Normally, I don’t really pay much attention to minor holidays
(aka, any holiday where there’s no Jesus, food, or presents). However, this
year, my 10th grade students made the mistake of warning me of
possible future shenanigans a day prior. One student even told me not to trust
them the next day because it was April 1st. I replied confidently that I
never trusted them anyway, so it’ll be just a regular day for me. Oh how I was
wrong.
A quick scheming session that evening with my co-teacher,
Alice, resulted in an early-morning black-ops-style prank session. Nothing too
extreme. I merely redecorated.
I moved every desk into the hallway (11 heavy,
extremely disorganized wooden desks), taped a handful of Mr. Bean pictures and meme faces on their belongings, and then, just for good measure, a quick layer of
saran wrap on top of each desk.
After about 30 minutes of diligence, I was finished. (Ps. I live on campus, right beside the high school building.)
Once done, I just walked back home to get ready for work.
When I arrived at work later that morning, all my students were sitting in their desks. And all of their desks were still in the hallway.
They left their desks in the hallway until the end of the school day. Instead of moving them back into the classroom earlier, they staggered beanbags and random chairs from the
hallway around their barren classroom to lounge in throughout the day. I’m sure
not every teacher was thrilled about it, but I have yet to hear any complaints…so a
small victory.
2 out of 3 classes I taught tried to prank me in
some way or another. 11th grade staged an elaborate scene for me.
Upon entering the nearly-empty classroom, 1 lone student with Joker-esque
makeup on his face told a creepy story about killing everyone in the class
while movie-soundtrack music blared.
Following a trail of “blood,” I walked
from the teacher’s desk to the open window where I saw the other 15 students
lying on the grass “lifeless.” Some had even taken the care to remove a shoe or angle their limbs in a particularly convincing way. After a few moments the "awakened" to laugh and yell “Happy April 1st.” Then, they returned inside for my class with them (after many other students and teachers who also
attended this show attempted to douse them with water).
The other class that had yet to enact their revenge was my
beloved grade 10 students. In addition to leaving their desks in the hallway, I
had witnessed attempted obstacle building (tape stretched across the halls in an attempt to startle unsuspecting teachers and students) and much
hushed Chinese whisperings…I knew they would try to pull something in my class.
After lunch, my time had come. I warily walked from my office
towards the 10th grade classroom. Along the way I dodged tape-trip
wires and encountered several students hiding behind doors, waiting to surprise
me.
The door was cracked slightly, so being the cautious
adventurer I am, I used my foot to nudge it open before entering. Immediately,
2 chalkboard erasers tumbled to the ground amid small puffs of chalk dust.
Crisis averted.
However, as soon as I entered, I noticed my severely
unflattering yearbook photo from the school's website largely displayed on the smart board
while pop-rap music blared. This was the worst. This method of revenge was quite effective.
They laughed at me for a few minutes while I unsuccessfully (and frantically) attempted to close
out the picture. Most of the students were in the classroom to witness this.
One, however, was M.I.A…supposedly in the bathroom.
This was not the end of their prank saga. I had 2
more surprises left…Ok, maybe not so much as surprises, but attempts. That’s
more accurate.
After a few minutes in the class, one of the students requested
that I open the window to let in some air. Of course, I’m still on high-alert,
and I considered this quandary of the suspicious kind. The windows are
rarely…rarely open during my class, and they’ve never asked me to open them
before.
I told the class that I didn’t trust them, and asked one of
them to open the window. Little to my surprise he immediately refused, despite
sitting closest to the window in question. Another student confidently declared that she would open the window instead. She opened 2 windows (side-by-side) and drew both curtains in front of them. This was clever on her
part, however, it did little to cover the person-sized shadow that flickered in
front of the curtains when she turned away.
That student that was “in the bathroom”...yeah, he was waiting
to scare me outside the window on the 4th floor balcony. Balcony is
actually a generous term. This is more like a large flower shelf with a
railing. (Don’t even get me started on the cultural attitude towards
safety…but, to be fair, I don’t think the architects intending this shelf for
people-use.)
Their last "gift" to me came in the form of a surprise ingredient added to my
drinking water. On my desk is a metal mug with a lid. The custom in China, and
many parts of Asia, is to drink hot water (which if you’ve never attempted
this, don’t knock it ‘til you try it). When I was walking to the 10th
grade classroom after lunch, one student had slipped into the office (with
permission of course) to add some wasabi to my water.
Luckily I was warned beforehand (verbally and visually…there
were chunks floating about and the smell was quite overwhelming). However, as
Alice advised, the students should think they were successful. I muttered a
half-hearted yell followed by a child-like scream from Alice. Within minutes
most of my class rushed to the office door to laugh at me, revel in their
victory, and to inform me that my “cry” sounded like a baby.
After they left, Alice then generously informed me that they
would be taking a test outside…and their water bottles would be left inside…on
their desks…in the hallway. Let’s just say that I was quite eager for them to return from their test and hoped that their academic rigor had made them a
bit parched. 5 of them were about to receive a bit of a shock.
 |
| One of the Mr. Bean memes ended up on the back of the Chinese math teacher...a serious woman who does not take kindly to jokes. |
Ironically, out of the 5 students whose water I so
lovingly “spiked,” the student who brought the wasabi paste to school had not
received any in her water bottle. Not for benevolence on my part, but her water
bottle was empty. However, I was pleasantly surprised that when she returned
from the great outdoors she was quite thirsty. Because her bottle was empty,
she borrowed a fellow classmate’s water bottle. A water bottle that just so happened to have an extra kick.
She did not see that coming. After her unhappy drinking experience, the other students
quickly checked their own bottles, and many of them rinsed out their water in
favor of non-wasabi beverages.
Overall, it was a rewarding day. Not only did 10th
grade have the most fun I’ve ever seen them experience at school, but one of my fellow high school teachers made a comment that really blessed me. After everyone else had gone home, I was packing up my bags when my friend told me that she and some of the other Chinese teachers were jealous that I was the only teacher the students played pranks on. When I defended that I had technically started this prank battle, she opposed this thought. Instead, she argued that it was my relationship with the students that gave them the freedom and confidence to prank a teacher.
My students were comfortable with me and weren't afraid that I would be mad at them for their actions. As much fun as I had playing with the 10th and 11th graders on April Fools Day, I think the highlight of this day was my friend's comment. I love my students, and seeing our relationship grow and display itself in a silly day of tricks and pranks is just another reminder of why I'm in China.
