Teaching Motto: Less is More & Don't Assume Anything (No Really, Don't)

Students shyly hiding behind the door as I snap this photo on my way in

The E-Zone, I was [sort of, not really] quick to realize, stands for English-Zone.

What else could it stand for, Mimi?!

WHERE TEACHERS RECHARGE
It's the homeroom class of an English teacher - my Fulbright co-teacher, Sookhee, to be exact.

Behind a glass window in the back of the room (a-la Big Brother-style) is a room full of snacks and English teachers in various states of repose - some with their slippers off, rubbing their feet back to life, some with grapes half stuffed in their faces, and some with handkerchiefs draped over their heads as they nap.

The E-Zone itself has posters of English translations and conjugations of Korean words and concepts passively offering knowledge on every corner of the room - not to mention English essays written and illustrated by students plastered all over the walls .

The essays are pretty polished and likely written by older students, but they still made me hope. Maybe some of my classes - or some of my students in those classes - will be a bit more advanced than the ones I have encountered so far and I can assign essay-writing of the same caliber as the ones posted up!

No such luck.

Passing out very exciting "Introduce Yourself to Teacher" WSs! 

BREAKING AWAY FROM THE BREAKUP 

Tuesday is my "Friday" as far as lesson planning goes, so I gave my self-introduction and induced the same responses as last Thursday one last time. This was a bit of a relief as I could now tackle other, more important things other than how to carefully orchestrate a massively downplayed account of my recent break-up. 

NEW TEACHING MOTTO: DON'T ASSUME ANYTHING

I gave my students worksheets that allowed me to eyeball their language level, confidence level in the areas of Reading, Writing, Speaking, and Listening, as well as gather some biographical data that would hopefully aid in my effort to remember students. 

I modified this "Introduce Yourself to Teacher" worksheet for every class - with each version becoming more simple and less wordy. 

The "Less is More" motto I have adopted has now been joined by a "Don't Assume Anything" mentality. 

The importance of the second one was impressed upon me when I created what I thought were very convenient and matter-of-fact headers for my worksheets. 

VERSION 1:

Name: ____________________________

Date:   ____________________________

Class:  ____________________________

VERSION 1: HOW STUDENTS FILLED IT OUT

Name: _이름_______________________ - Students wrote their names in Korean, which is still hard for me to read. Must modify

Date:   _2013/27/8 or 27/8____________ - Students came up with all manner of writing the date, confusing me. Must also modify

Class:  _1__________________________ - Students wrote "1," which tells me their grade but not their class. Must modify!

VERSION 2:

Name: __(Korean)___/___(English)______

Date:   ___________/____/____________

Class:  _____________-______________

VERSION 2: HOW STUDENTS FILLED IT OUT

Name: __(Korean)___/___(English)_____ - Because of the parenthetical notes, students wrote their names microscopically

Date:   _________2013/27/_8__________ - Produced the same variety of date-writing, except this time, there are backslashes... -_-

Class:  __(insert student ID here)________  - Umm...? Why??

VERSION 3: 

Name: (Korean)_______/(English)_______ 

Date:   ________8/____/2013___________

Class:  __________1 - ________________

VERSION 3: HOW STUDENTS FILLED IT OUT

Name: (Korean)_주현_/(English)_Juhyeon_ - Yes!

Date:   ________8/_27___/2013_________  - Yes!

Class:  __________1 - 8________________ - and YES! 

Okay, so I actually skipped a few other versions for time's sake, but I was pleased with how the headers eventually elicited uniform and consistent responses. Though worksheet headers may be a small-enough detail, it's crucial at the moment, especially as I am just meeting my students and learning to organize class materials.

A student's motivation to learn English 

A student's father is a "salaryman"?

 And now, to the teacher's office...

 WELCOME TO MY [MESSY, OVERFLOWING, & INCREASINGLY HOMEY] DESK SPACE!

Check out my sweet name tag! (It really is the little things...)

