9 AM: I met BY's mother!!!!!
This morning started off beautifully because just as I got to the school's gates, I saw a car pull up to the front and a familiar limping figure emerge. I thought, oh it must be BY's mom, dropping him off so he won't have to make the walk. I was going to just walk past the car because I didn't want to stare, but his mom rolled down her window to say hi to me.
I asked, "___이 엄어니?" (Are you BY's mom?) And she said she was. I said in Korean that I was pleased to meet her, and she said I was pretty. She asked where I lived, and I said here in town. I told her in English that it was so nice to meet her because BY was a wonderful student. My English wasn't quite connecting, so I said, "좋아하는 학생" or "he's a student that I like". We said goodbye and she drove off. We were clearly both delighted by the exchange, and she's the 3rd mom I've really gotten to speak to.
BY was just walking into the school when I caught up with him. I called out to him a few times, but he didn't hear me until I was right by him. He was walking so slowly, and when I saw his face, he looked horribly tired and depressed, like the weight of the world was bearing down on him. I said, "I met your mom! She pulled her car over and talked to me." He smiled at that. I said, "I thought you had a scary mom, but she's really nice!" He laughed and said, "Oh, she seems nice only on the outside!" I waved bye to him and was glad that I got to see him smile after witnessing him walking so forlornly.
BY's mom is quite pretty, too, especially so since I know that she has five children, the oldest of which is a few years older than me. I hope I run into her again. I like moms. :-)
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11:40 AM
Oh, the classes they were lovely. I walked into 1-3, 1-4 B and was pretty sure something was wrong because the room was still full of A-ban boys. Because we're just playing games and watching movies in English classes these two weeks, the A-ban boys had no motivation to move too quickly from their classroom to B-Teacher's class, where they belonged. Chilling is chilling, no matter where you do it.
I set up Monopoly with Smart Eunchan (a precious child who I've always liked very much), Tiny Yong, and a kid I don't know named Minwoo. I tried to make Jaeson play, but he wanted me to play and for him to be the banker. It's rare that a kid wants to take a less active role in the game, but Jaeson likes the power it affords him to be in charge of the money. Jaeson's one of the older-seeming 1st-graders, and with his baseball cap on, you could mistake him for a short college student.
And it was really sweet how the boys insisted that I play. When I lost my last money and had to drop out of the game, they kept trying to give "대줄" (loans) and figure out some way to keep me playing. It was super cute. After looking at my eyes, Eunchannie asked me, "Teacher. Lens?" I told him no, this was my real eye color.
Thwacked the arm of Joah-Seonghoon's puffy coat as he walked by me, bellowing "Joah" at the top of his lungs. This kid.
2-1, 2-2 A was grand and was all I could have asked for. Byeonghyun has a new laptop he was using, and he and Seongmo quickly commandeered the chess board. The other kids snapped up UNO, Halli Galli, and Jenga (which resulted in so, so, so much shouting--it was adorable), and I ended up overseeing Euigi, Seongjoon, HH, and Artist Joohyun playing Monopoly.
They were hilarious. It was the first time playing Monopoly for all of them, and the rage and joy of gaining and losing property was inspiring them to be very loud indeed. I had no idea Sungjoon (who is normally very calm in class) could be so bombastically loud. I couldn't help laughing at his reactions, because they were so extreme. HH yelled over every little thing like he was attending a football game, cheering for his team and reacting in righteous anger when things went against him.
Joohyun and Euigi were calmer, but still seriously invested. Joohyun's probably in the top 5 most adorable 2nd-graders we've got (in competition with Bitty Baby Seongjik, Twins Jeongho and Seungho and...Byeongji? Maybe Chansu and Joonwoo, too.)--he's not even one of the smallest, but his heart is so tender and his manners are so kind, you want to pet his head like a fluffy little chick or duckling.
After one of the other kids in class picked up the bank money and pretended to take it, I took it back and said "이거 내것" (This is mine!). HH said my Korean was seriously improving, and yesterday Saturday Jeongmin kind of backhandedly told me I was getting good.
Me and Jeongmin were walking around outside and I was greeted by Walk-to-School Mingi. Mingi asked me about my vacation, and I replied with 3-ish sentences in Korean. Jeongmin giggled over my words and told me I had gotten the past tense for "I met my family" wrong (later, Co-Teacher told me I was, in fact, saying it right). But then he reassured me by adding,
"But it's still good, Teacher. You said so much. When I first knew you, you only spoke English."
Thank you, honeybunny. I'm a simple creature, but I do try.
--------------------------------
3:30 PM: Munching on a little snacky given to me by Governor Yunho and waiting for school to close.
Lunch was really tasty today and I got gently scolded my lunch coordinator for leaving my rice for last instead of eating a bite of it, then a bite of side dish, then a spoonful of soup like everyone else. It's so charming to me how she takes the time to school me on proper eating order. Could it possibly make a difference? Maybe it's just a little-kid eating habit that I have, finishing everything in segments.
After lunch, Saturday Jeongmin came in to watch videos. When Daesung came in, though, I kind of stopped listening to our videos in order to play chess with Daesung. Jeongmin seemed a little gloom-cloudy because I wasn't watching our video anymore, but I needed to try to talk to Daesung.
Because yesterday, Daesung left school early with a really worried look on his face. When I questioned him, he showed me a note with Korean writing, but I couldn't figure out why he was leaving. He seemed fine over chess, though, and seemed to feel that whatever happened yesterday wasn't a problem any more. I told him I was coming with BC tomorrow. He seemed very happy about that news, but wondered why. I tried to say that it was because I told BC long ago that I wanted to go.
When Jeongmin left, I asked him to smile and he did. Lately, I've been asking the boys "Will you smile?" and "Can you smile?" pretty often, just to make them conscious of what their faces are doing and to maybe make them feel a little brighter just for a moment. I've been working on smiling more--smiling directly at people as if they're the reason I'm smiling. For some kids, the results are pretty magical. They look like they feel valued in that moment.
2-3, 2-4 A was a bit less fun, because fewer of them wanted to play games of any kind and most opted to just sit in corners with their phones, but Hyun, Sunbin and company had a killer time with Jenga, and Inha told me that he wanted to play Monopoly with me. I'm glad Inha still cares about me, despite how often I feel like I have to correct him in regard to Seongwon. But I go out of my way to acknowledge him, too--he's also one of my kids.
I called BY over to play with us, and he was a million laughs. I love, love, love this kid. I asked if he was getting more rest lately and he says that he is, but he still wears himself out a bit by his own research. When asked what he was researching, he said psychology. Specifically, personality psychology because he wants to understand people. He says it's exhausting because all the articles he wants to read are in English, and contain really complex terminology.
I told him I was proud of him for having such a unique interest and for trying to expand his knowledge. But he's already a teensy bit manipulative, so I hope he doesn't use his new knowledge for ill. The unsuspecting masses won't know what hit them if this very very intelligent boy learns even more about smoothing people. At any rate, we had a great time and I was quite happy to get to chat with him for a whole class period. After the game, Inha told me that he wants to play Monopoly with me on Monday, and would I please bring the game to the special needs room at lunchtime? So sweet.
3-7, 3-8, 3-9 B was dull to start. The kids only wanted to play Jenga, but I did get to play chess with Boo-Jongha, who beat me even after I had gotten a solid lead. Soon, another boy named Yeongjin wanted to play, and we had an audience by that time, too. I lost that game as well, but I comfort myself with the fact that he had five advisers and I was playing solo.
In the hallway, Seonwonnie and I got into a pretend kung-fu fight, and one of the male teachers saw us and cracked up.
Joah-Seonghoon walked into school carrying a box full of cola bottles, and he didn't just bellow the song at me this time--he crashed into me then did a sort of barrel-roll around me, spinning off without injuring either of us, without dropping the cola, and without breaking stride. It was impressive.
Joonsung was in the special needs room just now, watching short English cartoon songs. He was watching "Oh Susanna" and I sang along with the line about coming from Alabama. It hit me just how unusual it is to hear about my home state in an all-Korean setting!
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5:10 PM As I left school, I saw a giant hagwon van and wondered which kids it was waiting for.
Brief explanation about hagwon vans: A hagwon is an afterschool academy where kids go for classes after their classes are over. They offer a bajillion subjects, some specializing in Korean literature, some science, some English and math, etc.
Because the hagwons are too far for most kids to walk, and their parents are often at work, these academies offer shuttle services to pick up the kids from their schools and take them to their hagwons.
Just yesterday, the driver of one of these vans called me over because Computer Jongmin was inside and wanted to say hi to me. Jongmin is C-ban and we're very fond of each other, though the other boys give him grief because he can't talk to me. I greeted him by name then said "my student" in Korean to the driver, so that Jongmin would have every possible bit of street cred. Yes, I know this one's name. He's special.
A half minute later, as I continued my walk, the van pulled up by me and the driver said, "Cab?" and offered me a ride in the front seat. Computer Jongmin leaned forward hopefully, but I had to politely decline the ride.
Anyway, today there was a hagwon van near the high school. And when I got closer, I saw Laryngitis Seonghoon and Walk-to-School Mingi about to get aboard. They yelled and smiled and gave me huge waves, and I waved back. I walked to closer to the van (which was more like a bus), and as I passed the back of it, Mingi wriggled into view and waved once more through the window. I blew a kiss and he returned the gesture. It was super-mega-more-heartwarming.
Further along the walk home, I passed a group of ahjussis (middle-aged men) and they immediately started saying the name of my school--not to me, but to each other. We've never met, but these men know where I work. As does probably half the town, by now.
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Thursday, February 6, 2014
Tuesday, February 4, 2014
2-5-14 Defending Seongwon, Understanding Daesung, and Snowmen
11 AM: 1-1, 1-2 B was fun because I got to oversee Sangho, Won, Soonhyuk and another kid playing Monopoly. And let me tell you, they were vicious. They crowed over little victories and fumed over losses. Soonhyuk, baby brother to adorable Sooncheon, did this incredibly dramatic Smaug-the-dragon breathing when something didn't go his way.
Soonhyuk would arrange his face into a mask of carefully-leashed rage, then he'd add to the illusion by breathing deeply and furiously blowing his bangs out of his eyes. It was such an interesting performance, I felt like applauding. I can only figure that Soonhyuk has decided that to be manly, one must be Very Angry and always Ready To Defend One's Honor. In contrast, I can't even image his big bro Sooncheonnie even acting annoyed, much less possessed by hardcore hostility.
I was glad for the chance to sit by Sangho and hear him laugh and offer him game advice, because I thought he resented me after he came to only the first day of Winter Camp and was never seen again. But we talked and chilled and all was good with Sangho. He was hilarious, too. He made fun of Soonhyuk for pointing to the other players and then himself while saying "me, me, me, you" when he meant to say "you, you, you, me". In Korean, the two words are actually really close--"me" = "na" and "you" = "neo".
In 2-3, 2-4 B it wasn't quite as fun because even though I brought four games for the boys to play, only two of the games got played since they were just fairly apathetic about existence, today. But I oversaw Seungah, Taejoong, Tall-Sweet Junho and B-Class-Byeongyoon playing Monopoly, and they had fun with it. Joonsang and B-class Minwoo had been given their own game to play, but they quickly abandoned it for the chance to hang out with us and watch our game.
