4-13-15 Cookies and 2nd-Grade Gangsters

6 PM:    First cooking class with the 2nd-graders went well.  For the first period, the kids were bored as a gourd because only 4 of them could cook and I hadn't figured out what to do with the rest of them.

But me and HS worked out what to do with them for Friday, so the problems are mostly solved. Yee!

Today, I had a good time with Dongwoo, who has always been a kid with high English but who has never been particularly interested in chilling with me, unlike the other kids. But today I pointed out that he helped me more than anybody else did, and he grinned. I think we'll get along better in the future!

Changho suggested that my nickname should be "Lovely" and he's probably going to keep using it, if I know him.

Daehyun, who loves me, noticed that I'm friendly with Chanhee (who also loves me), which naturally led to accusations of dating, because 2nd-grade logic works that way. "Teacher + Chanhee" was written in a heart on the board after class, so according to Monday's conversation class, I'm a couple with one of the biggest gangsters in 2nd grade.

But I think it's mostly positive attention for Chanhee, which is good for him. He's always in trouble for something. Last year, he gave his homeroom teacher fits and never obeyed at all, and this year I've already seen him kneeling in the stone-floor hall outside the big office, doing punishments for smoking.

I didn't know his name until this semester, but he's my boy. I want him to be healthy and happy, and anything sweet I can do for him is all to the positive side of things.

Jungyoon, a little fireball of joy and fun, offered up a great commentary on the cookie-baking and took it upon himself to reshape the "ugly" cookies into prettier shapes.

I found out that if a cookie recipe calls for 2 sticks of butter and 1 egg, you can use 1 stick of butter and 2 eggs and get a similar result--knowledge gained!

I had a batch of cookies leftover after class, so I fed them to 1st-graders who muddled their way into class. SG had one and she said it was good, so score!

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4-10-15 #Thanks 22

11 PM   Here's the Thank List and stuff I wrote on Tuesday, because school takes up load-boocoodles of time. :-)

241. Surprise ddeok, in nice little ribbon-wrapped packages, sent to all the teachers by one of the 3rd grade moms.

242. Finding out that it's my baby JH's birthday today, planning for his present tomorrow.

243. Gradually filling in the the color in my Secret Garden grownup coloring book.

244. Beomjoon bellowing "Your hair is YELLOW" for no good reason. It's been yellow for the past 2 years you've known me, little bear.

245. Chatting with EJ Teacher on the walk to school, trying to cultivate a new friendship.

246. Row upon row of cherry blossoms in town. Spring sprang everywhere.

247. Listening to JY teasing students--her style is totally different from mine, but the kids love it and respond well to it.

248. Looking forward to the girl-teachers-only teachers' dinner tonight. Should be fun!

249. Talking to 1st grader Yoongyu, about how he lives in my neighborhood, which is why I see him so often on the walk home from school.

250. The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe still being fun to watch with the kids after all this time.

1:30 PM Had my first office hours today. None of my 2nd graders came by, but plenty of 1st graders did, most notably Rook, who is one of the kids who loves me most, and who I recently found out was one of the school athletes.

Every year there is one athletic representative for each grade. When I got here it was GiantShion for 3rd grade (by the way, Shion surprised me on easter Sunday! He walked up quickly and said 'surprise' just as I was walking into English service and he was leaving Korean service. It's a good thing I have Shion's profile programmed into my mental database of "People Who Are Safe and Who I Am Glad to See," because my first reaction to seeing him was one of joy and not of alarm. Because he's big enough to make you jump back a bit, if you didn't know how sunshiny and loveable he was.)

Anyhover, the first year I was here it was Giant Shion, then Loud Jinsung (who I befriended), then Won, who i believed hated me for more than a year, though that now seems to be inaccurate. the best year, Youngjoon was added to the lineup, and now it's.  Won, Youngjoon, Rook, all lining up in the school vestibule and waiting for their training sessions.

Rook wants to know how old I am because of course he does.  I still tell them all that it's a secret, but I did add that i that been to college, grad school, and taught in America before coming here.

