As an English teacher, I knew that every time I walked into the classroom, I risk facing that dreaded word, especially in the lower grades where students are endlessly curious: “Ticher, have you been there and seen it really?” Or “A what does it look like live? ”. Not worth explaining to toddlers. As soon as they smell your fear and make you a pussy, you're done and you lost them forever because, as they say, what you didn't see with your own eyes couldn't be real. And at least in foreign language textbooks there is room for such a fiasco as you want. And no, you don't value posters, magazines, movies, books… Kids want proof! Otherwise, you're just another charlatan who won't put her heart on the tray, and that knows it hurts more than anything, believe me, I know because I have had to admit too many times: “No, kids. I wasn't there, but I really would. "Interculture ... There, I said. I had to deal with my fear as soon as possible…
"As soon as possible" happened in 2007, after three years of school work and about a million questions about England, London, Stonehenge ... The cure for my many years of trouble was a return ticket to London and a 10-day exploration of all its sights. A few thousand pounds later, I'm back stronger than ever! I couldn’t wait for the school year to begin!
Indeed, my first intercultural experience brought me unprecedented fame and respect for my former adversaries, because now I finally "knew what I was talking about". However, my legitimacy did not last long. Now they needed to prove that there were "other children" in there who spoke some of their own languages, but that we could agree on using the knowledge we accumulate every day in my classes, and so sparingly consuming it, and which, contrary to their view, is not at all useless . The place for the demonstration exercise was Halkidiki, Greece. At UNESCO camp with twelve other countries, there was room for both me and my student delegation. The stake was big - to represent Serbia. They not only weighed in on knowledge and skills with these dangerous "aliens," but they, as they like to say, "prevailed". The barriers fell, and after the initial showing of muscle, my students learned the real lessons that helped them mature and view the world from a new perspective - impartially and without prejudice. This is what one such experience has to offer, in addition to the obvious proficiency in language skills.
Crowned with glory, we came back from the land of Helena, but we did not count that we would return as some other people, infected by the virus of interculture that soon infected the entire local community. I had no choice - I could only suppress the epidemic in one way. While staying at a camp in Halkidiki, it somehow made sense to stick with "ours" the most - Montenegrins, Croats, Bosnians, Slovenes and Macedonians. We have made the most contacts with the delegation from Bosnia, and through them with a non-governmental organization from the United States dealing with the professional development of teachers and the professional orientation of students. In 2007, they got on a plane without a problem and came to my school to help me with a mission called "interculture". And so, every summer, for 12 years, my students have been learning how to become a citizen of the world, and my colleagues how to enable them. That way, I was able to bring the world to my school when I couldn't bring 700 students with me anymore.
Ni sam ne znam kada sam postao svestan činjenice da sam ih razmazio. Postali su nestrpljivi i nisu više hteli da čekaju leto i avion mojih američkih prijatelja da sleti da bi ponovo bili “interKULturalni”. Hteli su da to bude nešto uobičajeno, a ne izvanredno. I znate šta? Bili su u pravu. Moj posao kao nastavnika stranog jezika je bio da im to i omogućim. Sa dolaskom prve digitalne učionice u Srbiji baš u moju školu, izbor je bio očigledan – koristićemo nove tehnologije da putujemo svetom! I zaista, nismo poštedeli nikoga – ni vršnjake, ni kolege, ni rendžere, ni kustose, ni astronaute, ni naučnike, ni paleontologe, ni bibliotekare, ni pisce, ni psihologe, ni umetnike, ni biologe, ni doktore… Nismo im dali mira u preko trideset zemalja na svim kontinentima! A ja…ja sam konačno našao svoju mirnu luku, ili sam bar tako naivno mislio…
Naive, very naive ... A beginner mistake on my part. I didn't count on that awakened and hungry beast in them, and I had to. Yes, it was only a matter of day before they would utter what I had seen in their eyes for a long time: "When are we going to go there?" Now, a logical answer from this distance of time, which I have not seen since my vanity. would be, "When you grow up and be your own people." But no ... that's not the answer I gave them. A Beginner's Mistake… Instead, I became a member and volunteer of Interculture (fate, whatever) and began working on student exchange programs. It used to be weekly and sometimes annual exchange programs. Thanks to them, we hosted peers from Turkey and Russia as part of a ten-day exchange of classes, and we are preparing to go to Naples this fall, just like we went to Krasnodar last time. And that's not all. This year, we had two foreign students in high school who came from Italy and Thailand for a year to finish their school year here, stay with Serbian families and integrate into the work of the local community and the life of our small town. I can boast that I had 6 Russians at one time this year, one Mexican, one Turkish, one Italian and one Thai. I don't have to tell you what a fortune it is to have these students in your class, school and city. I think, after all, after all this, I "went over a game" called "Interculture". Or maybe I didn't ...