German (Teachers) Club
When your language school finally gets a proper German department with four full-time teachers, it calls for a celebration! And what better place to celebrate this than the German Club Manila?
Everyone was very excited. F, our team leader, may be a German national who has lived in the Philippines for several years, but he has never been to the German Club. In contrast, R, an American who has loved German culture for decades, has never been a member -- but he is good friends with so many members that he gets invited there often. One of those friends is T, the newest member of our department, who is half-German, half-Filipino. And then there is your blogger, who has always felt a little like the odd one out.
To be honest, if it weren’t for the encouragement of a good friend, I would never have applied to teach in my current school. I knew I was a good German student -- but I wasn’t 100% confident I could also be a good German teacher.
“Just try,” my friend said. “If you’re really not qualified, they’ll eliminate you during the selection process. But don’t be the one who eliminates herself.”
She was absolutely correct, of course, and I told her so.
I also sent in an updated cv, meticulously rehearsed a teaching demo, and went through four interviews (two in English, two in German). And after two of the tensest weeks in my life, I was hired.
And that should have been the end of it. That is, the end of the insecurity that almost kept me from applying for the job.
But I still do commit the occasional mistake -- the kind that is merely frustrating when you’re a student, but really embarrassing when you’re a teacher. (The latest was saying “ausgeleihen” instead of “ausgeliehen.”) And then F, R or T has to correct me. They don’t do it to make me feel bad, of course, but to prevent me from making the same mistake again in front of the students. I get it. And I appreciate that they’re very nice about it and treat me like an equal anyway.
As you can see, four months and two A1 classes in, I still struggle not to be the one eliminating herself.
But during the teachers’ afternoon at the German Club, another “mistake” of mine led to surprising and happier conclusion.
R is actually a former teacher of mine, so I’ve been calling him “du” -- but because F is our team leader and T is a very new acquaintance, I’ve been addressing them as “Sie.” Well, one glass of Weihenstephan and one shot of Kirschwasser later, I slipped and called F “du.” As I was apologizing, T jumped in to tell me that wouldn’t be necessary.
“Linguavert, we’re all one team here. F may be the team leader, but we’re all equals and we should all address each other with ‘du.’ I’ve been asking you for weeks if you feel comfortable as part of the team and you kept saying yes, but you also kept being formal with us. Now that we*re all having a lovely meal together, let’s finally be informal and free with each other!”
(Of course, he said the whole thing in German and I understood him on the spot. But I’m not yet at the level where I can produce direct quotes, so you’ll have to settle for a fairly accurate English translation.)
F and R also told me that they were really glad I had applied for the job, because out of the fourteen original candidates, only I and one other were able to pass the German interviews. And then the other guy didn’t get past the final interview with the principal, so if I hadn’t been there, they would have started the recruitment process all over again, hoping to find someone like me.
It was quite the eye-opener.
F, R, T and I spent four hours at the German Club, eating, drinking, laughing, and telling stories in German -- and we all enjoyed it so much that we’re already planning our second trip there.
It feels great to be part of our team: the German Teachers Club. I may not be the best speaker among us, but I am still a valued member -- and now I’m starting to learn how to value myself, too.
