Perfection :: Personal Narrative Teaching Papers

Perfection I need to capture this moment. I need to paint a picture so that many years from now, when my adventures are long since over, when I have nothing but my memories to look back on a life spent as a student trying to understand the intricacies of different cultures, I can recall this brief moment in my life. When I am old and gray and am waiting for the light of my life to expire, I can read this and truly feel the same thing I am feeling right now. I need to hold on to this memory. I’m 23 years old and very much alone in a country that is not my own, where faces do not look like mine, where every place I go I am stared at because I am the oddity in the everyday pattern of life. I’m always conscious of myself, of my every step, knowing that whatever I do or don’t do, whatever I say or don’t say, someone is judging me, my character, and my country because of my actions. It’s not an easy way to live. But, there is one place in this culture where I feel like I am home, where I want to run when I just want to fit in with the rest, where people don’t stare or gawk at me because I am a white face in the middle of Korea. I run to the girl’s high school where I teach English. I enter the walls of Jung Ang Girls High School and I know that I am where I belong for the time being, that no matter what, I will not feel like the outcast of society. In Korea, this is the place that I can truly call home. Teaching at an all girl’s high school in the middle of Jeju Island, South Korea is one of the best things that has happened in my 23 years of existence. Everyday I watch my students’ progress, not only with their English ability, but also with their understanding of the world. Everyday I teach them about the wonders of the world, never focusing too much on all things American because we are just one country in the world. What they need to learn from me is not how we celebrate Halloween, Thanksgiving, or Christmas. Perfection :: Personal Narrative Teaching Papers Perfection I need to capture this moment. I need to paint a picture so that many years from now, when my adventures are long since over, when I have nothing but my memories to look back on a life spent as a student trying to understand the intricacies of different cultures, I can recall this brief moment in my life. When I am old and gray and am waiting for the light of my life to expire, I can read this and truly feel the same thing I am feeling right now. I need to hold on to this memory. I’m 23 years old and very much alone in a country that is not my own, where faces do not look like mine, where every place I go I am stared at because I am the oddity in the everyday pattern of life. I’m always conscious of myself, of my every step, knowing that whatever I do or don’t do, whatever I say or don’t say, someone is judging me, my character, and my country because of my actions. It’s not an easy way to live. But, there is one place in this culture where I feel like I am home, where I want to run when I just want to fit in with the rest, where people don’t stare or gawk at me because I am a white face in the middle of Korea. I run to the girl’s high school where I teach English. I enter the walls of Jung Ang Girls High School and I know that I am where I belong for the time being, that no matter what, I will not feel like the outcast of society. In Korea, this is the place that I can truly call home. Teaching at an all girl’s high school in the middle of Jeju Island, South Korea is one of the best things that has happened in my 23 years of existence. Everyday I watch my students’ progress, not only with their English ability, but also with their understanding of the world. Everyday I teach them about the wonders of the world, never focusing too much on all things American because we are just one country in the world. What they need to learn from me is not how we celebrate Halloween, Thanksgiving, or Christmas.