I had a diary...
IVETA SKRIPKOVA
Director, playwright, Slovakia
I had a diary in primary school, in which I would note how long it took me to learn a certain subject. Slovak language was the winner, that took me five minutes. In the exam I got the same result – a 5 (F). Comrade teacher told us, that Lenin had freed people from the bad dragon and my friend cried because her mother went to church. Despite all of this I liked going to school. It was the time of independence. Of discoveries. I was fascinated by everything I had learned. It was a time of running up the stairs, of gossiping in toilets, being a member of a gang. I had a hard time joining a gang, I didn’t like it, but everybody had to belong somewhere. One group against another one. Class B against class C. Even back then, I knew how to hit (the ball) and I allowed my classmates to copy my homework, so they let me in the gang. We would laugh our heads off, I don’t even know why.
High school? My geography teacher made me laugh. He claimed that the blank maps would come to life, if we drew the rivers right… My Slovak language teacher told me, that if I wanted to survive, I’d have to understand, that people were wolves. The other one said that blue eyes were enough for the Math teacher. What shocked the most was when I realized that you’re able to learn everything, but you don’t have to understand it…
