One more day until my camp finishes, and the end can’t come soon enough. The first week was more or less enjoyable, aside from a handful of grumps. They were nothing compared to the lot I had this week, however. A load of sullen soon-to-be third graders (the worst grade – I’m told that kids who were little angels back when they entered middle school magically turn into demons upon graduating from second grade) of decidedly mixed level; once again, it happened that most of my highest level students were grouped onto one team, and it wasn’t exactly easy to redistribute them as that group consisted of the only girls in the class (what can I say, girls are just smarter ;) ) I don’t mind that they’re not at the level of being able to analyze Shakespearean poetry in English, far from it – the Hufflepuff kids aren’t the brightest and struggle with really basic vocabulary in English. I like them as much as my sharp little Ravenclaw girls, because at least they show up on time and they more or less try to make an effort, and I’ve rewarded them thusly. Nope, it’s my kids in Slytherin who are evil. (Funny how my Houses reflect the same characteristics as their corresponding ones in the movies / books. I really didn’t plan it that way).
Today, exasperated, I yelled at two of the worst offenders, asking why they were even in my camp. Enrollment in camp is voluntary, so you’d think the kids who were there would want to be there, right? Yet these two kids always talk during class, and Slytherin is well into the negative for House Points because I keep taking points from them for saying bad words in Korean. I only really know one, “shibal,” but I hear that coming from that table with roughly as much frequency as in the below clip:
Seriously, are there any other curse words in Korean? When I watched this movie with English captions, “shibal” was translated into like ten or twelve different English curses. Really limits the vocab of a Korean with Tourette’s.
I told the worst offender just to stay home tomorrow if he wasn’t going to play ball, and after I yell-talked at him, he seemed sulky enough that he might actually do so. (fingers crossed). He’s not a bad kid and his English is actually fairly high level, as he’d apparently lived in America for a summer or two. He is one lousy-ass student, and I will be happy to not have to teach him again for three blessed weeks!
While this second week of camp is making me seriously question why I flew thousands of miles, left my beloved friends and family and feline, just to come and babysit some hellacious teenage brats – I’m not quite ready to pack up and jet on the next plane out of Incheon just yet. Yesterday, I took the winning House of last week’s camp out to lunch. Luckily for my pocketbook, there were just two girls in Slytherin! They brought their sisters along, but it just so happens that one of the sisters is in my camp this week, and will likely be in the winning House herself (Ravenclaw), so I guess that takes care of her prize as well.
I never taught middle school kids in America, and in fact stayed faaaaar away from them from the moment I was no longer one myself, so I’m not sure if they are as obsessed with food as the kids here. Middle schoolers here will kill each other for a piece of cheap plasticky candy from Emart; I really don’t remember me or my peers being quite so obsessed. I’ve heard of other English teachers here giving out cases of ramyun (cheap instant noodles) as grand prizes. I’m not sure if it’s because I’m in a relatively low-income area, or if it’s because these kids never seem to have any time to eat, as they’re in school from 8:30 in the morning to 10:00 at night?
At any rate, my girls were thrilled and even more so when I told them we could go to the nearby city of Gwangju to eat. They chose an Italian restaurant that they knew was cheap, because they found out I was taking them out on my own dime, and they are really very sweet and thoughtful girls. The girls had an absolute blast, and were insanely excited about eating at a new and “foreign” restaurant (though the “Italian” food had a distinctly Korean flair, featuring things like ttukboki spaghetti!), with their new foreign teacher!
For me, it was a much welcome change from eating with the other teachers at my school, who are really kind too (and never let me pick up the bill, as I’m always the youngest at the table), but, as I never understand any of the conversation that goes on, it gets really boring for me and I end up just poking at whatever nondescript meat is on my plate that day. I get the feeling I have a lot more in common with the students anyhow. (Yes, even the ones I want to throttle!)
p.s. – new theme…I’m getting tired of the whites and browns and grays of winter here in Korea, so there’s no reason my blog has to look that way too!
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[...] a big thumbs up. Though if I could be perfectly honest, if given the choice, I’d much rather pay out of pocket and take my students out to lunch, than go to another free Teachers’ Dinner. Nothing against the teachers, but last [...]
[...] found out about Sunny’s suspension, I was slightly apprehensive about having him in the camp. Last winter, I’d gotten fed up with the 2nd grade boys who kept using “sheebal” this and [...]
[...] I’m midway through my second week of teaching winter camp. Overall, this will be the sixth camp I’ve taught. When I first started out last winter, I was kind of baffled by the whole concept of “camp” here in Korea. It’s not an overnight trip to some woodsy location with a cabin and some bonfires like it is back home; it’s…extra classes, in the same old school building. If my mom had suggested to me that I go back to school, over summer vacation, for extra schoolin’? During my rebellious (and, admittedly, slightly pathetic) wanna-be grunge Wicca Hot Topic phase? Unless that camp had been hosted at the local mall witch store, there’s no way I would have gone willingly. Oh, man. I think I'm gonna have to offer a "Craft" themed camp next go around! Thanks to the intrepid souls over at waygook.org, and to channeling my own depths of dorkery, I was able to get through last winter okay. I did finish exhausted, however, and thrilled not to see that batch of students again for another month. [...]
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