Bad American.

Vijay Bhai is a spoken English teacher who had been teaching in the English Medium School for 22 years and also someone Emily and I could go to for guidance during our time at the school. He brought us to the staff room where the female teachers sat on one side of the room and the males on the other side. We sat down with him as he asked us our names. When I first introduced myself to the villagers they butchered my name. Indian’s cannot seem to pronounce the “Feli” to my name. So most of the time they said, “Flesha” or “ Felchia” and this was repeated when Vijay Bhai tried to say my name. Quickly, I thought of an alternative nick name other than Felly because then no one would know my name. I said, “Call me Isha” and this seemed to stick with them because it reminded them of the Bollywood actress Isha Deol. I asked Vijay Bhai if he knew what Isha meant and he said it’s a Gujarati name and it means Goddess. Good choice then.

We were introduced to some of the Female teachers: Amita Ben and English teacher, Nimesha Ben a Hindi teacher, and Puheta Ben. We learned that there are 18 teachers in the secondary school and only 3 of them teach English and there are 20 teachers in the primary school.

Vijay Bhai then took us to meet a class. Walking in I noticed all the girls sat on one side of the classroom and all the boys sat on the other side. All the students ranged in different heights and some even looked older or younger than others. Later I learned that usually the boys who sit in the back are the ones who failed the course so they are probably older than everyone else. Emily introduced herself first to the classroom and then I did. I stated my name, what I would teach and that I was excited to teach them English. Next, volunteers got up and spoke in English telling us their name, where they’re from, and their parent’s names. Majority of the class was shy so it was about the same people that volunteered to speak. All who did speak seemed to know English very well. One of students asked Emily and I, “Who wrote your national anthem?” I began to sweat because I had no idea what the answer was so I looked at Emily who had the same facial expression. Oh my God, how embarrassing. I didn’t know we were going to get drilled on American history! I would have studied before I came to class. Priya whispered, “Francis Scott Key”. On our way out another student walked up to me and asked, “Who made your flag?” I pretended to be in a rush and said, “ I forgot but I will tell you later.” We went back to the staff room and all of a sudden I felt like a bad American. I didn’t know things about my country that I should know and should remember. The Indian educational system is all about memorizing and taking exams that determine the rest of a student’s life and what they memorize they remember forever. The American education system prepared me to memorize and regurgitate it all on tests but I never seemed to remember anything I learned after I complete my exams. Frankly, I was ashamed of that fact.
Betsy Ross.
Betsy Ross sewed the first American flag.