The Teacher (Učiteľka)

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Good morning.

Sit down.

Welcome back to school after the holidays.

I am Mária Drazdechová, your new class teacher.

Together, we will be battling Russian, Slovak and history.

I hope you're looking forward to it as much as I am.

First of all, I'd like to get to know you, so I will now read out your names,

each of you will stand up so I can see you

and say out loud what your parents do. Okay?

Alright? Very well.

Ambrožová, Katarína.

So, Katka, what do your mum and dad do?

Mum works at a grocery shop and Dad is a carpenter.

-So he could fix something for us. -He's more of a model maker.

Let's ask him anyway, alright? Good, sit down.

Bártová, Helenka.

Dad works at a construction site abroad, and Mum was a hairdresser,

but now she's home with my baby sister.

-Does she work at home now? -Only long-term customers.

Good.

Bína, Miloš.

Dad drives a taxi and Mum's at the housing co-op.

And Father says that if you ever need a lift, it's not a problem.

Thank your father for me.

Binder, Filip.

-He's not here. -I see.

Hančová, Janka.

My parents are designers in Prague.

-Wasn't your grandpa in school administration? -No, he's retired now.

Hampl, Josef.

Dad's a mason and Mum's a cook.

-Come again? -Dad's a mason and Mum's a cook.

Kučerová, Danka.

Mum's a lab assistant and coaches gymnastics.

-And your father? -He works at the airport.

-He's a pilot? -No, an accountant. -Alright.

Malinovský, Anton.

My father's a judge.

-Where exactly? -At the district court.

Šimeková, Zuzana.

Mum's a waitress and Dad works at Crystal Bar.

Němec, Juraj.

Dad's a head physician and Mum is a nurse.

A doctor then. Řeháková, Alenka.

Father is a disability pensioner.

And Vojáček, Miroslav?

-Mum is a greengrocer. -Where?

-At the central... the central market. -All right.

-Has she got a stand there? -Yes, she has.

Good. Zimka, Ondrej.

Mum works at the kindergarten and Father died.

-Good morning. -Good morning.

Sorry I'm late, comrade.

-What's your name? -Filip Binder.

-I see. And why are you late? -The tram was late.

Now stand up and tell us what your parents do.

My mum is a bus dispatcher and Dad is a car mechanic.

Fixes buses at the depot.

Tell her.

Dad is a former national champion in freestyle wrestling.

So if he wanted to, he could beat you all up with his hands tied.

Good evening, I'm glad to see you all here

at this special parents' meeting.

Comrade Chvalovská will be taking the minutes.

You probably know why we're here.

What happened here is very serious and we need to state our position.

I can promise you that if we don't reach a conclusion,

everything will remain between us.

I have no idea what this is about.

Excuse me, but I wonder why comrade teacher isn't here as well.

-That should be obvious. -What do you mean?

That the person we're discussing is not here.

Yes, and that is not right.

First I would like to know what actually happened.

We invited comrade Drazdechová, naturally, but she excused herself.

I'm sure she did.

We informed her about today's meeting, of course,

and she will learn the results in detail.

-I'm sorry, but I don't like this. -Shouldn't we wait for her?

-Couldn't it be on purpose? -In principle, this is wrong.

-In principle? That's laughable. -So you think what's going on is alright?

Mrs Kučerová, it was you who initiated this meeting.

It's about your daughter after all. We all know that.

-I don't actually know anything. -Wait, wait, please.

After much deliberation, I decided to call this meeting myself.

-What do you think about it? -It's a chance to get rid of her.

It's horrible what happened.

I know. But she's the chairwoman of the Communist Party at this school.

But if at least some parents join in, they'll have to do something.

Jesus Christ!

Yes, I've read your request to transfer your children to another school.

-But I haven't passed it on yet. -Why?

Well, your address is in our catchment area.

The nearest school that could take them is full.

But most importantly, the reasons that you state

are not the real issue here. We all know that.

Write down the real reasons for your decision to do this.

-And file an official complaint. -What kind of complaint?

