10:30 AM
Good morning! I got a piano delivered last night--a digital piano, but it's full size with all the keys. I played piano in high school and let the talent fall by the wayside in the past 10 years. I wanted to pick it up again, knowing that being able to play songs might bless somebody someday.
Anyhoo it was delivered last nnight, along with a stool and a stand which I can't assemble until I buy a screwdriver. And it occurs to me that I've never seen a screwdriver in Korea, because I haven't needed one until now. I wonder where our hardware stores are?
HH wants to go to the normal academic high school next door instead of the big fancy foreign language high school, and I was going to keep encouraging him to go to the special snowflake school because why, when you're exceptional, would you go to a place meant for kids who are merely quite good?
But then I realized that he's got his own reasons for choosing the normal high school. He says he's nit pickign it just because his friends are going there, and my guess is this; HH has never been a showoff like BY. BY wants to go to the snowflake school, and he'll probably get in and take them all by storm. But HH, while being the best at everything, has never liked the spotlight. He likes being noticed and appreciated for being special, though.
And he'd just be one snowflake in a large flurry if he went to the foreign language high school. Every kid there is an academic stunner and a dazzling overachiever. Better for HH to go to a place where he can be obviously excellent, while still being comfortable. It won't knock him out of the running for a top-notch college anyways, so all the more reason to keep things academically simple.
My poor BY was freezing yesterday morning when he came to see me. I gave him my coffee mug to hold, to warm up his little hands (well actually, giant hands, bigger than mine--but I perceive him as being little).
He'd just gotten out of PE class and apparently, the kids are still doing PE outside on the soccer field while wearing shorts and t-shirts. And in the October mornings, it's still like 40 degrees Fahrenheit out there, so right chilly. I can't wait until they switch to our ugly winter PE uniforms--these burgundy tracksuit monstrosities that at least cover their arms and legs and keep out the worst of the cold.
Had a good morning class with 2-1, 2-2. SG2 was in there with me and we all got along well. Proposal Heejoon followed she and I down the hall after class and he didn't know who to flirt with first, so his words came out in a tumble of two languages, teasing me about my song and her about her dance at the school festival. It was pretty adorable.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
2:15 PM
Had a great class with Minsu the Cat. 3-9, 3-10 are precious, and included our school president and Seongmo serenading me with "Bom Bom Bom," which was sweet.
Minsu kept telling me that other kids were craving "attention," to which I replied that I thought he was the one who wanted attention. And he was. I chatted with him and told him the English equivalent of Korean words all through class. I promised him he could play the pizza parlor game in class next week.
Hyo downloaded a cute game onto my phone and he, I, the Barista twins, and 3rd-grade Jinseo played it a bit. The Barista Twins also informed me that Minjoonie likes me--not just as a teacher, but for reals--and Minjoon nearly strangled one of them in an attempt to get him to be quiet. But that's the issue with being buddies with twins; you can't shut them both up at the same time.
Minjoon went on to reiterate that next year I need to teach at the boys high school next door. I told him that I'm sticking with my middle school, but that he can come visit me everyday at lunch. He also asked if I was going to the fish shop by the movie theater after work today--meaning, was I going to buy him a fish-present for his birthday tomorrow? I said maybe, by which I meant yes, cause I've already made plans to walk to the aquarium this afternoon and pick out a finned gift.
I only have to keep the new little guy alive for one night, them bring him to school for Minjoonie's birthday tomorrow, so I think I can manage that. And my own fish won't have a chance to get jealous.
-----------------------------------------------------
4:40 PM I am Jane Bennet.
----------------------------------------------
Wednesday, October 29, 2014
Tuesday, October 28, 2014
10-29-14 Bom Bom Bom, Coming and Going
11:50 AM
School festival was yesterday! It went well. I had to jerry-rig several supplies for my English quiz room, but the quiz went well and the kids and I had fun.
Then we all went to a giant gymnasium to have our performances. I was scheduled to sing and I did sing, but only the first verse and chorus of my song because I was so busy this week with work and church, I wasn't able to practice it. It's a spring song and I was singing it in fall, but it went over well: "Bom Bom Bom (Spring Spring Spring)" by Roy Kim.
3:20 PM Well, the boys are all thrilled with my singing performance. They've hollered their "bom bom boms" at me all day long and it's daaaarling.
Minjoonie, however, feels like I didn't sing for long enough. All I hear from any other child is "cute!" and "sweet voice" and "good singer!" and "best song!" but Minjoon said, "Teacher, song-uh very short-uh." He feels like he's been shortchanged because he was supposed to hear me sing the full deal.
Minjoon also wants me to transfer to the neighboring high school next year so that when he goes there, I'll still be his teacher. It's too sweet for words. I've decided that I'm sticking with this school through 2016, though, barring something unforeseen. I'm just comfortable here and I like living a quietish life.
I've been talking to the other teachers, getting a feel for who's staying around. KBR and JY want to leave in March, which will fairly devastate me because having JY in charge of the English department is the best thing ever, in my book.
My close friend SY is staying, though, as is my becoming-better-friend YSR, who chose to stay in this little town although she's still frustrated with her choice. I told her that maybe God wanted her to stay. I believe that the Lord puts us in contact with the people we need to be around.
I have to teach Saturday class, which I don't really want to do because it's my one morning to sleep in each week, now that I'm helping with preschool service at my church. But I had to fill in for a friend who had a surgery and JY-Teacher relies on me to get things done when it's hard to find other help. She's my person, and when she needs something I'll be there.
Classes are going fine. I've been playing scary (but not horrific) games with the kids all week because it's Halloween time, and they love it.
Took some selfies with Yeongchang and Jaehyung and sent them to my mom. Mommy wants more pictures lately, so I'm going to try to send them.
-------------------------------------------------------
School festival was yesterday! It went well. I had to jerry-rig several supplies for my English quiz room, but the quiz went well and the kids and I had fun.
Then we all went to a giant gymnasium to have our performances. I was scheduled to sing and I did sing, but only the first verse and chorus of my song because I was so busy this week with work and church, I wasn't able to practice it. It's a spring song and I was singing it in fall, but it went over well: "Bom Bom Bom (Spring Spring Spring)" by Roy Kim.
3:20 PM Well, the boys are all thrilled with my singing performance. They've hollered their "bom bom boms" at me all day long and it's daaaarling.
Minjoonie, however, feels like I didn't sing for long enough. All I hear from any other child is "cute!" and "sweet voice" and "good singer!" and "best song!" but Minjoon said, "Teacher, song-uh very short-uh." He feels like he's been shortchanged because he was supposed to hear me sing the full deal.
Minjoon also wants me to transfer to the neighboring high school next year so that when he goes there, I'll still be his teacher. It's too sweet for words. I've decided that I'm sticking with this school through 2016, though, barring something unforeseen. I'm just comfortable here and I like living a quietish life.
I've been talking to the other teachers, getting a feel for who's staying around. KBR and JY want to leave in March, which will fairly devastate me because having JY in charge of the English department is the best thing ever, in my book.
My close friend SY is staying, though, as is my becoming-better-friend YSR, who chose to stay in this little town although she's still frustrated with her choice. I told her that maybe God wanted her to stay. I believe that the Lord puts us in contact with the people we need to be around.
I have to teach Saturday class, which I don't really want to do because it's my one morning to sleep in each week, now that I'm helping with preschool service at my church. But I had to fill in for a friend who had a surgery and JY-Teacher relies on me to get things done when it's hard to find other help. She's my person, and when she needs something I'll be there.
Classes are going fine. I've been playing scary (but not horrific) games with the kids all week because it's Halloween time, and they love it.
Took some selfies with Yeongchang and Jaehyung and sent them to my mom. Mommy wants more pictures lately, so I'm going to try to send them.
-------------------------------------------------------
Tuesday, October 21, 2014
10-22-14 Videotape and My Little Pony
9:15 AM
I have an open class today. Noooo. And please no. I was counting on just having the two open classes on Friday, not three total. This week was supposed to be speaking tests for the 3rd-graders.
Anyhoo, it's a 3rd-grade class with Mr. B, so we'll be okay. And he says we'll be photographed? I think my hair looks decent today, probably.
--------------------------------------------------------------
11:30 AM First class went fine. It was 2-7, 2-8 and Gicheol really shone. He's one of the tangential 2nd-grade cool kids, because he doesn't have the same swagger as Beomjoon, the same entitlement as Yunho or the same flair as Soonhyuk. Gicheol slumps. He hides. He's deathly quiet.
And he's usually overshadowed by my little Yunho, who sits by him. I'm rarely gonna work overtime to get Gicheol to talk to me when charming Yunho's gobbling up the attention. But today, Yunho was gone to the bathroom when I got around to the back of the room, and I spent several minutes with Gicheol, happily realizing that he was getting the questions right without much help.
And later on, he walked over to where I was working with two other kids (who have a lower level of understanding), and he sat by me and watched every move as I helped them fill out their paper, often supplying the answers when they were too slow, in his opinion, I finally left Gicheol with the boys and instructed him to help them, which seemed to please him immensely.
I built an Eiffel Tower out of rubber-coated wire leftover from the Saturday class party. I was accompanied in my efforts by various kids, particularly Jinshik, a 3rd-grdaer who has a lot of English and great pronunciation for a B or C level. If I give him time to form his ideas, he can communicate a lot. He and I discussed our mutual love for the Korean crime show "Bad Guys," which is currently airing.
Jaehyung sat with me a lot today and he was singing a song in English, I asked what it was from and he said "mai riropani". I could not parse this, so he googled it. And came up with this:
I have an open class today. Noooo. And please no. I was counting on just having the two open classes on Friday, not three total. This week was supposed to be speaking tests for the 3rd-graders.
Anyhoo, it's a 3rd-grade class with Mr. B, so we'll be okay. And he says we'll be photographed? I think my hair looks decent today, probably.
--------------------------------------------------------------
11:30 AM First class went fine. It was 2-7, 2-8 and Gicheol really shone. He's one of the tangential 2nd-grade cool kids, because he doesn't have the same swagger as Beomjoon, the same entitlement as Yunho or the same flair as Soonhyuk. Gicheol slumps. He hides. He's deathly quiet.
And he's usually overshadowed by my little Yunho, who sits by him. I'm rarely gonna work overtime to get Gicheol to talk to me when charming Yunho's gobbling up the attention. But today, Yunho was gone to the bathroom when I got around to the back of the room, and I spent several minutes with Gicheol, happily realizing that he was getting the questions right without much help.
