9:20 AM
First period is cancelled because the 3rd-graders are doing something in the gym, so I'm getting to work on stuff and chill.
Slept 14 hours last night, so I'm getting close to well-rested and getting my sleep schedule back on track. Yippee!
Still raining today, and it's supposed to rain all week. July is supposedly the rainy season in Korea, but our July was fairly dry and all the moisture is building up and hitting now.
This morning, America Hyunkyeong and another boy were waitign outside the school in plainclothes, talking to different kids as they went through. Hyunkyeong greeted me brightly, and I smiled and told him to call me teacher after he said my name, which was something he'd never managed to remember last year. He then surprised me by asking me in formal language if I remembered him. I countered that of course I did. I liked him bunches and even wrote a poem about our conversations. He's still my boy, even after graduation.
Good thing I loaded up on snacks for today, because B-Teacher didn't have breakfast and i was able to offer him snack cakes and an apple to help. Always brign extra, because you never know who's going to be hungry!
------------------------------
10:15 AM Hyunkyeong came by the office! Score and score. He waved at me from outside the room, and I wondered why he didn't come in. He sent a 3rd-grader in to get JY-teacher, who was his homeroom teacher last year. WHen she went out, I knew they were going to have a big, long talk, because when the boys come back to see their teachers, it's always joyful and frequently tearful.
I waited awhile, until I heard him saying goodbye to her, then I stepped out into the hall to give him a pack of apple-jam cookies. He refused twice, but the third time I made him take it. I noticed his face was tear-streaked form talking with JY, and I knew it had been another crying reunion He called my name when I stepped back in the office, and said in Korean, "I am saying to you..." then in English, "thank you." Daww.
--------------------------------------
2:40 PM: Youngmin, Sunwoo, and HH came by the desk to talk and obtain food. They also all happily fussed over my fish, who is sitting in a bowl on my desk after Minjoonie brought him back.
And I suppose I should be happy for my fish's great health because HH told me that Minjoon's fish collection suffered a plague this summer. One fish came down with a disease and soon thirty fish were belly-up. But not my little flutterer. Because he's a beta fish, he had to be kept separate from all the other fishies, thereby saving his life. Whew!
Youngmin asked what was my favorite flower, and I said roses. HH asked if this was really true and I said yes, all women like roses--he could ask any lady and get the same answer. He instantly turned to Sunwoo and asked, "jangmi johahae?"(do you like roses?). I had to punch his arm for that one, but the timing was pretty hilarious, all things considered.
Talked to one of the PE Teachers at lunch. It was really nice to have an English conversation with somebody not in the English department. Then I walked around the soccer field with H-Sol teacher and we bonded a bit over conversation. Oh, the fun.
Jeongmin, Hyunho, and Hyo were back for games during the lunch period and Hyunho actually ate some lunch today, so score. Showed those three, plus HH and Yonghan pictures of me and my baby brother taken over vacation--they say he doesn't look like the elementary student that he is; he looks like middle or even high school. I told them it must be the angle of the shot.
------------------------------------------------
