"What the Heck?! Wednesdays" focus on the
heart-warming, ridiculous, and sometimes frustrating stories from our
school days. Teaching in Turkey is trying and difficult. We come home
exhausted, and our days off are nothing short of precious. That being
said, we love our students. Most of the time. They are creative, silly,
smart, obnoxious, loud, affectionate and adorable. And they make for
some delightful stories. Enjoy...
I have this 2nd grade student, Burak. He is nothing short of hilarious. He pretty much NEVER speaks to me in English, unless he's getting nowhere with the very-important-life-altering bit of news he's trying to tell me in Turkish. Sometimes I honestly don't understand. Usually I'm just messing with him. Scratch that. Usually I'm being an awesome English teacher, and encouraging English communication from a child who needs a push. Often, by the time he substitutes a few of the words for English, his news is coming out in a growl.
Lately he has been obsessed with my feet. Particularly the fact that I'm never wearing socks.
It's spring time people. It's finally warm enough for me to wear skirts and dresses without tights underneath. Also, sporty shoes are not allowed at this classy school, so I'm always either wearing heels or some sort of ballet flat. Socks would not be cute with that outfit.
Yet every morning Burak greets me with "Çorap varmı?" which means "Have you got socks?" And every day I say "Nope, no socks." He usually asks two or three more times, believing that I don't understand, and finally substituting çorap with socks: "Socks varmı?" When he is satisfied that we have communicated accurately he announces to everyone within shrieking-ear-shot "Çorap yok! Miss Erin Çorap YOOOOOOKKKK!" (yok=none).
The other day after shouting at everyone else (none of whom seem to care) he came back to ask me something over and over again in Turkish. This time I actually didn't understand, and sent him to another child to figure it out.
Dila comes back to ask, "What does it mean if you haven't got any money?"
Me: "Poor. No money is poor."
Dila: "He wants to know if you're poor?"
Me: "Oh. No. I'm not poor."
Burak: "Ama... Çorap yok!"
Me: "I just don't like socks."
Burak dramatically smacks his face with his palm, as if that's the most ridiculous thing he has ever heard.
My co workers are discussing starting a sock fund for me...
I have this 2nd grade student, Burak. He is nothing short of hilarious. He pretty much NEVER speaks to me in English, unless he's getting nowhere with the very-important-life-altering bit of news he's trying to tell me in Turkish. Sometimes I honestly don't understand. Usually I'm just messing with him. Scratch that. Usually I'm being an awesome English teacher, and encouraging English communication from a child who needs a push. Often, by the time he substitutes a few of the words for English, his news is coming out in a growl.
Lately he has been obsessed with my feet. Particularly the fact that I'm never wearing socks.
It's spring time people. It's finally warm enough for me to wear skirts and dresses without tights underneath. Also, sporty shoes are not allowed at this classy school, so I'm always either wearing heels or some sort of ballet flat. Socks would not be cute with that outfit.
Yet every morning Burak greets me with "Çorap varmı?" which means "Have you got socks?" And every day I say "Nope, no socks." He usually asks two or three more times, believing that I don't understand, and finally substituting çorap with socks: "Socks varmı?" When he is satisfied that we have communicated accurately he announces to everyone within shrieking-ear-shot "Çorap yok! Miss Erin Çorap YOOOOOOKKKK!" (yok=none).
The other day after shouting at everyone else (none of whom seem to care) he came back to ask me something over and over again in Turkish. This time I actually didn't understand, and sent him to another child to figure it out.
Dila comes back to ask, "What does it mean if you haven't got any money?"
Me: "Poor. No money is poor."
Dila: "He wants to know if you're poor?"
Me: "Oh. No. I'm not poor."
Burak: "Ama... Çorap yok!"
Me: "I just don't like socks."
Burak dramatically smacks his face with his palm, as if that's the most ridiculous thing he has ever heard.
My co workers are discussing starting a sock fund for me...
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haha! Love the picture of this!
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