Korean Kiddos

I have a whole new appreciation for teachers. Goodness, it's draining! I don't know if I'm patient enough or tough enough to educate the kids the world needs most, but here's a heartfelt thank you to those of you who do it every day. Here are some stories from my first week:

• The kindergartners don't understand yet that I don't speak Korean. They also don't speak enough English yet to express themselves fully, so there's a huge communication gap. Charades help a little bit but it goes both ways that pointing at something and saying the same word over and over again doesn't get us anywhere. Good things some signs are universal: good job, stop that, time for a bathroom break.
• Apparently a major skill the kids acquire before first grade is recognizing a teacher's limitations, i.e. the first graders do understand that Miss Haley doesn't speak Korean and the little rascals use it to their full advantage. Mostly they just tease each other I think, but they could be swearing or telling "Your Mama" jokes for all I know. Each time I just point to the rule posted on the wall that says English only but I think we all know it's hopeless.
• Each student has adopted a name in English and there was no class roster or attendance sheet so I made my own by asking each student his or her English name. All the classes went smoothly except for kindergarten. The first little girl said her name was "Smasjer" or something that sounded like that and after I asked her to repeat it a hundred times, she showed me inside her workbook cover. Oh, Ashley. Duh. Next up was another little girl who said very clearly, "Justin." So I wrote Justine on the board but she said "no E." So this little girl with barrettes in her shoulder length hair has the name Justin? Nope, the pretty little girl is in fact a little boy and it only took me an entire class to figure it out. I'm not a fan of reinforcing gender roles to little kids, but it sure is helpful when the little boy who you thought was a little girl draws dinosaurs eating cars, has terrible handwriting, and tae-kwon-do kicks another kid in the shin.
• Most of the kids have a crazy attention to detail. They must have perfected the ADD drugs here or something. I drew an umbrella on the chalkboard and they all burst out laughing. When it was their turn to draw there was every detail included from a hand with five fingers wrapped around the handle to some shading to show it's 3-D. These kids are 6 or 7! And when I made a worksheet by freehand drawing a line across the page, everyone got out their rulers to correct my line and make it perfectly straight. I guess all the computer animated movies have made freehand sketches seem so 1990. I'm screwed!
• Andrew asked if the 5th grade boys were "hot for teacher." To completely quell that idea forever, I told him about how one kid farted and then the rest blew into their elbow pits to make farting noises. That's the level I prefer- silly and immature!