Rook says it doesn't matter that I'm old because I'm still totally lovely and a "golden beauty" (if you look up this phrase in Korean, it primarily yields pictures of Scarlett Johansson). I begin to think that Rook will never have a bad thing to say to me.

We also had a spiritual discussion. I go to church with his classmate, Joyful Hyunwoo, and Rook said he'd heard that. he asked if I went to church in America too, and wondered how church in both countries compared.  Then Hyunwoo walked in and they went off OK on a separate discussion about church, which was really sweet. Maybe more of my boys will come to English services! Who knows?

4:20 PM. Well, wonder of wonders class 2-5, 2-6, which gave me fits last week, was darling today. Once I figured out that what Hyunmin and Chanmin and ESPECIALLY Hansem want is attention.

So I give them attention. I compliment their pronunciation and laugh at their jokes and give them the side eye when they're being marginally mean to each other.

Last week I was pretty flabbergasted with them. This week, deciding to be charmed by them worked wonders. They were so pleased and so content with being liked and  being part of a fun, jokey atmosphere. It was like our own little club and it was grand.

4-4-15 #Thanks21, Baking List, and Infinite Eunjis

8PM    Glorious day of watching educational videos, gently exercising (yes, after 15 hours of sleep, I recovered enough to walk on my treadmill), studying Korean and baking vanilla cookies for an Easter brunch tomorrow. I feel so happy!

My illness was definitely bad-food-related because I'm at almost 100% capacity today. Oh, and I'm so enjoying the day. Here's some thankfulnesses I found in the past week:

234. Apple scented face wash.

235. Warm running water.

236. Learning my new 1st graders names.

237. Post-sickness, eating all the crackers in the world.

238. A dream of contentment, showing me that I already have the life I want, the one of deep joy.

239. Smell of vanilla from cookies, floating on the air.

240. Consolidating my notebooks. Tearing out old notes, reviewing my vocabulary, keeping my writing space productive.

And I'm working out how to do baking with my conversation boys on Monday. The budget still hasn't come through for the class, one month into it, but it shouldn't cost more than $20 for me to get the supplies we need. Mainly, it's just re-buying bowls and utensils from the Korean equivalent of Dollar General, so that we're not using stuff from my house.

My notes, they look like thus:

Current biggest issue is that the cookies need to cool, and they do that best in a freezer. Nearest freezer to us is a floor away because there are no offices on the 2nd floor. And since this is during class time, I have to be careful about sending kids trotting off to go put stuff in far-away fridges, just in case somebody objects.

Anyhoosier, I think I'm on the right track. Monday's gonna be exhaustrifrying without me trying to bake with the babies, but I'm gonna do it anyway, I think. It'll be good for all of us to try a project.

Tomorrow's Easter! Whooo!  Preschool egg hunts, then brunch with the other Americans, then English worship service, then small groups, then Easter dinner at my friend's house! 'Tis a full and happy day, the day of resurrection. :-)

In other news, one of my from-last-year kiddos, Chaehwan, friended me on Facebook. I added him because I actually could remember him...

Only One of These Ducklings Is Your Duckling.

Good Luck Finding Him.

The big and hilarious problem with sorting out Facebook friend requests from Korean teenagers is that I'll only accept the requests of children I personally know ( I get asks from high-school kids who are friends with my former boys), and they make it next to impossible to discern their identity. 

Reasons Why I Can't Tell Who My Kids Are:

1. Inaccurate Profile Pictures. Instead of having a picture of themselves, even a fuzzy-grainy photo, a distance shot, or a pic of them in the midst of ten other people, the boys will choose to display their favorite female celebrity.

If I get a request from a kid, I will certainly remember his face, without a doubt. But his profile picture will not be his face, but rather a face which he enjoys looking at. For example:

Eunji, from A-Pink

Chorong, from A-Pink

Hyeri, from Girls' Day

And the students all like the same girls, so it's not just one boy with these as his profile picture! If you believed photos, I'm friends with 5 Eunjis at least. 

