Sweet dreams
Phonsavan, Laos
I AM STANDING in front of a classroom of 15 Laotian teenagers in Phonsavan, Laos. I had read on the Internet that in this somewhat remote northern city, a bit off the typical tourist track, they love it if a native speaker pops in to teach an English class. I suggest this to my guide, Tey, and he enthusiastically takes me over to the evening high school English class where he knows the teacher.
“Hello,” I say to my students, standing nervously in front of their desks. “My name is Ann and I am from Tampa, Florida.” I have absolutely no idea how to teach a class so I start by talking about what I do for a living. I know these kids have at least seen an airplane as there is an airport here, but I doubt they have ever been on one.
I tell them I serve drinks and snacks in the sky, like a server in a restaurant, who takes your order then brings you something to eat and something to drink. I push an imaginary beverage cart around the room, asking each student what they would like to drink. “Coffee, coffee”, one says. “Do you like milk or sugar in your coffee?” I ask gently. I mime the pouring of a cup of coffee, setting it down on his desk. “Would you like cookies or peanuts?” “Peanut, peanut,” the student says. I push my cart on to the next student. “Sprite,” he orders. “Cookies.”
After circling the desks serving off my make-believe cart, I stand in front of the students and ask them what they want to be when they grow up. Around the classroom, each one speaks. Kids all over the world have the same dreams. They want to be doctors, teachers, nurses, truck drivers.
Wherever I travel, I always meet someone who has a spark. I don’t know how they got this spark or why, but they are distinctively different from everyone else. A young girl sitting in the front row of the classroom has this spark. She has been listening intently to everything I say, watching my every move. It’s now her turn to tell me in her very best English what she wants to be when she grows up. She clasps her hands and smiles excitedly at me. “I want to be a FLIGHT ATTENDANT!” she says joyfully.
I have given someone a new dream.
