A month after leaving Hongnong Elementary, I am still receiving text messages (and picture-messages) from various former students almost daily. Sometimes I don’t even recognize the name – that’s frustrating, to imagine having had such an impact on students I don’t know that well. My heart is touched.
At left and right, some cute pictures from a pair of sisters who were evidently messing with their cellphone. Below, a little message that appeared on my phone last night, from one of the fabulous 4th graders. A cultural note: Koreans use the phrase “I love you” quite freely – both in their own language and in English. I was told repeatedly by my group of semi-anti-social 8th-graders, last night, “I love you.” There were elements of both irony and sincerity in these declarations. Nothing is quite so surprising to an American as having a guy who looks like a junior-varsity football player with a page-boy haircut making a “hand heart” and outright saying “Teacher, I love you.” Of course, I’d just given him a “pass” on his homework.
I’m still working on that project to scan some of the “goodbye letters” that the Hongnong kids made for me.
.
hi? im kim ji min .*”””*..*”””*.
* L O ♡ V E *
“* Y O U *”
.”*. ♥ .*”.
☆._.”**”._.☆
* L O ♡ V E *
“* Y O U *”
.”*. ♥ .*”.
☆._.”**”._.☆