2. Inaccurate Extra Photos. Facebook has an option where you can look at all the photos a person has uploaded, if they make that public. If I get a request from a kid and he's got a standard Eunji-pic on his profile, I check his extra photos to see if there's one that's, you know, actually him. And in about half of the cases, there will be an old selfie in there. It will refresh my memory and I'll know that yes, I did teach this particular Youngjin, back in fall of 2013. He was smart and I often saw him hanging out at my neighborhood playground.

But. 

Sometimes you click the "Photos" tab and it's just more Eunjis.

Student Un-Identifiability Increases 

As the Amount of Eunjis Approaches Infinity

3. Video posts. Grown-ups sometimes post videos to Facebook, but we write about our lives, too. The kids are more prone to post funny video after funny video, with no content related to their life, which would be helpful in figuring out if they're my student. If a kid has written a timely post in Korean that says, "Sports Day was boring!" then since every school has different sports days and he can only be talking about one event, I'll know if he's one of mine. but they only sometimes write real-world-related things.

So,

back to Chaehwan. I saw him last week, in the window of the boys' high school next door. Often, when me and JY go for our lunchtime walk around the soccer field, our former students will be at the windows and they'll yell down at us through the giant fence. It's darling.

I hollered a hi to Woojin, Duyeol, Hojin, Other Hojin, Junsu, Taegyoon, and a few others, but when I saw Chaehwan's face, his name escaped me. I knew it wasn't Chansu or Changyo, but I couldn't place which "Ch"-name he was.

Next day, I got a friend request from him and remembered, "Oh right! It's 'Chaehwan"!" Whew. Request accepted, name-remembering crisis averted.

I remembered his face well because he was A-level and I taught him for three semesters. However, Chaehwan was never one of the ones who tried to be close to me. He was unfailingly pleasant, but he wasn't funny or brilliant and he didn't try to make conversation. 

Today, he asked in English on one of my posted pictures, "Teacher, do you remember me?" Youngjoon, one of my old favorites, took the liberty of replying to him, "no she doesn't," before I had a chance to write back. What I wrote was, "Chaehwan, you always helped me and KBR by locking the door when class was done, and you have a new baby sister, don't you?" He "liked" my comment, and I knew I'd gotten my info correct.

Crazy thing is, I never-never would have pegged sweet Chaehwan as a kid who cared about being remembered. But he noticed that I didn't call his name at the window. And he still wasn't sure if he was known, so he asked in public forum. And thank the Lord I had a few key facts set aside in my mind, to produce so that Chaehwan could be validated in front of Youngjoon (who was just teasing him, but these things are always more important than they seem).

You never know who wants to matter. Might as well value all of them and commit as many of their details to memory as you can. Because one day, someone surprising and unlooked-for will want to know if you remember their new baby sister. 

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4-3-15 Sick, Contemplations on Age, and Office Hours

7 PM:

Missed you.

It's Friday and I got through the school day by sleeping for 4 class periods in the nurse's office. I spent all last night vomiting--seems to have been bad food, not a real stomach flu.

Anyhyperdrive, I kept tabs on my body and determined that I could make it to school. I managed to sit through my first 2 classes and let them study, but I couldn't last any longer. JY walked with me to the nurse's office and I got some medicine.

I actually did eat rice at lunch, a fair amount of it, so I felt really convinced that I was on the mend. Despite feeling like that walking dead, I knew the bad stuff was out of my system.

After lunch, my 2nd grade students Dohyun and Dongsup came by my curtained hospital bed to inform me that it was class time, but I told them they'd just be with HS-Teacher today. Our double convo class just couldn't happen.

After school, I actually felt well enough to walk home, and Dohyun rode his little bike after me to make sure I was okay, He's SO SWEET. I remember when he was in my second afterschool last year and I thought he was a 2nd Jiyoon, a pint-sized troublemaker, and he's turned out to be my great comfort and joy in many situations.


Here's writing I did on Thursday, before I got sick:

1:22 PM. Well, almost as soon as I halted my thankfulness habit, the worry bug bit. Today, JY pointed out that this year's 2nd graders aren't quite as happy with their homeroom teachers this year because all the 1st grade female teachers are young and pretty, while the 2nd grade female teachers are mostly older ladies.

It made me a little sad and worried for the future because I'm not going to get younger, obviously. This is a one-way train and getting older is where it leads.

Doors this kind of student-behavior mean that if I'm still teaching when I'm 50, none of my students will pay attention? Will I be less valued, less loved, then?

Then I recall my beloved high school English teacher, who was almost 70 and was my daily light and inspiration. And the super-cool ladies of the English department at my college, who were knowledgeable and polished.

I can't fear age. And I won't.

Good put me in a body like anyone else's, subject to the same processes as anyone's. it's all a gift, the coming and the going.

1-1, 1-2 class was great. They're SG's kids, some of them, and they're just charming and a joy to be around.

Kyeonghun, one of my greatly like 2nd graders hung out after class to talk to me about Easter, about how he's Catholic and today is Holy Thursday. He said, as he said last week, that he enjoys talking with me but that he's upset because there's never enough time to do so.

I suggested visiting my office, but he said the teachers don't like kids to visit there, and that's quite true. I've got to wrack my brain a little to do his time to talk with kids like Changho and Kyeonghun who don't feel like they're getting enough time.

My current idea: have office hours in the English room every Tuesday-Wednesday-Thursday from 1--1:30 for kids who want extra talking time. Mondays and Fridays are really busy for me, so those days might not be practical, but it's a possibility at least, for some of them.

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3-26-15 #Thanks20 and Strong Minds

10 PM:

Life is good and I'm so happy.

Though I keep quite busy, getting lessons done and prepped ahead of time, making sure my ducks are in a row. Here's some notes I made on Wednesday:

221. Lavender sweater for today! Soft and sweet.

222. Pretty purple turtleneck, bright.

223. Being told that I look like a deer, and learning that that is a compliment--it means to look wide-eyed and innocent.

224. Changho asking if I feel better today, after noting that I had a sore throat yesterday.

225. Mr. B giving me an even nicer class list than I had before--this time, complete with like green carry-folder.

226. Eggs for lunch. I go so crazy for protein.

227. Plenty of Pocari to drink when I'm thirsty--soothes those final bits of sore throat.

228. Realizing that I am in God's debt, and he is not in mine.

229. the book, The Undercover Economist, my current nonfiction read.

230. Sound of gentle silence in the office--this too, is home.

231. 3rd graders being unexpectedly delightful.

232. Plenty of tissues when you need tissues.

233. Frank Sinatra songs. I'm quite nostalgic for eras I've never lived in.

11:40 AM

Class 3-5, 3-6 was bountifully splendid. I walked in the for and they were all waiting to pounce and scare me, which for them was clearly a gesture of massive affection.

It set the mood perfectly. I was grinning from the begging of class onward. My boys. They know they're loved.

And I need to take a moment of appreciation for Mr. B, too. In the past I feel like I've complained about him some, but he now let's me call the roll in class because he knows that I'm trying to learn the new kids names and visual confirmation helps so much.

Also, he's been doing the dialogues with me in front of the kids, helping me demonstrate the pieces they're supposed to memorize. It's very effective and it was his idea, too--he's been a big blessing already this semester.

My friend SY came by my desk--she said she's worried about me because of my isolated position, but she concluded that I'm ultimately alright because I have a bright face and strong mind, she said.

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3-21-15 Best First Saturday Class Evarrrrr....

6:30 PM    Had a GRAND day with the Saturday English class.

I was under the impression that I had to get the introductory speech at our assembly, so I was really stressed about that, but it turned out that I didn't have to. Relief! I simply had to be present at the ceremony, which only involved smiling and waving.

My Hyunseo was the student representative for the kids, so he had to present the Vice Principal with a document and say some kind of "swearing in" pledge for all the kids entering the program. I told him he did a great job and that he had a really cool voice. He said, "I know."


I knew I was going to do a serious/interesting film discussion on the first half of Pride and Prejudice with the kids, but I was stressed about what exactly I'd talk about, I had an hour and a half between commencement and when I needed to start teaching, so I took that time to sling together a really cool outline of what I wanted to talk about.

