,

wondering when

I will begin to understand

their cryptic code

of used-to-bes

and might-have-beens

 

Theirs is a language of vagary

and head bobbing;

their vocabulary

is of the vernacular.

 

Only their piercing

black-pearl eyes

describe how they really feel

as the light dies

and they sing the birth of the

waxy November moon.

English Lessons

As I teach my adult class and one of my extra 5th-grade classes - "I would like..." and "Would you like...?" This poem came to me.

English Lesson

I would like...

What would you like?

I would like to dance.

To dance? You would?

I would. Would you?

Would I? To dance?
Yes, to dance.
You would like to dance?

I would. Would you?

I would. Shall we?
Shall we?
I would like that.

Let's.

Aren't we?

Aren't we what? Dancing?
Just.
Aren't we just?
I would like that.

Let's.

A Pleasant Weekend in November

On Thanksgiving Day, while I was working, I made a point of telling my students about this wonderful holiday that we celebrate in the United States, how much it involves family and how we take turns around a very large meal (masa mare) to tell everyone what we are most thankful for. In fact, I also told the same students how thankful I am to have them in my life.

So, I kept the holiday in my heart, if not in actuality as there was no one to celebrate with, and my family and friends are so many hours behind, that it was the middle of the night when they were sitting down to dinner.

But... the weekend certainly made up for a quiet Thursday.

I am very thankful for Jennifer Kitson and Luma (both volunteers in the Peace Corps who also live very close to me here in Ialoveni). They provided their apartment for a wonderful dinner with several other volunteers, and it was a lovely afternoon in which we actually got to enjoy some carne de curcan (turkey). Lots of people raise turkeys here in Moldova, but few roast the birds. Instead they put the meat in stews and soups.

At any rate, we had an absolutely beautiful afternoon treated to a great meal, Christmas music, terrific conversation and wonderful hospitality. Thanks also to Kit, James, Natasha, Britney, Richard, and Charlie for sharing the dinner and bringing lots of great goodies to eat. Kit is a great chef.


James and Natasha

Then Sunday I was whisked away to Suruceni (a nearby village to Ialoveni and the birth village of my host father Valodya) for a birthday party for one of my 4th grade students (Valodya's niece). What an amazing day full of incredible food and fun. I was struck by the fact that although it was a 10-year-old's party, the primary celebration was with the adults. In fact, the kids were in another room having their own party.

While Moldova may be a poor country, no money is spared for food on special occasions. A masa is a full-blown food-coma-inducing affair. Plus a little alcohol is added to supplement the food consumption. Although I was the foreigner in the group, I was treated as one of the men, and despite some ribbing about being a spy for Mr. Obama (who really sent me here to discover the secrets of Moldovan barbecue), I was treated like an integral part of the family and included in all the conversations.

Once or twice, the conversation switched to Russian, but someone quickly translated into Romanian for me so that I would understand. Several times family members commented on the fact that after 5 months of living in the country I can converse better than a large number of people who have lived here all their lives, but never bothered to learn Romanian.

Aside from cooking the barbecue, the men pretty much were waited on hand and foot, and the women plied us with salads, various meat dishes, placinte, fruit, fish, mushroom dishes, and all the specialties of Moldova. Truly, a wonderful afternoon, ruined only by the fact that I had to get back to the house at a reasonable time to make lesson plans for the next day with several of my partners.

After the first round of eating, I begged to go for a walk in this very quaint village. Valodya went with me -- mostly because I think he was afraid I'd get lost. We walked up the street to his cousin's house, and were treated to the best house wine and sweet walnut honey. I am constantly amazed at the friendly hospitality of the people here.

All in all, it was a most pleasant weekend in November, and still I have so much for which to be thankful. Everyday is truly a gift here. So much happens in one day, in one weekend, that I almost feel I'm living lifetimes in a week. Thank you, Moldova! Thank you, to all of my friends and family. You have been so supportive and wonderful. Thanks for being there.

Chișinau

One of the reasons I count myself so blessed here in Moldova is that I have been assigned for the next two years to essentially a suburb of the capital city - Chișinau. (pronounced quiche-i-now) While the city boasts a population of above 750,000, in fact with emigration the problem that it is, many estimates put the population between 500,000 and 550K. But it is a true city in every respect, and it also represents Moldova with a lot of Soviet era architecture, memorials and parks.

Ștephan cel mare

Near Ștephan Cel Mare (Stephen The Great) Blvd., you can find the Piața Centrală -- a true symbol of Moldovan culture and enterprise, with literally thousands of stalls in an outdoor-market format, as well as very modern restaurants, hip clothing places, home design centers and just about any kind of technology you could want.

There are parts of this city in which I find myself wondering if I'm just visiting another city in the U.S., especially when standing outside one of the three McDonald's franchises in the city, or outside one of the countless and ever-popular pizza joints. Toucano Coffee house boasts some fantastic teas and coffees that are every bit as good as Starbucks if not better, and most of the workers speak English very well. My favorite pizza place is Pizza Mania because I know the owners (one of whom lives in Ialoveni), and his son lived in Missouri for three years, so they make pizza very well. It's fun to even watch it being made.

Because I am so close, unlike many other volunteers, I can easily make the trip into Chișinau every Saturday for church and usually a meeting with some other volunteers. I especially enjoy hanging out with James Tiger, another gung-ho English Education volunteer, and the only other mid-career volunteer my age. We have some fairly in-depth discussions regarding religion, politics, and teaching English.

I've thoroughly enjoyed a number of parks, gone to several concerts and done some necessary shopping. And many of the restaurants outshine those I visited in London. 

I will leave you with some architecture I took this weekend. It may seem a bit gray, but some that is because it gets dark here pretty early now that it's November.

