Mirror, Mirror, On the Wall

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I love teaching at Buri Middle School (co-ed), where I teach one day a week out in the country. The classes are tiny, ranging from 6-20, and it's a sweet little place with mostly pleasant kids. My only problem is having to wait 30 min at the bus stop with the students after teaching a 90 min class and feeling like there is no longer a brain in my head.

John Kevin Holly, as he calls himself, is Buri's golden child. He is the best English student there and I was able to carry on a decent coversation with him as he walked me to the bus stop. I learned that he had gone to bed at SIX AM that last night. I get up at seven am! What was he doing all this time? Playing role play video games. Sweet Jesus. These kids love thier video games. We came up the bus stop where all the kids started yelling "boyfriend, boyfriend!" Oh hell no, I thought, here comes a lawsuit. "No, no, not boyfriend. Student!" I yelled. John Kevin Holly just smiled and probably told everyone in Korean that we are together.

As I sat on the wooden steps waiting for the bus, most of the students were playing on the outdoor gym equipment, but two girl students sat by me and started asking me the usal boyfriend questions. "OOh teacher, boyfriend?" This is the only question students want to know about me besides my age. I said no and one of the girls said happily, "I do!", while the other shook her head sadly. She mimed a heart being pulled apart. "I'm sorry, are you happy or sad?" I asked. "Sad" she replied. The other girl showed me a freaky picture of her and bf posing with a Winnie the Pooh stuffed doll and giving peace signs with a look on thier faces that looked rather mannequin like. Really not so adorable but I was like OMG girl soooo cute.

This is when the girls started showering me with praises. An everyday occurance really. Korea can really boost your self-esteem because Koreans love to tell Westerners how they are so good looking and what a fantastic person they are. My new co-teacher told me that I was so outgoing and she wished to be like me but she was too "ingoing". We had only talked for about 10 min but I guess I seemed quite boisterous. Koreans also seem to love to put themselves down. Whenever I try and compliment someone they respond "no, no" right away. If I say her English is good. "No it's horrible." I'll tell someone they are pretty. "No, no I am not". I already get super embarrased when someone compliments me but it's worse when they put themselves down in the process. The girls at the bus stop started saying how pretty I was, beautiful hair, pretty eyes, and what small face! First of all, with this Italian nose, no I do not have a small face. I even compared our face size with my hands and said "Look! Same size!". But the girls said "No, teacher, our heads are huge!". I always try and tell the girls how pretty they are because it seems like they are constantly putting themselves down and obsessing over thier faces in mirrors.

There are mirrors EVERYWHERE. In my elevator at the apartments, the whole wall is mirrors. Whenever I am in it, people have their faces stuck in the mirror. It has made me start staring at myself as well. Like oh what looks bad today, maybe if I stare at it, it will get better. The girls gaze in their mirrors before classes start, because no way does that fly in my class, and they never look happy about what they see. The girls in Buri asked "Are the girls in Guemsan pretty? They are prettier!" and then they threw their head in thier hands and moaned about it. Understandably, middle school is always an awkward time for girls and that's probably the first time I looked at myself critically in a mirror, but I really wish these young girls didn't care so much about comparing themselves to the girls around them and the Western look. They are simply beautiful young women and it's a waste of time to think that way.

Refreshingly, I have some girl students who seem confident in themselves, voice thier opinions, and even play sports. This is awesome because most girls HATE exercise. And yet they are all tiny...Even my students who drive me crazy (and the one girl who might just beat my ass sometime soon) are sweethearts deep down and I swear I'm going to confinscate everyone of those ridiculous mirrors.

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Comments

[Marty]

[e-mail]
You are such a sweet teacher, really!! How lucky these girls are to have you and your sense of humor and intuitive heart! Carry on, you have a wonderful opportunity to touch lives and make a difference! This was a great blog, love you!! P.S. Did you find out about the local hiking club in your town, I am curious to hear about the cloud suspension bridge and hike up to the famous mountain. Hey, what about the famous Ginseng Festival, did you take pictures of dancing? Love Marty