|
School daze in America. Part two
After growing up in the Alperton/Wembley area of London, amongst the
many cultures, that make up a great city. I was more than surprised to find that the southern suburb of Cleveland my family had moved to, was, almost completely white. There was just one black student at the school I attended, and to my best recollection no asian students. This was though, a very ethnic East European area, with a large Polish community. Things have changed a bit since 1980, with a growing Indian, Middle Eastern and African American population, as many of the aged Eastern Europeans have passed on. It is refreshing and in my opinion, a good thing to see different cultures moving into the neighbourhood. Unfortunately, not everyone I have met in my time in suburban Cleveland, would agree with my enthusiasm. I would hope the majority of people in the Cleveland area feel as I do, but there's always a few bigots in every neighbourhood. The reason for the above paragraphs was to give you a feel of the area I had moved to (and still call home), and maybe to understand how foreign I really felt when I first arrived. Ok, time to continue the story... I left homeroom and headed to my first class, Electricity. This was a required class for those wishing to take electrical related trade or "vocational" classes the following year. I found the correct classroom (another one of them out of the way, hard to find rooms) in the vocational wing of the school. I barely made it to class on time and ended up sitting near the front, shit! In came our instructor, Mr Lewis. In a class and school full of white students, my first teacher was ironically, an African American. I had only seen black Americans on television, mostly the US cop shows when I lived in England. So this was a pleasant surprise. He was well spoken and an excellent teacher. Little did I know, I would run into him a number of times at the department store I worked at, after my High School days were over. I always enjoyed our brief conversations, while he was doing a bit of shopping. Mr. Lewis, a tip of the Jackal's hat to you, sir. After Electricity class, it was off to badly "sprechen" some Deutsch. Finally an easy classroom to locate. As I had taken a year of German in England, this was an easy choice for my "language" requirement, considering the three years of French under my belt hadn't got me any further than asking where the bathroom was. To be honest, at this point in my life, I'd be walking with a large load in my drawers should I ever make it to France. German class was a bit advanced, as many of the students had German heritage and were breezing through. I spent most of my time in this class looking at the pretty girls. I did meet several people in German class who became my friends as the year went by. The most I can remember is some silly song the teacher would have us sing. It was called "Schnitzelbank", there would be a few schoolboy chuckles when we got to the "dicke frau" part. My teacher was generous enough to give me a "C" as my final grade. Ich bin solch ein dummes Bumsen. Off to my third period class, Technical Math. Another classroom that was simple to find. I was expecting some sort of a brain trust in this subject. I was somewhat disappointed to find many a Led Zeppelin and Blue Oyster Cult tee-shirt wearing crowd. Now I look back, it reminded me of VW buses and pot smoking. Mr.Hand from "Fast Times at Ridgemont High" should have been the teaching this class. Our instructor, Mr.Schuemaker was strict but fair. I found out he didn't like any form of swearing. I once said 'Damn' and got 25 press(push)-ups, which you had to do in front of everybody. I got an "A" in this subject (math, not press-ups). It's lunchtime! Off to the cafeteria. I was used to the slop I ate in England and wasn't expecting any better. Well, I entered those doors and discovered a never ending supply of fast food. French fries, hot dogs, hamburgers and pizza!! Not the finest grub by American fast food standards, but it beat the hell out of English school dinners. Even the fruit cups were good! And when I thought it couldn't get any better, my eyes fell upon the mighty vending machines. Just feeding these large, brightly lit machines with a few American coins and the sugar rush was on. Faux cream-filled snack cakes, candy bars and even ice cream sandwiches!! Did I die,and go to school lunch heaven somewhere after leaving Tech.Math? I had to pinch myself to make sure I was still alive. It wasn't long before I had vacated my pockets of small change, the sugar high was all systems go. I thoroughly enjoyed school lunch that day, I didn't even notice I was sitting all by myself, with no friend in the world. Unbeknownst to me, lunchtime was going to be far from lonely, over the next couple of weeks. To be continued... |
||
|
|
(27.6.11 22:36) je voudrais joindre à votre blog s'il vous plaît de toute façon ainsi continuer de partager avec nous, dissertation writing |
|
Buy online essay / Website (27.9.11 12:52) Writing an essay or dissertation for your certificate requires that you speak to your audience (your professor) and use words that are familiar to him or her. If possible, write the essay or dissertation that is in their area of expertise. ___________________ buy essay buy essay online |
|
(21.10.11 05:50) We are professional supplier committed in cheap watches , mbt shoes , cheap soccer jerseys , mulberry outlet , burberry outlet , moncler outlet and so on , customer service and support team who are glad to assist you. |
|
true religion jeans / Website (19.12.11 04:03) Cao Xiaoguo quickly replied.During this time, Cao Xiaoguo productivity, improved a lot than before, Liu Jun is quite satisfactory Liu Jun's eyes, true religion jeans outlet and fell pregnant with the letter in his face, smiled at Wai Shun, said: "As governor Cao said, this work into the normal supervision, audit work should be to keep up. True religion should be included in the audit to see units daily audit scope. " Liu Jun said: "ah, anything, at the beginning is very important. It's like an army, military officers for the first formation of conventional forces, a decisive role. True religion have a good head, |
|
here (20.12.11 07:42) If you desire to improve your familiarity just keep visiting this web site and be updated with the latest information posted here. here |
|
Sping / Website (24.12.11 05:59) So, to answer north face coats for consumers to become the main reason for this news, hope you can help this article to a friend in need. |
|
jacki (27.2.12 04:56) Wow! It looks like my old blog! This is a completely different topic,but it has roughly the same layout and design. Excellent choice of colors! literature review example MBA dissertation dissertation help UK |
|
(18.4.12 09:55) air max soldes,www.google454259.com,http://jackal-gb.20six.co.uk/jackal-gb/art/237130/School-daze-in-America-Part-two |
|
(25.4.12 12:26) Pandora Shop Sale,www.google271418.com,http://jackal-gb.20six.co.uk/jackal-gb/art/237130/School-daze-in-America-Part-two |
