here is esther with her little nephew. a few weekends ago when esther and i had planned to go shopping in dongdaemun, we ended up staying in seoul and going to her family's apartment. i met her mom, her sister and her brother-in-law. you would have thought the queen of sheba was visiting by the treatment i received. oh friends, the hospitality of these people is overwhelming, and thus far i have sensed it to be genuine.
in any case, i was touched by esther's family, and i sensed a true desire to receive me as a foreigner and as an english speaker. any chance they can have to practice english is like finding treasure... once they overcome their fear of making mistakes. but this fear is a huge one in korea. in fact, i would say it is by far the greatest challenge i face in communicating with most adults here. they are afraid to speak incorrectly so they don't even try. as a language teacher, this drives me nuts! to learn a language you must become a little child. you must make sounds you are unfamiliar with, you must contort your face and say things that sound like gibberish! but ahhhh, one day it will make sense! and so you practice and practice and fearlessly tackle those nonsensical words... so that one day they will communicate life and love and meaning to someone else. yes, my friends, that is why i love this...
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