It has been more than a week since classes started, and by now, you would have answered one question most schoolchildren have to answer every class opening: “How did you spend your summer vacation?”

Talking and writing about your summer vacation is a task that is both very simple and very hard. You talk about your summer experiences excitedly with your friends. On the other hand, you find it so hard to give details when asked by your teachers to write an essay about them. Why is this so? The answer is simple. There are things you do not want your teachers to know.

Following are some things you most probably did during the summer break, and some of the details you chose not to let your teachers know.

For the “Love of It,” for the “Love of Eat”
Did you join a summer workshop? If you did, you surely told your teacher or wrote in your essay that you did so to improve your talent in singing, dancing or acting; or to learn a new sport. Most likely, you did not tell your teacher that you did so because your crush —the love of your life (?)— also enrolled in the workshop. You also probably did not admit that you took lessons just so you could keep asking for baon from your parents. Admit it, the halo-halo or cold drinks and sandwich you always had after lessons motivated you not to miss your workshop sessions.

In the Bag
You most probably had a family outing. You may have told your teacher how great the resort you went to was and how excited you were to use the mini swimming pool inside your room. Did you tell your teacher that you served as an elder relatives’ partner in her “secret operations?” Was it just the spoon or the spoon and fork  you took from the resort restaurant and stuffed in her bag as a souvenir? Was it two or three branches she asked you to take from the flowering plant by the poolside and hide in your bag?

Games Galore
For sure, you played computer games last summer. You probably told your teacher that you spent an hour a day playing educational games. But did you tell her that at times, you spent half a day playing role-playing games your parents have time and again told you to avoid playing? You probably wrote in your essay that you and your older sibling took turns playing. But did you admit that sometimes, you spent hours arguing over who should play on the PSP first while the other played on the laptop?

Secrets
So, did you keep some details of your summer experiences secret? If yes, why is this so? Were you afraid your teacher may lecture you on what you should or should not have done?

Hey, your teacher was once a student like you too, and he also had his share of summer experiences he probably kept secret from his teachers. If you had been bold enough to reveal the embarrassing or not-so-positive details of how you spent your summer break, he might have decided to reveal his secrets too! Now, that would have started a lively discussion!

So tell me now, how did you spend your summer vacation?