Ord som gave / Words as a gift

Jeg hadde stått tidlig opp, ikledd meg overlevelselsdrakten (regntøy opp og i mente) og sykla ned til Bergen sentrum. Der hadde jeg møtt nye folk. Først en klasse med engelskstudenter så en klasse til. (Jeg var vikar). Etter siste time hadde jeg en god time før alvoret skulle starte for meg: Jeg skulle møte mine utenlandske studenter som har kommet til Norge av ulike grunner, men som har det til felles at de ønsker å lære seg mitt språk. Ennå en klasse med nye folk, altså. Det var ikke det at jeg var så nervøs, men jeg kjente det likevel litt da - at jeg skulle gjøre noe nytt. Det var da jeg fikk den. Gaven. Jeg fikk ord som gave. Det var en av mine tidligere elever som logget seg på msn og ville si hei. Jeg fikk høre om nye hobbier og aktiviteter og om familiens tilstand. Og det var da vi skulle avslutte hun sa det: "Jeg savner å ha deg som lærer. Jeg savner deg". Det var ikke så mange ordene, men jammen var det en fin gave. Den beste jeg kunne fått akkurat da! Så tusen tusen takk, Ann Elise!

I got up early, put on the survival outfit (yes, it IS true: there is a LOT of RAIN in Bergen, and we have just had yet another record!) and biked down to the centre of Bergen. There I had met new people. Several new people. First I met one class of English students. Then one more. (I was substituing at a high school). After the last class I had a good hour before I was supposed to really get started: I was going to meet my foreign students who have come to Norway for different reasons but who have one thing in common: they want to learn my language. It's not that I was incredibly nervous, but it was my first time doing this, so I was a little nervous after all. That's when I received it. The gift. A gift in form of words. One of my former students logged on to msn and wantet to chat for a bit. She told me about some new hobbies and activites she was attending and how her family was doing. And it was when we were about to finish the chat she said it: "I miss you. I miss having you as my teacher". Not a whole lot of words, but so wonderful! A wonderful gift. And just what I needed right then. Thank you so much, Ann Elise!