And later on, he walked over to where I was working with two other kids (who have a lower level of understanding), and he sat by me and watched every move as I helped them fill out their paper, often supplying the answers when they were too slow, in his opinion, I finally left Gicheol with the boys and instructed him to help them, which seemed to please him immensely.
I built an Eiffel Tower out of rubber-coated wire leftover from the Saturday class party. I was accompanied in my efforts by various kids, particularly Jinshik, a 3rd-grdaer who has a lot of English and great pronunciation for a B or C level. If I give him time to form his ideas, he can communicate a lot. He and I discussed our mutual love for the Korean crime show "Bad Guys," which is currently airing.
Jaehyung sat with me a lot today and he was singing a song in English, I asked what it was from and he said "mai riropani". I could not parse this, so he googled it. And came up with this:
Mai Riropani: Friendship is Magic
He then asked me to select my favorite pony. I said Rainbow Dash, while Jaehyung prefers Pinkie Pie. However, he doesn't feel like this will cause a rift in our relationship.
Open class wasn't open--nobody came, we just set up a video camera and Mr. B and I taught. But when we checked the camera, the memory card was full, so I don't know how much footage was captured. We may have to do it again?
_____________________________________________
Monday, October 20, 2014
10-21-14 Coffee Sticks
11:30 AM
Made banana bread for the big downstairs office and for the 2nd grade office, and I have a couple of extra pans at my desk for other people.
SY-Teacher, who is getting to be more and more of my buddy lately, came by my desk o give me a coffee tumbler she got with the purchase of a massive pack of coffee sticks.
In Korea, we drink our coffee by the stick. It's called "Mix Coffee" and it takes one sweet mix and and one plain mix combined to give me a cup of something I really like.
Class with 2-7, 2-8 went fine and the boys kept commenting to themselves that the sports-terminology game was really fun. SCORE. You know you've made it when they're gossiping sweetly.
Made banana bread for the big downstairs office and for the 2nd grade office, and I have a couple of extra pans at my desk for other people.
SY-Teacher, who is getting to be more and more of my buddy lately, came by my desk o give me a coffee tumbler she got with the purchase of a massive pack of coffee sticks.
In Korea, we drink our coffee by the stick. It's called "Mix Coffee" and it takes one sweet mix and and one plain mix combined to give me a cup of something I really like.
Class with 2-7, 2-8 went fine and the boys kept commenting to themselves that the sports-terminology game was really fun. SCORE. You know you've made it when they're gossiping sweetly.
Wednesday, October 15, 2014
10-16-14 Misspelling Grapes and Giving Advice
11 AM: Eee! It's been a good day.
First class with 2nd-graders and SG2 was fine, and my 4th period is cancelled, I heard. Minjoonie's been at my desk drawing pictures of guppies, Dawww. These are pictures of a dragonfly he caught yesterday, and of the toothpick he made it hold in it's tiny insect-hands.
The other kids were writing sentences for me and HH wrote the word "grape" on a piece of paper in Korean, and I corrected his spelling because he used a ㅂ instead of a ㅍ in 포도, which is an amateur mistake. There was much gloating on my part!
Went to the special needs room and was made tea by their teacher, who says I'm looking pale and thin. SCORE. I was born pale, but the thin part takes work. I actually think it's just because I was wearing a coat and not wearing lipstick--nothing like a big coat and colorless lips to make you look like a refugee from Oliver Twist.
Tall-Byeonghyun (not my genius kid, but a 3rd-grade C-level with a sweet heart) came by to ask me for girl advice, of things. I love, love, love being asked for advice, and this one was particularly fun/challenging, because Byeonghyun doesn't have much English and giving love advice to teenagers is always a minefield of insecurity and emotions.
The story goes thusly: Byoenghyun's buddy introduced him to a girl, and when she talks to Byeonghyun, his heart beats super fast and he's happy. But they mostly text each other and when he confessed his feelings over Katok, she said she just wanted to be friends. His question was, he's going to meet up with her soon, with a group of friends, so how should he act? Which words should he say?
He said all this with such darlingness and sincerity, I was really moved. With the help of a really good online dictionary, we figured out the few words of his I didn't understand. What I told him to do was to be fun and interesting. Without mentioning his feelings again, he can make her feel comfortable and charmed by making fun conversation.
When asked what subjects he should cover, I told him that movies, games and music are a good start. I said that the choice is 100% the girl's--it's up to her to decide if she likes him, but if he's pleasant and interesting, it could make a girl take a second look. He said, "so girls like guys who are good at conversation?" I confirmed it, he made notes on paper and went off to class.
I hope I said the right combination of things. Byeonghyun's a precious kid and the 3rd-graders are all getting to that age where they're ready for their first attachments/ first heartbreaks. I want to encourage them to respect a girl's wishes, to be as cool, fun, and vibrant as they can be, and to have good self-esteem regardless. You are special, guys!
BY's been at my desk asking me about Portal, a game that was popular when I was in college. He wrote "the cake is a lie" on my paper, which was a huge internet joke in like, 2008. Reminds me of my younger days. i never played the game, but I loved the song over the closing credits, which is a apparently from the point of view of a computer who has been workign against the player the whole game. At the end, the computer claims to have won the game and to be "Still Alive" despite the best efforts of the player. I'm really fond of the tune, the high voice, and of the oddball lyrics.
