The final goodbye

The boys are the hardest to say bye to. The girls pretend they never liked Teacher Russ at all, then slip notes that say “Secret!” asking for e-mails from the departed. The boys, they say, “You’ll be here Thursday?” but know I won’t.

Jake pulls Eric and I into a group hug, then they break away to do the western handshakes that I taught them. Hand limp, slide and snap, bump and break dramatic. Thumb in then up, shoulders back and pull bodies together for the double back slap.

They’re ready for a cameo on Entourage. They’ve got the western slang and know the lyrics to the oldies and current kiddie pop songs I taught them. They’ve got promises to visit one day in Canada and rich parents who will probably send them.

I’ve got my memories and a plane ticket.

The first last day

The bill is $110 for pizza. Almost as much as the two days extra pay received for acting as host to all the pizza parties. Each class starts with a toothy grin, “Who knows what today is??”

The first last day. The start of student goodbyes. The exchange of e-mail addresses and small presents and I’ll Miss You’s. Exchange stamps for photos of students posing with peace sign, hand out stickers and pencils for correctly answered questions.

Make sure all students know age and favorite member of Big Bang. Know who is the youngest foreign teacher. Give high fives as they exit the building.

Go home and answer goodbye e-mails.

Untitled from russ martin on Vimeo.

My favorite sports fans

Some of my students making me proud with a quick performance of the intro to So Hot by Big Bang.

So Hot from russ martin on Vimeo.

The kids don’t stand a chance

My students have no filter, say what’s on their minds. They comment on me in the same breath as unseen figureheads, no shame in where the statement lands. It’s ugly bad teacher, big nose, and funny clothes. Alternately, it’s nice eyes, very handsome, kind Russ Teacher. Depends on what they want.

Each term I call or sit down with each student for a chat. I end each talk with this: do you have any questions about class? Then yesterday, I got the best response. Laura looks at me with a baffled grin and spouts, “Teacher, WHY do you always wear the same pants??”

So self-esteem flies up and plummets down. But just one hour later, my upper-level students have a debate. It was whether boys and girls should have separate schools, but they wanted to switch the topic.

To what? Why Russ Teacher should stay in Korea. And just then, for one class, the esteem floats to an all-time high.

The shooting gallery

With a list of songs still left to sing, our time in the singing room was up. No bother, on the street was more fun to be had. White light poured out the open door, calling my eyes in. So I led the troop towards all the guns.

We lined up and fired off, hoping the stuffed animals would be ours. But none made a score good enough to win any prize. Instead we pointed guns at the camera lens while the owner laughed.

One last shot at the hammer-pound, and off into the night.