Chivalry

The Korean male types I have had contact with in this country have not been the most chivalrous of people...particularly my students. But, on occasion, they will have a lapse in their usual rudeness....for example...

A student and I were trying to go into the same office door at the same time. Not wanting to get in the way of his cleaning duties (he was looking for a garbage bag....not important) I was prepared to step back and let him go first. To my surprise he not only opened the door and stepped back for me to go through...he said, in a very mannerly tone, "Ladies first."

I was so taken aback I could do no more than stutter a thank you and wander, dazed, back to my desk, where I sat speechless for some time.

Physical Education

I stopped today to notice a PE class in action. This is what I saw:

Most of what looked like 70 kids were playing soccer...sort of. A few were playing basketball, a few more were playing baseball. Some were wandering around aimlessly from group to group and still others were chicken fighting, trying to knock each other down into a puddle. The rest of the students were sitting at the sidelines of the soccer field just having a jolly good time and doing their own thing.

While all this chaos was happening the PE teacher (the drill sergeant man from yesterday) was biking around the track, over and over and over again.

At least they were all having a good time.

Friends and Spoons

At school I usually eat lunch in the cafeteria. When selecting that just perfect place to sit I usually opt for somewhere as close as I can get to another English teacher/speaker. Today I turned from the lunch line to see my co-teacher sit at the end of the table, with the nurse lady beside her and a PE teacher across from the nurse. I stood for a minute, perplexed. The PE teacher is a little scary, very intimidating, and resembles some sort of military officer...maybe the boot camp kind that yells at people all the time.

Seeing my confusion, he looked at me, glared, whacked table on the spot beside him, and said, "Sit."

I sat.

He said, "My friend", pointing at me.

I nodded.

Later in the afternoon I stole upstairs to the music room for a bit of peace and quiet. It was still lunch time but the students were in their classrooms watching a movie so I figured I wouldn't be disturbed.

I was wrong. A student wandered in, a third grader who is not my student, but seems nice enough. I stopped briefly to chat with him. This was his story:

Me: How are you?
Hwang Gyu: Very bad.
Me: Why?
HG: Head, hurt.
Me: Do you have a headache?
HG: No.
Me: Well what happened?
HG: Teacher, hit. Father.
Me: Your father hit you? Why?
HG: Teacher, father and me, fight. Hit head with spoon. Whack! (claps hands together and makes appropriate noises)

He promptly showed me the spot where he was hit and wandered off again. When I saw him later and asked if he had had lunch he said, " No. Head hurt."

Juice Boxes

For lunch today my school served juice boxes as a bit of a treat.

Somehow seeing the principal and vice principal sipping on juice boxes renders them just a little bit less scary....

Celebrations

One of the teachers at my school bought a new car, a volkswagon. In celebration he bought all the teachers watermelon....

My confusion was obvious to all and I was the one laughed at.