Firstly, when I would say "how do you say brother in Korean?" there was three or four correct answers. The same went for sister. The words change depending on whether the sibling is older, younger, or.. I don't know what the third version is? Twins?
Secondly, they really had a hard time believing my brother was my brother (I showed pictures of my family). I don't know why, but they just really weren't buying it. Similarly when I showed pictures of him to my grade six's as an example of "School Band" they also were surprised. I know we don't look very similar, but I figured at least to Koreans we might!
We had them then make their own family trees. I printed a leafless tree, and then they drew their family members on leaf bushels which they cut out and glued to the tree. I figured this would allow for any family to fit on the tree (though I didn't see any step parents). A few kids with a higher grasp of English wanted to go beyond siblings, parents, and grandparents, so they asked my coteacher for some extra words. He would ask me to confirm, and the conversation went something like this..
"Anne, how do you say.. your father's brother?"
"Uncle!"
"Oh ok, but what about your mother's brother?"
"Uncle.."
"Oh same word? But what about your father's sister's husband?"
"...uncle..."
"My dictionary said Uncle in law?"
"Yes that's correct but usually people will just say uncle... Wow. English is lazy."
A similar conversation occurred about the word cousin. It's neat to see how much more structured their family words are, and how much more vague ours are. I suppose someone could argue that it's because family and bloodline is so much more important to them?
Also, I don't know why, but the kids got a hoot out of "great-grandmother" and "great-great-grandmother" haha. I would hear them mumbling "greatgreatgreatGREATmother" and chuckling to themselves. Oh boy they're funny.
Also cute: I saw one little girl this morning dressed in a lot of pink, and when I mentioned it she said "Yes! I am a pink princess!"
Final cuteness: after I showed my family, the kids would ask "Where is the grandfather?" I surprised myself by saying "in heaven" because I'm not religious, but I couldn't really bring myself to say "he's dead" to them. Anyways, they were sweet about it and many would chime up "mine too!" I guess that doesn't seem so sweet now that I type it, but it was nice at the time. None of them got awkward or uncomfortable, they just understood that death happens and is a bummer.
Still no letters in my grade six mailbox, after they were so into it last year! I guess the novelty is over and they're entering puberty. Many are dating and it's adorable. Luckily, they're still beyond sweet and while I don't get written proof, they still shower me with compliments. Oh actually one last (I promise) little story...
"Teacher! You're so pretty. Small head big nose!"
"You know, in Canada a big nose is bad!"
"NO teacher! NICE BIG NOSE!"
Gotta love 'em.
Still no letters in my grade six mailbox, after they were so into it last year! I guess the novelty is over and they're entering puberty. Many are dating and it's adorable. Luckily, they're still beyond sweet and while I don't get written proof, they still shower me with compliments. Oh actually one last (I promise) little story...
"Teacher! You're so pretty. Small head big nose!"
"You know, in Canada a big nose is bad!"
"NO teacher! NICE BIG NOSE!"
Gotta love 'em.
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| Can't get enough of them blossoms. Here's a view from a friend's window |
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| Fave coffee spot (due to it's proximity to my place), some blossoms, and a kid in my school's gym uniform. |
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| They're starting to fall already, boo. |
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| You can call me Kim Minu cause I'm basically Korean now that I can cook like one! Yummy soup by Anne. |
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