10-21-14 Coffee Sticks

11:30 AM  

Made banana bread for the big downstairs office and for the 2nd grade office, and I have a couple of extra pans at my desk for other people.

SY-Teacher, who is getting to be more and more of my buddy lately, came by my desk o give me a coffee tumbler she got with the purchase of a massive pack of coffee sticks.



In Korea, we drink our coffee by the stick. It's called "Mix Coffee" and it takes one sweet mix and and one plain mix combined to give me a cup of something I really like.

Class with 2-7, 2-8 went fine and the boys kept commenting to themselves that the sports-terminology game was really fun. SCORE. You know you've made it when they're gossiping sweetly.

10-16-14 Misspelling Grapes and Giving Advice

11 AM:  Eee! It's been a good day.

First class with 2nd-graders and SG2 was fine, and my 4th period is cancelled, I heard. Minjoonie's been at my desk drawing pictures of guppies, Dawww. These are pictures of a dragonfly he caught yesterday, and of the toothpick he made it hold in it's tiny insect-hands.

The other kids were writing sentences for me and HH wrote the word "grape" on a piece of paper in Korean, and I corrected his spelling because he used a ㅂ instead of a ㅍ in 포도, which is an amateur mistake. There was much gloating on my part!

Went to the special needs room and was made tea by their teacher, who says I'm looking pale and thin. SCORE. I was born pale, but the thin part takes work. I actually think it's just because I was wearing a coat and not wearing lipstick--nothing like a big coat and colorless lips to make you look like a refugee from Oliver Twist.

Tall-Byeonghyun (not my genius kid, but a 3rd-grade C-level with a sweet heart) came by to ask me for girl advice, of things. I love, love, love being asked for advice, and this one was particularly fun/challenging, because Byeonghyun doesn't have much English and giving love advice to teenagers is always a minefield of insecurity and emotions.

The story goes thusly: Byoenghyun's buddy introduced him to a girl, and when she talks to Byeonghyun, his heart beats super fast and he's happy. But they mostly text each other and when he confessed his feelings over Katok, she said she just wanted to be friends. His question was, he's going to meet up with her soon, with a group of friends, so how should he act? Which words should he say?

He said all this with such darlingness and sincerity, I was really moved. With the help of a really good online dictionary, we figured out the few words of his I didn't understand. What I told him to do was to be fun and interesting. Without mentioning his feelings again, he can make her feel comfortable and charmed by making fun conversation.

When asked what subjects he should cover, I told him that movies, games and music are a good start. I said that the choice is 100% the girl's--it's up to her to decide if she likes him, but if he's pleasant and interesting, it could make a girl take a second look. He said, "so girls like guys who are good at conversation?" I confirmed it, he made notes on paper and went off to class.

I hope I said the right combination of things. Byeonghyun's a precious kid and the 3rd-graders are all getting to that age where they're ready for their first attachments/ first heartbreaks. I want to encourage them to respect a girl's wishes, to be as cool, fun, and vibrant as they can be, and to have good self-esteem regardless. You are special, guys!

BY's been at my desk asking me about Portal, a game that was popular when I was in college. He wrote "the cake is a lie" on my paper, which was a huge internet joke in like, 2008. Reminds me of my younger days. i never played the game, but I loved the song over the closing credits, which is a apparently from the point of view of a computer who has been workign against the player the whole game. At the end, the computer claims to have won the game and to be "Still Alive" despite the best efforts of the player. I'm really fond of the tune, the high voice, and of the oddball lyrics.

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2:30 PM   Class with 3-9, 3-10 was good. Like, really good. They are really charmers, and they did well with their dialogue. Seohyung heard me singing to myself and said I should sing at the school festival, to which I replied that I already had to do so. When I asked him if he was going to perform, he said he preferred being a host to gaining the spotlight himself.

Minsu the Cat has been the apple of my eye lately, and today in class I told him directly that he was a cat. He was delighted by this, and proceed to act up in teensy-tiny ways that didn't actually upset the class but which showed what a sponge he is for attention. I like my Minsu.

My Wooseok came by, but when i asked him to write a short sentence, he couldn't. I had to coach him through writing "I like pizza" letter by letter and he didn't know that names of the letters unless I drew them in the air with my finger.

I've been in good spirits today, but my kids keep thinking I'm gloomy so I'm trying to put on the smile more clearly.

