I’ve got a few students that are close friends. I’ve taught them before, but I don’t know them very well. They are middle school students and are very busy.They are busy enough that they come to school wearing their middle school uniforms because they don’t have time between classes to change.
I was writing on the board today and had my back to the class. I heard some gossip going back and forth for a little while as I wrote. I didn’t know who was talking to who, or what they were talking about. A girl said, “초은비!초은비!” “Cho-un-bi! Cho-un-bi! ” very quickly, followed by some rapid fire Korean slang.
I was surprised and a little confused. Because Korean doesn’t have a “Z” sound, the word the girl was saying sounded like a Korean person trying to say the word “Zombie” in Konglish.
One of the girls was calling out trying to get her friend’s attention in class while I had my back turned. Sure enough, a middle school student had her name 초은비 stitched on her pocket. I gave her a look after I realized her name and said, “Do you want to eat my brain?”
The other girls looked at each other confused for a second, then started laughing in good humor when they figured out the pun. Except “Zombie,” who gave me a look that suggested if I ever repeated the joke she probably WOULD eat my brain. This isn’t unusual, as she gives me these looks often.
Now I know why.
Next time I’ll stick to calling her the name she chose for English class instead.
