DMZ and new classes

My dad and his wife, Charlene are here and we went to the DMZ today! I typed an exclamation point because, although I have already been on a DMZ tour with my mom and her husband, Kevin, this one was slightly different. We were able to go to an area which the other tour skipped (and this tour skipped one of the areas which was of no particular interest to me). I got some great new pictures and I will post them later.

The BEST part (and I can't believe I'm saying this), was the fact that we stopped at an amethyst factory. At first, this gemstone was just another gemstone, but when the tour guide informed me that it was the national stone of Korea, I became more interested. Because we were a foreign tour group, we received a total of 50% off the price of all amethyst jewelry. I bought a ring. I believe it is set in sterling silver, and is surrounded by a few diamonds. It's a little flashy for someone who doesn't really wear jewelry, but I figured every girl needs at least one piece of nice jewelry. That is something my stepmother, Charlene, taught me. I have to agree. I did pick up a grade-B rock, but the color is more like that of a grade-A.

We had dinner at Outback Steakhouse and now I am back at home, exhausted but happy and extremely content with the events of the day. Although I don't speak much Korean, what I have learned seemed more impressive when used in front of Mom and Kevin. Now that a couple months have passed, I feel even more adequate in front of Dad and Charlene. It may not be much, but even being able to look at the Korean writing (Hangul) and know the correct pronunciation of a word is a mini-triumph for me. For instance, Dad showed me the name of the nearest subway stop and I looked it up on my ALL-IN-KOREAN subway map and sounded out the words until I found the right one. Then I was able to write it on a piece of paper (in Korean) so Dad could show any taxi driver where he needed to go. Is it wrong to be so proud when my Korean is at the level of a 14-month old child? If that....

My new classes have started for fall semester (they're really quarters) and I seem to have a decent group. My higher level class contains quite a few kids who didn't level-up, so they are less than stellar-students. My middle school class is all boys and, although they get a little rowdy at times, they are a lot of fun. And my lower level elementary school class is ADORABLE. I still don't have a feel for their personalities, but each one is the cutest kid EVER! Perhaps an exaggeration, but although Korean children tend to be more attractive (in my opinion) than other children, I've had some funny looking ones. This class is full of little models. They seem well behaved to boot.

One story: For my middle school, all-boy class, they had to learn about the American Civil War. When asked about the economies in the North and the South, they were to use their notes to tell me about it. But as note-taking goes, the words are in an order and organizational pattern that may only make sense to the person who wrote the notes. That was the case for one student. So when he desk partner tried to cheat by looking at HIS notes, having taken none of his own, he said, "Teacher, the North's economy was based on slave factories!" The correct answer was that it was based on factories, while the South's was based on plantations and slaves.
"Slave factories?" I repeated.
He paused and looked like a deer in headlights.
"Yes?" he answered, unsure.
"There were factories that made slaves?" I asked, trying to keep myself from laughing.
I failed.
I started laughing, partially because it struck me as funny, and partially because I had a fellow teacher auditing my class in the back row. The entire class started laughing.
"See, Willy? That's what you get when you try to cheat off your friend. You end up saying things like, 'slave factories,'" I told him, still laughing.
"Yes, Teacher."
Then Friday, he was trying to memorize a sentence that said, "She was from the South but went to school in the North, where she learned to hate slavery." Instead, he said, "Where she learned to hate slaves."
I reminded him of his past mistake and shook my head, asking him if he was racist. His cheeks got red and he blushed as deeply as when his friend and pronounced him to be "gay" earlier in the class.
Middle school boys are a pain when it comes to keeping their attention, but they do make for some fun in-class bloopers.