-----------------------------------
2:30 PM Class with 3-9, 3-10 was good. Like, really good. They are really charmers, and they did well with their dialogue. Seohyung heard me singing to myself and said I should sing at the school festival, to which I replied that I already had to do so. When I asked him if he was going to perform, he said he preferred being a host to gaining the spotlight himself.
Minsu the Cat has been the apple of my eye lately, and today in class I told him directly that he was a cat. He was delighted by this, and proceed to act up in teensy-tiny ways that didn't actually upset the class but which showed what a sponge he is for attention. I like my Minsu.
My Wooseok came by, but when i asked him to write a short sentence, he couldn't. I had to coach him through writing "I like pizza" letter by letter and he didn't know that names of the letters unless I drew them in the air with my finger.
I've been in good spirits today, but my kids keep thinking I'm gloomy so I'm trying to put on the smile more clearly.
--------------------------------------------
First class with 2nd-graders and SG2 was fine, and my 4th period is cancelled, I heard. Minjoonie's been at my desk drawing pictures of guppies, Dawww. These are pictures of a dragonfly he caught yesterday, and of the toothpick he made it hold in it's tiny insect-hands.
The other kids were writing sentences for me and HH wrote the word "grape" on a piece of paper in Korean, and I corrected his spelling because he used a ㅂ instead of a ㅍ in 포도, which is an amateur mistake. There was much gloating on my part!
Went to the special needs room and was made tea by their teacher, who says I'm looking pale and thin. SCORE. I was born pale, but the thin part takes work. I actually think it's just because I was wearing a coat and not wearing lipstick--nothing like a big coat and colorless lips to make you look like a refugee from Oliver Twist.
Tall-Byeonghyun (not my genius kid, but a 3rd-grade C-level with a sweet heart) came by to ask me for girl advice, of things. I love, love, love being asked for advice, and this one was particularly fun/challenging, because Byeonghyun doesn't have much English and giving love advice to teenagers is always a minefield of insecurity and emotions.
The story goes thusly: Byoenghyun's buddy introduced him to a girl, and when she talks to Byeonghyun, his heart beats super fast and he's happy. But they mostly text each other and when he confessed his feelings over Katok, she said she just wanted to be friends. His question was, he's going to meet up with her soon, with a group of friends, so how should he act? Which words should he say?
He said all this with such darlingness and sincerity, I was really moved. With the help of a really good online dictionary, we figured out the few words of his I didn't understand. What I told him to do was to be fun and interesting. Without mentioning his feelings again, he can make her feel comfortable and charmed by making fun conversation.
When asked what subjects he should cover, I told him that movies, games and music are a good start. I said that the choice is 100% the girl's--it's up to her to decide if she likes him, but if he's pleasant and interesting, it could make a girl take a second look. He said, "so girls like guys who are good at conversation?" I confirmed it, he made notes on paper and went off to class.
I hope I said the right combination of things. Byeonghyun's a precious kid and the 3rd-graders are all getting to that age where they're ready for their first attachments/ first heartbreaks. I want to encourage them to respect a girl's wishes, to be as cool, fun, and vibrant as they can be, and to have good self-esteem regardless. You are special, guys!
BY's been at my desk asking me about Portal, a game that was popular when I was in college. He wrote "the cake is a lie" on my paper, which was a huge internet joke in like, 2008. Reminds me of my younger days. i never played the game, but I loved the song over the closing credits, which is a apparently from the point of view of a computer who has been workign against the player the whole game. At the end, the computer claims to have won the game and to be "Still Alive" despite the best efforts of the player. I'm really fond of the tune, the high voice, and of the oddball lyrics.
-----------------------------------
2:30 PM Class with 3-9, 3-10 was good. Like, really good. They are really charmers, and they did well with their dialogue. Seohyung heard me singing to myself and said I should sing at the school festival, to which I replied that I already had to do so. When I asked him if he was going to perform, he said he preferred being a host to gaining the spotlight himself.
Minsu the Cat has been the apple of my eye lately, and today in class I told him directly that he was a cat. He was delighted by this, and proceed to act up in teensy-tiny ways that didn't actually upset the class but which showed what a sponge he is for attention. I like my Minsu.
My Wooseok came by, but when i asked him to write a short sentence, he couldn't. I had to coach him through writing "I like pizza" letter by letter and he didn't know that names of the letters unless I drew them in the air with my finger.
I've been in good spirits today, but my kids keep thinking I'm gloomy so I'm trying to put on the smile more clearly.
--------------------------------------------
Tuesday, October 14, 2014
10-15-14 Math Terms, Tucked-In Hair, and Facebook Friending
10 AM: No classes for first two periods, so yay!
Jeongminnie came by to look up math terms in English in my computer. For some reason he decided that he needed to know "isosceles" and "exterior angle" in English as well as Korean. While he was doing this, Minjoonie (who I've taken to calling by the nickname "Sunshine" because of his yellow coat and happy disposition) stood behind me, resting his chin on the top of my head. He's so adorable, words fail.
I wore a scarf to work today because I'm trying to get the last little bit of wear out of my summer dresses, and they don't have the high throat-covering necklines that are becoming increasingly important this fall. I had forgotten that when true fall and winter hit Korea, you have to cover up every patch of skin, parts you never think about--neck, ears, wrists, the whole lot.
