Parent Teacher Conferences Korean Style

This morning, my coteacher Hyunju told me that we were going to talk about "that picture from last week, remember?" At first, I didn't. Last weeks project was writing your own Thanksgiving poem and drawing a turkey by tracing your hand. I did this project with about 600 students, and my memory failed me to recal the specific one.

After thinking about it for 10 minutes, I remember that specific one. Instead of writing a poem, this student wrote two words: "F**k you," and had drawn a picture of a hand flicking someone off. At the end of the project, I collected each paper and each student had written their name on it to hang in the class. Identifying which student had created this poem was easy. At this point, I wasn't offended because I assume when students swear in class, it is something they've picked up in a movie and don't know the full implications or meaning behind the word.

I had given the poem to Hyunju at the end of the day, and had forgotten about it. Today, she told me that the homeroom teacher had called the mother of the student, who laid into the student over this weekend. After a series of phone calls, the mother decided to come in Monday morning, today, and apoligize in person.

The mother explained she felt very sorry about the situation, and had talked to her son about it for a long time. I'm sure he was grounded, or whatever the Korean version of that is. I also found out that this student is one of the most well behaved students in his class, he also happens to be vice principal of his class. She also asked if I remembered her son... I see so many kids in a day, and this one did not stand out. I'm pretty good at recgonizing the trouble makers and the really good kids, but the ones inbetween slip through the cracks of my memory. So I didn't know what to say, I decided to say, "yes, I remember," even though that may have been the first time I'd actually looked at him. In the end, I did not feel bad about letting the homeroom teacher know about the situtation, I just felt overwhelmed I guess you could say about the mother coming in specifically to see me and apoligize.

With her apology, she brought treats for all the teachers. I was so touched that she had done so. I teared up when Hyunju and I were talking because the mother cares so much for her son and wants him to succeed that she felt it necessary to bring TONS of food for ALL the teachers. She brought in about 40 coffees, probably around $1 each. Then, she brought in pieces of cheesecake and chocolate cake for each of us from Paris Baguette, a popular bakery here. Those are at least $3 each because I've seen them before. On top of that, she brought pear juice in individual packets. There was a box full of them, the box was the same size that printer paper comes in. I was given 10 by the homeroom teacher. This mother easily spent $200 on trying to fix her sons mistake.

Back home, I feel like this would never happen. I know that teachers talk to parents when necessary on the phone, but I'm not sure if many parents go the extra mile to bring in a huge amount of food to say I'm sorry. That was definitely a case of culture shock.