Amanda Takes Off...

Yesterday was the first day of class after winter break.

This meant that the sixth graders ran around in the hallways, climbed the walls—I'm serious, I still don't understand how they are physically able to do that, played foot hockey with a Diet Coke cap (they got said cap from me), and threw things out of windows.

All. Day. Long.

I must have walked past four of the five sixth-grade classrooms a dozen times and only saw teachers in there three times. What were the teachers doing? Talking to students one-on-one (probably about their final grades) while their students chatted, climbed up the walls, tore apart books, and played cards.

Today, half of my third period class didn't have their books because their Korean teacher told them that they wouldn't need them in my class. (I would complain that she should've run that little gem past me, first, but I'm willing to bet my idiot co-teacher approved that message.) And where were their purchased books? In the trash can.

Yeah, Koreans take education seriously.

Today I actually had classes, the sixth graders.

I adore my sixth graders, even when they make me crazy.

The last chapter of the book is about going on to middle school. During first period, I was asking all the students which middle school they were going to go to. Most of the boys are going to 신안. Soccer Player (the one in the green shirt) explained that it's a boys' school.

I teased him, "Oh, you will be very lonely."

"Huh?" His friends repeated what I said in Korean, since Soccer Player's English level is quite low. Soccer Player said, "No, we, boyfriend!"

I couldn't help it, I laughed so hard I sank to my knees. Some of the girls started yelling, "No, no, boyfriend, 남자 친구, gay."

I stood up and said, "In English, if you say you have a boyfriend, it means you love men. 사랑해."

"Ummm....no."

This seems the perfect time to post some photos of another group of sixth grade boys. In December they were in my classroom after school. For some reason I never understood, they started pretending they were dating. Of course Spiderman would be one of the instigators....

During third period, we again talked about the boys' school. There is a boys' school on my bus line, about a mile from our school. The boys at this school...poor boys. They wear green and blue plaid checked pants with white and blue striped shirts. It looks so awful.

I asked my students if that was the boys' middle school. No, it's the boys' high school (which I suspected). I said, "They wear plaid patterned pants and striped shirts. It looks funny."

The star student in that class, a girl whose father teaches English, said, "That's because their principal is a little strange in the head."

I started laughing so hard I had to sit on a desk.

Fifth period (last period) rolled around. One of the girls was throwing bits of paper at one of the boys. I was glaring at them, waiting for the other students to hit them into understanding. Both students have mediocre English.

The boy saw me.

He pointed at the girl and yelled, "Medicine tiiiiiiiime?"

My head landed on my desk.

My kids are so funny, but I wonder sometimes if their Korean teachers think so. I doubt it.