johnnie jackson day

i'm trying to get as many different people to talk to my students as possible. i think exposing them to various cultures and various types of people would be a great experience. which is why i invited my buddy johnnie jackson to come out. johnnie teaches at the university of education in jinju and since his students are on strike, he really hasn't had much to do recently. when he said he'd come i already knew it would be a great day. but i had no idea how amazing it would be.. it was literally one of the funniest days i've ever had at school.

me and johnnie on that crazy ass day.

first, i get to school in the morning. my schedule was just changed so i now have to teach at 9:30am. It's like 9:25 when my co-teacher comes running into my office, frantic, and starts shouting in korean to the other teachers. before i continue i should mention that swine flu has officially reached jinju. my bro's school has like 11 cases. and one of my students just got it this weekend. which is ridiculous considering we are in jinju and my school is in the middle of nowhere. anyway... everyone with swine flu has to stay at the hospital, so the student's not here anymore. my co-teacher was trying to figure out whether i had class or not, which accounts for all the yelling. i ended up not having class because they had to sterilize the classrooms. hahaha. i really shouldn't laugh.. this is serious...

anyway, so without class, i head out early to meet up johnnie jackson, cause i gotta give him a ride to school. right as we start heading back to school, my co-teacher calls to tell me that my next class has also been cancelled and that we can just go out to lunch. at this point, the entire school has been evacuated, including the principle, and everyone's just out in the parking lot/field area. i'm thinking to myself, how fun! my kids never get any free time. they have self-study at 7am. and are pretty much occupied throughout the day until lights out at 12:30. they get maybe 3 hours of break time, which includes mealtimes. i've only played basketball with my kids once because after that their homeroom teacher banned them from it, until they finished testing/applying for colleges. it's ridiculous.

so we roll into school and the first thing we see is all the girls huddled into a circle standing in the middle of the parking lot. so like the excellent/nice/loving teacher that i am, i proceed to run them over. haha. they scattered and after i got through they all ran back together. so funny.

oh, korean girls...

after introducing mr. jackson to my principal and some other teachers, we head over to the throng of teenaged girls. of course their first reaction is to start giggling and clapping and exclaiming, "you are so handsome!" and then running away saying "shy, shy." haha! i love my girls. eventually they get up the courage to start talking though. and as if a volcano had erupted, start shouting for johnnie to dance! it was hilarious. and then they just started calling out random teachers. eventually they start talking exclusively in korean, but would look at us every once in awhile. it seemed pretty clear they were plotting something. at one point they even encircled us. but anyway, it was taking too long, so we bounced.

hit up the courts next. where we were promptly challenged to a game. we go change. and it was on! the kids are so funny. every shot we make impresses them so much. they ooh and ahh and clap. they're so cute.

good defense! it's like he saw me and just turned around and ran away! lol

i think this is when i dropped the no look pass. the kid should be somewhere behind johnnie.

we worked uhm

after lunch, it's finally class time. unfortunately the classes have all been switched so i have no idea where i'm supposed to go. we start wandering. and i go to the class i think i'm supposed to be in, but they say no. i start trying to piece the puzzle together. eventually i settle on a class. 5 minutes into johnnie's presentation, their real teacher comes by. it turns out my class was the first one i went to. those dummies. but every time we walked into a class, the students got all excited and started clapping and cheering. and whenever we left, they became depressed. at the end of the day johnnie goes, "do your students always clap for you?" haha. sometimes. when they haven't seen me in awhile. or if my lesson was good. some kids always do though. whenever they see me they go, "WOW!" i'm still trying to figure out exactly what that means..

one of the kids asks johnnie if he can tell asian people apart because most foreigners can't. to which i ask the class, what do you think i look like? one of the kids goes, "handsome!" and starts giving me the sexy-time eyebrows.. the other students answer korean, japanese and american. but no one says chinese. so asian people can't tell asian people apart either. unless i'm just weird. which i won't rule out i guess..

it seemed like johnnie had a great time. i know i had a blast. it was hilarious. plus, because of the whole sterilizing thing, the atmosphere was so relaxed. i mean, this was only the 2nd time i've balled with my kids. i was a little bit worried about how they would respond to him. my kids are super shy too. but everyone was so excited about meeting him. so it was a great time. johnnie was saying that my kids actually talk more than his college students.

there was one kid in particular that johnnie loved. this kid was just exceptionally funny that day. the next time i saw him, he goes, "WHERE IS MR JOHNNIE JACKON?!"

so if anyone out there wants to come visit my school too, just let me know! my kids will love you!