Friday, I had probably the most shocking event occur at school the 8 months I have been here. In my C12 class (level 9) I was about to start an activity with the class, which made them all get out of their chairs. I asked the students to all stand up and one of the students (Jason) stood up raised his right hand and shouted 'Heil Hitler'. Now when I heard this I had to do a double take because in my head I was pondering did he really just say what I think he said. There is no way this kid knew what it meant, but I asked him, with anger and frustration settling in 'what did you just say?' He said Heil Hitler, yet again. So I stood there in shock wondering what to do. Do I stop class and get a teacher or wait till the end of class. I went outside to take some breaths and interrupted Max's class to ask him what I should do and he said to wait till class was over and bring him to a KT, which I concurred with.
At the end of class, I asked him to come with me and took him to Iris, where I had her translate for me. I knew in my mind that he did not know what the phrase meant, but he needed to know that it was not okay to say. So I told Iris, to tell him that he was not in trouble, but needed to know that the phrase he said in class was very hurtful to me and was not okay to say in any situation. I also found out that he learned it from reading books, which is mind-boggling. A 12 year old saying a phrase that has so much history to the world and especially the Jewish people. He understood what he had done and felt very bad and started to tear up while apologizing to me. What a class!
Other than that, school has been good. Only 3 more weeks of teaching and two more weekends in Korea.
Friday night I hung out with Iris. We brought back some food to the apartment and watched the soccer games. It was a fun night.
Saturday
Woke up around 12 and went to brunch at Lazy Diner with a bunch of people including Jay's sister who just arrived in town. After brunch Jay, Evan, and I went to Kyobo (a book store), where I bought the Lonely Planet Vietnam. Came back home and headed to the gym. Had a good workout, however the owner wont turn on the Air Con (A/C) because he doesnt think it is hot enough yet. Crazy man. After my workout came home, relaxed in my sweat, which wouldnt stop even after my shower. Max then came home and we went to get some dinner. Then we headed downtown, where I bought a 5 dollar watch for my upcoming travels. Headed to Kush, our friends bar where we watched the games and met his new girlfriend. It was a good time. The night couldnt end without a Kebab, which hit the spot.
Sunday
Iris took me on a tour of her University, which was absolutely beautiful and also very big. The buildings were pretty spread out, but they also created a Folk Village for people to study and learn about the old days. She said that the President of the University has been accused (or rumored) to spend more money on the landscape than on the students, which shows. The campus is said to be the most beautiful campus in Korea. After her tour we had some dinner over there. It was a very pleasant day, even though the humidity was pretty bad.
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