Every Tuesday and Thursday I am supposed to teach the teachers at my school conversational English from 3:15-4:15. It is now...3:45 and not a soul is in sight. This has been the way for approximately the whole time I've been here. The first few weeks about 3 or 4 people came, which dwindled to 2 and now zero. I'm not too beat up about it. I'd actually prefer to use the time trying to relearn Korean anyway. The teachers that did show up usually didn't need any help with English at all and just wanted to talk to me so I really don't feel like any harm was done.
I feel like such a teacher when I use the chalkboard. I've been using it all day. There's just something about chalk, or maybe it's having the power to write things on the board that they all have to look at. It's like I'm saying, READ MY WORDS! KNOW MY KNOWLEDGE! I'm torn whether I should introduce the words "ugly" and "fat" to my classes tomorrow. They are learning to describe people's physical appearance. I don't want them to run around calling each other ugly and fat, but at the same time they're sort of important words to know. Yesterday a boy dropped the F-bomb before class and my co-teacher said, "Oh they just think it means the same thing as Oh My God." Again, I found myself at a crossroads. Do I tell them not to say it because it is offensive, possibly unleashing a whole slew of elementary children upon the streets of Daegu shouting fuck you? Or do I let it slide in hopes that they're never caught in a biker bar when something exclamatory happens. Ah, the quandries of life.
The Buddha is fat.
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