A Wink that Bought a Smile

Pročitajte priču na srpskom

One of my favourite lessons I do with my students of English is a radio programme in which listeners give advice on how to make our bad day better and how to think positively. Among these tips there is one that goes like this:

"Every week make a list of all the good things that happened to you. Keep the list in a pocket or in a bag and take it out when you're sad, in a bad mood or just when you're having a bad day. Reading it will cheer you up and make you happy."

I also have a list like this, and one event on it never fails to bring smile to my face whenever I remember it. This is what happened.

One day I was travelling across New and old Belgrade in a bus 83. It was a nice weather and I was standing just opposite the middle door, looking out onto the street through a half-opened window. We were getting close to Slavija square when the bus stopped - the traffic light had probably changed - and a long line of cars was patiently waiting for Resavska Street traffic to stop and get the green light for us in Nemanjina St. I was deeply absorbed in my thoughts, looking in the distance, towards the big square, but I suddenly felt someone looking at me. Beneath the bus, side by side, together with many other vehicles, and with the same patience, there stood a car with four passengers - 2 young guys at the front and two girls at the back. The guy sitting next to the driver was staring at me, smiling, obviously trying to catch my attention. It definitely worked for him! However, the next moment was something I couldn't possibly predict - he winked at me! "This hasn't happened to me for ages!", I thought. On the inside utterly confused and amazed, I only managed to give him a big, warm smile and show all my teeth stretching from one ear to the other; that's how pleased and astonished I was by a gesture from a complete stranger who looked like a real experienced seducer and picked me to flirt a bit in order to kill time while we were all waiting for the almost asleep traffic light. I don't quite remember the features of his face, but I do recall they were attractive; he had dark hair and playful eyes.

Even less expected was his reaction that followed - to my sincere smile, to my look straight into his eyes, the colour of Casanova, the young man quickly turned his head away, towards his friend, the driver, and - he was embarrassed. I could see he blushed, he suddenly had a face of a little boy who, for the first time in his life, noticed a pretty girl, became aware of the fact that he had a crush and that, above all, she saw him. Another insecure glimpse at me, a smile of an inexperienced felon, and... no... he couldn't bare to look at me again for a little longer.


In the car beneath me there was a disturbance, he stirred in his seat, probably even giggled out loud so the girls in the back realized there was something going on. One of them, the one sitting closer to me, glimpsed in my direction, and, it seemed to me, with her unmistakable female instinct, understood it all at once. Even the mate next to leaned to check out this creature who caused so much fuss, but, luckily, the bus moved and, of course, their car instantly too; somebody drifted away from somebody, I don't remember whether it was me from them or them from me, and so I remained smiled, lost in seventh heaven, blissful as a stranger gave me such a wink, and even more because my smile had turned him into a humble, innocent kid, who he may have lost somewhere a long, long time ago...

Jedan namig kupio je osmeh

Read this story in English

Jedna od mojih omiljenih lekcija koju radim sa svojim polaznicima engleskog je radio emisija u kojoj slušaoci daju savete kako da sebi ulepšamo loš dan i kako da mislimo pozitivno. Među tim savetima nalazi se i jedan koji ovako glasi:


"Svake nedelje napravite spisak svih onih lepih stvari koje su vam se dogodile. Čuvajte taj spisak u džepu ili u tašni i izvadite ga kada ste tužni, neraspoloženi ili kada imate loš dan. Čitanje će vas oraspoložiti i razveseliti."

I ja kod sebe u šteku imam takav spisak, a jedan događaj na toj listi koji mi nepogrešivo izmami osmeh svaki put kada ga se prisetim desio se ovako:

Nekom prilikom vozila sam se po Novom i starom Beogradu  osamdeset trojkom. Bilo je lepo vreme, i ja sam stajala preko puta srednjih vrata gledajući na ulicu kroz poluotvoren prozor. Približavali smo se Slaviji kada je autobus stao - verovatno se ugasio semafor - i duga kolona vozila strpljivo je čekala da se prolaz zatvori za Resavsku i upali zeleno za nas u Nemanjinoj. Ja sam se bila zamislila negde u daljinu, prema velikom skveru, ali sam u jedan mah osetila nečiji pogled na sebi. Ispod mog autobusa, paralelno, među mnoštvom drugih, isto tako strpljivo, stajao je jedan automobil sa četvoro putnika - dva momka napred i dve devojke pozadi. Momak na suvozačevom mestu piljio je u mene sa osmehom, očigledno pokušavajući da mi privuče pažnju. To mu je svakako upalilo! Međutim, sledeći trenutak nisam slutila - namignuo mi je! "To mi se nije desilo u poslednjih 100 godina!", pomislih ja. Iznutra potpuno zbunjena i zadivljena, spolja sam uspela jedino da se široko i od sveg srca nasmešim i pokažem sve zube od jednog uva do drugog, toliko sam se obradovala i iznenadila gestom potpunog stranca koji je ličio na pravog prevejanog zavodnika i odabrao baš mene da malko proočijuka ne bi li prekratio vreme dok smo svi čekali na taj bezmalo usnuli semafor. Ne sećam se tačno obrisa njegovog lica, ali znam da je imao lepe crte, tamnu kosu i vragolaste oči.

