Monday, Monday

I just realized it's been about two weeks since I've written anything on here.  I guess that's mostly due to the fact that I haven't been doing anything particularly interesting recently.  I've been staying in Jeomchon on the weekends because 1) there haven't been any events that I'm dying to go to and 2) I need to save money because vacation is right around the corner.  I don't know my official vacation dates yet, but I will have my long vacation in January, then I'm going to China over the Lunar New Year.  Lots of exciting things coming up, but in the meantime I need to lay low for a while.

Anyway, today was one of the most random, but pleasantly surprising days I've had in quite a while.  Here's a rundown of my Monday...

It all started out perfectly normal with my pleasant fifth graders.  They're one of my favorite classes--they listen, participate, and many of them are very high level students.  However, my day takes a sharp turn for the worse once fifth grade leaves.  In the minutes following fifth grade's departure my rambunctious and downright rude sixth grades come yelling and pushing into my room.  Without fail they come in and are tackling each other, rolling around in the computer chairs, chasing each other, and yelling unnecessarily loudly about who knows what.  This means I spend the entirety of the twenty minute break before their class putting on my bitchface, telling students to leave the classroom, and guarding the stash of balls in the room that they love to steal and throw around.

Although my stomach always drops when I hear sixth grade coming into the room, I was pushed to my extreme limit today when one student found a book with a picture of an African child.  He was showing it to his friends, and they were all pointing and laughing, as if it this child's face was the most hysterical thing ever.

WHAT?! EXCUSE ME?

Ok, The blatant racism in Korea is no secret to anyone who lives here.  I know these kids aren't exposed to pretty much any racial diversity, and they've inherited a lot of their racism from the society they're living in.  BUT STILL. My blood was boiling, and the most frustrating part of the situation was I couldn't even properly talk to them about WHY their behavior wasn't ok.  They knew I was angry, but I don't think these particular students understand more then "hello", so I think everything I said was pretty much lost upon them.

So, fast forward another ten minutes and as I was writing something on the board one of the boys started to cry.  I have no idea why, but luckily as the bell rang the homeroom teacher came in and the next thing I knew all the students were sitting with their eyes closed and their hands on their heads.  About five of the craziest boys were standing with their hands in the air.  The homeroom teacher continued to yell at them for about seven minutes, as all of their hands were still up.

I've never seen these kids so quiet in my life.

I should mention that this kind of punishment isn't uncommon in Korea.  Actually, corporal punishment was only outlawed a few years ago, but this kind of thing is still frequently used.  It's not uncommon to see teachers punish students by making them kneel with their hands up, or stay for a long time in a kind of push-up position.  I've seen this done a lot in both the high school last year and at the elementary school this year.

Anyway, needless to say when I started my class they were all on their best behavior as the boys who were standing in the back continued to stand with their hands up.  I think this was the best class I've ever had with 6th grade--they actually participated and even enjoyed the game I prepared for them today.

Fast forward to after lunch and I had first grade.  Now, I never quite know what to expect with first grade.  They are always without fail super cute, but some days man are they crazy!  Their homeroom teacher doesn't stay for their class so I am literally alone in a room of first graders who don't understand a word I'm saying.  It can be completely insane on the days they decide they want to run around and tackle each other (I swear one class I had three kids cry in one forty minute class), but today they were SO GOOD and SO CUTE!

The absolute highlight was when they were singing and dancing.  It just doesn't get any cuter.  Then, after we finished with the songs, they all sat at their desks and did their writing and coloring assignment peacefully.  Oh first grade, why can't you always be so well behaved?

The girl in the yellow shirt is potentially the cutest kid in the entire school (and there are a lot cute kids in the school!)  Her personality is just SO friendly and she just has the cutest smile!

After first grade I had fourth grade.  When I went to their classroom they were in the middle of singing Happy Birthday to one of the girls in the class.  So, instead of having class with them I ate chips and cake with them.  Not a bad way to end my classes for the day.

The girl with the orange glasses was the birthday girl

The next surprise of the day happened as I was sitting in the office.  The secretary came over and brought me a package from my wonderful mother full of yummy goodies.

Thanks, mom!! What a nice surprise to end my day with!

