Top Five
I am not patient. That is my latest self-revelation. It occurred to me the other day as I was pushing one of my kids out of the classroom, pretending to be sending him home because he "wasn't listening to teacher," a tactic I learned which quickly makes them break into tears while simultaneously instilling the fear in their tiny hearts and makes them sit still for more than two minutes. It's a tactic I don't particularly like to use, but have found myself doing more often than I like to admit. I've gone so far as to line my kids up, have them all put their backpacks on, and get their coats two hours early, all the while telling them they didn't listen to teacher so they can all go home now or else join the 5-year old class next door. They all usually break down, stammering "I'm sorry teacher," as big jelly bean tears start dripping down their cheeks.
I wrestle with my tactics to control twelve 6-year old (technically 5 in Western age) kids who speak only the limited English I've been able to teach them in a mere month and a half. Especially because I seem to have gotten the "gifted" children, all of them supposedly randomly placed into my classroom.
By gifted, what I really mean is, the kids who head butt each other when I turn my back, smack the kids sitting next to them while I'm writing something on the board, steal other children's stickers and put them on their sticker board so they can get a prize sooner than they are scheduled, or better yet, tear the stickers I give to them into smaller pieces so instead of getting two stickers it now becomes six smaller stickers. The kids who, when doing cutting and pasting, always find themselves on the floor under their desks, cutting paper into tiny little pieces and when I tell them to sit back in their chairs (often more than three or four times), and come back to check on them, they're now under the desk putting all their colored pencils into their shoes. The kid who, every two minutes, decides it's a good time to just let out a continuous "Ahhhhhhh," as loud as possible to drown out the sound of my voice as I tell him to be quiet. And not to forget the little girls who, now that it's summer are wearing skirts without stockings, and think it's appropriate to lift up their skirts to reveal to the world their little tiny underpants.
It's all worth it, no matter how frustrating, because there is also the kid who every time I come in the classroom, shouts, "Hello Danielle Teacher. How are you? I'm fine, thank you." I keep trying to practice with him where I ask the question and he answers, but every day, without fail he shouts this line out to me. And there's the other little boy who has constant bed head, but only in the back, so that his hair resembles a rooster's Comb. The little boy who always stutters when he's trying to spit out his words, so that instead of saying "No Korean," (as in no Korean speaking in the classroom), it comes out, "N-n-n-n-n-no Korean." And there are the hugs. I've never been hugged so much in my life. Leg hugs. Back hugs. Neck hugs. Butt hugs. They hug wherever they can grab. It is the most difficult job I've ever had, and even on the mornings when I don't want to get out of bed, and I think I could sleep standing up, as soon as I walk in my classroom, hear their voices and see their smiles when they say a full English sentence, everything else seems to disappear.
I've had a renewed sense of affection for Korea. Maybe it's the fact that the country has changed from a skeleton to a full figured woman, plump with green and purple. Or maybe it's that I've found refuge on the weekends in Hongdae, the artsy university area in Seoul, ripe with great restaurants and non-conventional Korean youth. Whatever it is, it's allowed me to not concentrate on the fact that every morning without fail I cough up green phlegm and blow black globs out my nose from all the pollution.
Since my last e-mail probably read like anti-Korea propaganda, I thought I would write a list of some of the interesting things I've discovered in the last month or so. I've arranged them as a sort of top-5 list, the highlight being number one.
5.The Cherry Blossom festival, which really turned out to be just a long street with all of the cherry blossoms in bloom, and not much festival at all, but it was still beautiful. Plus, we saw a man pushing his two little dogs dressed in dresses and bows in their hair in a baby stroller.
4. Korea House. This is a traditional Korean village in the middle of Seoul. I went there with a group of coworkers for an all you can eat Korean buffet and a traditional Korean show, with dancing, drumming, and singing.
3.The rooftop bars we've discovered in Hongdae. Not that I'm a big drinker, but they have these amazing little places to sit on the floor with an incredible view of all the people and their ridiculous fashion trends.
2.The Duran Duran Concert. Oh, yes, I'm hungry like a wolf (if you didn't get that reference, you're either too old or too young). It was an incredible experience to see how truly excited the Koreans were about some mediocre 80's music, complete with glow sticks, thousands of hands waving in the air in unison, and a man in his 60's who was sitting next to me and couldn't control his urge to dance, so much so that he jumped out of his seat, danced in the isle and then snuck past security to get a closer look.
