Fridays are always long. Five classes, plus the prospect of lengthy and stressful evening travel…not so fun, most of the time. Today? No exception, especially considering I really had no idea how to get to Wonju or whether I would even be able to get there Friday night.
Fortunately, I was distracted, as always, by silly student antics. My sixth graders are making their own stores (we’re studying prices and “How much is it?”) and some of the things they come up with are absolutely hysterical. For example, one of my favorites, Young Mook, comes up to me and asks about a word: “Swim” (with motions). “Anyong.” (glasses, with motions). “Oh, goggles,” I say, distractedly. I look down at his paper. He’s written “Water glasses.” Too funny. I have another student in the same class, Jae Cheol, who is also amazing—not nearly as good at English, but wildly enthusiastic at times (seeing him play the drums in samulnori is a hoot) and when he applies himself in class, it nearly always makes me laugh. Today he had decided to open a restaurant and was asking me to translate all these weird food words, and since I’m not a meat eater nor a restaurant frequenter, I was having some trouble, even with all his elaborate gesturing. So I had him go back to his teacher (my co-teacher) and ask her to translate. He came back to me with “Pokuh cutletuh.” “Oh, yes, pork cutlet, sure!” and I write it on the board and try not to laugh. He’s serving pork cutlet? What country am I in, anyway?
I’m increasingly alarmed with the number and frequency of middle fingers I see nowadays. I know my students don’t really know what it means—they just know it’s bad, so they, of course, are naturally drawn to it. I’ve had students flipping me off in class, flipping each other off…it’s incredibly irritating. Things reached a head today when one of my cute little kindergarteners ran up to me while I was walking to the cafeteria. One of his friends was crying, and his attempt to explain what happened consisted of a middle finger and “F*** you!” I was appalled. Again, what kind of place am I in???