Yes, it's true. I fully expect to be 200 kilos upon my return. The kids at school will probably stop liking me, but you sure can't please anyone. All I know is that basically everyone around me is OBSESSED with stuffing my face. Take yesterday, for example. In the cafeteria, the lunch ladies decided that since I couldn't eat one small meat item, I would probably starve to death and piled me extra high with everything else AND gave me a plate of peppers. I let the kids eat most of them...I wasn't even very hungry, after my usual big breakfast nowadays. I hope they weren't offended. Then, the teachers played volleyball in the afternoon, and lo and behold if we didn't have a Chinese food and beer/soju break in the middle! It was so weird! They were all so upset when they realized that it all had meat in it and couldn't understand that I just wasn't hungry. And today was the topper. One of the lunch ladies told me (through my trusty interpreter) that today's lunch was going to be 90% meat. There would be no rice--only noodles mixed with meat. The only thing I would be able to eat was kimchi, so I should pack a lunch. This morning, then, I realized I didn't really know how to convey this to my host mother and I didn't really feel comfortable rummaging through the refridgerator on my own. I've never actually looked in the thing, because she also stuffs my face and I am never hungry outside of meals. Anyway, so I tried to tell her my dilemma, and it didn't come across. Basically, all I wanted was a piece of fruit, because I already had peanut butter and crackers. So I guess she freaked out, called my co-teacher, found out what was going on, and decided she would pack me a lunch and bring it to me at school. RIDICULOUS. I must have been seven years old the last time my mother brought me lunch at school. I felt like a fool. I was really trying to not be a pain, too! Of course, she runs into the principal and vice principal when she comes, and they all have a good laugh at my expense. I'm sure the principal is happy my host family is really taking care of me, though. And then, I get to the cafeteria, and lo and behold if there is only the usual one meat item! So I didn't really take much of the cafeteria food, and I think the cafeteria ladies were sad. I mean, I had kimbap--why would I turn that down for the regular cafeteria food? They actually brought me a special bowl of rice. I was so embarrassed about the whole situation. I wanted to hide. I told Kyoung He Sam about it, and of course she tells everyone else when I am right there!! I guess it was funny, but still....
These past couple days have been pretty good, food issues aside. I am amazed at how much work I do, but it's all good. I like it. I just wish my lessons reflected the amount of time I put into them! I feel they're not as fabulous as they should be. It's really hard to get classes of more than twenty kids really engaged in learning a completely foreign language. I wonder how it will be when the novelty of the American has worn off. I'll find out soon enough! I am already getting very sick of the book I teach from, and I think I will need to start planning much further ahead to make coherent lessons that teach the required material without being boring as hell. Working just one lesson ahead is really not good...without an overall vision of where I'm heading, I have trouble bringing the lessons together. I want to start some big, ongoing projects. This is definitely something to work on. I am definitely determined to be a great teacher for these kids and to see their English really develop under my watch. I have already resigned myself to the fact that some just won't care to meet me halfway, and I owe it to the rest to keep going ahead. I don't want to teach to the bottom of the class...that would be doing everyone else a disservice. It's hard, though...how are the others ever going to learn if they are continually left behind? I guess in a way it's a choice they make. I still try to engage them, but I'm not going to waste all my time on it.
I think I forgot to mention before that there is a sizeable population of children without parents at the school--about 25% or so. I guess they usually stay with their grandparents (which explains why I see so few people between 15 and 60!). The parents are usually living, but looking for work somewhere else. It has something to do with the economic downturn of 1997, according to my co-teacher, but that seems like an awfully long time to be looking for a job to me. I thought South Korea was doing fine now. Anyway, Choi Hyun Moon is constantly pointing out orphaned children to me. It makes me sad.
Today I interviewed all the students who are interested in the English-only class I am going to start teaching next week. It's a two hour class on Thursday afternoons, so that's going to translate into a lot of work for me. I think it will be a good group, though. We initially planned interviews because we expected 40+ students to volunteer, but only 25 actually signed up. They are almost all girls (two boys) in grades 3-6. I think it will be fun to teach and even though some of them are low-level, I really didn't want to cut anyone who was interested. I hope they still have a good experience. I plan to leave it somewhat up to them what I teach--I really want this to be an opportunity for them to find out about anything English they are curious about. I am not going to concentrate on grammar or anything like that. They will get enough of that in middle and high school! I just hope they are signing up because they want to, not because of me, because then it might be a trying experience for all involved.
Otherwise, things are good. I didn't really have plans for the weekend. I've been grumpy, so I didn't feel like going through the bother of making them. I was sort of planning to meet a friend (plus a big group of ETAs) in Mokpo, but then I decided to do something with Kyoung He Sam instead. She'll be with her daughters, including the one that made my gorgeous cell phone charm. I'm looking forward to meeting them. They're 11 and 13, I think. And then I have some serious lesson planning to do! Also, there's a volleyball match on Sunday. I guess I might go cheer. It's kinda a male-dominated thing, actually. There were only three other women who played and they were pretty much stuck in the back (by choice or not, I do not know). It was definitely a different system of playing volleyball, and I don't think I like it as much. They never rotate! So that means you're stuck in one position the whole time, which I think is less interesting and also less challenging as a team. And it means that people can be stuck out of the action. I was for one game and I hated it. They must have sensed it, because they moved me forward again for the next game. And then my co-teacher (who is actually pretty good, considering he's my height) kept trying to set to me. I only messed up a few times! He told me later I was the best player--HA!