In other news, Sanghwa grew out his fuzzcut and is even more cute, though I suspect he's still a baby cactus on the inside. And Afro Woojae cut his afro, and Redhair Joonyoung's hair is back to black. It's mind-blowing. There shall be chaos in the streets; or at least chaos in my mind as I take a while to process their new looks.
When I was packing up the games after class, I was tackle-hugged by my BY, and also back hugged by either C-class Jongmin or Wooseok--I couldn't tell which and either kid would not have surprised me. Wooseok was of course busy stealing the directions to the Monopoly game and requesting candy. I was so glad to see him again after not sighting him on Monday or Tuesday.
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2 PM: Thought I saw someone's Dad in the hall, but it was Byeonghyun! He has always had a mature face, but over the break, he's gotten to look like a full-fledged mid-thirties grownup. KBR-Teacher told me that she's often been surprised by him in the hallway and nearly bowed to him, because if you look at him suddenly, your brain tricks you into thinking he's another teacher.
But when Byeonghyun saw me down the hallway, he gave the biggest grin and the cheesiest massive wave with both hands. It was so unexpected, I burst out laughing. It was the cutest thing I've seen all week, and I've see a lot of cute. My boy is the best.
2-9, 2-10 A was fun. I came in with four games and three were quickly snapped up--the front row brainiacs were wanting the chess set, Seonwoo clamored for the UNO cards immediately (despite the fact that I've played at least 50 games with him--you'd think he'd be bored of it, but this was also the first time he got to run his own game), Yoonseong shouted dibs on the Halli Galli matching game, but nobody wanted the Monopoly.
They didn't know what they were missing. I went ahead and set up the Monopoly in the back of the room, with about 9 sluggish and uninterested boys watching the proceedings. But once they started playing, things got exciting. They had a lovely time and begged for another game, and Geon had some great questions about gameplay. He actually read the rulebook in English and asked me about a rule I had changed. It was very inspiring.
Seonwoo trilled that he wanted chocolate, so at the end of class everybody lined up for candy. I think I hurt one kid's feelings because his face drooped when I noticeably neglected to say his name. Going through the line, it was like: "One for Minjoon, one for Seonghak, one for Taekyeong, and...one for you." Nobody wants to be "you," though. Not when the previous 7 boys got name recognition.
Upsetting thing: I had to pull 7 boys off Seongwon in the hallway, near the lockers. I saw a large pack of my favorite boys who visit the special needs room, and they were all pushing somebody into a corner, piling on like players jumping on a football. I couldn't see the child they were pushing, but I had a good idea. I got them all moved, and it was Seongwon being smushed into the corner between the wall and lockers.
He looked fine. The boys told me 20 times in quick succession that it was a "game". "Game teacher, just game. Fun game." I took Seongwon's shoulder and asked him if he was truly okay. He looked unbothered and unflustered. I'm confident that he wasn't physically hurt, but he was at lest in discomfort. And if your friends all ganged up on you, would you be able to admit in front of a teacher that you weren't cool with it?
I started talking to a 3rd-grader while still staying in the vicinity, but Inha took that opportunity to shuffle Seongwon toward the lockers and push him again. I pulled Inha off and told him to cool it. He tried to tell me that it was all just fun (which is true for a lot of the kids--they play rough, but all is fair) but I told him that what bothers me is that in their friend-group it's always Seongwon who gets the brunt of things.
The boys smash each other up all the time, but I don't worry about Inha or Yeongchang or even Jaehyung, really. Because they gave as good as they get, or people eventually just sense a boundary and back off of them. Something about Seongwon seems to incite more violence in others. Maybe they sense an extra measure of weakness in him and they go after it, pushing things even farther than they would with another kid? And Seongwon doesn't put up a fight, he just goes with it like he's some zen master, like he has no nerve endings and no pain centers. It bothers me that he's not bothered.
And I could be overreacting. Maybe he's genuinely fine and the boys aren't overdoing it. But in my heart, I'm troubled. I'm praying.
Played chess with Daesung at lunch. He told me he's seeing my friend BC for a Saturday English class this weekend. But...I knew that BC teaches occasional Saturdays at our town's orphanage. That hiked up my suspicions and I finally asked, 대성아...어디 살아? = "Daesung, where do you live?" He typed in something in my phone dictionary that translated as "nursery school," which was not right, obviously.
I texted my friend and she confirmed that Daesung does live at the orphanage. All this time and I didn't know my boy didn't live at a home or an apartment. He told me that his mother lives in our town, but if that's true what kind of circumstances would lead to a mom living in a town while having her kid live at the orphanage? Abject poverty? Daesung's biracial and I think his father has either never been in the picture or hasn't been for a long time. Praying about all that, too.
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3:30 PM So I saw Seongwon 2 more times and he was fine. He was in the special needs room with the other kids, and nobody was paying him a moment's bit of negative attention. When I went to stand by Joonsung and listen to him play "Summer" one more time, Seongwon came up behind me and started playing with my hair. He's not constantly oppressed, but he's still oppressed more often than I'd like.
In 3-1, 3-2 B they were mostly sleeping, but I set a few of them up with games. Jimin reminded me that he'd seen me at the train station, and I affirmed that yes, I remembered his family. Some 3rd-grader I don't fully know saw me in class and said, "Oh pretty girl. Yes. My father? My father says you are very beautiful." I tried to ask who his dad was and when he had seen me, but the kid was gone again. But I walk everywhere in town, so it's most likely he was just riding through town with his dad and they saw me through the car window.
Dongheum offered me a high five, then cackled madly as I went in for it and he took his hand away, making me miss. I punched his arm and he fled into a circle of his friends, bragging about how he got me good that time.
And Taekyeong sang "Do you want to build a snowmaaaan?" at me, so it's not just Seongsu--the boys heard this somewhere. Maybe in the movie "Frozen"? There's a snowman in that, I think?
Update: Now that I had a clue about what it might be, I googled the snowman phrase. It is from the new movie. And it's a very poignant/sad song. One of the princesses in the movie keeps asking her sister to spend time with her, and time passes and passes. Here's a cover I found:
I had an extra rice punch drink cup left over at lunch, and I offered it to Daesung just at Jeongmin came into the office. Daesung accepted and Jeongmin noted, "You didn't give it to me." Because I've given him my spare juice and yogurt drinks before. I said, "I give you lots of stuff. I'm giving this to Daesung." Jeongminnie really cares about what he gets in proportion to what other boys get (sooooo much like my little brother...), but I make sure he doesn't go without.
I'm going with BC to the orphanage this Saturday. Can't decide whether to tell Daesung or surprise him.
Also remembered: 3rd-grade Teacher's-Pet Jeongmin made sure I noticed him before he left today. He waved at my from waaaay far down the hallway and I strained my eyes to see him. I said "Jeongmin!" just as he announced "Jeongmin!" after realizing that I was too far away to recognize him right away.
While playing chess with Saturday Jeongmin, I started out by making decisive moves with the bishops and knights, trying to get all the important pieces out in the open and maybe stand a chance of winning by just overcomitting and moving pieces recklessly before I could second-guess each choice. When he saw my change in gameplay, Jeongmin first said:
-"Hmmm, What are you thinking?"
As if he were pondering what clever new serpentine strategy I might be employing. He waited two beats, then said,
-"ARE you thinking?"
I died laughing because his second guess was correct--I was making crazy choices not because I was clever but because I was trying to move boldly and randomly.
As I was putting on my outside shoes by the door, I had my head bent down and I heard someone whistle. It was Byeonghyun, who brightly said "Bye, Teacher!" He wasn't about to walk past without getting my attention and saying hi, and Seongmo was with him and did the same. That made me so happy--I really adore those two, and I like Byeonghyun's recent trend toward sunniness.
---------------------------
Soonhyuk would arrange his face into a mask of carefully-leashed rage, then he'd add to the illusion by breathing deeply and furiously blowing his bangs out of his eyes. It was such an interesting performance, I felt like applauding. I can only figure that Soonhyuk has decided that to be manly, one must be Very Angry and always Ready To Defend One's Honor. In contrast, I can't even image his big bro Sooncheonnie even acting annoyed, much less possessed by hardcore hostility.
I was glad for the chance to sit by Sangho and hear him laugh and offer him game advice, because I thought he resented me after he came to only the first day of Winter Camp and was never seen again. But we talked and chilled and all was good with Sangho. He was hilarious, too. He made fun of Soonhyuk for pointing to the other players and then himself while saying "me, me, me, you" when he meant to say "you, you, you, me". In Korean, the two words are actually really close--"me" = "na" and "you" = "neo".
In 2-3, 2-4 B it wasn't quite as fun because even though I brought four games for the boys to play, only two of the games got played since they were just fairly apathetic about existence, today. But I oversaw Seungah, Taejoong, Tall-Sweet Junho and B-Class-Byeongyoon playing Monopoly, and they had fun with it. Joonsang and B-class Minwoo had been given their own game to play, but they quickly abandoned it for the chance to hang out with us and watch our game.
In other news, Sanghwa grew out his fuzzcut and is even more cute, though I suspect he's still a baby cactus on the inside. And Afro Woojae cut his afro, and Redhair Joonyoung's hair is back to black. It's mind-blowing. There shall be chaos in the streets; or at least chaos in my mind as I take a while to process their new looks.
When I was packing up the games after class, I was tackle-hugged by my BY, and also back hugged by either C-class Jongmin or Wooseok--I couldn't tell which and either kid would not have surprised me. Wooseok was of course busy stealing the directions to the Monopoly game and requesting candy. I was so glad to see him again after not sighting him on Monday or Tuesday.
---------------------------------------------------------
2 PM: Thought I saw someone's Dad in the hall, but it was Byeonghyun! He has always had a mature face, but over the break, he's gotten to look like a full-fledged mid-thirties grownup. KBR-Teacher told me that she's often been surprised by him in the hallway and nearly bowed to him, because if you look at him suddenly, your brain tricks you into thinking he's another teacher.
But when Byeonghyun saw me down the hallway, he gave the biggest grin and the cheesiest massive wave with both hands. It was so unexpected, I burst out laughing. It was the cutest thing I've seen all week, and I've see a lot of cute. My boy is the best.
2-9, 2-10 A was fun. I came in with four games and three were quickly snapped up--the front row brainiacs were wanting the chess set, Seonwoo clamored for the UNO cards immediately (despite the fact that I've played at least 50 games with him--you'd think he'd be bored of it, but this was also the first time he got to run his own game), Yoonseong shouted dibs on the Halli Galli matching game, but nobody wanted the Monopoly.
They didn't know what they were missing. I went ahead and set up the Monopoly in the back of the room, with about 9 sluggish and uninterested boys watching the proceedings. But once they started playing, things got exciting. They had a lovely time and begged for another game, and Geon had some great questions about gameplay. He actually read the rulebook in English and asked me about a rule I had changed. It was very inspiring.
