A glimpse into the classroom...

As I was getting set up to teach one of my lessons last week, one of my students came up to me with a chocolate muffin-type snack.  He shoved it in my face, and I quickly asked, "For me?"  He said yes and kept it right in front of my face.  "You want me to take a bite?"  He nodded his head and replied "Yes, one bite."  I took a bite and then he continued to eat the rest.

Koreans have different rules about sharing food (in that there are no rules). When you go out to eat you generally get a large portion of food that is shared by everyone.  There's none of this "getting your own plate of food" business that we have in the west.  I've grown accustomed to that, but this moment still took me by surprise.  I'm just going to add this to my list of things that would never happen in the US.

Here are a few other humorous moments from my time in the classroom last week:

Situation 1
Assignment: Write about a person who inspires you and explain why that person inspires you.

Me:  Who are you writing about?
Student 1:  His mother.
Me: Oh yeah?
Student 1:  Yes. Best friend.
Me: Oh, he's your best friend?
Student 1: No.
Me: Oh, why?'
Student 1: He loves me, but I don't love him.
Me: Oh, ok.
Student 1: No, no!! Not gay!!!!

Situation 2
Context: In the midst of asking the students a serious of "would you rather" questions.

Question 1:  Would you rather be invisible or be able to fly?

Student 1:  I would rather be invisible because then I could see everything.
Everyone else in the class: OOOOHHHHHHHHHH!!!

A few minutes later....
Me:  I think I would rather be able to fly.
Student: That's because you are a woman.  It is every man's dream to be invisible.  Then you can see everything.
Me: ..........................

Question 2: Would you rather go to a concert or go to the movies?

Student 1: I'd rather go to a concert because then I could hug a girl I didn't know.
Me: ..........what?

Student 2: I'd rather go to the movies because it's dark in the movies.
Class: OOOOHHHHHHHH


Just in case I was forgetting, these are high school boys I'm teaching after all....