Which Pupil Wants To See A Teacher During Summer Hols?--- Pupils I remember (8)

sea, beach
@MALUSE (69428)
Germany
July 25, 2018 12:49pm CST
Today the summer holidays /vacation started in our part of Germany. We live near a school which has ~800 pupils. Believe it or not, we’ll miss the noise! Anyways, when the last day of the term has come, I always have to think of a pupil I had many years ago. I taught him in English and was his form / class teacher. His parents had come from Sardinia, the Italian island in the Mediterranean Sea my husband is from, too. I knew this at once when I saw his surname which is typical for Sardinia. I asked him which part they had come from but did not tell him that the village he mentioned is the neighbouring one from my husband’s village. The sea is a bit far away from the villages and the street has many bends. It would be too exhausting to make the trip to and fro every day. Is has been a custom since times immemorial that the people from the villages build temporary huts - or tents in modern times - on the beach and stay there during summer whenever they have time. If they don’t have to work, they also sleep there. The beach is very long and each village has a special area where the villagers stay. This isn’t regulated in any way. It’s tradition. Back to our school in Germany. When I handed out the school reports I asked the boy when they would go to Sardinia. He, “Tomorrow”. Me, “Well, I’ll see you on the beach then.” He, “You’ll never find me, you don’t know where we’ll be.” Me, “I know exactly where you’ll be.” Two days forward. I went for a walk along the beach. After about ten minutes I reached the area where the huts of the villagers the boy’s family belonged to were standing. The first person I met was my pupil who was playing football with himself. I said, “Hello”. He looked up and greeted me back with the typical greeting of the local dialect of the area where we live in Germany. This told me that he hadn’t realised yet that school was out and we were meeting in Sardinia. He saw me, his teacher, and was back in pupil-mode. His family noticed me and I was invited to come to their hut. I had to shake hands with lots of relatives who told each other that ‘the boy’s teacher’ had come. He was at secondary grammar school and had at least eight teachers for the different subjects, but I was his form teacher and therefore ‘the teacher’. He was thirteen or fourteen if I remember correctly and rather shy. Puberty had him in its grip! He didn’t enjoy the whole situation and felt awkward. I didn’t want to spoil his summer holidays and didn’t visit him or his family another time. We met again at school when the holidays were over. --- If you click on the green bar at the top of the page, you can find my other posts on the topic. --- Photo: pixabay
17 people like this
14 responses
@xFiacre (12536)
• Ireland
25 Jul 18
@maluse Myworst nightmare was to meet teachers out of school and especially on holiday in the company of my parents!! That was 40/50 years ago of course. Recently I was invited to the house of family friends who had invited one of my teachers from long ago in Africa and her husband to stay with them. It was a curious evening. The woman had been my maths teacher and her husband wrote the text books that she taught from. I still can’t count.
3 people like this
@MALUSE (69428)
• Germany
25 Jul 18
Did you complain to them?
2 people like this
@xFiacre (12536)
• Ireland
25 Jul 18
@MALUSE They really don’t understand people like me who don’t understand maths. They think I’m odd.
2 people like this
@MALUSE (69428)
• Germany
25 Jul 18
@xFiacre You've found a job where you don't need maths!
2 people like this
@just4him (303352)
• Green Bay, Wisconsin
26 Jul 18
Do school holidays always start this late in summer in Germany? I'm glad you have a good memory of one of your students who came from Sardinia as your husband does.
1 person likes this
@MALUSE (69428)
• Germany
26 Jul 18
In other parts of Germany summer holidays start earlier. There are different dates so that the motorways aren't too full at the same time. If the whole country started on the same day, the traffic wouldn't move.
2 people like this
@just4him (303352)
• Green Bay, Wisconsin
26 Jul 18
@MALUSE That makes sense.
1 person likes this
@Missmwngi (12927)
• Nairobi, Kenya
26 Jul 18
During our school days,the worse we wanted during the holidays is to meet our teachers. Now i look back and i wonder why we never wanted to meet with them.
@MALUSE (69428)
• Germany
26 Jul 18
I have no explanation for this. I can only say that I was the same when I was a pupil. So when I had become a teacher, I could understand pupils who didn't want to meet me outside school.
1 person likes this
@Missmwngi (12927)
• Nairobi, Kenya
26 Jul 18
@MALUSE I look back and just laugh at it. Nowadays we chat and laugh whenever we happen to meet.
@acelawrites (19274)
• Philippines
26 Jul 18
Pupils meeting former teachers is such a happy occasion; for the pupil especially if he/she performed well in school. He will not be shy to show up and talk with the former teacher.
1 person likes this
@MALUSE (69428)
• Germany
26 Jul 18
The boy wasn't a 'former' pupil. He was still my pupil. Former pupils are a different matter. When they're grown-ups, they like to chat with their former teachers.
1 person likes this
@Ronrybs (17788)
• London, England
25 Jul 18
A bit sneaky, not telling him of your connection - I heartily approve! Must think your a bit of a detective
1 person likes this
@YrNemo (20272)
28 Jul 18
A scary experience, being visited by a teacher during the holiday .
@MALUSE (69428)
• Germany
28 Jul 18
I wouldn't have liked this, either!
1 person likes this
@YrNemo (20272)
28 Jul 18
@bunnybon7 (50975)
• Holiday, Florida
25 Jul 18
sounds like you was a very nice thoughtful caring teacher. to consider his feelings like that
@bunnybon7 (50975)
• Holiday, Florida
25 Jul 18
@MALUSE (69428)
• Germany
25 Jul 18
There was no reason to embarrass him.
1 person likes this
@eileenleyva (27567)
• Philippines
4 Jul 19
I love this story. Ventures into something like a movie plot. I like it when students are caught in awkward situations. Much scenarios could be written as to how the student could devise ways to get out of his predicament.
@topffer (42156)
• France
25 Jul 18
I would not have liked to be stalked by a teacher during my holidays! School holidays have started two weeks ago in France, and if there is something that I do not miss, it is the noise. I have 2 high schools in my street, they spend their days walking, laughing and yelling in my street, you cannot realize how I appreciate when they are in holidays.
@MALUSE (69428)
• Germany
25 Jul 18
We have a school with about 800 pupils in the next street. The school yard is between it and the row of houses opposite ours. So we aren't as near as you. But we miss the noise a bit.
1 person likes this
@BelleStarr (61050)
• United States
27 Jul 18
My grandchildren have all been on summer break for more than a month already, almost a month and a half. How long is the break that students have in Germany?
@MALUSE (69428)
• Germany
27 Jul 18
Six weeks in summer but several shorter breaks (one to two weeks) during the year as well: Christmas, Winter break around Carnival, Easter, Pentecost.
1 person likes this
@jstory07 (133739)
• Roseburg, Oregon
29 Jul 18
There are some students that you never forget. I wonder if he remembers you.
@MALUSE (69428)
• Germany
29 Jul 18
He does as my husband and I were once invited to their home. I usually didn't visit parents privately but this was because of their being from the same area as my husband. It was a single occurrence, though.
@garymarsh6 (23393)
• United Kingdom
27 Jul 18
The poor lad I bet he was mortified!
@TheHorse (203666)
• Walnut Creek, California
30 Jul 18
At the preshool, I am beloved, and the littlies would love to see me at the park, or wherever. At the College, I am seen as a "hip" teacher, but I doubt that my students would want to see me when we were all in our swimsuits and trying to have a good time.
@JudyEv (323672)
• Rockingham, Australia
31 Jul 18
I can imagine the boy being a bit embarrassed. It was considerate of you not to visit again.