A Friday Field Trip

I've been kind of lazy about keeping up with writing lately.  Sorry...I think it's mostly because I started watching Once Upon a Time and it has led to a somewhat unhealthy amount of binge-watching.  Luckily I'm almost caught up, so hopefully soon I'll be back with reality and more prompt and detailed in my posts.

Anyway, one thing I need to catch up on is the field trip I went on with my students last Friday.  This is the third Friday in a row I haven't had classes, so although I was somewhat bummed I didn't have the day off like many teachers at other schools, I couldn't really complain about going on a field trip with a bunch of adorable kids.

We left school bright and early in the morning at 7:30 to head to Seoul.  In my mind I thought we would be there by 9:30, but I forgot one thing...small children need bathroom breaks.  Buses to Seoul from Jeomchon usually don't make any stops, but due to the sometimes unstable bladder control of the younger students, we made a stop at one of the rest stops, at which point the kids all got their shares of unhealthy foods.

After our pit-stop it was another hour on the bus with sugared-up kids, during which my co-teacher decided to show me his music collection and proudly told me "I have some English music."

"Oh yeah? What English music do you have?" I said.

And his completely predictable answer?

"Let It Go."

Well, of course.  This is Korea, after all.  The music didn't stop there either.  The other Korean classics of Abba and Whitney Houston were also on his phone, naturally.

It didn't take long for him to ask if I had any music, which of course led to him asking to hear my music.  I decided to play him "Rolling in the Deep" by Adele because I remembered how much my students at the high school loved that song (as do I).  He was amazed by her "husky" voice, and kept asking about it all day...and even tried to download it on the bus ride home.

Anyway, that should paint a picture of what my bus ride there was like.  Once we got to Seoul the first stop was at the Blue House (like the White House in America).  Unfortunately I wasn't able to go in because my name wasn't put on "the list" early enough.  Instead, I sat on the bus with my music and my cell phone.  Have I ever mentioned how thankful I am for Kakao talk and friends back in America have time to talk to me? I didn't mind just hanging out for a while--especially since the bus driver, who apparently had pity on me came over and gave me a coffee.  Love those random Korean moments of kindness.

After everyone got back from the tour it was time for lunch, which was kimbap in a nearby park.  It was an absolutely beautiful day, so I couldn't complain.  Definitely beats sitting in school.

After lunch we went to Gyeonbokgung Palace.  Although I've been there before, I was happy to go back here again, especially since it meant being accompanied by adorable small children.

On that note, I should mention that my school has two new students who were born in America. One girl is in third grade and the other is in sixth grade.  Their parents are Korean, but these girls see themselves as American and they speak English as their first language.  These girls have been having a hard time adjusting to life in Korea, especially since they don't always understand when people speak Korean to them and things such as reading and writing in Korean are especially difficult for them.  Although in America ESL programs are pretty standard, to have someone who isn't Korean in a Korean public school is rare and the students don't receive any additional services.

Anyway, the point of that back story is that the third grade girl has especially taken to me.  She is absolutely adorable and frequently seeks me out because well, I'm the only person there she can really communicate freely with.  The entire time during the field trip she was by my side, holding my hand, and telling me that I was "her mother for the day" (which according to her meant that "I had to yell at her if she did anything bad.")

She didn't understand what the tour guide was saying during the tour which promoted her to tell me "well, at least we can not understand together."  And that's pretty much when my heart broke.  Or, it might have been when she told me about how sometimes she cries because she misses her friends in America.  Gosh kid, you're killing me!

By this point in the field trip it was afternoon, which reminded me of another thing about small children--they get tired easily.  I don't think the kids were really paying attention to the tour guide at all because they were simply exhausted by this point.  As we were walking out of the Palace, the American student told me "well, at least I didn't learn anything today."

I mean, that is the point of field trips, isn't it?

Add in another bus ride back home with a snoring CT right next to me, and that was pretty much my day.

It wasn't the most exciting day for me, but I really did enjoy being around the kids.  They are just SO CUTE. It's especially nice now having the girls who speak english.  As cute as the other kids are, not being able to really communicate with my students takes away a lot of the fun of teaching.  Even if it's only two students, it's nice to be able to really get know some of my students for a change.

