Yesterday I attended an end of year performance meeting at Language Tree. It was one of those judgment call meetings where you have to expose your mistakes while coming out on top. I impressed myself with how easy the words came out of my mouth. Confidence paves the way. But then there was one part of the meeting where no amount of confidence could cover up for my complete lack of knowledge. Here’s how the conversation went:
Helen: What were some challenges that you’ve had with Chun Yue Kindergarten this year?
Jenny: The only challenge I’ve had is with communication. The administration and staff have very limited English skills. But that’s why I appreciate Language Tree. You can fill that gap.
Helen: Who do you report to at Chun Yue?
Jenny: The principal.
Helen: What is her name?
Jenny: (long pause) uh…I can’t recall. There are so many names to remember.
At this point I was just speaking because it was my turn. The worst part is that Helen further questioned me on the names of the heads of my other two schools. I could come up with nothing.
The problem isn’t that I’m horrible with names, an excuse that everyone gives. The problem is that I don’t interact with the administration or faculty like one normally would. I say hello in the morning and goodbye in the afternoon. In between, I do my job and stay out of the way. Even when I’m sitting at lunch with ten teachers, no one says a word to me. It feels like High School re-lived.
I would like to think that most of this is because of the language barrier. But I’ve made profound connections with plenty of foreigners with no English skills at all.
It’s not that I’m unfriendly. And they are friendly too. So what is the problem? Perhaps I’ll just categorize it as another mishap. It could fall under the category of “righty named the other side of the world.”
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