Day 220: You Like Me! You Really Like Me!

I walked into work today with a new mission - to whip those little preschoolers into shape and promise to be a better teacher. Well, I know in my heart I'm a good teacher, so I just gotta change myself into a teacher that the Korean Moms will love too. I'll win those bitches over, one way or another! ;-)

The Parrots today were surprisingly well-behaved! There was little I actually had to do in terms of whipping as they were all quite relaxed and obedient today. No fights, no crying, and they all listened to everything I said. Hmmm...maybe their mothers all had long and deep chats with them over the weekend? Or maybe they're all sensing my new asertness and are not in the mood to buck. Either way I'm not gonna complain - I wish they were this way everyday!

I had a really lovely surprise after the pre-schoolers had left that really touched me. I was in the middle of doing my prep for afternoon classes when Cecilia called me in to the library because Dennis' Mom was there and she wanted to speak to me. My stomach did a loop-de-loop at first cause I assumed that she wanted to personally tell me how much she thinks I suck and watch me squirm. No, it was the exact opposite!

She just wanted to tell me that she thinks I'm doing a great job and she really appreciates all the hard work and effort I put into the students. She said that "I know that teaching preschoolers is not easy and takes a lot of energy" (you sure got that right, lady!) and thanked me for all my patience. Her son Dennis is having some trouble with Phonics so we talked about a couple ways that she can help him practice at home. She was extremely friendly and enthusiastic and seemed really gracious.

And then she gave me a present! She said that Korean Thanksgiving (Chuseok) is coming up this weekend and that she wanted me to have this to say thank you, as she passed me a gold envelope from Lotte Department Store. Wow!! I was not expecting this at all and it really touched me that she would give me a gift for Chuseok. She is so sweet!! I opened it after she left (in Korea it's considered rude to open a present in front of someone after they just gave it to you) and my jaw hit the floor when I saw what it was. It was indeed a gift certificate to Lotte, but in the denomination of 100,000 Won!!! Holy shit! That's like $120 CDN!!! It was an amazingly kind and generous gesture, and it made me realize that hey maybe not *all* the Moms of my preschoolers hate me. LOL. :-)