11 AM: Good first two classes. Things with H-Sol Teacher were good and the boys got their stuff done. My Governor-Yunho kept trying to prove that he was as tall as me by stretching up on his tippy-toes, but he's not as tall as me, not yet.
Class was pretty good. I was doing my clapping-out-the-syllables thing, which helped them say. "That's too bad" instead of "that's-uh too bad-uh". We're getting it! Woot! The don't hardly practice their sentences, but they will perform quite well when called on.
The new little stool I've gotten to keep beside my desk chair has been put to good use already. C-Jeongmin came by to sit and show me more of his sentences from KBR's class. Later, Minchan came by to tell me that he woke up late today and didn't have breakfast. I gave him chocolate and then snuck him some crackers from the office food stash. He looked so touched.
Minhwe came by for his morning chocolate, smiling like an angel. Soccer-Minwoo wanted to know why he was getting candy and I said that it was our "yaksok"(promise/appointment).
In 3rd-grade class, Byeonghyun told me my eyes were "Very attractive" and "looked silver" today. Which naturally led to another debate on my eye color, launched between him and BY. Byeonghyun also teased me that my hair was turning brown and I should dye it gold. It's still gold! Still! But Byeonghyun loves these little moments of annoyance.
The boys are so fun. We laughed and joked and had a killer time. The only downside? Their teasing of each other. If I could just go one class period with no one making fun of Seunghwan's weight, BY's verbal quirks, or Kyeongtaek's skin problems, I'd be happy.
The funniest moment happened when Sanghyeop and Hunmin came up to recite their memorized parts. Sanghyeop is a card, a cut-up, a class clown extraordinaire. The first two weeks of school, he annoyed me a bit, but now I just let him roll on, because he makes class more enjoyable.
Hunmin played straight man in the dialogue, asking questions while Sangyeop sang the replies, R&B style. It was so genuinely funny, the class was dying of laughter and Hunmin fell to the ground, the laughter was hurting him so bad.
I called on Face-Yoonjae after that, but he was really disappointed. "Teacher, they strong. Next, we...not strong." Meaning that Sanghyeop's a tough act to follow. Nobody wants to go after that. Yoonjae's a favorite of mine. He wants to be witty/funny, and he almost gets there, but he feels self-conscious about not being super funny. Which is interesting, because he's one of the best-looking kids in his grade. He has one of those heartbreaker faces and he's very smart too, but everybody has something else they want to be.
Hyunseok told me that Sanghyeop wanted to go again, but this time to be paired with the amazing Yeongjoon: "Boss team, Teacher. Boss team!" Yeongjoon kept saying he didn't want to do it, but the thing about Yeongjoon is he wants to be forced to do cool things. He'll act like he doesn't want to sing or rap or tell jokes, but then after you beg him to do it, he's so glad to be in the spotlight.
Anyhoodle, Yeongjoon and Sanghyeop got the whole class beatboxing, smacking the tables and making hip-hop noises. Then they rapped their dialogue, which was asking for advice on making cookies.
I laughed until I cried.
It was the absolute best. I had them both come to my office for chocolate afterward. They were splendid in all ways. You go, boys. You go.
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1:45 PM
To continue the earlier story about Sanghyeop, I have to say that I appreciate him more than I normally would because of what I know from KBR, his homeroom teacher. She said that Sanghyeop has not lived with his parents for quite some. They divorced and he was...left to live with a caretaker?
There's a slight language gap with me and KBR-Teacher, so the details were fuzzy to me, partly because the details were fuzzy to her as well. Because it's downright weird, the situation. His mom remarried and I think his dad remarried too, but both parents either can't or won't have Sanghyeop come live with them.
At first, KBR said that Sanghyeop lives with his grandmother, then she amended it--he lives with a grandmother, but she's not a relative, she's paid to cook and clean. In Korean, you call all elderly women "grandmother," so KBR was using that word in English, which made his living situation sound warmer than it really is. In reality, he lives alone.
