First classes were lovely. For 1-9, 1-10 they needed to just study for the class period, so I spent the whole time playing word games with 1st-Junho. 1st-Junho (previously known as Grumpy Junho) is my boy, but I still have to remind myself to go after him and engage him.
For whatever reason, Junho does not initially show any indicator that he wants attention and if you start talking to him, he'll look down or away. I used to take this as a sign that the kid just didn't like me (because sometimes some of them just don't), but actually he's just shy.
He wants to be loved and praised as much as any other kid, because when I actually commit to talking to him or playing with him, he lights up after a minute or so and bubbles over with super-quiet super-contained happiness. He spent 40 minutes writing down words for me to guess, occasionally handing over the pad to to Jangwoo, Hyungeun, or Cool-Hyunseo.
When the bell rang and I couldn't finish writing my Korean answers to Junho's English vocab words, I told him I'd have them ready for him in afterschool. In other words, 1st-Junho's my kid. He always wants to be my scorekeeper when we do games, he's been in two of my afterschools, he can sit for almost an hour playing word games with me--this child is both loving and lovable.
Joonsung came to 2-7, 2-8 today. I had to stop Gicheol from tapping his pen because Gicheol knew that that particular pen-tapping sound bothered Joonsung. Joonsung would yell at regular intervals from the back of the room and I didn't know what it was about until I came by and found Gicheol tapping his pen and then looking two desks over, waiting for Joonsung's unhappy reaction.
I took his pen and gave him the "no darling, this is not okay" look. Yunho was laughing about it. He's not cruel, but Yunho was enjoying Joonsung's annoyance too much. It's not okay to take pleasure in making a less fortunate person suffer, even just a tiny bit.
I was chatting with H-Sol when Hosung, one of the boys in 2-7, 2-8 who loves me, asked her in polite Korean, "What are you two talking about? Because I'm very curious." She explained that we were discussing the recent change in the school schedule, which has all classes starting 15 minutes earlier. I was really tickled that Hosung cared about such a thing.
I really got the boys tickled when I explained our continuous speaking practice by saying, "The midterm is coming!" in Korean. I'm not sure what the funny part was (my pronunciation was fine), but they were really amused by it.
Went down to the special needs room, where Byeongsu explained to me that Jaehyung was a time traveller from the future. However, Jaehyung-From-the-Future still says that he's only 15 years old. Jaehyung tried to read my palm, which was surprising because I didn't know that was something he did. I couldn't make out any of the words he said except "money". But hey, who's going to turn down Moneyhands? I don't mind having moneyhands.
I feel closer to HS-Teacher today. I told her that I was worried about her, because I am, and I offered to help with anything she might need. She told me I was a good teacher and that my care for the kids really shines through. I just want to hug her and tell her how sweet she is.
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