They Can't Get Enough of the Westerner

So, today's classes went well. Nothing much to report that I haven't already mentioned in previous posts. In fact, today was pretty unexciting. I did the same lesson that we did yesterday. Tomorrow is going to be epic failure part 2 though. I can feel it coming. It's those damn third graders. They can't understand much English and can't read the alphabet so my input is definitely limited. With a strict textbook curriculum in these classes, I really can't do much except stand idly by and dictate every now and then it seems. At least I can play the games with them and get them speaking some very basic stuff.

The first chapter in these classes is "Hello, I'm Minsu." It lasts four classes. Four. These kids learn "Hello," "hi," "I'm," and "bye" for four lessons. What the crap can you do with that that is engaging for four lessons? Speak lots of Korean, I guess. The pace seems a little slow to me, since the kids already know these words from not living in a cave for the first eight years of their lives. These third graders are going to kill me. I love the sixth graders, because I can actually talk to them for more than two seconds, but those third graders. There's gotta be a way to overcome this.

Ok, so on to the topic of the post: they can't get enough of me. First, I'll cover the flattering part. Since I've begun teaching, my popularity has only skyrocketed. This one sixth grader was stealing photos of me on his camera phone during class. I had to put a stop to it. He tracked me down at least four times throughout the day to say hi. His English is actually really good, but he's one of those smart kids that feels like he doesn't need to listen. He'll probably be pretty cool when he grows up, though. A group of girls came by with some excuse and talked to my co-teacher for a hot minute. When they left, she asked me if I knew what their intentions were. Thinking about her choice of language, I said no. She said, "They come in here so they could see you. They make excuse to talk to me." Aww, so flattering. Finally, I must say "hi" or "hello" at least 60 times during lunch. Not exaggerating. The teacher's table is right by where the kids line up to get their grub, so they always say "hi" to me while they're in line. I always have food in my mouth so half the time I just keep chewing and wave. Other times, I show them my "see-food."

Now the not so flattering part. Originally, I was to teach the 3rd and 6th graders this semester, while teaching the 4th, 5th, and 6th graders in the extra-curricular classes (one for each grade). This means that I don't get to see every student. Parents complained that their child wasn't getting access to the Native Speaker, so the vice-principal made my co-teacher change my schedule so that I am in every grade that learns English. The only way that schedule will work is if I switch grades every week. What this means is that I will not be present for a consistent English development of any grade and will be stretched thin. Gotta appease the parents though, right? This sucks for me because it's more lesson planning and less consistency in what I'm doing. As such, I'm totally unprepared for next week because I don't even have teacher's guides or textbooks for some of the classes I'll be teaching next week. Looks like we'll be playing hangman for 40 minutes. Whatever, I do what I'm told. I may just have to start staying later to plan lessons and making overtime. I guess it could be worse.

In other news, my laundry is finally dry. Still all wrinkly though. What's a boy to do? That's all for now. At least tomorrow is Friday and I can drink my troubles away!