Les Hannah, day 37, part 1

I awoke this morning to a strange dream. I dreamt I had to get my niece to the Cherokee National Holiday parade and she was running late; I knew a short cut so across a wide field we went, but then a steam locomotive was on the wrong track, so we had to go around it and ended up being late anyway. I have no idea where we were; it was certainly nowhere near Tahlequah. But there you have it; that’s how I awoke. And I guess somehow I translated that into me being late. I was a bit worried at first, but then looked at the clock and came more fully awake to realize I had plenty of time.

The bike ride to school is now much quicker, only five minutes as opposed to twenty-five, but part of me does miss that house. Anyway, I had the first two lessons this morning; the first one was with a class I had been in only once before. The second was with a class that this was the first time I had visited them. I did the usual things that I had done with the previous classes on the first and second visits. The second class of the morning (the one where it was my first time with them) was a bit shy initially. I have found this to be common with such students here; these were all first year students and they were now being engaged in conversation by a Ph. D. in English. They tend to be a bit hesitant with their confidence in their English skills. Their skills are actually quite good – it’s their confidence in those skills that needs building.

Be that as it may, the lessons went well, and I enjoyed my dialogues with them. So far, in every class, once the rapport with the group is established they begin to open up and become much more inquisitive, no different from many American students.

I finished the lessons, had lunch, and did a few things around the office. Not lingering too long afterwards I headed to the flat, then to the city centre for a short while. I was invited tonight to a dinner with one of the Rotary Clubs in Esbjerg. I have been told there are four chapters; I was a guest of Rotary at the concert for UNICEF just a few nights ago. Tonight I had dinner with another of the chapters. One of the students, Mia, her father, Claus, is a member of this chapter and extended the invitation. Mia is one of the students who spent a great deal of time with me during 80s week just talking about different aspects of American Indians. I also loaned her a book. She told her father of me; that is how this evening developed.