Les Hannah, day 16, part final

A typical day here ends at 2:30 in the afternoon, and the place is usually deserted by 3. Only the custodians remain. There are four periods, lasting about eighty minutes per, with a fifteen minute break in between. The administration has asked me several times if I am doing too much work. I tell them, “No, you should see my schedule back home.” I was even told today that I was being too nice; I needed to say “No” every once in a while. Now I have been accused of many things in my lifetime, but being too nice was never one of them. Am I slipping? Seriously though, the director told me to say no to some of the requests for my time, that I am only supposed to work so many hours per week.

So I did what any respectable Danish teacher would do in a moment like this; I packed up what I was doing and headed for the city centre. Actually, I did have to go register with the Police in Esbjerg. I finally got my resident alien work permits over the weekend and needed to get a work visa stamp. My instructions in the letter from the Danish Immigrations Office was to go to the local police, show them the work permit, and ask for a C visa stamp.

I made my way to the Esbjerg Police Station and asked for assistance at the front desk of the offices. After several minutes of trying to figure out what I was doing there, one officer finally took the lead and decided I needed to go to the jailhouse and ask for a certain officer who does the alien registration. However, there was a catch; that type of service is only available from 9 to noon each day. Well it was way past noon. “Come back tomorrow.”

So I went browsing in more shops. The pedestrian street (as the locals call it) is very cool. Shops of every kind stretch for about a kilometer. I have not been to all yet, but I think I will make my way around before I leave here. I spent about an hour walking around downtown before heading back to the north, towards my house. Wearing my new gloves and cap the ride back was not so cold as this morning; I could still feel my fingers by the time I got to the house.

I settled in and watch CNN, some news of the pending rescue of those Chilean miners. I have been following that story loosely since their ordeal began. I admire them. They did not give up. What fortitude those miners have. I know some students back home who could take a lesson in fortitude from thirty-three Chilean miners.