Seonwoo trilled that he wanted chocolate, so at the end of class everybody lined up for candy. I think I hurt one kid's feelings because his face drooped when I noticeably neglected to say his name. Going through the line, it was like: "One for Minjoon, one for Seonghak, one for Taekyeong, and...one for you." Nobody wants to be "you," though. Not when the previous 7 boys got name recognition.
Upsetting thing: I had to pull 7 boys off Seongwon in the hallway, near the lockers. I saw a large pack of my favorite boys who visit the special needs room, and they were all pushing somebody into a corner, piling on like players jumping on a football. I couldn't see the child they were pushing, but I had a good idea. I got them all moved, and it was Seongwon being smushed into the corner between the wall and lockers.
He looked fine. The boys told me 20 times in quick succession that it was a "game". "Game teacher, just game. Fun game." I took Seongwon's shoulder and asked him if he was truly okay. He looked unbothered and unflustered. I'm confident that he wasn't physically hurt, but he was at lest in discomfort. And if your friends all ganged up on you, would you be able to admit in front of a teacher that you weren't cool with it?
I started talking to a 3rd-grader while still staying in the vicinity, but Inha took that opportunity to shuffle Seongwon toward the lockers and push him again. I pulled Inha off and told him to cool it. He tried to tell me that it was all just fun (which is true for a lot of the kids--they play rough, but all is fair) but I told him that what bothers me is that in their friend-group it's always Seongwon who gets the brunt of things.
The boys smash each other up all the time, but I don't worry about Inha or Yeongchang or even Jaehyung, really. Because they gave as good as they get, or people eventually just sense a boundary and back off of them. Something about Seongwon seems to incite more violence in others. Maybe they sense an extra measure of weakness in him and they go after it, pushing things even farther than they would with another kid? And Seongwon doesn't put up a fight, he just goes with it like he's some zen master, like he has no nerve endings and no pain centers. It bothers me that he's not bothered.
And I could be overreacting. Maybe he's genuinely fine and the boys aren't overdoing it. But in my heart, I'm troubled. I'm praying.
Played chess with Daesung at lunch. He told me he's seeing my friend BC for a Saturday English class this weekend. But...I knew that BC teaches occasional Saturdays at our town's orphanage. That hiked up my suspicions and I finally asked, 대성아...어디 살아? = "Daesung, where do you live?" He typed in something in my phone dictionary that translated as "nursery school," which was not right, obviously.
I texted my friend and she confirmed that Daesung does live at the orphanage. All this time and I didn't know my boy didn't live at a home or an apartment. He told me that his mother lives in our town, but if that's true what kind of circumstances would lead to a mom living in a town while having her kid live at the orphanage? Abject poverty? Daesung's biracial and I think his father has either never been in the picture or hasn't been for a long time. Praying about all that, too.
--------------------------------------
3:30 PM So I saw Seongwon 2 more times and he was fine. He was in the special needs room with the other kids, and nobody was paying him a moment's bit of negative attention. When I went to stand by Joonsung and listen to him play "Summer" one more time, Seongwon came up behind me and started playing with my hair. He's not constantly oppressed, but he's still oppressed more often than I'd like.
In 3-1, 3-2 B they were mostly sleeping, but I set a few of them up with games. Jimin reminded me that he'd seen me at the train station, and I affirmed that yes, I remembered his family. Some 3rd-grader I don't fully know saw me in class and said, "Oh pretty girl. Yes. My father? My father says you are very beautiful." I tried to ask who his dad was and when he had seen me, but the kid was gone again. But I walk everywhere in town, so it's most likely he was just riding through town with his dad and they saw me through the car window.
Dongheum offered me a high five, then cackled madly as I went in for it and he took his hand away, making me miss. I punched his arm and he fled into a circle of his friends, bragging about how he got me good that time.
And Taekyeong sang "Do you want to build a snowmaaaan?" at me, so it's not just Seongsu--the boys heard this somewhere. Maybe in the movie "Frozen"? There's a snowman in that, I think?
Update: Now that I had a clue about what it might be, I googled the snowman phrase. It is from the new movie. And it's a very poignant/sad song. One of the princesses in the movie keeps asking her sister to spend time with her, and time passes and passes. Here's a cover I found:
I had an extra rice punch drink cup left over at lunch, and I offered it to Daesung just at Jeongmin came into the office. Daesung accepted and Jeongmin noted, "You didn't give it to me." Because I've given him my spare juice and yogurt drinks before. I said, "I give you lots of stuff. I'm giving this to Daesung." Jeongminnie really cares about what he gets in proportion to what other boys get (sooooo much like my little brother...), but I make sure he doesn't go without.
I'm going with BC to the orphanage this Saturday. Can't decide whether to tell Daesung or surprise him.
Also remembered: 3rd-grade Teacher's-Pet Jeongmin made sure I noticed him before he left today. He waved at my from waaaay far down the hallway and I strained my eyes to see him. I said "Jeongmin!" just as he announced "Jeongmin!" after realizing that I was too far away to recognize him right away.
While playing chess with Saturday Jeongmin, I started out by making decisive moves with the bishops and knights, trying to get all the important pieces out in the open and maybe stand a chance of winning by just overcomitting and moving pieces recklessly before I could second-guess each choice. When he saw my change in gameplay, Jeongmin first said:
-"Hmmm, What are you thinking?"
As if he were pondering what clever new serpentine strategy I might be employing. He waited two beats, then said,
-"ARE you thinking?"
I died laughing because his second guess was correct--I was making crazy choices not because I was clever but because I was trying to move boldly and randomly.
As I was putting on my outside shoes by the door, I had my head bent down and I heard someone whistle. It was Byeonghyun, who brightly said "Bye, Teacher!" He wasn't about to walk past without getting my attention and saying hi, and Seongmo was with him and did the same. That made me so happy--I really adore those two, and I like Byeonghyun's recent trend toward sunniness.
---------------------------
Monday, February 3, 2014
2-4-14 Ribbon, New Game, and Jeongmin Meets Seongwon
11:15 AM Inha has decided to call me "Ribbon". But with a Korean accent, it's "Leigh-bon," which makes perfect sense.
2-7, 2-8-A saw me and the lovely KBR-Teacher spending 30 minutes trying to properly use the new computer. In the end, the boys could either watch their movie with subtitles and no sound, or sound and no subtitles. We went with sound.
---------------------------------------
3:00 PM 1-5, 1-6 B Cheated a bit at Monopoly, especially Sanghyun, but they were a fun riotous bunch of preciousness. Hyunshik got glasses over the break, and I think Munsu-Octopus grew a couple of inches. I could swear our little octopus used to be considerably shorter.
When I got out of that class, Jeongmin and Deokryong accompanied my down the hall, Jeongmin carrying all my stuff. Downstairs, both boys saw my practice-test for Korean language, where I was picking multiple choice answers that were too hard for me. Deokryong pointed out the one I got wrong, and when I came back after lunch, Jeongmin had written on my test paper, translating every option into English so I could pick properly. When the kids help me learn Korean, it's just the best.
At lunch, I sat across from our music teacher and learned that she has a ton of English! I always knew she had some, but we were able to discuss a lot of things. I've been trying harder to connect to the other women teachers since I came back, and it's been nothing but rewarding. They are a lovely, thoughtful bunch and I haven't put forth enough effort in the past to try to talk to them--I simply assumed we couldn't talk and left it at that.
Seonwoo saw me at lunch and immediately yelled "Chocolate!" to annoy me. I missed him and his endless teasing.
After lunch, Jeongmin helped me set up the new board game I bought--"Forbidden Desert". I bought it because it looked different and fun, but it might just be too complicated for the boys. After setting up the game, Jeongmin went to lunch and I went outside for a walk.
Outside, I found Seongwon standing all alone behind the school with none of his friends in sight. I asked if he was waiting for anyone and whether he was going to play basketball or soccer, and he indicated he wasn't doing anything or waiting for anything.
I hung out with him a little longer, trying to assess his mood. His eyes were watery, but mine were too, because the wind was up. I asked him to come inside and try out a new game with me, so Seongwon and Jeongmin both played Forbidden Desert with me at my desk; or at least we tried.
The funny thing, to me, was that since Jeongmin didn't know Seongwon, he immediately asked him in Korean which grade he was. I nearly laughed. Because Jeongmin was trying to figure out the age hierarchy, which would determine what verb ending he used when he spoke to Seongwon.
But when I heard the question, I answered for Seongwon, "이학년"(2nd grade) because I knew that Seongwonnie was just as likely to not answer the question. Baby is not big on speaking.(Half of our interactions, he doesn't even speak Korean. I just speak Korean to him and read his resulting expressions. He has no speech impediments. He's not shy. He's simply not a fan of saying things).
And then Jeongmin said, "아. 형."= "Ah. He's an upperclassman/big brother." And he proceeded to call Seongwon "hyung" for the rest of the time. Which was majorly disconcerting because both boys are the same size (Seongwon might be a tad smaller) and have the same unchanged voices, so Seongwon doesn't physically seem like the big brother.
And behavior-wise, Jeongmin's a well-spoken miniature adult, while Seongwon occasionally uses yips and hooting sounds to communicate and he spent all morning with his hands pulled inside his jacket, flapping the empty sleeves to give people (me included) high fives. But both boys sat calmly as we attempted the game. My Seongwon was very patient, especially considering that me and Jeongmin were exchanging infinite amounts of English that he was just locked out of.
2-5, 2-6 B was nice. I talked to JY-Teacher the entire time. She's so cool. I love, love, love hanging out with her. The boys took over the chess board, and the kids operating Monopoly were such pros, they only needed to consult me to translate the Chance cards. Kangjae interrupted me to ask, "선생님, 여기 얼마요?" = "Teacher, here you get how much money?" meaning how much did players get when they passed GO. I said "오십" = "Fifty" and JY-Teacher burst out laughing. She said, "I was about to tell Kangjae to speak to you in English, but he asked in Korean and you understood and answered in Korean!" I thought it was funny, too.
Simyong correctly identified that the caramel candies I was handing out today were the kind I had given Joohyun for his birthday. Smart kiddo. Saw Artist-Joohyun in the halls several times.
Seongsu made me laugh by singing a question at me. He was coming down the hallway, and in perfect English he asked, "Do you want to build a snowman?" But he SANG it. When I was too shocked to respond, he sang again, more insistently, "Do you want to build a snowmaaaan?" I answered by singing the same melody line, "No because there isn't any snowww!" He laughed.
Also, I haven't seen the new movie "Frozen," yet, but my hair is in one big braid today, and JY-Teacher said I looked like the main character. I looked her up, and this is her:
--------------------------------
2-7, 2-8-A saw me and the lovely KBR-Teacher spending 30 minutes trying to properly use the new computer. In the end, the boys could either watch their movie with subtitles and no sound, or sound and no subtitles. We went with sound.
---------------------------------------
3:00 PM 1-5, 1-6 B Cheated a bit at Monopoly, especially Sanghyun, but they were a fun riotous bunch of preciousness. Hyunshik got glasses over the break, and I think Munsu-Octopus grew a couple of inches. I could swear our little octopus used to be considerably shorter.
