11 AM: Early classes were good. Survived a 2nd-grade class with H-Sol Teacher, who was very kind and supportive. We got through alright. :-)
Then I had 3rd-grade, with BH and BY and crew. It was lovely. They were cute as pie and we got through our speaking exercises okay. BH and I had the best conversation--he wanted to know what I wanted to be when I was younger. I said an actress, then he asked my favorite childhood movie. Mine was Beauty and the Beast, his was Jurassic Park.
We talked about the scary bits in Jurassic Park, and how in that movie corrupt adults die but the pure-in-heart children survived. Of course, BY wanted in on the conversation, so I chatted with him for a bit, too. In this class, BH's again in the in-front-of-the-lectern seat, where he used to be last year and where HH sits in his class; it's the position taken up by people who want to turn English class into conversation practice, it seems.
BH does not want me calling BY "sweetheart," either. He says it gives him goosebumps. Before, he never seemed to mind me calling him or Seongmo that, so I don't know if it's an issue with the sugary-sweetness of the word or an issue with the perceived exclusivity of the word.
In other BH news, this morning he sang "see you again" to me when he came by the office...don't know which song it was from, but something. And then! Then! Leader-Jaehoon from my afterschool came into the office to look for someone. And Jaehoon called BH "hyung"(big brother) and BH put his arm around the little guy! I about had a mental meltdown at the sweetness.
Just yesterday I was comparing Jaehoon to BH, thinking that his sweetness, intelligence, high English and high level of classroom support make him very similar to my old favorite. And today they were hanging out in the office, showing that they're already friends! I actually told them outright, "Jaehoon, you are like BH. You remind me of him." Eee, best moment ever.
At the end of 3rd-grade class, Yeongjoon wanted to sing "Let It Go," so I let him, but he chickened out after just one verse. It's hard to belt one out in front of your peers.
I'm wearing a bracelet given to me by TE-Teacher, a souvenir she got from Bali. It's so pretty and some students huddled around, watching the gift-giving like it was a big event. And in my heart, I think it was. It's so nice to have kind friends, to be connecting.
C-class Yoonseok gave me fruit gum today. Last semester, he kept trying to make my acquaintance but I kept distrusting him because he lied about his name once. For whatever reason, he gave me incorrect information on a day when I could not take one more falsehood from any boy at the school. So based on a tiny incident, I chalked up C-Yoonseok as someone I didn't like. But now we talk a bit every day. We exchange candy and complain about how tired we are. It's nice.
Computer Jongmin also came by to silently give me a caramel. I gave him molasses candy back. He's the best.
Wooseok came by to get candy and to touch every single item on my desk. I had to keep telling him to put things down, but having Wooseok in, about, and underfoot is still a good thing.
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1:40 PM Final class of 2nd-graders with New Guy Teacher was exhausting, but went well. We're communicating better about how we get things done, and the kids are getting enough speaking practice that they will stand a fighting chance at the speaking test. Which is my only real goal for them--minimal misery and passing grades on the speaking test I'll give them later this semester.
Last semester, I gave the 1st and 2nd graders speaking tests based on what I thought they ought to know from the book. I wasn't really teaching from the book, just loosely covering the correct topics and phrases, so I couldn't be sure what phrases they had the strongest foundations in. Now, I will know because I will have taught every bit of it. Whee!
After that class, Walk-to-School Mingi came in and said in English, "Teacher! Your...eyes...blue." I said yes, then Mingi pointed to New Guy Teacher: "Your eyes...black!" NG-Teacher corrected him with "brown," then Mingi said something obviously sassy to follow up, probably some insult to the color brown, despite that being the color of his own eyes and hair.
Governor Yunho is now calling me Elsa instead of Juliet, following in the footsteps of his underclassmen. Yunho pounces on good ideas when he sees them.
At lunch, I sat inbetween SG2-Teacher and NG-Teacher and got to chat with them. I told NG that I liked what he was doing with his afterschool--I saw a paper that a kid had from his class and it looked interesting so I said so. We discussed our families; he has one older sister, and he thought my parents were amazing people for adopting 3 out of 5 of their kids. I said I agreed. I asked SG2 about her hobbies. She said that lately she's been so tired from work, it hasn't left a lot of free time. I told her I sympathized.
The Lunchtime Games ballooned into almost-too-many kids. UNO is most comfortably played with no more than 8 people, but we ended up with 10 players even after I dropped out to let Geonhong play. Kyeongwon wanted in too, even though he didn't understand the rules, saying, "Leigh-Sem. You teach me." Daww.
The kids were using English all over the place. Gyuseong, who is C-ban, said "Next game, I will join!" which is a full and complete sentence, totally un-looked-for. Jjang-Jaeseok said, "I want to play," and the list goes on. Good job, kidlets. Good job.
I'm also pretty certain that Jjang-Jaeseok is the kid who was bothering Jeongmin last week. Jeongmin never sends me messages via phone, but during the last week he sent a panicked text message telling me that some other kid might tell me that Jeongmin said something bad. Poor baby was clearly intensely stressed out over this possibility. I told him not to worry because I hear kids cursing all day--nothing would make me angry at Jeongmin.
