Back to School Daze

Back in the day and also back in the old neighbourhood, summer time was a time of no school and long days that went on forever. Then, as suddenly as the school year ended in June, it would start over again when the first geese flew south.

Some students, who came back from the other communities to attend the residential schools, had grown up during the summer and we didn’t really recognize them at first with their deep voices and long hair. But over the coming months, everyone got used to that phase in life.

The school bell would ring shrilly, reminding everyone that they had to be on time or God forbid, have a meeting with the infamous strap the principal wielded, making even the oldest kids cringe when we were a few minutes late. But, as the days wore on, school was a lot about getting to know others and getting to know your own limits, strengths and weaknesses. Sometimes, we actually got to know our teachers pretty well.

One teacher we had was actually the brother of an Olympic athlete, who hailed from Timmins, Ontario. On a whim, I found out that he is now in Japan, so I emailed him to see what he was up to. Emailing me back rather quickly, I found out he was on a speeding-bullet train on the way back from gorging out on raw tuna at an open market and getting a little high on the local rice wine. He wondered how I managed to find him after 25 years of no contact and we mentioned that the same technology that allowed me to communicate to a bullet train was used to find him. Ha! So much for instant communication and finding lost people from the past he retorted, electronically.

I reminded him that his former students were probably much older than he was when we first met back in Fort George and that we had all managed to lose most of our innocence, when Japan was still regarded as a country where most plastic toys were made. Today, of course, Japan’s products are everywhere and in every household. But back then, we could still enjoy our superior dollar strength, even against the almighty American buck.

Another teacher still dabbles in art and music 30 years after showing us the meaning of light and colour and how to keep your sensitive nose away from those toxic smells of the paints we used in our classroom. More often than not, recreating Batman comic books was more exciting and interesting to do than a pot of dead flowers as subjects. However, I did manage to miss the nude posing which got our teacher in plenty of hot water later that day. I know some students who were traumatized as this was the first time they had ever seen any skin lower than the neckline.

Again, the cycle of education is taking roots in our communities, where everyone has a chance to graduate in their hometown or in any other place for that matter. It seems that school is now something that kids look forward to, some anxious to meet old friends or some just tired of the summer daze.