3-9-15 This is the Tired-est Me I've Ever Been, Convo Class, and #Thanks11

4:30 PM    Okay, that tagline might be an exaggeration, but I'm really quite deflated.

It turns out, not only do I have 4 classes back-to-back on Monday (Most I've ever had before was 3 back-to-back and THAT felt like running sprints), I have the 2 Convo Classes immediately after lunch.

That means I have 6 classes on Monday, with only a 1-hour lunch to break up the constant throb of engaging attention and eliciting responses.

I do love my job and I had a reaaaaally good day, but I'll have to make sure I get super-extra-more sleep on Sunday nights to prepare for this marathon. In fact, I think I'm going to nap in a few minutes.

NG has gotten his light fixed, and we got to talk about last Friday's staff meeting. Last year, I was always asking what went on in the staff meetings because I wasn't invited and I wondered how things were decided at our school. My curiosity is over--these meetings are very dry and last for a whole hour, during which you have to sit very still. NG says he usually falls asleep, and suggests that I bring a book to read during the next meeting, to avoid the same fate.

Today, a 3rd-grade Chanhee who had always been hard for me to teach (he was in the Giant Class), was really grand in class. A good talker, full of ideas and responses.

Sehong touches my arm every time he walks by, which habit I think he got from me. Because I tend to squeeze elbows or tap shoulders as I walk past.

Another Chanhee, 2nd-grade Neighborhood Chanhee (so called because he lives near me and I see him all the time), was grand in Convo Class. He's C-level, but he's fun and charming and tries so hard.

Baby 1st-graders are getting brave. Introductions and love confessions are happening, usually at the same time. Some of these kids are literally small enough to fit into my backpack.


Here be the Thank List!

131. Sparkly blue shirt as part of the day's ensemble.

132. Not having to wear a  scarf this morning because it's pleasant-cold not painful-cold.

133. The dizzy-but-accomplished feeling of having taught 4 classes back-to-back. Didn't know I could do that.

134. The enthusiasm of the new 1st-graders, their jumpy, snappy joy.

135. The face of Jeongheon, a 3rd grader who smiles like an angel and who brightened my morning.

136. Mystery meat patties at lunch. You may be chicken, you may be shrimp, you may be possum, but you are most certainly comforting to me.

137. Meeting Proposal Heejoon's baby brother in the 1st grade. Same daaaarling eyes and ears.

138. Rough wild howling outside, literally rattling the windows, with me safe inside.

139. New highly-likables in my Convo Class.  I'm pretty sure they transferred from another school because I don't recall them from last year.

140. Kids in the hallways, giggling over inside jokes.

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3-8-15 #Thanks10

8:45 PM:

Today was nice. Hung out with the Yoochiboo at church (had more English practice sessions with Hanmi and Yejoon, who has learned the meaning of "lion"). Got fed fruit gummies by Chaemin, my baby who is literally 20 months old and is too young to be with the preschoolers, but we're all richer for having her around anyway.

Tomorrow starts convo class, whee!

Annnnd Thank List:

121. Delicious chilled boiled cabbage, cooked last night. I don't know if anyone gets as excited about cabbage as I do.

122. Our Korean pastor's prayer IN ENGLISH for new English worship services. It was very thoughtful and touching.

123. Wearing size 6 jeans today. Yes. 6. It took a lot of hard work to get there and it's very satisfying.

124. The almost-spring weather today. Soon I shall have to put away my leopard-spotted snow boots.

125. Realizing I've streamlined my footwear to 7 pairs, if you count the pair of inside shoes that lives in my school locker. There's  something nice about it all being simple like that. All my shoes are comfortable, too. And cute.

126. Lint rollers, instantly rendering black dresses presentable.

127. Being able to quickly text my mom pictures of the outfits I'm putting together to wear next week, to get her affirmation that the turtleneck which I think goes with that jumper does, in fact, go with that jumper.

128. More new college girls at bible study! We'll just have them for this semester, through to July, but it's always nice to meet people who love Jesus.

