Well, today is Remembrance Day. A day of the year when we take a moment to remember those who have paid the ultimate sacrifice in the name of our freedoms and the freedoms of people around the world. Remembering those who have fought in countless wars, conflicts, or boiling point situations and those innocents who have been caught in the crossfire. War has been an unfortunate part of human existence since we started roaming this planet and members of our species have been dying as a result. In comparison to what some people in our history have gone through it isn’t so much to ask to take a moment on one day of the year to remember them. I loved logging onto Facebook today and seeing the number of profile pictures changed to poppies, the number of people sending words of remembrance across status updates, even using an event entitled “A Facebook Field of Poppies” to encourage people to do so. Remembrance Day has been an engrained aspect of our culture in Canada as well as others. I remember attending assemblies, recitations of “In Flander’s Fields”, and the Principal coming over the PA system to ask everyone to stop what they are doing, stand, and be silent to remember the fallen. Unfortunately however, this day has become such a part of my yearly routine that, although I understand and respect the reason for its existence, every time November 11th rolls around it’s almost like I just go through the motions each time. I buy a poppy and pin it to my coat (sometimes two or three if they fall off), I take that moment of silence, listen to the songs and the poems, and get back on with my day. I know that this sounds almost ignorant but it’s the truth. That is, it was the truth until this year.
Being on my own here in the UK has changed my perspective on a lot of things. This sudden and dramatic shift from being a student for so long to coming over here and being a professional teacher has been huge. I’ve learned to quickly adjust my teaching style every day in the classroom to approach situations in new ways. I’m slowly learning every day how to adjust into a similar yet very different society. I’m learning how to adjust to making money and budgeting it. At the same time I’ve grown a new appreciation for everything (and everyone) I left back home. I was really thrown off today when I was talking to the teacher whose classes I covered. I asked her whether the school would be having a moment of silence at 11:00 in honour of Remembrance Day and she looked at me like I was speaking a language she didn’t understand. Apparently that was something she was not aware of nor never participated in before in a school. I couldn’t believe it. For the students not to know something like that is a bit mind-boggling but I suppose that’s just part of the culture that they grew up with and I didn’t.
My brother Dusty wrote me a very touching e-mail today and I’m hoping he doesn’t mind if I share some of the ideas that he sent. Living in this city is very unique in that it was at the centre of some of the largest conflicts known to the human race. London was bombed daily throughout the most active years of the blitz and there are still remnants of that evident today. To actually stand in areas where people were under constant threat is very humbling indeed. Whenever I enter the classroom it can be a real toss-up as to what goes on. The students can be a delight and work through their assignments with no difficulty at all…or they can absolutely raise hell and get nothing accomplished at all. Either way, at the end of the day I usually come home exhausted…which is a good thing. No matter how hard or trying of a day I had…I always make sure to remember that it doesn’t compare to things people before have gone through and what some people are going through right now. I am thankful for the life I have and the people in my life. I am thankful for the peace I have lived in and the freedoms I have enjoyed. I remember those that fought and continue to fight to make these truths so. I remember.
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