::A Geek in Korea::

I teach my director’s son in an exclusive class for students that have returned from international schools abroad. It’s just him and one other girl from his school that come for special afternoon classes. I’ve becoming the Internet Based Testing guru around the school, so we wade through the 800+ page books with tips on how to score higher on this monstrous test.

Today we were going over “Paired choice responses” for the speaking part of the test. These are “you only have two ridiculous choices, which one is better? Why? Support it.” These questions are free, in that you can respond in any way you want to support your choice, but you should weigh in and choose a side. I’ve done some of these questions with other students before, and they tend to be a lot of fun.

The question that got everyone talking in class was, “Which would you choose, love or money.” The students had 15 seconds to prepare, then had to speak for 45 seconds on the topic. This doesn’t give a chance for a deep reflection on the topic. Instead, students must make a snap judgment and support it the best they can.

The girl in the class chose money (like every other girl I’ve ever taught), but said that if she could be happiest, she’d have to consider love too. We went over the “error of omission”, and how to segue from each of her paragraphs of support. It was a fine speech.

The boy went next. He said he would also choose money. His reasoning was that if he had enough money, he could have a house, a car, and everything else he needed. Then he would simply “buy someone” to marry him. He wouldn’t have to worry about anything.

I told him that “buying” people is a disgusting thing to do. People aren’t supposed to look at people as being “for sale”. What I thought he meant was that it would be easier to get married if he had a lot of wealth.

He meant that he’d simply get a foreign bride, and all that required was money. If he was married, he would have love too. How were they not for sale? He has a point. People in rural areas do that here.

I told him that if he really was only marrying someone he had “purchased”, it’s very likely he wouldn’t find love. People can marry for money and get a chunk of your cash. He learned the word “gold digger” and the girl in the class tried to explain why purchasing people doesn’t exactly endear yourself to a potential bride.

After class, I went out to speak to his mother. I asked her what she thought about his answer. She was shocked to hear his response. She said, “I want a Korean daughter in law! No! Don’t buy a foreign bride!”

The boy was extremely embarrassed, “Why’d you have to tell my Mom?!”