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.
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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.
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4:40 PM I am Jane Bennet.
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