reason #1 why i love rainy days in korea: the students tell me it is "laining" outside.
reason #2 why i love rainy days in korea: koreans are afraid of rain. okay, so maybe their rain is acidic and bad for you. but they don't go ANYWHERE without an umbrella, even if it is just sprinkling. we are supposed to have soccer club "meetings" (which means we go and play soccer) on mondays and they (all boys, of course) asked me, "are we playing soccer today?" "yes, of course!" i said. "but it's laining!" "yeah...are you a girl? are you afraid of rain?" i taunted them.
this past week has been full. and great. and amazing.
why i love teaching geography to ESL students #17: i get to show boy meets world in class.
blatantly obvious racial ignorance #34 (this one is for LUKE): i also showed a clip of New York and had them guess what city was being shown. i also had them list two reasons WHY it was that city and obvious answers were things like "statue of liberty", "twin towers". but one student wrote: "black people".
adopted family members #3, #4, and #5. maybe even #6: one day, after school in the office, an eleventh grade student asked me if i had any brothers. i told him i had two older brothers and he said "i want to be your brother". quite matter-of-factly. and ever since, he calls me sister and i call him brother. today, when we exchanged our family pleasantries, another student in his class said, "i want to be your brother. can i be your brother too?" and another boy, wanting to join in the fun, said, "can i be your sister?". hence, #3-5. #6 was a marriage proposal from a 12th grade student. more like a marriage demand..."marry me" as i was walking back from the cafeteria one day.
yesterday, besides being the infamous day of pi, was "white day" in korea. valentines day is the day for girls to give chocolate to boys, and white day for boys to give candy to girls. usually it is a confession or expression of love. my "brother", my "future husband", and a 9th grader were sweet to me, in candy form.
on a more serious note #1: thursday, i went to an 80th anniversary church celebration my student invited me too. i didn't realize it would be so formal, but they played a lot of classical music. she played violin in the orchestra, her mom played piano, and her dad sang in a choir. her family was very generous to me and the students i went with and took us out to dinner afterwards. they didn't speak much english, but their gratitude for me as a teacher was quite striking. i don't get a lot of interaction with parents, but they were wonderful.
i have a new homeroom class because they switched the students into "levels" - so instead of being a mix of english levels, we have high, medium, and low. i still have 9-3, so i have the "low" kids in my homeroom. they are fantastic though. they listen really well. 9-2 is the loud, fun bunch (although too loud at times) and 9-1 is a bunch of smarty-pantses. but i like them all.
PTL #1: the boy in front, joshua, was a difficult student last semester. he didn't ever want to study, he slept a lot in class, and hardly ever smiled. he failed my class and probably a few others. this semester, though, he is a completely different person. from the first day, i noticed him smiling and participating in class a lot more. on the way to lunch one day, he exclaimed, "i made a new friend!". he was walking with the new student in our class (who didn't know anyone). i mentioned to him that i was really proud of his work so far this semester and that he was completely different from last semester. he told me, "over winter break, i prayed for God to change my heart". a hallelujah moment!! what a testament to God's grace and providence.
if you can believe it, that was a brief update. God is good. everyday.
and as of last thursday, i officially passed the six-month mark!!!
