Easy / Lucky / Free

It has been a struggle in deciding exactly how to write this week's blog entry.
The past 5 or 6 days have been, without a doubt, the most difficult of my days spent in Korea thus far, as myself and my loved ones at home have had to deal with a great loss in the family.
And though this event has definitely left me in a state of both shock and sadness ... I don't feel as if my blog site is the appropriate forum in which to openly speak about this loss.

I chose not to inform my host family of anything ... not out of belief that they wouldn't be sympathetic or understanding ... but solely for the fact that I believed it would too difficult to share ... especially in a language where I can't fully express my feelings.
However, I have been able to chat, e-mail, and Skype with my family and many of my close friends ... and for that I am extremely grateful. Without a strong support group of truly amazing people at home I don't know where I would be.
Thank you all.

It has been extremely difficult going through the grieving process here in Korea, while being away from family and friends, and living in a place where I am so far removed from anything familiar or comforting. It is the first time that I have truly questioned my motives for being here, honestly debating if this experience is worth missing out on what is so central to my life at home.
What I have found most difficult to accept is the fact that even though I am in Korea, life and the people in mine are changing, living, and dying, regardless if I am present. However, this is something that I am learning to come to terms with ... and as arduous of a learning experience this is, I am positive that when I step away from Korea I will be stepping away a more learned and experienced individual ... for the better.




So to take quite a large step away from the seriousness that was the previous couple paragraphs, I thought I would share something that absolutely always makes me smile ... the ridiculous things that come out of the mouths of my students.
Last week I did a PostSecret-ish lesson with my classes ... featuring the PostSecret website and the always popular conjunction "because". After showing many examples of secrets that appear on the PostSecret website, I had my students each write their own secret postcard ... which I then collected and shared with the class.
It was (mostly) anonymous ... chill out Frank Warren.
I received many, many, many hilarious / disturbing / completely nonsensical secrets, and I have chosen those which I consider to be among the best, to share with you all.
Enjoy.

"I am man because I have a beard."
(written by a girl student)

"I want to eat dog because it is delicious."
(to be fair, this was right before lunchtime)

"I am sexy because I love nude. I am gay because I love the man. I feel good because I'm gay."
(English class, quite the setting in which to come out of the closet)

"I feel happy because of armhole fur"
(who doesn't?)

"I will kill Song Bin Kim because he doesn't give me coke."
(I'm guessing a-cola)

"My father's friend is Osama Bin Laden."
(I'm going to hope this one isn't true)

"I hate babies because I think they look like a EVIL."
(he was adamant about this ... please note the all-caps)

"I hate Lee Myeoubg Bak because he is unfair."
(get that free speech)

"I feel hate because of you."
(pretty sure this one was directed towards me)

"I feel happy because I'm in my wife class. I am lucky guy because I meet Lauren."
(from the student who refers to me solely as "wife")

"I am angry because my girlfriend is very pretty."
(all the ugly ones were taken?)

"I will kill you because I hate you. Sorry ..."
(also directed towards me ... but did include an apology note)

"I am sad because I have short fingers."
(this girl seriously has her friends pull on her fingers during class so as to "stretch-y them out")

"I still sleep with my mother because in night I'm scared."
(baby)

"I'm a firefighter because I usually extinguish fires with my feet."
(the most logical part of the body to use)

"I feel terrible because I excremented in my pants."
(I would want to keep that a secret too)

"I feel terrible because I hear someone likes poop smell."
(probably the guy sitting next to him who just "excremented" in his pants ...)

"I feel angry because of puberty."
(this could have been written by one of the millions of boy students who have only 7 creepy hairs on their upper lips)

"I feel complex because my head is full with think."
(not English thinks, apparently)

"I hate Lauren because she is so beautiful."
(understandable)

These are the types of things that I encounter just about everyday at school. Thought I would share ... laughter is truly the best medicine.
(But please don't stop taking yours ... I'm not really a doctor.)




**I'd like to dedicate this blog post and the corresponding title song to Papaw Wendling. The strongest and most determined man I have ever known.**