TWO THINGS DEAR TO MY HEART: PHOTOGRAPHY, THE PHILIPPINES
It took a while for other teachers in the office to understand that I personally took the photos gracing my office space. They thought I was merely sharing someone else's work out of my love for landscape photography and for the Philippines. They would not be incorrect about those two loves, but why would I ever display someone else's photos when I am perfectly capable of capturing and re-producing the world through my own perspective?

Name placard no longer empty!

Shareena's lovely Christmas card

My fourth Husky Kick-Off

Name tags, and all the worksheet responses I have to read this weekend from my eight classes

THE TREES WE SACRIFICE AS TEACHERS

I have been a teacher for less than a week, and I already feel incredibly convicted by the amount of paper - and trees! - I am using! I know this is done in the name of education, but I am unused to and even uncomfortable with this kind of luxurious printing powers. I will change the way I teach class so as to require the least amount of paper without shortchanging my students. 

I left this afternoon with a part of the school awash in golden light. It was mesmerizing!

NAPS ARE TAKING OVER MY LIFE IN KOREA!
I function perfectly at school - albeit a bit sleepy the whole day - but, once I get home, it's all over. Some days, I don't even recall changing, or crawling into bed for what has become a pretty regular three-hour afternoon nap.

This evening, I slept so late that my host father had already come home from work. He greeted me cheerfully and presented me with this:

HOST PARENTS' GIFT: PORTABLE HARD DRIVE
He refused to let me pay him back, insisting this was his and host mom's gift to me. This was definitely not part of the agreement we made last time we were at Costco, but he was resolute. And I was a bit unsure if there was a cultural code I was breaking by not accepting a[nother] gift from my host parents.

The model I wanted to buy from Costco!

I was very pleased that host dad had gotten me exactly what I had been looking for just last week, but was beginning to understand why the OCs had given us phrases in Korean containing the English word "burden" as in - "I am burdened by this [gift]." I am racking my brain even more now on ways to, not repay, but reciprocate my host family's incredible generosity.

MY QUESTIONS FOR YOU
How do you handle the art of receiving gifts? What kind of gifts (specific items) would you recommend I buy/make/prepare for my Korean host family?

Host Parents' General Welfare Advice: Prohibit Excessive Kindness to Men

ENJOYING SOME MANGO GOODNESS 

Delicious fresh mangoes from Costco

After we got home from Costco, we all sat down together and ate fresh and dried mangoes my host mom prepared. My mouth was in ecstasy! I vacillated between trying to articulate the deliciousness of it all through mouthfuls, and trying to chew, and taste, and savor.

In the middle of this, my host dad whipped out his phone and started typing feverishly.

After ages, he finally showed me the screen. It was dating/relationship advice.

I don't remember the exact wording, but I burst out laughing, my cheeks stinging from the unexpected exercise. He had typed for so long that I thought there was at least a publishable novella on his phone, but there were only a handful of words. He must have typed and erased, typed and erased again in search for the right phrasing.

ADVICE THROUGH GOOGLE TRANSLATE

Host Dad's advice on how to avoid attracting unwanted attention 

He withdrew his hand and typed something else. This time, I took a picture. The second message was: "Pretty worry more," by which I thought he meant something along the lines of: "Mimi, since you are a pretty young woman, there will be more men bothering you for attention. As your host parents, we will just naturally worry more about you and how you are faring, especially around men."

So, obviously, that's not what he actually said, but that's my interpretation of those three words.

I was amused by this, and also warmed that he had thought many steps ahead concerning my general welfare in Korea. I looked up and tried to catch host mom's eyes in all of this, but she strategically averted her eyes though she had a smile on her face.

Later, host dad pointed out to me that, even though he was the one talking to me about this, he and mom [motions to mom busily going here and there] were of the "same mind."

Host dad: Same, same! Mimi, mom and dad...uhh, hmm...ah! Same mind, okay?

I nodded my understanding, and smiled thinking about how the two of them might have discussed how to best broach the subject with their American host daughter. Their marriage is something else. I really admire the love and respect between them!