And to end here are a few pictures from the day:

Just look at those tired kids!

The two third grade girls. AKA my fan club. They were both holding my hands while we walked around all day <3

Yes, their shirts say "I love Dokdo.  Dokdo is Korean Territory."  Because, Korea.

Welcoming 25

Having a birthday at the end of June means that over the years I've experienced all of the benefits of having a summer birthday.  When I was younger that meant being able to run around outside or having the option of doing water activities at my birthday parties.  But most importantly, my June 26th DOB has always meant that I would never have to go to school on my birthday.  I made it all of these years without stepping foot in school on my birthday, but alas! At 25 my birthday fell victim to Korea's summer semester.  I wasn't exactly thrilled to go to school on my birthday, especially since Thursdays are my craziest days.  With six classes, I pretty much don't stop teaching all day.

However, my attitude quickly changed as I went to my first class with my second grade boys.  As soon as I walked in they began singing to me, and shortly after started giving me tons of snacks.  While they may just look like small snacks, have no doubt, these boys take their food seriously.  In fact, after morning classes there is a bread truck that comes to school.  The students all rush there to buy snacks as if it is the most important thing in the world. I suppose when your life is completely consumed by school the little things make even more of a difference.  Regardless, I could really appreciate the sentiment behind their gestures because I know snacks aren't really JUST snacks to these kids.

Some snacks from the second grade boys

The day kept getting better as I met my 1-6 class.  Many of the students came into class normally, but when the bell rang they told me to close my eyes.  The next thing I knew they turned the lights off, were singing to me, and bringing a tower of choco pies with a candle towards me. Needless to say, I was thoroughly surprised, and super touched by their gestures.  They also each wrote a birthday message to me, which I will obviously be keeping with me for forever.

The infamous choco pies

My awesome 1-6 class.  I love these girls!

So many notes.  So touched!

After lunch I went to my 2-5 class where I was surprised yet again.  As I went to the 2-5 classroom I noticed the lights were all off, which made me a bit suspicious.  As soon as I opened the door, all of the girls started singing, presented me with a beautiful cake, and gave me a huge card.  As if that weren't enough, they also decorated the chalkboard.  I was so touched I think I had to wipe away a few tears.

2-5 girls.  LOVE teaching them!!

The giant card from 2-5

Throughout the day students kept yelling "happy birthday!!!!" to me as I walked through the halls.  Aside from these organized efforts, many other students gave me small gifts and notes.

One of the 1st grade boys from my night class and his friend (who I don't teach) came and gave me these.  Yes, that's 100 won and a pen.  They told me to keep them forever and bring them back to America with me.  Oh, boys.  

One of the third grade girls (who I don't teach anymore) found me to give me this.  Too cute!

I spent the entirety of the day feeling incredibly touched, and as I was heading home my co-teacher also gave me a bracelet that she made for me.  I have to say, I never expect anything on my birthday, but I certainly never in a million years could have imagined that my students would even remember my birthday, nevermind make such a big deal out of it.

Bracelet from my co-teacher

This wasn't where my birthday ended either.  After school I went out to dinner with some friends, where they then surprised me with an ice cream cake.  After that we got a few drinks--the evening was quiet and calm, the perfect ending to a great day.

I should also mention my birthday surprises weren't limited to just my actual birthday.  Monday two of my friends (who had a cooking class on my actual birthday) took me out for dinner.  When the restaurant we wanted to go to was closed, we went to Mr. Pizza, where they brought this:

A few of my friends also surprised me with a mini birthday celebration on Wednesday at our bible study group.

Finally, my classes that I had today and didn't see yesterday also made sure to recognize my birthday. 2-4 decorated their blackboard and sang to me, and the 2-1 boys sang to me and gave me some random assortments of food.  My favorite was definitely the bag of cheese balls.  When they gave them to me they told me that I might need to put them in the microwave for 30 seconds because of the humidity.  They then told me maybe they won't taste good, and if they don't, I should throw them away.  Ummm....thanks?  This is just more evidence that teenage boys are teenage boys no matter where you go in the world.

The most memorable part of the day for me was when one my second grade boys gave me this picture he drew of me.  These kids think of everything!

Picture drawn by one of my second grad boys.

