Teaching and tears

I am a sap. I like to say I am emotional, but others might refer to me as a crybaby. My mom has some funny parenting stories about my sister and me. My sister is a solid rock when it comes to emotion and I can count on one hand the amount of times I have seen her cry. When we would get in trouble and we were spanked, she would grit her teeth, but she would never shed a tear. When my mom was angry at me, all she had to do was tell me she was disappointed and I was a ball of gooey mess whimpering at her feet. I cry at everything - really. I have seen the movie Steel Magnolias at least 20 times and I swear I cry like a baby every time the graveyard scene happens. I know Julia Roberts is going to die, I expect it and I know what is about to happen when Sally Fields is walking by the gravesite. Yet, there is something about pure emotion that gets to me every time. Talk about war, or someone's loss, the love of Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy, or fighting for one's honor - just get out the Kleenex box because I am a blubbering mess.

The tears come from emotion. I can't stand to see someone crying alone because I know they are hurting. There is raw emotion taking place and it just triggers my sympathetic tear ducts. Another way to trigger my emotions is to mention teaching. My job is important to me and yes, I am one of those teachers that owns the inspirational calendar that talks about the impact a teacher has. I have an apple on my desk and I love it that my Mom thought of me when she saw printed on the apple, "Teachers make a difference." Why the water works you ask? Because teaching is my JOB, teaching is my PURPOSE and as my Daddy always said, "there is no use doing something if you are only going to do it half ass!" My dad was never one to mix his words! :)

In order for a teacher to do their job well they MUST establish some type of student rapport. If the students trust you, then you can teach. If you can teach knowing they trust you, then they can learn. If they learn, you feel valued. If you feel valued, you work harder at becoming a better teacher....and the cycle continues.

Coming here to Korea, I have been a novice at pretty much everything. How does the subway system work? How can I get access to the school gym, how do I fill out a copy request form, and most importantly, how can I begin to get to know these 45 students that will be like my children over the next ten months? Not only am I sappy, but I am also impatient. When I want something to happen, I want it to occur YESTERDAY. Moving to Korea, I just wanted something to be familiar and I desperately wanted my students and I to have this outstanding connection right from the start. I wanted the student rapport to happen on day ONE.

Building rapport with students takes time. It takes time, energy, countless hours and attention to small details - details of a hormonal teenager.
So, over the past three months I have begun the task of diving into the world of a teenager. I have joked with them about their nicknames. I have celebrated successes in their writing and I have made them OWN their high test scores by strutting around the room like a peacock. I have congratulated them when they are running cross country. I have bandaged them when they cut their finger. I have asked them about their favorite instrument, their pet hedgehog and where they were born. I have given them animal crackers before or after a hard test. I have talked about their siblings and the new I Phone. We have swaped silly bands and I have consoled them when they are dealing with middle school drama. Slowly, but surely I have developed a connection with them.

Even though I have been teaching for six short years, I still get teary when it comes to students. Just the other day a student says to me, "Miss Skidmore, can I stay in your room for a bit?" I respond, "Sure, but why?" They say, "Because your room is warm and cozy and I like being here." Sniff, sniff. I let them in and smile to myself and then get out the Kleenex box. "Miss Skidmore, are you OK?" the student asked. "Yes," I replied, "just allergies."

I hope I NEVER outgrow my tear ducts!

Lost in translation

While living in Korea I have had a hard time with the language. I do not speak Korean other than the simple phrases like "Hi" or "thank you". When you are living in a big city and wanting to be independent, those two words don't get you very far. I have had some funny situations lately where either me or the person I was talking to left speechless or laughing hysterically.

Down on the farm -

One weekend some of my girlfriends and I decided to hit up the Drum Festival here in Seoul. It was a huge success complete with drum groups from Mexico, England and Korea showing off their thumping rhythm and loud costumes. We took the subway to the park, but it was late when the festival ended so we decided to take a taxi back to the school. This can be a bit troublesome if the taxi driver does not understand the accent of the WAY GOOKS (Korean for foreigners). When we all piled into the taxi we told him where we wanted to go. He looked at us and repeated the same thing we said. We respond with NEH (Yes, in Korean) and he starts laughing uncontrollably. This is not so unusual for me....I have been laughed at many times for my attempts speaking a foreign language. We look at each other and decide to try again. He repeats what we just said for the second time and starts driving. We assume he knows where he is going so we relax. Then he begins speaking in Korean and laughing out loud - cackling as a matter of fact. We start laughing as well and soon we are talking to him in English telling him we don't know why he is laughing. THEN, he starts clucking like a chicken! No lie, people! Believe me, this would be a hard story to fabricate! As he is making his clucking sound I say "CHICKEN" in English. He laughs again and then he starts to MEOW! At this point all of us girls are just howling with laughter because we think our taxi driver has gone mad! We then repeat in English the word "CAT" and we start meowing with more intensity. It went on like this a couple more times with him making a "MOO" sound and us supplying the appropriate label of a farm animal. He was so happy and just enjoying himself and I guess I got a little carried away. I decided to switch it up a bit and I made an animal noise and barked. I was in the back seat and I said, "WOOF!" All of the sudden complete silence. I looked at the taxi driver and said it again, "Woof." He looked back at me and looked straight ahead in complete silence. The girls in the taxi were loving this and were laughing so hard they almost wet themselves. I am intrigued as to why the animal loving taxi driver is not responding to my dog calls. I try again for the third time and I bark in the back seat. The taxi driver then turns and gives me a dirty look! We drive with him not saying anything until he dropped us off at our destination. We pile out of the car and he said goodbye with a sheep salutation, "Baaaaaaah" - we rolled out of the taxi with our sides in stitches! Best taxi ride to date!

