Why "Ask me anything" is dangerous...

Ah, children. Little bundles of joy & enthusiasm & curiosity...

I think the best stories I'll get from Korea may just be from the 4-14 year olds I have the privilege of working with 😊

Like my very first day of teaching, where I wanted to get to know the kids, & have them know me as well so that they would feel comfortable in the class (since being comfortable- to a degree -aids in learning). I wanted the class to ask me questions; where I was from, how old I was, what university I attended, what degrees I held, why I came to Korea, ect, & since some of my earlier classes had been quite shy, I had unwittingly changed from saying "Do you have any questions for me" in my former classes to something more along the lines of "Ask me anything" in the latter ones.

Well, I have learned that saying 'anything' to elementary schoolers is a grave mistake for most, though one that has brought me much laughter & quite obviously made my classes comfortable with me & (if I dare say so) like me. Here are some example of the questions I received:

"Is that your real hair(color)?"

"Do you dye it?"

Quickly followed by - "Do you diet?"

"How much(was your engagement ring)?"

"How many cm(are you)?"

"Is (your) husband handsome?"

"Are your parents tall?"

"Are your parents blonde?"

"Can you swim?"

"Do you like spiders?"

"Do you know Elsa?" (As a friend)

"Do you know Taylor Swift?" (As a friend)

"Can you eat Korean food?"

"Does all Americans play baseball?"

"Do you speak American?"

"Do you have Koreans?" (Where you're from)

And my personal favorite...

"What's your Kg?" (Meaning my weight)

Which started all the other questions. I guess after a 10 year old asks an adult their weight, all the other questions are allowed 😆

Yes, telling children to ask you anything is a dangerous leap of faith indeed, but boy did I have fun answering all of their silly questions! Little kids are adorable to start, but kids who mix up their R's & L's & truly believe all Americans are home-run batting, Disney-princess-befriending, weak-stomached blondes. That's pretty hard to beat.

More to come!

Much love,

Tea