10:30 AM Just got an ice-coffee-can present from Shion, which is one of the universal "I like you" gestures in Korea. Unless you're giving an iced coffee can to everyone in a group, it's a very pointed, chivalrous sort of thing. That's the first time Shion has done something like that. The coffee is very tasty, too.
My poor dear SG2 is having horrible issues with a student's parents. Her problem student has become so much of a problem, his parents are intending to transfer him to another school next week. They blame her for the boy's behavior problems because he's no trouble at home and only goes nuts at school. But all the other teachers in SG2's office have said that the boy is causing issues because he likes her--he talks to her for hours and invents problems for her to solve, and when that's not enough attention, he punches walls or runs away.
As illustrated in the aforementioned canned-coffee example, student crushes toward teachers are quite standard at our school. YSR got so many presents on Peppero Day, you couldn't even see her desk--it was a mound of notes and homemade goodies and lavish 6-box peppero contraptions. We all (the female teachers) get some of this attention and it's mostly harmless. Most of the kids are not serious about their feelings, so it's not as if little hearts are being broken by the revelation that they're not actually going to grow up and marry teacher someday.
But with SG2, she seems to have gotten the rare kid who is 100% serious and who is also cold-hearted enough to not care whether he makes her life difficult by taking up all her time and throwing tantrums. And the parents say it's her issue, not his. They're going to meet with her soon to discuss the issue, but mainly just to criticize her, I think.
I'm trying to figure out how to be a good friend to her. How do you bless a friend going through such an icky situation? Plus if she's like me, terribly concerned with her job and with how well she's performing, it's got to feel like a professional failure too.
I see her again for the next class period, and I've offered to be moral support, to hang out in the room when she has the parent conference--it would be weird to have me around, but I wouldn't be able to understand the conversation and I thought maybe it would comfort her to have a friendly, supportive face around, so I offered anyway. I think I'll leave a note and some chocolate on her desk after lunch, too.
Also, Swan Teacher is back! The 3rd-grade Class 2 Teacher who's been on rest for four months (because of back surgery?) has returned, and looking as lovely as ever. I hope she has healed well. She was always very sweet to me.
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1 PM I'm feeling pretty amazing and I think I can chalk it up to extra sleep. Lately, I've been going to sleep early even if it means that I don't get to hang out with friends as much as I'd like. By making sleep a priority, I feel way more energized and just generally happy.
I think I got into the sleep habit during my 2-week cold, wherein the only way to assure I'd be in good enough shape to teach was to sleep endlessly and drink all the water in town. Since my serious colds usually spiral into bronchitis and this one didn't, it clued me in to the possibility that sleep is a great healer. Novel concept, I know.
Also, I've mostly had to stop staying awake to talk to my mom, unfortunately. In the past, I could call her at my 10 PM, her 8 AM, and we could chat for about an hour, letting me go to bed just after 11. But with a recent time change, I have to wait 'til my 11 PM to call her, and she's having internet connection problems, so it takes even longer to connect. Le sigh.
Sometimes I wake up around 3 AM and make a call, but last night I didn't. I went to bed at 9 and stayed asleep, so I'm ridiculously healthy and perky today, but I reeeeeally miss my mom.
Because Daddy works and the kids don't wake up early, sometimes video chatting with my mommy is the only contact I have with my family, so it's important. but I've been through communication issues before. It always evens out eventually. There's no need to panic about dropped calls or missed connections because everything finally goes well. I've been in this country for 15 months (FIFTEEN MONTHS) and this is just part of life.
Lunch was good. SY Teacher was worried about where I went last Friday and it occurred to me that of everyone I've told about my culture trip to the DMZ, she wasn't one of them. So one of my best buddies was just eating lunch without me on Friday, wondering where on earth I had gotten off to and if there had been an accident.
I was fine of course. The trip lasted Firday and Saturday with 40 of us English-speaking teachers, and we painted ceramic plates and visited art museums and learned about North Korean historical tensions toward the south. It was really informative and unbelievably enjoyable--good sights and good company all the way.
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