Host Dad's last message was uplifting

"PROHIBIT EXCESSIVE KINDNESS TO MEN"
My host dad withdrew his hand again and typed in, "Prohibit excessive kindness to men," by which I thought he meant: "Mimi, to avoid unwanted male attention, please don't be too nice around them." Again, that's not what he actually said, but the almost warning-label quality and tone of his message compels me to write a "translation." Host dad then proceeded to instruct me on what to say should I be bothered by a man while on my own: "waikano?!" (roughly: "Why are you touching me?!").

Host dad asked me to repeat the foreign phrase, and so I did. He was pleased with how quickly I was catching on.

WHOLE FAMILY ACTS IT OUT TOGETHER

By this time the whole family was sitting around me, watching as host dad repeated the phrase again, and acted out what my tone, body language, and facial expression should be to accompany the words. It was all so funny, I couldn't stop laughing. It was like charades - but with a very specific topic!

Juhyeon and host mom followed up with their own more feminized version of "waikano?!" and had me repeat this until they were pleased with my execution. 

Family: Ah! Okay, Okay, Okay! Mimi very goot! Very goot [insert massive smile of approval here]

It was around 1 a.m. when we finally finished eating, Google translating, and laughing. 

Day #1 of Teaching: Mimi Teacher's Self-Introduction & Relationship Status

No class cancellations today! I was so excited, but thankfully reigned in my nerves as I entered each of my classes. I only taught two morning classes (that means I still had six hours of desk warming for the rest of the day). 

This is Class 1-8. My host sister noticed the camera in my hand and quickly ducked behind the podium before I took this shot.

The first class I had was at 8:40 a.m (basically first period) with Class 1-7 (translation: 1 = first-grade high school students; 7 = seventh class out of 8 different classes of first-grade high school students). Sookhee was my co-teacher, helping me set up the technology, which was very essential for my first week's lesson plan on Self-Introductions. I had the students create name tags for themselves as Sookhee and I both struggled to get the projector and computer to communicate with each other. 

She had told me the previous day that my students were mostly low-level, so I modified what now looks like an extremely ambitious first week lesson plan (for, in my hopes and dreams, a high-level, or at least high-intermediate class) to suit this new piece of information. 

In keeping with this, I had a two-part lesson. I will share the first part because, being a PPP, it lends itself quite easily to this task.

I created a power point presentation made up largely of photos and simple captions about my life before coming to Korea. This worked wonderfully, based on student reactions. 

WEEK 1 LESSON PLAN: MIMI TEACHER SELF-INTRODUCTION

Here's a little something of how this went down: 

Students: [expectant silence]

Me: I will tell you a little bit about me. After, you will tell me a little bit about you, okay?

Students: [Nods] Yes, Teacher

Me: You can ask me questions at the end, okay?

Students: [Nods] Yes, yes, Teacher!

Me: What are these?

Students: Places!

Me: Correct! Which country is the blue one? 

Students: ...United States! Latin America! Malaysia! Hong Kong!

Me: Um...no. That is THE PHILIPPINES.

Students: Oh!

Me: I was born in the Philippines!

Students: Ohhhhhhh!

Yours truly is Filipino-American, and all too proud to represent these two aspects of my identity while abroad! :D

Me: This is my family.
Students: Wah...
Me: One of them is my mother.
Students: WAHHHHHH! [insert 30 Korean girls screaming here] Which???
Me: Which one do you think?...That's correct! The second one from the left.
Students: WAHHHHHHHH! Beautiful!

Me: [Smiling] I know...  

Me: I am the oldest of four daughters. This is my family in the Philippines with the second oldest sister!
Students: Wahhhh [they are basically impressed with everything they see on the slides]. Teacher, what is name of mom and seesters?
Me: Ah! Let me introduce you to them :D
Students: Okay, Okay.

Me: Who is this?
Students: MOTHER!
Me: What is her name?
Students: Mer...cedddess
Me: Mercedes, that's right! This picture was taken one month ago at my college graduation. My mother raised me and my younger sisters by herself in the U.S.
Students: OHHH

Me: This is my grandmother. Halmoni. She helped raise me and my younger sisters in the Philippines. She still lives in the Philippines. I want to visit her during winter vacation!
Students: Ahhh...Philippines...

