We'll chalk it up to cultural differences

So in school this week I had what if it happened in the United States a scary experience. So on Wednesday I had a student come to school and during the first hour I had a student take out of his backpack a switchblade in the middle of class. He started playing with it so I did what any good teacher would do and walk over to him and politely ask for his knife and he gave it to me. Now in the states this would never be even a relatively normal situation. So I proceeded to tell the principal and instead of freaking out he laughed at me and started joking that I thought the student was going to hurt me with this knife. He basically said you have nothing to worry about he probably was just going to use it to peal an orange or something. Now I wasn't really worried because kids bring machetes to schools here and on buses so that is pretty normal. It just sorta caught me off guard because it was a switchblade but then again this is La Union and life is different here. To end my story he met with the student and I think he did give him demerits but I think it was more for the fact that he wasn't paying attention in class then it was for the knife.

Today I just finished with my parent teacher conferences and I must say they went just fine. I had almost 30 different conferences and they don't even give me a translator anymore. So I guess I should feel proud but really I just talk for only a minute or two with each one then send them on their way. Half of the parents I felt like couldn't even read the report card so they just stared at me and nodded with what I said so I don't really even know if they will help their students but at least I gave it a go. Other then that even though I had the most parents I was the first one done not because I am some great teacher but because I really couldn't actually express what I wanted to say so instead of both of us feeling awkward at the conference we just avoided awkwardness and made things short. It is almost Thanksgiving here and I will be making a big 17 pound turkey for the teachers so for most of the teachers here it will be their first Thanksgiving so it should be great fun. Pero por hoy, no quiero escribir mas. Dios Bendiga