Things my students said to me this week...

1. Mum?! ...Oh! (smack on head) I mean, Mrs. Laidlaw!

2. Miss, are you American? Do you live in America? (Yes, I commute every day in my private jet.)

3. Miss, have you ever been abroad? (This was after the fact that we had established that I was an American.)

4. Kid: I wish I lived in America.
Me: Why?
Kid: It's so much better than over here.
Me: How do you know that if you've never been there?
Kid: From TV. And movies.
Me: What? TV is baloney. You can't believe half of the things you see on TV.
Kid: (Gasp) Mrs. Laidlaw! That's a dirty word!
Me: Huh?
Kid: You can't say that! We British love our television! Don't you dare talk bad about television!

5. Mrs. Laidlaw, are you American? Do you know anyone famous?

6. Kid: Mrs. Laidlaw, do all the people over there in America think we're posh?
Me: (pausing in case this means something different in British English)
Sorry, what exactly do you mean by that?
Kid: I mean, do they think we're really snobby and stuck up?
Me: No. Why? Do British people think Americans are snobby and stuck up?
Kid: No! Americans are like "Yeah man!" (in an a faked American accent complete with mock gang hand gestures)

7. Miss, my friend says she saw this movie last week called "(fill in name)" and you look just like the lady who played in it. Was that you?

8. Mrs. Laidlaw, what's it like in America? (How do you start to answer that?)

9. Kid: Miss, where do you come from in America?
Me: I'm from Indiana.
Kid: Oh, is that where Indiana Jones is from?

We don't need no education,
Kristy