In the old days of the last century, people in the countryside were very familiar with the word "village teacher". This word often referred to people who worked as teachers in their hometowns and villages. "Village teacher" referred to teachers from primary school in the village to high school in the district.
From those who graduated from grade 7 plus 2 to those who graduated from grade 10 plus 2 and went to school to teach. Even those who graduated from university, college or high school and joined the teaching staff in primary, secondary and high schools are all called "village teachers". Obviously they are teachers from village and district schools, art doesn't seem to be very suitable, but it is clear that those teachers, their families live in the same village, neighboring villages, upper and lower communes in the district know each other. Teachers who have studied at university in Hanoi have been assigned to return to their hometowns and district schools to teach.
The way teachers and students go to school every morning is through villages, through fields or inter-commune and inter-village roads. Many teachers from other provinces who are assigned to work at schools often stay in the school's dormitory and sometimes, in their conversation, they miss the city, miss the town, they say: They have joined the "village teacher" team. Some people do not like it because it seems like they are criticizing "country people". That is said because in the past, cities and towns had electricity and tap water, which was very different from the countryside, with open water, earth, and one-room dormitories. People born and raised in cities and towns miss their homes. And many people consider their years of studying at village schools as a "stepping stone" for them to transfer back to the city, the social vision or at least to suburban areas to shorten the distance to their homes, from the scene of pot-cooked rice and filtered water in the dormitory. For female teachers, they are even more eager to be transferred because they are still busy building a family, having children, living a few kilometers away from home, and having to find a bicycle to the city or town is very tiring. Love affairs are "first distance, second intensity", there are urban couples who have failed because of 2 people but because of "long distance". And also from simple village schools, in the middle of fields, along the market road, or sometimes in old cemeteries, there are people who have married local people to become "village teachers" in their husband's or wife's hometown.
Many people will remember that in those years, the road to the school's dormitory had soldiers who were not allowed to return home, but every night they would neatly adjust their uniforms and go to school. There were those who rode "Sim Son" motorbikes and went there, and those who escaped from work in the city or far away provinces also came to the school dormitory to "check it out".
In the old days, if the villagers were "strong" enough, the high-ranking officials were "valuable" as well. What could be better than a village teacher having a soldier husband? Everyone supported her, so she "won" and the wedding was quickly organized. The teacher went to her husband's house after the wedding, returned the apartment to the school and the urban girl began to get acquainted with the life of the villagers in a real way. She also taught one day, came home one day to eat vegetables and bran, and when the season came, she raised fish, and at night she worked hard to prepare lesson plans. Her husband was away for a long time, and the letters from his wife sometimes blurred her eyes with tears.
But it was okay, back then, who would have thought that with such hardships and difficulties, as long as there was faith, there would be strength to endure. The letters she sent home were never read by her family, but the whole village knew that although she had only learned to farm after getting married, she knew the job, for sure. Usually, soldiers' wives suffer first, then enjoy happiness.
And when the young teacher became a teacher, he might have just returned home. The children - the result of those times he was allowed to return - had not grown up, thinking about the teacher's house, settling down, how much money did the teacher have to retire. When a person retires, his children and grandchildren follow the tradition, everyone in the village is important.
That journey is told in just a few lines but spans several decades, with both sadness and joy and bitterness. But it is said that "everything is peaceful".
That is the story of the teacher about becoming a daughter-in-law of the village, but the story of the village "teacher" seems to go more smoothly.
After 2, 3, 4 years of studying at teacher training schools, some of the girls have gone far away, whether they follow the profession or not, they may have "married to a foreign land" and settled in their husband's or wife's hometown. Most people still find a way to return to the district or commune to teach, there is nothing better than eating home-cooked meals and teaching at a village school.
