I really wish I had some good CUTE kid stories to be able to type and post for you, unfortunately most of them are better told right now.
However, an interesting observation for people to consider and I am not sure if I have mentioned it before, but here it goes: Korean people have a want and need to be whiter than an albino from the North Pole. They can’t stand the sun and think westerners are crazy for wanting the “luxurious” look we define as tan.
When discussing the Haitian occurrence and global awareness with kids in many of my classes today many of them expressed shock that people are helping the Haitians out because “they look like Africans.” I asked what that had to do with anything and Sarah said well “nothing, but their skins are darks.”
“Huh?”
“they have skin darker than korean…”
“what does that have to do with helping them out if they have no food and water and etc.?”
“well….” And no answer could come. The kids did nod there hears when I asked if the colour of skin was okay to judge people about and guess who they are and then I got on a soap box and lectured them for a good ten minutes and realized they were even more lost than when I started…It happens… Overall, it was rather disturbing to hear the kids talking like that…
Another idea that I had to try to keep explaining to the kids because it was an article in our book was tipping. Koreas for the most part, don’t tip. It is a part of their culture not to as it is a part of ours to do so, but the kids just couldn’t understand why you would give them extra money for doing their job (Korean service is different from ours though too. You often are responsible for your own drinks and the utensils are on the table and there is a “come here button” rather than a waiter always coming around when you don’t need them and never when you do…) It was, again, interesting to try to get them to see it not as just an action, but as a culture thing of gratitude…
Lastly, we teach several different kinds of chapter books to our older students. Recently we began more of a fairytale style book with love, kissing, and hugging! Oh, MY!!! Now, the eight/nine year olds are indifferent to it. No, they don’t like the actual idea of kissing and hugging and love, but they still accept the idea of other people liking it. However, the ten/eleven year olds are the exact opposite. Kissing, Hugging, and Love are all (their favorite word and not exactly how we would use it but workable…) DIRTY! I told them to wait a couple of years and talk to me again because I could guarantee that they would not always think love was “dirty”…. They can crack me up sometimes…
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