::A Geek in Korea::

In my last class of the day with 11-12 year old students, I heard some of the students talking about the current political situation. Usually students don’t have a clue what is going on in the world, but since this issue is more "local" to a degree, taking place on the peninsula, the students wanted to share some opinions about the topic. Seeing as they were already talking about the issue, they might as well be talking about it in English. I indulged them in drawing a map on the board and going over the "basics" of the situation in English, teaching them some horrifying vocabulary as I went.

Imagine my face when I heard this conversation in the back of class begin between a few of my students:
Girl A: What country will you go to when you are a refugee?
Girl B: I’ll go to China, because my parents live in China right now.
Girl C: I’ll go to America! Everyone is Christian there!

I had heard about enough at that point. I asked them about why they would be considering such a thing.

They basically reiterated the situation, and stated that since I was American, I clearly wanted to see an American lead war on the peninsula that would destroy the North Koreans. I emphatically denied that I wanted any part in any war, ever, and that that such an action would lead to the destruction of all of Korean, not only the North. Considering that we live here, I thought that was a fairly simply, straight forward point to concede. They viewed it more or less as an inevitability, and that it would be better to have it done, even if it meant that everyone died. They didn’t understand an American could be against war, period. They viewed the severity of the situation on par with going on a long vacation to a new country. It’s not that I expect Korean children to ponder nuclear annihilation at any time like I did as a child. Just don’t be so glib about it is all I ask.

The reason I don’t talk about politics, or religion, or more serious matters is that children at the age I teach tend to say things just to get a rise out of you, and it’s completely futile to try to rationalize, explain, or complain, because they don’t mean what they say. If it’s not "Rah Rah Rah, we’re the best!" They don’t want to listen to you. It’s better to let them keep whatever misconceptions they have in tact and let them shatter their brains if they ever happen to travel or go outside of Korea.

Up until now, I had been handling the situation exactly the same as how Koreans do. I was thinking, "How will this affect the economy, will I get hurt by that, and how badly?" Now I’ve got children asking me if I want to die in class. What a wonderful turn of events.