Update on the school situation

Things are better, but still not good. The teacher obviously dislikes me, and I believe she does as little as possible with the boy. He is bringing home 4 to 5 sheets of homework per day, and the work is getting harder, which is good, but it still isn't what we wish he was doing.

The really good news is that his reading has improved a great deal in the past two weeks. I do believe he is learning something with this teacher. I still wish there was an alternative t leaving him in her classroom, but I have not found one, so he will stay there for now.

Testing something new.

National Museum of Korea

Museum interior, originally uploaded by allysther.

The boy and I walked over to the museum and spent the day being wowed. It is a beautiful space.

School stuff

We met with the teacher on Friday. She will never like me but I think she and the boy will be fine together, and we have decided to keep him in the class. I talked to as many parents as I could before we made the decision, and also spoke with the boy. We think we have made the best decision possible.

I don't have time to go into it here, so if you want more detail, please go to my LiveJournal page. I tend to write more over there, so you can catch up on other things, too.

The main thing is that all is well, and that the boy is happy.


In other news, the boy is taking Taekwando. He has class five days a week, for an hour each day. He is really enjoying it, and it is great that he comes home tired. The class is not terribly structured, but he has learned a few things, and he will be able to take this knowledge further if he wants to. Of course it does not help thatthe class is in Korean, but he attends with a boy who is bilingual, and who translates for the handful of English only kids in the class.

We will be meeting with the boy's teacher tomorrow afternoon. I think this can be resolved and I hope it can be done without making him switch classes, but I have a feeling that I will never actually like this teacher.

I've talked to some of the other parents in the class. I am not the only one to have a reaction to her, but the others have had an easier time shaking it off and moving on. I will do my best to do the same. I have had parents tell me that they would love to have their child in her class, and I have not heard that bout any other teacher. I have not heard much about the other teachers, which has me wondering.

The boy has been complaining that he has no friends, and that no one wants to play with him. Today he asked me to write a letter to his teacher asking her to do something about it. It is hard to explain to him that his personality is much like mine, and that casual friendships are difficult for me (and I believe for him, as well.) His friendships have all been very intense, and have run deep. They have also all been with children either older than him or different in some way, or both. There is not much I can do for him until he finds "the one" here.

Blue Horse

Blue Horse, originally uploaded by allysther.

I am not in love with The Boy's new teacher

Flowers are Red
by Harry Chapin

The little boy went first day of school
He got some crayons and started to draw
He put colors all over the paper
For colors was what he saw
And the teacher said.. What you doin' young man
I'm paintin' flowers he said
She said... It's not the time for art young man
And anyway flowers are green and red
There's a time for everything young man
And a way it should be done
You've got to show concern for everyone else
For you're not the only one

And she said...
Flowers are red young man
Green leaves are green
There's no need to see flowers any other way
Than they way they always have been seen

But the little boy said...
There are so many colors in the rainbow
So many colors in the morning sun
So many colors in the flower and I see every one

Well the teacher said.. You're sassy
There's ways that things should be
And you'll paint flowers the way they are
So repeat after me.....

And she said...
Flowers are red young man
Green leaves are green
There's no need to see flowers any other way
Than they way they always have been seen

But the little boy said...
There are so many colors in the rainbow
So many colors in the morning sun
So many colors in the flower and I see every one

The teacher put him in a corner
She said.. It's for your own good..
And you won't come out 'til you get it right
And are responding like you should
Well finally he got lonely
Frightened thoughts filled his head
And he went up to the teacher
And this is what he said.. and he said

Flowers are red, green leaves are green
There's no need to see flowers any other way
Than the way they always have been seen

Time went by like it always does
And they moved to another town
And the little boy went to another school
And this is what he found
The teacher there was smilin'
She said...Painting should be fun
And there are so many colors in a flower
So let's use every one

But that little boy painted flowers
In neat rows of green and red
And when the teacher asked him why
This is what he said.. and he said

Flowers are red, green leaves are green
There's no need to see flowers any other way
Than the way they always have been seen.

Horses CAN be blue. They can. Why? Because he is six, and he has the most amazing imagination, and he has 24 crayons in his box. How DARE she try to stifle his creativity!?

A day out

What The Book?, originally uploaded by allysther.

Today the boy went to school, but Wendall had the day off, so we went out for lunch and a stroll. Our mission was to find an English bookstore called "What The Book?". I found the website before leaving Vilseck, but had not been able to track down any information on the exact location, so we decided that the best time to search would be while the boy was elsewhere.

Turns out that the store is almost at the top of a hill in Itaewon. I'm sure the street has an actual name, but it is called "Hooker Hill" by most people. It is surrounded by bars that are off limits to the soldiers. It is also just down the block from the only mosque in South Korea.

After spending an hour or so at the store, we took our bags of books and headed to a Thai restaurant nearby. The food was very good, and it completed our perfect afternoon.

For more of my pictures of Seoul, click on the Flickr thingy on the right.

Namdaemun Market

Namdaemun Market, originally uploaded by allysther.