Spring Air

After months of bundling up during winter, there's nothing quite like the first day you can walk around without a coat on.  It's a day that comes gradually--at first you stop wearing so many layers, then you trade your winter coat for something lighter.  Then, finally, the day comes where you are FREE.  No coat necessary. It's the point when it's finally completely comfortable to walk around.  You're not too warm, and you're not too cold.  Although these days are few in number as the oppressively hot summer days are never far behind, for a short period of time the weather is absolutely PERFECT.

Yesterday was the first "no coat needed" day for me, and today was even more beautiful.   Flowers are starting to bloom, and as I walk by trees I see the buds growing each day.  It won't be long until everything is green and full of life again.  I'm anxiously awaiting the arrival of the infamous cherry blossoms, which I've been told will be the most beautiful 1-2 weeks in Korea.

This spring air is enough to make me happy, but to make things better I had an awesome day with all of my classes today.  I typically dread Thursdays because it's my busiest day of the week.  I have to teach 6 classes, which means I'm rather tired by 5:00.  However, I'm learning that Thursdays aren't so bad.  

The groups of kids I see on Thursdays are proving to be quite entertaining.  I start the morning with my 2-3 second grade boys.  I think just about every energetic boy form the second grade ended up in the same class  this year because despite the fact that I see them at 9:30 AM, they are always my craziest class of the day.  I actually get a kick out this class because these boys love to joke around.  It's sometimes hard to joke around with my students in Korea because of the language barrier, but these boys are a different story.  It's the first class I teach, but I'm always fully awake within the first 5 minutes I spend with them. 

From there, I see a few of my first grade girl classes, who are always adorable.  After lunch I move to the second grade girls in 2-5.  This is also my most energetic class of second graders on the girl's side.  They always give me a warm welcome when I enter their classroom (and by warm I mean most times they clap when I walk in the door....seriously!)

After that it's two more classes with my first grade girls.  Today I had my 1-4 class right after gym class, and let me just say that I think those endorphins had them feeling pretty great.   I've never seen them in such a silly mood, but it made the class quite entertaining because they were presenting dialogues and they were so into it--I couldn't stop laughing at some of the things they said/did.

After that I ended with a writing class with 1-5.  These girls were all really tired (they just had math class...I can't blame them), but they all put in so much effort into their writing assignment.  I know how much writing in another language sucks, especially when you're tired, so I was amazed at the effort they put into my assignment.  They are just so awesome.

Also, one of my students gave me this.

This is a picture she made in her art class in middle school.  She got a 100% on it, but wanted to give it to me.  JUST TOO CUTE.  My friends who are elementary teachers are used to getting presents, but it's not as common with the high school students.  Have I mentioned how much I adore my girls classes this semester?

As I was walking home in the warm spring air I couldn't help but think: life sure is good. It's a shame I won't be able to work with these students again next year, but do I ever feel lucky to at least have a chance to spend this year with them.