warning: please do not judge this beginnning english teacher.

actual email from a student:
Hello teacher♡ My name is Anna~. My photo is special bonus~. ~ hahahahahahaha. I always think that I do thank you. At class sorry to make a noise. very very sorryㅠㅠ. Please understand me. I study english hard. help me please. maybe,only while vacation the ECC will go. maybe..........................^^ You are very cute and pretty. and you are good teacher hohohoho. I love you♡ Well............bye~

this is anna, the culprit.

Andy1:
So we foreigners can't really say the Korean names too easily, neverless remember them. Ho Gi Min, Sha chu shan, etc. so we name them, we give them English names. The first day of class is a proud time, when I choose the name of any new students. It takes them awhile to learn and actually respond to their names...which initially I thought they were just slow. I would like to inform you all that you have little Korean counterparts running around across the world, I name them after my friends and family.

We have a couple of infamous students. First example:Andy1 There were two Andy's in a class, so the teacher nicknamed them Andy1 and Andy2 for grading ease. To this day, Andy1 refuses to be called Andy, you must call him Andy1 every time. First time I met him I said "hey andy" he yelled back, "NO! Andy1, A-n-d-y-o-n-e!" He's been in english school for several years now, but still cant manage the word "book" . We feel he's on the border line of retardation, which adds to the puzzle all the more.

Another one named Juno is unforgettable. Think of the Sloth from the Goonies movie, shrink him and make him a Korean child; thats Juno. Hes 12 or so, but only has one front tooth, with none on either side. He tends to space out a lot (with his mouth open) and not respond to simple requests. Hes the type of kid, though giantic, tries to hide in small spaces and genuinely believes if he can't see you, you can't see him. We bought him a pack of Baby Ruth's in honor of his mentor, Sloth. Kids...gotta love em.

Day O'Sledding :
Went sledding with the school today. Good fun. It has been awhile...I think the last time involved Kacy and I borrowing a stranger's "amazing" innertube at Peak's View Park in Lynchburg; losing control and ending up in thorn bushes with a popped innertube, which that didn't belong to us. Met, and rode home with the Portnoy men, what a day.
Today there was as much bad-mouthing as one can muster with simple English (teacher is winnner, you lose.) Me and my big-mouth sat in the neon green, K-Mart quality sled at the top of this 100 yard iced-over snow hill. I started off well and 20 yards down ended face first in a snow bank. I heard a lot of "teacher NO winner" after that. I guess it has been awhile. They played this techno Korean Christmas music, I believe Koreans think that as long as its cold, its still Christmas.
At the bottom were what I called Human Stop Signs, these guys in red jackets, whose job was to prevent sledders from crashing into the building or morseo, the people standing in front of it. Between the Stop sign's bodies and a few flimsy tires, most out-of-control sledders were stopped. My second run, when I actually made it to the bottom, I didn't realize YOU had to stop YOURSELF ie: feet down, spraying snow all over the place. I assumed that stopping you was the red guys' jobs. Needless to say, at speeds clocked over 50kph, I had several stop signs throw themselves in front of me to prevent death of countless children. It was like a Korean sundae with an Alicia bowl.
Theres nothing like a little sledding to cure the pain of a month of 12-hour days. I hate my job, but I love it. I have never been so consumed with time, thought and emotion, from work in my life. Granted the long nights of pouring drinks as a bartender or the endless days in the sun yelling "WAAAALLLLKKK" as a lifeguard, understandably didn't take as much out of you. Its weird investing yourself in something and spending yourself on it, wholly. I am glad I am here. It's gonna be a long but good year.