Poignant

Had an early trip to the market for supplies. I have wanted to visit the Hollocaust memorial for a while. It felt like a fitting day to pay my respects this morning. The memorial is designed to be disorientating and overwhelming with almost no signs of the natural world. The 3d shaped stone boxes loom large overhead in places, small in others. The absence of colour and uniformity of the blocks feels militaristic and arranged in a grid. It has been deliberately designed to be chilling and to leave people feeling ill at ease.

German culture is the latest topic which the teacher is fumbling through. Again I am struck by the lack of tact. My class has Turkish, Ukrainian, Tunisian, Pakistani, Indian, Columbian, Nigerian and British people. There are many ways to be a family. Assuming that people coming from countries with regimes which restrict freedom automatically share those beliefs is flawed logic. Talking about whether you agree that weaponising the Ukraine while in the presence of those who are refugees was again tactless. This lesson did feel very much out of the "some of my best friends are ..." (choose your own marginalised group) school of teaching. I thought this had died a death but it appears not. When I chatted with pals from the group we all felt similarly patronised.