All in all, I don't think I've ever felt so overwhelmed with love on my birthday.  I've been struggling to find motivation for school lately, but all of these gestures made me appreciate once again just how AWESOME my students are and how unbelievably blessed I am to have been able to work with them this year. There are some days where going to school feels like a struggle, especially since it can feel isolating at times when I can't communicate with any of my co-workers.  But as I've said numerous times before, these kids are hands down the highlight of my time at school, and my time in Korea as well.   I can't believe my time with them is coming to an end so quickly, but I'm thankful that I'll always have these memories with them.

I think many of my friends and I have been having the realization at 25 that whoa! We're really adults now! It's a little stange, but instead of lamenting this fact, I couldn't feel more satisfied to look back on 24 as the best year of my life yet.  I am happy to welcome 25 with open arms. If it's even filled with half of the love, adventures, and learning experiences that this year was, I will consider myself one very lucky girl.

Sports Day!

For the past few weeks my students had telling me about their excitement for Sports Day.  My initial question of course was "what the heck is sports day?" Well, this week I got to experience it firsthand.  It turns out sports day is kind of like a field day in America, but WAY more intense.

There were three teams total, each team being made up of one girl and one boy class from each grade.  Throughout the day there were tons of events--ranging from relay races, to a soccer game, to basketball, to jump roping, to lots of other games that I had never even seen before. 

Most homeroom teachers spent the day with their classes cheering for their teams, but since I obviously don't have a homeroom class, I spent the day walking around and hanging out with all of the teams. 

One of the things I loved the most about this day was the CHEERING! This was not just ordinary cheering at a sporting event.  In America we will cheer, then wait a few minutes or wait for something important to happen before cheering again.  However, the students cheered ALL DAY long for their teams.  There were even some students who had been selected to lead the cheering. They stood in the front and danced around all day, leading cheer after cheer after cheer. I have no idea how these kids kept their enthusiasm all day long, especially since it was probably around 85 degrees all day and for the majority of the time the events were in the sun.

Leading the cheers. 

During tug of war.  Loved seeing the students come together to cheer for their team!

The cheer leaders

Another things I loved about this day was seeing the students have fun.  As you all know by now, my students pretty much never have time to escape the confines of the school walls.  This has been especially rare this semester during the mourning period following the ferry disaster.  

My first grade girls.  LOVE THEM!

More of my awesome first grade girls!

The fact that the students seldom have time to do anything besides study was evident by their unadulterated enthusiasm for EVERYTHING throughout the day.  It was a huge change from the tired, sluggish students I'm accustomed to seeing in the classroom.

I also loved seeing the students interact with each other.  One of the huge differences about the school I'm working at this year and any other American high school is that the students at this school aren't allowed to interact with members of the opposite sex.  Even though my school is co-ed, girls and boys are kept in separate classes and technically aren't supposed to even talk to each other.  Of course, there are some couples in the school, although I'm not sure when they really have time to hang out.  Dating is not really allowed by the school, but seriously....teenagers are teenagers.  The complete segregation of the sexes is one of the craziest things about teaching here for me.  

Anyway, on sports day, I actually got to see boys and girls interact on their teams.  Additionally, members of different grades actually interacted.  While in America it's totally normal for members of different grades to be friends with each other, this is definitely not the way it is in Korea.

Although many of the traditional Korea customs are becoming more relaxed these days, one way you can still see the importance of age is in the way students interact with each other.  Whenever my first grade students see a second or third grader, they have to bow to them. Many of my first graders have told me that this can really become stressful for them because if they forget to bow to a second or third grader it's considered really rude, so they always have to pay attention to who they're around.  Needless to say, students are ONLY friends with the other students in their own grade.  In fact, when I tell them that in America it's normal for students to be friends with people in other grades they're completely shocked and can't believe it.  

However, on sports day it felt like all the barriers were torn down, and the students showed tremendous support for each other, regardless of gender or grade.  For once, my students actually seemed like teenagers as I know them in America, and that quite refreshing to see....even if it was for just a day.

The only downside to Sports Day was that the events didn't end until 7 PM...and then naturally the students were expected to go to night study after.  When I entered my classes on Thursday just about every student was asleep.  Let's just say my classes on Thursday and Friday weren't productive because seriously, how could I expect them to focus on anything when they were that exhausted and sleep deprived?  It was games and movies for the win in my classes.

