Thursday, March 25, 2010

No Jaeshi For These Kiddos!

A couple weeks ago was White Day in Korea. Apparently this is the day that girls give candy and sweets to boys (sort of the opposite of Valentine's Day). Ted got treats galore, and a few kids even broke with tradition to give me treats. Of course, the boys who gave me candy tried to do it as secretly as possible so their friends wouldn't make fun of them, but they almost always failed to go unnoticed by someone, who then brought it to the attention of the whole class. It almost makes the gesture even more sweet because they know they'll be ridiculed.
I wanted to have some visual evidence of my time at MoonKkang, so I brought my camera in and took some photos of my favorite classes. Some kids loved the camera and tried to steal all the limelight, but other kids shied away from the focus and attention (you'll notice a couple of those). Here's Jack (one of my favorite I3's), and Eric, who doesn't want anyone, including himself, to be captured on camera. He kept trying to ruin my pictures of other kids by flailing his arms around, jumping in front of the camera, or covering the kid with his coat. Then there is Jordan. This kid is absolutely wonderful. He's really bright and well behaved, and he always erases my whiteboard after every class. Such a sweetheart. I have a group of I4's that are so smart, so full of energy, and just overall a lot of fun. Naturally, they've become one of my favorite classes (even though teachers aren't really supposed to choose favorites). I'm really bummed that my twin boys (you'll see them) are leveling up. It's good for them...they're brilliant and very competitive; they deserve to move up. But they're such great kids that I hate to lose them (they're leveling out of my class). So anyway, here's the group. Also, I took a couple pictures of my desk space. The way the system works is a little different than American schools. I don't have a classroom. I teach in six different classrooms every day. The kids come in for two classes, and they stay in the same room. My partner teacher and I take turns teaching our group of kids. Then when the two classes are over, those kids leave and a new rotation of older kids comes in for the next two classes. Then my partner teacher and I take turns teaching them in different rooms. And then we repeat the process one more time during the night. So in between each class we have a break, and the teachers all return to the teacher's office while the kids stay in the class (or leave to go home while new kids come in). That is where my desk is (not in the classroom), so that's why it's facing a window. Anyway, here it is:

That's it for school-related stuff, but I do have a little story I wanted to share. Last weekend it was positively beautiful here. It was at least 70 degrees outside. I dressed lightly before I left my house, but by the time I made it to Home Plus I was sweating enough to warrant removing my long sleeve shirt. I had a tank top on underneath the long sleeve shirt, and it was a modest tank top so I didn't think it would be a big deal. It's considered sleazy to wear anything that shows cleavage in Korea (even though they wear their shorts as short as possible), but my tank top covered me very well so I wasn't concerned. But everywhere I went Koreans were staring at me (more so than usual). Apparently they either thought I was crazy for wearing so little (they were all still wearing winter coats), or they were appalled at my bare arms, or a little of both (I tend to believe this is more the case). Regardless, it was ridiculous how much extra attention my bare arms gained. And the stares weren't nice looks either...they were more like glares. C'est la vie. I wasn't about to sweat to death to pacify a bunch of grumpy old women (they took the most issue with my exposed arms). Anyway, that is all. I'll write again after the weekend.

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