This Week's "Cuteness of the Week" Award

Today was activity day, which isn't really important. It's Lunar New Year coming up, so we made wooden tops, they dressed in Hanbok, they bowed to me, and we talked about resolutions.  It was cute and fun, but that’s not the point of this entry.

Every Activity day there is a special lunch that is smaller than regular lunch because the TPs are super busy during activity days and don't have enough time to serve the larger lunch. The lunch consists of a clementine, a roll with melted cheese on top, and shrimp fried rice. The shrimp is tiny and there isn't a lot of it, but I still can't eat it because the rice has been cooked with the shrimp. The first activity day I went to, however, I didn't even notice the shrimp, ate a huge serving of rice and felt sick for the rest of the day. Because I can't have the rice, Miss Theresa (the lunch lady) always puts in extra rolls and clementines for me. I sit at a table with Thomas, Cherry, Andrew, and Jully, with my back to my other students (Miss Young sits at their table).

Today, I sat down with my tray full of rolls and oranges, and Thomas asked me why I didn't have any rice. I told him I had an allergy. He said shrimp was one of his favorite foods, which Ryan chimed in on. He heard that part from the other table, and said it was one of his favorites, and asked why I didn't like it because he hadn't heard the first part of the conversation. I repeated myself, saying I loved shrimp but that I can't eat it anymore. Sally, who sits across from Ryan and about as far away from me as possible, having heard nothing but this, asks if I have an allergy. I say I do and explain to the other kids what an allergy is because they didn't understand. Everyone then turns back to their food and proceeds to eat.

A minute, maybe two, passes in complete silence. Then, out of nowhere, Sally jumps out of her chair and yells "Miss Kelsey! Don't eat the rice! It has shrimp!" I turn around to look at her and she is reaching out toward me (from about ten feet away), and she looks so concerned and afraid for me. It was adorable. This little girl who is only seven years old, was THAT concerned about my health. It was like I was about to go into a room that had a bomb in it, or as if I were the heroine in a scary movie, running from the villain and trying to get away by running up the stairs. She literally JUMPED out of her chair (she actually almost knocked it over) and reached out for me, just to warn me about my rice.

Honestly, the first thing I thought was that this girl actually cares about me. I'm not just some white lady she's known for six months. She really loves me. Then, when we practiced our graduation songs after lunch she sat on my lap and leaned her head on my shoulder while she sang. And when I told her I'm teaching the new class she'll be starting in a few weeks, she got so excited she practically tackled me just to give me a hug. So, in other words, the cuteness of the week award goes to: everything Sally did today. Thanks for making me feel amazing, my love.

Very quickly during my 15 minute break:

Two things that I find interesting.

1) In Korea people are actually honest about appearance. If you are fat, they tell you that you are fat. If you look tired, they say it. No one gets offended. It's like a statement of fact, and everyone knows. They also tell you when you look good, and it actually makes you feel good because every time they say it you know it's honest. Anyway, in class the other day we were making a boat out of tangrams (those special shape things that you can put together to make all sorts of pictures). I drew the boat on the board, and then as a joke, drew all the kids in the class inside the boat. When I was finished, there was no room to draw myself, so I drew me hanging off the side. When Thomas asked why, Junsung said "Because too heavy." And instead of getting offended, I laughed. It was funny. Yeah, I'm not nearly as thin as any of the women he knows, and I probably never will be. Asian women are tiny. And yeah, at the moment I'm packing on a few extra pounds from my normal size. So what? I actually kind of like it when people are honest. It makes me feel better when they say I'm fat than when people back home tell me I look skinny, because at least I know they're telling the truth.  There is even a guy from English class who openly admitted to having a crush on me, then a month later asked me (verbatim) “Are you on a diet?  You look less fat than last time I saw you.”  He definitely knows the words “thin” and “skinny”.  But I didn’t look thin or skinny.  I just looked less fat.

2) My kids invented the best kind of tag EVER and when I return to the states I fully expect a large-scale version to be played. It's called Zombie attack, and it's a combination of tag and the zombie apocalypse. One person starts as a zombie, and everyone else is a "people" (we're working on plurals and singulars, but they still have trouble). The zombie has to move kind of slowly and hold their arms out in front of them, while making creepy moaning noises, like a zombie. Everyone else screams and runs. If the zombie catches someone, that person also becomes a zombie. The infection spreads. Every so often one of the zombies calls out "Who is still a ‘people’?" and one or two kids raise their hands, only to be viciously hunted by the others. The last “people” standing wins, and starts as the zombie in the next round. It's HILARIOUS to watch. At least, it was until I started playing and someone knocked Cindy over, causing me to knee her in the forehead at the same time that someone accidentally body-slammed Junsung into a wall. It was that exact moment that I realized Zombie Attack should be an OUTDOOR game.