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10-15-14 Math Terms, Tucked-In Hair, and Facebook Friending

10 AM: No classes for first two periods, so yay!

Jeongminnie came by to look up math terms in English in my computer. For some reason he decided that he needed to know "isosceles" and "exterior angle" in English as well as Korean. While he was doing this, Minjoonie (who I've taken to calling by the nickname "Sunshine" because of his yellow coat and happy disposition) stood behind me, resting his chin on the top of my head. He's so adorable, words fail.

I wore a scarf to work today because I'm trying to get the last little bit of wear out of my summer dresses, and they don't have the high throat-covering necklines that are becoming increasingly important this fall. I had forgotten that when true fall and winter hit Korea, you have to cover up every patch of skin, parts you never think about--neck, ears, wrists, the whole lot.

But as a result of wrapping the scarf around my hair then pulling my coat on over that, everyone thinks I've cut my hair and kids are doing double-takes to make sure they've really seen what they think they've seen. Nope, y'all. It's still there, just  tucked in.

I got an apology letter from my Seongyoon, a 1st-grader in my afterschool. Yesterday, he and Seungsu would not stop fooling around, so I sent Seongyoon to the back of the room. He was extra crestfallen about it, so when he left class, I had to work to bring a smile back to his face.

Seongyoon's one of the kids that whole-heartedly loves me. I didn't quite expect for him to be so bummed about me sending him to the back, but he was and I had to try to bolster him up. I handed him a piece of paper and told him to bring it back to me as homework--he was supposed to draw a picture. Instead, I got a full-page apology in not-entirely-comprehensible English, but it was beautiful and special and heartfelt. I wrote him a return note that I'll deliver to his class in just a little bit.

Mr. B came by to confirm that I'll be singing at my school festival. No getting out of it now--I even told him the song title. He's going to get a 2nd-grader to play guitar for me, and that will be that. Despite my initial shock/fear, I'm really rather excited for this now.

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11:40 AM

Class with 2nd-graders went fine. But NG had to step out to take care of business, which is when Yunho decided to just not mind my orders to please sit down already. I had to make him and Gicheol come to the front to apologize to me. I was so glad when NG got back, because they do calm down for him. I'm concerned about his stress levels--he's got a lot of school responsibilities lately.

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3:30 PM   

Next two classes were okay-ish. With no game, teaching 1-7, 1-8 without a game is tedious with a capital T, First-graders simply do not understand a class which contains no game. Me and SG2 used the extra time to plan our open class next week. We've got 1-1, 1-2, which is not a bad group to have an open class with, and we're going to have them do a debate.

3rd-graders were mine all by my lonesome, and it was hard to get them to learn their pieces, but 3-1, 3-2 reaaally like me, so we had a million inside jokes, even though I ended class with a headache.

Youngmin got on my Facebook and friended himself.

Yeah. Sat by me and used my account to look up his own self and click "add friend". Why am I still surprised that they do these things? Fortunately, my Facebook is 100% kid-friendly.

Minjoonie captured a dragonfly and proved to me that it can hold a toothpick. I'll add pics later.

I untucked my hair from my jacket after HH said I looked like Johnny Depp in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.


Tonight, me and ES-Friend are doing a 2-girl bookclub, and I'm quite looking forward to it.

10-14-14 Greeting From Minsu the Cat

8:40 AM    My first class is cancelled, and Minsu the Cat greeted me this morning--it's shaping up to be a good day.

One thing that Minsu and I never had was good recognition and greetings--we didn't have the kind of closeness that allowed for "hi, how you doing?" etc. But today on my walk to school, he was riding his bike within a small flock of other 3rd-graders and called out a good morning to me. Dawww.

And there are donuts in the office, and I bought coffee packets for everybody, so refreshments are well in hand!
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10-13-14 Height Differential, Grades Be So Low, and Bright Future

6 PM :   Was a good day. I didn't get to make my boys a game for this week, because the weekend was study, coat-shopping, orphanage visits, exercise, church, and reconnecting with important friends. But classes went decent without the fun bits--it was just more studious.


Minsu the Cat--one of the few students I've ever disliked--has been really cute to me lately and gave me an adorable argument about why I should give him more Pringles chips today. Good times with any kid are nice, but good times with Minsu the Cat are all the more special because he used to be so indifferent.