129. Bread and peanut butter for my Monday convo class, purchased at Paris Baguette and placed in a jaunty little bag.

130. A gift for my tutor, wrapped and ready for Wednesday. Something to show her my appreciation for her guidance.

3-7-14 #Thanks9

9 PM:  Thank List.

111. My food processor, which has the power to make ice cream! Go, little engine. Churn away.

112. Staying in on a Saturday, choosing to chill and recoup energy instead of going to Seoul.

113. The easy availability of Korean subtitles for films, which allows me to present films-as-literature to my kids, with them having built-in  comprehension.

114. Pecans. My granddaddy used to have pecan trees, so when I eat them, I feel comforted and wholesome and full.

115. Working up just a slight sweat after a one-hour workout, under the AC. Even in cool temperatures, I'm gettin'  it done!

116. Deciding to teach my conversation class like a lit class and getting really excited about every aspect of planning for it.

117. Empty laundry basket, all the clothes cleaned and hung up to dry.

118. Purple ink on the page.

119. John Green's video explain last year's conflict between the Ukraine and Russia. The more you know.

120. Writing a list of all the ingredients we'll need for our convo/baking class. Thinking of all we can make, all we can do.

'Twas a good day. Just tons of exercise, cooking, cleaning and lesson-planning. Totally productive and happy. :-)

3-6-15 How Long I've Been Here, #Thanks8 and Sehong-Charming

10:30 PM:  Good day! Here's the Thank List:

101. New baby students whispering furtively, trying to figure out who I am. The surprise and wonder as they arrive at the only possible answer: I'm their new English teacher.

102. Reconciling a difficult matter with a friend, knowing we'll be okay after discussion and forgiveness.

103. Cream-colored turtleneck, tucked neatly under my jumper, the white and black patterned one I wrote with my clear-lens glasses last Halloween.

104. Wind biting gently this morning, not the vicious sting of previous days--March comes in like a lion.

105. Crisp bits of office donut, delivered as a present to JY from her much-loved former students.

106. Chanyoung, laughing over snow.

107. HS's blue sweater, which is totally her color and makes her look buoyant.

108. A drawing I still have from my graduated student Jungbok, which is a stack of cartoon pumpkins for Halloween, drawn with friendly faces.

109. banana "nice cream" which is nothing but frozen bananas run through a food processor and which has the beautiful, perfect consistency of ice cream. Yesterday's late-night treat.

110. the nostalgia of listening to a k-pop song that I first heard back when I was preparing to come to Korea. I first started looking up Korean stuff in September 2011. I'd decided to go there by November and mom gave her blessing in December 2011. I came to Korea in August 2013, and now it's March 2015...I've been in my dream-country for as long as I dreamed about my dream-country. It feels kind of like those people whose marriage has lasted as long as their pre-married life. (just realizing that my dad has been married to my mom for over 50% of his total life.) ALSOOOO...I taught in America fall 2011, all 2012 and the beginning of 2013, and I've taught in Korea fall 2013, all 2014, and the start of 2015. My work experience levels in the two countries are. Exactly. The. Same. o_0

10:50 AM.   Had a good first class. It was noisy 3rd-graders, but we got along well. For the first time, I really had to tell them to quiet down and get into place, but they did comply just fine and we settled into a good movie.

One of the kids called me a ghost, and I wasn't sure if it might not be some kind of a racial slur, but according to JY it isn't. It's just that Korean ghosts are typically females with long hair, which fits my description.

And that particular kid just wanted attention--he later turned into the best question-answerer I had, despite being C-level.

One of the Tall Babies--Sangbin--sat in the back and quietly explained the plot to his friend, as he was one of the only kids who had seen it before.

(I used to mentally refer to Sangbin and Sehong as The Tall Babies because they were both about 6'1 in only the second grade. But after a lot of persistence, Sehong graduated to being My Sehong.)

And Chanyeong was in this class. He quite liked The Chronicles of Narnia, and he couldn't stop laughing with joy when Lucy first encountered the snowy branches in the wardrobe.

I heard that I have 2nd grade conversation class starting today, and I find that frustrating because it wasn't supposed to start until Monday, but it'll all work out.

