1-3, 1-4 B was very drowsy and didn't want to do much, but I worked with some ultra-quiet kids, and Dongseok called me over for help. He and Jaehyun and the other cool kids had a good time hanging out and figuring out how to spell words. Dongseok kept pointing out the "shocking" things that other kids wrote on their papers. I just shrugged. I don't have the language ability to convey to him that I'm American and it takes a lot to shock me. Love Dongseok so much, and Minki too.
2-1, 2-2 A was dream as per usual. KBR-Teacher couldn't be in there with me because she has a bucketload of last-minute deadlines for documents I'll never have to worry my head about. During the video clip at the beginning, I hung out in the back with Joohyunnie, who always wants to shake my hand when he sees me. Joohyun confirmed that his birthday is December 10th and I told him I'd remember.
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3:45 PM Lunch was good. I ate early and came back to the office to find Saturday-Jeongmin waiting for me. We watched videos together for a full twenty minutes. I tried to show him some I thought was funny in English, but it was all linguistic-based jokes that wouldn't be funny unless you were in the know, so we went back to watching out video game clips.
He said, "Teacher, there are bad words," and would pull my earbud out every time he anticipated cursing in clip of video game players trying a new suspenseful game. I should really be protecting him from bad words not the other way around, but he's a Korean middle schooler so he's heard everything in two languages. And he's just so sweet when he's trying to be protective--I feel like it's something I should let him do, be the gentleman looking out for the lady. This will be an important habit when he's older.
For 2-1, 2-2 B I got to talk a fair bit with HH who was quick to point out to me that his friend Euigi is an "otaku"; a serious fan of Japanese manga and anime. It's a very specific kind of geek to be. I said that I read a lot of manga in college, but only the kind for girls, while Euigi's favorite comics would be aimed at boys.
BH and Seongmo took foreverrrrr to start working on their Thanksgiving acrostic, which would be painfully easy for guys of their level. The reason they took so long is that they were creating a poem:
It's an entire story about a cruel teacher and about the ways in which the poor, abused students try to find some some happiness in their dark world. Oy. But it was all in fun--they were so proud of themselves for this narrative, and everybody was applauding them for it. HH took it from them and read it out loud twice. I signed it, "GUYS, this is horrible. Love you!" It's on my cubicle wall, now.
Along with the Pretty Art from the Saturday Girls.
I left him a cute little pink Post-It not shaped like an apple, with the message "BY is the best!" and a Reeses cup sitting on top of it. I set the note and the candy on my closed laptop, then walked out of the office. Two minutes later, I came back and saw BY's familiar mismatched stride limping down the hall away from me.
I called out to him and asked if he'd checked my desk. When I got a negative, I said, "Well, you should!" He ducked into my office, then happily took the note and the chocolate. He stepped out of the office and said, "Aww, thank you!" and gave me a big hug from behind (in Korea there is an actual name for this--"back hug" --and they seem to be as common as regular forward-facing hugs), which he hasn't done before. No matter how much of a genius he is, BY needs to be loved and cared for like any other kid.
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5 PM: At lunchtime, I found Dongjoonie and Sujin and give them birthday presents, with little notes attached. Dongjoon seemed pleased, but Sujin was over the moon. His crush just hit the major leagues, I think, because he's now calling my name and shooting me hearts in the hallway from so far away I can barely see him.
Jinseo followed me around insisting that he should get chocolate for giving me the "tip" that Dongjoon was in room 6 when I was looking for him.
Was going to play cards with my 3rd-graders, but they left the room to do unknown things, so I left to give presents to the 2nd-graders. When I returned to the math room, Jaehwan wanted to know where on earth I'd been and why I abandoned them. Heechan was back, still holding my hair and smelling it like his life depended on it. He must not see girls very often. Wooseok didn't fight Heechan this time, but Wooseok did tap my shoulder then hide under a table so I'd be puzzled and unable to find him for a few seconds.
And our Friday plans fell through because I got out of school 45 minutes later than most of the kids. But I'm sure I'll be able to walk the boys home and buy them hot chocolate on some other day--there's no rush.
In 2-3, 2-4 A, I had a weird brush with racism, not directed at me. So far, I haven't run across any Koreans say bad things about black people, but today adorable, round-faced little A-Class Minwoo asked me how to spell "Ku Klux Klan" for the "K" part of his Thanksgiving acrostic. I wasn't concerned until he told me, "my uncle is KKK. White very good!" I seriously hope he's just being funny and that there's no actual racism/ugliness in this sweet baby's family. And Minwoo's been adorably looking forward to having class with me all week, asking me, "Tomorrow?" then "Today?" then "after lunch?" then "5 minutes start?"
Also in 2-3, 2-4 A, I had Joonyoung AND Sanghwa sneak in! Last week, Redhair-Joonyoung snuck in and I let him hang out because I love him, brat though he is. Today I looked to the back row and saw a familiar lime jacket--fuzzy Sanghwa had crept in along with his buddy. I was going to let them stay, but KBR-Teacher came in and forced them out. They looked so frustrated they were about to cry as they left. I waved to them and Sanghwa yelled pitifully, "Teacherrrr! Chocolate!!!"
I told him to come back. He didn't understand "come back at the end of class" so I said something similar in Korean. He seemed to get it, and he and his pal slunked off into exile in the class they were supposed to be in in the first place. When class was over, I was swarmed by A-class boys who had done their work and I carefully handed out chocolate to each, saying their names. The whole time, Sanghwa and Joonyoung were moshing among the pit of boys, pleading for attention.
Sanghwa: "Teacher! I come back. You say, you say chocolate. Come back chocolate." My heart begins to liquefy. I ask, "Sanghwa, what is my name?" Just so I would know if he knew it after all this time. He says: "Leigh! Leigh Teacher." I said "That's right," and gave him and Joonyoung their Reeses. As usual, they can't know how much I like them, these young prickly creatures with their moments of cuddliness. Like baby cacti.
In the hallway, I finally got a picture of this really picturesque piece of poetry written on the wall on the 1st-grade wing outside room 1-4. I first noticed it when I was giving speaking tests last week, and it was such a touching message I made a mental note to get back there and snap a picture.
It's written in pencil on the wall, and the word "you're" is misspelled as "your" but it's still perfect. It says: "Far away, your my sunshine."
"Far away, your my sunshine."
I want to write a poem with that title. Or a song. Saturday-Jeongmin doesn't know who wrote it, but it's pretty special.
Tiny-Minho and Jiwoong asked for chocolate in the hallway. Rather, Minho asked nicely, but Jiwoong just looked expectant. I handed Minho the chocolate in my left hand then turned to address Jiwoong who said, "I see your right hand..." knowing I was holding chocolate for him. I said, "Yes, I have chocolate. Can you say "hi?"" just because I hadn't gotten a basic greeting from him in so long. He said "Hi, teacher," and it was another precious moment.
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