The Day of the School Trip

I was ready. I had dressed sensibly and left the apartment in plenty of time to walk to school. It was school trip day. The students were overwhelming apathetic about going and the teachers, well the teachers actually seemed excited. Two hours later as the staff take a 2 hour lunch with copius amounts of rice wine I realised why this was the case.

The rain had been relentless all morning so the trip itinery was changed. The students were visibly irritated by the decision to visit a tomb and a temple instead of the beach day they had been expecting. It was an average day. The students would say it was a less than average day. The other teachers may say it was a glorious day.

Students and Monks

Average does not however describe the bus journey back to school. Weary students suddenly transformed into alert and over excited teenage girls. The reason for their dramatic makeover? Karaoke. The bus turned into the worst Friday night on the the town imaginable. I was sober, on a moving vehicle and surrounded by out of tune music I didn’t recognise. Should I have hated it? Yes. Did I hate it? No, I loved it. To see the students laughing and making fools of themselves was wonderful. Did I have a blinding headache when I disembarked the bus? Absolutely.

Third Grade Students