Surprise! Only three classes today! Well, only one so far. The other elementary schools in the area are visiting and I guess that means no English. Works for me—last time, I had to teach English to all of them and it was not fun. Too many students in general and too many students who were frightened of me.
My kindergarteners are very excited to meet my mom and sister. Coincidentally, we were learning the word “mom” today, so it worked out well. “Three American people!” they said. “Wow!” They’re so cute.
I had time to go to the market this morning, too. To my surprise, I found a lady with a huge crate of dried persimmons! I was visibly drooling, I think. They’re not the tastiest specimen I’ve come across, but they’ll do. I’ve been craving them.
While teaching my final class of the morning—my unruly third graders—I was surprised to find we had yet another big group of visitors today—a horde of Korean boys who must have been about my age or a little younger. I am not sure if it was planned to have so much excitement all in one day…there were a lot of visitors for such a small school! They all walked by and peeked in just as the students were being particularly defiant and noisy—definitely me at my best moment. Thank you, third-grade boys. The visitors were pretty shy—a couple said hi as I stood in the lunch line near their table and then collapsed in giggles—but a few of them did come by my room after lunch to chat. Turns out they are from Gunsan (a mid-sized city an hour or so south) and are teaching in lieu of military service. But they left abruptly and never said goodbye. It was nice to talk to them, but I fear they scared away Son Jeong Wu. He never comes by if I look even the slightest bit busy. At least we got to chat this morning—he was the only teacher to inform me of the schedule change, as a matter of fact, and we discussed my family for a bit. And later this afternoon he scampered after me to tell me my “face painting” was not done yet because he’s been busy. I had no idea he was really working on it! It’s a little embarrassing to think someone is painstakingly scrutinizing my face that way. It better turn out beautiful, though—I’d hate to think that he thought of me any other way!
Tomorrow I head to Incheon to pick up the beast and the mom-unit. I’m looking forward to seeing them. Plus, I’ve been a little bored lately. I’m tired of reading, my computer doesn’t recognize the DVD drive and thus I can’t watch movies, and the evenings are very long. Last night, even with all my yoga and studying, I had two hours to kill and nothing to do. It will be good to have somebody to talk to, somebody to distract me from this humdrum life.