But as a result of wrapping the scarf around my hair then pulling my coat on over that, everyone thinks I've cut my hair and kids are doing double-takes to make sure they've really seen what they think they've seen. Nope, y'all. It's still there, just tucked in.
I got an apology letter from my Seongyoon, a 1st-grader in my afterschool. Yesterday, he and Seungsu would not stop fooling around, so I sent Seongyoon to the back of the room. He was extra crestfallen about it, so when he left class, I had to work to bring a smile back to his face.
Seongyoon's one of the kids that whole-heartedly loves me. I didn't quite expect for him to be so bummed about me sending him to the back, but he was and I had to try to bolster him up. I handed him a piece of paper and told him to bring it back to me as homework--he was supposed to draw a picture. Instead, I got a full-page apology in not-entirely-comprehensible English, but it was beautiful and special and heartfelt. I wrote him a return note that I'll deliver to his class in just a little bit.
Mr. B came by to confirm that I'll be singing at my school festival. No getting out of it now--I even told him the song title. He's going to get a 2nd-grader to play guitar for me, and that will be that. Despite my initial shock/fear, I'm really rather excited for this now.
-------------------------------------
11:40 AM
Class with 2nd-graders went fine. But NG had to step out to take care of business, which is when Yunho decided to just not mind my orders to please sit down already. I had to make him and Gicheol come to the front to apologize to me. I was so glad when NG got back, because they do calm down for him. I'm concerned about his stress levels--he's got a lot of school responsibilities lately.
-----------------------------------------
3:30 PM
Next two classes were okay-ish. With no game, teaching 1-7, 1-8 without a game is tedious with a capital T, First-graders simply do not understand a class which contains no game. Me and SG2 used the extra time to plan our open class next week. We've got 1-1, 1-2, which is not a bad group to have an open class with, and we're going to have them do a debate.
3rd-graders were mine all by my lonesome, and it was hard to get them to learn their pieces, but 3-1, 3-2 reaaally like me, so we had a million inside jokes, even though I ended class with a headache.
Youngmin got on my Facebook and friended himself.
Yeah. Sat by me and used my account to look up his own self and click "add friend". Why am I still surprised that they do these things? Fortunately, my Facebook is 100% kid-friendly.
Minjoonie captured a dragonfly and proved to me that it can hold a toothpick. I'll add pics later.
I untucked my hair from my jacket after HH said I looked like Johnny Depp in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.
Tonight, me and ES-Friend are doing a 2-girl bookclub, and I'm quite looking forward to it.
Jeongminnie came by to look up math terms in English in my computer. For some reason he decided that he needed to know "isosceles" and "exterior angle" in English as well as Korean. While he was doing this, Minjoonie (who I've taken to calling by the nickname "Sunshine" because of his yellow coat and happy disposition) stood behind me, resting his chin on the top of my head. He's so adorable, words fail.
I wore a scarf to work today because I'm trying to get the last little bit of wear out of my summer dresses, and they don't have the high throat-covering necklines that are becoming increasingly important this fall. I had forgotten that when true fall and winter hit Korea, you have to cover up every patch of skin, parts you never think about--neck, ears, wrists, the whole lot.
But as a result of wrapping the scarf around my hair then pulling my coat on over that, everyone thinks I've cut my hair and kids are doing double-takes to make sure they've really seen what they think they've seen. Nope, y'all. It's still there, just tucked in.
I got an apology letter from my Seongyoon, a 1st-grader in my afterschool. Yesterday, he and Seungsu would not stop fooling around, so I sent Seongyoon to the back of the room. He was extra crestfallen about it, so when he left class, I had to work to bring a smile back to his face.
Seongyoon's one of the kids that whole-heartedly loves me. I didn't quite expect for him to be so bummed about me sending him to the back, but he was and I had to try to bolster him up. I handed him a piece of paper and told him to bring it back to me as homework--he was supposed to draw a picture. Instead, I got a full-page apology in not-entirely-comprehensible English, but it was beautiful and special and heartfelt. I wrote him a return note that I'll deliver to his class in just a little bit.
Mr. B came by to confirm that I'll be singing at my school festival. No getting out of it now--I even told him the song title. He's going to get a 2nd-grader to play guitar for me, and that will be that. Despite my initial shock/fear, I'm really rather excited for this now.
-------------------------------------
11:40 AM
Class with 2nd-graders went fine. But NG had to step out to take care of business, which is when Yunho decided to just not mind my orders to please sit down already. I had to make him and Gicheol come to the front to apologize to me. I was so glad when NG got back, because they do calm down for him. I'm concerned about his stress levels--he's got a lot of school responsibilities lately.
-----------------------------------------
3:30 PM
Next two classes were okay-ish. With no game, teaching 1-7, 1-8 without a game is tedious with a capital T, First-graders simply do not understand a class which contains no game. Me and SG2 used the extra time to plan our open class next week. We've got 1-1, 1-2, which is not a bad group to have an open class with, and we're going to have them do a debate.
3rd-graders were mine all by my lonesome, and it was hard to get them to learn their pieces, but 3-1, 3-2 reaaally like me, so we had a million inside jokes, even though I ended class with a headache.
Youngmin got on my Facebook and friended himself.
