Friday, May 27, 2011

it's hard to believe, but the first week of june will not only be my six month anniversary since arriving in bangkok, but it will also mark my one year anniversary since leaving nyc. wow, time really does fly. after the beginning of next month, my time in thailand will also have surpassed my time in korea and that in itself is such a huge shock.

i was thinking about it the other day, and my life here is so different than when i first arrived. i'm happy to say that most of the changes have been one step forward in some way, so i'm more than humbled by it all.

while i used to have nothing to do all day, i now tutor some korean kids in writing, and holy shit what an experience it's been. it's really interesting to cross over into the vast and eclectic world of korean immigrants in bangkok and step into their universe. i would say one of the more interesting parts is having to interact with all the mothers. only one that i've met is really annoying and the others are all really nice. some of them even sometimes feed me and give me things like kimchee to take home---it's really generous of them. when i enter these people's homes, i often have moments where i think, "what the hell---how the hell did i end up here??" and feel like i'm living through an episode of the twilight zone. some of the circles of families are the same or even similar, but some of their worlds are really different and i wonder if they would be connected in any other way other than through a writing tutor.

most of the kids are sweet and i like teaching them, but of course others are more challenging to work with. sometimes i look at my students and i can really picture what kind of person they're going to be as adults---from their faces to their personalities, i can foresee it all. it's been very long time since i've worked with children, and i have to say it's refreshing at moments. their way of thinking and goals in life are really interesting to hear about and it makes me want to tell and teach them all the lessons that would have helped me as a kid...

but then i think, i'm just their writing instructor---what the hell do i know?

3 comments:

  1. kids are fun and what the hell do any of us know? you should totally tell them stuff if they need it...i used to tutor part time before i had my kids in writing as well although you would never know it with my atrocious grammatical and spelling errors.I told them stuff sometimes when they asked and sometimes what they asked was crazy sometimes the questions their parents asked were amazing as well in a shoocking way. I still have past students email me on occasion.I love to see them grown up.

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  2. wow- six months already?! fuck. time flies. hope the rest of your stay is nice. hm...is there a big korean immigrant community in bangkok? made me curious. sounds like you have an interesting job teaching these kids. i used to teach in high school....it was cool to see their strong personalities shining through even though they were still growing up.

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  3. Sounds like a good gig -- free kimchi. :)

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