Friday, January 11, 2019

Lessons from Berlin & Tel Aviv for the W.D. Board


If you watch IPTV, you have undoubtedly seen adverts for river cruises on the Rhine, Seine, etc.  In one, the owner of the cruise line waxes eloquent about the benefits of “travel” and schmoozes the listener, “And...best of all, you share yourself.” Barf. Barf. I’m afraid real contact with core of a culture on cushy cruises is, at best, superficial.
            Of course, not everybody, especially those with kids can afford to live in a foreign culture, but it does make you question your own culture and value it differently.
            For example, sitting with German teachers discussing, “Whole Language,” a well-intentioned effort to get kids writing without undermining their self-confidence. The Germans asked me, as if I agreed with the concept just because I was carrying an American passport, “Was macht euch? Was kreigt euch davon? Unausgebiltet UND arrogant Schuler?”
            Loosely: What are you (Americans) doing? What will you get from this (policy)? Uneducated and arrogant kids?
            I answered out of what I learned traveling and living in Israel. Truly, I believe I came to understand how/why the Jews are such a successful race. The women, especially, rave/ooh and ah about every young person’s every undertaking. It results in immensely confident individuals.

That put a stop to the discussion then, but I am afraid, it did not to the validity of the German assertion.

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