I have a sixth-grade student named Yungyeong who hits me all the time. Not hard hitting – it’s that kind of reflexive, playful, ‘oh I’m just kidding around’ slap that some people seem to adopt as a way to reduce the awkwardness or formality of interactions. It’s a little bit annoying, although I also accept it as a rather inept, low-level expression of trust on the part of the student, and in that way, I’m even flattered by it. We were discussing my alligator (the green plastic Chinese alligator) before class, and she did it again – whack, on my arm.
“Why do you always hit me?” I asked.
“심심해서,” she protested immediately. [Cuz I’m bored]. And she whacked my arm again.
What a perfect sixth-grader answer.