2nd-grade kiddoes found it important to point out in class that I am taller than NG, which I totally understood but pretended I didn't because they were speaking Korean. We were standing right by each other and he was leaned against the blackboard and I wasn't. I'm still not sure if I'm actually taller--more likely, we're dead even--but all I know is that NG got even quieter than usual and it took 20 minutes for him to say anything at all after that. He came over to intervene when both Soonhyuk and Daejeong tried to scoot past me to steal the microphone.

One thing I admire about Technology Teacher is how, though he is genuinely short, 5'4 at most, he doesn't ever let it show on his face that it bothers him. He's just got a beautiful heart and a kind nature, and nobody talks about his size. NG isn't small like that. But I guess guys never like being pointed out as being too short, even if they're statistically average.

However, the boys who pointed the height differential out--Taehyun and Geonhong--had other motivations, I'm sure. They sat in the very front row of class and stared at me, starry-eyed for half the time. Geonhong and especially Taehyun have recently decided that I am crush material (no idea why it suddenly hit them halfway through our 2nd semester) and it's not so much that they were trying to make NG feel bad as it is that they're so intensely focused on what I look like and on what anyone in my vicinity looks like.

Taehyun told me several times, with great sincerity, both during and after class that I was beautiful. At other times he was telling NG in Korean that he's handsome, so I know whatever Taehyun's doing is motivated by something inside his reservoir of contradictory little-boy feelings. He respects and adores his Guy-Teacher, but probably doesn't appreciate that Guy-Teacher is the only person in class capable of communicating with Girl-Teacher.

HS and I should be going out for coffee next week. I told her about my orphanage visit this weekend.

SG2 and I have an open class next week. *gasp* *bolt the door* *bar the window* *sprinkle holy water around the class*  But these are never too bad. I just hope to goodness I don't have a 2nd-grade open class in addition.

The midterm results are in and our 2nd grade boys were supposed to complete their English exam with a 70% average across 300 students. The questions were easy, and continuously revamped to be even easier. What our boys actually got was under 50% average for the 300 kids.

Ay ay ay.

I knew our babies were proven to have some of the lowest test scores in the nation in all subjects, but even for them, this is quite bad. Bless their little non-studying hearts; it seems that the experimental semester with no tests for them didn't really lessen their educational burden in order explore career options--it just made them even more indifferent to education and made them forget that their are consequences to not trying.

Bless them.

I feel worst for my little Jeongmin, who studied hard and didn't get a single 100 on any test. And I directly contributed to his not getting 100 on the English exam--he had answered a question in a way that would be conversationally acceptable, but not technically correct on a written test, and I agreed with NG's assertion that it wasn't right. And now Jeongmin's mom is going to have a fit over No Hundreds, and I had something to do with lessening the single Hundred he had in the bag, considering that English is his best subject.

Being an adult is so lame, sometimes. Of course I didn't tell my kid that I helped lower his grade. Though when he came to my desk today, he was more than just sad and defeated. He had the look of a guy whose wife left him or who lost his job, which he desperately needed to pay the second mortgage.

He put his head in his hands and told me that he wants to have a good future and wants go to the good English high school, but there's no way he will if his grades aren't closer to perfect. I petted his hair and side-hugged him and prayed out loud for God to give him peace and strength and to show him that he has a bright future.

And I picked up a tiny paper bag I had bought to put individual candies in--

Looks a bit Like This.

And I cut out a tiny piece of paper and wrote the words "Bright Future" on it. I put the paper in the teensy bag and handed it to him. I said, "This is a present for you, Jeongmin. It's your bright future."
He thanked me and took it before heading home.

I had a reason for picking the words "Bright Future". My youngest sister, when she was 3 years old, had a little baby t-shirt with those words printed on it. It was my favorite shirt for her because, due to various circumstances of her upbringing before she joined my family, there was no reason for anyone to believe she had a bright future.

She wasn't prized or valued. in an environment where people preyed on the weak, she was the weakest and the most preyed upon. I'm always inclined to dress little girls in a cute, lovely way, but I wanted to dress specifically her in a lovely way so that people could see a visual representation of how pretty she was inside, and of how loved and valued she was by her new family.