Me: These are my three younger sisters!
Students: WAHHHH! Beautiful!
Me: Jessel is the second oldest. She lives in the Philippines with her husband.
Students: [Screams of incredulity] But Teacher, she younger than you...?
Me: Yes...and she also has a baby girl!
Students: [More screams]
Me: And this is Merry Chris. She is a student at the University of Washington (same university as Teacher), and she is majoring in Spanish and International Relations.
Students: Ahh...
Me: Merry Chris is the one who made me watch Boys Before Flowers with Lee Min Ho...
Students: Ahhhh!!! Teacher, you know Lee Min Ho?!
Me: And this is Emily. She is in high school and loves to draw, paint, and run and jump! Emily is the youngest, so she is especially close to my heart :D

Me: These are my friends in America. I have known them for many, many years.
Students: [More screams of "Beautiful!" "So, so beautiful!"]
Me: Shhhh...Shhhh...The next slide is very important.

Me: These are my favorite food. Raise your hand if you like mangoes.
Students: [Some raise their hands]
Me: Raise your hand if you like chicken
Students: [Goes wild, screaming their love for all things chicken].

I think we're going to get along very well here...

Me: This is my university!

They have no conception of what a "minor" is, so my co-teacher translated it for them in Korean.

My students also had no idea what "Diversity Studies" or "Women Studies" mean. I gave explanation a shot...

Students: Ohhh...!!!
Me: Before, I was in America. Now, I'm here in Yeongdo with you! We will have a great year together :D
Students: Yes, Teacher

ASKING THE PERTINENT QUESTIONS
Me: Alright, that is the end of my introduction! Do you have any questions for Mimi Teacher?

[Silence...then, a student tentatively raises her hand]

Me: Yes?
Student: Teacher, do you have a boyfriend?
Whole Class: [Excited giggles]
Me: Ah...Do I have a boyfriend?
Student: Yes
Me: What do you think?
Student: Yes! Very, very have a boyfriend!

Students all raise their hands, saying they think I have a boyfriend

Me: Wow. Okay...Raise your hand if you think I have a boyfriend.
Class: [Every student raises their hand]/ [Good, they're all awake]
Me: Huh!...Why do you all think I have a boyfriend??
Another Student: Ring! Teacher has a ring on finger!
Me: [Dang, they're good] Ah...Okay. Let's see if you all are right [flips to next slide]

*Picture has been changed and blocked out here to protect the innocent (or guilty, depending on who you are). 

Students: [MASSIVE ERUPTION OF TRIUMPHANT SCREAMING, presumably in the name of love] SO HANDSOME! Teacher boyfriend, so handsome! WAHHHH...HHHHH!

I give them 30 long seconds to get the excitement out of their systems, and then - a brief lesson on verb tenses:

Me: This was my boyfriend. Was.
Students: [Deep, quiet groans of immense disappointment] was...? :/
Me: When I came to Korea...no more.
Students: Ohhh...Sorry, Teacher. Sorry, sorry...
Me: It's okay. It's okay.

Me: It's okay, because I have a new boyfriend now!
Students: OH?!
Me: Much more handsome [flips to next slide containing picture of me and one of the heartthrobs in Korea from the boy group EXO]
Students: WAHHHH! No Teacher. No!
Me: Hahaha. Why no?
Students: He is mine! He is my husband! He is not! No Teacher!

My all-girls class was very upset with me...haha!








I had gathered from previous conversations with the OC Team, my host family, and co-teachers that this would be one of the first questions my students would ask me. Instead of lying to my students about it (which I was tempted to do), or flailing my way through it (which I was bound to do), I decided to tackle the question head-on.

It wasn't easy, but adding humor helped. Vocalizing this recent break-up to 300 female students was difficult, but it became easier over the course of giving the same powerpoint presentation eight different times. This is as far as I have gotten in terms of processing all this, so I don't have much else to offer.

