Set low expectations people

First off, there's something I need to get out of the way. Every time I start a blog, I make 5-10 posts and then stop completely. I either just forget to do it, or get busy and intentionally put it off and off and off, until it’s been 3 months since I've written anything.

I really don’t want that to happen here. There’s an excellent chance that my posts will start being boring or mundane after a month (as I run out of ideas), but people seem to want me to write at least something. If you ever have suggestions for what I should write, or have specific questions about my life in Korea, you can contact me anytime J

Now that blog maintenance is covered, how about I explain the blog title? In the US, students call teachers Mr/Mrs (last name). That’s just the polite thing to do. In Korea, you address teachers only as ‘Teacher’. However, my case is a little different. Because I share all of my classrooms with a co-teacher  there is some confusion about which teacher a student is asking for help. It’s easier to have the kids call me “Katherine Teacher” (Kate Teacher is a bit too informal for my taste).

It has definitely grown on me, having 7-10 year olds chase me down the hallway yelling “Katherine Teacher! Katherine Teacher,” waving furiously when I turn around. Sometimes they won’t even say anything once they've gotten my attention. They’ll just smile when I say hello and then run away again. Occasionally, only with the younger students that I see the most often, they’ll catch up to me in the hallway and casually hold my hand, whether I’m walking to my office, class, or even the bathroom. This is, at times, unsettling. But it’s hard to be weirded out, or uncomfortable, when there’s a 8 year old with pigtails and no front teeth grinning up at you from your waist.

It's blurry because as soon as I turned the camera on her, she squealed and ran away. As usual.

But that’s the younger students. Older students have mixed reactions seeing me in the hallways. Maybe 85% of my students will wave to me, or bow slightly, and say hello. That’s usually the extent of the interaction. There are a few students (5%) who will follow me down the hallway, asking questions about where I went to university, what did I study, where have I traveled, and nearly anything else they can form a complete sentence about. The remaining 10% go out of their way to avoid me, or if passing me is inevitable, keep their eyes glued to the floor. I haven’t decided if this is because they don’t like me, or are worried that I’ll conduct an impromptu English test right there in the hallway.

As a rule, I never force my students to speak to me outside of class. I realize how stressful it can be to have to operate on the spot in a foreign language, and I’d rather them feel comfortable speaking with me; it doesn't exactly reflect well on me as a teacher if my students get tense and defensive every time I talk to them. Generally, though, they’re the ones to initiate conversation, and however brief the exchange, I always feel proud that they’re making that extra effort to communicate.

My after school class, 1st and 2nd graders

Group photo (mostly)

Boys are the same everywhere in the world

Sometimes students will flag me down to take a picture with them

... Like I said

Maybe it’s just the Angry Birds earrings… They go nuts over them.

So there you have it, my first post. I’ll try to update once a week, unless I have a particularly interesting story to share! We shall see...

안녕!

Anyeong!

Bye!