Yeah. Sat by me and used my account to look up his own self and click "add friend". Why am I still surprised that they do these things? Fortunately, my Facebook is 100% kid-friendly.
Minjoonie captured a dragonfly and proved to me that it can hold a toothpick. I'll add pics later.
I untucked my hair from my jacket after HH said I looked like Johnny Depp in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.
Tonight, me and ES-Friend are doing a 2-girl bookclub, and I'm quite looking forward to it.
Monday, October 13, 2014
10-14-14 Greeting From Minsu the Cat
8:40 AM My first class is cancelled, and Minsu the Cat greeted me this morning--it's shaping up to be a good day.
One thing that Minsu and I never had was good recognition and greetings--we didn't have the kind of closeness that allowed for "hi, how you doing?" etc. But today on my walk to school, he was riding his bike within a small flock of other 3rd-graders and called out a good morning to me. Dawww.
And there are donuts in the office, and I bought coffee packets for everybody, so refreshments are well in hand!
---------------------------------------------
One thing that Minsu and I never had was good recognition and greetings--we didn't have the kind of closeness that allowed for "hi, how you doing?" etc. But today on my walk to school, he was riding his bike within a small flock of other 3rd-graders and called out a good morning to me. Dawww.
And there are donuts in the office, and I bought coffee packets for everybody, so refreshments are well in hand!
---------------------------------------------
10-13-14 Height Differential, Grades Be So Low, and Bright Future
6 PM : Was a good day. I didn't get to make my boys a game for this week, because the weekend was study, coat-shopping, orphanage visits, exercise, church, and reconnecting with important friends. But classes went decent without the fun bits--it was just more studious.
Minsu the Cat--one of the few students I've ever disliked--has been really cute to me lately and gave me an adorable argument about why I should give him more Pringles chips today. Good times with any kid are nice, but good times with Minsu the Cat are all the more special because he used to be so indifferent.
2nd-grade kiddoes found it important to point out in class that I am taller than NG, which I totally understood but pretended I didn't because they were speaking Korean. We were standing right by each other and he was leaned against the blackboard and I wasn't. I'm still not sure if I'm actually taller--more likely, we're dead even--but all I know is that NG got even quieter than usual and it took 20 minutes for him to say anything at all after that. He came over to intervene when both Soonhyuk and Daejeong tried to scoot past me to steal the microphone.
One thing I admire about Technology Teacher is how, though he is genuinely short, 5'4 at most, he doesn't ever let it show on his face that it bothers him. He's just got a beautiful heart and a kind nature, and nobody talks about his size. NG isn't small like that. But I guess guys never like being pointed out as being too short, even if they're statistically average.
However, the boys who pointed the height differential out--Taehyun and Geonhong--had other motivations, I'm sure. They sat in the very front row of class and stared at me, starry-eyed for half the time. Geonhong and especially Taehyun have recently decided that I am crush material (no idea why it suddenly hit them halfway through our 2nd semester) and it's not so much that they were trying to make NG feel bad as it is that they're so intensely focused on what I look like and on what anyone in my vicinity looks like.
Taehyun told me several times, with great sincerity, both during and after class that I was beautiful. At other times he was telling NG in Korean that he's handsome, so I know whatever Taehyun's doing is motivated by something inside his reservoir of contradictory little-boy feelings. He respects and adores his Guy-Teacher, but probably doesn't appreciate that Guy-Teacher is the only person in class capable of communicating with Girl-Teacher.
HS and I should be going out for coffee next week. I told her about my orphanage visit this weekend.
SG2 and I have an open class next week. *gasp* *bolt the door* *bar the window* *sprinkle holy water around the class* But these are never too bad. I just hope to goodness I don't have a 2nd-grade open class in addition.
The midterm results are in and our 2nd grade boys were supposed to complete their English exam with a 70% average across 300 students. The questions were easy, and continuously revamped to be even easier. What our boys actually got was under 50% average for the 300 kids.
Ay ay ay.
I knew our babies were proven to have some of the lowest test scores in the nation in all subjects, but even for them, this is quite bad. Bless their little non-studying hearts; it seems that the experimental semester with no tests for them didn't really lessen their educational burden in order explore career options--it just made them even more indifferent to education and made them forget that their are consequences to not trying.
Bless them.
I feel worst for my little Jeongmin, who studied hard and didn't get a single 100 on any test. And I directly contributed to his not getting 100 on the English exam--he had answered a question in a way that would be conversationally acceptable, but not technically correct on a written test, and I agreed with NG's assertion that it wasn't right. And now Jeongmin's mom is going to have a fit over No Hundreds, and I had something to do with lessening the single Hundred he had in the bag, considering that English is his best subject.
Being an adult is so lame, sometimes. Of course I didn't tell my kid that I helped lower his grade. Though when he came to my desk today, he was more than just sad and defeated. He had the look of a guy whose wife left him or who lost his job, which he desperately needed to pay the second mortgage.
He put his head in his hands and told me that he wants to have a good future and wants go to the good English high school, but there's no way he will if his grades aren't closer to perfect. I petted his hair and side-hugged him and prayed out loud for God to give him peace and strength and to show him that he has a bright future.
And I picked up a tiny paper bag I had bought to put individual candies in--
And I cut out a tiny piece of paper and wrote the words "Bright Future" on it. I put the paper in the teensy bag and handed it to him. I said, "This is a present for you, Jeongmin. It's your bright future."
