Korean/English Language Exchange

My adult class was cancelled Saturday morning because it was a National Holiday in Korea: 어린이날- Children's Day! I threw a party for my elementary school students on Friday, complete with Scrabble and Korean snacks like dried octopus & squid, shrimp chips and chocolate pies.

Children's Day seems redundant to me. I think the Canadian mentality is that every day is "children's day," but after a bit of research I found out that the holiday is celebrated in 27 countries worldwide, including India, Venezuela and Congo.

Every Saturday after my adult class, I meet an engineering student for a language exchange. The lessons can be tedious because his level of English is quite low, and my Korean is that of an infant: "Uhmunie! Ohh-you jusayo!" "Mother, I want milk!"

I always bring a newspaper with me and ask him if any headlines spark his interest. I thought we could discuss the Nigerian kidnappings or something topical, but he chose 'University soccer.'

Here he is at Good Coffee, a coffee shop in Suwon: