puh-rank-un-stine-uh

Last week I did a lesson on Halloween. Korea does not celebrate Halloween, but a lot of younger Koreans have some knowledge of the holiday from the media or English class. Most don’t know a lot, though—so when I pantomimed how to make a jack-o-lantern they paid rapt attention. When I showed a picture of a pumpkin patch in my powerpoint, they collectively gasped. Sometimes I feel so fortunate to have this job. I got to teach the words “zombies” and “werewolves” to my students. Other highlights from the week:

-Telling my students, “Just like we say that cats say ‘meow’ and dogs say ‘bow wow,’ in English, we say that ghosts say ‘boo!’”—and hearing a tiny chorus of voices behind me go “Boo! Boo! Boo!” as they tried out the word for themselves.

-Wearing a witch hat and having several students tell me sincerely that I looked pretty with it on (Korean fashion???).

-Watching girls fight over the Halloween stickers my mom sent from the dollar store. I let each girl choose a sticker, but at the end of every class I was swarmed by girls who wanted to exchange their sticker for a different design after seeing their friends.’

-Having some confused students say trick or treat and then give me candy when I saw them in the hall.

-Watching the stickers reappear this week on cell phones, pencil cases, girls' faces, and in the center of their uniforms' tie.

Halloween REPRESENT!


ps-- check out out the school's fall uniform!