The most rewarding and frustrating group of students I teach are pre- and early-teen middle-schoolers. They have matured to the point where you can have semi-intelligent conversations with them which are facilitated by the fact that their language skills have also advanced beyond "Hi. How are you? I'm fine, thank you. And you?"
HOWEVER, they can be little SNOTS! To quote Mr. Schroeder, my 9th grade English teacher at Pleasant Grove Junior High, "All educators consider jr. high students to be the armpit of the school system." Bingo! These little brats can be rude, insensitive, ungrateful, non-responsive, and above all, disrespectful. The way they snicker, point, tease, drop BRILLIANT little English words like "fat," "crazy," and "homo," really displays their supreme intelligence. English swear words and that universal bird that always manages to get flipped only make teaching these little angels the ultimate experience in pleasure. HA! So, before I start sounding cynical and disheartened, here's a rewarding bit of revenge I exacted yesterday.
It actually began on Wednesday. I'd dismissed the students and as they filed out of class behind me, several of them patted me on the back. I'm no slouch and I immediately wondered if they were sticking signs on me. I thought no and dismissed the idea. But later, in the teachers lounge, Carly and Moon found two stickers - one that said, "I'm crazy!" (Korean children LOVE this English put-down!), and "I love Cally." (Their misspelling, not mine.) I was furious and ready to give it all up for five minutes. Then I realized what a small thing it was and how I've been guilty of doing the same thing myself. So, how to retaliate?
On Friday, the next day I taught the class, I had Yeddi, the 10-year old daughter of Mrs. Kim - one of our Korean teachers, who often hangs out in the teachers lounge and has perfect English, help me make up nine signs (for nine students, an almost even split of boys and girls), written in Korean. They said things like "I'm ugly," "I stink," "I'm crazy," and "I like girls." When I entered class I had all the students line up and face the wall as I taped one sign to each student's back, since I couldn't really guess who'd been responsible for putting the signs on me.
Actually I'd earlier singled out two students I was confident wouldn't have done it - two well-behaved girls (Ja-young and Seung-hee) - but I made them submit to this punishment as well though their signs said, "I'm pretty," and "I'm smart." This was great fun. Before I let them return to their seats I took several pictures and then made them keep them on for the entire hour. They were unhappy with this punishment but I took great satisfaction my little juvenile revenge.
What made it even more embarrassing for them and more humorous for me was that a few other teachers had heard of my plans so they crowded around the windows that surround the classroom and as their own students gawked at my little ritual and their teachers told them, "See, this is what happens when you're bad."
The little thing that kind of spoiled all my fun but ultimately made me laugh even more at the futility of trying to get payback was that only eight students were present that day. The one missing student, Jae-chul, was, after the adamant convincing of the other students, the one who had actually put both signs on my back so he wasn't even in class to receive his punishment! And, unknown to me, they said he wouldn't be coming back as his mother had decided not to send him to the hagwon for English lessons anymore but get him a private tutor instead. But when I asked the students if they'd known about the signs on my back when he'd done it, they admitted they did so I condemned them for being just as guilty. Little devils.
Two cool adventures today. Small and meaningless to others perhaps but cool and fun for me.
Adventure #1. The front tire on my bike went flat yesterday so I headed to a nearby bike shop this morning to get it repaired. Remember that I know practically no Korean so any time I head out the door to do things like this I have to either rely on the other person knowing a little English or on hand gestures. I arrived at the bike shop, showed the owner and his wife the tire was flat and they immediately began working to fix it. After 10 minutes they couldn't find a hole so I assume the problems was with the stem which they replaced. The whole process took less than 15 minutes and when it came time to pay, the refused to accept any money! How nice is that? I would have gladly paid 10,000 Won ($8) for the convenience of the fixed tire but they wouldn't hear of it. I plan on going back next week to buy a patch kit and a pump.
Adventure #2. This is the really cool one. After taking care of my bike it was time for lunch. Becaue of my limited language skills I've never ventured into any of the more than a dozen Korean family restaurants in my extended neighborhood. It's made it frustrating when I want to eat out and I don't have the luxury of a Korean speaking partner. Too heck with it, I thought, I'm tired of being too chicken to find a place to eat on my own.
The big problem after the language barrier is that Korean restuarants, I've been told and noticed, normally cater to serving meals to two or more people and here I was alone. So, caution thrown, wind involved, a handful of Korean phrases in my notebook, and I began my hunt.
The first two restaurants turned me away once they understood I only wanted to order for one person. A little embarrassing but expected. The third little restaurant I wandered in was a little corner place. It was empty and the owner, a middle-aged woman, was asleep in the corner. I interrupted her, "Ahn nyung haseyo?" She immediately jumped to her feet, listened to my plea, and happily seated me, appearing to completely understand that I only wanted to order for one. After ten minutes she brought me a bowl of brown rice (the first time I've seen BROWN rice served here),a bowl of some kind of radish-tasting noodle to be mixed with the rice, an oyster/noodle soup that tasted fine plain but tasted even better when she mixed in some (hot) Korean red pepper paste. She hovered over me throughout the meal, making constant remarks and I guess suggestion in fast Korean. (Why she thought I'd understand I don't know but even I find myself speaking in full English to foreigners when I know they don't understand, hoping they'll divine what I'm saying, somehow.)
The whole time I'm eating, feeling so proud of myself for taking the risk of finding a place that would serve me traditional Korean food and not just resorting as I've so often done to McDonalds, Burger King, or KFC, I was reminded that this is where the adventure lies. Even while you live in a foreign land you can so readily retreat to the safety of your apartment, losing sight of the wasted opportunities that lie inches outside your door.
I know some will think this is all so elementary and that it will only convince them how dense and slow-witted I am at times. Regardless, I felt the need to record for my own benefit, if for no one elses.
I went to the Hyo-sin Sauna, a public bath in Chunchon, before class today. So relaxing. It's my second time there and my fourth time to a public bath since coming to Korea.
Yesterday was my 12th anniversary since coming home from my mission. Nothing more significant to me than simply noticing the coming and going of the date and marveling at the passage of time.
I got rid of my television and VCR a week ago yesterday. It's been a real security blanket for me since I've been here, something nice to come home to hand watch each night. Lately though it's become much more of a waste of time and I've wanted to just take it back to the school but was afraid I'd go into some kind of withdrawl shocks. I finally did it though and it's been one of the best decisions I've made in recent memory. Make all the arguments you want about the evils of modern television but I'll defend how it's gotten me through some pretty long stretches. Ultimately, for me though, it's been doing more harm than good. I'm sure I'll be able to outlast the urge to retrieve it (made easier since Carly took it for herself at my invitation).
I'm getting over a prolonged aversion to the internet and emailing. It happens to me every now and then, I don't know why. Unfortunately it means I've fallen behind on my journal entries, a problem I plan to rectify soon.
