Adorable little devils

Some days you wake up and everything goes wrong, and yesterday was definitely one of those days.

As I'm walking to work, lost in my own head and begrudging the day, the elementary school next to Avalon was letting out. While I was crossing the pedestrian bridge, one of my youngest and earliest level students, Wendy, (and the most adorable human being in the world-- if you know of good ways to smuggle a child into your pocket, I would love to know) came running up to me with her arms outstretched. She held my hand and looked up at me with her little white glasses and when I asked her how she was, she said "I'm happy," and I knew in that moment that even though teaching children wasn't the real reason I wanted to come here, they are the reason I want to stay here.

Teaching kids of a different language can be really stressful sometimes, but it can be so rewarding. It's not often that you see proof that you are making a difference in one of their lives, but when you do get that proof, it's an incredible feeling.

I have two intermediate level classes of elementary kids. One is amazing, but with a boy named Mike who will never speak or participate and will shut down if I approach him or speak to him. In the other one, it's full of boys and it's mostly like herding cattle in class. There was one girl, Alice, who sat in the front and never spoke and looked on the verge of tears all class. The homeroom teacher of these classes decided to move Alice into Mike's class to give her a chance. So when she opened up with a smiling, happy face, I wanted to hug her. The same day, Mike also opened up and played a game with us, and I wanted to hug him, too. When I told the homeroom teacher, I got really emotional and had to turn away so I wouldn't cry.

So in conclusion, if you're having a bad day, chances are that teaching an adorable little Korean child will make your heart shine a little brighter.