But today, Jjang-Jaeseok said something in Korean to Jeongmin, something that clearly troubled him. Jeongmin was distinctly unhappy but Jaeseok was gleeful, so I had to tell the big guy to back off. Jaeseok likes me but he can't talk to me, so it makes sense that he'd be the guy to give Jeongmin a hard time. Jaeseok also said that his friend thought Jeongmin and I were a couple, to which I laughed, but I made a mental note that Jaeseok doesn't like Jeongmin, so if my little guy is getting flack from somebody, it's probably Jaeseok.
Twin-Eungyo's brother Twin-Eunjae followed me downstairs to ask for candy. It was really sweet because I've never really talked to Eunjae before.
And! Computer Jongmin isn't a Jongmin, he's a Jeongmin. *dies from the difficulties* Make this another volume in the comic books about my life: "Leigh-Sem and Too Many Jeongmins" (sequel to "Leigh-Sem Wishes You Would Wash Your Hands" and "Leigh-Sem Yells But She Isn't Angry")
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8:30 PM Whew, teacher dinners went long!
Last class of the day was 1st-graders, but the rowdiest bunch of them all and I had to handle them myself because Mr. B had a meeting with the principal. I had to really lay down the law with about four of them, William-Jiyoon included (however, William-Jiyoon is not the loudest or rowdiest kid in this class if that tells you anything).
We did okay after a while and they loved the game at the end, so there was that. These babies also think that my eyes are colored lenses--took a bit of explaining to get them to comprehend that some Americans have genuinely green or blue eyes. They don't hardly want to mind what I say, but they want to assure me at every turn that I'm pretty.
The 3rd-graders are so comfortable with me, they never do the "Ah, beautiful!" nonsense anymore, except for Junho. I teased him today by asking in Korean who he was, saying I'd forgotten him. When he got his candy I said, "For Junho," and he said, "for love!"
Gyutae, one of my favorite 2nd-graders, does the beautiful-talk a lot still, partly because I just learned his name this week and he's still riding the high of being a kid I recognize and joke with. He's really impressed with my Korean and tries to get me to say new things, just so he can ooh and aah over the expressions.
The 1st-grade babies were pleased with my Korean, too. As I was setting up my materials today, they kept saying "Seonsaengnim" and "Sem" to see if I'd turn my head, and they did a tiny little flip-out every time I lifted my head, because they were so happy that I associated myself with the Korean word for teacher.
I had a teacher dinner with people who are going to be helping with the English Saturday program and it was great. We had good conversation and a good dinner. Also, one of the teachers was from the boys' high school next door to my school, which means he teaches some of my former boys.
I actually didn't even have to tell him that he had some of my old students, because this teacher brought the fact up first. He introduced himself and said that he was glad to finally meet me because he's heard so much about me from my kids and that they really loved me. I was pretty blind-sided by this fact--I had no idea my kids would mention me to their new English teachers, because why would they?
But then this teacher made a sort of quick hand gesture that suggested that the boys had been appreciating/recalling something other than my face. Oy. Seriously, guys? You could talk about the fact that I always played Monopoly, UNO, and chess with you. Or how I worked and worked to remember your names and treat you like individuals. Or how you always got high-fives when you needed them, or compliments on your insane experimental hairstyles.
But maybe I misunderstood. Maybe this teacher was trying to indicate my super-long hair or something--that's a much more favorable impression, and that's what I choose to believe. At any rate, the kids still talk about me in glowing terms, even if I don't know exactly what they're saying.
And all us teachers got new tablets, today. Our city issued a computer tablet to every last teacher in our middle school, with the intention that we should somehow use them in class. None of the teachers seem inclined to use them though. Deokryong came by the office and helped me get mine set up, and he helped me get the internet and microsoft word going.
My darling Deokrong was nowhere to be seen in my classes this week so I asked him if he'd moved up to A-level? "No, Teacher. I am C." My poor boy. That just...that just gets me. Bad enough that Mingi dropped a level, I don't want to see it happen to Deokryong too. But at least he has the luxury of possessing better English than most of the B-ban kids.
Saw Face-Yoonjae making a rude gesture in the hallway and he tracked me down later to apologize for letting me see it. What a gentleman. I mean that without sarcasm--when the boys manage to give a care about what I see or hear, it's truly special.
C-Yoonseok hung out with me some more and I gave him some pineapple from the fruit cup I was eating. Later, he came by again and I asked in Korean why he was still at school and if he wasn't going home. He said in Korean that it was because he was bored. Eee, that's not great. To have so little to do that you'd hang around school on a Friday late-afternoon for no reason.
Today, Seonwoo came running to me in the office to get me to explain the word "sewing" to him because he'd seen it on a test paper. I mimed the action and he understood it. Score! A student asked me for English help! And I delivered said help! Who is a teacher who knows things? I are.
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