Three years of my heart all boiling down to these two powerpoint slides. I guess that happens sometimes. Someday, I will have a much more grand story to tell - not just to my students, but to myself.

"Dare to Be Expressive" Day: Teaching My Third Lesson in Camp Fulbright

Me observing the first ETA teach a class of elementary-age students

TEACHING THE THIRD AND FINAL TIME AT CAMP FULBRIGHT 
I had my third and last practice teaching session today with another CI's class. Like the previous two, I was the last one to teach a lesson. While this wasn't an issue with Eric's older students, it was definitely more of a challenge with Daniel's younger elementary-age students. Daniel had given me plenty of heads-up as far as their language ability, their energy-level, and their adorableness and, for the most part, he was spot on.

THE FIRST ETA TEACHES
From the back of the room, I observed the first ETA struggle with students who were not as engaged and had their heads down on the table. Midway through his lessons, the students would say things like, "Teacher, next! Next teacher!" asking him to move on to the next phase of the lesson. The ETA moved through his slides, but the content was very similar to the previous slide's so the students would, again, ask him, "Neeext!"

Seeing this dynamic made me a bit nervous in my chair. After the first ETA finished, Daniel told both of us that the students were probably just extra tired from a full day of classes, and feeling sleepy after lunch time. He also said that one student had not been feeling well his entire time at camp, and another student had not gotten enough sleep the previous night due to construction work right outside his window. The CI stressed that these were things that were out of our control, and to just do our best to deliver our lesson and engage them as much as we could.

THE SECOND ETA TEACHES 
These were very good things to know going into my turn to teach. I resolved that no heads would be down on the table (or if heads were down, that their eyes would still be on me), and that I would do my best to vary up the activities so I would not encounter the same reactions as the first ETA had received. My lesson was on the topic of bullying and teaching students how to be more than a bystander if they witnessed a situation where a student or a group of students would physically, emotionally, and/or socially harm another student/group of students on a regular basis.

SELF-EVALUATIONS: WHAT I COULD & COULD NOT CONTROL 
I was successful in meeting my goal of keeping the students' heads off their tables, and I was also successful in varying up the activities that I had them go over. However, I think I might have pushed my class to do too many different activities because they had a difficult time transitioning from one to the other. Eric had warned me in his post-lesson feedback that wrapping up one activity would take time, transitioning would take time, and explaining a new one would also take time. This was most evident in a class of younger students whose attention span was not as long as that of the older ones' I had become used to teaching.

I became particularly distressed towards the end when the sick student and the sleep-deprived student "woke up" from their respective reveries and found opportunity to lay themselves on the floor and (jokingly) convulse violently during a skit. There was a point where I believed my sense of helplessness did not register on the outside, but, towards the end, I am sure it became quite evident to the CI and the other ETA - if not also to the students. All I could do was smile at the two-three students who were still on task, separate those who were pretend-kicking and pretend-strangling each other, and remind myself over and over that it was okay to not have control of the class 100 percent of the time.

I have a suspicion that I might have to settle for not having control 75 or 50 or less than 50 percent of the time...

LANGUAGE ABILITY & MATURITY LEVEL
My time with my third class was helpful in the sense that it affirmed my belief that I work best with older students. This younger class was quite advanced in their English ability so it was not so much their language ability, but more their maturity level that I had a difficult time getting used to. Again, I know this is because I have worked with college-age students for the past four years. Yet I know that, if given the time, I would learn to embrace all the joys and challenges that come with teaching elementary-age students.

After practice teaching and Taekwondo, I headed off to Eric's class for my last night of Homework Help.
This is a photo of Eric's students prettifying their classroom for tomorrow's Camp Fulbright Closing Ceremony. 

LAST NIGHT OF HOMEWORK HELP 
As it is, I was relieved to find myself back in Eric's class that evening for Homework Help. I had nearly forgotten this obligation, and was still in my Taekwondo uniform when I quickly headed to his class from a 15-minute dinner. The students were on autopilot preparing for tomorrow's Camp Fulbright Closing Ceremony - the earlier part of which included showcasing their room to parents who were coming to pick up their students for the day.