Još manje sam mogla očekivati njegovu reakciju koja je usledila - na moj iskreni osmeh, na pogled pravo u te oči boje Kazanove, mladi čovek je brzo okrenuo glavu prema svom prijatelju vozaču i - postideo se. Videla sam da je pocrveneo, da je odjednom dobio izraz lica malog dečaka koji je prvi put u životu primetio lepu devojčicu, postao svestan činjenice da se zaljubio i da ga je ona uz sve to još i videla. Još jedan nesiguran pogled prema meni, osmeh neiskusnog prestupnika, i... ne..., nije mogao da izdrži da me ponovo pogleda malo duže.

U kolima podno mene nastade komešanje, on se vidno promeškolji na svom sedištu, verovatno i naglas nasmeja tako da su devojke pozadi primetile da se nešto dešava. Jedna od njih, ona koja je sedela iza suvozača, pogledala je prema meni i, rekla bih, sve shvatila svojim nepogrešivim ženskim njuhom. I prijatelj vozač naže se da vidi to biće koje izazva toliko pometnje, ali na sreću, autobus je krenuo, a naravno odmah i njihov auto; neko se od nekoga udaljio, ne sećam se više da li ja od njih ili oni od mene, i ja ostadoh nasmešena, izgubljena na nekom devetom oblaku, srećna što mi je neznanac uputio takav "namig", a još više što je moj osmeh od njega učinio jedno skromno, nevino čeljade, koje je i on sam možda negde davno izgubio...

How My Vlada Became OUR Vlada

Pročitajte ovaj tekst na srpskom


My husband Vlada and I set up a private business 8 years ago - being language professors, we decided to open a language school.


We started the School with the idea to make it special, unique, to create an atmosphere different from the one usual for a facility like this - resistance towards studying, displeasure, uncomfortable anticipation of the professor calling out your name to answer his questions. I mean, we enroll students who have fears from their previous schools, who sometimes say they'd only studied the grammar but don't know a word of English, so we came to a decision to relax them as much as possible so they could start speaking the foreign language more easily. As a result, an idea emerged that in every class we serve free drinks to our students - tea, coffee and juices - let's make them feel at home. I must admit I was against it at first because this meant extra expenses, more work, washing-up after the classes, which finish at 10 p.m... but, Vlada looked much further into the future and it turned out that this idea did pay off. And I don't mean only financially. When I say it paid off, first I have in mind the pleasure we all have in classes, both students and us teachers. The anticipation is there, but it's the good kind of anticipation, meaning that Our Vlada will emerge at the classroom door and say his famous line: "Anyone wants something hot?" (He brings hot tea and coffee of your desire, while the juices are served outside the classrooms in the school hall).


And this goes on every day... That's exactly how it was on St. Valentine's Day this February. As this is a very charming, noble holiday of the western cultures, whose languages we teach, I decided to present a bit of history of the 14th February so my students and I would have a really nice chat about customs, meaning and ways of celebrating St. Valentine's.


The class was supposed to start at 8.30 p.m. Only Dana appeared at the door, no one else was there yet. In this group I have 6 students, they have been coming to classes for almost 4 months so we knew each other very well. I went to the teacher's room to take my books and on the way I thought to myself: "Maybe nobody else will show up, it is a holiday today after all, most of the students in this group are girls, they're probably having a romantic dinner with their sweetheart, who they would, naturally,  rather spend their Valentine with than with me!" Anyway, when I got into the classroom, I saw Lena and Kathy arrived as well. Oh, good, we will have a nice lesson after all... :)

We chatted about the holiday traditions, usual gifts, first loves and problems between parents and children, especially teenagers. At some point Dana said she got married very young, she had her daughter at 18 , and I took my cue from her by saying that my mother-in-law had Vlada at 17. And, oh, what a surprise! The teacher has a mother-in-law! The teacher is... married?! Vlada? Vlada who?! (not all of our students know that Vlada and I are married, especially those who attend classes with other teachers; some speculate occasionally: "Vlada's wife? No, no, it's not the brunette, it's that blond one, you know!" "Oh, no, it's that little one with dark hair!" "It can't be her! Are you sure?")

I saw the expression of miscommunication on Lena and Kathy's faces and I said in English: "You know Vlada is my husband, don't you?" And in that moment, with a flabbergasted look on her face, with her eyes widely open, completely out loud, turning her head in the door direction, Kathy shouted: "Who? You mean, OUR Vlada?!"

A moment of silent astonishment, and then... all four of us cracked up laughing! I barely spoke through tears and laughter: "YOUR Vlada?! Wait a minute, that's MY Vlada!!!" :))) The classroom echoed to the roof itself! We laughed our heads off, tears were wiped off of our cheeks, the cry was heard all over the school through the closed door, this moment lasted for ever!



