9:30 AM Happy May!
Yesterady was good. Minchan came by the office to talk for almost a half hour. I'm stunned by his patience with English, and considering that he has so little vocabulary he can communicate a wide variety of complicated ideas. We talked about how he couldn't sleep before midterms, but now that they were over, he was tired but didn't feel like sleeping.
He told me that he wants to color his hair, because if you have a flashy hairstyle, people think you're interesting and are more likely to pay attention to what you say. He says he wants to run his own business in the future, because he doesn't like being at the financial mercy of others--if he controls the money, he can be generous and not dependent on somebody else.
Minchan also said that money makes you friends, and I tried to communicate that real friends would stay with you in whatever case. He agreed this was technically true, though money sure helps to cement short-term friends. He's really stressed in his life right now, and I'm praying for him.
Yesterday, I went back to the special needs room to play piano with Dohyun, though because of his cerebral palsy, I had to move his fingers to every key. He said my hands were "too pretty" and later at lunch he thanked me for playing piano with him. Dohyun's my kid now, too, and I'm trying to do a little internet research on cerebral palsy to see what he can actually do and how I can work with him. He says he envies Joonsung's ability to play piano.
This morning, my lunch co-ordinator said that I'm prettier today than usual. It appears that I upped the ante on myself by wearing this silver hairbow. Ka-chow.
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1:30 PM: First 2 classes went well. I just played them movies, but things went well. Lunch was nice--sat with H-Sol Teacher and chatted about our weekend plans.
After lunch, I went walking with KBR and YSR, and it was nice. Jeongmin tagged along, trying to remain touching at all times. If he could have gotten away with holding my arm like KBR was doing, he would have. When we got back, I let him sit and talk because that's what he wanted.Yesterday, I let Minchan talk forever, so I thought there wasn't any need to rush Jeongmin.
But eventually Afro-Jiwoong and Baby-Keunho and Cat-Jaewon wandered in, wanting Question Time, followed by Lunchtime Games. So they asked me questions, then we went upstairs. I think Jiwoong stole 2 more Reeses than I said he could have. He can't do it again, but I'm not mad. He's my kid.
Had to pull a kid out of a glass cabinet where Sangho and Fox-Jinsu had put him, but I knew it wasn't serious bullying because I had already seen Sangho crawling into the same cabinet. It's really our own fault for having a giant open wood-backed glass cabinet on the fourth floor. It's just begging some student to put another student inside of it.
Got a text from TE-Teacher, who is away on medical rest, and it was a Bible verse in English. Matthew 6:34 -34 "Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof."
That was incredibly helpful. I had let myself start worrying needlessly over things that mattered not all, but that really cheered me. How could she have known I needed it?
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9 PM: Day finished well. Last classes did fine with their movie, and in the final 3rd-grade class, Minsu at last got to play Monopoly like he wanted. He's been asking for in-class Monopoly for 2 months.
Also, in the final 3rd-grade class HH was stressed because someone had stolen his school shoes. He was in class in sock feet, and stewing in a combination of frustration and embarrassment because it had happened two days in a row--somebody's pranking him by taking his shoes.
So I gave him mine. I intentionally bought school flip-flops that matched the boys' style of shoes instead of buying "grown woman" school slippers. It was a conscious choice because 1. KBR wears the kid-style of flops as well, and 2. I felt that some day it could come in handy to have the same shoes as them.
Today was that day. My flip-flops were in a pretty shade of lavender, but plenty of the boys have purple flip-flops, too, so it doesn't stand out. HH tried to return my shoes at the end of class, but I told him to keep them. It's more important for a student to have shoes than a teacher. Plus, I knew I just had afterschool left, then I could put on my outside shoes and leave.
In afterschool, my babies noticed my shoe-free state and had a small skirmish over who could give me their shoes first. Changho won, as he so often does, and I wore his shoes for the whole class period. Seungsu said that Changho had small feet, but I said his feet were perfect.
Then I had to buoy the egos of the boys in the back, because Dongjoon got a new haircut and was feeling sensitive about it. He asked if I didn't think it looked strange? I said no, it didn't. He said he didn't like the new cut much and I said it didn't matter, because he had such a good face anyway. Then Hyunseo asked what I thought of Jinhyuk's face and I said he had a good face too, and so did Hyunseo--did all the handsome boys hang out together, I asked? Is that how they became friends? They loved that question.
Jaehoon and Daehyun, two of my super-good boys, played cards with Jiyoon and Jihoon, two of my trouble-boys so that was one less thing for me to worry about in class. It's like having free babysitting. Nobody's gonna escape out a window or permanently disable somebody with a broom if they're with Jaehoon. My boy's a good influence at all times.
Question Time was great today. Sanghyun had some great questions, Yoonsung did well, Taehyun had to say his in Korean but I translated for him--it's just been a good day all around for English and Korean. A-Yoonseok was shocked in his class when I kept answering his Korean questions about the movie. I'd hear him ponder something, then answer it and watch the shocked look on his face when he realized I knew what he meant.
BY is delightful as always. Had a big talk with him today. Also talked with SG2 for a full half hour in class--she's just wonderful, too. She said she's glad I'm renewing my contract and hanging around for longer. So am I. :-)
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