When I got out of that class, Jeongmin and Deokryong accompanied my down the hall, Jeongmin carrying all my stuff. Downstairs, both boys saw my practice-test for Korean language, where I was picking multiple choice answers that were too hard for me. Deokryong pointed out the one I got wrong, and when I came back after lunch, Jeongmin had written on my test paper, translating every option into English so I could pick properly. When the kids help me learn Korean, it's just the best.
At lunch, I sat across from our music teacher and learned that she has a ton of English! I always knew she had some, but we were able to discuss a lot of things. I've been trying harder to connect to the other women teachers since I came back, and it's been nothing but rewarding. They are a lovely, thoughtful bunch and I haven't put forth enough effort in the past to try to talk to them--I simply assumed we couldn't talk and left it at that.
Seonwoo saw me at lunch and immediately yelled "Chocolate!" to annoy me. I missed him and his endless teasing.
After lunch, Jeongmin helped me set up the new board game I bought--"Forbidden Desert". I bought it because it looked different and fun, but it might just be too complicated for the boys. After setting up the game, Jeongmin went to lunch and I went outside for a walk.
Outside, I found Seongwon standing all alone behind the school with none of his friends in sight. I asked if he was waiting for anyone and whether he was going to play basketball or soccer, and he indicated he wasn't doing anything or waiting for anything.
I hung out with him a little longer, trying to assess his mood. His eyes were watery, but mine were too, because the wind was up. I asked him to come inside and try out a new game with me, so Seongwon and Jeongmin both played Forbidden Desert with me at my desk; or at least we tried.
The funny thing, to me, was that since Jeongmin didn't know Seongwon, he immediately asked him in Korean which grade he was. I nearly laughed. Because Jeongmin was trying to figure out the age hierarchy, which would determine what verb ending he used when he spoke to Seongwon.
But when I heard the question, I answered for Seongwon, "이학년"(2nd grade) because I knew that Seongwonnie was just as likely to not answer the question. Baby is not big on speaking.(Half of our interactions, he doesn't even speak Korean. I just speak Korean to him and read his resulting expressions. He has no speech impediments. He's not shy. He's simply not a fan of saying things).
And then Jeongmin said, "아. 형."= "Ah. He's an upperclassman/big brother." And he proceeded to call Seongwon "hyung" for the rest of the time. Which was majorly disconcerting because both boys are the same size (Seongwon might be a tad smaller) and have the same unchanged voices, so Seongwon doesn't physically seem like the big brother.
And behavior-wise, Jeongmin's a well-spoken miniature adult, while Seongwon occasionally uses yips and hooting sounds to communicate and he spent all morning with his hands pulled inside his jacket, flapping the empty sleeves to give people (me included) high fives. But both boys sat calmly as we attempted the game. My Seongwon was very patient, especially considering that me and Jeongmin were exchanging infinite amounts of English that he was just locked out of.
2-5, 2-6 B was nice. I talked to JY-Teacher the entire time. She's so cool. I love, love, love hanging out with her. The boys took over the chess board, and the kids operating Monopoly were such pros, they only needed to consult me to translate the Chance cards. Kangjae interrupted me to ask, "선생님, 여기 얼마요?" = "Teacher, here you get how much money?" meaning how much did players get when they passed GO. I said "오십" = "Fifty" and JY-Teacher burst out laughing. She said, "I was about to tell Kangjae to speak to you in English, but he asked in Korean and you understood and answered in Korean!" I thought it was funny, too.
Simyong correctly identified that the caramel candies I was handing out today were the kind I had given Joohyun for his birthday. Smart kiddo. Saw Artist-Joohyun in the halls several times.
Seongsu made me laugh by singing a question at me. He was coming down the hallway, and in perfect English he asked, "Do you want to build a snowman?" But he SANG it. When I was too shocked to respond, he sang again, more insistently, "Do you want to build a snowmaaaan?" I answered by singing the same melody line, "No because there isn't any snowww!" He laughed.
Also, I haven't seen the new movie "Frozen," yet, but my hair is in one big braid today, and JY-Teacher said I looked like the main character. I looked her up, and this is her:
--------------------------------
Sunday, February 2, 2014
2-3-14 No Video, Washing Seongwon's Hands, and All the Boys Have New Hair
9 AM: Back at school, whee!
So so so glad to be back. On the walk to school, A-Class Minwoo, Confident Hyunjoon, B-class Hojin and a few others greeted me. Dongseok, the only kid I'd seen while walking about town by myself yesterday, rode his bike close enough to brush my coat sleeve. Walk-to-School-Mingi was walking to school ahead of me, but I didn't call out to him for fear of making him late.
School's looking good. We've got electric lights in the hallways and new marker boards in the lower rooms. It's quite spruced up. Everyone's smiling and my lunch coordinator hugged me. I tripped up with my Korean when she asked me on what day I'd left for America, but I regained my footing. YH-Teacher has a cute new haircut. I haven't seen any of the teachers from the 2nd and 3rd floor offices yet.
I went right to the special needs room and saw Chanyeong, who is very autistic but who usually greets me. He was at his computer looking at pictures of dumptrucks because he has a very strong fondness for large vehicles. He didn't say anything to me, so I kept up a steady stream of Korean, trying to engage him:
Me: 찬영아, 안녕! 잘 지내? 무슨 그림 봐? 인사. 아니야? 졸려? 오, 덤프트럭. 이거 마음에 들어? 크다. 노란색.
("Chanyeong-ah, Hi! Have you been doing well? What kind of pictures are you looking at? Greet me. No? Are you sleepy? Oh, a dumptruck. Do you like this? It's big. Yellow.")
And what does our boy say to this flurry of words?
Chanyeong: 한국말. ("hanguk-mal"="Korean language.")
He doesn't once look up, but he begrudgingly grunts that I sure am using a lot of Korean lately. Which must be rather surprising for a severely autistic boy--the fluttery foreigner that nobody but Jaehyung can understand is back from vacation and speaking Korean a mile a minute. It's as if your cat went away for Christmas break and came back with the ability to talk to you.
I studied Korean for a few hours every day of my trip to America, and it's paying off in little things I can say.
I had ever-so-slightly better luck with Joonsung. When he got to the room, he wanted to type up a document full of students' names he was getting from a textbook, but I offered to read him the Dr. Seuss book I had brought with me. "I Can Read With My Eyes Shut" held no charm for Joonsung, but instead of just ignoring me, he went over to his piano and began to play "요름"--"Summer"...my favorite song, the one that helped me through a stomach virus.
I sat by him and la-la-laaa'd along with the melody while he played. And I thought; he can't possibly know this is my favorite song. I never told him, did I? And even if I did tell him, how could he understand and then put two and two together to figure out that the best way to get me off his case with the English book was to start playing it. But in any case, it was sweet. :-)
Daesung yelled good morning to me from the 4th-floor window. Got to greet Inha and Yeongchang already.
Heh. And BY was cleaning around my desk without announcing himself, so he could try to read my blog over my shoulder. Good try, sugar. I told him I'd pray for his foot, which is still mending.
-----------------------------------------
11 AM: First class down. The room looked gorgeous--the first grade wing was made in the 1950's, so it looks really rundown and institution-y, but now the entire front of the classroom is transformed and refinished with new walls, new markerboards and new cabinets. The only downside? All this remodeling has disconnected every last wire and switch, so I spent five minutes trying to hook up a movie for the boys, only to discover that it was unhookable, due to the projector cable having vanished.
So I asked who wanted to play Monopoly and bitty-baby Hyo volunteered immediately. I had to call in Giant Hweeyu and Necktie Jangyeop, but they were more than willing to play once they'd been singled out for fun times. Yosep from my Winter Camp was there, occasionally overseeing the game that he knew inside and out. Kibeom came by to boss everybody and tell them what they should be buying.
Me and the boys were quite happy, and I was using more Korean. I did have to tell baby Hyo to stop cursing in English because it wasn't proper around ladies. The super-darling A-class boys (including Jaewon from Saturday class) rolled in shortly after class was over, requesting goodies. Saw Wintercamp-Yoonmo in the hall and asked if he was doing well. His C-ban buddies seemed impressed that we knew each other.
Walked through half the 2nd grade hall and got enthusiastic fistbumps from two kids I don't really know. One of the first-graders yelled that I was beautiful and he loved me. This first-grader is someone I know I've heard yell this before, so I need to figure out his name. If you're going to be doing love confessions, they should at least be non-anonymous.
Saw KBR-Teacher coming up the stairs--barely got to say hi. She was swatting Peter-Pan-Taehoon's backside at the time, which I'm sure he had coming.
Daesung used his English to ask me how my vacation went and I used my Korean to answer him.
I went in for a high five with Teddybear-Deokryong, but he held my hand and said, "You are cutie. I like chocolate." He'd be getting chocolate without all the theatrics, but I'm strangely impressed that he's stepping up his chocolate-obtaining game.
Saw Fussy-Jaehee exchanging what looked like several five-dollar bills with Soccer-Minwoo. When they saw me watching them, they just said hello and didn't act suspicious, and neither boy seems like the type to be part of the school racketeering and money-stealing that goes on, but you never know. S-Line Dongjin was already in the office this morning, hauled in by Mr. B, meaning that he's in trouble already, and it's just our first day back!
Saw my beloved little boy Seongwon. The first time, he walked past and poked my arm, but the second time I was going to to the special needs classroom and he opened his arms for a huge hug, and held on tight the way a kindergartner does. He must have really needed the love. I brought my desk calendar to class and asked him for his birthday, so I could be getting him presents. He has two birthdays, but that's a story for later.
I noticed his hands were dirty, so we went over to the special needs' sink and washed his hands, which was an epic endeavor because the water was slightly busted and was rushing out at an unholy speed. Somehow in all the renovations, the water pipes in the special needs room went kaput. But I got most of the dirt and grit off (some of it's just engraved in his skin) and I got his hands dried on a towel. Then he went to the piano to play Heart and Soul for me while I talked to Jaehyung.
-------------------------
3:45 PM The kids are all a-rushin' home, but I'm at the office for just a bit more.
My 3rd grade class also had no power cable, so I let the boys play with the magnetic chess board while I chatted with Mr. B. It was a really good conversation, though I just barely had time to assure Sungjae that he was a very cute person despite the unflattering photos Hyunjoon had taken of him on his phone. And time to notice Sooncheon's new-NEW haircut (totally unlike the new haircut he had last month) and fuss over the change.
One thing that's happened after winter vacation is that all the boys have new haircuts. Some of them have perms ( which come in three varieties: the top-curls; the artfully-styled-bedhead, the careless-waves). Many of them have dyed their hair or put a rinse in it, lending their hair a fresh hue (still-almost-black, chocolate, tan-brown, nearly-blonde, hint-of-strawberry, magenta-red-which-does-not-occur-in-nature).
And I have to verbally make note of each and every one of them, because they want their hair to be noticed. They want to be told that they look special. For many, but not all, of them they are every bit as emotionally fragile about their appearances as girls are. When I taught high school classes in America, I didn't understand.