Overall, sports day was a great day for me to see a different side of my students.  I especially enjoyed hanging out with my favorite third grade girls who I hardly ever get to see these days.  Sports Day is a tradition in all Korean school from elementary school-high school, so I really enjoyed seeing this part of school culture and spending time with the kids I adore--especially since my time with them is winding down so quickly!

Bring Your Friends to Work Day

Hello everyone! It's been a while, but I promise I am alive and well.  I was super busy the past two weeks as my friends Megan and Nate were visiting.  Sadly, they are back home now, but I suppose that means I can finally catch you all up on what I've been up to recently.  I'll try to give you the highlights, the first of which was definitely my own personal "bring your friends to work day".

One of the things I knew I wanted Megan and Nate to do while they were in Korea was to come to school with me.  Regardless of what I do on the weekends, the majority of my time in Korea is spent at school.  My experience at school has without doubt defined my time in Korea, so in order for Megan and Nate to really get a glimpse of my life, I wanted them to spend a day at school with me.

I knew that there presence would cause quite the commotion, and man, did they ever! Seeing the students cheer and freak out over them reminded me of the reaction I got when I first arrived.  Don't get me wrong, I am still treated pretty well by my students, but my rock star status has worn away a bit over the past nine months.

Thursdays are my busy days, but also my most energetic classes, so it was the perfect day for Megan and Nate to meet my most interesting classes.  When we arrived at school we sat with my principal, vice-principal, and my co-teacher in the principal's office while we were served tea. This also reminded me of when I first arrived because it was the exact same thing I had to do when I first arrived at my school....only this time I got to watch other people deal with the awkwardness.

After that it was off to class, and the first class Megan and Nate met was my craziest second grade boys.  I think it was a good way for them to jump right in. After the energetic experience with the boys, it was time for a calmer class of sweet first grade girls.

 After that, we were off to cooking class.  Yes, cooking class.  There was a special guest lecturer coming in to the home economics class that day, so my vice-principal insisted that we go join the experience with the first grade boys.  Apparently they didn't want us to see the food until it was finished cooking, but we did get to go down for the most important part (eating).  It was fun to see the first grade boys, but also kind of funny...Megan and Nate came from the other side of the world to come to a Korean high school...only to eat spaghetti and garlic bread. Go figure.

My SUPER energetic 2-3 class.  I love starting Thursday mornings with them.

My 1-5 girls.  Love them!

However, this Italian food was apparently only a snack, because after that we went to lunch in the school cafeteria. I think this would be the point at which Megan and Nate realized that Koreans eat A LOT.  Oh, and I should mention they also had been served with plates of snacks before the whole Italian food thing.  No one can say Koreans don't know how to be hospitable!

After lunch it was onto the second grade girls, then two more first grade girl classes.  I'm pretty sure we were all exhausted by the end of the day, but it certainly was entertaining the whole way through.  I loved seeing my students so excited about meeting my friends, and I loved seeing my friends enjoy (or at least be amazed by) their celebrity status.

1-6 girls.  So cute!

My awesomely energetic 2-5 girls.  Love this class!

Although school seems so normal to me now, seeing my friends experience everything for the first time brought me right back to when I first arrived in August.  As I'm coming to the end of my contract, it was a great reminder of just how far I've come in a year, especially in terms of knowing my students.  I could have predicted all of the questions my students asked, and the same students who were way too shy to utter a word to my friends are the same students who now talk to me on a regular basis.  I guess I hadn't fully realized how comfortable my students are with me now, or just how much I know their personalities until I got a reminder of how it all began nine months ago.

If Korea Had Prom....

Given this is prom season back in America, when I was out of ideas for my second grade class this week, I decided why not do a prom theme.  There is no such thing as prom in Korea, so needless to say my students were amazed (and jealous) of the prom experience that American high school students have.