Here's a template of what it should look like.

-And who will be handling it? -Send it to me.

Once I have something specific, I can pass it on.

But I need a place to start.

Excuse me, how long have you known about this?

Have you been waiting for something to happen?

Look, my position is difficult. I am the head teacher,

but comrade Drazdechová is the Party chairwoman.

Her late husband was an officer and her sister lives in Moscow.

If I am to do anything, I need to have solid information.

It's likely that I'll be gone before I can achieve anything.

But things have gone so far that I've decided to take the risk.

I'm afraid my signature would only complicate things.

Yes, Mr Littmann. Please do not sign it yet.

If we find any.

-It seems that most people like it this way. -But not everyone, I think.

I don't want more stress for Danka. I want to move her to another school.

You can do that. No one is stopping you.

But we want this to end, don't we?

Nothing will change anyway. They'll sweep it under the rug.

It's just us and you. What do you want to do next?

If this weren't so serious, I'd look for other options.

Could someone finally tell us what's going on and what you want from us?

We do not know about any malpractice on comrade teacher's part,

-We've always been satisfied with her. -That's hardly surprising.

-What do you mean? -May I ask, Mrs Bártová,

what are your daughter's grades?

Well, what she deserves, of course. Have no doubts about that.

That's exactly what I doubt.

-The young one's a darling. -Yes. She's a good girl.

And hungry. Don't put that in your mouth! That's not for eating!

What is it you have there?

-So I think we're done here. -I see.

Oh my, you have made me into a new person, Mrs... Bártová?

Oh, this is fantastic. Fantastic. How much?

-Nothing, nothing. -Come on, that won't do.

No, really. Don't, please. I'm doing this to keep my hand in.

-Twenty crowns. -No, no, put it right back there.

Very well. But I owe you.

-Helka, go and put her to bed. -Okay.

Lovely girl.

Very well then.

Helka should look at the exercise. Lesson 5, exercise 3, nouns and verbs.

-Thank you. -You know, since my husband died...

It's been difficult for a lonely woman.

So I rely on good people such as yourself. You have hands of gold.

Not at all.

The closest person is my sister who's in Moscow. A thousand kilometres!

I can't even send her a piece of cake.

It was easier when my husband was alive.

Not even medicine. When her son is ill, I can't send her medicine.

Wait a minute, doesn't Danka's father work at the airport?

Maybe he knows a pilot who could take a package with him.

Mr Kučera? Do you think he would?

Don't tell me this isn't familiar. Your phone rings in the evening...

Mr Ambrož, the lampshade is still broken.

I don't know what you did with it. Come and fix it again, alright?

No, that is not familiar to me at all.

Mr Řehák, well, take some pâté for me, maybe some cutlets...

Milk would be nice, too. And marrow bones.

But don't oversleep! Goodbye, good night.

Watch your toes.

-Hello, Dad. -Hello.

Come here.

-How was it at school? -Nothing.

Did she pick you? Did you raise your hand?

What did I tell you? One more fail and you're done with gymnastics.

I don't care what mum says about it.

If you want, I can help you with your homework.

The teacher wants something from you. She needs something done.

She wants to smuggle some cake to her sister in Moscow.

What?

-Did you hear what the teacher wants? -Yes.

What is this communist pig even thinking?

She wants to send some cake by plane to Moscow.

I'm not getting fired because of her.

Can't you try asking someone? A pilot or a flight attendant?

No, I can't. For one thing...

I'm an accountant. I don't work with flight crews at all.

-And sending food to the USSR is forbidden. -That was the start.

And the next one is... Come, Danka.

Let's give you a chance to improve those poor grades.

So...

What was the homework? Read the text "Our Family",

learn vocabulary and prepare a speech about your family. Go ahead.

My family is big. Mother, father, brother, sister and I.

Wait a minute. You don't have a brother.

Go on.

-My father drives a tractor. -No, he doesn't, Danka.

He works at the airport.

-What does your mother do? -My mother is a milkmaid.