Because I wanted to strike the right balance of discussing serious thematic stuff like Marriage, Finances, Social Hierarchy, the Importance of Manners, etc. and also making it fun and funny.

 

It succeeded beyond my wildest dreams.

The kids were the best audience ever. In the history of life. They kept laughing and answering questions and they were easily like my American kids back home. Our literature classes were always informative and funny and stunning, and this was just the same.

One of the girls had read Pride and Prejudice translated in Korean, so she knew the plot well. The other kids had no clue, but I was shocked by how invested in the story they were. The boys didn't know that they were supposed to have an innate male resistance to Jane Austen, so they were all up in it. (And now that I think of it, my own dad, who's one of the manliest men I know, has always liked Jane Austen, and I always admired him for it.)

We wrote essays at the end, and it was great. My next class with them, we'll watch the other half of the movie, and they're looking forward to it. I am, too. I just fed them Oreos today, but I might spring for for-reals baking next time.

I asked my JH about how he liked being a 2nd-grader. He immediately started talking about his homeroom teacher, NG. I didn't realize that JH was addressing a complaint rather than a positive attribute when he said, "You know, NG is very chic". I agreed and said he was a really cool person. JH looked confused, so later I looked up the definition of "chic" for Koreans--it doesn't mean fashionable, polished, sophisticated, like it does in English and French. It has some of that connotation, but it more commonly means "cold" or "stand-offish". 

So that's a little sad, that NG's not showing his warm side to JH yet. JH is made of hearts and moonbeams--he's designed to love and be loved, and I know his homeroom teacher last year (Adorable History Teacher, who moved to the boys' high school this semester), really showed him the kind of sweetness and appreciation that built up his spirit.

I saw Sangbin again, which was great. I love him so much and since he lived in America, i can be slightly sarcastic with him and he gets it and thinks it's funny. He asked if the 6 giant boxes of Oreos on my desk were for them, and I said no, they were my lunch because this is what Americans eat, and didn't he remember our lifestyle? He died over that one.

My and JY went out for lunch, along with Jung-Y Teacher, a math teacher who is a very nice girl (she's one of the people from my October vacation, though I haven't talked to her much since). We had good convo, mostly in Korean. It's good practice for me.

Got my  nails done! Which was a tremendous relief, since I haven't had them done since November. Too long to go without cute nail art! :-)

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3-20-15 Late #Thanks19, From Thursday

9:20 PM

Yesterday, my internet was not working too well, so I couldn't post anything. This is Thursday's stuff. I continue to not quite get enough sleep, but to still love my life and gratefully accept all that God offers.

From Thursday:

211. Sunny days after a deluge of rain.

212. Surprise ddeok from the new teachers, a little variety box showing just how diverse a food rice cake can be.

213. Hyunseo, just everything about my Hyunseo. So smart, so sweet, so clever. I'm lucky to teach him twice a week.

214. Orange flavored vitamin water. Are there any vitamins in you? I know not. For my part, I care not, for thou art delicious.

215. I-Love-Yous from Yeonghan, who first said he loved me two years ago, and who has always meant it, and always been a bright spot in every day.

216. SG, willing to go fetch the 3rd grade kids for me when they were confused about where they should be for class. Her willingness to help.

217. Getting to talk with a friend last night, realizing that so many of her concerns echo my own. Being able to offer her counsel and consolation because I've be been there.

218. Having strong arms, lean and steely and ready for anything! I feel like I could scale a wall, honestly.

219. My keychain, a length of ribbon with my USB, computer key, door key, and a silver cross pendant on it.

220. Anticipating my lunchtime walk with JY, since we have ample sunshine and balmy, breezy weather to enjoy.

그대여 나와 함께 해주오 이 봄이 가기 전에
Be with me before the spring ends

11 AM: Gyuseong walked me to school this morning. He's a 3rd grader with surprisingly good English, who hangs out with Jeongminnie often. we discussed whether I'll be playing board games with the k the is at lunch time again this year. I think I should start.

Had Gyuseong in class today actually, a Giant Class of 3rd-graders where there are the grips combined into one. They were my first class that was not really fun. They weren't bad, just not enjoyable in the way that the other kids tend to be.

