billy
there are so many benefits of teaching in korea, but one of my favorite reasons is the class size. my favorite class is my grade 5's. there are only 8 (four girls and four boys). when you teach a class that is so small, it is very easy to get to know your students much better. you begin to develop a trust and a bond with them. they open up to you and you to them when they start to feel safe within the confines of that small group. i usually start every class with some conversation to get the ball rolling. i ask about their weekend, their family, their hopes and dreams... and they ask me the same things. we all act like ourselves and our true personalities come out.
i like to joke around alot. the grade 5 class has become comfortable with this and seem to enjoy my shenanigans. i was really surprised at how the korean kids really seem to understand when i joke and when i am serious. they really do have a good sense of humor. i think because most of my students have lived overseas in america or canada, so they have been exposed to it.
my class calls me "tuna" thompson. another teacher started calling me that as a nickname... i don't really know why. i don't take offense to it. i actually like it. back home it would never fly because if i allowed 25-30 students to call me "tuna", i would be less respected and could lose control of the class. but here, in korea, i like that they are comfortable enough to do that. i like that we can have an open style class and say whatever we're feeling. i like that we can joke around and not be offended.
our school has a reward system called homework passes. basically it is for a student that goes above and beyond what is required and shows
superlative work. that student is then given a homework pass. it entitles them to miss doing their homework one time without being penalized. they love them because they get a lot of homework.
so my class got to talking about our favorite foods. i told them mine is lasagna. i was surprised to hear that it was also the favorite food of a student named billy. i was surprised because lasagna, i thought, was relatively non-existent in korea. i've been here for almost two years and i still haven't found a quality plate of pasta at any restaurants here.
so during our class discussion i told the students who didn't know what lasagna was, what it was. i told them how wonderful it tasted and how i haven't had a piece of it in a long while and how i missed it so. i even joked that if any kid could find a restaurant that served a decent lasagna, i'd give them a homework pass.
not expecting i'd ever get a kid that would look into it for me, the next week billy showed up to class with a present for his teacher. and what was inside that present?
yes sir! a piece of lasagna! and it was pretty good too!
i thanked billy several times for the best present i've gotten in korea so far... and he responded like only billy can... "hey tuna! where's my homework pass?!"
superlative work billy! well done!
~billy is wearing orange~