The darling little t-shirt was just a simple pastel cotton thing but when I'd see her wobbling past with the those words written on her, it symbolized everything that I believed about her and everything I wanted others to see. This baby has the protection of a holy God and the love of a dedicated mama, and no one is going to stop this baby from seeing good days.

When she outgrew the t-shirt, I kept it in a box with my other treasured memories. I don't know if I've told anyone (maybe Mommy?) about how much that shirt and that concept meant to me, but I like the idea that applying the words "bright future" to someone is like a step of faith, believing as you say it that this is how it's gonna be.

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10-7-14 Friending People and Gyeongju Goodness

10:40 AM

Finally got a chance to write! Whew. It's been a whirlwind this week. After midterms was our school field trips on Thursday, then on Friday and Saturday I was in Gyeongju with friends.

Monday and today, I'm just playing the kids movies because we have Sports Day tomorrow, then Thursday and Friday are holidays, so it's a really light week.

Last Thursday's field trip was amazing. I went with the 3rd-graders to Dongdaemun Design Plaza in Seoul, and it was amazing. They had some exhibits (like an art museum might have), but i didn't see those. I just did shopping and had to contaain myself from not buying everythign in sight, because everything in the sales places was artistic and special.

All I bought was a headphone splitter that allows two headphones/earbuds to be plugged into the same phone or computer so extra people can listen. And I bought a super lightweight umbrella that looks like a pink bottle. You can tote it around like it's a bottle of sparkly energy drink, then remove the bottle shell and hold it by the neck, unleashing your secret umbrella!

And it rained that afternoon, so not only did I have an umbrella when I needed one, I felt like a ninja every time I produced it.


All pictures are from Google Image Search--they're not my photos, but I did see these exact things. The visuals are very accurate to my experience.

DDP, sky view.

DDP, side view and internal view.

And me and YSR Teacher got closer. I was on the bus with 3-6, her homeroom class, and we talked a lot, using my phone dictionary to help out. We fell asleep on each other's shoulders on the bus, and resolved to talk more in the future. Turns out, we were both intimidated by the other girl and basically both thought the other person was too stunning to talk to. 

That reminded me that everybody's insecure and everybody's waiting to be reached out to. I have often thought somebody was too cool/pretty/serious to want to be my friend, but usually they're feeling like they need a friend, too. 

Then on Friday I rode 5 hours to Gyeongju, in a car with my teacher friends.

I live close to the part of this map that says "Korean Folk Village" 

and Gyeongju's on the lower right corner.

It was the bestest trip ever. Me and SG2, 1st-Math, Technology Teacher and Geography Teacher all went to this lovely historical place and saw all these UNESCO World Heritage sites, old temples and palaces that have been preserved for future generations because they're considered culturally important on a global scale.

Bulguksa! 

We also saw some landmarks lit up at night with their reflections bouncing off the lake below.

Hypnotic.

And old tombs of the kings that amount to massive golf-grassy funeral mounds.

Saw some folk villages.

And an ancient star observatory. 

Only, we saw it at night, so it was lit up and looked cooler.

And ate Gyeongju's famous bread, little rolls filled with red bean paste.

And the company was great. SG2 is fluent in English, Geography has English about on a level with Seongmo, one of my favorite smart 3rd-graders, and Technology and 1st-Math but had Not-Very-Much-English, but we all made the trip work.

I was so grateful for their kindness and friendship. How can you tell somebody that they made your world several shades brighter, just by inviting you along for a trip when they could have just as easily bypassed you, due to the language gaps? Anyhoodle, it was fantastic.

When I got back to school on Monday, I had baked extra bread to take up to the 1st grade office as a thank-you present, and some for my own office because Technology is in my office, and the other three teachers were in 3rd. From what I heard, the bread was inhaled within minutes and everyone liked it. Squee!

Today, me and HS-teacher made plans for coffee after school tomorrow. I want to be her real friend, too--someone to offer support and laughter. Her school life is harder than I think it is.

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10-1-14 Packages, Banana Recipes, and Orange Nails

8:20 AM   First day of October!

 I had this weird thing this morning where I had ordered books online and found they were delivered not to my apartment but to the convenience store two blocks away, because everyone in our neighborhood just knows that the convenience store is where parcels go to live.

Anyhow, my packages of books had been there for so long they got sent back or something. Dude. At least now I know that when I get a little text saying my package has arrived and it notably has not arrived, I can go find it down at the pyeonijeom.