We'll just give it time! I'm sure they'll get more awesome with time--our first day was just a little confusing because they came to class late and didn't have their levels sorted yet.

Came downstairs to find Hyunseop, Sanghyeop, and Boulder Minsu talking animatedly with JY, and they were talking about me. Turned out, they were requesting to be taught by me since they dropped to C level, which is not where they want to be.

I've got one more class today--little 1st grades, which should be grand. Then I've got tomorrow, which is very very super full, and I've got stuff on the weekend, too.

Saturday class starts in two days, and I've got a fun lesson prepped for that. Then Sunday is preschool (Yoochiboo!) stuff at 11, go home then English worship at 4. Our new English pastor asked if I'd be part of the leadership and I said I would, so there's fellowship after the service, then leaders' stuff after that.

And I want to help, but the idea does occur to me that I'm really losing my sleep-in mornings. But Saturday class is only once a month, and it's not like I want to quit Yoochiboo teaching just because it means waking up slightly later.

It also occurs to me that when I become a parent, that may be the end of sleep-in days, period. Is it? Children=no more late mornings ever? Do I represent the end of my mother's rest? The nap stops here.

2:30 PM  Last class over. They were SG's kids, some of them and I seriously very very much like this crew. I'm having a little trouble with my co for this class, though? She's Mr. B's substitute and I can't quite jive with her style of class management (introductory speech to the kids about how their first infraction of the rules meant a warning, second infraction meant getting hit with the stick).

Which might have just been a speech with no intent to actually follow through, but it felt bad. It also got the kids dead quiet and stiff and worried when I wanted them to be opening their minds and unlocking their mouths to try a difficult and daunting language.

Anywhee, things ended up fine. She sat in the back and let me do my thing, and the kids left smiling. Right now my question is,  can I or should I ask JY to let me teach these classes on my own?

I've had many classes to handle solo in the past, so I'm fairly confident I can do it, plus these children know me enough to have an idea of my character--I don't believe they'll be a problem.

At lunchtime, I got to see Hyo a bit because he and I went upstairs to watch Gyuseong and Jeongminnie play chess. Hyo gates teased for walking with me, and now he's big enough to at least hit people for talking smack. I let him do it. I don't know how bad his situation might have been in the past or how it's affecting the present.

Now that its truly spring, the problem of 3rd graders and shirts, or the lack thereof, has again returned.  On my way to my last class, Soonhyuk was pulling on a shirt in the hallway instead of in his classroom. When he saw me coming, he lifted the shirt back up and asked, "best body,  right?" I told him that he was very strong and special. Hopefully, that one compliment will hold him, and we won't have to repeat this after every soccer practice.

Did I mention taking out a college friend of mine for coffee the other night? I met her at church and even though she's just here in Korea for one semester, she seemed well worth friending.

And it was fun for me, being the unnie again--the big sister. She's 20 and I'm 28, which was almost exactly the age spread between me and one of my best friends at home. we actually complemented each others traits pretty well. Around college students, I'm suddenly this seasoned veteran who knows stuff about Life and How Things Work. and I feel refreshed by her new happy-wonderment view of the world.

My dad sent me an email, encouraging me to ask God to show me things when I read the Bible. my first reaction was that that seems unlikely. I don't know why I look for and fully expect God to reveal things to me from things that friends say or things I read elsewhere, but I notably don't expect the Bible to do the same?   huh.  It's worth exploring. And I miss my Daddy,  I really do.

3:40 PM.  Okay, first thing I read in the bible was randomly assigned to me by a bible app--Joshua chapter 1. It's all this stuff about "every place the sole of your foot shall step, that have I given you" and "I will never fail thee or forsake thee" and "be thou very courageous" and "turn not aside (from the law) to the left hand or the right."

It was kind of splendid and scary. It was written about the Israelites occupying a country, but I feel like it has some application for me in my new place, too. Or is it silly to think that? I prayed for God to show me something in his word, and then I flipped open a bible so and THIS came out. Is it foolish to trust that process? I don't know. But I think those verses are encouraging.