BACK TO THE WORK ROUTINE

On Monday some of the kids asked me if we celebrated Valentine's day. I told them yes but I was quite surprised they did here. I think they wanted me to bring them chocolate but I told them to bring me some. It's great when I can have these conversations and joke around with the kids. It's one of the reasons I did this. They learn to speak English and I learn from them. Kids are fun and interesting.

On Tuesday morning (this morning) I was supposed to take a drive to Yeosu with Kelly so she could submit my papers for my Visa. She told me she would call me between 10 and 11 to go. I am so gullible. She calls about 12:30 to say she just woke up and sent someone else to go. I was disappointed and a little annoyed. But I'm catching on. She told me she would get ready and come and get me to take me around town a little and to go to the bank as I needed to cash some money.

She calls 5 minutes later to tell me she is having a problem with her car and someone who helps out at the school will come and get me and take me to the bank. Then we will meet at the school with the secretary (I must learn her name) after I go to the bank. So "Jack" picks me up. I asked his name but of course I couldn't pronounce it. It seems that most people here have an "English" name. A lot of times they are just assigned one by their English teachers. What a stupid thing I think. What gives a teacher the right to name a child who is not theirs? I asked one of the students how her name was chosen. She told me the teacher had a list of English names and picked one. I need to learn to move my mouth so I can pronounce their real names properly. I hate this English name thing. I asked some of my students today to give me a Korean name. They kept changing their minds so I asked them to have one for me tomorrow. It makes more sense for me to have a Korean name in Korea than for them to have an English name in Korea.

Jack (that's what his English name is) spoke a little English. As far as I understand he helps at the English academy, he teaches math in some of the schools, he was a Captain in the army (now retired), and he's moving to Miami in August to go to school again to study Industrial Engineering. He's 32. I asked him how long he planned to go to school in the States for and he said, "10 years". I'm not sure he understood me.

We went to lunch (the nameless secretary, Jack, Kelly, and me) at another typical Korean restaurant. I had some soup with vegetables and pork and sausage in it and a bowl of rice. I'm trying to adapt. The soup was tasteless so I put salt and pepper in it and it helped. The vegetables were good, the pork was edible, and the sausage was horrible so I ignored it. I tried eating the rice with my chopsticks and Kelly told me I looked silly doing it. I hope she was being funny. I tried and then ate my rice with my spoon. But I survived lunch. Of course I had to sit cross legged on the floor while eating. It does take a toll on your back. I asked what old people do. Do they get on the floor and I was told that some of them can get a table and chairs. Sometimes I suppose it's good to be old. Here is a picture of Jack, Kelly, and the nameless secretary at the table:

At school today some of the kids did give me chocolate. That was very nice of them. I must admit I still like these kids. There are all kinds. Some know nothing in English and never will. Others work hard or just have a knack for it. One of my kids (the nameless secretary's daughter) is a real doll. I ask her a question and she always starts talking to me in Korean. It cracks me up.

The stereotype we have of Oriental children is wrong. I imagined well-behaved children who sat at their desks with their hands folded and listening raptly to the teacher. Wrong! They are like North American children I think. The younger ones keep getting up and many talk while others are talking. I keep telling them it's rude, but I say it in a nice way. Then I raise my voice and they listen for a few minutes. But I see a lot of potential. It will be interesting to see how it all unfolds.

The school seems very disorganized at the moment. Today I went to go to what I thought was one of my classes and was told to go to a different class. I was so confused. I think I'm the conversational teacher so I am to move around. The Koreans teach grammar. But they talk too much Korean in English class. I think the kids would be better being forced to listen to English. I use my lousy drawing and acting to try and make myself understood. Kelly came into my kindergarten one day and started explaining things in Korean. I asked her to not do that anymore. She said she was worried I would get tired of trying to explain in English but I told her I wanted to do it that way. The kids would catch on. She agreed to leave me to my methods (such as they are).

I will also be doing some private teaching of some older kids who want special tutoring. One of them is going to America in August (Houston I think) as an exchange student and another was in America for a year and doesn't want to forget what he learned. Kelly got me the work and takes no commission or anything which is nice of her. She earns a free dinner at a nice restaurant for that one.

Tomorrow we are supposed to go to Sucheon to eat at an inexpensive American style buffet (I am scared to imagine it) and to look at English books for the kids. I'm to meet her downstairs at 11:30. I wonder if she'll show up. At least now I know that she might not, because that's just the way it goes.