May 5th is "Children's Day," otherwise known to teachers such as myself as "The Day of NO Children!" A national holiday in Korea, kids are allowed this singular day off from school to romp about and/or quadruple the amount of time they normally spend playing computer games (11 hours and counting . . . ?). Is it a coincidence that the word "singular" is so anatomically similar to the word "single"? No, it is not. Just as you American readers are thinking, "Hey, I never got a day off of school just to celebrate my childhood!," remember that this is one of the few days off that these children will have all year. I am currently gearing up for a battle with my boss to gain more than the three days of summer vacation he has planned for my hagwon. A day off from what is normally a 12 hour school day for most of these children? Yes, Korea, it's the least you could do.
In the paper the next day, I saw pictures of children at amusement parks with their parents and learned about the tradition of giving gifts on this holiday. Still, in my somewhat impoverished area, I found that most of my students merely stayed home on Children's Day, few received presents, and some even studied all day. As I so often do, I felt sad for them. Creating a day to celebrate children almost seems a mockery when the majority of the time they are treated as little learning machines.
What all children should look like on "Children's Day"
On the flip side, trying to explain that, in America, the 5th of May also calls for celebration was a comical experience.
-What special holiday is it tomorrow, class?
-[Chorus of voices]: Children's Day!
-Yes! Very good! Do you know that it's also a holiday celebrated in America? We call it Cinco de Mayo!
-Not Children's Day?
-No, we don't have a Children's Day in America.
- . . . ?
-Cinco de Mayo is actually a Mexican holiday that many people celebrate in America. It means "The Fifth of May" in Spanish.
- . . . ?
-It's really fun! We eat Mexican food and listen to music and celebrate Mexican culture!
-Teacher . . . why?
A difficult thing, explaining the blending of cultures to a group of students whose only regular contact with non-Koreans is their odd American teacher who tries to teach them Spanish phrases on occasion to mix things up.
"Parents Day" fell a few days later, on the 8th, which provided more opportunity to baffle my students with my strange cultural practices: "Well, in America we actually have two separate days for parents . . ."
The most anticipated holiday for me, however, was "Teacher's Day" on May 15th, especially exciting because it fell the day after my birthday. I had heard tale of this day since I arrived in Korea, and, like so many things that are built up over time, the day was a bit disappointing. At first, I found it flattering that a day for teachers was included in Family Month, though not surprising considering the obsession with education here and the fact that students probably spend more time in the company of their teachers than they do with their blood relatives.
On the day itself, I acted like the narcissist that I am and proclaimed,
"It's Teacher's Day! What did you bring me?"
Most of my students looked at me blankly, a few remarking, "Oh, I forget."
A bit difficult to endure, considering my friends at other schools were lavished with fancy purses, bottles of wine, shirts, and chocolates.
Once again, I found that Korea and I were equally at fault for my dashed hopes--I should not expect much from students who do not receive anything themselves on their special day, and Korea should not make a hullabaloo about a day for teachers if the day is treated like any other!
Still, a few of my glorious students made some incredibly sweet gestures that made up for the seeming indifference of the rest of them.
One of my favorite students, Juliet, presented me with a beautiful potted flower for my birthday (which I have already managed to kill) with a note attached that reads,
5/11 to-Erin teacher-
Hello! teacher~I'm Juliet [smiley face] teacher I love you teacher~[heart] and happy birthday to you~teacher I like backpack* and backpack song I love it teacher Today I'm happy! Why? My mommy and me danceing. I'm very happy! ha ha ha teacher bye bye and happy birthday to you~.
from-Juliet~[heart]
My favorite part is how she ends almost every sentence with the word "teacher." Later, when I tried to thank her mother (who teaches in the kindergarten) for the plant, she said, "No, Juliet!," which led me to believe that Juliet bought me this plant with her own money when she is all of 8 years old.
*"Backpack" is the book we use in Juliet's class, and we begin each class by singing and dancing to the song at the beginning of the CD.
Another student from the same class, Alexis, brought me these lovely scarves that I have absolutely no idea what to do with:
One of my kindergarten students brought me a cold coffee drink from the Mini-Stop next door because she knows how much Erin teacher likes coffee.
Another gave me a box of Korean pastries which look and taste like walnuts with a note that says (mostly in Korean, she's only 6),
Sansaengnim, sahranghaeyo.
Gamsah Hamneedah.*
I love you,
Annie
*Translation: Teacher, I love you. Thank you.
Yet another student from the same class as Juliet and Alexis (I've heard teachers talk about having a special bond with certain classes and this one is MINE) made perhaps the most endearing gesture of all. At the beginning of class, Danny walked up to me with the Korean equivalent of a Bic pen and, handing it to me, said in perfect English,
"This is my small birthday present for you."
I was extremely touched.
So, most of my students could care less if I never showed up at school again. But a few like me enough to buy me presents out of their own pocketbook. For me, I think that's enough motivation to keep going back.