Autumn in Moldova

Life has been very been very hectic here in Moldova as of late, with long days and lots of lectures every day. Being an English teacher and a native speaker carries quite a bit of weight. On one hand, my time is very much wanted and appreciated. I've been approached by all sorts of people from young children to adults, business people to students -- all interested in speaking English better.

And, there is a stigma attached to this as well. Sometimes I feel I'm not quite a human being, but an English-teaching machine. Mr. Tim doesn't need rest, he's a teacher. Mr. Tim doesn't need to go out and chat with the people in the town because he's a teacher.

And then... and then, one of my shy adult students makes me homemade placinta (an incredible bit of deliciousness here), or one of my high school students paints me a garden that makes my jaw drop, or several of my students insist on taking Mr. Tim out running so he stays healthy, or one of my students creates a piano composition to match a poem I wrote, and another invites me to join a nascent science fiction book club. There is also the sheer joy in watching the students get lost in debating integration for Moldova and forget for a moment that they are speaking in English about a complex topic and they don't have training wheels. In short, every day I marvel at the generosity of spirit, the potential for greatness and the joy of learning that I see around me. I am truly grateful to be here.

The hardest thing, I've found is to make sure to take even a half hour for myself. For my own satisfaction. I often don't think to take a break from grading essays or planning for the next day, to simply write poetry, take photos, go for a walk, etc. But yesterday, when a student backed out of a typical Sunday lesson, I took that walk and it was just so amazing. I saw my first deer here in Moldova. It was a brief sighting to be sure, but it was a sighting. I found a patch of wilderness that was so beautiful that my host mother, on seeing the photos, asked me if I was sure these were taken in Moldova. She knew they were as she saw me take my camera on my walk, and she smiled proudly and said, we really do have some beauty here too.

So, for your viewing enjoyment:

Autumn Hillside

With you life is more sweat.

"With you life is more sweat."

These are the actual words from one of my incredible students. And, I couldn't help but laugh so hard when I read them. I know he meant "sweet," and that makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside, but the fact that he wrote "sweat" is both true and it points to a quite a hill that we have to climb with the English language.

First off, the sweaty truth: I've started running with this student and several others in the evening, and we are up to 8K. They can outrun me any day of the week, but they are so patient and caring about watching out for Mr. Tim and stick right beside me, ready to grab me if I should stumble. They make regular comments in Romanian, like "You have really good form for your age," and "Be careful of the cars, Mr. Tim." I taught them the word "knucklehead" and they love it when I reply, that they should stop being knuckleheads and that I'm not THAT OLD. :o)

There is also the figurative sweat that I bring to the classroom because I expect to see them grow. I expect to see them tangibly develop their English abilities. There are those students who shoot me sniper-beamed looks of hate, but there are a growing number of students who are also rising to the challenge, coming to after-school clubs and lessons. Some are writing. Some are debating in English. Some are simply honing up on their grammar skills. But they are all sweating as they exercise their brains.

The hill that must be climbed is one of the difficulty of learning English. We take so much for granted when we speak English, much as the kids here do with Russian and Romanian. We can't always answer the "why is it done that way" questions about English grammar, and there are literally thousands of exceptions throughout the various rules of spelling, grammar and pronunciation. In fact, I challenge you (my readers) to take a look at the following poem to get a sense of what I mean just about pronunciation: http://www.mipmip.org/tidbits/pronunciation.shtml To spur my students on, I tell them that if they can learn how to pronounce this poem correctly, they will pronounce English better than 90% of the world's native English speakers. This gets them excited. They are nothing if not competitive.

And so, we sweetly sweat while building confidence and English skills at the same time. I'm just so grateful to have these incredible students in my life.

I leave you with a poem I wrote while some of my students were writing a test paper:

Tested

The sun sifts dappled

into the classroom
where students take their tests.

Autumn Path outside of Ialoveni, Moldova

Warming
to the information
trying to understand the perfect
tense and structure
the sentence.

They have no sadness,

no fear of losing
this moment. No worry
that the sun dancing on the floor
will still be there
this time next year.

They move in the now

and consider only the problem at hand
reaching for the definition
of living
with a certainty
that is crisp in its fragility
and thick with oblivion.

 

Why We're Here

To all my readers, you're likely to hear this a lot, but I am really sorry I have not kept up with my Blog.

When the Peace Corps used to say that this was the "toughest job you'll ever love," that was absolutely stating the case. I really love each day here. Every day has lots of challenges including getting up at 5 every morning and heading to bed at 11:30 after doing almost nothing but working in between. But the joys... Every day I get to see an "aha" smile on a student's face. Every day there are literally hundreds of children who offer shy and not so shy "hellos" and "Ifinetankyou" when I ask how they are. There are wonderful volunteers with whom to share my stories and frustrations. There is so much poetry to write. The food is great. The people are kind (except in the stores), life is amazingly good.

And everywhere there is beauty -- sometimes raw and wild, sometimes sophisticated, and sometimes breathtaking -- but real beauty; the kind of beauty you can only find when you turn off the television, walk away from the computer and actually look around at the world that is right in front of you.

Then I heard about a student of one of our volunteers who was only 10 years old who took his own life yesterday because he ran out of hope, and it reminds me why we are here: life is very difficult in Moldova. Our goal is to help the students realize their potential and to co-facilitate the development of a better-working education and community for these kids. We must show them that we are constantly hopeful for a brighter tomorrow and that, indeed, things will get better.

For Nicole -- I send you hugs and the affirmation that your heart is big enough to reach out to all your students. Put on your bravest smile tomorrow, and know that we all love and support you and the great work you are doing.

For Victor -- I'm sorry we didn't know how bad it was. May it be so much better for you now.