An image of the boats that my students and I used for our paddling trip.
When I was a first-year at Bates, I was terrified to participate in our freshman orientation, or AESOP, trip. I was supposed to go base-camping with a group of five other members of my class. I knew nobody in my group, learned that we would be sleeping outside in the White Mountains for three nights and could not figure out how or why such an experience would ease my already rocky transition to college life. Now, I know this is the point of orientation trips – to get to know new people and step outside your comfort zone. I got that. However, at the time I had mentally shut down so no sense could be brought to me regarding the impact such a trip could have made on my first month as a timid Bates freshman. Instead, I relied and held onto what I knew best – I panicked, called my cross-country coach, and ultimately decided to stay on campus to run a workout and train for the start of the season.
I have just begun my role as an English Teaching Assistant, and, five years later, see and appreciate the value in the organization of outdoor trips for different classes of students and teachers. These trips exist for the purpose of team building and the development of friendships outside classroom settings – friendships that may have not necessarily happened had the trip not existed. This seems pretty straightforward and intuitive but as a first-year teacher these insights as experienced in the moment keep me wanting to learn how I can keep improving as a budding educator.
As I mentioned in my last blog, and as evident from the anecdote I shared about my experience, or lack there-of, with outdoor orientation trips, I am not usually one to jump at an invitation to go camping – especially in September when the temperature starts to drop and the air becomes much cooler at night. However, while settling into my new life here I have tried to say yes, or ano, to as many invites from my mentor and her family, teachers, and students as I can. Simply saying “ano,” within reason, will help me become better acquainted with the community and will ease my transition into this foreign lifestyle away from loved ones and familiar settings, routines, and experiences. Hence, I agreed to go camping with 40 fifteen and sixteen-year-old English students and three gym teachers, all of whom learned British English, from Monday, Sept. 9-Thursday Sept. 12 in Česky Krumlov, a beautiful city situated in the southern Bohemian region of the Czech Republic. I agreed to three nights away from my newly furnished flat in the city square, ideally located within walking distance to several cafes and the Poland border. But I simply said “ano,” left my new flat, and was on my way.
Before leaving, my mentor and her husband, Roman, ensured that I was prepped and ready to leave Monday morning at 4 a.m. sharp. The three of us were sitting at a pub the night before and Roman looked at me, saw how nervous I seemed, chuckled and said, “You’ll be fine, don’t fall into the water, and just come back!” The fact that I have two people helping me pack and always available to answer my questions is honestly a huge part of what keeps me going on trips that are far outside my norm. I have a little family here welcoming me into their life. And as with any family, they always have my back.
The view of the city as we paddled around the city.
I left my flat Monday morning at 3:30 a.m. carrying a backpack as tall as me, holding a duffel and my pillow. All the while there just so happened to be a serious thunder and lightning storm taking place. I braced myself before leaving the safety of my flat, and shuffled to the school, groggy and anxious, right into the heat of the storm. I made a 15-minute walk into an 8-minute run and approached the school in the dark not knowing where to stand, who to talk to, or if it was still ok for me to even be on the trip. Even though I was there as a teacher, I felt as though I was back in high-school as the shy girl unable to find her voice and even the courage to try and speak. I was relieved when one of the gym teachers ensured me that she is able to communicate in English and would help me with anything that I needed. A small gesture, but this quickly eased my nerves.
The bus ride took a total of 12 hours and we had to cram 40 huge camping bags, boats, paddles, and other miscellaneous pieces of equipment onto the vehicle. Again, sitting on this bus alone, uncomfortably crammed, and exhausted, I found myself thinking, “What in the world did I get myself into?” But, every 2-3 hours we would take a 30-minute break and the teachers would approach and check in on me. By the third break I even took a chance, sat with a group of students, and asked them about their camping and boating experiences. These baby steps only got larger as the trip progressed.
Another view of the city as we paddled.
When we finally arrived, the camp ground was wet and cold – We set up base for the night, I forced myself to forget about the temperature and went to dinner. At the restaurant, I sat with the teachers and we immediately hit it off. I helped them practice their English as they peppered me with questions about my Boston dialect and certain American words that sound strange to them. As I became more comfortable talking with the teachers, I slowly found myself relaxing and working up my courage to interact more with the students. Once returning from dinner, I sat with a pair of girls who looked nervous but, at the same time, eager to talk to me. They assured me that everybody here is excited that I am on the trip, asked me about my experience with boating, and laughed at my honest, suburban Andover answer. One student even came up to me that first night and said, “I can’t imagine coming here and not knowing how to talk to anybody/not knowing anybody,” sat down and practiced his English with me. I felt welcome and even more relieved – this trip and, more importantly, the year will run smoothly because the students respect, trust, and can approach me. My strength here rides on simple conversations with students just like the ones I had this first night in Česky Krumlov.
Despite these little moments with the students, I thought I would be hanging with the teachers the entire time, including on the boats. The students have all formed their own friendships over the course of their time at grammar school and I figured they would want to speak their own language while learning how to paddle with their friends. However, the same pair of girls from the night before shyly approached me and asked if I would join their squad on their boat. These girls even clarified that they knew the teachers had already told me I would be with them. Again, I let out a huge sigh of relief and smiled to acknowledge “ano” and that I would absolutely love to join them. The girls told the teachers in Czech that I chose them first, the teachers asked me in Czech if this was true, I reluctantly said “ano,” everybody laughed and I had my new pose for the week.
A view of Česky Krumlov off the boats.
We paddled a total of about 60 kilometers in two days, 23 the first and 33 the next. We paddled along the beautiful waters of Česky Krumlov – along a gorgeous array of evergreen trees, medieval castles, charming cafes, and quaint cottages. The setting was very picturesque; the paddling was challenging and at times my arms felt like they were going to fall off but this setting made the experience well worth it.
While on the boats I became one of the students – I was even known as the “cool English teacher who is the best at paddling.” The students were splashing, taking several chocolate breaks and having a great time. We braced water falls together, crashed into rocks, accidentally fell into the water, and salvaged a broken raft. So, looks like I have made it 🙂
One of the teachers even asked if I wanted to explore the city with her (by foot) so that we could get to know each other better. Everybody made an effort to practice English with me and asked me about America, all my plans for English lessons and after-school clubs and what Czech words I wanted to know. I quickly learned four important words/phrases that became very useful for the trip: “Prestávka (break),” “Prestávka na jídlo (break for food),” and “Opatrny! (Careful!),” and “Vtipy (Jokes).” These words proved very useful along our 20 plus kilometer expeditions.
I showed these students and teachers that I am here to try something new with them, they saw, and we made several huge strides forward to developing a cohesive class-wide community – a community that thrives off of genuine friendship. The students and teachers saw me struggle, freeze, laugh, and ask lots of questions. They saw me not leading a classroom but immersing myself in an environment that was far beyond my comfort zone. As I told all my classes on my first day – I am here as not only as a teacher but also as a student – a student of new experiences and challenges…a student who is slowly learning to simply say “anon” when asked about a new adventure. This was one of many and who’s to say what is to come…but I’m ready.
The city square of Česky Krumlov.
Until next time, keep enjoying the many beauties that the end of summer/beginning of fall bring as the September days speed along. And, of course, ahoj! 🙂
Redefining Escape 