Tweedle-dee and Tweedle-dum
Partners in Crime
Choose your title, all are appropriate to describe Joy and Haley, two of my beautiful and hilariously entertaining students. Joy and Haley have been attached at the hip from day one. Within my first three days of being a teacher, I received a text message from Haley, asking if I happen to own any Japanese clothing she can borrow. A few days later, I found out why.
Laura and I had ventured to the auditorium where we came upon a massive performance of the freshman class. This is where we saw Tracy perform various singing acts and other students of ours in extravagant dancing routines.
Next on the stage pops Joy, dressed in a slick black suit. We were quickly able to piece together that she was a part of a comedy act, taking place in the front of her entire freshman class. She was accompanied by other favorites of ours [Leon, Arthur, and Alan…check out their video here]. There was Kung Fu, laughing, and costume changes, and then onto the stage pops Haley in a Japanese kimono. Between the five of them, the entire auditorium was roaring in laughter, including Laura and myself. Despite the language barrier it was evidently clear that these two were something special.
Haley and Joy, like all of my students, have experienced a lot of growth throughout this year, both in their English and their development as humans [beautiful humans, I might add]. As the time has passed, their looks have changed (see below) as have their English abilities, albeit they still have quite a ways to go. This makes for even more fun miscommunications. Joy is a pro at miming anything she tries to communicate, and truly, her English name couldn't be more fitting for the amount of delight and gladness she brings into the lives of everyone she meets. One of my absolute favorite class memories is when I asked each student where they would take a vacation to, if given the opportunity. Coincidentally, Haley and Joy are right after one another in the roll call. Haley answered with Syndey, Australia. Perfectly normal response. Joy took her turn and began "I want to vacation to…"
"the W.C. [water closet aka, bathroom]" piped in Haley's voice.
--Insert class erupting in laughter, including teacher.--
Joy, realizing the fault in her hesitation quickly agreed to this. "Yes yes, I will vacation to W.C. and Haley come too. She will see my big… my big… poop!"
--Insert teacher doubling over in laughter, shedding tears and losing all control of the classroom.--
(and yes, if you were wondering, I taught them that vocabulary word last semester. No shame.)
Needless to say, these babies have come so far.
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| Joy & Haley, October 2011, Halloween snicker-doodles |
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| Joy & Haley, May 2012, both proposing. |
If you had the amazing opportunity to experience this in class everyday, you wouldn't want to leave either. As I gave pronunciation exams this past week, I put the students in charge of my video camera to give them an opportunity to say anything they need to say. Prepare yourself for laughter and for a glimpse of my daily delights. This won't be the last time you see them.
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