As always, I was impressed with how well these eight students worked. They had two female students delegate tasks to the others from the back of the room, a couple of really artistic students, and a couple who were very good (or just very excited) about coloring their "masterpieces." Meanwhile, Eric was hovering over everyone semi-freaking out and semi-encouraging his students to finish, finish, finish! He had time to joke with the girls, and those who had crushes on the other CIs.

Me: What? None of the girls have crushes on you?
Eric: No, no, no. They hate me
Girls: Yes, we don't like Eric very much. 
Me: [to students] What?! I thought you loved your teacher!
Girls: [to me] He's good teacher, but Daniel is more handsome.
Me: [to Eric] What? Why Daniel? Why is that? 
Eric: Ah, probably because Daniel is a lot nicer to them. He is incredibly dedicated to his students. Me? I love my students, too, but I tease them way too much and they don't like that.
Me: Huh!
Eric: ...and I think it's also because some of the other CIs fit their idea of prince charming better. 
Me: Ah, I see what you're saying. 

LOVE NOTES FROM STUDENTS
I was reminded of my one-on-one with Daniel, at the end of which I noticed a craftily-folded note lying on his desk with his name on it.

Daniel: [noticing me looking at the note] You can read it if you want
Me: Oh, no! I was just looking. Who is it from? 
Daniel: It's from one of the students. You can read it, I'm serious
Me: Are you sure?
Daniel: Yeah [smiles]

It was a letter from a female student professing her love for Daniel, and describing how amazing of a teacher and person he was. I was very amused while reading through the letter - the letter-writer was so open and honest about her feelings for Daniel.

Me: [laughing] How do you deal with this? 
Daniel: I tell them that I am already married. 
Me: Wow, what a way to break their hearts
Daniel: Yeah...

CULTURAL IDEAS OF WHAT/WHO IS BEAUTIFUL/HANDSOME/ATTRACTIVE
It dawned on me that the girls preferred Daniel and his Caucasian features over Eric and his Korean features. I'm sure Eric is right though, Daniel's sweeter, more soft-spoken personality also probably has something to do with why his students adored him.

Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Eric chasing a male student, heaving him up and slinging him across one shoulder, and slowly running around the room with him in tow. The room was in chaos, but it was a warm and friendly kind of chaos - the kind that I was somehow assured would all magically change in time for the parents' arrival.

MY QUESTIONS FOR YOU: 
Have you ever considered what you personally find beautiful/handsome? What or who do you consider beautiful/handsome? Are there certain characteristics that you immediately, without thinking, equate with beauty? Why is this?

Have you ever written a love note to a teacher? What grade where you on? What did you say? How did the teacher respond? Share your thoughts and experiences in the comment box below.

Site Visits: Visiting a Co-Ed High School in Cheongju

Today was a huge treat! The 80 ETAs were divided into groups and sent to conduct site visits around the area. The choices were:

• Daejeon Schools
• Vocational High School
• All Girls High School
• Co-Ed Middle School
• Cheongju Schools
• All girls Middle School
• Co-Ed High school
• Elementary School
• Advanced Science High School

VISITING HUNGDEOK HIGH SCHOOL
I signed up to go to a co-ed high school in Cheongju since I am very interested in teaching at the secondary level and wanted to see a mix of genders. After about 1-2 hours on the bus, my group arrived at Hungdeok High School. The bus dropped us off, and we were greeted at the entrance by the principal and vice-principal, if I remember correctly. We were led into the school and asked to change into slippers for the rest of the day. Changing into slippers indoors is a common thing in Korean society. Bare toes in professional settings is considered rude, so I had on black socks to go with my black flats.

This is the really thoughtful and beautiful welcome sign that Hungdeok High School created for us!

