A few days ago I posted about my urge to run away but instead making the decision to stay in Korea for another year. Thank you to everyone who messaged me with words of support and encouragement. I didn’t mean to sound quite so emo; even though things are a little rough right now, I know it’s just making me stronger, the low points make the high points feel that much higher, and all that other cliche nonsense that is cheesy but true. (Sidenote: I’m drinking wine right now and even though I seemed to have developed a slight allergy to alcohol recently and my eyebrows turn extremely red and look like they’ve just been waxed, wine really does make everything better).
So to prove that my students are not soul crushing 100% of the time (maybe only 95%), I wanted to show another round of their work. In recent classes I had them write acrostic poems and make Thanksgiving turkeys. Some of their creations either melted my heart with sweetness or had me rolling on the floor in laughter. Keep in mind these are middle school students with a very low level of English. Here’s just a few:
I might be tankfur if I had 5 heads, too:
Awwwwww:
The truth comes out:
They like me, they really like me!
Typical Koreans:
The Runaway Harry Potter Turkey and the Violent Turkey:
I just… I love it:
Not exactly an acrostic poem, but I think this captures the student mentality quite appropriately:
My after school class was often my saving grace this year. They were a group of 17 students who were actually enthusiastic about learning English and we had some really fun times.
We played an English version of Flip Cup:
On Halloween we made masks and had a toilet paper mummy contest:
Then again, the boys sometimes had a habit of getting distracted…
Overall, despite the fact that my classes had a real talent for making me cry, there were a few students in there that have captured my heart and have made the whole experience worth it.
And this guy… well, he’s a trouble maker but he makes me laugh.
