DID YOU READ YOUR SCRIPTURES TODAY?

Either did I. I went with Kyle to interview a kid for tutoring and this was a sign, in English, on their television set. They were Koreans and Jehovah’s Witnesses. What was my first clue? Could it have been the copy of the “Watchtower” on the coffee table? In English. It still freaks me out that so many Korean’s are some sort of Christian. Can’t they have their own religion? It just seems wrong. I did ask the mother if they were Jehovah’s Witnesses and she said yes. She didn’t try to convert me so she might be okay.

My adult class looks like it’s going to be okay. Most of the people know some English and I seem to put them at ease. I see my main job as just getting them to talk. Because their English is bad, they’re embarrassed to speak. Of course, if they don’t speak, they won’t get better. I don’t correct them (grammar) because I don’t want to intimidate them. I feel like I’m a part-time entertainer getting them to laugh and keeping the mood light. There are a few men in the class but mostly women. The ages range from about 20 to 60. I asked everyone why they wanted to study English and quite a few said they wanted to be fluent. So I told everyone if they wanted to be fluent they should move to an English speaking country and call me in 40 years. I want no false expectations. I told them tonight that if they are too shy to speak they should quit the class because the only way they’ll get better is to talk.

The best reason I got for learning English was this older woman whose son lives in England. She wants to be better in English so she can speak with her grandchildren. I hope this works for her.

I have this class 2 times a week for 2 hours at a time which is quite long. It’s a good thing I like to talk. We are using a book with stories in it that we can discuss. Tonight the topic was changing TV channels and who controls the TV. The story we read told of a woman watching a documentary on euthanasia. A woman in the class asked me what I thought of euthanasia. I told her I was in favor of it and I asked her. She said she was against it. So I asked the class who was in favor of it and against it and next to no one replied. I wasn’t going to let them off the hook so I asked each person individually and got an answer from everyone. They are learning there is no escaping me.

I have always been in favor of euthanasia and tonight I told them that I was even more in favor of it because of what happened with my father. I can’t believe I told the class about my dad’s Alzheimer’s and how bad he got. Not that I would ever consider making a decision about life and death for anyone, it was just that if someone had specified they wanted out if they deteriorated to a certain point, we should allow it. Anyhow it was a real challenge to tell the story without crying. I went slowly. I breathed deeply. And as I’m trying to stay under control I’m wondering why I ever started. But I did it. I’m sure the class thought I was going to break down. I don’t know why I have such a need to share what happened with my father with strangers. I always tell them that he was the nicest man I ever knew and how unbelievably horrible it was for his family and that he would have hated being the cause of anyone’s pain. I guess maybe if I tell it enough it will become easier to tell. However, that’s hard to imagine.

So this class is a pleasant surprise. And I get a chance to talk to all different kinds of people. Tonight I made everyone tell me what they did today and one woman said she dyed her hair. Weird. On Tuesday we were discussing whether money can buy happiness and if money is the most important thing. One woman asked me what I thought and I said I thought love was the most important thing. I asked her what she thought and she told me (and the class) that she’d never been married or had a lover (I don’t know if something got lost in translation). She was in her 40’s and it made me quite sad after I was shocked by the open classroom confession.

I had a new student on Wednesday. She’s a middle school girl who has excellent English just because she’s so smart. She hasn’t studied or lived outside Korea, she is just gifted. And she has an English accent. I asked her where she got that and she thinks it’s from listening to Harry Potter tapes. It’s so strange to see this kid who looks Korean speaking so well with a bit of an English accent.

I’ve worked a lot of hours this week. Kyle docked my pay 3 hours from when I was sick. It seems I get no sick days. If he doesn’t get paid (because I missed), then I don’t get paid. So because I will work over 40 hours this week he’ll have to pay me for the extra. I would rather it was casual as in I will miss occasionally and I’ll work longer occasionally and it all works out pretty much even. But if he wants to count, then I will count.

I think my plane ticket is booked. Kyle did it for me through a Korean site and he says it’s done. I’m just waiting for him to forward me the confirmation email. Just a touch over 3 weeks to go. I asked my student who went to school in St. Catherines for 2 years if she wanted me to bring her anything back from Canada. She thought for about 10 seconds and then said “Smarties”. I said “sure”. That’s what Elana always wanted from Canada when we lived in Texas. I’m excited about giving her Smarties. It’s great when you can do a nice and special thing and it costs next to nothing.

I need to do my Amazon order so I can get a bunch of books to lug back to Korea and I’ll buy some DVD’s when in Canada. Leah will look for used ones for me in Austin so that will be good. There is so much I haven’t seen in the last year. I will bring back a bottle of Strubs pickles. I told Saeyoon she’d love them and I’d let her have one. She likes to steal my food so I’ll have to keep them under lock and key.

We’re going to see Jesus Christ Superstar on January 20th. Saeyoon said it will be in Korean so that will be really cool I think. I’ve started listening to the music again in preparation. I forgot but once I hear it I remember that I’ve always thought that this portrayal of Jesus makes him quit the whiner. In fact, it should be called Jesus Christ, Whiner. But I do like the music. I told Saeyoon I was getting ready for the play by listening to the music and she didn’t know I had it. So I’ve told her that the next time she’s here, she can get ready too by listening to it. I am so pumped.

I think Robert, Saeyoon, and I are going bowling on Saturday and then for Mexican food. There is supposed to be a pretty good Mexican restaurant in Seoul and Robert wants to go and I think Saeyoon will like Mexican. The bowling is so we can all laugh at each other and it will be neat to have bowled in Korea. I’ve bowled in Columbia so why not Korea?

I think I’ll forego any philosophizing tonight. I could but perhaps if I don’t the thoughts will just drift out of my head and that’s okay with me. And there will be plenty more posts to get them out if they stick.