4:15 PM I am as tired as cheese on toast.
So tired I can't even make decent analogies anymore. But I kept my energy up all through the day, and taught my classes happily. People commented on how light my mood seemed to be and how happy I was.
It's cause I asked God to give me joy in my heart today, so I could bless others.
I was walking to school in the rain, with swollen feet-ankles-calves (because now my feet swell dreadfully when I fly), and fully conscious of the fact that I'd gained five pounds at least from overindulging during my vacation home.
(That's another story--the extreme body-consciousness that comes with living in Korea. The extraordinary slimness of my female co-workers, and the fact that yes, people can see the addition of five pounds easily and will feel it their duty to comment on it. I was certain that someone would level an unkind observation my way, and I was ticked about that possibility. I didn't happen--it was a baseless hear--and the Lord let me have kindness and love toward people I was ready to view with worried caution.)
But I also had the joy of the fact that my Mommy was well and mostly-healthy when I left home. That I saw my family safely moved into their new house. That my dad's strong and holding up well under his new challenges. God loves and tends to my family. I can love and tend to others.
I worked extensively with Seungyeop today....
It was in 2nd grade, which I had with SG2, and I asked the boys to write 25 English words; just the first words they could think of. I sat down with Minjong and Seungyeop and just worked with them on their word lists.
And as I sat with them, I realized they were incredibly intelligent, they just didn't have a huge vocabulary and they needed a little nudging along the right lines to get their words down. But it was exactly like teaching writing to my students back home, but at the language level.
At one point, I just sat there and pointed to a dozen different parts of my face so Seungyeop could get eye, ear, nose, neck etc. It was lovely. He was genuinely interested in learning how to spell these words. I was blown away by how much I enjoyed his company and his bright brain. My goodness. If I could, I would spend all my time doing one-on-one with these guys, because they are splendid.
For lunchtime games, Jeongmin, Hyo, and Hyunho came down to play Scrabble with me. My beautiful Hyunho is sharp as a whip but I sometimes have to explain to him very basic things about the nature of reality--I told him today that vampires aren't real, and I would swear that my boy genuinely didn't know whether they were or not, because he's been astounded by the reality/non-reality of obvious things before. He followed up by asking me if Catholic priests were real. Erm, yes, baby-boo. There have been documented sightings of them, from credible sources.
My Hyo was sitting with the lady-teachers at lunch. That is not good, because it means he's an outcast, unable to sit with any of the other kids. Hyunho was playing with Hyo's hair at my desk, and said "So much stress, but his hair not white." Hyunho was looking for signs of stress-related white hair. I said the Hyo had a good heart and that was what mattered, and Hyunho said "Yes, he is very stress, but his heart not...angry".
I brought two giant apples to work to eat today, but gave them both away to Jaehee and Deokrong respectively, since they were hungry. And I still had nothing left to offer a hungry Hyunho--but today I bought infinite snacks, so I'll have plenty for the young'uns tomorrow.
Youngmin dropped from A-ban to B-ban, so I can't teach him English this semester. He is royally bummed about that. KBR says she's going to try to get him transferred back, though I don't know how that will work, seeing as how he actually placed lower in his midterms and finals.
My sparkly-sweet Yeonghan told SG2 that her new hairstyle didn't look good. He was just teasing, but I couldn't let that comment slide. I told him not to say such things and that SG2 was flat-out beautiful, which is no exaggeration. He said in English that I was prettier than her, with both of us standing right there, and I punched him in the arm a few times. That child is still bedecked with a halo and wings in my view, but it's also about time he ended his reign as an insult comic.
Hugged BY this morning, saw BH by the basketball court, hugged Jaehyung and let him play with my hair for forever while he listened to me and Jeongmin chat. HH came by twice to talk just a little, I went by the special-needs room to see Seongwonnie and Dohyun, and Minjoonie assured me that he'll bring my fish back tomorrow. All's well with most of my crew of loved ones.
My friend O-Teacher's eyes are a little swollen today. Because she had double-eyelid surgery recently. No doubt, her eyes look bigger and more conventionally attractive by western stardards, but it hurts me that she felt she had to live up to those standards. You shouldn't have to cut your face to be pretty. But this was her fully informed choice as a mid-twenties adult, and I just have to support her and tell her that she's amazing in any case. It's not my place to show disapproval.
KBR liked the new game I made, so much in fact that she asked for a copy of the file, so she could use it to teach English cooking vocabulary to her students. Score!!! This has never happened before, and I couldn't be happier.
So I loved people today, and was loved in return. The Lord blesses and blesses, and doesn't hold back.
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