"Are you lonely?"

Yesterday began a week-long lesson about Interviewing. (I know I've talked about this in previous blogs, but it's that time again!) Our elementary students are given the opportunity to interview the foreign teachers and ask anything they want to. I told my students that I will answer any questions they ask (brave, right?!), except, "who is your favorite student in this class?" That question is completely off limits. It would normally be seen as a joke to ask that question, but because of the competitive school culture here, feelings would definitely be hurt since they are all striving to be the best and the favorite. Anyway, yesterday began Interviewing. These are a few favorites from yesterday:

-Do you think you're pretty?
-Do you have many money?
-If you don't eat, what is your feeling?
-Are you going to be a soldier?
-How old are you?
-If you want one age, what will it be? (This mean, if I could be any age right now, what age would I want to be.) :)

These were from all my classes across the day, but it was funny because they all had the same theme:

-Can you jump from your house window and not die?
-Can you dive from a building?
-Would you jump off the Eiffel Tower with no parachute?

In one of my favorite classes, a boy came to the front and asked, "What is your favorite picture?" After a little help from the rest of the class and some Korean being tossed around, I finally figured out that he was asking, what is my favorite pose in pictures? So it turned into a really funny few minutes of all the students standing up and making their favorite poses. I really wish I had my camera with me in THAT class!! (They're so photogenic and crazy that I'm sure they won't mind re-enacting it later this week.) That just NEEDS to be documented. :)

The last class I was in, one of my girls asked, "Are you lonely?" I was really caught off guard by this because I thought she was saying that I looked lonely or sad. But, when I asked for further explanation, she said that because I was living far away from home and couldn't see my family for a whole year, she thought I would be lonely. I told her that I had made many friends here and was still able to talk to my family and friends back home. It sparked a really great discussion about living abroad and traveling and being on their own. It was an older elementary class, so it was a very mature discussion. We went a little off topic, but it was a really productive rabbit trail. Those are always the best. :)