when teaching is worth it (good)

Happy Halloween!!!


these are pics of a pumpkin WINTY carved. =)

wednesday was a good day. it was one of those days that reminds me of WHY i teach, the students and my relationships with the teachers.

it was the first time i ACTUALLY cried in school. my 1-2 teacher "made" me cry. no, not in a bad way, it was really the opposite. one of my 1st grade students came in before school started with a big shopping bag and said "this is from my teacher, i don't know what it is" so i was like ok thanks. i opened it up and she had sent me a thermos of 모과 tea and a bunch of clementines with a note explaining the tea was good for my throat cold. after her class (2nd of the day) i told her thank you so much and that i had been sipping the tea all morning. and she replied that i reminded her of her younger sister who is studying abroad in england and how she would've done the same for her. and she closed the door and left .... and i cried because it feels so good to be cared for and taken care of and i miss my sister and mom so much when i'm sick. i even miss ashley and wint when i'm sick because they would take care of me, too. my teachers have been soooo supportive and especially about me being sick, they've cancelled my classes nearly the whole week so that i could rest and then taught the classes themselves. and they talk about how hard it is to be sick when you're not at home and how difficult my time must be and are super super wonderful to me. i am truly blessed when it comes to my school-people relations.

so, this is lighter-hearted, my 1-1 teacher was leading english class and i took a pretty backrow seat in terms of teaching. so she's doing her thing, speaking her best english (which was pretty good in my opinion) and one of the boys says: "today is not english, it's konglish class." at which we both laughed pretty hard and then i gave him my best glare to be supportive of my teacher (although i'm starting to think my glares are not that intimidating bc usually the student response is to smile at me or laugh)

a bunch of my little girls have been visiting me and bombarding me in the hallways/schoolyard asking me how i feel, if i am better yet, have i rested enough? am i keeping warm? and they massage my shoulders and arms telling me to rest up. they are also adorable little ajummas-in-training asking if i live alone, if the people i live with are taking care of me. they keep suggesting the teas/foods i need to drink/eat to get better and fight off the 황절기(?) climate change bw seasons that makes ppl super susceptible to colds. i think this is a reflection of how much deeper the average student-teacher relationship is in korea as opposed to america. i could never see THIS many american students inquiring after a teacher's health just bc their homeroom teacher told them they are sick.

2nd to last paragraph i promise: so my 2-2 girls often come visit me in their free time and after school, yesterday they were telling me that the 2-2 students were discussing me and how they all like me because they think i am so 착해 (nice) and then one boy cut in and was like, well i like miss christine because she is "cute" *blush* hehe my students are so sweet

ok last one, this is hysterical, esp. to me. so my mom calls me and the firs tthing she says is, YOUR DADDY YELLED AT ME!!! and i was like, omg why? and she says, well .... (and i transcribed as best as she recalled) (also, my parents mailed out a huuuuge package to me on monday) (also, this happened in korean)

daddy: did you put chocolate in 지혜's package?
mommy: no, why?
daddy: what? why didnt you put chocolate in her package?
mommy: she keeps complaining about how bad her skin is getting, why would i send her chocolate? to make it worse?
daddy: IT'S HALLOWEEN!!! WHAT KIND OF MOTHER DOESN'T SEND HER DAUGHTER CHOCOLATE FOR HALLOWEEN!??!??!
mommy: (laughing) well i sent her cough candy (sic cough drops), does that count?
daddy: IT'S NOT THE SAME!!!
mommy: well why didnt YOU send it?
daddy: i thought it was OBVIOUS. she is going to be so sad...you are a bad mother ...

hahahahahhaaha ... my family is so awesome, i am a fan. i hope yo uare, too. i never even thought my dad really paid attn to american holidays and traditions, and then he pulls stuff like this and i am amazed at how in tune he is with my life. =]