More about teaching.  I am back at Cheonan Girls' Middle today (Mon, Tues, and Fri) and I am so happy to be back.  There is such a happier atmosphere here.  My classes are really fun to teach instead of just something to get through, because I have the freedom to make it fun and when the students are having fun so do I.  The principal stopped by to observe my class this morning.  He is an adorable grandpa-ish sort of man who doesn't speak English, but wants me to stop by his office and say hello every day for the first few weeks.  This morning he had written down how to ask me if my classes were going well in English and was obviously very eager to use the phrase on me.  It was cute.  He stopped by my classroom to observe for a few minutes this morning, and after class he told me that he can see that the students really like me and that I make class fun for them and that he likes my teaching style.  So I guess that fun, laid-back but still learning attitude filters down from the top.  My two favorite teachers here, the two that I best relate to and think I could be friends with instead of just a celebrity, want to have dinner after school next Tuesday. :)

The punishment seems a bit milder here, too.  Sometimes students who got in trouble come into the teacher room and have to sit lined up on the floor and do some sort of writing assignment.  Better than being spanked in school, in my opinion, as it seems to be effective.  Overall I think the students here are probably as well-behaved if not better than students where they deal out the harsh punishment, as the fact that they keep having to give out the punishment indicates that it's not eliminating the problem.  One of my American teacher friends said that in her school one of her students was spanked so hard that he couldn't sit down.  But enough on that.

I get a kick out of some of the chapter and unit titles in the English textbooks.  Here are some of my favorites:

Are You Interested in Robots?

I Wish There Were No Pollution

Let's Look on the Bright Side (this is the first chapter I'll be teaching from)

Interesting Stories about Names

The Gift of Love

I'm sure there are some more strange ones in my other school's text book.  I'd look them up but I don't have that book with me.

Here's a little detail about the schools I like--instead just a beep or ring for the bell, the bell is a little 5 second or so tune that plays.  So much nicer and less startling lol.  I can't remember if I said this in my other post or not, but the teachers stay in the teacher room until the bell rings for class to begin.  Then they get up and go to the classroom, where most of the students are there already.  In some strict or traditional classes, class begins when a student stands and says, "attention, bow." and the students bow at their desks and say, "Hello teacher." then at the end of class when the bell rings or the students bow (like the beginning) and say "goodbye teacher" (this is not as common).  But the students stay seated, even after the bell, until they are released by the teacher.  Then the teacher is usually the first of one of the first to leave the room.  A minor thing but so different from the U.S.

The main dish of my school lunch today was some kind of good-seasoned stuff to put over rice that had small tentacles in it.  I ate one.  It was chewy.  Kind of like rubber.  And otherwise tasteless.  Then I moved on to my fried sweet potato chunks rolled in some kind of black sesame-like seeds.  Much better.  I also liked the fresh crunchy bean sprouts as they tasted vinegary and garlicky.

Today was a good chopstick day.  Some days the Koreans compliment me on how well I use chopsticks.  I can even pick up small things like greens and bean sprouts with them.  Then one day my mind will completely forget how to use them.  And the Koreans will offer to get me a fork or show me how to hold the chopsticks.  Today an older Korean man from my teacher room who is always giving me things like coffee and tangerines (five tangerines lol) told the teacher next to me who spoke English that he was surprised at how well I use them.  Bamboo chopsticks are easier to use than stainless steel ones.  The schools' chopsticks are made of that same metal that school silverware is normally made of.  They're not too bad.

Last thing--the highlight of my day.  First of all, like I have said before,  I am a celebrity here.  The girls SCREAM and cheer when I enter the classroom, so that you'd think it was a Backstreet Boys concert.  Or a Rain concert here in Korea lol.  One girl today even grinned and made a heart sign above her head (like the "M" of "YMCA") every time I turned my head in her direction.  A bit disconcerting lol.  But one girl with almost no accent (later I asked her if she'd been to America, and when she said no, I made her smile by complimenting her English), the kind of student who makes you think, "this is why I'm teaching," caught up with me in the hall after class, saying, "Ashley Ashley...I have something to say to you."  I turned and smiled and said, "what?"  She bowed, Asian style, and said "Welcome to Cheonan Middle School."