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May 10, Highs and Lows
I’m living on a sine wave. 6-6 was challenging, has always been a little challenging due to their immaturity. It took a lot of wrangling and I even had to snap in front of a boy to get his attention for the fifth time. Thinking back, maybe that wasn’t the best way to handle the situation; I’m a little embarrassed. However, I can’t help feeling disrespected when 26 twelve years olds talk over me. Kids, I have 35 minutes with you a week and you’re wasting it! I recalled that time S shattered her glass top desk banging a metal bell to get the kids to quiet down and was…
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May 7
My fourth grade lesson went amazingly. The kids responded well and were actively involved. It makes me feel on top of the world when my teaching goes well. The kids were also incredibly energized from the long holiday weekend, and many of the homeroom teachers who normally leave stayed behind to reel the kids in. I didn’t mind– if their energy is directed towards participation I’m happy, as I explained to one fourth grade teacher in the lounge. I can’t say the same for fifth grade. The truth is, I can’t be excellent all the time. There is a learning curve for me, too. Unfortunately, 5-4 is my first fifth…
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Nostalgia
In between what often feels like long stretches of isolation and endurance, I realized the bad is not so bad or so long. Since I bought a car, I’ve regained a sense of freedom that floated away at the beginning of COVID along with a number of other things and have been inspired to think back upon my time here. I’ve known such joy and also such disappointment, betrayal, wonder, confusion, excitement, and disbelief. I have been tested and squeezed and stretched to limits I didn’t know I had. I miss my Seoul uni friends and our time together so much my whole chest aches. Kang Ho Joon, the faithful…
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May 5, Car
It has been an adventure and a half. The morning started with a delayed taxi ride hosted by an older man who asked if my husband was Korean and told me that I was smart for speaking Korean at the level I do. “Miss Korea,” he threw in. Is it even a taxi ride if I don’t get asked about my marriage status? I eventually made it to Suwon, bought the first used car I test drove, explored the famous fortress walls (“built in 1795 and reconstructed in 1977 after destruction from Japanese invasion and Korean War” much to my disappointment), and crashed at a $15 hostel. I drove nearly…