Meet Earth Class, part 1

4+ months into the school year, I realized I haven't given enough blog time to my new kiddies. My relationship with these kids is a lot different than my relationship with Cassiopeia and Big Dipper class. Probably the biggest change is that I don't split the class with a Korean teacher. The kids are usually better behaved (out of fear) for the Korean teachers. They see the Korean teachers as being the disciplinarian, and treat the time with the foreign teacher as an easier, more fun class. But since these kids don't have a Korean teacher, I have kind of a mix of both relationships with them. My new class is also definitely better behaved than Cassiopeia and Big Dipper class. These kids are also way smarter, yet often days seem younger.

I would like to think I will give each child their own blog entry, where I post cute pictures and explain what makes them so unique and special...but I know I won't do that. If I feel like it, I may post some pictures and videos I've taken the past several months.

BUT there is one student in my class who at the very least deserves her own entry. Meet SunWoo.

In my nearly 3 years of ESL teaching, I've taught countless kids, and SunWoo is the best kid I've met...ever. She is a treasure/animal. There are a wide variety of faces in the above collage, and I see most of them on any given day. On the first day of this school year, one of the moms brought in these little pastries for the kids in Earth class. Like everything else in Korea, they were individually wrapped. Trying hard to be on their best behavior, all the other students gently pulled the wrapping off, and nibbled. Leaving hers still in the wrapper, SunWoo pulverized the pastry first, then ripped a hole in the wrapping, and squeezed it into her mouth like a GoGurt.

She hugs me a lot, but it's usually preceded by a punch to my stomach. I think it's her way of showing love.

Last week we read a story about a girl who didn't want to eat what her mom cooked. So then the kids had to write a little sentence about what they want to eat more than what their moms/dads cook. Most of them wrote sentences along the lines of "I would rather eat ice cream" SunWoo's sentence was "I would rather eat seaweed and glue" And she drew a picture of a glue stick on a plate. And I do see her eat glue almost daily.

I recently had the kids write little "all about me" essays and draw self portraits. In SunWoo's self portrait she had red knee high boots, pink hair, and big boobs.

I had the pleasure of meeting her father at a science day we had at school a few months ago. I didn't spend enough time with him to know if that is where SunWoo gets her personality from. But, she definitely got her wild hair from him.

TWO WEEKS FROM TODAY I'LL BE SHARING A MANGO SMOOTHIE WITH A MONKEY ON THE BEACH IN THAILAND!! And I can't wait!