It was the last day of second term government exams, so students and teachers returned home around 1pm. I was excited to go home and read books on Waldorf Education so I could prep for my job interview later that night. I had planned everything out, Mr. "TBU" sir, the English teacher at my host father's school and NELTA focal person for the Gorkha ETAs had agreed to take me to the bazaar on his motorbike and use the Wi-Fi at his language learning institute, where I teach adult English classes three times a week. "We are going to stop at the radio station and do some recording first," he said. Being Nepal, I did not understand what that meant until we showed up at the radio station…
First there was the commercial, Mr. TBU wanted me to record a sentence saying "Hi I'm Emily, welcome to our English language class!" Then there was the "Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!" announcement. I was totally fine with recording these two things, they were in English….but then, I was told I was going to be interviewed ON THE AIR in Nepali. "You want me to do WHAT!?!?!?!?!?" was my initial reaction. Before I got an answer, I was escorted back into the recording booth. I heard the cheery Nepali music in the background, and then the Radio personality man Mr. "K" began talking like a car going a million miles per hour. I understood the Namaskar part, but that was about it. I felt my heart beating quickly, as my hands began to tremble. "Just breathe, just breathe" I told myself, "what's the worst thing that can happen?" So, I just started talking about how much I love my students, school, co-teachers, and host family. I have no idea if I actually answered any of the questions he asked me, but I talked. At the end of the fifteen minute interview, I wanted to run under a desk and hide, but before I could do that, I heard the Radio personality re-recording the questions he asked so that they matched the answers I gave.
This morning when I entered the school, I was greeted by our school's youngest student, a two year old who has been known to get up from her desk and start dancing in the middle of class.
"Miss, miss!!!! You were on the radio! My mother understood your Nepali!" she said with a smile in her high-pitched two-year-old voice. Some of the older students soon gathered around and said things along the lines of "yeah, you spoke such good Nepali and you said you love us on the radio!" My day was officially made when one of the more quiet children came up to me and his peers and said, "Emily miss can speak Nepali and we can speak English now" in a serious, calm, and confident manor.
Some of the once in a lifetime experiences I have had in Nepal, like being interviewed in Nepali on Choice Radio, jumping out of the window of a Nepali bus, and dancing on stage in front of hundreds of people, have helped me gain the confidence to just "go for it." I've been pushed quite far out of my comfort zone, but things have always turned out okay in the end. You never know what you will learn or teach others by trying something new. Although it was a bit scary being interviewed in Nepali, it was worth it because it helped affirm to my students that I really do love them.
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