Blonde Ding Dong -

Since I have Korean on the mind and I am consciously trying to remember how to say things in Korean rather than letting my Spanish take over, I often times get confused and switch back and forth from English/Spanish and the occasional Korean. At church, I am talking to some girls in my small group. We are discussing what it is like being new to Korea and they were asking me where I live. I told them I live on campus at Seoul Foreign School and I said I live in Yonhi Dong. For those of you non-native Koreans "dong" means neighborhood. I had a good time with this when I first arrived because I live in D buidling on campus and it is commonly known as D dong. So, my friends at home have affectionately called me a Ding Dong! Not nice, but somewhat humorous.

Anyhow, we are talking at church and this guy comes up and joins our conversation. We start talking about where we live and he turns to me and asks my location. I tell him about my neighborhood and then without thinking I say, "Where is your dong?"

There was silence for about 10 full seconds and I contemplated running away to the nearest exit.....then all of us burst out laughing - including the guy whom I asked about his dong.

I think I will still show up to church next Sunday, but I plan on sitting in a different place, maybe I won't see him again EVER!

Moon cakes and Hong Kong

It has been a while since my last blog entry and my only excuse is that life happens. We get busy and we find other things to fill our time. For me, it has been vacation time followed by "catch up" time followed by more "catch up" time.

When I arrived at SFS I knew there was a one week holiday that would be quickly approaching in September. The holiday is called Chuseok and it is Korean for "great middle". It is a three day holiday that occured (this year) on a Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. It is held during autumn and is a celebration of the good harvest. Traditionally, Koreans visit their homeland, pay respect to the spirit of their ancestors and partake in traditional Korean food. I was excited to learn about this holiday, but a little bummed when I found out I would not be celebrating Chuseok in Korea. Instead my school decided to send me to a professional development conference in southern China. The conference was taking place over the weekend and then we had the rest of the week free; so my friend and I decided to take advantage of this travel opportunity and head to Hong Kong.

In China they have a very similar holiday called the Harvest moon and in short, it is similar to a Western Thanksgiving, but with MOON CAKES. When I think of Thanksgiving there is the sweet aroma of freshly carved turkey, my mouth is watering from the smell of apple pie and my ears tingle when I hear the mixer battering the potatoes to make the fluffy, heavenly goodness called MOM'S MASHED POTATOES. There are freshly baked rolls, honey-glazed ham, sweet potato casserole and there is even a seven layer salad, which in my mind is just silly to serve at Thanksgiving...who has time to waste on lettuce and peas and other things that are good for you? The one thing that does NOT exist at my Thanksgiving celebration is fruit cake. You know what I am talking about, that gift that weighs about 35 pounds and is only given as a Christmas gift to those "friends" that really are not your friends. It tastes dry and has food items in there that should never go together in any normal kitchen. Well, in China for the Harvest moon festival, my friend I found moon cakes. Don't let the outside appearance fool you....Yes, she looks more attractive than a fruit cake, but just take a gander at the ingredients that go into this puppy.

•Filling:
•1 pound red azuki beans
•water
•3/4 cup lard or oil
•1-3/4 cups sugar
•Water-Shortening Dough:
•2 cups flour
•5 tablespoons lard
•10 tablespoons water
•1/4 teaspoon salt
•Flaky Dough:
•1 cup flour
•5 tablespoons lard
•red food coloring for design

Do you notice that the word LARD is used THREE times in this receipe? And the only other substantial ingredient is BEANS. The picture above is a special moon cake and has an EGG YOLK directly in the center. Yummy!

Even though we were not impressed with the moon cakes, the rest of the trip deemed to be a great adventure. Hong Kong is a massive city and is actually located on an island. We were lucky enough to be flying to Hong Kong at the exact same time as a typhoon. Deperate to not let the rain and torrential downpour damper our moods we set out on the Kowloon side and began to make our contribution to the Hong Kong economy. We were pampered with foot massages, we had some traditional Chinese food and we ate in restaurants that seemed, for all other purposes, to be a wedding reception. We visited the dragon festival, we toured the city and checked out the nightlife and we got massages. One one particular rainy day we decided to get a full body massage. We made up our mind where we wanted to go and walked into a cute little building that was hidden on the third floor along the second wall in the fifth cubicle of the 203rd building on that street. Hong Kong is known for its efficiency and the amount of businesses they can fit is one area is impressive. We walk up the skinny stairs and notice a sign that says, "No sex, please." Well, at least they are polite. :)

We are ready for our pampering and are shown our room and we notice a small area that is no bigger than my kitchen in Korea. We exchange glances with each other wondering how we are both going to fit in there along with the women that will be working on us. We decide to give it a shot - it is an adventure after all. Once inside I ask Rebecca if she is going to leave on her skivies or just strip down - it really is different in all countries so I wanted to know what to do. She said she was going to stay in her bare essentials so I decided to do the same. I was changing into my robe and I noticed a tiny piece of cloth with elastic. I looked at it and said, "Look Rebecca, they gave us something to use so we can hold our hair back." I have the cloth thingy over my head with the elastic behind my ears. She turns around and starts laughing histerically. She holds up her version of tiny cloth-elastic thingy and I notice it looks an awful lot like a thong. The lightbulb finally goes off and I quickly rip the thong-headband off my head and away from my face just in time for the ladies to come in and give us our massage. I think they were giggling and I am pretty sure I saw one of them shake their head, but I can't be sure because I tucked my head down on the table and dreamed away all my cultural faux pas. Oh Hong Kong, good memories!