I Was An American But I Did Not Know It
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My favorite class was P.E. It did require too much language, except for the first day. The teacher called out our names for attendance. Then he told us that we had to bring to class gym suits, an athletic supporter and a towel. I understood the thing about gym suit and a towel, but what was “athletic supporter”? The teacher had a sample of each, but that “thing” was a strange looking thing to me. I had never seen anything like it, much less use one. It was not until our first official gym day that I understood what an athletic supporter was for, when I saw somebody putting it on. It was most embarrassing trying to explain to my parents about this one item. When I went to buy my gym suit, I doubt that I would have bought an athletic supporter if had not been right next to the gym suits. The P. E. activities consisted of touch football, track, basketball, volleyball, and gymnastics. I had never heard of these activities. We did not have physical education in
During our first year in
Generally, my homework was not done, except for math, because of language difficulties. Math did not require too much language. Usually, the story problems I left alone and did the number problems. The teachers seemed to understand and did not hold it against me.
People who have traveled to foreign countries whose language they did not understand would sympathize with my situation. Here I was, in the middle of hundreds of students, but I might as well have been deserted somewhere where no on lived. I could not communicate with anybody. If somebody said something to me, I just stared at him, afraid to say anything, even if I wanted to. Probably the worst part was when the teacher or a student said something funny and everybody would laugh except me. There was nothing funny as far as I was concerned. Years later, when I took my Spanish students to see a Spanish film I would laugh at the jokes and my students would just sit there quietly, or sometimes they would get excited and ask me, “Mr. Hakim, what did they say, what was so funny?” jokes are hard to translate, and my students’ behavior disturbed others.
For the longest time, I did not know anyone by name, I did not talk to anyone, and I did not make friends with anyone, except for Harry, of course. Sometimes, I would smile at someone who was friendly to me, but that was the extent of my involvement with other kids.
Extracurricular activities were not part of my life. I did not go to any after school or evening games. I did not go to play with any of my classmates after school. At the end of the day, I was just happy to go home where I could at least talk to someone after spending a whole day doing the same routine I had done the day before.
Needless to say, weekends were my favorite. I had two days to do whatever I wanted. No homework and lots of free time. As a family, we would go visit other Lebanese families or somebody would come to visit us. In all situations, at least I understood the language. I did spend some time everyday trying to memorize some new words in English. So, my exposure to English was limited to the hours I spent in school.
During the first year, two things seemed to help me with the language. My brother and I would go to the movies sometimes. The first time we went was the first time I had ever gone to the movies. There were no movies to go to where I lived in
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About the Book
The story you are about to read is a true story of my life. I was born as an American in a small village in Lebanon. That village, like all other villages of that time, was lacking the facilities we usually expect in a house. There was no inside plumbing, no electricity, no running water, no telephones, and no roads. No, I was not born in the 1800’s but in 1935.
Schools in Lebanon were not conducive to learning. Corporal punishment was common, and I got my share of it. It was never using a paddle on one’s “behind,” but a hard stick used on one’s open hands. Students lived in fear. If you raised your hand and gave the wrong answer, you got punished; if you did not raise your hand, you got punished for not knowing the answer. I was not a good student under that system.
Coming to the U.S. in 1948 at age 13 was the best thing that ever happened to me, in spite of the obstacles I faced. I was a stranger in a strange world, but I loved it. I was given a chance to succeed. I went through junior high, high school, and college, and became a teacher in ten years. Those ten years included one year in Mexico to study and master Spanish which became my life’s work as a teacher.
If you judge by what my students say or write, then I was a very successful teacher. Read what former students wrote to me, and that would tell you who I was or what I did.
I have enjoyed everything that has happened to me or that I have done since my arrival in the United States of America, my country.
About the Author
Hussein Hakim was born in
Hussein received a BA from
He has traveled with groups of his students throughout
He took an early retirement while still at the top of his profession; but it did not really turn out to be a complete retirement, for he continued to teach in different schools for quite some time after retiring.