this ajumma goes to school

okay. so i need to tell about halloween. but im going to have to do it in parts.

this post will be about school on friday.

i made the mistake early on of promising my kids that I would wear a costume to school the Friday before Halloween. I did this because I had to teach them the word "costume" and it always just seem to filter in my teaching.

So I prepared by going shopping at Seoul's largest clothing market - an ajumma paradise. For those I have not told already an "ajumma" is a korean grandmother/ old lady. They have a distinct style of clothing that includes, but is not limited to, gloves, sun visor, flower-patterened shirt, vest....

i got most of the essentials. as you can see. enough to confidently be an ajumma.

so friday started approaching and I began to grow more nervous. No one else would be dressing up - as Koreans don't celebrate Halloween. Chances are, before Friday, most of the teachers had never heard of it. Would I be laughed at? Ridiculed? Would I offend the older ladies at my school - some only a small step away from ajumma status themselves?

With some prying by my co-teacher, who had been excited about the idea ever since I told her a week before, I came to school Friday morning with my costume in a bag. I got there early and so did my co-teacher (who awesomely dressed up as a witch to maybe not make me feel so alone in my endeavor - or maybe because she's totally in to Western tomfoolery) and I threw the ajumma on.

The reaction was instantaneous. All my fears and worries were for naught. The costume was a MAJOR success. Everyone in the room loved it. Everyone that came in the room loved it. I took pictures with most of the teachers, and if not with, then they took a picture of me because they were too embarassed to be a part of my happening.

I had told students they could come trick or treat at my desk if they could remember the old rhyme (trick or treat/smell my feet/give me something good to eat/........and for the advanced students the "if you don't/i don't care/ i'll pull down your underwear" part earned you extra candy), so students were in and out of the office all day. They loved it. Some called me Mrs. Eric for the day and got a huge kick out of it.

I scored major points with the teachers for it. And of course with the students too - many of whom begged for a five minute slot at teh end of class to take pictures of me. So i stood there as htey all took their cell phones out of their pockets and shot away. Some took pics with me. I'll post one or two of those.

So, yeah, the ajumma at school was a total success and I'm glad I was convinced to do it.


Lastly, and maybe most surprisingly - on Tuesday after the weekend I came to school to find a small box on my desk. No note. I opened it and it was a small mug that said "Happy Eric" twice on it with big painted hearts. No idea who it was from. Asked my co-teacher and the women that sit around me and nothing. Found out hours later it was from the art teacher who told my co-teacher that my costume had given her so much laughter she wanted to repay with a mug. She was embarassed about it all though so when I thanked her she practically hid from me.



also, for anyone keeping score at home. the top picture features (from left to right): Bong Bong, Ferdi and Ace. awesome guys. the best students in my after school class.



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