teaching engrish

i know a fourteen year old kid who can write an essay on the differences between socialism and democracy. students that can tell me the names of greek gods, give me the rules/standards of prepositional phrases, and recite the first 10 multiples of pi. they're geniuses with the deceiving faces of prepubescent kids. these kids know so much and with their affluent family backgrounds and brains, it's almost guaranteed that they'll be roaming the ivy league school grounds within the next ten years. they'll be rolling in the dough (or still paying off college loans, although doubtfully, cuz samsung-CEO-daddy probably has that all figured out) by the time they're thirty. so how come i still feel sorry for them?

the standards that parents here have for their kids is unreal. korea had to pass a law that kids cannot be at academies (hagwons, tutoring programs) after 10pm, but there are still some parents that hire tutors to come to their homes and teach their kids until the wee hours of morning. uhm, hello? shouldn't your kids be sleeping? i end work at 10pm and the streets are littered with kids from ages 10-17, rushing home so they can study more, or finish whatever homework they've been given. no wonder they think american kids are so dumb! why do twelve year olds need to use words like, "fastidious, languish, connoisseur, slovenly"? they should be playing basketball, teasing the opposite sex, eating... sleeping!

but i mean... that's not going to stop me from giving them vocabulary tests, writing assignments, and ssat practice tests. i mean, it's not them paying me, it's their parents. and as long as that's the case, give the crazies what they want, right? right. then again, i'm the one who is in korea. teaching kids engrish. maybe if i was as smart as these kids, i would have gone to stanford. and i'd be working it real life at like... merrill lynch or on wall street or something...

ok you're right. i'd rather be teaching engrish.

but i'm jus' sayin.