Another day.

Not much is new since last reports from the hinterlands of Incheon. Work was good, although a bit strained. At least I didn't get yelled at today. Cindy did come to one of my classes and observed, so I'm a bit nervous. I really don't like this feeling, but since I will be doing some textbook revisions for home office, I think I can endure. And on the plus side I will Taek kong mu sul classes start again today after the long holiday.

Tuesday Thursday classes are always good, because they are our high level classes. Most of my students are pretty good in English. The first class is made up of elementary school kids. There are four girls, Bouncy Girl, who is a bit shyer now that she has classmates, The Tiny One, who still sucks her thumb but argues with the others in English, The Quiet One, who is a bit shy in general, but very sweet, and The Talkative One, who you have to remind that others want a turn to talk. It is a great class and one that is easy to teach. The next class has only two students. A boy and a girl. The boy doesn't read that well out loud, but understands everything and is a good writer, he is also a bit shy. The girl lived in America for two years so she speaks much better. The other two classes are high school students. One class has two boys, Startled Turtle and The Beetle. The girl I call Koala bear, because she looks at me and blinks several times like a koala bear, and she doesn't talk much. When she does talk it is in a whisper. I don't know what I'm going to do with her for the presentation. However her writing is excellent. The other class is also one boy and one girl. The girl is very smart and very good, and always does the homework, writes well, and participates well. The boy is in a class that is about two levels higher than he should be (if you want my opinion) He really struggles with everything and it frustrates me and breaks my heart. He is not a bad kid, it is just that this is much harder for him than for the other kids.

Monday Wednesday Friday classes are lower level and younger. Most of them are in elementary school. I have six classes in a row, with only a five minute break between. By the end of the day I'm a bit tired, but I wouldn't give up a single class.

The first class has my Serious Scholar. She is actually talking a bit more, because two boys are in the class, so she has to say something now. One of the boys I call The Brain. He is very smart, and gets things really quickly. The other boy isn't stupid, but he was pushed up to this class. He doesn't belong and is struggling so he acts out a lot. My next class has the three boys, but they have been invaded by girl cooties. They are all about seven years old. The class after that has three girls and one boy. The boy is very good for homework, but he is understandably shy in class. One girl is very clever, and the other is a bit of a perfectionist. They are fun. The class after that has my Clever girl, my Bright one, The boy who looks like a gangster but is really very sweet, and my little gentleman, and taekwondo girl. The class after that is higher level, middle school students. There is cool guy, who sits slumped in his chair too cool for school, and three girls, one always says "teacher it is too much" but does it anyway, then there is the talkative one, who I have to constantly remind that this is English class, not Korean class, and one new girl that just came last week, so I'm not sure what kind of student she will be. My last class is my favorite, even though teachers shouldn't have favorites. There is the very Quiet one, who never speaks but smiles so beautifully, the Blooming one who was very shy at first but is starting to warm up to me, The Lazy boy who actually can do everything well, but doesn't want to, the Keen boy who is a bit of an overachiever and who is getting Lazy boy to do more homework, The Old woman in a child's body, The dancer, who tells me about her dance classes, the Good girl who wants to do everything perfectly, and we just got three others.
I really love my students.
And so it goes.