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Bongpyeong

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Sunday morning I took another trip to Bongpyeong, my neighboring town. This time I hiked up a small mountain and explored a cultural center dedicated to a famous Korean writer, Lee Hyo-seok. Afterwards, purchased some groceries and then waited at the bus stop. An old farmer called me over and asked me to carry his newly purchased tools on the bus and to his home. With little else planned, I agreed. As we got off the bus, he told about Bongpyeong and how it used to be. Visiting Seoul was a rare and dangerous trip since it took over 4 days to walk over the mountains of Gangwon-do. As he told me about the old trips he had taken and hardships he had endured, we walked through the local outdoor market that opens every couple weeks. Walking past stalls of steaming street food, fish baskets, and shoe racks, I realzied that this was the reality of my father's childhood. Growing up on a farm in pre-industrialized South Korea, my father's hardships were the same as the ones of the farmer I had helped.

Being in Korea has engendered a rapid growth of respect for my parents as well as my childhood teachers. I cannot fathom the courage and daring it took for my parents to leave their friends and family to live in a country where the culture and the people were completely foreign. My father was managing a growing business in Korea when he decided to appease my mother's demands to move to the states. As grateful as I am to my parents for having moved to the states, I am forever in debt to the sacrifices that made. In all of this, I am only scraping the surface of how much gratitude and wonder I have towards my parents.

As far as teachers go, I can remember many instances when I carried disdain towards certain teachers because I thought they had a grudge against me. Now, put in the role of an elementary school teacher, I am much more emphathetic. Day after day, I must be conscious of every decision I make in case a students feels alienated. However, there are instances when a student feels as though I am picking on or neglecting him/her. When this happens I see myself as that student thinking that the teacher doesn't like me. In actuality, this is by no means the case, ever! Misunderstanding is certain; especially when I teach a class in mostly a language that few of the students comprehend. Despite this reality, I make an effort every day to give some type of positive feedback towards each student through setting up situations in which they succeed. The issue is that so many of these students are deathly afraid of making mistakes. Since there is so much emphasis on getting questions correct, the students refrain from answering if they are not certain about their answer. When I congratulate a student for being wrong, I make sure to emphasize to my classes that being wrong is good as long as you try and learn from your mistake. many students are catching on and volunteering more often; nevertheless, it is difficult because all their other classes emphasize on being 100% correct. Well, I can only focus on what I can do and pray for everything else.