Perks of being an ESL Teacher: Sometimes, you can meet good-looking students who can make your day and be a reason why you want to go to work everyday.
It happened during my first year on the ESL company I worked in when I was still in the Philippines. (I was a stay-in teacher, it's one of many perks being a Full-Time teacher).
Aaaahm.. Let's call him Shu.(Not his real name). He is very weird and it seems like he has his own world all the time. He doesn't have a lot of friends and often hangs out alone. During his free time, I often saw him sitting down on one corner in a play area, reading some stuff. At night, I see him through the window glass of the study area, and he often stayed there until midnight. He seems like a good student right?
Well.. was he a good student? partly. I was 20 at that time, and he was 19. At first, I did not think of him a lot. He was boring, and did not want to speak. When I asked him a question, he would give me a very short response. Well, maybe he did not like our reading class, or maybe he did not like me. I had no idea. Every day, whenever the time 3-3:50 came, I wanted to commit suicide or just miss the class pretending that I was sick and wanted to take a rest, or hoping that he would be absent, overslept, or had a diarrhea. (Oh my gosh, I was sooooo bad..haha). I did not know if he was thinking the same.
One night, I saw him again at the play area eating pancit canton, and surprisingly, he was not alone. He was with another student whom I happened to know as well. I was shocked that he talked to me and smiled. For the first time, I saw his beautiful teeth and his warm big eyes which are often cold. After that, I did not know what happened but everything between us became less awkward. He would come to class early, still shy, but he would speak more. One day, we were checking his homework, and there was a part there I needed to look at the book carefully, and when I looked at him, I caught him glancing at me. He immediately looked down. It was awkward right? But I am an ESL teacher, also a good pretender. (One of the things that you have to learn when you work in this industry.). After that, I would see him many times in the morning going out whenever I need to time in at the office near the dining area where the students eat. (I did not usually see him before because as far as I know, he hates breakfast). So whenever I see him, he would call my name, and other people would say 'hi'.
On his last day at school, last day of our class, he gave me a letter saying, "Good bye ____. I like you. I hope I meet again in Fukouka."
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