How are you today, _____?

Logan: "I am hot and not so good."

Diana: "I am great!"

Julie: "I am so-so and excellent."

Luis (yellow): "I am kray-gee!"
Daniel (red): "I am good! And bad! And kray-gee! And beautiful!"

This pretty much sums up the first half of each day. Yes, they are cute, but don't let those tiny Korean faces fool you. Although these are some of my best students, some of them make me want to make a fast escape out the window, down the ladder, into the not-so-bustling town below. I have, however, gotten into the groove of teaching all 68 of my students. If you know me (and I'm assuming most of you do, otherwise you would not follow this blog), then you know I majored in secondary education. Come to think of it, I've had already exposed this inner dialogue before. Regardless, let it be known, once again, that I did not choose elementary education for a reason. I would much rather have a real conversation with my students as opposed to having to wipe away their ever so frequent tears, explain the differences between "on", "in", and "under", and break up their fights-- although their arguments can be extremely amusing. If I felt I could accurately recreate one such fight, I would try. But you really need to be there to witness the fickleness that is so apparent in these children.

Issues are often solved with a simple "rock, paper, scissors" game. Or in Korean, "Gah-lee, gah-lee, GOH!" Even my older students who have been friends and classmates at English World for years will get into a verbal confrontation, and then quickly resort to rock, paper, scissors to ultimately decide who is right, and who is rocked. It is not uncommon to see grown men in the streets participating in the same act.

What is even more amusing is the game where students will hold one of their legs in a perpendicular fashion to the ground, bounce around on one foot, and try to knock each other over. Wonder where this kind of resolution comes from? You need not look any further.

Commentator #1: "Holy rice cakes, Byeoung! That pitcher just nailed #51 in the arm! Looks like there's gunna be a fight... oh.. he's going for it... ASSA! The entire team is in a foot-tastic frenzy!"
Commentator #2: (laughing) "Let's hope their children aren't watching!"

As I always say, better foot fights than Taekwondo. Haha! For realsies though. Isn't it always the adults?