1 PM:  Good news; I don't have to have conversation class today. HS will just take role and we'll class plan, and that will be that. Nice and easy!

Also, I may be at the center of another minor turf war between 3rd-graders. I accidentally ignored Sehong in the lunch line and squeezed Soonhyuk's hand right in front of him. It's a big lunch line, I'm walking by quickly, and I can only resister so many faces and make so many greetings as I walk by, so I inadvertantly skipped him.

But Sehong isn't the kind to let such things slide. As soon as I walked back into the main building, he emerged from a gaggle of friends, and headed straight for me. Before I knew what was happening, he'd gone in for a side-hug/Prince-Charming-style one-handed waist grab. That's a new one.  I just patted his back and said hi while extricating myself from the embrace, and thanking God that I was wearing my winter coat, for maximum distance.

As I walked away, he said "bye, my darling!" and behind me I heard some other boy retort, "no, MY darling!!!"

Thus it begins.

3 PM: Had the best meeting ever with HS, and we worked out something fantastic for next week's conversation classes. Luckily, the Monday class and the Friday class are different kids, so we can repeat the same lesson twice in week.

Add to that, we restart the class in May after 8 weeks, so that further fixes things. Whee!

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3-5-15 #Thanks7 and the Glories of Solo-Teaching

8:30 PM

Good day! Here's the Thank List.

91. Sehong, who calls me darling, then when asked to define "darling" says it means "my wife"!

92. Technology Teacher coming in to fix the computer in 3-11 for me. Everything ran smoothly after that.

93. my jumper dress with hearts on it. I'm starting to love heart-patterned anything.

94. Having a really good conversation class plan--detailed enough to be well prepared, but loose enough to allow for input and changes.

95. Being THIS CLOSE to getting another good native teacher for my school's Saturday program. I want my kids to have somebody smart and sweet, so I'm laboring to connect with the best girls I know.

96. Figuring out the perfect method for eating a giant apple in the English room--more complicated than you might believe.

97. JY working tirelessly on preparations for the gifted class, comparing schedules, making calls like a diligent woman who gets stuff done.

98. Squishy baby 1st graders and their darlingness.

99. Office coffee, simple little stick coffee mix that smells and tastes so homey. Korea-homey, which is distinct from America-homey, homie.

100. Having plenty of practice time to get used to the CD's for the new classes. Getting comfortable, getting familiar.

11:23 AM

Had good first classes. Early morning 2nd graders were pretty silent, but that's mostly because a lot of quiet kids were stacked in one class. We did okay, and my next class was even better.

I had 3rd grade with SG, and the room was charming. I had Sparkly Yeonghan, Criminal Beomjoon, Hyunho, my Sehong, and a ton of other well-known ones. They cheered when I walked in,  then cheered for SG, and were just generally fun.

It was good to see SG because it was our first class together. We both lamented the fact that we only have 2 classes together this semester, because last year we had 3, then 8, which was ample time for us to get close.

She observed the glorious truth that the 3rd graders seemed to have transformed into much more mature versions of themselves. They are almost invariably charming and delightful, and I'm so pleased to see them grow into young men with good attitudes.

This morning, NG was waiting for me at the crosswalk, already standing there at the railing so we could have our morning talk. His homeroom is fine, but something's wrong with the electrical wiring in there and he temporarily doesn't have lights. We laughed a bit over quirks in our schedules, and it was just a nice way to start the morning.

3:30 PM

Taught the 1st grade babies for the first time! Cute and super sweet. Thus far, they are not the wild adoring fan boys of last year, but I've still not encountered them en masse yet. But I did manage a classroom of 24 of them okay by myself.

I was by myself because I have one coworker who doesn't attend class. It's.... Just the way things are. It's not especially annoying, but it's  interesting because there's no way I could have handled an entire homeroom of mostly low-level babies if I hasn't had a lot of Korean to start with.

Any wimble-womble, I'm fine and the class was charming. I think it might have actually been more fun to have them all alone, and I think I'll have some decent strategies for teaching the tiny ones in the future.