I always assumed that boys didn't care about their weight or face or hair or clothes because the boys I went to school with never indicated that they gave these things a second thought. My American boy students didn't betray any of these visible insecurities, so I figured they didn't exist.
Not so. Teaching all boys for a semester has shown me another side of the equation. And sure it's true that Korea seems to care more about appearances than America does; but cultural acceptance of extensive male grooming aside, I see a bit of these boys' hearts.
I used to praise every little thing about my girls' appearances because I know what's it's like to be a teen girl and to be always feeling just a little bit ugly. I wanted my female students to get all the affirmation I could give them. Yes, your brain is more important than your exterior, and your heart for others and your love for God are the most important of all, but your outsides are just grand, too. You are lovely. There's nothing wrong with any part of you.
To a lesser extent, I'm learning to do the same for my boys. The language gap is always there, but I try my best to acknowledge them and let them know they're appreciated. Even though some of these newfangled hairstyles are decidedly less cute than the simple stuff they had going on before, they have all responded positively to kind words. You're all super-cute, guys. You're perfect, no matter how much or how little you mess with your hair. You're going to be just fine.
Jeongmin's back from Canada! After my 3rd-grade class, he found me in the hall, then after lunch he played chess with me. I only asked a little about his host family and his trip because I was distracted by the game. When Jeongmin had to go to lunch, Daesung came over and finished the game. I gave Daesung an American dollar bill, which he treasured, and some Japanese coins I got in the Narita airport. We worked on his English colors a little--he knew red, green, blue, yellow, black, but not white, pink, purple, or brown, oddly enough.
For 2-9, 2-10 B, I played two-person Monopoly then chess with none other than Fussy-Jaehee! This child has always rubbed me the wrong way and I've had to work not to resent him, but he insisted that he and I and no others were to be playing the games. I didn't even know we were friends. And I got to ask him in Korean about the money he gave Minwoo! It was the class collection to buy pizza. And since I saw pizzas floating around everywhere, I believe him, too. Whew!
In 2-7, 2-8 B, I sat around with darling Joonwoo and Changyo and two of their friends, who enjoyed Monopoly as much as kids ever have, while the smart dudes in the center of the room made use of the chess board.
I told myself that this week, there would be no Candy Panics, but I was wrong,.
--------------------
So so so glad to be back. On the walk to school, A-Class Minwoo, Confident Hyunjoon, B-class Hojin and a few others greeted me. Dongseok, the only kid I'd seen while walking about town by myself yesterday, rode his bike close enough to brush my coat sleeve. Walk-to-School-Mingi was walking to school ahead of me, but I didn't call out to him for fear of making him late.
School's looking good. We've got electric lights in the hallways and new marker boards in the lower rooms. It's quite spruced up. Everyone's smiling and my lunch coordinator hugged me. I tripped up with my Korean when she asked me on what day I'd left for America, but I regained my footing. YH-Teacher has a cute new haircut. I haven't seen any of the teachers from the 2nd and 3rd floor offices yet.
I went right to the special needs room and saw Chanyeong, who is very autistic but who usually greets me. He was at his computer looking at pictures of dumptrucks because he has a very strong fondness for large vehicles. He didn't say anything to me, so I kept up a steady stream of Korean, trying to engage him:
Me: 찬영아, 안녕! 잘 지내? 무슨 그림 봐? 인사. 아니야? 졸려? 오, 덤프트럭. 이거 마음에 들어? 크다. 노란색.
("Chanyeong-ah, Hi! Have you been doing well? What kind of pictures are you looking at? Greet me. No? Are you sleepy? Oh, a dumptruck. Do you like this? It's big. Yellow.")
And what does our boy say to this flurry of words?
Chanyeong: 한국말. ("hanguk-mal"="Korean language.")
He doesn't once look up, but he begrudgingly grunts that I sure am using a lot of Korean lately. Which must be rather surprising for a severely autistic boy--the fluttery foreigner that nobody but Jaehyung can understand is back from vacation and speaking Korean a mile a minute. It's as if your cat went away for Christmas break and came back with the ability to talk to you.
I studied Korean for a few hours every day of my trip to America, and it's paying off in little things I can say.
I had ever-so-slightly better luck with Joonsung. When he got to the room, he wanted to type up a document full of students' names he was getting from a textbook, but I offered to read him the Dr. Seuss book I had brought with me. "I Can Read With My Eyes Shut" held no charm for Joonsung, but instead of just ignoring me, he went over to his piano and began to play "요름"--"Summer"...my favorite song, the one that helped me through a stomach virus.
I sat by him and la-la-laaa'd along with the melody while he played. And I thought; he can't possibly know this is my favorite song. I never told him, did I? And even if I did tell him, how could he understand and then put two and two together to figure out that the best way to get me off his case with the English book was to start playing it. But in any case, it was sweet. :-)
Daesung yelled good morning to me from the 4th-floor window. Got to greet Inha and Yeongchang already.
Heh. And BY was cleaning around my desk without announcing himself, so he could try to read my blog over my shoulder. Good try, sugar. I told him I'd pray for his foot, which is still mending.
-----------------------------------------
11 AM: First class down. The room looked gorgeous--the first grade wing was made in the 1950's, so it looks really rundown and institution-y, but now the entire front of the classroom is transformed and refinished with new walls, new markerboards and new cabinets. The only downside? All this remodeling has disconnected every last wire and switch, so I spent five minutes trying to hook up a movie for the boys, only to discover that it was unhookable, due to the projector cable having vanished.
So I asked who wanted to play Monopoly and bitty-baby Hyo volunteered immediately. I had to call in Giant Hweeyu and Necktie Jangyeop, but they were more than willing to play once they'd been singled out for fun times. Yosep from my Winter Camp was there, occasionally overseeing the game that he knew inside and out. Kibeom came by to boss everybody and tell them what they should be buying.
Me and the boys were quite happy, and I was using more Korean. I did have to tell baby Hyo to stop cursing in English because it wasn't proper around ladies. The super-darling A-class boys (including Jaewon from Saturday class) rolled in shortly after class was over, requesting goodies. Saw Wintercamp-Yoonmo in the hall and asked if he was doing well. His C-ban buddies seemed impressed that we knew each other.
Walked through half the 2nd grade hall and got enthusiastic fistbumps from two kids I don't really know. One of the first-graders yelled that I was beautiful and he loved me. This first-grader is someone I know I've heard yell this before, so I need to figure out his name. If you're going to be doing love confessions, they should at least be non-anonymous.
Saw KBR-Teacher coming up the stairs--barely got to say hi. She was swatting Peter-Pan-Taehoon's backside at the time, which I'm sure he had coming.
Daesung used his English to ask me how my vacation went and I used my Korean to answer him.
I went in for a high five with Teddybear-Deokryong, but he held my hand and said, "You are cutie. I like chocolate." He'd be getting chocolate without all the theatrics, but I'm strangely impressed that he's stepping up his chocolate-obtaining game.
Saw Fussy-Jaehee exchanging what looked like several five-dollar bills with Soccer-Minwoo. When they saw me watching them, they just said hello and didn't act suspicious, and neither boy seems like the type to be part of the school racketeering and money-stealing that goes on, but you never know. S-Line Dongjin was already in the office this morning, hauled in by Mr. B, meaning that he's in trouble already, and it's just our first day back!
Saw my beloved little boy Seongwon. The first time, he walked past and poked my arm, but the second time I was going to to the special needs classroom and he opened his arms for a huge hug, and held on tight the way a kindergartner does. He must have really needed the love. I brought my desk calendar to class and asked him for his birthday, so I could be getting him presents. He has two birthdays, but that's a story for later.
I noticed his hands were dirty, so we went over to the special needs' sink and washed his hands, which was an epic endeavor because the water was slightly busted and was rushing out at an unholy speed. Somehow in all the renovations, the water pipes in the special needs room went kaput. But I got most of the dirt and grit off (some of it's just engraved in his skin) and I got his hands dried on a towel. Then he went to the piano to play Heart and Soul for me while I talked to Jaehyung.
-------------------------
3:45 PM The kids are all a-rushin' home, but I'm at the office for just a bit more.
My 3rd grade class also had no power cable, so I let the boys play with the magnetic chess board while I chatted with Mr. B. It was a really good conversation, though I just barely had time to assure Sungjae that he was a very cute person despite the unflattering photos Hyunjoon had taken of him on his phone. And time to notice Sooncheon's new-NEW haircut (totally unlike the new haircut he had last month) and fuss over the change.
One thing that's happened after winter vacation is that all the boys have new haircuts. Some of them have perms ( which come in three varieties: the top-curls; the artfully-styled-bedhead, the careless-waves). Many of them have dyed their hair or put a rinse in it, lending their hair a fresh hue (still-almost-black, chocolate, tan-brown, nearly-blonde, hint-of-strawberry, magenta-red-which-does-not-occur-in-nature).
And I have to verbally make note of each and every one of them, because they want their hair to be noticed. They want to be told that they look special. For many, but not all, of them they are every bit as emotionally fragile about their appearances as girls are. When I taught high school classes in America, I didn't understand.
I always assumed that boys didn't care about their weight or face or hair or clothes because the boys I went to school with never indicated that they gave these things a second thought. My American boy students didn't betray any of these visible insecurities, so I figured they didn't exist.
Not so. Teaching all boys for a semester has shown me another side of the equation. And sure it's true that Korea seems to care more about appearances than America does; but cultural acceptance of extensive male grooming aside, I see a bit of these boys' hearts.
I used to praise every little thing about my girls' appearances because I know what's it's like to be a teen girl and to be always feeling just a little bit ugly. I wanted my female students to get all the affirmation I could give them. Yes, your brain is more important than your exterior, and your heart for others and your love for God are the most important of all, but your outsides are just grand, too. You are lovely. There's nothing wrong with any part of you.
To a lesser extent, I'm learning to do the same for my boys. The language gap is always there, but I try my best to acknowledge them and let them know they're appreciated. Even though some of these newfangled hairstyles are decidedly less cute than the simple stuff they had going on before, they have all responded positively to kind words. You're all super-cute, guys. You're perfect, no matter how much or how little you mess with your hair. You're going to be just fine.
Jeongmin's back from Canada! After my 3rd-grade class, he found me in the hall, then after lunch he played chess with me. I only asked a little about his host family and his trip because I was distracted by the game. When Jeongmin had to go to lunch, Daesung came over and finished the game. I gave Daesung an American dollar bill, which he treasured, and some Japanese coins I got in the Narita airport. We worked on his English colors a little--he knew red, green, blue, yellow, black, but not white, pink, purple, or brown, oddly enough.
For 2-9, 2-10 B, I played two-person Monopoly then chess with none other than Fussy-Jaehee! This child has always rubbed me the wrong way and I've had to work not to resent him, but he insisted that he and I and no others were to be playing the games. I didn't even know we were friends. And I got to ask him in Korean about the money he gave Minwoo! It was the class collection to buy pizza. And since I saw pizzas floating around everywhere, I believe him, too. Whew!
