Sorry to scare you

OK, OK, OK, I'm updating my blog now--for those of who have reminded me that I haven't done so for a few days. (Sorry, Mom.)

Last week was significantly slower. This was a good thing, as I was grateful for a chance to breathe. Thursday was the last day of class for the August semester. Typically teachers take their students to a cafe (usually the Starbucks next door) or a restaurant. I went to the Starbucks with two different groups of students. Both times I drank an extremely overpriced green tea frappucino. One of my students paid for the first one, which made the second less painful.

I mentioned in a previous post how I was surprised at the opennness with which some of my students speak under the right circumstances. One of my writing students admitted to being afraid of me at the beginning of the semester. Ha ha. Not the first time I've gotten a comment like this. What's funny is that comments like these are not limited to Koreans. I've been hearing this for years from people who have gotten to know me. They tell me the truth once they're comfortable enough to tell me so. Recently I've become friends with Sang Yoon, a Korean who teaches Japanese at my school. (There are Japanese classes in addition to the English classes.) Sang Yoon's English is quite broken. A conversation with Sang Yoon is often a humorous case study in improvised communication on his part and mine. However, over dinner last Wednesday he was able to tell me, in so many words, that his initial impression of me was that I was, surprise of all surprises, "angry."

I'm sorry that my appearance scares people. Fortunately, there is hope. One of my students sent me the following e-mail (which I have edited a little bit):

"First of all, I really enjoyed your class this month. Thank you! :) You are so gentle and a nice teacher. I'm sure that you will have a good time in Korea as an English teacher.^-^ I'm a Christian and I was very proud of you in our class. You were very nice to all, you showed a sincere christian to us. I was impressed with you. I wanna have a great influence as a Christian like you!"

I make it a point not to preach at students in the classroom, because I'd rather people see my faith through my example. What encourages me with this note is that people can see that in me.

Right now I'm listening to the live, piano-only version of "Life Worth Living" off of Antonio Neal's MySpace page. It is absolutely incredible. I will be upset if he doesn't make it available to buy someday.