UK Immigration
Immigration officer: What is the purpose of your visit?
Me: I'm visiting my sister-in-law.
IO: Is she your husband's sister, or your brother's wife?
Me: husband's sister
IO: Why isn't your husband visiting?
Me: He has to teach.
IO: It says here you are a professor. What do you teach?
Me: English, rhetoric.
IO: What is rhetoric?
Me: We teach Speaking, Writing, Communicating...
IO: But doesn't that just come with practice? I used to get up and give presentations and I got better with time.
Me: Sure! And there are also improvisational moments that require responding to a situation.
IO: Like this one right here?
Me: Yep.
IO: welcome to the UK.
...
U.S. Border Control, JFK
IO: State College is the name of an actual town?
Me: Yep, it's where Penn State is.
IO: (shaking head): go ahead.
In PA we have State College, where you are, and also, just outside Philly, Collegeville, where Ursinus College is. Some seriously boring toponymy!
Posted by: Z | 06 October 2009 at 10:21 AM
hahaha. this is the best.
Posted by: metaspencer | 06 October 2009 at 04:03 PM
Thanks for sharing! My grad class is reading Cicero right now, and we are paying special attention to whether rhetoric is a gift, a craft, or a knack. I think your exchange covers all three...
Posted by: marc | 09 October 2009 at 10:08 AM
When I was teaching at Penn State, I had a student write a paper about what a great idea it was to build Penn State in a city that was already called State College. Genius!
Posted by: mao.mimosa | 13 October 2009 at 06:45 PM