Signs of Spring and Young thoughts

It's gorgeous here right now.  Green leaves appear on long barren branches and arch over walkways, surrounded by  multi-colored azaleas, lilacs, and flowers pushing through and around rock walls at the base of budding bushes and trees...Spring in South Korea is something to behold!

My friend, Sherry and I do long walks to nearby parks 2-3 times a week.  They're always tucked into hills and mountains and today's walk was particularly lovely.  I'll remember my camera on Friday.

Today, however, I want to quote a bit from my students' diaries and post some of their photos along with our recent staff day trip to nearby Kwang Yang and Hadong.   I've never seen so many trees in bloom before, or forsythias!

I'm going to a job interview in Utah in less than 2 weeks.  No guarantee I'll get placed this year, but I feel like I have to go.  This has caused no small amount of tension, but I'm not sure that another year away from family is the best course to follow.  Whatever happens, Korea continues to be a wonderful experience and I want to share glimpses into the scenes of the land and minds of the students I love.

Correcting weekly diary entries convinces me that majoring in English was a good idea.  I love reading what they write.

This entry summarizes the life-styles of most of my students.  It's edited, but well written by one of my elementary school students (all diaries authors are elementary school aged):  "I'm the busiest person in the world!  After school, I go to the piano academy at 3:30 pm.  Then I have drawing academy at 4:20 pm.  I have English academy at 5:10 pm. (as her foreign teacher, I see her once a week, but she attends daily).  I come home and eat dinner at 7:30 pm.  I did my homework until 10:00 pm.  Now it's 10:30 pm. and it's time to sleep already.  I hope there will be something exciting tomorrow."  Most of the kids, especially the middle-schoolers, don't get home until late at night.  This is why we play games in my class!

This group comes into my room as early as they can to play basketball and dodgeball (with a squishy ball Tom sent--pictures posted earlier) before the bell rings.  Little "Alex" in front's adorably small--such a cool little dude!  Super charming and determined, he comes straight from Taekwondo to English class.  "Elly's" the only girl in this group of boys and she's awesome!  Sometimes being the only girl is hard and the boys gang up on her--with 7 brothers and no sisters, myself, I can empathize and she's a favorite of mine.  I adore the boys, but am fiercely loyal to this little girl.  Man, she's tough--except when she's not!

"My precious thing is time," writes "Kyle," to address his assigned topic:  What is Your Most Precious Thing?  "Time can not be bought with money and time is special to me.  Time has many good and many bad things...a very bad time was when I made mom angry by hitting my sister."  Wise for his age.  

Another fun diary this week, was Esther's.  One of my most insightful and prolific writers, quiet, soft spoken and serious minded as she is, Esther not only defines exactly what UFOs and aliens are, but writes a "letter to an alien in a UFO."  "To an alien:" she writes. "I'm Esther, I want to see you; so, I want you to come here.  Here is Sacheon..." and she writes out her exact apartment address. "So you can come here anytime.  Do you have long arms, or a big head?  Do you have hair, or not?  Everyone has questions for you.  But, maybe, if you don't want noise, you should not come." Koreans, especially many of my students aren't quiet people.  "But, if you want noise and you want to come, I can see you!  Bye~!  from Esther."

The pinwheel heart photo is from the staff outing, but it expresses a youthful perspective that captivates me!  The dancing cross-dresser with a bunch of middle-aged ladies...

and the "pink lady"guy...

 ...exhibit a particularly Korean zaniness which shoves the blues into oblivion.

My students express themselves not only creatively, exhibiting inquisitive natures, but they're quite candid sometimes.

"Hi Joanna, I'm Duncan."  Sometimes they write directly to me, knowing I'm the one who'll read it.  "You are a good teacher." Duncan generally shows up late, expressing his hatred for school, so this is high praise indeed.  He details my redeeming qualities; "Your voice is good and you're tall."  Being short is a serious offense here--they tease the one male teacher, Jack, mercilessly for his lack of height.  Jack is a superb teacher and returns their taunts by grinning and calling them "evil creatures from hell."  Well, Duncan turned some of that "hellish" candidness on me as this diary entry continues: "But you are old."  Sigh.  Yes, that's a fact.  He tries to redeem the comment; "But you are a some pretty.  I like you.  But I don't love you." This declaration is followed by a bunch of symbols which I think are equivalent to texting "lol."  He's in 6th grade, now, so hey--gotta make things clear, right?  He ends with "Thank you," and from what I can discern, "Why do you teach me when I don't think."  This photo is of the author, "Duncan."

But, then there's "Kate," who basically fills any room she enters with puppy dog sunshine.  She's never cloudy, always exuberant, and it was my lucky day when she decided she liked me.  Reading her diaries is a delight every time!

"(Teacher!  I love this!)" she writes following a dry assigned topic on cell phones.  Using an arrow and yellow highlighters for emphasis, she quotes; "Yesterday is history.  Tomorrow is a mystery.  TODAY IS A GIFT That's why we call it the Present!" Just in case I can read Korean, she translates for clarity into hangeul on the side and adds, "I love Joanna teacher ALWAYS" and draws a heart.  

I'm thinking The King and I may end up being one of my favorite movies because of these type of things.  These girls aren't Kate, (I can't find a good photo--have to amend that!) but this thing of forming a heart and making the ever popular peace sign, says it all!

The plethora of cherry, plum, persimmon and apricot blossoms perfectly complements the surplus of young, enthusiastic and verbose students around here.  Every day reveals something new and beautiful!