Lakeview's International Flavo(u)r


Yesterday there was another senseless mass shooting, in Boulder, CO. It comes less than a week after the mass shooting in Atlanta, which took a terrible toll on the Asian-American community. Although not written directly in response to the incident in Atlanta, my blog reminds us that hatred towards others, especially those from other cultures, has no place in American society.

As a newly minted fifty-year-old, I joined an online group known as the “Frogmore Fifties.” This small but mighty group is comprised of former students at Frogmore Comprehensive School in Yateley, a small village in Hampshire, England, where I grew up. Members of the forum typically share grainy pics of dilapidated classrooms from the 1980s, dramatic tales of fights (“fisty cuffs”) behind the local church, stories of being caught smoking behind the school bike sheds, and so on. One post caught my attention over the weekend, a document containing the 1986-87 school year roster. While I recognized most of the names on the roster, there were certainly some people (and things) that I had forgotten about from my schooldays. Scanning down the list of names I was reminded of one teacher I would never forget, one who...

...left an impression on all of us. Frogmore School’s art teacher, Mr. Hill, was on an exchange program from America. He was large, loud, funny, and spoke with an American accent. He was the first real live American we had ever met. Most of us had never left England, and some had never left Hampshire. Mr. Hill was just like we imagined every American to be – and more. He spoke like a movie star, dressed like an actor in a 70s cop series, and—the best part—he made popcorn in the school kitchen. In short, he was different. 
 
We loved Mr. Hill because he was different - he was foreign. Being different meant that 150 English school children in Yateley, Hampshire were able to learn about another culture, beliefs, ways of thinking, talking, and even dressing. Fast forward forty years and a different continent: we don’t need to (nor, for that matter, are we able to) travel afar to experience and learn about other cultures. Lakeview families represent over thirty different countries with families from England, Ireland, Germany, India, Lebanon, Spain, Iran, Mexico, Russia, Korea, China, South Africa, to name but a few. The entire community benefits from the sharing of customs, traditions, languages, history, and of course food from these countries. As far as the “Frogmore Fifties” were concerned, Americans only ate popcorn (which I since learned not to be entirely true). Lakeview might not be Frogmore, but we are a mighty, cosmopolitan mix. Lucky me, lucky us, and lucky our stomachs. Methinks it is time to resurrect Lakeview’s Intercultural Committee Village.
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Lakeview Academy is a private, coeducational day school for students in preschool through 12th grade, located in Gainesville, GA minutes off I-985/Hwy 365.
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