Saturday, February 11, 2012

School Breaks

One advantage of teaching in Europe is SKI BREAK. At the end of the month my international school will break for a full week to allow everyone some time to hit the slopes - Austria, Slovakia, pick a country, choose a mountain range. Of course, some people choose to hit the beach. Either way, it's great for everyone! As I was telling my grandpa about our upcoming holiday, he told me this story...

We didn't have Ski Break growing up, but we had two weeks off in the Fall. During World War 2 (when Grandpa was in high school) the migrant workers couldn't get transport up to Oregon from Mexico easily. Everything was being rationed and transport was limited. In order to get the potato crop picked in Central Oregon at the time, schools let out and all the kids went to the field to pull potatoes and lift sacks and drive trucks and get the potato crop harvested.

I wouldn't really call that a "break", but it was a good story to hear and a bit of history. I think how different our grandparents grew up than us. They grew up working hard, and sometimes I think Americans my age think we have all these rights to things without working THAT hard. Then I think of the kids I teach... If my students were asked to pick potatoes during their holiday (or any day for that matter), they'd throw a fit - literally! We're wimping out in the world, I think. Maybe manual labor should be part of our school curriculums these days.

I always like hearing my grandparents' stories and this one was no different. Thanks Grandpa!

2 comments:

  1. Definitely agree that the current generation feels this overwhelming sense of entitlement to things with minimal effort or work! I just joined and I'm enjoying your blog! I have a friend teaching in Lithuania and she's going to Rome for the holiday, fun! Let me know how I can pray and enjoy your ski holiday as well!

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  2. After I graduated and landed on my first job. I started missing school breaks.

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