It is a rainy night in Sanbon. I went to work with only a pull over and no umbrella because it was sunny when I left home. Well, as Sarah and I were getting ready to leave we noticed the rain with a bit of disappointment. David, the teenage son of one of the directors at school, heard our cries and quickly brought us each an umbrella to use on the walk home. I could have walked home with no umbrella. I have walked greater distances in much heavier rain but I did not want to send any ajummas or ajosshis (grandmas and grandpas) into cardiac arrest at the sight of someone wandering through the rain (kryptonite) unprotected. Even if you opt for a hat as protection from said kryptonite the stares and shock thrown your way can get intense. Alas, we took the umbrellas and made our way home.
Now that I am home I am reveling in the comforting sounds of rain on my window. Sometimes I open my window to hear the cars driving through the rain and wind. Ah, sounds like home.
Well the rain is not why I started to write this particular blog post so let me get to my intended topic; my funny students.
The past week our teaching schedules have been all up in arms due to the fact that middle school levels are in testing. I don't know much about this testing except that as with any "test" it is a life or death sort of thing for the students. Poor grades on said tests will doom you to a bad job, sub-par clothing (Heaven forbid) and an ugly spouse (Oh! the shame). As a result I have been teaching some of my classes more and others none at all.
Today I had two class periods (as opposed to the normal one) with a particularly interesting class. They are some of my favorite students. In the class I have Anna who tries to be teacher and order the other students around; William who delights in perfecting my Korean pronunciation; James who looks like a Korean Pillsbury Dough Boy; Michelle is the new girl who is shy and does not fit in with the other wacky ones. I must also say that everyday before class I find these students spinning in circles in the kindergarden room until they fall to the ground from dizziness.
They drag themselves into my class and are acting as if sitting is an impossible task. They are falling all over the chairs and can't stop laughing. Realizing they are in no mood for a rigorous english class and I am just as unenthusiastic as they are I decided to change my class plan for the day. We played a few english games instead of the writing task I originally prepared. The game was successful and once I had them on teams they were totally into this pictionary sort of game. They are a really bright class and I let them slack off frequently but when I raise and eyebrow and wipe any sort of amusement from my face they shut up and listen; this dedication to my mood is something that I appreciate about them.
Success, one class period down another to go. They spent the rest of this class trying to give me a Korean name. It was a long process guided by Anna who gave me many options and William who advised me against the name options that sounded like "korean grandma" and James who laughed at everything while sitting in the corner. Finally, we decided on Lee-sa-young as an appropriate name and I told them they could call me that from now on. Also, Korea borrows a lot of its language from Chinese so with my new Korean name also came a Chinese meaning. In Chinese Lee-sa-young means gifted with reading comprehension and writing. Well, at least that is what Anna told me.
-Till next time!
*If anyone wants to send me some oatmeal I would be eternally grateful. It is hard to find and very pricy over here and for some reason all I want to eat is oatmeal!!!!
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