We were standing at the entrance of a modern-looking school, introducing ourselves to the head of Administration in the hopes of finding a spot for the upcoming semester. We still hadn’t decided on whether we should live in Portugal but for the past few weeks, we had been looking at many international schools to hopefully make up our minds. The conversation was going well but it soon came to an abrupt halt when the administrator extended his hand out for a handshake. I paused and studied my opponent. Surely – was this a friendly gesture or was he just doing this to stop the conversation? Was I talking too much? Nevertheless, I wiped my sweaty palms on my shirt and shook his extended hand. He had a tight grip but it wasn’t going to stop me. I tightened my grip just enough so he wouldn’t get suspicious of my sudden increase in strength. The administrator must have noticed my other-worldly grip strength because he took a step back and said “You have a strong grip.” Yet again I was faced with another riddle. Did he mean this as a passive-aggressive threat or was he genuinely impressed? I held my tongue and managed a “Thanks, you too.” I stopped and thought about what I had just said. ‘You too?!’ I must have been out of my mind. The administrator seemed to have not noticed because he was proceeding to shake my brother’s hand. I watched nervously as they shook hands and luckily my brother managed to keep his cool. The administrator nodded approvingly and then turned and showed us around.
After a little bit of walking, he turned out alright. He liked chatting (probably more than a television presenter) and happily shared with us information about the other international schools in the area. We even joked around for a little bit. But right when things seemed to be going fine, I made another huge hiccup. We were walking past racks of trophies the school had won in previous tournaments when the administrator said, “We’ll be going to the library next.” We nodded and proceeded to walk down the corridor and when we turned left, he turned around and asked us “Do any of you have any questions?” Stupidly, I said, “Yes, do you have a library?” Luckily, the administrator was a nice guy and just said “Yes, we’re going to it right now.” It was at that moment that I realized the huge mistake I had just made. If the administrator was not a very cheerful guy, then it might have been the end of my reputation. Not only was this school already super hard to get into but I couldn’t be adding to that with my stupidity, or we might not even get in. Then the reality kicked in, one more slip-up and it was over. I then proceeded to be more careful with my choice of words, and thankfully, I made no more major mistakes. All in all, the school visit was successful, even though I nearly ruined it towards the end. I also learned a valuable lesson, which is to think before I speak because if you don’t, it might cost you a school.
Porto, Portugal