-I generally say hello to about 200 students per day. My default greeting is ‘What’s up?’ The standard reply is ‘Fine.’ I’ve taught some of the higher-level English classes how to properly respond to ‘What’s up?’ however the majority of students will be stuck with ‘Fine’ for the foreseeable future. So it goes.
-Shimosh*, still one of my favorite students, has experienced significant changes. Not only has he grown a third of a meter (about 1 ft) since September, but he has shed his shy demeanor and proudly exhibits his quirky personality to the delight (and annoyance) of others. His English has also improved exponentially. Now, if ever I am worthy enough to join him at the "cool" table for a meal, he tells jokes and carries on. We ate lunch together last week and the conversation went as follows:
[*For any new readers (if you exist), Shimosh was the smallest, peskiest student at AFS at the beginning of the year. He stays on campus most weekends because his parents live on Sifnos, a far-away island.]
Me: Excuse me, sir. Do you mind if I join you?
Shimosh: Sit.
Me: Thank you, your excellency.
S: Eat.
Me: Yes sir.
S: Jacques?
Me: Yes?
S: Have you been on a farm?
Me: Yes.
S: Did you milk the chickens?
Me: No.
[Laughter from the whole table - Shimosh laughs the hardest]
S: Did you take the eggs from the goats?
Me: Nope. [Chuckle]
[Harder laughter]
S: Did you hatch the cows?
Me: Uh, nope.
[Ecstatic laughter]
S: Will you marry a cow?
Me: Maybe. Maybe a goat, though.
[More laughter. Milk and feta spilling from the mouths of the students]
-A second year student, Leonidas (named after the Spartan hero of 300 fame), has significantly improved his speaking ability as well. He and I usually discuss European soccer: he knows every player, every result, every transfer, etc. He is a veritable almanac. He could speak in flawless, soccer-specific English terms for hours on end about any team in Europe. When the conversation strays from soccer, however, it is a different story. He once asked me, "In America, do you have chicken?" I was confused by the clear dichotomy between his soccer fluency and lack of knowledge about something so simple until I was speaking with my boss about the students and their English progress. I brought up Leonidas. When asked what we speak about, I told Thanos about Leonidas's comprehensive soccer knowledge. He replied that Leonidas spends every weekend betting on matches, so he stays informed to place his wagers. Since then I have made an effort to discuss things other than soccer with Leonidas to improve his conversation skills in other realms. It's an uphill battle, but it's going okay. At least he places informed bets, right?
-Asteris (“Star” in Greek) is a third-year student who lives on my hall. He also happens to be one of the loudest human beings I have ever encountered. Many of our conversations begin with him shouting to me while we stand more than 20 meters away from each other, when a raised voice is sometimes necessary. As I approach him, however, he continues to yell—even if we are standing face-to-face. Either way, Asteris’s vibrant personality provides endless entertainment, whether you want to be entertained or not. One of our first conversations went something like this:
Me: Hello.
Asteris (shouting): Hello, my friendly.
Me: You mean 'my friend'.
A (still shouting): No. I mean 'my friendly' because we are number one friends.
Me: Haha. Okay, I see. So you mean 'hello, my best friend'.
A (you get the point about the shouting): No.
Me: Okay. See you later.
A: Goodbye, my friendly.
To this day, Asteris calls me 'my friendly'.
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