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Sunday, February 9, 2014

2-10-14 Falling on Ice, Yeongchang's Birthday, Game With Hyo

9 AM Wore the wrong shoes this morning--it snowed and instead of putting on my snow boots, I just trucked right along in my regular shoes.

I didn't fall until I was at the school gates. I didn't get hurt and I picked myself right up, but of course I kinda hoped none of the kids saw it.

No such luck. A few seconds later, I heard Joah-Seonghoon singing. When he caught up with me, he imitated my walk (carefree arm-swinging, head tilting happily from side to side, nearly skipping--it looked more like Red Riding Hood hopping along to Grandma's house) and he said, "너무 좋은데요...너무 좋은데요...빵!" ('neomu joheundeyo, neomu joheundeyo...bang!'='everything is wonderful, everything is wonderful...BAM!) then pretended to fall. I laughed and rubbed his head. He's my boy and he lives to tease. I couldn't expect him to let it go when he saw me slip.

When I got to the special needs' room, Inha had two long sticks, freshly plucked from some little tree, and he was waving them about like a dual-wielding swordsman. He gestured with the sticks and said, "Teacher! Seongwon! Hit Seongwon!" Telling me that these sticks were meant for Seongwon-abuse. Considering that Seongwon was in the room, looking at Yeongchang's computer game without a care in the world, I knew this was a joke.

Inha continued to say that the sticks were meant for Seongwon-slaying, but I just patted Inha's back and told him I didn't believe. The boys do beat up on Seongwon too much, but the funny thing is that now they know I'm Seongwon's white knight and that I'll come rushing to his defense, so when they want attention, they've started pretending to be about to attack him.

Oy. The audacity. The chutzpah of it all. After Inha, Yeongchang did the same thing--"Teacher! Me! I hit Seongwon!" He didn't, but it was the fastest way to get my focus switched from the computer game to Yeongchang. The sparkling look of total joy in his eyes when he realized that he could control my attention by threatening Seongwon was simultaneously adorable and terrifying. They're too smart for their own good.

When I asked Yeongchang what he did this weekend, he said yesterday was his birthday. I confirmed this with the other kids and Yeongchang asked for a present. Even if he's lying about this one, I want to go ahead and get him something.
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10:50 AM Got Yeongchang his birthday present, which was a pack of pencils with English writing, a pack of UNO cards, and a note written in English and Korean with stickers and decorations on it. He seemed pleased with the gift and also mildly surprised that I'd actually done it. Of course I did, silly boy. You're one of the kids I love. I wouldn't skip over you.

Spent all of 1-7, 1-8 B just playing Monopoly with Hyo. I gave card decks, Jenga stacks, and chess boards to the other kids and they were all happily engrossed in their own little games.

I got to talk so much with Hyo. He was using a lot of English and I was using all the Korean I had learned this week--it felt like we were both stretching to say things beyond our normal language-comfort level. He told me that he's an only child, and during winter vacation he went to Singapore with his mom, where the weather was warm and windy. I commented about how he'll be a 2nd-grader next month, and he talked about where he went to elementary school. It was lovely.
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3:30 PM Spent all of 2-9, 2-10 A playing Monopoly with Geon, who is way more fun than I could have guessed. I've had him in Saturday class, but I never got to talk to him much because he was always hanging with HH, who is an indisputable genius, and Daehoon, who is adorable and known for his wordplay and linguistic jokes.

Geon is awesome. We talked a little about family, and we both agonized over small game decisions. I played it safe this game, not buying property so I wouldn't run out of money, but Geon won because he bought more towers first. He told me that in this game, it was best to be brave and take chances, and I agreed with him.

For 2-7, 2-8 A, the Demon Class, I learned just how precious Youngmin is. Youngmin had sort of been on the edge of my student-radar for a while--I knew him to be a smart, fun kid, but not much else. But last week, he stayed after class to clean up a bit, and today he stayed after class again to clean. KBR-Teacher specifically asked me if I knew his name, and when I did, she told me that he was a good student. I'll have my eye on him in the future.

Annnd this news just in: next semester, I might get to be in a smaller office with B-Teacher, JY-Teacher, and KBR-Teacher, basically a microcosm of the English department. It's undecided but oh, if only, if only! That would be grand, talking to my favorite co-teachers a bit more often.
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