It had been easy! Just spend 6 hours with them in the classroom, avoid sitting with them in the cafeteria during lunch, just say a curt hi or hello when you meet each other in the hallway and never never hug them!
Life as a teacher was happy and free... when you're students are kept away from a distance. Keep the relationship as professional as possible, be free from tear jerky moments on graduation and enjoy the infamous mango ice cream cake of Mommy Jung in the graduation party afterwards. Being an ESL teacher for Korean students in SDALC is such a breeze.
Well that was before I met Cham.
She just turned my teaching world upside down!
During our first class I thought "This girl rocks! Her fashion statement is Gothic and so is her personality." She always wear black... almost everyday. If it's not black it's gray. Cham has this character stare that makes people retaliate. It's as if she's drawing a virtual wall between herself and the people she comes in contact with.
I didn't like her. That's good! It means my defense against students is still perfectly intact.
As days later turned to weeks I began to develop a curiosity for Cham. I realized that she reminds me of the younger me. Tough shelled but soft hearted... cynical yet trusting... To my horror I was starting to see her as a baby sister!
Finally at the ending days of her first term I let my guard down... totally. I felt that somehow she needed me and I needed her. Probably I needed her more....
... to be continued
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Thank you for dropping by! xoxo Mel