What I See and Dare to Believe
Sometimes I think teaching has literally made me insane. Or perhaps I was simply insane to decide to teach in the first place. Sometimes my students are great. Everyone comes on time with their books in order and their pencils sharpened, having gone to the bathroom and drunk a satisfactory amount of water. Whatever candy or […]
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Yesterday, a group of students announced to me that North Korea was going to bomb us the day after tomorrow. “According to who?” I asked. But they were all chattering at me and each other in Korean a million miles a minute, and I was struggling to catch up.
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Today a white woman got on the bus, and I was struck by her confidence. As is typical on a bus in South Korea, she was the only fully white person on board, but she just calmly smacked her gum and found a seat. My first thought was, “This is the allure of a woman in […]
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Yesterday I sent a kid out of the classroom with whom I have a love-hate relationship. He can be quite explosive, disruptive, and even violent at times, but I also have this genuine affection for him. And I think he likes me, too.
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It struck me upon this particular return to Korea that I’ve grown surprisingly comfortable here. I’ve gotten used to the decreased eye contact and increased physical contact. To the abrupt but convenient public transportation and the way everyone buries their faces in their smart phones. To getting a free pass on explaining myself in certain situations because […]
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I locked myself out of my house the other night. Suffice it to say, I found myself outside with a bag of trash and not much else. No phone. No key. No money. No roommate at home to let me back in.
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I went running this morning and almost died. It felt great in the moment, because although the sun was a little hot, there was nice breeze coming off the ocean and the running path was much less crowded than usual. I could also tell my endurance had improved, which made me happy. But after I […]
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This is my first time being home for Christmas in three years. It’s rather nice. Listening to my little siblings read Advent excerpts, watching the packages from Amazon pile up by the front door, driving by houses sparkling with lights, feeling the anticipation in the air. I used to resist the Christmas hype fiercely and […]
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