SCHOOL TOUR LED BY KOREAN STUDENTS

We were divided again into two groups for campus tours. Four Hungdeok high school students led us around the campus and showed us the Computer Lab, the Math Lab, and the English Lab rooms. They also showed us the attached dormitories, where, upon entrance, we were asked to leave even our slippers at the door. Koreans take the cleanliness of their floors seriously.

I walked next to the tour leader, a second grade high school student named Ji-Soo (quick note: grades here "restart" in every level of schooling. There are Grades 1-3 in middle school and same in high school, so Ji-Soo is actually not in the 2nd grade but in the 11th). She said she was interested in learning more English, and that she wanted to be a teacher someday. She was extremely shy. Every time I asked her a question, she would shyly cover her mouth with her hands and smile, and then uncover them and begin to formulate an answer. 

The schools' temporary Fulbright ETA headquarters for the day. This is the site of our opening and closing ceremony,
as well as the backdrop of photo shoots we had with administrators, teachers, and students.

INTERACTING WITH KOREAN STUDENTS IN THE CLASSROOM
Most of our day was dedicated to shadowing a current ETA and the strategies she used to conduct one of her classes. Even though the school was co-ed, the class we ended up shadowing was only girls. They were all in uniforms, and on their desks were an assortment of things that amused me: cute pencil pouches, bright hair curlers, make-up, small blankets, and, on one desk, a can of Febreze. Somehow suspecting that the girls seated together were using it as a perfume, I asked them what they used it for.

Girls: Smell good. 

Me: For you? 

Girls: No, no. Whole class!

Me: [Laughing] Ah! That's good. Smelling good is nice. 

We were given the chance to interact with them a little at a time, and I really enjoyed this part. I started from the back and asked as many rows of students as I could what their names were, attempted to read them myself when I couldn't tell, and inspired many giggles in my attempt to sound out the Korean names stitched in Hangeul on their uniforms. Good times. 

Girls: What is your name?

Me: Mimi. My name is Mimi!

Girls: Beautiful. Beautiful name! Mimi, beautiful. 

Me: Thank you

I was glad to hear their opinion of my name since I had been wondering if my name meant something in Korean, or could be associated with anything good or bad.

I forced myself to keep going around the classroom despite how difficult it was to leave each pair of students. They were very shy but, once approached, were quite communicative. I could tell their minds were on full-drive trying to come up with what to say back to me.

Each table had a plateful of delicious-looking and -tasting treats, a cute lion fan, and the day's itinerary.

At the end of the day, a student gave us a presentation about the school in English. She must have been their top student because her pronunciations were spot-on. After this, the photo op.

AMERICAN FULBRIGHT ETAS BEING TREATED LIKE CELEBRITIES
I haven't taken as many photos since getting here because everyone else has been pretty enthusiastic in taking care of the photographing for me. Of course I shouldn't have relied on the others since I have no way of knowing if they're even actually going to give me copies of the photos later. That aside, we were treated like celebrities at the school and it seemed like everyone wanted a photo with us. The students who saw us at the hallway were amazed by our presence at their school, and some bowed shyly while others said enthusiastic hellos!

Based on a workshop on the Korean educational system I had sat in on yesterday, I was surprised that the students did not look haggard, or that they didn't have black circles under their eyes from stress and lack of sleep. I could write a different post about the Korean educational system for another day, but suffice it to say (for now, at least) that the workshop depressed me. At the same time, a powerful thought that had slowly been building up in the past week suddenly overcame me: love your students.

THE KOREAN EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM
They are in school from 7 am-10:30 pm alternating between classes and self-study before going to their hagwons (or private tutoring places for various subjects). By the time that they finish their hagwons, they then do a little bit more studying on their own before finally going back home at around 3-4 a.m. Only to wake up a couple of hours later to start another day at 7 a.m....

Remembering this from the workshop helped explain to me why there were hair curlers, cosmetics, blankets, and even Febreze on the students' desks. They are there all day. All of them preparing for the one great test that will determine their futures and the course of their lives.

There's a lot here to talk about, but I'm sure I'll have plenty more opportunities to learn more and reflect on the educational system here as I start teaching in the coming month.