Heartbeats

Mondays are never particularly glorious or thrilling, no matter what your job is or what country you're living in. They are overwhelming, disruptive, and often inconsiderate.....and this one came rather early as I woke up at 3am and laid in bed with an ungranted desire to fall back to a deep sleep. After I chatted with my Mom for a bit, I headed out for a jog in an unexpected beautiful morning, which was the first of many surprises.

Before the bell even rings, I see the head of sweet little 5 year-old Mary peeping behind the door at me while I'm sitting at my desk. She shoots her hand out with an envelope and then after a momentary pause, grins from ear to ear and shoots back down the hall. I open the envelope and inside is a homemade bead bracelet, and a letter that reads: "You are my best teacher, Cassi. I want to make you happy. I love you." I almost melted into a puddle right there.

I have altered the classic game of "Simon Says" into "Teacher Says" (the kids truly wanted to know who the heck Simon was and why he was telling them what to do), and it's now a crowd favorite. It has become not only a great wake-up routine but great bribery tool, as my kindergartners absolutely love it. "Teacher says? Teacher says? Ooohh, teacher no says!" They laugh themselves into stitches, call each other out, challenge each other, and then walk around the rest of the day declaring themselves as the teacher says champion. It's the cheapest entertainment ever.

A co-teacher informed me today that one of the little girls in my kindergarten class lost her toddler sister just last year when she fell out the window of an apartment building.............as her mother was making a mad dash towards her and didn't grab her in time. That is why this child's parents have seemed so distant, and why this little girl has as well. I'm not a mother, nor have I ever even met this one, but I wanted to just wrap my arms around her. Again, my heart was being tugged.

After my last class, Nick and I headed down to our little Family Mart (711) spot to chill for a few because it's such a nice evening. This old man comes up to us and asks where we're from. After calling the USA home, his eyes light up and he goes into this whole spiel about how he visits D.C. every summer to see his brother. With half of his speech in English and the other half in Korea, he goes on to say how much he loves the U.S. because he remembers the Korean War; he believes President Bush had a big heart because he did away with someone as evil as Sadam Hussein; he believes that if North Korean ever try to do something stupid that the U.S. is good enough to come to their aid because that's what they do. I had a moment of being proud. Very proud.
He then proceed to admire our arm hair and tell Nick that he resembled a "Hollywood TV star" because he had "fine face." We also had to inform him that the 2 of us were not an item, which he seemed kinda disappointed about. And if students ever give us trouble he gave us permission to smack them upside the head, and if that didn't work, it's just as ok to give them a good kick. He then graciously declared himself as my Korean grandfather, gave me a drink and the thumbs up, and was on his merry way. This was without question the greatest encounter I've had here thus far. And I've had a few great ones.

When I got home I got a call from the mother of a student of mine. Come to find out, her daughter likes me so much that she wants me to tutor her older daughter and is picking me up for dinner later this week.

Just when I think the day's going to be a bore.................