Even Teachers Learn from Teaching

Funny how something so horrible and difficult can change when you take your time to change your attitude and thoughts.

I have a junior class at 5:40pm Monday through Thursday that I absolutely hated. The kids were rude and mean, they mocked and disobeyed me. I would come out of that classroom barely holding back the tears and praying that I wouldn't have to go back the next day. There were at least two boys in that class that were making my life a living hell. It didn't help that the Korean teacher would either ignore the kids making trouble or leave the classroom. I was miserable. Normally I'm really good with bad kids. However, the language and cultural barrier was throwing me way off.
Finally, one day the Korean teacher walked out almost as soon as I came in, leaving me with a classroom full of bad Korean kids. I looked down at my book and mumbled through the drills, trying to get through it as soon as possible. Then one of the kids, let's call him Lenny, started acting up. I snapped. I looked up at him and said "HEY. QUIT IT." He didn't understand what I said but he understood how I said it. He stayed still. The next day another one of the trouble makers; call him Max, wasn't putting effort into repetitions and adding endings to his words. I went and stood in front of his desk. I looked him in the eye and said, "If you add a single sound to the end of another English word, I will not hesitate to fail you." When he started to repeat the sentences, I realized what a smart kid he was and how well he spoke English.
I eventually realized that for a class so rebellious, regardless of culture I would have to revert back to my old tricks. And I did. In Korea, everyone, from the oldest person to the youngest child has their own cell phone. It's understood and expected to be that way. So I told this class that if they fail their next test I would have them call their parents and explain to said parent that they were calling because they had failed their English test because they were too lazy to study. My students understood I meant business. The next day, they all passed with 100%. It was the first time any of these kids had passed a test in this class.

Nowadays, this is my favorite class. They aren't better behaved. The Korean teacher still is no help. The textbook is still boring. But the kids know that I mean business but I can still joke around with them. They joke around with me about who's the worst behaved and who will be punished that day. Without their noticing it, their English is improving inspite of and maybe because of their behavior. I would love to take credit for this amazing change in situation and learning. But I really can't. God had to work on my heart and patience and teach me a lesson in understanding. I'm always complaining that no one understands me, but now I realize that no one is going to bother understanding me if I don't try to understand others first. Harsh lesson, God. Harsh lesson.

I Sound Like I Know What I'm Talking About, Don't I?

Today my students took me out for a very expensive lunch and then traditional Korean tea afterwards. Over lunch they asked me why I had come to Korea. I really didn't think before answering and I found myself saying, "God sent me here." As I thought about it, I realize that it really was God leading me here for some reason. I shared with them some of my experiences from my first time in Korea and how scared and alone I felt. I know it takes alot of courage to go to a foreign land where you don't understand the language or even recognize the alaphabet. However, I had none. Nothing. Zip. Nada. Courage was not something I felt as I said goodbye to my family, or as I boarded the plane. Courage was not what I felt as I landed in Japan and made my flight connection. Courage was not in my mind when I walked out the airport doors dragging two suitcases with what was basically my life support for the next year behind me to find a stranger in the night rain. Courage maybe has not even caught up to me yet. Somedays that I'm here teaching, I realize, 'How am I doing this? I can't do this.' Maybe God is teaching for me. Maybe God is surviving through me and I'm a casual observer. So when I tell my class God sent me here, I'm seriously not kidding. Not only did He send me here, He's here with me.

Until I lived in Korea, I had never...

1. Considered a pet octopus
2. Eaten a cake with chopsticks
3. Taken off my shoes before entering a restaurant
4. Tried seasame leaf. I didn't even know sesame had leaves.
5. Had rice and seaweed as a meal.
6. Hung out in a burnt down restaurant
7. Had cake for breakfast and cereal for dinner.
8. Taken off my shoes for a picnic.
9. Been to so many free concerts in such a short period of time.
10. Made my own yogurt.
11. Enuciated my words.
12. Been to a Buhuddist temple.
13. Become friends with someone who doesn't understand a single word I say.
14. Been so lost in my life.