I’ve been writing, what I think, has been a rather interesting series on America. Sadly, life got in the way last night, and worse off, tonight as well. Rather than leaving two days without an article, I thought I’d share this particular story from way back when.
In year 9, or freshman year of high school, we spent a year living on a mountain in fairly spartan conditions. A quick google search gave me this image, which looks EXACTLY like my particular dorm.
It was a wonderful time. There are a million stories from that year, but here is one that always gives me a chuckle.
Each year, the school employed a number of young people, usually 18 or 19, to assist with the program. They were the “gappies” doing their gap year before work or further study. As with most things, there was a range.
Everyone’s favourite was Mr Frank, an old Etonian in the year below Prince Mr Harry, and a firm believer that bullying that encouraged weight loss was a good thing. He was a thin, fit, active, and very popular with the parents, especially the mums.
But the most memorable story comes from the Japanese gappy, Mr Izakawa, universally known as Mr Iz. He came to Australia not knowing more than five words of English, and left pretty much fluent, especially in mid 2000’s slang.
For the first few weeks, he didn’t say anything! So you can imagine our surprise when he came into our dormitory one evening and announced to the thirteen or so boys that “Mmm, I like cock”!
Flabbergasted. Shocked. More than a little amused.
Mr Iz continued. “I love cock”. At this point, we had to ask what he meant. “In your hand, cock”, pointing to my increasingly nervous friend.
Oh.
“Mr Iz, you mean Coke!”. My friend was drinking a can of Coca-Cola, and the slight pronunciation issue was the root of the problem.
As you can imagine, for a bunch of 15 year old boys, this was a rather memorable evening.