Surprise!
Teaching January 29th. 2007, 7:50pmToday I had a long lunch break after my morning classes. I was running some errands and was in the neighborhood of the school. I needed to get the school early, as there were tests to give today. As I was walking to the school, I ran into a few of my students waiting on the street corner for the school bus to come and pick them up. They were surprised to see me away from the school, but I was surprised to run into them when I was running a little late. They told me the bus was on the way, so I waited with them. I’d got to school on the bus with them!
The students were thrilled. When I got on the bus, everyone thought it was really very funny. They kept asking me where I lived and why I was on the bus. I explained the situation, and they wanted to know if this was going to be something that would happened often, or just once. I assured them this would be the only time I’d be on the bus with them. They looked relieved. They kept telling me things like, "Watch your head," or "We’re going here next," as if I had never ridden a bus before.
Whenever we went to pick up new students, I’d hide my head. The students on the bus would call the students getting on the bus to the back where I was seated. As they approached I’d put my head up and ask them a question in English. Their look of shock was like something out of a haunted house. Everyone in on the joke would laugh even harder as we picked up more people and got the same reaction out of them. The bus is one of the few places the students can socialize together in a Korean friendly environment without anyone pressuring them to "Speak English" all the time. Being on the bus broke that barrier down, so students were even speaking English on the bus too. If my director gets wind of this, I’ll be riding the bus every day and giving them tests as we ride around in no time.
We arrived at the school on time. The students waiting in line to go home enjoyed me getting off the bus as much as the students riding the bus. It was something unexpected that they had never seen before. Even the secretary was laughing when she saw me exiting the bus. It must be something about this tall guy getting off a bus full of tiny children that is innately funny.
One Response to “Surprise!”
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February 1st, 2007 at 12:03 am
That’s hilarious. And I can see a business opportunity…maybe you should take down this post to prevent the onslaught of “Bus English.” Great story.