Talked more to NG at lunch: it's not his classroom light that exploded, it was his house light, which is rather more of a problem.

Vice provincial came over to talk to mm me and JY about a recent film that he and I had seen. It was a pretty good convo and I appreciate him making a point of connecting.

 

3-4-15 #Thanks6, Crosswalks, and Heejoon

7:30 PM:

Thank List, then writing from earlier today!

81. The last of the green-tea KitKats from Japan, sweet bits brought home from Narita airport.

82. Knowing that there's two giant bowls full of cooked veggies (broccoli and spinach) waiting for me in my fridge back home thanks to a lot of industrious veggie-cooking the night before.

83. Purchased tickets to Seoul this weekend, for a little shopping excursion, and the possible purchase of oats.

84. Heejoon, his unfailing sweetness and fun personality. How precious to have him around.

85. Knowing that I'll be able to get snacks for my conversation class boys in the future, figuring out a way to get good and necessary things to them.

86. Mango lotion at my desk, the smooth-scented perfect remedy for cold-cracked hands.

87. Covers of well-known songs, styled into another genre. Unexpectedness paid with the familiar.

88. The (joking) fuss put up by the older guy teachers when Jeongminnie and Hyunho both came to the big office to fetch me.

89. Warm ears. This is the coldest day of March, and the wind is nippy, but indoors you can feel all your extremities and know you are well.

90. My wall at home, covered in cute letters and notes from friends and students.

10 AM:   Had the nicest talk with NG this morning. He paused his crossing guard duties and walked over so we could chat about school. We both start teaching from the book next week and he was talking about his ideas for teaching the 2nd grade B-levels by himself. Unfortunately, the new schedule says that I've got the 2nd-grade A levels with another co, while NG has B-level.

But he's got cool plans for them, so it'll all be alright. And it's nice to know that while I was feeling bummed at having no classes with NG, this morning neatly proved that we're both gonna be just fine this semester. Not having any joint classes doesn't mean we won't still see each other--if nowhere else, then at least at the crosswalk every morning.

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11:30 AM:

Teaching 3rd graders like a boss!

Wooo! Disco-ball sky-glitter woooo!

I had 3-6 by myself, but they were lovely. I wasn't sure whether they would be, but Proposal-Heejoon is in there and he loves me. As is Sangyeop, who is a truly good heart, and a handful of other well-liked ones.

We had a very happy, comfortable class of us chatting and laughing, and Heejoon telling me that my letter A's look like Q's, then telling me that my spelling mistakes are cute.

We had fun, and I think I got more connections with kids I'd previously not known.

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3 PM:

And another excellent class passes. This one I also had alone, but we did fine. At first they were quiet and not so involved but then they picked up and were sitting on the edge of their seats. It was pretty hilarious to hear their commentary on the movie.

I had a lovely time with the 3rd graders. How sweet and how fun to be their teacher.

Jeongminnie now has a plant-buying hobby, he tells me. He buys tiny growing herbs like thyme and mint for his mom to use in recipes. Right now, everything he really wants to buy doesn't properly bloom until May, so he'll be obliged to wait a bit before continuing his hobby.

This was a right cold day, but I think it's all warmer weather from here on out. :-)

3-3-15 Wheeeee 2nd-Graders!, #Thanks5 and Charming-Voice

7:30 PM

Well, sorrow lasts for a night but joy comes in the morning, doesn't it?

WHAT. WHAT DID YOU SAY?

I said I feel better. I no longer have the sads. After an atrocious Monday, Tuesday was right lovely. Here's what I wrote in the afternoon, Thank List, then anecdotes:

71. My snack-apple, giant and red and delicious and perfect. Sustenance that tastes like sunshine.

72. The bookcase JY got for me--desk doesn't look messy anymore!

73. My new locker, which not only allows for further decluttering of my desk, but is also the first locker I've ever had and which even has my name on it. It makes me feel safe to have a locker--not sure why.

