The Training School Day 3 – Close to New York City
Before breakfast the next day, Caro and I called our families in Germany and the reactions couldn’t have been more different. While mine was audibly happy that I had contacted them, Caro’s family was rather dry: “It’s amazing that you’re not homesick yet, we’ve actually already seen you back here.”
Instead of taking place in the evening, this time the workshop was held in the morning and a joyful teacher with a wide-brimmed straw hat explained to us that the key to successfully living with a host family was communication.
Especially if something was bothering you or there are problems, you were supposed bring them up as quickly as possible. The sandwich method mentioned again and again in the workbook would be extremely important and useful for this, starting with something nice, such as: “I really feel very comfortable here”, then getting to the heart of the matter: “But would it perhaps be possible to cook a more varied dinner?”, and finally ending with something positive, so that the host parents addressed could not even get the idea that the nanny could have criticized them in any way.
Afterwards, we were able to listen to a deeply moving story about her time as a nanny in Hawaii. Despite the wonderful surroundings, it was very difficult for her at first because the girl she had to look after was always talking about how much better the nanny prior to her had been. She tried to make the best of it and replied that the old nanny must have been a great person, and would they write her a nice letter?
Still, the girl remained stubborn and behaved terribly towards her, throwing “I hate you!” at her several times a day. But, the teacher emphasized, she always remained calm and simply replied: “But I love you.” This went on for several weeks until one day the girl asked her: “Do you know why I hate you? Because you are going to leave me one day, just like the other nanny did.” After this confession, she would have taken the crying child in her arms, and they would have been one heart and one soul from then on – indeed, they would still be in contact with each other now!
This heart-warming anecdote elicited many “oohs” and “ahhs” from the deeply touched nannies in the room, and one or the other tear was stealthily dabbed away.
We were then asked to work in groups to solve various problems such as “How do you behave when your host parents argue?”. At a quarter past ten, we gathered for our last lesson, which most of us were not exactly sad about. As the air conditioning seemed to be completely exhausted from the effort of blowing icy winds into our faces in the large hall, there wasn’t even a gentle breeze left for the classrooms. Sitting around for hours in overheated and cramped rooms had become increasingly difficult for all of us.
At the end, we were more or less indirectly asked to tell our host families what a wonderful time we had had at school. Yes, actually, complete enthusiasm would give us a good first impression.
With these words, I recalled the last few days. Completely outdated and sometimes hair-raising educational films, abstruse safety tips and voluptuous police officers. The sanitary facilities would not remain unforgotten, either. After word got around that the water in our building at least didn’t look like it came straight from the sewer, the only bathroom was even more overcrowded. Some girls had gotten up in the middle of the night to escape the sanitary horror and had showered at three in the morning.
But somehow the teachers’ behavior made sense. If it really had been as idyllic here as we were told to say, what was the point of telling us exactly what words to choose.