In 2-7, 2-8 B, I sat around with darling Joonwoo and Changyo and two of their friends, who enjoyed Monopoly as much as kids ever have, while the smart dudes in the center of the room made use of the chess board.
I told myself that this week, there would be no Candy Panics, but I was wrong,.
--------------------
Saturday, February 1, 2014
2-2-14 Back in Korea!
3:30 AM
Safe and snug back in my apartment!
And it's still super tough to travel for that long, but I can definitely say that the return trip to Korea was easier than the trip to America.
Daddy and I learned that you really don't have to be 2 and a half hours early for an early AM flight leaving from Alabama because there are no lines. We waited for an hour before there was even a staff member available to check in my bags. But I got to talk more with Dad that way, so it was a win.
We had to take out 10 pounds worth of Reeses cups from one of my bags because it was overweight--Mom and I had weighed the bag at home, but she had helped me lift it a little, so the reading was off. But after a little shuffling through the luggage, it was back to normal weight.
I tried to sleep, readjusted my special reversible neck pillow a dozen times, but the best I could achieve was Eyes-Closed-And-Not-Thinking-About-Much.
In Houston, everything looked familiar because I knew something about the layout of the airport. I still couldn't find anywhere to use my computer, but I had a little prepaid phone to call home and let them know I had landed. I found food based on which restaurant had the shortest line, and I got mentally ready for the big flight ahead--Houston to Tokyo was going to be 13 hours.
Houston to Tokyo was 13 hours, but it was an easier flight than Seoul to San Francisco had been at 10 hours. Because the plane I was in had TV screens on the back of every seat, not just located above the aisles. I could pass time by watching infinite airplane movies and thinking about how I'd alter their scripts to make them better.
Also making this trip better was the fact that I had an AISLE SEAT. I got up 6 times during the trip, all without disturbing anybody. And I learned that after you visit the lavatory, you can just hang out in the back of the plane, standing and stretching your legs. The flight attendants don't care, and you're not in anyone's way. It does a world of good for leg cramps, just standing for a few minutes. I didn't do that on my first flight to Korea because I didn't know what airplane etiquette was.
On the Houston-Tokyo flight, I was seated next to two Korean college boys. As everyone got settled into the plane, they were talking away in Korean and I figured I should come up with some way to let them know that I could understand some of what they were saying--it felt like eavesdropping, even though all they were discussing was the time difference between Houston and Japan.
So after a couple minutes, I turned to them and asked "학생들이에요?" (Haksaengdeulieyo?) or "Are you students?" They confirmed that yes, they were college students, and one of them told his friend I was pretty, even though they knew I could understand them. I said that I lived in Korea, and told them the name of my town, which they actually knew. They asked if I went to a certain college in town, but I told them I taught English at a middle school. The whole short convo was in Korean, and that's all we said to each other for 13 hours, but I was proud of myself for initiating a conversation in Korean.
I can only exchange a few sentences, but I can chat with new people in my second language! Wheeee! The only difficulty was I didn't know which verb ending to use with the college boys--if they were high school students, I could use 반말(banmal), the informal style, and if they were about the same age I'd use 존댓 (jondae), the formal style. But they were just in the gray area where I didn't know how formally to speak, so I went with jondae anyway, closing my sentences with "요"(yo). That's the fun bit about Korean; you have to adjust the way you speak depending on your age, relative to the person you're speaking to.
I did try to sleep. I tried like a trooper. I used my special neck pillow plus the tiny in-flight pillow, and turned my head every which way. Then after trying one position for a while with no results, I'd reshuffle all my stuff and snuggle into another pose.
I got maybe one hour of sleep out of the whole enterprise. I could chalk up no sleep on my first two overseas flights to nervousness or excitement, but after three times, I begin to think that I simply have irreconcilable issues with sleeping while sitting up.
Not sleeping did, however, afford me the opportunity to see other people sleeping in all sorts of contorted positions, some of which made my sleeping style from the last international flight look downright normal.
One woman was bundled inside a giant winter coat and spent most of the flight with her legs thrown sideways over the armrest, out into the aisle. The couple across from me had an empty seat between them and they took turns stretching out over it, effectively making the middle seat into an actual bed. The college boy next to me leaned his head forward and slept that way--head hanging straight forward, with no prop or pillow. I watched other people fall asleep sitting up, then catch themselves in mid-fall.
Not that this particularly earned me any Awesome Points. Nobody noticed. It wasn't like the other passengers were going, "Who is that cool girl in 42-H? What amazing posture! Just look at all the sleep she's not getting!" But it made me feel better that I looked mostly human for the duration.
I did make the mistake of drinking the cups of water the flight attendants offered--my huge water bottle had finally run out and I was thirsty, but as my grandmother had warned, the cups of water on the plane were clearly just sink water. Taste tells. I few minutes after drinking the water, it made my throat burn and I was sick to my stomach. So next long flight, I'm bringing two water bottles.
Narita Airport in Tokyo was surprisingly full of Americans. About half of the crowd at the airport were foreigners, and English was the language I heard most. I found a currency exchange and got some dollars flipped into yen, because it was the first time I'd been to Japan and even if I was just in an airport, I wanted souvenirs.
Japanese yen feel kind of like the opposite of Korean won, because while 1,000 won is $1, 1,000 yen is $10, and the thousand-yen bill is (I think) the smallest bill they make, so there is no dollar-bill equivalent. In Korea, we have the equivalent of $1, $5, $10, and $50 bills, but no twenties or large bills. In Japan, the bills seem to be all 10s, 50s, and 100s, plus a lot of little coins.
It was interesting hearing the airport announcements in Japanese, because it was an intriguing "foreign" language, while Korean sounds homey and is something I can halfway figure out. In the little airport store, I tried to buy souvenir things that were both very small (so i could fit them in my carry-on) and which seemed distinctly Japanese, because most of what they had in the store was stuff we have in Korea, just with slightly different packaging.
Plus some Japanese chopsticks--which are more rounded and quite different from Korean chopsticks--with bright colors and cat designs. And some erasers shaped like sushi. I also got these special Royce refrigerated chocolates that had to be kept in a sealed bag with a cold pack, to keep them from melting.
I had seen these in a K-drama, but apparently they're originally a Japanese brand that just opened their first store in America in 2012. They came with a coating of bitter cocoa powder and a little stick for prying apart the individual wedges without getting chocolate on your fingers. These things were groovy and special! Too bad I had to eat them all for dinner.
The Tokyo to Seoul flight boarded, and I was seated next to the same Korean college students! This time, I was sitting nest to two of them while three of their friends had the seat behind us. The boys waved happily to me and when one of them told his older friend that I had sat by them on the itnernational flight as well, the older guy announced it was a 대박사건 (Daebak sageon) or "Jackpot event/ lucky coincidence". Again, we didn't talk past my asking in Korean why they'd been in America and them replying that it was just a winter vacation trip, but I talked! I asked a question!
The flight was just over 2 hours, and it was okay. though I could tell I was slowing down, physically. I wasn't exhausted, but I was working with limited energy.
I kept running through my mental list of things left to do:
1. Land and go through security.
2. Get baggage
3. Somehow get to the hotel room Mom booked for me (since I was arriving at 9:30 PM, and trains to my hometown wouldn't run until 6 AM, leaving me in Seoul for all that time.)
I got into a wonderful English conversation with a Korean woman in her 60's--she had lived in the states for 30 years and was getting to visit her sister for the first time in 7 years. She was awesome. We talked about everything in the world and for the half hour it took us to get through customs and baggage claim and everything else, she had adopted me. It's so nice to meet lovely people.
We parted ways, and though she said her family could drive me to my hotel, I insisted that I could find it on my own. It was not entirely true. None of the hotel brochures in the airport matched the name of the hotel I had written down and the girl at the information desk couldn't reach the hotel at the number provided.
So I have a hotel room somewhere out there, beneath the pale moonlight. I just don't know where the hotel is, I have a non-working phone number for them, and my Korean phone doesn't have enough bars to use the internet and look the place up.
And as I learned on my trip home, when I get truly exhausted, I get angry. After 30 hours awake, I want to make decisions based on how upset I am. Last trip, I nearly stayed all night in the Houston baggage claim out of a stubborn desire to Not Move Any More. I wanted to hop on the metro to Seoul Station and stay the night there, forgetting about the un-find-able hotel.
Then I reminded myself that that was an eminently stupid idea. I'd be miserable in Seoul Station, undoubtedly staying awake until the dawn trains began to run. I told myself this had happened before--I had thrown an internal hissy fit before, and had been rewarded for calming down and being patient enough to go to the hotel in Houston. The same strategy would work again.
I trundled outside with my extensive luggage and a nice man who worked for the airport found me a taxi who could drive me to the hotel, a couple of miles away. I spoke some Korean to the driver, and he seemed to think it was precious that I said I was "Sorry that I was really really sleepy".
In the hotel, the girl at the counter spoke perfect English and directed me to a very nice room. It was a holiday, so I couldn't order food, meaning that I had to eat my special chocolate for dinner.
I slept for 9 hours, then got up and took the shuttle back to the airport. 40 minute metro ride to Seoul Station, 90 minute train ride to my hometown, and a taxi ride to my apartment and I was back home. While leaving the train station, a nice man helped me haul my luggage up the stairs just as my strength was about to give out. So kind.
The cab driver was muttering to himself about why I had so many bags. I told him they were full of presents from my mother. I directed him to my apartment, but he kept insisting that I must be an exchange student at Korea University. After much persuasion, I was able to convince him in Korean that yes I did know where I lived and I knew how to get there. This is why you must learn how to give directions in Korean--because someday a taxi driver will not take your word about where you live unless you can repeatedly confirm it in your second language.
I got the bags upstairs, video-chatted with my mom, then slept for 12 more hours. About now, I feel like a person again.
Because this is home, too. Home is where my family is and home is also where I decided I want to live. By now, it's Sunday morning and I plan to go to midday Bible study with the girls in town, then make sure I have movies ready to play for the kids during the next two weeks where we close out the semester before taking another two weeks off.
Travel is crazy, but it's gotten easier. I'm not afraid of getting lost anymore. And I feel like I trust God more. I'm remembering more to take time to thank the Lord for what I have. On the flights, I was really uncomfortable, but I was able to talk to the Lord and thank him for my circumstances--the fact that I was going from one wonderful place to another wonderful place.
I'm very well taken care of, and my heart is full of thankfulness.
Safe and snug back in my apartment!
And it's still super tough to travel for that long, but I can definitely say that the return trip to Korea was easier than the trip to America.
Daddy and I learned that you really don't have to be 2 and a half hours early for an early AM flight leaving from Alabama because there are no lines. We waited for an hour before there was even a staff member available to check in my bags. But I got to talk more with Dad that way, so it was a win.
We had to take out 10 pounds worth of Reeses cups from one of my bags because it was overweight--Mom and I had weighed the bag at home, but she had helped me lift it a little, so the reading was off. But after a little shuffling through the luggage, it was back to normal weight.
