Every once in a while, I just sit back and ponder the fact that I am in South Korea. The rest of the time, that detail hits me square in the face...generally during an awkward or random moment. The first of these moments (today) came when one of my second graders called me "omah" during class. It took him a couple of seconds to realize that he had just called his English teacher "mom". Then he just smiled. I thought it was rather cute.
The next "moment" occurred during Taekwondo practice. My Taekwondo teacher, changed the practice time from starting at 6.30 to starting at 8.00. This wasn't a big deal for me, so I headed to class expecting a room full of other Taekwondo students. Well....it was just me and the teacher for the first 20 minutes and then another student came part way through. It was great to have the individual instruction, but also a little weird to not have a class full of people kicking and screaming. Then the owner of the academy came along with the four Swiss students. For a good seven-and-a-half minutes, the were just watching me (YIKES!!). We then spent half an hour matching the English to the Korean to the various positions. The time for me to head back to my apartment was approaching when the owner of the academy asked me if I liked to drink soju (the Korean liqueur). I responded with my usual, "I don't drink alcohol but thanks anyway" and he ran into his office and grabbed several bottles of a Vitamin C drink (these four ounces literally contain 1000% of one's daily allotment of Vitamin C). We sat and toasted and talked about my Taekwondo lessons. The owner was unhappy that I will only be in Korea until next July and wanted to know if I wanted to learn Taekwondo with a group of students or have private lessons (remember: all of this is through Noel, the Swiss translator). I was leaning toward the group lessons, because I can watch others and have more interaction with Korean people. Then he started thinking that I should take ninety minutes of group lessons followed by a ninety minute private lesson five days a week (for those who struggled with math in school that is three hours of practice a day-once again: YIKES). With the help of Noel, I convinced him that group lessons would be great and if I was confused on any aspect of the lesson, I could stay after for a couple of minutes. I think we reached a satisfactory conclusion, but we will see how it goes tomorrow.
Just a heads up: I am getting sick with a sore throat again and would love prayer that this passes quickly and doesn't have a huge influence on my teaching. thanks!!
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