This burst of laughter carried on for some time, perhaps as long as about 4-5 minutes, and when we all finally came to our senses and forced ourselves to get our facial muscles into their initial position, I thought to myself: "Well, if he is truly THEIR Vlada, than we succeeded more than we ever hoped for..."

Kako je Moj Vlada postao "Naš Vlada"

Read this text in English


Moj muž Vlada i ja započeli smo privatni posao pre 8 godina - budući da smo oboje filolozi, odlučili smo da otvorimo školu stranih jezika.

Školu smo pokrenuli sa idejom da bude osobena, neponovljiva, da u njoj zavlada atmosfera drugačija od one koja je uobičajena za jednu takvu ustanovu - odbojnost ka učenju, nelagodnost, neprijatno iškekivanje kada će te profesor prozvati da odgovaraš. Mislim, ipak kod nas dolaze ljudi sa strahovima iz svojih ranijih škola, ponekad govereći da su učili samo gramatiku, a da ne znaju ni da beknu, i mi smo odlučili da ih opustimo što je moguće više da bi lakše progovorili strani jezik. Tako se, između ostalog, rodila i ideja da na svakom času đacima služimo piće - čaj, kafa i sokovi - neka bude domaćinska atmosfera. Moram priznati da sam u početku bila protiv toga, jer je to dodatni izdatak, dodatni rad, pranje sudova posle časova koji se završavaju u 22h... ali, Vlada je gledao mnogo dalje u budućnost od mene, i ispostavilo se da se isplatilo. I to ne samo finansijski. Kad kažem isplatilo, pre svega mislim na zadovoljstvo koje svi mi na časovima doživljavamo, i polaznici, i mi profesori. Iščekivanje je prisutno, ali je to ono lepo iščekivanje da se naš Vlada pojavi na vratima učionice i kaže svoju čuvenu rečenicu: "Želi neko nešto toplo?" (On donosi vruć čaj i kaficu po želji, a sokovi su servirani ispred učionica u hodniku).

I tako je svakog dana... Tako je bilo i na Dan Zaljubljenih ovog februara. Pošto je ovo jedan veoma lep, plemenit praznik zapadnih kultura, čije jezike mi u školi i predajemo, ja sam odlučila da svojim učenicima predstavim mali istorijat praznika 14. februara, kako bismo se moji đaci i ja lepo ispričali o običajima, značenju i načinu proslavljanja Sv. Valentina.


Čas je trebalo da počne u 20.30h, pojavila se samo Dana na vratima, nikog drugog nije bilo. U ovoj grupi ima šestoro polaznika, na časove idu već skoro 4 meseca, dakle, znamo se baš dobro. Otišla sam u našu zbornicu da uzmem knjige i usput sam pomislila: "Možda niko više neće doći, ipak je danas praznik, većina u grupi su devojke, sigurno su na nekoj romantičnoj večeri sa svojim draganom, sa kojim, prirodno, više žele da provedu Dan Ljubavi nego sa mnom!" U svakom slučaju, kad uđoh u učionicu, videla sam da su stigle i Lena i Kata. E, pa, lepo, ipak ćemo držati lepu lekciju... :)

Ćaskali smo o tradiciji praznika, o uobičajenim poklonima, prvim ljubavima i problemima roditelja i dece, naročito sa tinejdžerima. U nekom trenutku Dana je rekla da se udala jako mlada, u 18. je rodila svoju ćerku, a ja sam se nadovezala na to kako je i moja svekrva rodila Vladu u 17. godini. I... gle iznenađenja! Profesorka ima svekrvu? Profesorka je... udata? Vlada? Koji Vlada? (ne znaju baš svi naši polaznici da smo Vlada i ja u braku, naročito oni koji su na časovima kod drugih profesora; neki povremeno i nagađaju: "Vladina žena? Ne, ne, nije ona smeđa, nego plava, znaš ona!" "Ma, ne, to je ona mala sa crnom kosom!" "Nemoguće! Jesi sigurna?").

Ja videh izraz nerazumevanja na licima Lene i Kate i rekoh na engleskom: "Pa, znate da je Vlada moj muž?" I u tom trenutku, zabezeknutog izraza lica, širom otvorenih očiju, na sav glas, pokazujući glavom na vrata učionice, Kata uzviknu: "Ko? NAŠ Vlada?!" Momenat tihog zaprepašćenja, a onda... sve četiri prasnusmo u smeh! Ja jedva kroz smeh i suze prozborih: "VAŠ Vlada?! Ček, bre, to je MOJ Vlada!!!" :))) Učionica je odjeknula do samog krova! Zacenile smo se od smeha, vriska se orila celom školom kroz zatvorena vrata, trenutak je trajao čitavu večnost!

Trajao je taj nalet smeha još neko vreme, dobrih 4-5 minuta možda, a kada smo se konačno stišale i uprle sve sile da vratimo mišiće lica u njihov prvobitni položaj, ja rekoh u sebi: "Ako je on zaista NJIHOV Vlada, onda smo uspeli i više nego što smo se nadali..."

Rasisto!

 

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