When I went through security, I remembered how it felt to go through it the first time. When I went through airport security in August 2013, it felt like I was going to another planet from which it wsa doubtful I'd return. Almost more than actually landing in Korea, going across the airport security line felt final back then. It was interesting to go back through the exact same line and not feel dramatic about it at all--just part of the trip.
The flight from Huntsville to Houston was on one of the little puddle-jumper planes that would be terribly uncomfortable if you had to fly in them for very long. The problem with the little planes is that I can clearly see how little they are. I feel like if I leaned really far out of my seat, I could touch the other side of the plane.
It was coooold on the inside, too, making me glad I'd worn my coat. Like cars, planes have to be warmed up on cold mornings, and ours was also having an ice-melting solution sprayed over it. Soon we were off.
In Houston, everything looked familiar because I knew something about the layout of the airport. I still couldn't find anywhere to use my computer, but I had a little prepaid phone to call home and let them know I had landed. I found food based on which restaurant had the shortest line, and I got mentally ready for the big flight ahead--Houston to Tokyo was going to be 13 hours.
Houston to Tokyo was 13 hours, but it was an easier flight than Seoul to San Francisco had been at 10 hours. Because the plane I was in had TV screens on the back of every seat, not just located above the aisles. I could pass time by watching infinite airplane movies and thinking about how I'd alter their scripts to make them better.
Some Scripts Are Unsalvageable--Others Just Need Fine-Tuning.
Also making this trip better was the fact that I had an AISLE SEAT. I got up 6 times during the trip, all without disturbing anybody. And I learned that after you visit the lavatory, you can just hang out in the back of the plane, standing and stretching your legs. The flight attendants don't care, and you're not in anyone's way. It does a world of good for leg cramps, just standing for a few minutes. I didn't do that on my first flight to Korea because I didn't know what airplane etiquette was.
On the Houston-Tokyo flight, I was seated next to two Korean college boys. As everyone got settled into the plane, they were talking away in Korean and I figured I should come up with some way to let them know that I could understand some of what they were saying--it felt like eavesdropping, even though all they were discussing was the time difference between Houston and Japan.
So after a couple minutes, I turned to them and asked "학생들이에요?" (Haksaengdeulieyo?) or "Are you students?" They confirmed that yes, they were college students, and one of them told his friend I was pretty, even though they knew I could understand them. I said that I lived in Korea, and told them the name of my town, which they actually knew. They asked if I went to a certain college in town, but I told them I taught English at a middle school. The whole short convo was in Korean, and that's all we said to each other for 13 hours, but I was proud of myself for initiating a conversation in Korean.
I can only exchange a few sentences, but I can chat with new people in my second language! Wheeee! The only difficulty was I didn't know which verb ending to use with the college boys--if they were high school students, I could use 반말(banmal), the informal style, and if they were about the same age I'd use 존댓 (jondae), the formal style. But they were just in the gray area where I didn't know how formally to speak, so I went with jondae anyway, closing my sentences with "요"(yo). That's the fun bit about Korean; you have to adjust the way you speak depending on your age, relative to the person you're speaking to.
I did try to sleep. I tried like a trooper. I used my special neck pillow plus the tiny in-flight pillow, and turned my head every which way. Then after trying one position for a while with no results, I'd reshuffle all my stuff and snuggle into another pose.
To No Avail.
I got maybe one hour of sleep out of the whole enterprise. I could chalk up no sleep on my first two overseas flights to nervousness or excitement, but after three times, I begin to think that I simply have irreconcilable issues with sleeping while sitting up.
Not sleeping did, however, afford me the opportunity to see other people sleeping in all sorts of contorted positions, some of which made my sleeping style from the last international flight look downright normal.
One woman was bundled inside a giant winter coat and spent most of the flight with her legs thrown sideways over the armrest, out into the aisle. The couple across from me had an empty seat between them and they took turns stretching out over it, effectively making the middle seat into an actual bed. The college boy next to me leaned his head forward and slept that way--head hanging straight forward, with no prop or pillow. I watched other people fall asleep sitting up, then catch themselves in mid-fall.
I Was Essentially the Only One Not Doing This.
Not that this particularly earned me any Awesome Points. Nobody noticed. It wasn't like the other passengers were going, "Who is that cool girl in 42-H? What amazing posture! Just look at all the sleep she's not getting!" But it made me feel better that I looked mostly human for the duration.
I did make the mistake of drinking the cups of water the flight attendants offered--my huge water bottle had finally run out and I was thirsty, but as my grandmother had warned, the cups of water on the plane were clearly just sink water. Taste tells. I few minutes after drinking the water, it made my throat burn and I was sick to my stomach. So next long flight, I'm bringing two water bottles.
Narita Airport in Tokyo was surprisingly full of Americans. About half of the crowd at the airport were foreigners, and English was the language I heard most. I found a currency exchange and got some dollars flipped into yen, because it was the first time I'd been to Japan and even if I was just in an airport, I wanted souvenirs.
Four Thousand-Yen Bills, Front and Back View. About 40 Bucks.
Japanese yen feel kind of like the opposite of Korean won, because while 1,000 won is $1, 1,000 yen is $10, and the thousand-yen bill is (I think) the smallest bill they make, so there is no dollar-bill equivalent. In Korea, we have the equivalent of $1, $5, $10, and $50 bills, but no twenties or large bills. In Japan, the bills seem to be all 10s, 50s, and 100s, plus a lot of little coins.
This is Ten Bucks in 3 Different Currencies--Dollars, Yen, Won.
It was interesting hearing the airport announcements in Japanese, because it was an intriguing "foreign" language, while Korean sounds homey and is something I can halfway figure out. In the little airport store, I tried to buy souvenir things that were both very small (so i could fit them in my carry-on) and which seemed distinctly Japanese, because most of what they had in the store was stuff we have in Korea, just with slightly different packaging.
I Went With Hello Kitty Rainbow Figurines.
Plus some Japanese chopsticks--which are more rounded and quite different from Korean chopsticks--with bright colors and cat designs. And some erasers shaped like sushi. I also got these special Royce refrigerated chocolates that had to be kept in a sealed bag with a cold pack, to keep them from melting.
I had seen these in a K-drama, but apparently they're originally a Japanese brand that just opened their first store in America in 2012. They came with a coating of bitter cocoa powder and a little stick for prying apart the individual wedges without getting chocolate on your fingers. These things were groovy and special! Too bad I had to eat them all for dinner.
The Tokyo to Seoul flight boarded, and I was seated next to the same Korean college students! This time, I was sitting nest to two of them while three of their friends had the seat behind us. The boys waved happily to me and when one of them told his older friend that I had sat by them on the itnernational flight as well, the older guy announced it was a 대박사건 (Daebak sageon) or "Jackpot event/ lucky coincidence". Again, we didn't talk past my asking in Korean why they'd been in America and them replying that it was just a winter vacation trip, but I talked! I asked a question!
The flight was just over 2 hours, and it was okay. though I could tell I was slowing down, physically. I wasn't exhausted, but I was working with limited energy.
I kept running through my mental list of things left to do:
1. Land and go through security.
2. Get baggage
3. Somehow get to the hotel room Mom booked for me (since I was arriving at 9:30 PM, and trains to my hometown wouldn't run until 6 AM, leaving me in Seoul for all that time.)
I got into a wonderful English conversation with a Korean woman in her 60's--she had lived in the states for 30 years and was getting to visit her sister for the first time in 7 years. She was awesome. We talked about everything in the world and for the half hour it took us to get through customs and baggage claim and everything else, she had adopted me. It's so nice to meet lovely people.
We parted ways, and though she said her family could drive me to my hotel, I insisted that I could find it on my own. It was not entirely true. None of the hotel brochures in the airport matched the name of the hotel I had written down and the girl at the information desk couldn't reach the hotel at the number provided.
So I have a hotel room somewhere out there, beneath the pale moonlight. I just don't know where the hotel is, I have a non-working phone number for them, and my Korean phone doesn't have enough bars to use the internet and look the place up.
The Frustration, It Burns.
And as I learned on my trip home, when I get truly exhausted, I get angry. After 30 hours awake, I want to make decisions based on how upset I am. Last trip, I nearly stayed all night in the Houston baggage claim out of a stubborn desire to Not Move Any More. I wanted to hop on the metro to Seoul Station and stay the night there, forgetting about the un-find-able hotel.
Then I reminded myself that that was an eminently stupid idea. I'd be miserable in Seoul Station, undoubtedly staying awake until the dawn trains began to run. I told myself this had happened before--I had thrown an internal hissy fit before, and had been rewarded for calming down and being patient enough to go to the hotel in Houston. The same strategy would work again.
I trundled outside with my extensive luggage and a nice man who worked for the airport found me a taxi who could drive me to the hotel, a couple of miles away. I spoke some Korean to the driver, and he seemed to think it was precious that I said I was "Sorry that I was really really sleepy".
In the hotel, the girl at the counter spoke perfect English and directed me to a very nice room. It was a holiday, so I couldn't order food, meaning that I had to eat my special chocolate for dinner.
As Dinners Go, They Weren't Bad.
The cab driver was muttering to himself about why I had so many bags. I told him they were full of presents from my mother. I directed him to my apartment, but he kept insisting that I must be an exchange student at Korea University. After much persuasion, I was able to convince him in Korean that yes I did know where I lived and I knew how to get there. This is why you must learn how to give directions in Korean--because someday a taxi driver will not take your word about where you live unless you can repeatedly confirm it in your second language.
I got the bags upstairs, video-chatted with my mom, then slept for 12 more hours. About now, I feel like a person again.
And So Glad to Be Home!
Because this is home, too. Home is where my family is and home is also where I decided I want to live. By now, it's Sunday morning and I plan to go to midday Bible study with the girls in town, then make sure I have movies ready to play for the kids during the next two weeks where we close out the semester before taking another two weeks off.
Travel is crazy, but it's gotten easier. I'm not afraid of getting lost anymore. And I feel like I trust God more. I'm remembering more to take time to thank the Lord for what I have. On the flights, I was really uncomfortable, but I was able to talk to the Lord and thank him for my circumstances--the fact that I was going from one wonderful place to another wonderful place.
I'm very well taken care of, and my heart is full of thankfulness.
Friday, January 17, 2014
1-17-14 International Travel Never Goes Like You Think It Will, No It Doesn't
4 AM: Typing at 4 AM because my internal clock is still set to Korean time, and thinks that it's early afternoon and therefore time to be productive. By the time I finally adjust to American time, it'll be time to fly back to Korea and experience the shakeup all over again. So far I don't have a sleep schedule so much as a time-when-sleep-attacks and a time-when-sleep-is-unobtainable. Like a cat; when you want sleep, it's gone and when you don't want it, it won't leave you alone.
But I'm happy. I'm with the parents and the siblings and it's like I've never left. I've seen my grandma, and I'll soon see my aunts and uncles and cousins and my church family and maybe even my former American students, so I'm looking forward to that. Got out of the house for the first time in two days this previous night--saw my baby brother's basketball game, and he's a beautiful doll of a child. I missed cheering him on at sporting events.
