Tales from Korea: Birthday Edition
My first time spending my birthday in a foreign country, far away from home and family and friends, but I still had a really good time. :)
My 6-1 class sang me happy birthday! In English, too. They got all muddled and confused around the "Dear Prisblahmuhwjfidj" part. :3 And then they were all, "LET'S HAVE CAKE AND A PARTY!!!!", but my co-teacher was just like, "No, get back to work." Poor kids got their hopes up.
One of the girls in my 6-3 class was passing behind me when she was returning her scissors to the front of the room, and she stopped to just prop her chin on my shoulder for several seconds. When I was all "???" and turned around, she giggled and ran back to her seat. She never really talks to me, either, so I was really taken off-guard by it. It was kind of adorable. ;-;
I'd mentioned offhand to my 3rd grade after school class last week that it was my birthday today, since we were reviewing dates and I was quizzing them on how to say their birthdays in English. As soon as they walked in, they were all, "IT'S YOUR BIRTHDAY TODAY, RIGHT, TEACHER???" Two of the girls gave me pens as presents. One of them stuck hers in a pretty envelope and decorated it with alphabet stickers that spelled out "TEACHER". Also inside the envelope were several small quartz-ish rocks that I assume she must've found on the playground and washed to give to me. A third girl apologized profusely for not having my present with her and told me she'd give it to me later. I was just like, "Why am I getting presents at ALL? ;____;" It was just really, really sweet of them. I love that class a lot, I really do.
Several minutes before my second grade after school class started, I noticed that one of the boys, Kevin, was staring at something on his phone and smiling a lot. When he saw me, he was all, "Teacher, look! Brother!" and showed me some pictures on his phone of his baby brother, who looked like he couldn't be more than a few weeks old. And while the pictures were really cute, I thought it was even more adorable how proud and excited Kevin looked. He just, idk, looked so happy to have a little brother. I've been noticing that he's been working a lot harder in English class recently, always paying attention and raising his hand to answer questions and trying his best even though he's not the best English speaker in the class. I can't help but think that it's because of his new brother, because he suddenly feels like he should be more responsible and be a role model. That thought makes me smile.
Had Korean BBQ with several other native English teachers! :D And went to a bar and watched the Korea vs. Japan soccer game, it was tons of fun.
My 6-1 class sang me happy birthday! In English, too. They got all muddled and confused around the "Dear Prisblahmuhwjfidj" part. :3 And then they were all, "LET'S HAVE CAKE AND A PARTY!!!!", but my co-teacher was just like, "No, get back to work." Poor kids got their hopes up.
One of the girls in my 6-3 class was passing behind me when she was returning her scissors to the front of the room, and she stopped to just prop her chin on my shoulder for several seconds. When I was all "???" and turned around, she giggled and ran back to her seat. She never really talks to me, either, so I was really taken off-guard by it. It was kind of adorable. ;-;
I'd mentioned offhand to my 3rd grade after school class last week that it was my birthday today, since we were reviewing dates and I was quizzing them on how to say their birthdays in English. As soon as they walked in, they were all, "IT'S YOUR BIRTHDAY TODAY, RIGHT, TEACHER???" Two of the girls gave me pens as presents. One of them stuck hers in a pretty envelope and decorated it with alphabet stickers that spelled out "TEACHER". Also inside the envelope were several small quartz-ish rocks that I assume she must've found on the playground and washed to give to me. A third girl apologized profusely for not having my present with her and told me she'd give it to me later. I was just like, "Why am I getting presents at ALL? ;____;" It was just really, really sweet of them. I love that class a lot, I really do.
Several minutes before my second grade after school class started, I noticed that one of the boys, Kevin, was staring at something on his phone and smiling a lot. When he saw me, he was all, "Teacher, look! Brother!" and showed me some pictures on his phone of his baby brother, who looked like he couldn't be more than a few weeks old. And while the pictures were really cute, I thought it was even more adorable how proud and excited Kevin looked. He just, idk, looked so happy to have a little brother. I've been noticing that he's been working a lot harder in English class recently, always paying attention and raising his hand to answer questions and trying his best even though he's not the best English speaker in the class. I can't help but think that it's because of his new brother, because he suddenly feels like he should be more responsible and be a role model. That thought makes me smile.
Had Korean BBQ with several other native English teachers! :D And went to a bar and watched the Korea vs. Japan soccer game, it was tons of fun.