After struggling through a low-paying trial period, the girls often want to quit their jobs, but who would let them quit? They don't get to study, work in the fields, or go to the market. And of course, with the job of teaching in our commune or neighboring communes, young unmarried female teachers are much more "expensive" than... fresh shrimp. Many families ask matchmakers to make a name for themselves and then quickly "attack" them. To get a village teacher, they usually have to come from a well-mannered, well-educated, wealthy, and unmarried family. The men also have to be educated, have a job, and be handsome... On moonlit nights, dogs bark loudly in the alleys of the village teachers' houses, and groups of village boys and men from other countries are seen swinging axes.
The girls, although still hesitant, sometimes simply want to play more, wait for a better salary or don't want to be tied down to husband, children, or being a daughter-in-law, they don't want to choose anyone but it's difficult because the villagers are very strong, "if you want to get married, get married right away".
And the village teachers brought flowers and lesson plans to their husbands' houses at a very young age.
Before becoming village teachers, some of the teachers' children, the children of the escaped families, were all skilled in farming and other jobs. Usually, after teaching, they returned to their husbands' homes, also doing housework, embroidery, baking, and wine making like everyone else. Many of them even brought their own jobs to their husbands' homes. Looking at them carrying their schoolbags to school, dressed neatly and elegantly, when they returned to their families, they were no different from the villagers, real farmers.
"Village teachers have a salary", everyone knows that, much more than farmers who rely on rice and potatoes, but not everyone sees that they have to work twice as hard. That is, they have to teach and work in production, planting and harvesting, growing crops, and raising livestock like everyone else.
''Village teachers'' work hard and sometimes suffer a "disadvantage", that is, sometimes people say harsh words, but if teachers say harsh words or talk back, they are immediately ''judged''. Many people, without understanding the situation, conclude that they are ''bad teachers''. Many ''village teachers'' have to cry to their husbands or sisters to share. More than anyone else, being villagers, teachers understand this ''bullying'' very well and they have certainly all encountered it.
November 20th is Teachers' Day, surely students from the 7X generation and earlier remember the "famous gifts" they gave their teachers. The whole class made an appointment to visit the teacher's house, ate a whole basket of apples and then went home. Sometimes the bouquet of flowers was "stolen from the old people's nursery", some students did not know how to buy, so they gave her lilies on this day. She was not upset but said:
- Let me put flowers and incense on the altar of my ancestors.
What material gift is valuable enough to be lonely with the children, their parents, and the people in the village? The teacher-student relationship is built up over the years, so that next year we can tell stories of last year, and the year before that. To tell our teachers, our life stories. I remember: The waitress's hand hurt, I remember the singer at the house, Difficult with my mother. I remember, the homeroom teacher's class did not teach any words, leaving the lesson intact and the temperature.
45 kids didn’t know what to think, looked at each other. There were empty devices, there were kids coming out. I said, was there a teacher at that time, probably… yes.
But after several years, the students still remember every word the teacher taught, and always call him "my teacher". And that's enough, every new spring, every village festival, every November 20th, the students of the old village school return to the village to visit the old village teachers.
The current generation of village teachers has reduced poverty and suffering in front of many teachers and friends, leaving teachers and students both moved, wondering what gift is more precious.
In the old days, if the villagers were "powerful", the officers were "valuable". What could be better than a village teacher having a soldier husband, everyone supported her, so she "won" and the wedding was quickly organized. The teacher went home.
After the wedding, her husband returned the apartment to the school and the urban girl began to truly get acquainted with the life of the countryside. She also went to teach one day, came home one day to feed herself with bran and vegetables, and when the season came, she would work hard at night to prepare lesson plans. Her husband was away for a long time, and the letters she received from his wife sometimes blurred her eyes with tears.
But it was okay, back then, who would have thought that with such hardships and difficulties, as long as there was faith, there would be strength to endure. The letters she sent home were never read by her family, but the whole village knew that although she had only learned to farm after getting married, she knew the job, for sure. Usually, soldiers' wives suffer first, then enjoy happiness.
Source: https://daidoanket.vn/giao-lang-10294434.html
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