4 PM: This is the first time I've really had a moment to write.
Today was fine! The open class was no thing and was fine!
1-3, 1-4 B was totally bored with me. I had the attention of 5 kids out of 25, regardless of what I tried. *minor pity party*. Walk-to-School-Mingi was a doll, though. He chose invisibility as his designated superpower so that he could go see his favorite female singers in concert for free.
2-1, 2-1 B has Shotputter Jinseong in it, and he tried to sleep through most of the class, but he would work on his paper with me when I went over and patted his back. It was rather like making friends with a drowsy bear. You hope the bear is in a cuddly mood, not an eat-you mood. But things went fine. This morning, Jinseong greeted me at the school doors with a "Hi, Teacher," and in class I told him in Korean that he was a cool person. One of the kids---Minseop?--thanked me for class when we done. Darling.
2-3, 2-4 B has Sanghwa in it and he behaved fine.
Then it was time for 3-7, 3-8, 3-9 B, the triple-third-grade class that was scheduled to have parents in it and to have no Mr. B. But! Mr. B was there after all! And the parents came by for a grand total of 2 minutes! I had prepared a greeting speech, but they came toward the end, during the fun bit of class when the boys were playing the minecraft game.
AND the reason I was so worried about class was that the previous 2 3rd-grade classes I taught had been dead boring. Seriously hardcore dullsville, like, for real. But last night I took 90 minutes and converted the game the 2nd-graders had loved so much in a game for the 3rd-graders, using their target expression--"you should have". It was lovely. The cool dudes in the back who didn't want to do anything were suddenly all up in the game. The yelled loud enough to wake the dead. Byeongseon, a 3rd-grader I really like, is in there. He has a really beautiful smile and he writes well and speaks well. A little concerted effort is probably all that stands between him and A-class.
An entirely different kid in the 3rd-grade class was mocking my laugh and pretty much everything I said. Poor young'un clearly does not get enough positive attention.
After class, I was swarmed by fifteen 3rd-graders wanting chocolate, but I only gave it to boys who would tell me their favorite song in the following format: "My favorite song is___" You'd be surprised how rattled they get when the pressure is on and they're competing to be heard. It was good for them. Some kids not even in my class got chocolate, including my well-liked lunch companions Intensity-Insung and Secret.
From Y-Teacher, I learned that Secret's real name is Daeho. He seemed happy that I'd discovered it on my own. To get chocolate, he said "My favorite teacher is Leigh-Teacher," and several other boys tried flattery, "you're so beautiful!Chocolate, please!"Nice try, guys, but to get chocolate you have to give me something I want--not compliments, but clear English sentences. But it's all in fun and I really enjoy the commotion of having them all talking. :-)
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5:30 PM: I got a return letter to my letter to HH, which he passed to me in the hallway. He said he'd never gotten a letter from a teacher before and thanked me for helping him with his poem and story. He also corrected me on the English spelling of his name. See? Words-person. If his name is spelled wrong, he's not going to let it go, he's going to make sure it's written the right way. And the note was written on Hello Kitty paper, making it all the more darling.
Ran into Jeongin, one of the middle school girls from Saturday class, at the convenience store. She's going to text message me a good time to meet the girls and help with their speech.
I want to buy an acoustic guitar and learn to play, but I'll have to get one from another city, looks like. We're low on music shops.
I got paid, but my bill-paying ability is still not existent, because I need to ask Co-Teacher how to do it.
Last night, I had coffee with KBR-Teacher and we talked for over an hour! She got me the cutest little presents--peaches, darling socks that I'm wearing now, hard candy from Hong Kong, and stickers with bible verses on them in Korean. Every item was something she knew I'd like, because I have a penchant for cute socks, I love fruit, and I put stickers on everything and I'm a Christian.
Hanging out with KBR-Teacher, I realized how much I missed being around another woman who loves God. Most of my female friends from the past 6 weeks have been on the worldly side, and I love them dearly, but they can't tell me the Lord's truth to me the way KBR-Teacher can. She's three years older than me and we have similar personalities, and we both care for the students very much.
My heart felt refreshed after time with KBR-Teacher.
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11 PM: Went shopping downtown with a friend, now that we've been paid and feel like grown-ups. We kept going into stores saying, "We might as well just look, but I don't think I want anything," then coming out, after having purchased half the shop. Exaggeration, but we did buy an inordinate number of animal-themed socks and cute headbands.
Ran into Japanese-Soccer-Kid at the 7-11 two blocks from my apartment. It seems that he knows the cashier and just hangs out there. We said hi and he had some mini-discussion with the cashier about who I was, which always happens when I greet one of my boys when anyone not from our school is around.
As my friend and I stood outside a store, contemplating going in, I heard, "Hi, hi, hello, haiiiiaaiiiiii!" It was one of my third-graders from today, walking by with his girlfriend. She looked as thrilled as he was to see me--no idea why, but spotting me in the street is really exciting for some of the kids, sort of like solving the puzzle on a "Where's Waldo?" page. "Where's Teacher? At the dollar mart! Alert the presses!"
Also ran into I-Love-You-I-Need-You downtown. He yelled his traditional phrase while sprinting past me and flailing his arms in the air, muppet-style. Boy does not care about his image, not one bit. Then he doubled back and ran by in the other direction, with one of his friends chasing him, telling him to be quiet.
Today, my Vice-Principal mentioned to me that he thought that I thought that one of our older male teachers (the oldest of all, in fact) was rude. True, this teacher teases me and embarrasses me by calling me "Big Brother" in Korean, but I think he's sweet and funny. After that, I knew that I needed to smooth over my relationship with Oldest Teacher. Vice-Principal would not have said anything unless he was worried that I was put off by Oldest Teacher.
So I sat down and wrote Oldest Teacher a letter, in English then in Korean, telling him that I thought he was "a very cool person". I put a butterfly sticker on the paper, then taped a piece of chocolate to it, because before Chuseok he had jokingly asked for chocolate from me because he saw me give a bar to the Vice-Principal. I delivered it to his cubicle, and he seemed to appreciate the gesture. Oldest Teacher talks to Vice-Principal all the time, so I knew that action speak louder than words and VP would now know that I have no discomfort around Oldest Teacher.
