Quick hit: Teachers Day (스승의 날)

Korea celebrated Teachers Day yesterday with an assembly in the gym that came replete with speeches and accolades for us teachers. The day's a big occasion over here: Students customarily give teachers flowers, letters, and gifts to thank them. One of my students gave me a flower and a thoughtful letter at the end of the day. It was a nice gift coming from her, for the sentiments were genuine. It's great to know someone appreciates what I'm doing here. And though I don't intend to gloat, it is great that the students take time to recognize the efforts of their teachers.

The occasion brought back fuzzy memories of Teacher Appreciation Day in the US. I don't remember much of those days because nothing much happened. They were always more for the elementary school students and parents anyway. That's not the case in Korea. Teachers Day applies to elementary, middle, and high schools here. The day produced a big irony in one class when some students were tuning out of my lesson to work on the class message board for Teachers Day. They stopped working on it after I told them to stop. Did they see the irony in what they were doing? I'm not sure, but it was amusing.