The Professional

Something that happened today mad me realize that I've written about every aspect of my life here in Korea except for the one that actually brought me here. You see, my school had a field trip day and I had such a good time with my students that I realized that they don't get nearly the press that they deserve. Therefore, this entry is dedicated to Ron the Teacher, who works day in and day out to make sure that tiny little Korean people learn how to say "can I go to the bathroom"?

Here is what you need to know about my teaching job here in Cheonan: I work from 10am until 2:30pm teaching a Kindergarten class of 9 students. These kids are about 6 years old and as cute as sin. They are the main focus of my Haekwon (private school) and their parents pay mucho Won to have them there. Then from 3pm until 6pm I teach students anywhere from 8 years old to 13 years old. They are really cool too but I don't spend nearly as much time with them as I do my Kindergarteners.

So, what made me realize that I need to share with you about my teaching life is this field trip we took today. We went to a park just outside of town that had an exhibit on dinosaurs going on. That's not the important part though. What is important is that after the exhibit, we had some free time for about 15 minutes to just run around in the park and get crazy. And get crazy we did! I spend so much time teaching these kids that it took a crazy run around to make me realize that I really care about my kids. I just wanted to make sure that every kid had the time of their life just running around and getting crazy. After our game of "Chase the Teacher until he gets toot tired to run anymore so we'll just pile on top of him" we took a group picture and it felt great to see their faces all smiling.

I kind of feel like they're my own children and it kills me to see them hurt or crying ( and boy do they cry). I never saw myself ever teaching little kids, and if you ever asked me before this trip if I evder would I am sure my answer was an emphatic HELL NO! But these kids that I've been brought over here to teach have actually taught me something about myself; I Love Kids! These little Korean wonders may forget me the week after I leave to come back home, but I can guarantee you that I will never forget them. Now if you'll excuse me I think I'm going to go and try to find my machismo,

Ronnie Out