yeah don't try and pronounce that.

Every Monday afternoon I teach a class of seven-year-olds, and I swear it is the highlight of their week. As soon as I walk in they whip out their English name tags, and a couple of my most loyal fans have crossed out the English names I've given them and written BROOKK and drawn hearts.

Then I ask "What's your name?" and there's a flurry of little arms going up, and I call on everyone to say their name. Some kids raise their hands twice and introduce themselves twice, so other kids get jealous and raise their hands again, and soon everyone's said their name at least three times, and we move on to colors or carnivores or whatever the lesson is.

And then this little boy with blond hair and eyes as big as North Carolina pipes up, he does it every week, and says "Maîtresse, Maîtresse, you didn't ask me what my name was." His desk is so far forward that sometimes I trip over it, and he's always staring at me. But he never raises his hand, every week he waits for me to seek out his name on my own. And he's so heartbroken when I don't that I just want to ask him his name a million times. And that's the highlight of my week.

Also I got another silly band today. Ignore what I said previously about cockroach families, nothing grows as fast as a silly band collection. Every day a kid sees them on my wrist and freaks out. "You like bracelets?! Here, have this one!" As though there are people who don't like bracelets. Please.



The girl that gave me this pointed out that it's the letter B. "B as in Blugh.., I mean Bduul..., I mean, B as in your name!"