another peek into my classroom

on "wacky hair day" one of my students came to school with bright red hair dyed with kool-aid. he approached me with a discouraged look on his face, shoulders down and slightly annoyed and said, "mrs. watt, people keep trying to taste my head." as i looked up i see several girls shrugging their shoulders, huge grins, giggling, their fingers wiggling in the air to show their dyed red tips.

a very common conversation i hear in room 125:

max: "bobby, you're tattling."

bobby: "no i am not. i'm just telling."

max: "that's tattling."

bobby: "NO, i am NOT. (some huffing and puffing, hand shoots up in the air) i'm telling on you for calling me a tattletaler."

little boy with a smirk on his face: "Mrs. Watt, i just almost threw up in my mouth."

another little boy to a teacher who gave a somewhat boring lesson in our room, interrupting the lesson and asking in all innocent earnestness: "is it time for you to go yet?"

another little boy interrupting journal share time by loudly whispering to me, "mrs. watt, i went poop in the bathroom and washed my bottom all by myself!"

an apple?

south korea is a country that has overcome huge obstacles to be the nation it is. it was devastated by war and was left poor and bare and out of these difficult times certain expressions have grown and remain common. one of them being, "have you eaten today?" the question is about as common as "how are you?" my family asks me all the time. my dad frequently asks me--even if we'll be talking for the first time in a few weeks. "have you eaten today?" then, there's always the follow-up question, "what did you eat?" (i learned the hard way that the answer "cereal" or "crackers" is not acceptable). my aunt in korea asks the same questions except i feel a little more nervous when those questions come up with her. it's almost like a pop quiz each time she asks...and my answers are usually wrong : )

but really, they ask in love. they care, so in a way, it's kinda nice.

even strangers express their concern or care for one another with food. it's not uncommon to see random strangers sharing food with each other. in fact, it is polite to offer food to someone who is near you. a few times i've been the recipient of this love---a slice of apple, a tangerine, cookie, a chunk of radish, or peach. i think it's a pretty neat way to love people.

today one of my first graders brought me some of his "homemade banana milk"--his choice beverage in a reused bottle in a ziplock bag. yes, very sketchy. he told me i had to taste it to let him know if it was good. i unscrewed the cap and took a swig--i couldn't say no... he stood beside me with a wide grin studying my face carefully as if he was waiting for me to swallow. it was a really dear thing for him to do. he was so happy to bring me a little "treat" from home. i told him thank you and he bragged to his classmates he gave me special homemade gift.

i hope this doesn't spark a trend of various milk-based treats being delivered to me each morning... there are only so many mysterious dairy mixes i can take!

florida

so a couple weeks ago I went to Florida for a DoDEA meeting. it was a lot of fun to catch up with friends i had made from the last meeting in massachusetts. a group of us went to busch gardens on sunday before all of our work began, fed some lorikeets, rode on some crazy roller coasters, got SOAKED on some water rides, and even heard a concert from huey lewis. aside from the fun, we did have our share of good work to do. we spent most of the day in discussions, collaborating, presenting, and then more discussing. it was a lot of fun, but tiring work. i'm just very grateful to have made friends with all those in the task force. it makes "work" seem a lot less like work.

it was nice to be in some warm sunlight and be around some familiar settings too. i've now fully recovered from the jetlag. my apologies to anyone who had conversations with me between the days of february 20-march 4th. i've been half zombie up until now.

it's pretty surreal to travel from one end of the world to another in just a few days. it does feel good to be back...i missed pete, my best bud. it's always nice to reunite after being apart, even if only for a few days.

random side note: koreans really like their romantic dramas. as i'm sitting here typing this blog, i'm watching a korean music video of a couple in love who not only get in a horrific car accident--their bodies lay twisted and bloody from the wreck, but they survive. their car is hanging off the edge of a bridge smashed to smithereens. then for the kicker, the two lovers lay staring at one another relieved neither has died, but the car teeters off the edge and WHAM, flattens the guy. the koreans like their depressing love stories!