algo diferente

yes, today was something different. of course it's friday so it goes without saying that I'm in a fairly good mood. however, this morning no one showed up for my 6:20 am class so I was able to spend 50 minutes drinking coffee in a quiet classroom while I read "For Whom the Bell Tolls" (my current read). Despite the fact that the initial bitchy thought about having to get up for nothing did cross my mind, (only for a moment) bliss is what I found when I realized I had 50 minutes of "me" time.

My second class begins immediately after the first one ends at 7:10, which can sometimes be exhausting. However, I must say that my 7:10 class is my absolute, hands-down, favorite. These students are bright and intelligent, but also intellectual and interested in learning. They shed their insecurities about making mistakes in English and talk, talk, talk.

Anyways this morning was different. Only one student showed up. She is a woman in her 30's who is an accountant at a bank in Gumi. However, unlike many in automated Gumi there is so much more to her than the accountant. Today I found out (we were able to have complete one-on-one conversation) that she loves literature and more so she loves poetry! I couldn't help but get excited. We talked about how addicted we were to books and we both share the same opinion that bookstores with cafes are perhaps the best-ever idea. Not only did we talk about books, but we talked about particular authors. To my surprise she love German Literature. And who does she like you might ask? None other than the Herman Hesse. This admission thus set off a discussion about Siddhartha.

I've read Siddhartha three different times (and even brought it with me to Korea), and to find someone who loves the novel as much as I can be likened to having a great cup of coffee or hot chocolate on a cold day: a cozy feeling. However, it was a little weird or maybe surreal that I would be discussing a German author, with a Korean in an English Language class. If my heart wasn't already full of adoration and a new respect for this woman; we began talking about poetry again. She, like me, loves poetry from other cultures. She also like me, loves to read Pablo Neruda and ancient Asian poetry. Both of us share a liking for Chinese poets. At this point I'm not believing what I'm hearing, and I'm so excited I don't want the class to end. She asked me at the end if I would recommend some of my favorite poets to her and thus would she. I thought my heart would burst. Nothing means more to me than to have someone ask me to recommend literature/poetry, and in return recommend their own for my reading.

So with all of that said, the rest of my students can all hand in their "fuck-you" cards today, and it wouldn't matter. Not that I'm hoping for such a thing to happen, but after my very refreshing morning class I could overlook such behavior. I'll let you know how it goes later.