I'm surprised at how undramatic and non-eventful it is to be back home. I was picturing an arrival home with a swelling soundtrack and a 360 camera swirling around to capture our tearful hellos, but instead it was just nice and calm, like I'd only been away to college for two weeks instead of on the complete-other-side of the world for 5 months.
And now I know I can get home! Having never visited (let alone lived) in another country, I didn't know how hard or easy it might be to return home. In August, the move to Korea was such a big step it felt like I was hopping on a steam boat to the New World, never to see the motherland again. But, no. Flying internationally is no fun (and I mean reeeeally no fun, more on that later), but once it's over, you're back with the ones you love. It's so...simple. You can go and you can come back. My mind is kind of blown by how I can have two homes and move between them. It's like discovering I can step into the linen closet and beam myself to Narnia, but with a four-hour layover.
Now the flight story.
I was healthy and hadn't lost any possessions when I got home, but I did look decidedly run down and a bit fuzzy, like a rumpled squirrel.
My flight from Incheon to San Francisco was...12 hours? Not as bad as the 15-hour flight from Chicago to Incheon on the way over, but still so eerie and daunting it was a hairsbreadth away from an episode of the Twilight Zone.
To clarify my stance on flying; short flights (1 to 6 hours long) are fun. They are adventurous. You eat airplane snacks, you watch airplane movies, you do light reading and listen to your ipod. Short flights make you feel all special, like you are Such A Person who is going The Places and doing The Things.
Long flights (8-15 hours) make you forget your ties to humanity. The essence of your mortal soul, crafted and put into your fragile body by the Lord himself, begins to tarnish like a silver spoon left in the screwdriver drawer.
Or maybe it's just me.
I learned a teensy bit from the last flight experience. I packed a full water bottle, so I did not again enter the Thirst Dimension. It was glorious--I was no longer at the mercy of the drink cart, though it came by often enough. I also packed lotion, so every time the top layer of my hands threatened to crack apart, I could soothe it into staying with me.
But I could not sleep. Maybe one of those little life-vest neck pillows could have helped, but I doubt it. I was in economy, so space for my feet to move and knees to bend was not something that existed. I was seated between a middle-aged Korean man and an elementary-aged Korean girl on the aisle side, and the darling girl never made a peep any of the five times I had to crawl over her to get exercise or brush out my squirrelly hair.
The sound system on my seat wasn't working, so I could observe the in-flight movies but I couldn't hear them, and the subtitles were in Chinese. You haven't lived until you've sat in a totally silent airplane under the darkness of a simulated night while endlessly scanning the meaningless Mandarin subtitles of "Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs: 2".
The crazy thing was that Minji, the adorable little 6th-grade girl beside me, was fine. She sat through the whole flight like a small adult, she slept a little, and generally looked like she was not coming apart at the seems.
While I laid over on my food tray and wedged my head catty-corner in the space between the seats, hoping nobody sent an elbow my way. My neck vertebrae smooshed together a bit while doing so, but I probably got 15 minutes of semi-sleep out of this position before simply flopping forward with the airplane pillow between my forehead and the seatback in front of me.
But I'm happy. I'm with the parents and the siblings and it's like I've never left. I've seen my grandma, and I'll soon see my aunts and uncles and cousins and my church family and maybe even my former American students, so I'm looking forward to that. Got out of the house for the first time in two days this previous night--saw my baby brother's basketball game, and he's a beautiful doll of a child. I missed cheering him on at sporting events.
I'm surprised at how undramatic and non-eventful it is to be back home. I was picturing an arrival home with a swelling soundtrack and a 360 camera swirling around to capture our tearful hellos, but instead it was just nice and calm, like I'd only been away to college for two weeks instead of on the complete-other-side of the world for 5 months.
And now I know I can get home! Having never visited (let alone lived) in another country, I didn't know how hard or easy it might be to return home. In August, the move to Korea was such a big step it felt like I was hopping on a steam boat to the New World, never to see the motherland again. But, no. Flying internationally is no fun (and I mean reeeeally no fun, more on that later), but once it's over, you're back with the ones you love. It's so...simple. You can go and you can come back. My mind is kind of blown by how I can have two homes and move between them. It's like discovering I can step into the linen closet and beam myself to Narnia, but with a four-hour layover.
Now the flight story.
I was healthy and hadn't lost any possessions when I got home, but I did look decidedly run down and a bit fuzzy, like a rumpled squirrel.
My flight from Incheon to San Francisco was...12 hours? Not as bad as the 15-hour flight from Chicago to Incheon on the way over, but still so eerie and daunting it was a hairsbreadth away from an episode of the Twilight Zone.
To clarify my stance on flying; short flights (1 to 6 hours long) are fun. They are adventurous. You eat airplane snacks, you watch airplane movies, you do light reading and listen to your ipod. Short flights make you feel all special, like you are Such A Person who is going The Places and doing The Things.
Long flights (8-15 hours) make you forget your ties to humanity. The essence of your mortal soul, crafted and put into your fragile body by the Lord himself, begins to tarnish like a silver spoon left in the screwdriver drawer.
Or maybe it's just me.
Behold, Time Hath Looped In Upon Itself.
I learned a teensy bit from the last flight experience. I packed a full water bottle, so I did not again enter the Thirst Dimension. It was glorious--I was no longer at the mercy of the drink cart, though it came by often enough. I also packed lotion, so every time the top layer of my hands threatened to crack apart, I could soothe it into staying with me.
But I could not sleep. Maybe one of those little life-vest neck pillows could have helped, but I doubt it. I was in economy, so space for my feet to move and knees to bend was not something that existed. I was seated between a middle-aged Korean man and an elementary-aged Korean girl on the aisle side, and the darling girl never made a peep any of the five times I had to crawl over her to get exercise or brush out my squirrelly hair.
The sound system on my seat wasn't working, so I could observe the in-flight movies but I couldn't hear them, and the subtitles were in Chinese. You haven't lived until you've sat in a totally silent airplane under the darkness of a simulated night while endlessly scanning the meaningless Mandarin subtitles of "Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs: 2".
I Have No Way Of Knowing If This Image Made Sense In Context.
The crazy thing was that Minji, the adorable little 6th-grade girl beside me, was fine. She sat through the whole flight like a small adult, she slept a little, and generally looked like she was not coming apart at the seems.
While I laid over on my food tray and wedged my head catty-corner in the space between the seats, hoping nobody sent an elbow my way. My neck vertebrae smooshed together a bit while doing so, but I probably got 15 minutes of semi-sleep out of this position before simply flopping forward with the airplane pillow between my forehead and the seatback in front of me.
Pictured: Position Number 1.
I thought it would never ever ever endm but as in August the flight did end and the last two hours were by far the easiest. I said goodbye to sweet baby Minji and wished her luck on her camp (she was going to Boston for Social Sciecne camp), I grabbed my bags (and my life-giving water bottle) and waved farewell to the sweet flight attendant who had praised my Korean speaking ability and who informed me as I got off the plane that someone with my verbal skills was bound to get a Korean husband soon (not if he sees the horror that is me trying to sleep on an international flight, I won't!).
In San Francisco, there was a 3-hour wait that stretched into more like 5 hours because something was wrong with the heating-cooling system on the flight to Paris, so United Airlines gave our plane (the Houston plane) to the Paris people, then fixed the heat on the Paris plane and gave it to us, eventually.
The flight to Houston was fun because it was daylight and nobody was sitting beside me! I had some nice conversation with a sweet girl from Texas, two seats down, and I watched movies and read a book, just as if I hadn't been awake for 30 hours.
But I began to foresee the scheduling problem that would ensue when we landed. Thanks to the Paris Kerfuffle, my plane would be landing in Houston at 9:05 PM. My flight to Huntsville was scheduled to leave from Houston at 9:05 PM. When I landed, United had vouchers waiting for all of us with connecting flights--none of us could get another flight until afternoon of the next day, so they were sending us to a nearby hotel, with vouchers for dinner and breakfast.
I was simply stuck in Texas and losing a half-day with my family, but other people had it far worse.
One woman needed to get to New Orleans right away because her elderly mother was being cared for by people, and she couldn't afford to pay them an extra half-day. I listened as an employee told her that if she hurried, she could possibly get to a far-off terminal in time to catch her New Orleans flight, which hadn't yet left for some reason. I'm pretty sure he was just trying to get rid of her, because he didn't offer to find her a cart for transportation or even try to call and see how long her flight might be delayed and to let them know she was coming.
As she tromped off to the gate in question, it looked like this employee was wasting the time of a tired woman who was worried about her mother. At 11 PM, she and I wound up at the same motel, so I know she missed the flight. I'm sure the service staff had had a long day of dealing with exhausted and irate (if not downright nasty) passengers, but really...that's not a good way to treat people. Even, "I'm so sorry, there's nothing I can do" would have been honest.
I did manage to get my 3 PM Huntsville flight switched to a 8 AM Birmingham flight, a destination my family could still pick me up from. But the matter of what to do overnight was not settled--the hotel I had a voucher for was not one I had heard of before, so it sounded potentially shady and I didn't want to leave the safety of the airport.
But! Once I went down the escalator, there was no going back up--I was locked away from the food and the stores, which had all been shutting down anyway. I was stranded in the baggage claim area, where the only food was in vending machines, the pay phones were pricey, and the wifi for computers was non-existent.
My Temporary Home.
I made an angry pay phone call to my Daddy. "I've been awake forever. The food is up there and I am down here, and I don't want to go to this maybe-shady hotel." Oh, I was whining to beat the band. Spoiled toddlers had nothing on me. Daddy knew I was way past using clear logic, but he hinted that a few hours of rest in a hotel room beat chilling in the baggage claim any day.
He was right.
I waited outside for a hour, searching for the shuttle to the inn. I struck up an impromptu friendship with a girl bound for Buenos Aires who raced mountain bikes competitively, plus a military girl who was being deployed to the Middle East. Finally I got to the hotel (which was not shady) and got a real dinner delivered (Texas Jalapeno Burger), plus some actual sleep. Daddy, you are a genius.
Next morning, I took the shuttle back to the airport and sat across from a young mother with two sets of twins--2-year-old girls and 6-year-old boys. The talkative 6-year-old twin sat by me and we discussed how cold it is in Canada, how hot it is in Hawaii, and how I sound just like his friend Ellie, though I don't look like her. Darling child.
At the airport, I went through security again and the TSA agent patted down my hair. MY HAIR. My braid was apparently of a size where it could conceal weapons. So. If I ever need to hide something, I'll know where to go.
The flight wasn't bad, and Daddy and my brothers were waiting for me on the other side. Flying is crazy, but God looks out for his children and maybe teaches them a little patience as they go.
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Tuesday, January 14, 2014
1-15-14 Home in the States!
10 PM: After 5 months abroad, I'm home in Alabama for a 2-week vacation.
All the things happened on this trip...I'm getting the hang of international travel, and I'm happy to be home!!!! But I still can't sleep on planes though, so that means I got about 4 hours of sleep out of the last 40.
All the things happened on this trip...I'm getting the hang of international travel, and I'm happy to be home!!!! But I still can't sleep on planes though, so that means I got about 4 hours of sleep out of the last 40.
This Is Me, But Less Dignified.
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