I've learned two things this week:
- If you are a native English speaker, Koreans assume that you know the laws of grammar*
- It is considered rude to say you are busy, but if you do not say you are busy you will only become busier!
I only just escaped a horrible week of mountainous work and stress! I thought I was free. I thought my pace had reset and I was at a comfortable level for managing classes, lesson planning and any extra small bits that came my way.
What came my way was:
- a 5-page lesson plan my VP asked me to edit (which turned out to be for a Korean English teacher at another school! WTF?!)
- editing 10 students' English essays about "Making a Happy Yeongdo" or "Making a Happy Mind/Life"
- and a request to turn in a complete and detailed lesson plan along with supporting materials for my summer camps (which are still 2 months away!)
What they got from me was a blank stare, while my mind ran through the conversation my lips should have been saying - "You want me to do what?! By when?! Oh that's funny. Let's share a laugh! No. You're serious? Well that sucks." Instead I took the lesson plan, and the essays and drained all the ink from my red pen correcting the errors that occured everywhere!*
I haven't gotten to the summer camp lesson plans yet. Those I'm not too bothered about. Last year I was never asked for a lesson plan. I don't remember if we even talked about what I wanted to do. I know we definitely did NOT talk about it two months out. So for those, they can just wait. Should they need anything from me, I'll write them a note saying "Still too soon to tell". ^^
One gem that did come out of all of this was Jae's essay. He's 12 years old (11 years old International age) and I love him. He's an amazing student. He tries so hard. His English is great for his age/grade. And he's so damn nice. He's never annoying, loud or disruptive and he is never boastful about his skills. Just chats to me in English, always smiles and thinks my jokes are funny. What is not to love!?!
Here's his essay on "making a happy life".
* I do NOT know the laws of grammar. I start sentences with conjuctions, use a comma wherever I like and mix tenses like I do my alcohol. It's all not good.
Jaewon is wise beyond his years!
ReplyDelete