Caveat: Mientras baja la nieve

Mientras baja la nieve

Ha bajado la nieve, divina criatura,
el valle a conocer.
Ha bajado la nieve, mejor que las estrellas.
¡Mirémosla caer!

Viene calla-callando, cae y cae a las puertas
y llama sin llamar.
Así llega la Virgen, y así llegan los sueños.
¡Mirémosla llegar!

Ella deshace el nido grande que está en los cielos
y ella lo hace volar.
Plumas caen al valle, plumas a la llanada,
plumas al olivar.

Tal vez rompió, cayendo y cayendo, el mensaje
de Dios Nuestro Señor.
Tal vez era su manto, tal vez era su imagen,
tal vez no más su amor.

– Gabriela Mistral

Hoy veo la primera nevada acá en las cercanías de Seul. Los coreanos tienen una tradición de que la primera nevada trae buena suerte, o algo así.

Saqué esta foto desde mi ventana hace momentos.

Snow 001

Caveat: Johnson’s Finger

I have a sixth grade student who goes by the English nickname of Johnson. He is the absolute lowest-scoring individual currently enrolled at KarmaPlus English Academy. He has some weird behavioral issues. He chose his English nickname, for example, fully aware of its slang meaning, which I needn't elaborate upon here.

The other day, I was making the kids in the class – the lowest level class that I teach – memorize a dialogue from our book. I was making them write it out. Johnson decided to add pictures to his version, which I reproduce below. I realized his pictures are pretty faithful to the pictures in the textbook, except he's introduced a plethora of middle-finger gestures, to liven things up. The boy on the skateboard in the first frame is clearly presenting his middle finger proudly to the other person. And in the second frame, the one person is clearly meditating on a whole string of F-U icons.

Johnson 004

Such is life with adolescents immersed in our fabulous global culture. I don't really find it that offensive. I often pretend to be more offended than I am, if only in an effort to convey to the students that there might be some limits to inappropriate behavior. Mostly, I hope that showing them kindness and tolerance can induce them to pursue the same values. I'm not always successful. But I try. And I like to document their oddly entertaining quirks and foibles.

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