Day Two

I started earlier this morning; Mr Campbell went to his Wednesday morning music session with Jarvis Whitehead and Mitch Poole. In the office an English group had already set up and were sounding vowels. The group was made up of Chinese men and women and a young man fluent in Arabic and French, but I have forgotten where he came from. He asked where we live; he lives close by and said he might call around for a cup of tea one day.The group are friendly the teacher speaks Chinese and French.

I sit on a red chair outside the kitchen and listened to the group from the main hall. This is what I can hear:

“Melanie is 27. She is a theater manager, she hates dogs and she hates cooking. I would not want to marry her” They all repeat this.

“I don’t understand what theater means”

“To be or not to be”

“You sound angry”

 “Theatrical people have a different tone, they are not angry”

The group let me film them and take photographs of them. Then I leave them to get on with their lesson. I sat outside the room and listened again.

“Oliver loves the theater, but he does not want babies”

“Anthony is 25 he is a teacher he teaches English and Drama, just like me, loves football, reading rock music and theater and he hates shopping, he is a real man and he hates meat he is a vegetarian, he likes jazz”

Near the stage is another group learning English, this group is mixed with people from different cultures and backgrounds. The teacher invites me to photograph and film them. One man is from Yemen he stands in front of the camera and smiles. The next man is from Sudan, he came here one year ago. I move to girl sitting next to him. She does not want to be filmed. The man from Sudan calls me over he wants me to delete his image. I rewind the recording and film the floor in front of him. He asks me to write down what he wants to say and then he lets me record him. He felt stupid earlier getting his words mixed up he is trying hard to learn English. The teacher says:

“These are special times of the year when we send card outs, what is happening”?

“You have baby”

“Just been born, you take a photo”

What is an engagement? It is before you get married”

“He hates opera and salad” Comes from the other room

“Love, has anyone got an engagement ring? This is my mums, she is very old and not very well so I wear her ring. My dad died last year, they were married in 1950 so they were married for 60 years. After the war you could not buy gold here, my mum is Irish she had to go back to Ireland to buy her wedding ring”

“Look at the photo, this girl has been to university; she has graduated and has to wear a special hat”

“ Isabel does not eat meat” said the man fluent in Arabic and French

I can hear children in the nursery in the room behind me.

The teacher in the hall points out photographs of a sick person with a temperature.

The light in the hall is very yellow, the floor is yellow and the ceiling is red and very high with large spotlights facing the floor. The windows behind the stage are covered in red paper. The sun is lighting up some of the stacked chairs on the wall opposite me. I am sitting near the hatch of kitchen, Joan let me record her. Joan used to work here, now she is a volunteer and she opens us sometimes, she cleans sometimes and sometimes she shows the council around. Joan looks lovely and wears a pink apron. The kitchen is spotlessly clean.

The teacher in the office speaks about vegetarians he questions the group about Melanie and her work in the theater.

The teacher in the main hall has a very serious group, they are talking about people feeling sick and how you could try to make someone who is sick feel better. 

Say “Get Well Soon”

They all say “Get Well Soon” Think about that.

Joan makes me a cup of tea.

“ Isabel speaks five languages”.

“Do you get flowers from your boyfriend”? All the girls laugh.

“I Love you” Repeat this. The group in the main hall repeat “I Love you”

“Thanks very much”said the teacher and they all laugh.

During the tea break the group in the main hall practice their English with me. One lady would like to meet me as a friend and maybe work with us; she is from Spain and is a graphic designer.  

In the afternoon a badminton group came in and agreed to be photographed. Mr Campbell recorded the sound of them hitting the ball and their breath expelling as they smashed the shuttlecock across the net in time to the sound of their sneakers coming to an abrupt stop on a shiny floor. Trust him!