April Fool

So, apparently I give off the "I'm gullible" vibe across all cultures...

Today is April Fool's day, and it's a day that is just as popular and well loved here in Korea as it is in the States. Knowing this, and given that I work with *middle school* kids, you would think I would have been a little more cautious and at least somewhat skeptical of anything that seemed a bit out of order today. But, no.

Every Wednesday and Thursday afternoon after school I have an extra class with about 18 of the 3rd grade (think 9th grade) boys. They are a great group-- always very active, eager to pay attention and willing to participate in making class creative, fun and productive. They are some of my favorite kids in the school, mainly because they are some of the few with whom I have actually managed to forge strong relationships.

Today, though, when the bell rang to start class, they were all standing in the hallway right outside of the classroom. A little annoyed, I opened up the door to tell them to hurry up and come in. One of the students came in and told me that one of the other English teachers had sent him to ask me to come to see him in his office. A few other students nodded in confirmation. I was surprised but went looking for the teacher anyway. I checked his office and he wasn't there, so I stopped another teacher in the hall to ask if she knew where he was.

Needless to say, I quickly figured out that he had NOT in fact asked to see me, and was reminded between laughs that it was April 1st. When I came back to the classroom, the boys were all sitting in their chairs quietly, hands folded in their laps with angelic little wide-eyed smiles on their faces. "Teacher, find him?"

A perfect April Fools prank-- not so serious or big, but still managed to make me look foolish in a big way. A number of things about the situation should have tipped me off (like, why the pre-class huddle? and why would this particular teacher want to see me when we hadn't spoken all week? and during class no less?) but never once did it even cross my mind that the kids were not being one hundred percent honest with me.

They completely got me, and it was great. :D

My only regret is not having been prepared with a prank of my own. But after this experience, if I'm still here for this day next year, I've definitely got something big in mind.