Yesterday I told stories at an English immersion school in Familleureux, here in Belgium. I had four performances before lunch, under the influence of jetlag, but it went well all the same. In the second set, for the youngest children, I told Robert Munsch's story Mortimer. In this story, Mortimer doesn't want to go to sleep. Everybody in his family goes upstairs to tell him to go to sleep. After each try, they go downstairs for a nice cup of... I wait for the kids to tell me.
Yesterday, I said, "Mortimer's father sat down in the living room with a nice cup of..."
One of the teachers called out, "whiskey!"
Some days, it's hard to compose myself after a moment like that, but I did. I laughed about it with her afterwards.
On a serious note, this would never, ever, ever happen in the US. Occasionally a kid will suggest beer or wine, but a teacher would never suggest whiskey. Is it just because we live in politically correct times, or is it the long streak of puritanism?
Notes on the storytelling life of Priscilla Howe, with miscellaneous notes on puppetry and the eternal search for the best restaurant pie on earth (fruit, not cream).
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7 comments:
Well, in Belgium you can buy liquor at the puppet shows! When Mark took me to see the marionette show in LIege we sat in the back of the small hall, on plain wooden benches. In front of us was the crowd of little kids, and the puppet stage; to the left and near to the stage was a little stall. We discovered during intermission that we could buy shots of jenevre at the stall!
And wasn't there a bar in the hospital where Mark had his kidney stones dealt with?
Maybe it has to do with Belgians washing their sidewalks every morning. That way the effects of over-indulging in liquor don't linger in public longer than a few hours....
Ah oui. The first hospital I was in, La Citadelle, had a nicely-outfitted bar in the lobby. And at one point the lycee near the University had an event featuring Stella Artois and Leffe beers. On dit que Liege est une ville bien chaleureuse...
A teacher would never suggest beer or wine either. Fear of Bad Things seems to be the norm here. Today I heard a thing on NPR about a high school basketball coach who hired a hypnotist to help his team improve. The school board stepped in to prevent any more of that.
The hypnotist WAS a minister! Probably didn't suggest any alcoholic beverages.
I would have screamed "rye" at you then you could guess if I wanted a drink or a cup full of bread.
Reading the comments, I'm reminded of the time I asked the audience what the baby needed. From the back I heard, or thought I heard, a young voice yell "Bourbon!" What?! Really? Oh, "burpin'"
Oh, really funny as well as disturbing .I have also never imagined that a teacher will shout for Whiskey.Well the the children are also aware of these drinks but still some descency should be maintained.Obviously, whiskey along with some
Cuban Cigars makes the supper more delicious.But these are not meant for children sssshhhh... only for addults.
a teacher is a person that lead you to be a great human being. and such funny things happens. i live in US. and here we buy most of the things online. so we buy most of the things on internet like i am used to buy cigars online. so we dont put much attention on stalls and some thing like that..
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