everyone at school now knows my spot - the bench under the tree, a lot has been happening while i sit there.



1. i meet a lot of the 2nd and 3rd year students…
geun su and crew (min gu, james, hee song… and played jok-gu at lunch)
bu seok, sang yuu and 3 others (wed)

2. think romeo and juliet balcony scene where i am romeo and juliet are the students/teacher.

after my last class on friday (my favorite class so far ;D), instead of going into the office, i decided to read my new book on my bench and enjoy some sunshine. ji-eun and yu-mi picked this book for me while we were at the bookstore on wed.

5mins into reading and writing the romanization of the hanguel words, i hear a very loud and excited: HI! i look up and to my utter SURPRISE and JOY and seeGEUN SU! my 1st student bestie!

the past 1.5weeks and i have barely seen/talked to geun su. 1) i joined the samul nori band 2) i got a cold and teachers have been taking me out to lunch to eat soup = no time to sit on my bench at lunch 3) weathers been weird. CA sunshine one day, clouds and sprinkly the next…

so i respond with a very happy: GEUN SUUUUU! after that, 2 other students join him by the window. theres another window next to the one geun su was looking from and 3 more students look out to see what was going on. geun su and i exchange a few words like ‘how are you?’ 'what are you doing?’… while this conversation was going on, the 3rd student at the window behind geun su throws up the heart sign with his hands. to my surprise he kept it up until i made the heart gesture with my hands also. the very instant i did that, alllll the students did the same! it was SERIOUSLY the CUTEST thing EVER! it made the student in the back really happy bc i saw him jumping up and down. lol then geun su said: teacher here. ok byeee. and with that the students disappeared from the windows.

so i go back to reading my book with a giant smile on my face. 1) it was nice to see my student bestie. i dont know if people realize the MOST important role geun su played in taking the 1st step to approaching me. all the students here are super shy and the language barrier makes it even more harder to approach each other. geun su ecstatically yelling and calling me: my princess!, talking to me on my bench and inviting me to play jok-gu with them have resulted in the 3rd years becoming more talkative towards me and realizing that im actually pretty nice and cool. lol by playing jok-gu with them, the other students (1st, 2nd, 3rd years) saw that i do like to play sports and that im approachable.

i owe a lot to geun su! if it wasnt for him, i might still be sitting on my bench by myself. i still do sit on my bench by myself but now i get frequent visitors from students who at first are shy to approach me but then end up sitting with me and talking to me.

moving back to my story: literally 3mins pass by after going back to reading my book and the SAME students from the windows come running through the doors from our building. i look at them all confused and they all just smile and approach my bench. the student who threw up the heart sign came and sat next to me with 2 other students. he looks at my book and see what ive written. he says: hangeul? and i reply with 'yes, im learning’ and show him my cheat sheet. i ask for his name and he says it but its too fast for my ears. i ask him to repeat and instead he takes my book and pen and writes his name down in hangeul. then his friend does the same but writes his name in english. the heart guy’s name is lee jae seung and the other is lee jong ho.

then i take my book and pen back and write my name in hangeul. they all are surpised and some clap and some say: wow! at this very moment, geun su and 2 others come and join us. with a very stern look, geun su says: 'lunchy. jok-gu. wae. opsoyo.’ points at bench. which literally translates to: at lunch, why arent you here to play jok-gu? while thinking of a way to explain to him and have him understand, their teacher pops his head from the window and says some things in korean. to which the students all say bye to me and scatter. they dont go back to the building where their class is but insted the separate into 2 groups: lee jae seung with 2 others and geun su with 2 others. confused at what just happened, i go back to my book. a few mins later, jae seung and crew come back and chit chat for a bit again. then geun su and crew join in. geun su’s phone rings and he picks it up only to find out that its their teacher calling him and he also pokes his head from the window. he was basically telling them to come back to class. the students head back to the building and jae seung turns around and throws me the heart sign again and says: i love you. in the US, this would be taken to court. here in korea, its cute. so i respond by throwing him the heart sign and say: sa rang hae. to which his eyes and mouth open so wide and he runs back to class. sooooo cute! lol

i go back to my book. some students and teachers pass by and look at what im doing. the moment i show them its a korean children’s book, they smile and nod their heads.

3) 10mins before the bell rang for class to end, my students from class 1-8 were in some type of engineering class bc they had on their safety suits, and a few students including the class leader, young min, saw me and approached me. they were curious about what i was reading and i showed them.

they were so suprised and amazed to see that i was learning korean. one of them said: teacher. so cool! one of them had a basketball and says: 'teacher. play?’ and i say: ok. i guess he didnt expect me to say ok bc he was caught off guard with my response. then he smiles and beckons me to the basketball court. i follow and he throws me the ball. i dribble and shoot. of course i miss. basketball was never my strongest sport. but bc i was close to making a basket, the students were shocked and said: 'teacher! play sports good!’ then class leader said: 'we go now. class.’ and i say: 'ok. have fun.’ they say: 'bye teacher. see you again.’

i go back to my book. read for 3mins and then the bell rings signifying the end of the class period. time to leave the bench and head for my friday teacher student class. something ALWAYS happens while i sit on my bench.