Day 206: Some Habits Are Hard To Break

So Korean children have a very unusual habit that proves to be rather...ummm...'unsettling?'...for us foreigner teachers. It's mainly a habit of the boys, but sometimes a girl will participate in it too. It was an especially big problem back in the days when I was teaching at REI out in Shihung, but happens once in a while at POLY as well. Hmmm...let's see....how do I explain this one?

Korean children like to stick their fingers up your ass.

For real.

I'm not joking.

Seriously!

It's a weird game that they like to play, and one that's actually quite 'normal' to them. They like to sneak up behind you (especially if you're bending down), and, while putting their index fingers together like in the shape of a gun, poke you hard and firmly right up your ass. And then they laugh out loud hysterically as if this is the funniest thing they've ever done. They absolutely love this game.

Naturally it's a game that I'm NOT COMFORTABLE with, for obvious reasons involving personal body space and what's appropriate for young children to do (in our culture) but they just think it's so funny that it's near impossible to get them to stop. And the more you react to it the more they want to do it. There's been many a day when I've been bending over to help one of my pre-schoolers (only young children do this) to help them with their phonics or whatever and suddenly "HELLO!!! There's a student behind me and he's letting me know he's there!!!" It's not fun - trust me!!

One of my pre-schoolers, David, especially enjoys this activity and it's hard to get mad at him cause he's like the sweetest, cutest, most innocent little boy you'll ever meet in your life. I'm not sure the historical or cultural reasons behind this game but the kids here sure love it. I wonder if this is just a Korean thing or are other Asian cultures' children into this little charade as well? All I know is that I'm *REAL* careful now whenever I have to bend down, and always take a mental note of where little David is.