Crazy Kids...

I have many amusing students. And it's amazing how many of them remember Jason and bring him up all the time. Many times its just the usual, asking if I talked to him on the phone or something. But some kids are a bit more creative... A while ago, "Gollom" said that he had eaten Jason, and Jason was living in his stomach. So, I asked if there was also a PC room in his stomach that was allowing Jason to email me. Yes, there was. And then, another kid from that class, "Johny," said that HE had eaten Jason. I was confused. How could he be in both boys' stomachs? Then it came out that they had each eaten half of him. So, day after day something would come up about what Jason was doing. Johny, even offered to puke him up so I could see him. But he never delivered on that promise. One day, Jason was having a Christmas party in Johny's stomach. So, I asked if he would eat me, too, so I could go to the party. But, Johny said I'd have to go bake myself first before he'd eat me. Oh, and Johny even took the joke out of the classroom! Tracy has a private lesson with him, and they were doing a Mad Lib where Jason was a "famous Hollywood pencil," because the blank was supposed to be someone in the room, and Johny didn't want to use his own name. There's a kid in a different class, "Jacke," that also comes up with amusing Jason stories. Usually he's drinking beer and getting into fights with people (he's been doing that for months). Somewhat more recently he started have tons and tons of girlfriends that he wasn't telling me about. Well, I'll always disagree with Jacke about those things. Then, over the Lunar New Year holiday, Jacke saw Jason next door to his grandma with his other girlfriends, to prove me wrong ;). Oh, and now he has a spider for a girlfriend and a beetle for a girlfriend, and Tracy has been his girlfriend, too. And, Jacke has eaten him for breakfast, and he's fallen off a cliff, and he's been eaten by sharks, and I don't remember what else. Anyway, it's hilarious. I think Jason should feel special that the kids think about him so often. He must've really left an impression! :) Other amusing things come from students as well. Often it's a result of the English incorporated into their television programs and computer games. When my second graders who don't know any English didn't know how to tell me they were finished with their assignment, one boy came up with, "Teacher! Game over!" (and speaking of that class, it's been confirmed that they believe I understand Korean since I've used a certain amount of it in class. Yikes!) I have a couple of real characters in my middle school class,too. One boy likes to say, "You really upset me," and "Don't try this at home," at random times. Oh, and my horrible 6th grade class (which seems to know more American cuss words than grammar!) finds it hilarious to say, "Teacher, XYZ!" and see if I'll check my zipper. I'll wrap this up with a couple cute quotes from "Jenny." Jenny is a super sweet (almost) 9th grader who I have a private lesson with. She spent 10 days in the States and has had private lessons since she was young, so her conversation level is very high. Our lessons are almost entirely just talking... about anything! Lots of girl stuff, differences in our cultures, future plans, shopping, and so on. We have SO much fun. Really, I think I laugh harder with her than with anyone else here in Korea (Tracy and I laugh pretty hard, too, though... ). On Wednesday she made a slipup and said "fancakes" instead of pancakes (there's no f sound in Korean, so it's an easier mistake than you might think). Then, today she was amused at the movement of some Jello we had and said, "She's dancing." :) Very cute.