Va mai amintiti celebra intrebare din scoala generala “Ce-a vrut sa spuna poetul?” Eu, daca ma concentrez un pic, mai ca aud vocea subtire a profesoarei de romana si mai ca ii vad spranceana colorata cu dermatograf cum se arcuieste. Nici nu visau poetii cate profunzimi le descopeream noi!

Dar de replica “Spune-ne te rog de ce radeai, sa radem cu totii…” va mai amintiti? Cum ii puteam spune ca radem… de ea? Ca un coleg ii lipise o hartiuta cu “loveste aici” pe spate sau ca, datorita unui tic nervos, timp de 10 minute a plescait din limba de 247 de ori.

A-i spune unui profesor fara simtul umorului de ce razi e din start o cauza pierduta. Un top 3 al reactiilor ar suna cam asa:

1. Esti trimis pe sala sa te linistesti

2. Se face morala intregii clase toata ora si, timp de 4 ani, esti ascultat la fiecare lectie.

3. Esti spus parintilor si esti pus la panoul rusinii sa te stie toata lumea de mic infractor. Si, bineinteles, timp de 4 ani, esti ascultat la fiecare ora.

Pe atunci, si cred ca si acum, ori invatai de frica, ori nu invatai deloc. De invatat din placere nu prea era vorba.

Ei, bine, dupa ani de zile de lasat cartea deoparte, m-am reapucat de invatat. De data asta, insa, constat ca se poate si altfel. Chiar se poate merge la scoala cu placere. Se invata din joaca si se invata cu voie buna. Se invata fara teama ca te faci de rusine daca raspunsul tau nu e cel corect. Fara binecunoscutul “Patru, treci in banca.”

De exemplu, azi am desenat. Am primit niste foite cu cateva personaje schitate. Folosind cuvintele din lectie, trebuia sa descriem aceste personaje colegilor de grupa astfel incat acestia sa le poata reproduce cat mai asemanator cu originalul. La sfarsit, aveam 8 personaje, unul mai plin de personalitate ca altul:)

Tot azi am facut si putina publicitate. Obiectul promovat? Un zar! Un zar care danseaza pe masa. Sau un zar care plange cand aduce ghinion. Alte echipe au promovat un breloc sau un lipici. Simplu. Fara reguli stricte. Cu umor. Am ras si intre noi, am ras si cu profesoara. Nu am fost trasi de urechi ca domnul desenat era diform sau prea cracanat si nici ca n-am stiut formula chimica a lipiciului.

Totusi, recunosc, la ce dor de casa ma mai apuca uneori, mi-ar placea sa-mi cheme parintii la sedinta…

„The king is dead. Long live the king!“ the people used to say long time ago.

That’s pretty much what I can say now, that my first class at Deutsch Akademie is ending. This is my final B1 week and, somehow, I feel sorry that some of my colleagues won’t go on with me and my teachers, Stefan und Wibke, won’t join us for the next level.

On the other hand, though, I’m really looking forward to move on. To learn more, to meet new people, to feel my German is improving. Most colleagues go on with the B2 class same hour as I do, which will be fun, because we’ll know each other and we’ll feel comfortable talking and joking to each other, making silly mistakes or playing different games. We’ll be like a small family.

B1.2 refreshed our memory in terms of grammar but also brought new words into our vocabulary. There was no day without a game, without laughter and good time. At first, I have to admit, I was afraid the evening classes would be a nightmare. That we’ll all be tired and moody. But, to my surprise, I was leaving the class fresher than getting in. So, if you just happen to read these lines before registering for a 6pm class, don’t worry, it’s really good!

Now, that I already got familiar with the colleagues and the place, I’m pretty sure that B2.1 will be even better. Less than a week left…tic-tac…tic-tac…tic-tac…

Before getting to the next level, though, let me present you some of my colleagues:

In the very first picture is Tomoko, my Japanese colleague, passionate by modern dance

Cristina, my colleague from Barcelona, who just turned 26

Daniel, a big noodle lover from Italy, and Piotr, our Polish engineer

Aleksandra, a future famous architect from Macedonia, and me, your story teller:)

I was 72. My daughter was a man, a Polish engineer, and my husband was Tomoko, my Japanese colleague. She or he, don’t know how to put, was 76 too.

It was really fun to play that game yesterday in class. Because yesterday we were not just colleagues, but part of a very large family.

The mother (my daughter) had to decide where should the family spend the holiday. Of course, we were trying to make her decisions harder:  I (the grandmother) wanted to go to Japan to perfect my Japanese language skills, my husband (the grandfather) wanted to make a trip around the world. The three kids – Daniel, Alba and Cristina – dreamed of something different. Daniel wanted to visit Africa and have a bit of adventure, while the girls tried together to convince the mother to go to the Caribbean Islands. How could you resist to your 12 and 18 year old sweethearts? Meanwhile, the uncle hoped to visit Italy and   the unemployed father of the family – Alexandra – wanted to spend the holiday somewhere in Germany.

Indeed, mom was in a difficult situation, which made us all laugh a lot.  Eventually the grandparents (me and Tomoko), made a compromise – we’ll go in our worldwide trip on our own, but the trip will start in Japan. For the sake of perfecting my language, remember? We would also take the dog with us, the dog being our Ukrainian colleague. The boy will go to Africa by himself, the girls will go to the islands (the grandparents will support their holiday because they were cute) and mom, dad and the uncle will go to Italy and, maybe, find a job for the unemployed father in some Italian hotel.

And this is how, instead of a big happy family holiday, we’ve all split to different destinations and the father, in spite of the holiday mood, had to go to work. Haha, great choices mom!