After I told my students about prom, they had to make a proposal for their own prom and present their ideas to class.  Afterwards, we voted for the best one.  This was highly entertaining for me because of the themes the students chose.  Here are some of my favorites:

--Harry Potter
--Vampire's Castle
--Dinosaur
--Traditional Korea
--Night Club
--Mermaid theme (girls have to dress as mermaids and boys have to dress as fish)

And last but not least:
--Frozen
(I should have known this would be on someone's list!)


Overall it was an interesting activity.  There are no school dances in Korea, so students are quite envious of this element of American high schools.  Who knows, maybe someday Korea will adopt the tradition of having prom as well....because who wouldn't love to go to a Frozen themed prom? ;)

Things that happened at school this week

Things that happened at school this week:

1) I amazed my students by reading Korean. 

When I read the Korean one of the markers (보드마카)  for the white board my students were completely astonished.  But see, the funny thing is I've been able to read Korea for pretty much the whole time I've been here.  Not to mention 보드마카 reads as "Bo-duh-ma-ka.  It's not exactly hard to figure out what something says when it's just English words written in Hangul.  However, I am glad that my students are occasionally easy to impress.

2)  I amazed my students by telling them that my mom, brother, and I have blue eyes, while my dad and sister have brown eyes.

I was wearing a royal blue shirt, which is just about the only color that makes my eyes look really blue and less grey.  Naturally most Korean students aren't that used to seeing people with blue eyes, so they are occasionally really interested in staring at me on days when my eyes look especially blue.  This time two girls stayed after class to tell me about how much they loved colored eyes.  When I told them that my dad has brown eyes and my mom has blue eyes, they were completely shocked.  Then came my mini-genetics lesson about how that works (thank you high school biology!) They were fascinated, which was pretty adorable, but my favorite part was when they asked if I had ever seen people with green eyes.  When I told them yes they couldn't believe it.  Green eyes?!  Amazing.

They then asked if I knew people with red or purple eyes, and the conversation then changed to a discussion about the natural color of eyes versus the use of contact lenses.

Who knew eyes could be so fascinating?

3) A student shared her bathroom issues...in detail.

During my night class there is a fifteen minute break for the students.  During that time one of the girls in my class began telling me about how she has been having bathroom difficulties lately.  This is when the vocabulary lesson about the word "constipation" began.  She then continued to tell me a very long and detailed story about her problems with this before.

The funny thing is, this isn't the first time this has happened this semester.  I remember at orientation they told us that Koreans are very open about discussing bathroom occurrences, but I hadn't experienced it until this semester.  I don't know if it's because my female students feel close to me or what, but I am learning a lot about my students in ways I NEVER would have imagined.

I'm going to add this to my list of things that would never happen in America.

4)  I had a class of 27 crying teenage girls.

As I already noted, Thursday was Teacher's Day.  It was a wonderful day...until my last class.  Usually my students come into class before the bell rings, but when it came time for my last period class the bell rang and I still had an empty classroom.  I was wondering where they were when they slowly a few students started to come in.  However, instead of bouncing through the door and yelling "hello!" like they usually do, they were all crying.

My co-teacher wasn't there, so I was left to ask them what was going on.  I couldn't fully understand what happened, but apparently they had prepared a big surprise for their homeroom teacher (my CT later told me that they had gotten a cake, printed pictures, and were standing in a heart shape when he walked in the room).  However, apparently he had been upset with their behavior in his class (or in another class...I'm not really sure), so as soon as he walked in the door he said he didn't want it, yelled at them, and then left.

Well, these fragile, emotional teenage girls were heartbroken.  I can't imagine this class ever behaving badly, so I have a had time believing that they really did anything THAT bad. I guess I can't really know the full story, but it really broke my heart to see them all so upset.

So, there I was, in a room with 27 crying teenage girls.  How are you supposed to teach a class like that?

Naturally, I tried to distract them.  I put on Pharrell's music video "Happy", which was somewhat successful.  They were still upset, but at least they had stopped crying by the time it was over.



It's amazing how much can happen in one week.  When my days start to feel redundant, sometimes I need to step back and recognize these kind of unique moments, especially since I only have a few more months to enjoy with this group of kids.

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.

It's my birthday! Let me give you a present.

It's hard to complain about my job when my students are always doing cute things.  Like this for example.

That's right, it's her birthday, so she decided to give me a present (they were cookies, by the way).

I have such a rough life.