My Mom Says I'm a Catch, I'm Popular

While hashing out the differences between elementary, middle and high school with some teaching friends I made about as good of an illustration as I could that balances both the power of description with brevity. It has been generally agreed to, by the way, that by the time kids in Korea hit middle school they are these professional students that move from class to class absorbing knowledge and not much else. They are academic warriors who are in class from 9 AM - 11 PM (or later). Due to the rigors of their schedule, their good humor and excitement has been mostly drained.

Luckily, I am an elementary teacher so none of the aforementioned drainage applies to me. My popularity at Hae Song Elementary School, especially in the cafeteria, is (*cue illustration*) not quite, but about two steps shy of Maximus' "Spaniard, Spaniard" reception when he walks into any stadium in the movie Gladiator.

In fact, it is scary how closely my life mirrors that of Maximus Decimus Meridius'.

• The Roman General phase = coaching swimming at Westwood
• Stripped of Power = Journey to Korea (stranger in a new land) .. let's ignore the whole family dying episode as to not take the wind out of my sails.
• The Gladiator phase = putting my finely honed skills teaching kids to use in a new medium (from swimming to the classroom -- war to gladiator)

See what I did there! Alright, so my life isn't really like Maximus' but we all need a little grandeur to keep us going and in my case I usually require a lot.


Credit to Nada Surf for title.