$5

Okay, it's true, I didn't blog on Sunday, but it wasn't actually my fault. Sometime Sunday afternoon the internet in our house spontaneously (and devastatingly) stopped working, so I couldn't blog. Plus, I didn't have to go to school Monday (or today, actually), so I had no way to blog. I'm not sure how long I'll have, because I'm sure someone will try to come steal me away to eat some gross lunch soon, but I thought I'd at least let you know I'm alive.

Last week was a pretty good week, from what I can remember. Highlights... umm... pizza party? Last week was my first week teaching normally at Noan since the festival, I think, so it was sort of nice to get back into a normal groove. I had the post-festival pizza party with the third graders, which went well enough. We watched the videos of their performances, which pleased and embarrassed them. As soon as I get home I'll upload the videos to YouTube so you can see and appreciate them. I'm so proud. Tuesday was a complete abortion. I had to teach from the CD, as usual, and the first 2nd grade and the 1st grade classes went really well, but my favorite class pissed me off a lot. They'd been pretty good for the last few weeks, so I told them that if they acted well on Tuesday, then on Wednesday we'd only play a game (the Korean trivia Jeopardy game I created to use at Dongkang). So, for some inexplicable reason, they decided instead to be extra bad. But only the boys. The girls, ever more perceptive, could tell I was getting seriously irritated and definitely just shut up completely. They repeated after me and just watched warily as I got closer and closer to explosion.

The boys were just... obnoxious. They were talking constantly. I wrote the word GAME on the board and warned that everytime they talked I would erase a part of it, and if I erased it all, then we wouldn't play. But they didn't stop messing around. And like, I have a few kids who are obnoxious, so the fact that they were being obnoxious didn't surprise me, but then two of my usually really good kids were being obnoxious too. Finally we reached a breaking point when they started making fun of my pronunciation of Korean. (At least, that was how I interpreted it at the time, because I was annoyed.) So I had to take a few deep breaths to stop tears and then I just sat there until class ended a minute later. I was really upset. Not even really because of the students. They're bored to death so I can't blame them for messing around. I was just frustraetd by the situation, because this is not what Fulbright envisions when they send a native speaker. I think, if things weren't so wonderful at Dongkang, and I didn't know it could be better, I wouldn't be so frustrated at Noan, but alas.

I was torn on Wednesday, because theoretically I shouldn't have played the game with that class, but it also seemed unfair to punish the girls, who were really good. So I made the boys start with a handicap. I decided to let them play the game after a nice conversation with one of my good boys who was obnoxious the day before that morning. He peered into my classroom in the morning, then said "Good morning, Miss Camp." So I gave him the no-smile "hello," and he made a woeful sound. I said, "What?"

So he came in and did the big deep breath that Korean people make when they're about to try to say a full English sentence. "Me.... yesterday.... my class.... English time..." And then he trailed off. I helpfully offered "Miss Camp angry?" So he said. "Yes. I'm sorry." I gave him a skeptical look and said "Really?" To which he responded with an indignant "Yes!" And I believe it. He's a genuinely good kid, he had an off-day. I can't expect enthusiasm for something not even I can convincingly act excited about. So I let them play the game, and we had fun. Wednesday was good.

Wednesday was also teacher sports day, which I wasn't overly enthusiastic about, but it was just volleyball. We played a tournament against the two elementary schools in our village, and we won. There were about four male teachers who were super serious about it and they kept running in front of me, so it wasn't terribly fun, but it ended, and then I got to go home.

Class at Dongkang was, unsurprisingly, amazing on Thursday and Friday. We did a bunch of fun lessons, which I might have outlined for you if I were blogging closer to the time when we actually did them. Some highlights: the Dating Game. I once again put three 2nd grade boys behind the board and had the students as them questions they wrote.

Like... 1. Are you human?
2. Where is your face?
3. I love you. Will you marry me?
4. How old are you?
5. What is your chest size? (This one came from a table full of girls, so I was confused.)

The final question was "What will we do on our date?" The first contestant, my favorite boy, passed. The second one suggested a movie, and the third one said, "Hotel go." (Which is totally lewd, because in Korea hotels have only one connotation, and that's a place you go for sex.) It was hysterical. After that I had a talk about smoking with some of my 9th graders who smoke. We also discussed how, as elders in the Confucian system, the onus was on them to set a good example. (Ha! That's what I SAID anyway.)

I was upset on Thursday because one of my favorite third graders (CJ, with the drunk dad) came into my classroom between classes with tears in his eyes. But I didn't know why, and he couldn't convey it. So I just felt sad and gave him a hug. Later I wrote him a note in broken Korean to say, basically "Cheer up! It'll be okay!" He sent me a text message later to tell me how he and his girlfriend fought and broke up, so he's sad, so I was glad that it wasn't something very dire. And I think maybe they're back together now.

I've especially enjoyed my continued bonding with the second grade boys. They're the ones I play basketball with, and they'll still be here next year when all of my third graders abandon me, so it's nice to have that to look forward to. I played on Thursday and Friday last week. One day, I actually played basketball in the snow, which was ridiculous. The math teacher, who is a really nice guy, and the coach of our "club" basketball team, challenged me to some one on one, but thankfully the 2nd graders came out and joined us, so it was fun. Then, it started snowing. I've never played a sport in the snow before. It was an experience. I love the 2nd grade boys because they know that one of them, SM (my piano teacher), has a crush on me, so they try to make him as uncomfortable as possible. I was hanging out outside as they were leaving the other day, and one of the boys brought me a pair of shoes. I was like "What?" So he helpfully said... "SM."

I gave him the "why are you giving me SM's shoes?" look, but then I figured it out, and I sat on them. (It was his tennis shoes. The kids wear slippers inside, so all of their tennis shoes sit on a rack by the door.) He came out cursing up a storm and looking for his shoes. I didn't understand everything he said, but I know when someone's cursing up a storm. He accosted all of his friends one by one, and they just stood there looking cruel. So finally, I said, "SM, what's wrong?" And he was like "AH! YOU! YOU! SHOES GIVE!"

"What?"
"You! Shoes give! Skirt under!"
"WHAT? Pervert!"
"NOOO! Shoes give!"
"Why?"
"Umm..... cold."

So I teased him, much to his friends' delight, and finally gave him his shoes. I love the 2nd graders especially... I just want to adopt all of them as my younger siblings. The girls are too shy to ever speak in class, but they love to chat to me on the internet. It's really cute. And the boys are just super-funny.

This weekend was... not as productive as I would have liked, especially since I had a four-day weekend thanks to final exams. Saturday I cleaned my room and went to the gym, which were the two most important things I wanted to do. Sunday I played with Meghan. We went to Gwangju, tried to get tortillas, and failed miserably. (I WANT MEXICAN SO BAD.) We watched a movie, and ate at Friday's. Overall, a successful day. On Monday Amy came from Nonsan for a visit, and I got drunk for the first time in Korea in a long time.

... more later.