Memories from a school day in Johannesburg.

A man or woman of many companions may come to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother/ sister.

Proverbs 18 : 24

Friendship is patient,

Friendship is kind,

It does not hate ,

It is not proud,

It does not dishonour others,

It is not self-seeking,

It is not easy to break,

It keeps no record of wrong and

It rejoices with the truth.

(Love is used in the Bible quote / friendship is what has been put in)

I Corinthians 13 a lovely chapter for Valentines day ❤

Talking while the teacher is talking! A ruler placed with a thwack on two open hands! A line of children squirming as they wait! A few exclamatry sentences but a vivid memory of my Johannesburg school days.

There was a lot of teacher talking time. She was teaching in two languages, Afrikaans and English and once I had heard my bit I would have a whispered conversation with my friends. I guess my voice became a little louder as a child’s voice does talking about jelly powder and who had some and the skipping rope left in the play ground and who had it? I guess I would eventually settle down to work if I wasn’t at the teacher’s desk.

The room was warm and smelt of chalk and then orange peels after break. We all had a small bottle of free milk and a sandwich brought from home. Two slices of bread put together with butter and marmite and then cut into four. I liked their square shape and salty taste with the cold milk. We started school by 7:30 / 8:00 am and were ready to go home by 1:00 pm. We most times went on the school bus and mum or Rosie would be there to meet us where it stopped. I liked chatting to mum or Rosie. We sometimes walked all the way home from the school but not often as the sun was hot at midday.

It is interesting to notice how that pair work and group work have become very important in the classroom and it was later what substantially helped me form my most important relationship. It was while doing first year university mathematics that I spent quite a lot of time talking to Roy, who was also in his first year. He was far clearer in his explanations than the lecturer and certainly less daunting. After a little while we were good friends but were determined to finish our studies first. Roy started work a year before I completed mine and we married the week after my graduation. Our marriage was the beginning of many years of adventure. I had met someone who didn’t mind me talking and who enjoyed listening more!!🙂🤣🤣🤣❤