74. HS being sweet to me, finding me a room key when I locked my stuff in.

75. Toasty-warm English room to rest in, handy for maps and study and thankful thinking. My peaceful spot.

76. SY, her joy upon seeing me, making me welcomed. May I do the same for others.

77. Meat at lunch! So much meat, and tasty tasty pajeon, the green onion pancakes cooked up all golden.

78. Finally seeing my Jeongminnie's face in the lunch line after missing him yesterday.

79. New nametag on my desk, a cute font with a little green tree on it. This is my desk! It's me! This is where I'm planted!

80. My apple corer-peeler-slicer arriving. future healthy snacks for the kids.

Not too bad of a morning! Had one class with HS where I tried out my new idea of playing a film and doing commentary through it, asking questions and then having everybody recap the show afterwards.

Went pretty well. Had some sleepers, but that's fine because the first week doesn't really count anyway--we start in the book from next week.

I had several low-level boys who I'd never met  answering questions in Korean. It was great to know that they'd understood the English just fine.

At lunch, I went up to SY's office and we went to lunch together. She had to leave early though, because hilariously, the baby 1st-graders don't know how to find the lunch room, how to queue up for food once they're there, or where to sit once they have their food. So SY will have no free time with me for a month, but we can start sneaking in hangout time in April.

Me and JY walked around the soccer field twice and! AND! anñnnnd! The back half of the soccer field adjoins the high school next door, so we saw our boys!!!

Ahhhh! Aghhhgh! Fsjtsgjgydjjfarshsggblagh!

I saw Geon, Yonghan, Soccer Minwoo, Minsu, Cheolho, Hojin, Woojin, and my Minjoonie. I nearly split my face from smiling--the sweetest thing ever. JY yelled greetings to her kids, I yelled to mine, and everyone was joyous.

And on our next lap around the soccer field, we were greeted by boys we didn't know, so it's fair to say that a lot of the people in the school were inspired to get in on the reunion act.

I spent a couple of morning hours in the English room, writing Emily Dickinson poetry on the whiteboard and getting in some rest. I felt a it more calm and peaceful after putting my head down for a little while. Sweet, healing sleep, and the reminder that everything is in God's hands.

He's Got The Whole Bunny In His Hands. 

(And I'm the Bunny.)

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7:37 PM:

So actually that "fine" first class with the 2nd-graders was the worst one of the day and my next two classes were killer awesome woo-woo strobelight!

The first class was not as good because I went in feeling stressed. I had no computer key, I wasn't sure I was in the right room, and I wasn't sure who would be me co for the class, all of which had me bummed. My attitude influenced the outcome.

But for the next two classes, the kids went wild when I entered the door. These were my loved ones from last year, my 1st-grade buddies grown into midsize. Each time, I chatted with the whole room before HS got there, and half the kids (the low-level ones who I've never taught) kept exclaiming in shock and murmuring in awe that I was using Korean. I guess a larger portion than i think has never heard me do it.

We watched our movie, pausing for questions, and they were INTO it. Both classes were clever and involved and I had the best time ever.

And I got the cutest/weirdest compliment from Giseok, who has always loved me. I was chatting to the room and he slumped over his desk and said in Korean, "Ughhh, her voice is so charming. Ahhh..." I was shocked into silence at that one. Another kid explained, "Very very good voice, teacher." Funny how nice you can sound when you're happy and resting peacefully in the company of your kids.

So I taught three homeroom classes today, and from next week we'll divide into levels and I ought to have level A in the English Room, which is a big win for me. 

2nd-grader Minsang texted me today (and got in a phonecall, too--he's actually one of the few kids that want to talk on the phone). He said that his friends all think I look exactly like a doll, but he apologetically admitted that he told them I only look somewhat like a doll.  He includes tear-filled emojis to let me know his deep grief over not complimenting me highly enough.

After our 3rd class together, HS came over and hugged me and said in awe, "You're a good teacher!" I was stunned and bubbling over with happiness. This is the first time she's seen me in my element, truly connecting and reveling in opening students' minds, But I don't want relief to turn to pride in my accomplishment--I can't let anything nasty in!

Walk on, give thanks to God, stay peaceful, and be ready to be surprised by joy.

dun-a-dun-a-dun-a---'Prise!