Heading home last night was such a tease but I definitely don't regret it. I had to return today though, I had parent/teacher interviews today and there was a lot of hype over the fact that one of my students' fathers was the city's mayor.
Behind the university there is a huge, massive mountain and today I joined my class at the pond beside it, for playtime. Some of my girls and I ventured out onto the frozen pond and decided to make a small hockey rink. We didn't get a chance to really make it big because then it was time to meet up with all their parents who had come.
One-by-one I meet all my students' parents. And while many of them flattered me with gifts of chocolate or tangerines, I was most impressed by one set of parents who brought me a whack of bananas. My co-teacher giggled at the sight of them so the parents explained their reasoning behind such a gift -- "Our daughter told us you like to really eat healthy and that you're a real sports woman, so we thought you'd like bananas." I was impressed and the gift was so appropriately me. This particular set of parents approached me personally, after our meeting, to tell me more in detail just how much their daughter likes me. It was rather funny to hear all the finer details and stories I had shared with their daughter that she then went and shared with them. Funny but flattering and her parents seemed quite pleased so they asked me if I'd ever consider weekend visits.
I met the mayor tonight. He didn't really fit the image I had imagined nor did he really act in the manner I expected. I like his daughter, my student, and though she doesn't really talk to any of her classmates except for one girl, I consider myself to be a bit closer to her than many of the others. I think she's a year older than the rest but she's a lot more mature. She's bigger than my other students and is conscious of it when it comes to meal times and I know she's been watching what I do and don't put on my food tray. I don't necessarily support young kids going on diets but then again I've never been one for dieting. I'm ALL about eating healthy and stay active, that's my recipe for a healthy life. Anyways, she usually sits close by me during meal times and often asks me when I didn't eat certain foods. Today I noticed she took vegetables for the first time.
Anyways, it was nice to meet all the parents of my students. They all seemed really proud of their child whenever I mentioned good points and they were all eager to know what specific area their child could improve upon. I can't say I really have bad kids, just some that are more hyper than others. Kids are kids though but it was so hard to tell certain parents that their child were distruptive in class because of their hyperness. Korean parents often tend to be more sensitive when it comes to talking about their children, especially when talking about their child's manners, so I tried to rephrase it and say they had "great amounts of energy" instead. It was true and actually, I much rather have an overly hyper student than a dull student with energy levels bordering zero or below.
In addition to the parent/teacher interviews, the parents and students also enjoyed a picnic lunch together inside. The parents had all prepared food for their family to eat together so I had joked with my students earlier, telling them to text message me if any of their parents brought chicken. No one texted me but one parent did bring me chicken. It was fried chicken so I gave it to my co-workers but none the less it was chicken. The thought was there and them bringing me food was certainly not expected but super sweet.
Meeting all the parents of my students was nice; it really put a different perspective on my students and made me look at them differently after. They're good kids, I know that, but they're all so loved and they're definitely someone's pride and joy so that was really touching to see.
The parents of one of the girls from my A-Team floor hockey team (yesterday's team) didn't attend tonight's event so she looked quite sad, totally understandable. I sat down with her in the teacher room and told her, "Don't worry... my parents didn't come either." She smiled.
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