Once she told me that, I resolved to not be annoyed at Sanghyeop ever again. He pulled himself up by the bootstraps and advanced from B-class to A-class on his own. I feel for him and I respect him tremendously. This kid is a fighter, and he still puts on a smile and makes the rest of us laugh. All the more reason to give him opportunities to shine.
KBR actually told me that about half the kids in her homeroom live with only one parent or with a grandparent. I have to remember that I don't know these babies' situations. I flat-out don't know. Even their homeroom teachers don't always know if they have a learning delay or family troubles, etc.
Today, Jeonmin gave me a really nice lollipop. Like, it's the size of a tennis ball. Finishing it will be the work of a long weekend. It was a very nice present and I tried to make an appropriately big deal out of it. After lunch, he tried to tell me that I was too tired to play with the other kids and i had better just stay in my office with him. I told him that he had to share me with the other students, which really amused him.
At Lunchtime Games, I let the boys play while I sat in the window with Hyo, soaking in the sunshine and chatting about our weekend plans. Hyo and I can near-about keep a real conversation going. Hyunho barged in a little while later and roughhoused with Hyo just a tiny bit. I told Hyunho to sit on my other side and talk to me. Because Hyunho's gotten a teensy bit possessive lately, I noticed. If Jeongmin high-fives me, he has to have one also.
The nicest point of Lunchtime Games came when Mr. B came into the room. He came to talk to me and tell me, "You come here every day with the kids. Thank you. I don't have to worry about these boys because you're watching them. You're their homeroom teacher and they're safe with you."
Normally, I would have teared up, but I was so happy, I didn't. How beautiful for him to say that. Isn't that just such a refresher? Doesn't that just encourage so very much? He also said, "I see you smiling so much lately. I feel like you are happy at my school these days." I had to agree with him on that.
Wooseok came by for candy, but JY Teacher was chasing all the students out of the office because it was class time. My boy left, but he snuck back. So he wouldn't get in trouble, I stepped out into the hallway with my bag of candy, and no sooner did I get a piece for Wooseok then HH and Yonghan descended.
Yonghan said, "Teacher, I saw you at _____ apartments last night!" HH said, "I did too!" I told him he hadn't, because I know he lives on the far other side of town, while Yonghan lives in my neighborhood and I've run into him and Pepper-Dongmin before. He self-corrected, "Well, I'm seeing you now." Which was true. He got his candy.
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6:30 PM
Tall-PE Teacher speaks English. His major was English. We've never spoken other than hello, but I noticed that one day he overheard me asking Dongseok a question, then translated the question into Korean for Dongseok. I thought, huh, I guess he understood that one thing. But no.
Today when TPE-Teacher came into the 3rd grade office, I summoned up my courage and asked him in Korean if he taught PE. I knew he did, but the word for physical education is different in Korean and I wanted to try using it and to connect with a new co-worker. He replied in English, "Yes, physical education.' I tried to keep going in Korean, saying that I was the English teacher, and he said, "I know. My major was English."
I was stunned silent for a moment, not sure how to proceed. Then I said, "Oh. We should talk sometime!" He said he wasn't good at speaking and then he had to leave, but now I know. I'm not just going to drop the possibility of having one more person to talk to. He is about to be friendshipped.
The boys continue to come by my desk and attempt reading my volume of e.e. cummings' poetry. Good luck, honeybunnies. It's hard to understand those when you're a native speaker. It's almost a game for them to see who can hold out the longest before getting hopelessly tangled in words.
Walking home from exercise today, I was greeted my Junho, who was coming out of one of the bulgogi restaurants. In a uniform and apron. I said, "Junho. You work here?" He grinned an affirmative. For the record, part-time jobs for teenagers are rare in Korea. Not unheard-of, but almost so. You only do it if you're poor and you have no academic future, which was what I figured about Junho. But he looks bouyant. I think he's alright.
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