Getting FLEXible with the Future Leaders of Georgia

This last week I had to opportunity to travel to the far eastern end of Georgia and spend time with some of the best Georgian youth I have ever met. I have been looking forward to this past week ever since I traveled to Kazakhstan in April, and it did not disappoint.

The 2016 FLEX Georgian FLEX students!

If you remember, I traveled to Almaty to attend a teacher training for the FLEX program's pre-departure orientation. The training was great but the real excitement was getting the opportunity to meet and teach these future leaders before they take off for their exchange year in the USA. I have been doing a lot of work for the past three months to prepare for the lessons I would be teaching. I was assigned a FLEX alumni (the ever incredible Nino Jibuti) and together we planned out our 8 lessons and created numerous flip charts, activities, and other visual aids. 

Our training center in Kvareli (sorry for stealing Alan)

To become FLEX program finalists these kids have already passed three intense rounds of english testing, essay writing, interviews, teamwork activities, and a very lengthy application. They were chosen by a group of volunteer judges in the US based on their ability to demonstrate flexibility, a communicative nature, leadership, and a satisfactory understanding of English. I have no idea how many students attempt every year but from the thousands of students across Georgia only 80 were chosen to participate. 

FLEX students hard at work

At the PDO training they attend 12 sessions varying in length from 60 to 100 min long (it's often just as hard to teach for that long as I would imagine it is to sit and listen). The topics we taught covered things like- how American and Georgian cultural values differ, what it is like living in a host family, diversity and tolerance, adjusting to life away from home, what American high schools are like, and how to make friends in the US. We talked about why they can't say the N-word even if they hear it in American music. There was conversations about personal space as well as the less strictly defined gender roles (especially referring to cooking and cleaning).

Nino and I with our students

When we talked about host families many students shared with us what they already know about their host families. We talked about diversity and stereotypes since all families were different and none of them really fit into the stereotype that they had expected. Some were going to retired couples, other to young families. There were students going to small rural towns and some to the suburbs of DC. One student was going to have two host moms and another was going to a Mexican-American family in New Mexico. Everyone was going to have a different experience and many students told me that they were most excited about experiencing a truly diverse culture. 

Classic "crazy" pose picture

While I am excited to see where these wonderful students go and what they do (especially the two who are headed to Utah!); teaching and preparing for these lessons left me with a lot of thoughts and impressions about my time abroad and current events in the US. One of the key phrases that we teach the students is: "It's not better not worse, just different." It slowly becomes a bit of a mantra for their exchange year. 

Alex and I working together, yet again

From my lesson- There will be many times where you see that people are doing something different from what you are used to in Georgia. You will most likely say to yourself- "They're doing it wrong"  or "The Georgian way is better" however if you stop and ask why you might find yourself thinking- "because it is" or "I don't know" this a sign of ethnocentrism and a moment to stop and say- "It's not better not worse, just different." 

Kristi our Georgian FLEX program leader

Now as any good teacher would do I immediately recognized the hypocrisy of my ways. I've spent a lot of time abroad for various reasons and I really do believe in this mantra. However, I still find myself (especially when frustrated) projecting the superiority of my American ways/ideas on whatever culture seems to be just a little bit off (does it matter that my host mom and I can't seem to agree on the proper way to store shoes or make a bed?). I think many of us could try to incorporate this thought into our minds as we interact with people from various backgrounds, cultures, beliefs etc. It might just help us increase understanding and communication.  (Now don't take this to the extreme, things like honor killings could be defended under this same mantra but I would 100% disagree and claim that that is wrong.) 

The American PDO teachers

Another thought I had came from our discussions of diversity and tolerance, ideas that are at the core of the American story and experience. Unfortunately, these ideas also seem to be under attack back at home. Fear, prejudice, and racism seem to have taken the front seat while appreciation for diversity and tolerance have been pushed aside. I would tell my students about how wonderful it is to interact with so many different people and how much you can learn just by talking to someone. I didn't tell them about how much misunderstanding and prejudice there still. I didn't mention that after all these years Americans still haven't learned how to really practice what we preach. How tolerance is still a work in progress and diversity's celebration is continuously postponed. 

Playing egg toss with the kids

There were many other great and even some humorous teaching moments. We had to talk about hygiene habits and how to interact with the opposite sex, but we also celebrated the 4th of July. I told students that it is ok to sit on the floor and how pets are family members. We commiserated over the lack of khachapuri and khinkali but I told them about the wonders of snow cones, tacos, and pad thai. I made sure they all understood American manners and they all promised to be polite. After a week of training I can confidently say that these students are ready- America are you?

Read more about the FLEX program here.