11 AM:
Jongbom came by earlier today, and I decided to treat him as if I adored him. Which I historically have not. Jongbom is a C-level 3rd-grader who is always wanting food and who has zero patience for either listening to me speak English or for waiting for me to produce Korean.
You can imagine how willing this makes me to give him stuff--not very. When you combine a naturally greedy kid with zero charm and an unwillingness to listen during my serious attempts to make myself understood and you've got a student who is far from likable. Even Jongbom's homeroom teacher KBR is not fond of him.
But this morning I decided to treat him like my kid. I asked him the question in English, then Korean, and he actually listened. The question was, "What was the last song you heard?" and he told me the Korean title, then the English translation and wrote it down for me. That's...that's pretty special from Jongbom. SO I gave him his snacks and patted his cheek. He's worth the extra effort it takes to love him.
Went to the special needs room and sat with Chanyeong as he protested that he was running away, and me and Dohyun exhorted him not to run away, me in English and Dohyun in Korean. It was hilarious. I cutely said "no-no-no" often enough that Chanyeong started repeating it, and I don't recall him often saying any English words before. I hugged Dohyun before I left, because he can't leave his chair or move his arms, and I know he wants to connect.
Minjoonie is tired, which tugs at my heartstrings. Almost every time I look at my little fluttery scarlet beta fish, I should think of Minjoon and his kindness. He's a precious one.
Yeongjoon came by just to talk, as did Sujin. More of the older boys are doing that, lately. Just wanting to chat about their test grades or their weekend plans or the fact that they don't like science fiction movies.
HH came by and was severely disgruntled to see that BY was already visiting me. Accusations were hurled. I was reminded by HH of all the reasons that I shouldn't trust BY, and I said that I knew everything about BY but that he was my boy regardless. Fortunately, HH and By got to chatting about their science test and I saw them holding hands for a second, so I think they're closer to friendly rivalry than actual loathing, as they once seemed. Score!
KBR took me to the bank yesterday to do a special thing that will make transferring money home easier. Which I certainly needed--it takes 30 minutes of unending password contortions to send money home using Korean online banking. It's nice to know that there's a 35-step process protecting my finances from shysters, but these security procedures also keep me from conveniently doing anything with said finances.
But it's done now! It should only take me 2 minutes to transfer funds, now. And again I'm so grateful to KBR who takes time out of her own day to help me get a phone or a better banking system. She's been a true big sister to me.
Technology Teacher hooked up my new school computer to the printer system, which took more of his time than I thought it would. I gave him a Hershey chocolate as a thank you.
My language Tutor is complimenting my skills a lot lately. She says that teaching me is easy and that she doesn't have to waste time explaining tough concepts because I pick them up quickly. She's confident I can get a 2 on the TOPIK test. 1 is low beginner and 2 is high beginner--next spring I can try for 3, thhe low intermediate.
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