He thanked me and took it before heading home.
I had a reason for picking the words "Bright Future". My youngest sister, when she was 3 years old, had a little baby t-shirt with those words printed on it. It was my favorite shirt for her because, due to various circumstances of her upbringing before she joined my family, there was no reason for anyone to believe she had a bright future.
She wasn't prized or valued. in an environment where people preyed on the weak, she was the weakest and the most preyed upon. I'm always inclined to dress little girls in a cute, lovely way, but I wanted to dress specifically her in a lovely way so that people could see a visual representation of how pretty she was inside, and of how loved and valued she was by her new family.
The darling little t-shirt was just a simple pastel cotton thing but when I'd see her wobbling past with the those words written on her, it symbolized everything that I believed about her and everything I wanted others to see. This baby has the protection of a holy God and the love of a dedicated mama, and no one is going to stop this baby from seeing good days.
When she outgrew the t-shirt, I kept it in a box with my other treasured memories. I don't know if I've told anyone (maybe Mommy?) about how much that shirt and that concept meant to me, but I like the idea that applying the words "bright future" to someone is like a step of faith, believing as you say it that this is how it's gonna be.
-----------------------------------------------
Minsu the Cat--one of the few students I've ever disliked--has been really cute to me lately and gave me an adorable argument about why I should give him more Pringles chips today. Good times with any kid are nice, but good times with Minsu the Cat are all the more special because he used to be so indifferent.
2nd-grade kiddoes found it important to point out in class that I am taller than NG, which I totally understood but pretended I didn't because they were speaking Korean. We were standing right by each other and he was leaned against the blackboard and I wasn't. I'm still not sure if I'm actually taller--more likely, we're dead even--but all I know is that NG got even quieter than usual and it took 20 minutes for him to say anything at all after that. He came over to intervene when both Soonhyuk and Daejeong tried to scoot past me to steal the microphone.
One thing I admire about Technology Teacher is how, though he is genuinely short, 5'4 at most, he doesn't ever let it show on his face that it bothers him. He's just got a beautiful heart and a kind nature, and nobody talks about his size. NG isn't small like that. But I guess guys never like being pointed out as being too short, even if they're statistically average.
However, the boys who pointed the height differential out--Taehyun and Geonhong--had other motivations, I'm sure. They sat in the very front row of class and stared at me, starry-eyed for half the time. Geonhong and especially Taehyun have recently decided that I am crush material (no idea why it suddenly hit them halfway through our 2nd semester) and it's not so much that they were trying to make NG feel bad as it is that they're so intensely focused on what I look like and on what anyone in my vicinity looks like.
Taehyun told me several times, with great sincerity, both during and after class that I was beautiful. At other times he was telling NG in Korean that he's handsome, so I know whatever Taehyun's doing is motivated by something inside his reservoir of contradictory little-boy feelings. He respects and adores his Guy-Teacher, but probably doesn't appreciate that Guy-Teacher is the only person in class capable of communicating with Girl-Teacher.
HS and I should be going out for coffee next week. I told her about my orphanage visit this weekend.
SG2 and I have an open class next week. *gasp* *bolt the door* *bar the window* *sprinkle holy water around the class* But these are never too bad. I just hope to goodness I don't have a 2nd-grade open class in addition.
The midterm results are in and our 2nd grade boys were supposed to complete their English exam with a 70% average across 300 students. The questions were easy, and continuously revamped to be even easier. What our boys actually got was under 50% average for the 300 kids.
Ay ay ay.
I knew our babies were proven to have some of the lowest test scores in the nation in all subjects, but even for them, this is quite bad. Bless their little non-studying hearts; it seems that the experimental semester with no tests for them didn't really lessen their educational burden in order explore career options--it just made them even more indifferent to education and made them forget that their are consequences to not trying.
Bless them.
I feel worst for my little Jeongmin, who studied hard and didn't get a single 100 on any test. And I directly contributed to his not getting 100 on the English exam--he had answered a question in a way that would be conversationally acceptable, but not technically correct on a written test, and I agreed with NG's assertion that it wasn't right. And now Jeongmin's mom is going to have a fit over No Hundreds, and I had something to do with lessening the single Hundred he had in the bag, considering that English is his best subject.
Being an adult is so lame, sometimes. Of course I didn't tell my kid that I helped lower his grade. Though when he came to my desk today, he was more than just sad and defeated. He had the look of a guy whose wife left him or who lost his job, which he desperately needed to pay the second mortgage.
He put his head in his hands and told me that he wants to have a good future and wants go to the good English high school, but there's no way he will if his grades aren't closer to perfect. I petted his hair and side-hugged him and prayed out loud for God to give him peace and strength and to show him that he has a bright future.
And I picked up a tiny paper bag I had bought to put individual candies in--
Looks a bit Like This.
He thanked me and took it before heading home.
I had a reason for picking the words "Bright Future". My youngest sister, when she was 3 years old, had a little baby t-shirt with those words printed on it. It was my favorite shirt for her because, due to various circumstances of her upbringing before she joined my family, there was no reason for anyone to believe she had a bright future.
