Bashful beginnings!

Dodgy cubicle doors…

As well as the whole ‘settling in and getting used to routines’ of a new job there’s also the little teething problems. Having to push yourself out of your comfort zone when you’re figuring it all out! For instance, other colleagues will help you out (and all have been welcoming and great!) and tell you useful stuff like where to get a coffee and the code for the photocopier. Still, no one seemed to remember to mention the dodgy lock in the downstairs toilet next to the staff room!

So, on day two I pop to the loo as you do near the end of morning playtime before I have to collect the children from the playground. All’s well until I turn the lock to come out and it seems to loosely spin round, but fails to click and unlock the door! It’s one of those where the lock is inside the handle and over time it has become loose and needs to be tightened with a screwdriver, but it would seem I have gone to the loo without my screwdriver this morning!! I turn it again and the same thing. It turns round but the lock is stuck and fails to undo! ‘Oh no, oh shit’ I say under my breath, or maybe a little louder I feel, enough for someone to hear, but thankfully nobody seems to! This is quite an embarrassing predicament, without anyone hearing me cursing! Who gets themselves locked in the toilet anyway? Only a complete moron, oh wait, that would just so happen to be me, wouldn’t it! I try pushing the door and turning the lock thinking pressure might help release it, but nothing! I can hear the children being lined up, which only stresses me out even more! They’ll start wondering where I am! Only I could get myself locked in the toilet! What a way to start the week! I try jiggling the door, and nothing! There’s a window, but it doesn’t open, so I can’t call for help from someone on the playground! The only other thing I can do is bang the door and hope that someone hears from the staffroom. So, I bang and rattle the door. I think to myself, if the place was on fire I really would be done for! I start having terrible visions of being found by some handsome Spanish firemen stuck in the toilet like a cremated Christmas turkey, and most likely with that bloody lock still intact! I am hot, flustered (and, unfortunately not from thoughts of being rescued by firemen!), and at the height of embarrassment. Thankfully, somehow all the banging and rattling appears to have dislodged the lock and it clicks open! ‘Phew!’ I managed to save myself the embarrassment of being found stuck in the loo, as nobody seemed to notice or hear me in my hour of need!

I quickly wash my hands and stroll out onto the playground to collect my next class as if nothing had happened, even if I am looking rather flustered!

Presentation informed!

I get to the playground and I am greeted by my line manager. I instantly think she is going to ask me what’s up and where I’ve been after my little ordeal! ‘Has the head given you your notes for tomorrow’s meeting?’ I know I must have a confused, gormless look on my face. ‘Notes?!’ being my confused instant response. ‘Yes, she said she was going to help you by writing a few things for you to read out to the parents tomorrow, has she not spoken to you?’ I swallow hard at the very thought of presenting to the parents.

Why wasn’t I informed about this sooner? Talks and presentations are and always will be something that I shy away from! It gets to lunchtime and the head asks to see me in her office to discuss the presentation I need to do for the parents’ meeting. She wants me to introduce myself and give an explanation of the overview of the year in English and then repeat it in Spanish! What the f@$k!! I can’t do these things in English, let alone Spanish! She finishes this statement by asking me if ‘that’s ok?’ well, do I get a choice?

I (try to) smile as she hands me the notes she has prepared. So I have to read and speak in a language I am far from familiar with! That’s my own fault I know! I should have invested more time and energy in the language beforehand. At least she is willing to go through it with me and help with the pronunciation, even if it is humiliating! And I don’t get a chance to sit and ponder over it, as I am too busy with my classes.

Here we go…

Wednesday night comes and I find myself sitting on a panel with a little name card in front of a room full of inquisitive parents. I have to wait for the executive head, and the two heads to do their bit before I can begin, and they all like to talk! I don’t think I’ve ever felt so anxious, my stomach is in knots and I just want it to be all over! I am not a public speaker!! This really is me pushing myself out of my comfort zone and to my limit! The next, and final step after this would be jumping out of an aeroplane!

The second head comes to a close and I get the nod. I stand with my notes held out in front of me, shaking, swallow and just go for it, it’s the only way. I just need this to be over! I introduce myself in English and explain where I’m from, how long I have been teaching etc. Not so bad. Then comes the Spanish bit. I am to give an overview of the year and the different subjects, along with how I feel about the overall progression so far – even though it’s only been about three days! This bit doesn’t go so well and my pronunciation is terrible, and probably quite insulting in some ways! For example, I say at the end that they are all working well so far – trabajando bien. To say this correctly you pronounce the j as an h, but I didn’t! This was one of multiple errors!

I finally get to the end and the whole room is roaring with laughter, including the rest of the panel! At least they found it funny and didn’t appear to have been offended by my lack of knowledge of the Spanish language. I don’t bother to ask my Spanish-speaking English colleagues what the roar of laughter was at the end, as well as sniggers and giggles throughout. I just want to brush it off and forget about it frankly. But nonetheless, a lesson learned! Learn the lingo!

And breathe…

We finish our talks and the parents are invited to visit the classroom. Thank god I finished the one and only display at lunchtime! Several parents with very good English come to introduce themselves to me, which is nice and encouraging. And, after all the humiliation a few minutes previously, I’m told that they are pleased that I am unable to speak Spanish. They want their children to learn English and feel it is the best way for them if their teacher can’t speak Spanish. I think to myself that maybe that presentation wasn’t so bad after all then, if parents seemed pleased their children are exposed to the English language in the way they’d hoped. I certainly demonstrated the fact that I don’t speak Spanish with that dreadful presentation that’s for sure. But hey, still early days and still a lot to learn and get my head around. At least I’m reassured I have happy parents at the moment!