More Student Writing, in its Strangest Form and its Most Sincere

So now having had a couple weeks of writing assignments, I have received a full range of content from my high level 2nd graders: wombats, unrequited love, Antarctica, love letters, mock letters to parents apologizing for their childish behavior, love of meat, etc. However the following has been the most random so far:

In dream, I am Coca cola chairman, so I am very rich. I think that Coca cola's all officer know the way of make coca cola but they didn't know so I tell to them, but My Action follow to become bankrupt. WOW No. 1 is PePSI!!!*

*grammar and capitalization are all true to the original

I also run 3 club classes after school, with two separate leveled classes meeting twice a week and one reading club that meets on Wednesday (we're reading Alice in Wonderland). Today I met with my higher leveled students and we mainly worked on writing. I taught them the word "ideal," and then asked them to tell me what their ideal boyfriend/girlfriend would be like, in both personality and looks.

Most of my girls wrote about their prince charming, and then one boy casually dropped that he just may like guys more than girls. He began his paragraph saying that he hasn't really put much thought into girlfriends and then listed some things that would be nice. And then admitted that he may just like guys as much if not more than girls, and added that if he did have a boyfriend, tall and handsome would be good. Oh and smart. Smart would be perfect.

He's one of my most challenging, b/c he is both one of my smartest and one of my most aloof and enigmatic students. He stopped writing and so I asked him to keep writing, and that's when he told me his thoughts. He said that he didn't have any more thoughts on girlfriends b/c he sort of doesn't like girls and finds guys easier to get along with. So I asked him to tell me why. He wrote a couple more sentences and stated that maybe he was supposed to have been born a girl. There was something very sincere and casual about his writing, despite the structure still possessing that certain Korean awkwardness embedded in the grammar. And both his writing and the words that came from his mouth possessed an incredibly unapologetic and frank voice. I just hope that Korean society doesn't rip that from him. My heart goes out to this kid, I just hope he will find a way to be himself and live happily in a country as potentially unforgiving and unrelenting as Korea.

Ah 봄 (Spring) is in the Air and Doug Has Some New Competition

So not only did I start teaching again this month, but the new school year has started. Unlike America, Korean schools start at the beginning of the year and end at the end of the year. Makes a lot of sense, right? I'm only teaching 2nd graders at the moment (so only a class of about 370 kids), so students that I had last year as first graders. And wow what a difference! Puberty is hitting hard and fast, most of my boy students are now taller than me and some of my babies from last semester are on their way towards become men (their voices are changing).

My class structure also changed, so now I'm teaching 3 different levels of classes (I'm so grateful that the school did this, it has made teaching infinitely easier). I give my highest level classes writing homework, just a simple diary entry or letter-style piece of writing, to get them to apply the grammar that they learn in their regular English classes. Well with my boys now changing and their English getting better, yesterday I received the following for one student's homework assignment:

Dear Nicole

Hello! My name is _______. Nice to meet you. I love you. Because you are my sunshine ~ (heart) Only you. Fall in love. Only you, only you. You are have boyfriend. Your boyfriend is me. and I love camera. I want to take a picture with you. thank you. see you next time. Because of you ~~~~~~ (heart)

- Korean student*


*identity protected for the sake of the frail teenage boy ego


Also, despite the raging teenage hormones, Korean students are still waaay more innocent and cute than their American counterparts. So in response, I told him he had good use of idioms and that I was too old for him. This shall be an interesting semester.

Great Success!

Ok, so I just had my first truly successful phone conversation with my mom, in Korean, and I understood almost everything!!! Woooo!!!! Baby steps, baby steps....

A Year of Kimchi May Have to Be Changed to Year(s) of Kimchi

For those back in the US who'd like to know, I am leaning heavily on renewing my grant for a second year. I have not yet accomplished what I've come here to do. My Korean language skills are still very much lacking, I'm just really beginning to get closer to my family, and my love for my students is greatly adding to this decision. However, if I do decide to stay another year, I will be back in the US for about a month in the summer, during which I will try to drink as much good Belgian beer and eat as much cured pork as possible before heading back.^^

T-ara on Music Bank

So this is the same song that I just previously posted, but as a performance on the show "Music Bank." Do I watch this show regularly with my host sisters? Um, yes.

T-Ara (티아라) - 너 때문에 미쳐 (I Go Crazy Because Of You)

My host sisters were just dancing around to this, so I figured I would post it. hehe. Enjoy!

Hongdae (홍대) at 5:30am on a Sunday Morning

Mmm, creepy foreigners, trash, and wasted Koreans... going back to Boston's nightlife shutting down at 2am will be difficult... hehe.

Catching Up, New Year's (설날) With the Family

So even more important than the calendar new year (Jan 1), the lunar new year (this year Feb 14) is a time where families all over Korea get together. During this time, Koreans eat 떡국 (rice cake soup), and upon eating it you gain another year (all Koreans turn another year together). The younger family members also perform 새배, which is a ceremonial bow that shows respect for one's living elders, and in return generally receive 새뱃돈, or money. I spent the new year with my biological family. I wasn't sure what to expect at first, but when I first arrived in Cheongju I thought it was going to be a very disappointing holiday.

Korea is all about the patriarch, and so my mom had to spend time with her husband's family. Hence I didn't actually spend time with her at all (outside a chance run-in at the movie theater). My sister met me at the bus terminal, and she helped me get to my aunt's house (mother of "Paul," who's name I now know, 지현). My aunt owns a hagwon and a screen golf establishment, so she was busy with work. My sister couldn't stay and so it was just me, Paul, and my other cousin 지은 (second grade middle school girl) left at the house. I found out that my grandparents were in Seoul, I wouldn't be able to see my mom or sister at all over the weekend, and that I would be helping my aunt do work the next day on New Year's day. I was beginning to wonder why I left Seoul to be in Cheongju. It was then that I felt the pangs of realization that I am still a secret, potentially a burden, and still not really a part of the family.

However, my cousin ordered the most amazing fried chicken for dinner, so my 기분 felt a little better.^^ Then we ended up going out to he movie theater. Even though the movie was an expected disappointment, the time before and after the movie was a nice surprise. In the movie theater was an arcade and little mini noraebang boxes. So before the movie started, Paul sang "Mamma Mia" in his sweet little 5-year-old slightly lispy voice, all in English. I was so impressed! After the movie theater we all played arcade games together, something I haven't done in a long time. When we got back to the house 지은 told me she was very happy that we were closer now, and that she didn't feel so shy around me anymore. When I first met her she was terrified of me, though more for the reason that I am a 외국인 (foreigner) than simply a stranger. Paul too must be feeling more comfortable around me, b/c he flashed me and told me that it was his elephant. I told him it's a small elephant. I suppose perverseness runs in the blood.

So on new year's day my cousins went with my uncle to see his family and I went to my aunt's screen golf place. I helped her vacuum, all the while wondering why I was there. But after we were done I sat around and studied Korean vocabulary and ate fried 떡 with sesame oil. Eventually my aunt sat with me and as I tested myself with the Korean, she learned the English equivalents. It was some nice bonding time. We left around evening time and much to my delight my grandparents were back from Seoul. We went over to their apartment and made dumplings (만두) together, and I got to eat 떡국 (so I am now 28 Korean-years-old). My cousins and I did our 새배, wished our grandparents happy new year (새해 복 많이 받으세요!), and even received 새뱃돈.^^

On Monday my other aunt came to visit. She lives on the West side of Korea in 서산, south of Seoul. So she, my other aunt, my grandmother and I were lounging around in my aunt's room having girl talk so to speak. We ate oranges and dried persimmon. It felt really comfortable, even though I still couldn't understand everything they were saying. But my grandmother kept patting me on the head and telling me she was happy. I heart my one-armed grandma.

My 서산 aunt escorted me to the bus terminal. Before I left she tried to explain to me that my mom was really sad that she wasn't able to spend time with me. (so a lot of 마음에 아파요.) I told her I understood. Her eyes got teary and her speaking got faster. After hugging, I jumped on the bus and headed back to Seoul.