I have been in Greece now for over four months, and I have become accustomed to some of the culture differences thus far, but of course I learn the hard way with any situation I encounter. I have written quite a few notes, I have failed to let anyone know exactly why I am here and what I do on a day to day basis.
I am working at a private school called the American Farm School (AFS) in Thessaloniki, Greece. It is a high school for underprivileged families that own or work in the agriculture and farming areas all over Greece. Each student is picked to attend school here for a very low cost based on the family’s income. The 155 students who attend AFS attend classes and do active farm training as well. They grow their own crops and harvest them. They can go home on weekends or stay here on the campus. Along with AFS, there is also a college on campus called Perrotis College. There are only around 150 students that attend this school, but they live on a different area of campus. Needless to say this campus is always busy and full of people.
As for me, I work for the high school. My main job is to interact with the students and speak only English to them. This is encouraged so that the students practice their English. I live on the campus in my own room and am always surrounded by students. Every day I wake up and start my day off by eating with the students. It is hard to communicate with them at this time because in the Greek culture they are taught at a young age not to speak during meal times. In a normal high school cafeteria in the US it’s loud and crazy, but here in Greece it’s quite calm and mellow.
After breakfast, I am in charge of “gym” time for three hours a day and I go to the gym area and host different activities for the students to be involved in. Some days, its basketball, volleyball or tennis, and other days its soccer or weight lifting, it just depends on the day and mood.
Later in the evening, for four hours, I work with students on any of their class works. I tutor them if they need help and supervise their study time every night. During this time, I spend a lot of one-on-one time with whatever student that needs me. On different occasions, I will substitute-teach for classes or be in important school meetings all day. On top of this, I am also the head coach for the girls’ soccer team.
My life here has become very productive and I think that the students are finally starting to warm up to me. For me, it has been a huge barrier to get the students to accept me and have a normal conversation. It seems that maybe they are shy or intimidated or just don’t know what to say.
Just like any school, AFS has the typical cliques and groups along with high school drama. It really takes me back to those days at MHS (which were not long ago) and makes me glad to be out of such an awkward stage. Yet again, I am in a very awkward stage of my life right now, so I can easily relate … Funny how things seem to never change … but life is good.
Emily Schneider is a guest columnist for the Middlesboro Daily News. She is a Middlesboro native sharing her experience of living in Greece.
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