A Peppero Story

Storytime! YAAAY! This story is being told to illustrate a few points. First, how kids are hilarious. Second, to show how stinky my co-teacher (Mr. Adjussi) can be. And third, how much I enjoy what I do.

Setting: Peppero Day (11/11), in the 5th grade English classroom, 1st period (8:50 am)

*Bell rings*

Students scurry to their seats. Immediately Mr. Adjussi teacher commands them to put their hands on their heads and close their eyes in order to calm them. The students sit quietly for a few moments as he scans the room. The three (generally) talkative boys who sit in the back are not there...he's probably relieved. I begin by asking the usual questions, "How are you?" FINE/GOOD/SO-SO (shudder)/HAPPY! "What day is it?" WEDNESDAY! "How's the weather?" SUNNY! WINDY! Ending with, "What's the date today?" NOVEMBER 11th, PEPPERO DAY! Yes, that's right, excellent! The kids cheer and giggle about my knowledge of Peppero Day. "HAPPY PEPPERO DAY!" I say. My co-teacher takes over at this point saying, first in English, then in Korean, he doesn't like Peppero day because it's just some company who invented the day to sell their product. Suddenly the three missing boys burst through the door, walk directly to me, each hand me a box of Pepperos (Wooow, thank you!), do not even look at my co-teacher and sit in their chairs. My co-teacher repeats his beef about Peppero Day while sending dagger eyes to the boys in the back. They giggle knowing that he is directing the statement at them.

*Some time passes*

I am going over their vocabulary words. Buy. BUYYY! Very good. What can you buy? CARS. Good. COMPUTERS. Good. PPPEPEROOOOS! (from the boys in the back). YES!!! Pepperos for your teacher, such good boys you are!! They laugh and I can tell they feel proud for getting such a positive, genuine reaction out of me. Next word....watch. WATCHEEE! Noooo, WATCH. WATCH! Good! What can you watch? TV. Good. MOVIES. Good. PPPPPEPROOOOOS! Everyone laughs, including me, except my co-teacher. He scorns. No, actually you can't watch Pepperos, you can eat pepperos. Nice try though. *laughter* And we move on to the next word. Same scenario for the next word. My co-teacher is not having it. STOP SAYING PEPPERO! he says aggressively. *laughter* and whispered pepperos follow after every vocabulary word until we finish.

*Some time passes*

Students are in pairs writing a short dialogue pretending to call their friend on the phone. "Hello is Peter there?" "Speaking..." and so on. The chatty boys are in the back working away in their notebooks...not distracting the other students. This is rare. The students work for a while and then it's time to present. My co-teacher asks for volunteers. The usual, hard-working students volunteer and present their dialogue. *clap, clap clap* Who's next? The chatty boys' hands shoot up. My co-teacher seems surprised (as am I) and kindly welcomes them to the front, handing them each a microphone. They begin:

A: Hello, is Peppero there? *giggles*
B: Peppero!
A: Peppero?
B: Peppero, peppero, peppero. *giggles*

The students burst into laughter. I can't help it and burst into laughter too, trying to hide my face from my angry co-teacher. Come on...honestly, it's hilarious. Immediately my co-teacher has both giggling boys noses' against the wall and hands above their heads. "These boys are making fun of our lesson," co-teacher announces to the class, as if we don't know what is happening. I nod in agreement even though my eyes are stilll watering from holding back my laughter. Lucky for the boys the bell rings after a minute or two and class is dismissed. They are ordered to clean the floor and straighten the desks before leaving the room and it's done happily without any hint of remorse.

THE END.



Afterword: I don't blame them. Had my co-teacher not been so openly and agressively against Peppero Day and lighten up a little bit when he can see that clearly it's a fun day for the elementary school students, none of this would have happened. During many frustrating conversations with that co-teacher following that day, which usually begin by him saying, "If you knew Korean better, you would be a better teacher..." (GRRRRRRRR), I replay this peppero scenario in my head to bring a smile to my face and have to hold back the urge to say, "Peppero! Peppero? Peppero, peppero, peppero..."