Today in class, Emo Kid and the Only Girl did something really nice!! We were reading out loud, and I called on the Only Girl to read. I don't have any reason usually for choosing who I chose, other than to even it out so all the kids get a chance. Of course, Emo Kid was quite distressed that I didn't chose him, and he asked me, "WHYYYYY TEACHERRRRR!!!!" and I told him my usual answer, "No reason" with a shrug.
Then the Only Girl said, "You can read it," which made Emo Kid pleased as punch. But just as he started to read, he stopped, and said, "No it's okay, you can read." So the Only Girl ended up reading after all.
I have to say, I was shocked. The kids aren't mean or particularly selfish or anything, but I think in general, the Korean society doesn't have much of an "after you" attitude. This attitude is really over the top of course in the South/Texas, which I've missed since coming here. One the subway, for example, you don't wait for people to exit before you pile onto the train. Everyone just kind of pushes and shoves till they get where they're going. It's not rude to them, because nobody takes offense. On the elevator it's the same way, which is sometimes even more awkward, since the doors have bad sensors and commonly close on you if you're not fast enough.
Once while trying to exit the subway, I couldn't find a gap in the sea of people to step into, because there were all these old people, and I can't stand the thought of stepping right in front of a feeble old person to get out of the subway!! This old Korean woman grabbed my arm and towed me along with her to get out :-) It was really cute ^.^
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment