"teacher, what is your boy style?"

one day of midterm exams down - one more to go!! i crammed in administering exams for four of my five classes today and will do the final class tomorrow night after returning from the day in goryeong with the children - THEN i will jump on the midnight train to seoul to see jen, who arrived there sunday night and has been enduring long rehearsals for her concert this coming wednesday. i could not be more excited!!
for the midterm exam i instructed the students to have a 2 minute conversation with their partner and then individually ask me a number of questions and answer a number of mine. i emphasized creativity as being a "plus, plus!" some of the conversations they dreamt up were over the top hilarious! a few pairs brought in wigs, movie posters, homemade signs and costumes to enhance their performance.....one group of students titled their dialogue "love and war." talk about high drama! i was in tears! one pair acted out a tragedy in which one of them was bitten in the hip by a poisonous snake and the other could not save him. aaahhh, heartwrenching!
in the individual portion of the exam, i was asked a couple of pretty memorable questions by two different male students: "teacher, what is your boy style?" when i heard that one, i leaned my ear in a little closer and said, "excuse me, could you repeat that?" (trying not to burst out in laughter!!) or how about, "what kind of man character do you like, teacher?" i was actually perplexed by that question at first and wanted to believe i had heard my sweet, innocent, little 19 year old boy student say, "what kind of MAIN character do you like (in the movies), teacher? so, i repeated that back to him and he said, "no, no - what kind of MAN character do you like?" i took a deep breath and knew there was no getting around what he really meant to say! i rephrased the question correctly and said, "i like men who are kind, compassionate, smart and respectful."
luckily i do not get asked such questions by the children in goryeong.....here are some moments shared with the noisy little ones:

"what is this vegetable?" "repeat after me: carrot" "carrot." "carrot." "carrot." "carrot." "good, what's this?" "soup." "soup." "soup." "soup." "soup." "very good!" and on and on and on. i will say this: at least we have moved on from triangles!
"what kind of food do you like?" then the student says, "i like cabbage" and sticks the head of cabbage onto the plate. this activity has been an absolute hit!! as you might be able to tell we are making a sandwich, chef's hat and all. "now, put the egg on the ham." "put the tomato on the cheese." can you see the delight in my face? in these photos i catch a glimpse of the desperation and lack of patience i feel at times in goryeong....the feeling that roars through me saying, "you are not cut out for this! but breathe, breathe, and try to find the sweetness!"
like this kind of sweetness...pure delight in this adorable little hellion's discovery of the word "peach."