She wasn't prized or valued. in an environment where people preyed on the weak, she was the weakest and the most preyed upon. I'm always inclined to dress little girls in a cute, lovely way, but I wanted to dress specifically her in a lovely way so that people could see a visual representation of how pretty she was inside, and of how loved and valued she was by her new family.
The darling little t-shirt was just a simple pastel cotton thing but when I'd see her wobbling past with the those words written on her, it symbolized everything that I believed about her and everything I wanted others to see. This baby has the protection of a holy God and the love of a dedicated mama, and no one is going to stop this baby from seeing good days.
When she outgrew the t-shirt, I kept it in a box with my other treasured memories. I don't know if I've told anyone (maybe Mommy?) about how much that shirt and that concept meant to me, but I like the idea that applying the words "bright future" to someone is like a step of faith, believing as you say it that this is how it's gonna be.
-----------------------------------------------
Monday, October 6, 2014
10-7-14 Friending People and Gyeongju Goodness
10:40 AM
Finally got a chance to write! Whew. It's been a whirlwind this week. After midterms was our school field trips on Thursday, then on Friday and Saturday I was in Gyeongju with friends.
Monday and today, I'm just playing the kids movies because we have Sports Day tomorrow, then Thursday and Friday are holidays, so it's a really light week.
Last Thursday's field trip was amazing. I went with the 3rd-graders to Dongdaemun Design Plaza in Seoul, and it was amazing. They had some exhibits (like an art museum might have), but i didn't see those. I just did shopping and had to contaain myself from not buying everythign in sight, because everything in the sales places was artistic and special.
All I bought was a headphone splitter that allows two headphones/earbuds to be plugged into the same phone or computer so extra people can listen. And I bought a super lightweight umbrella that looks like a pink bottle. You can tote it around like it's a bottle of sparkly energy drink, then remove the bottle shell and hold it by the neck, unleashing your secret umbrella!
And it rained that afternoon, so not only did I have an umbrella when I needed one, I felt like a ninja every time I produced it.
All pictures are from Google Image Search--they're not my photos, but I did see these exact things. The visuals are very accurate to my experience.
Finally got a chance to write! Whew. It's been a whirlwind this week. After midterms was our school field trips on Thursday, then on Friday and Saturday I was in Gyeongju with friends.
Monday and today, I'm just playing the kids movies because we have Sports Day tomorrow, then Thursday and Friday are holidays, so it's a really light week.
Last Thursday's field trip was amazing. I went with the 3rd-graders to Dongdaemun Design Plaza in Seoul, and it was amazing. They had some exhibits (like an art museum might have), but i didn't see those. I just did shopping and had to contaain myself from not buying everythign in sight, because everything in the sales places was artistic and special.
All I bought was a headphone splitter that allows two headphones/earbuds to be plugged into the same phone or computer so extra people can listen. And I bought a super lightweight umbrella that looks like a pink bottle. You can tote it around like it's a bottle of sparkly energy drink, then remove the bottle shell and hold it by the neck, unleashing your secret umbrella!
And it rained that afternoon, so not only did I have an umbrella when I needed one, I felt like a ninja every time I produced it.
All pictures are from Google Image Search--they're not my photos, but I did see these exact things. The visuals are very accurate to my experience.
DDP, sky view.
DDP, side view and internal view.
And me and YSR Teacher got closer. I was on the bus with 3-6, her homeroom class, and we talked a lot, using my phone dictionary to help out. We fell asleep on each other's shoulders on the bus, and resolved to talk more in the future. Turns out, we were both intimidated by the other girl and basically both thought the other person was too stunning to talk to.
That reminded me that everybody's insecure and everybody's waiting to be reached out to. I have often thought somebody was too cool/pretty/serious to want to be my friend, but usually they're feeling like they need a friend, too.
Then on Friday I rode 5 hours to Gyeongju, in a car with my teacher friends.
I live close to the part of this map that says "Korean Folk Village"
and Gyeongju's on the lower right corner.
It was the bestest trip ever. Me and SG2, 1st-Math, Technology Teacher and Geography Teacher all went to this lovely historical place and saw all these UNESCO World Heritage sites, old temples and palaces that have been preserved for future generations because they're considered culturally important on a global scale.
Bulguksa!
We also saw some landmarks lit up at night with their reflections bouncing off the lake below.
Hypnotic.
And old tombs of the kings that amount to massive golf-grassy funeral mounds.
Saw some folk villages.
And an ancient star observatory.
Only, we saw it at night, so it was lit up and looked cooler.
And ate Gyeongju's famous bread, little rolls filled with red bean paste.
And the company was great. SG2 is fluent in English, Geography has English about on a level with Seongmo, one of my favorite smart 3rd-graders, and Technology and 1st-Math but had Not-Very-Much-English, but we all made the trip work.
I was so grateful for their kindness and friendship. How can you tell somebody that they made your world several shades brighter, just by inviting you along for a trip when they could have just as easily bypassed you, due to the language gaps? Anyhoodle, it was fantastic.
When I got back to school on Monday, I had baked extra bread to take up to the 1st grade office as a thank-you present, and some for my own office because Technology is in my office, and the other three teachers were in 3rd. From what I heard, the bread was inhaled within minutes and everyone liked it. Squee!
Today, me and HS-teacher made plans for coffee after school tomorrow. I want to be her real friend, too--someone to offer support and laughter. Her school life is harder than I think it is.
---------------------------------------
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)