Desensitization

I haven't posted for a while, so I thought I'd mention why:

I think I've been totally desensitized to Korea.

Everything that was originally weird is not commonplace to me. The students are commonplace. The food is commonplace. The language barrier is commonplace. I don't even notice the stuff anymore.

But even then, sometimes things jar you back into perspective. Today, I was teaching. Teaching a college class. At a national university. On the fourth floor. And, get this, a dog ran into my classroom. Korea has a lot of homeless dogs, more than you'd expect for some reason. This one was a nice little mangy one. White turned brown from dirt, but friendly none the less. It just wandered in all tongue and wagging, then ran to the back of the room and laid down. In my classroom. On the fourth floor. I had to get a student to re-liberate him.

And earlier this week, I got some practice in keeping a straight face. I was lecturing and I noticed a student chewing on his pen. I actually saw the pen break right in his mouth and the ink spill out onto his chin. I saw the look of shock on his face as he scrambled to keep his dignity. I saw him wipe away the blue to make a long purple smear across his chin. And the whole time, I continued lecturing. I did my best to keep my smiles down.

It was almost as bad as the time I was talking to a student and a booger flew out his nose. When that happens, you really find out how adult you can be.

R