1.Dr. Fish. This is a cafe where you order drinks or food and then put your feet in pool of fish and they suck the skin and dirt off your feet. I swear, I'm not making this up. It feels like...well, like little tiny fish sucking the skin off your feet. I'll be posting photos soon.
I wrestle with my tactics to control twelve 6-year old (technically 5 in Western age) kids who speak only the limited English I've been able to teach them in a mere month and a half. Especially because I seem to have gotten the "gifted" children, all of them supposedly randomly placed into my classroom.
By gifted, what I really mean is, the kids who head butt each other when I turn my back, smack the kids sitting next to them while I'm writing something on the board, steal other children's stickers and put them on their sticker board so they can get a prize sooner than they are scheduled, or better yet, tear the stickers I give to them into smaller pieces so instead of getting two stickers it now becomes six smaller stickers. The kids who, when doing cutting and pasting, always find themselves on the floor under their desks, cutting paper into tiny little pieces and when I tell them to sit back in their chairs (often more than three or four times), and come back to check on them, they're now under the desk putting all their colored pencils into their shoes. The kid who, every two minutes, decides it's a good time to just let out a continuous "Ahhhhhhh," as loud as possible to drown out the sound of my voice as I tell him to be quiet. And not to forget the little girls who, now that it's summer are wearing skirts without stockings, and think it's appropriate to lift up their skirts to reveal to the world their little tiny underpants.
It's all worth it, no matter how frustrating, because there is also the kid who every time I come in the classroom, shouts, "Hello Danielle Teacher. How are you? I'm fine, thank you." I keep trying to practice with him where I ask the question and he answers, but every day, without fail he shouts this line out to me. And there's the other little boy who has constant bed head, but only in the back, so that his hair resembles a rooster's Comb. The little boy who always stutters when he's trying to spit out his words, so that instead of saying "No Korean," (as in no Korean speaking in the classroom), it comes out, "N-n-n-n-n-no Korean." And there are the hugs. I've never been hugged so much in my life. Leg hugs. Back hugs. Neck hugs. Butt hugs. They hug wherever they can grab. It is the most difficult job I've ever had, and even on the mornings when I don't want to get out of bed, and I think I could sleep standing up, as soon as I walk in my classroom, hear their voices and see their smiles when they say a full English sentence, everything else seems to disappear.
I've had a renewed sense of affection for Korea. Maybe it's the fact that the country has changed from a skeleton to a full figured woman, plump with green and purple. Or maybe it's that I've found refuge on the weekends in Hongdae, the artsy university area in Seoul, ripe with great restaurants and non-conventional Korean youth. Whatever it is, it's allowed me to not concentrate on the fact that every morning without fail I cough up green phlegm and blow black globs out my nose from all the pollution.
Since my last e-mail probably read like anti-Korea propaganda, I thought I would write a list of some of the interesting things I've discovered in the last month or so. I've arranged them as a sort of top-5 list, the highlight being number one.
5.The Cherry Blossom festival, which really turned out to be just a long street with all of the cherry blossoms in bloom, and not much festival at all, but it was still beautiful. Plus, we saw a man pushing his two little dogs dressed in dresses and bows in their hair in a baby stroller.
4. Korea House. This is a traditional Korean village in the middle of Seoul. I went there with a group of coworkers for an all you can eat Korean buffet and a traditional Korean show, with dancing, drumming, and singing.
3.The rooftop bars we've discovered in Hongdae. Not that I'm a big drinker, but they have these amazing little places to sit on the floor with an incredible view of all the people and their ridiculous fashion trends.
2.The Duran Duran Concert. Oh, yes, I'm hungry like a wolf (if you didn't get that reference, you're either too old or too young). It was an incredible experience to see how truly excited the Koreans were about some mediocre 80's music, complete with glow sticks, thousands of hands waving in the air in unison, and a man in his 60's who was sitting next to me and couldn't control his urge to dance, so much so that he jumped out of his seat, danced in the isle and then snuck past security to get a closer look.
1.Dr. Fish. This is a cafe where you order drinks or food and then put your feet in pool of fish and they suck the skin and dirt off your feet. I swear, I'm not making this up. It feels like...well, like little tiny fish sucking the skin off your feet. I'll be posting photos soon.
Comments
Post a Comment