PERHAPS THIS is the day the world laughs together in unison. For some it might have been a day they had to be more patient and for some, a chance to become more playful and silly. The Yonsei Annals has taken this chance to take a peek at Yonseians memories of their April Fool’s Day experiences and share a laugh or a tear together.
Lee Ha-jong, (Soph., Dept. of Life Science & Biotech., Underwood Div.)
In elementary school when I was in third grade, our grade was divided into two different classes. I was assigned to class 1. One day, the students and teacher in my class and students from class 2 planned a surprise for the teacher of class 2. We switched the interiors of the classrooms, so that the other classroom looked like our classroom, and our classroom like the other. This confused the teacher of class 2 because she would enter into class 2, just like she was supposed to, but it would seem like she instead came in to class 1. It confused the teacher so much that she later confessed that at first, she thought she was going crazy! To me April Fool’s Day is a day that should not be celebrated by doing crazy things because it is non-Christian and has no relationship with Christianity, but regardless of this, I still keep the April Fool’s spirit up by doing crazy things.
Seon Ha-young, (Soph., Dept of Architecture)
When I was in junior high, my father received an notice, to go to Vietnam for work. When I told my best friend about this news, she said that her father was notified to go to Vietnam, too. I was so surprised and excited by this news, and we spent the entire day talking about what we would do together in Vietnam! It was like a dream come true for me, because I believed that things like these only happened in movies. Little did I know, that as soon as the clock struck 12 AM, and it was no longer April Fool’s, my friend confessed that it was just a joke to trick me. It was just like in Cinderella, when the magic flashed away as soon as it struck midnight. Even though I was very disappointed that time, looking back, it was a fun memory of April Fool’s Day I have, so I think that it is a day when good memories can be made.
Park Sun-min (Soph., Dept. of Chinese Language & Lit.)
In my junior year of high school, I and my classmates were fans of our male teacher who taught Korean geography. He was cute but extremely shy, which made him much more eligible for us to play tricks on him. We planned to embarrass him by hanging two red hot peppers over the door frame. We assumed he would be embarrassed by the sexual connotation overlying the peppers, and waited in excitement for his reaction. But unfortunately, that shy teacher just ripped the peppers off the door frame and we were the ones who were surprised! This is probably the main reason why I expect to be shocked by new events on April Fool’s Day!
Lee Hwa-yeon (Soph., Dept. of Architecture)
I have a somewhat bittersweet memory of April Fool’s Day. This happened in my senior year of high school. One day, we had to move to the lab for the next science lesson. I was sick that day, and I told the teacher that I would depart to the lab after I rest in the classroom. However, I was in much worse condition than I had thought, and I fainted on the classroom floor. The rest of the story is what I heard from my friends. My friends wondered why I was not coming to the lab, and they came back into the classroom, saw me, and screamed for 911. One of my friends went to the teacher, who was the watch guard, and told him that the ambulance was coming. However, his answer was: “I know you’re a good actress but what I also know is that today is April Fool’s Day. Just go back to class.” My friend was furious and tried to explain to him about the seriousness of this situation but the teacher firmly believed that all of it was a joke until he finally heard the ambulance coming to the school. In the past, April Fool’s Day was a day when I could laugh trivially. However, as time has passed, I now think it is more of a light, traditional event that comes and goes annually and is not really celebrated as much.
Choi Ah-young (Jr., Dept. of Econ.)
Like many, I also have a memory of surprising my teacher on April Fool’s Day. When I was in junior high, my friend brought a fake arm to school on the day before April Fool’s Day. She put the fake arm up her sleeve so that it looked like her own arm. Then she offered me a handshake. I had no idea it was a fake arm and extended my hand to her. Then, the arm fell off! You can imagine how surprised I was. This gave us an idea to pull a prank on our English teacher, who got scared very easily. On April Fool’s Day, we put the fake arm in the drawer of the teacher’s desk and asked the English teacher to open the drawer. Not knowing what was going on, the teacher saw the fake arm and cried because she was so scared! I think April Fool’s Day is when people fool each other without being punished, which makes me want to pull bigger pranks next April Fool’s Day!
Choi Koh-yah (Sr., Dept. of Inst. Music)
When I was in junior high, on one April Fool’s Day, we turned the whole classroom around with the “opposite” theme. The chairs were facing the back of the classroom, instead of the blackboard, and the students all wore their uniforms and shoes backwards and bowed to the teacher backwards, as if we were all stretching. It is definitely one of the best memories of April Fool’s day in my life! I think April Fool’s Day is a day when friends take a chance to do really big pranks on each other and make fun memories together.