Went to listen to Joonsung play piano this morning. Hugged Chanyeong and tried to teach Sungjae how to play Heart and Soul.

Word has reached me that there is a snake in the school! Apparently, yesterday, someone saw a snake downstairs. But I think it's more likely that a kid saw a snake far outside the school and the rumor got elevated until Mr. Slither was actually within the building.
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11 AM

Ha, I only had one pan of banana bread leftover today from yesterday, and I got an entirely different batch of kids hooked on it. The usual crowd came by, but I also gave some to Seongsu, one of the funniest 3rd-graders who was a real card last year when I taught him and who sings in the hallways. He gave me a thumbs-up of approval.

Our Science Teacher doesn't even ask for bread anymore--just comes over in his lab coat and gets a piece. This means a lot to me. I haven't formally asked many of the teachers to try the bread because I wanted to test it out on the kids first, but sure enough, it's actually truly tasty, so next week I'll start asking the adults to try a bit, too.

Yeongjoon, one of the clever 3rd-graders, took a piece when I asked him to, then as I was talking to Hyo, I noticed that Yeongjoon kept coming back for the crumbs. He cleaned the remainder of the bread pan, and I promised him that I'd make more on Monday.

Ee! It's so satisfying to have the kids like the food I made. Hyo was actually so enamoured with the banana bread, he sat by me and got me to dictate the list of ingredients while he wrote it down.I emailed him the recipe for good measure, taking out the hardest English words. I know from experience how frustrating it is to follow a Korean recipe, so I want to make English recipes easier for him.

How cool is that, my little guy wanting to bake his own banana bread?

Saw HH's mom in the hall. She asked me about my summer vacation with my family and I talked about how they'd moved to a new state, a place which I actually really liked despite being worried about it previously.

Minjoonie says his history midterm was really hard, and Yonghan says their next exam is PE. They're having a written test for PE, so I'm assuming they have learned a lot about exercise science and physical therapy, not just about how to jump around.

Emailed JY-Teacher a list of crafts and activities which I think will be good for our Halloween party. I'll keep my open for possible snacks and games, but I think I got the craft aspect nailed down.

KBR told me that she needs to get the lesson plans for Winter Camp (January 5-10?) together by Monday, because the new vice principal is a very detail-oriented person, and also so that we can put together a budget.

First off, whee! We have a budget! Last winter, I did everything on my own and it was not a success. Now with acutal budget to back me up, who knows what's possible? Secondly, I was feeling really pressured and worried about getting a plan together, but then I calmed down and realized that 5 days of 4 class periods won't be that hard.

We'll do a Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe camp! We'll watch the movie bit by bit, use the school kitchen to cook one snack per day, and make two crafts per day. I've been using Pinterest to compile ideas and I think it'll all turn out splendid. No need to stress.

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12:30 PM    Our lunch is at 1 PM apparently, Right now the homeroom teachers are eating burgers with their kids, so I'm not sure who B-Teacher and I will be eating with at one o'clock but my school mom tells me that's when the food happens.

Jaehyung came by to chat with me. He's not going on the field trip to Seoul tomorrow, so I'll be missing him. He explained to me why his fingernails are orange, and I still don't really understand it. It's some kind of art form or beauty treatment called  봉숭아물. It leaves fingernails stained orange, like this:

Not even exactly pretty, just oddly colored. I can't tell if it's done to look nice or to improve the health of the nails or what. I used to see this occasionally on students, usually female students, and I thought it was some rare form of nutritional deficiency. Like a special Korean-only finger disease. I'm really curious about what it's for.

Annnnnd I just broke up a fight in the hallway. Taekyeong from my 1st ever afterschool last fall and a 3rd-grader I don't know where about to throw down in the hall. Two friends were trying to keep them apart and I stepped into the hall to put my hand on Unknown Student's chest. He wasn't stopping pursuing Taekyeong and Taejyeong was about to escape his friend's clutches, so I yelled out for Office Leader.

Thankfully, Office Leader is a big, scary man and took care of the situation. He gave Unknown a stern talking-to and is now making the kid laugh. I like how he brings them back from their anger, sometimes.

Also, one of our graduated students came by the office and I led him to YSR teacher, his former homeroom teacher. It was a sweet moment, watching the reunion. :-)

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