Letter to a Bugo Student

One of my students puts my blogging to shame, which isn't difficult to do, I know.

Jun Beom maintains an awesome blog in between his insane study schedule (and playing the guitar!) that helps captures the essence of our school and serves as a source of information for prospective students. I highly recommend it, if only for the pictures: http://blog.daum.net/trafalgar. The entry between 49. and 50. also features an interview that he did for the school's English newspaper.

Last week I asked Jun Beom a few questions about his blog, simply because I was curious. We had a brief conversation about it, and yesterday he handed me a 13-page letter. He had used his free time during computer class to write a little bit about his blog for me in English and then translated one of his entries for me. He even re-read it to correct grammatical errors and add points of clarification. It's one of my favorite things that any of my students have ever given me.

Here is the letter that I wrote back to him:

Dear Jun Beom.

Thank you so much for your letter. It means a lot that you took the time to write to me. I have never thought that you were rude; I thought that you probably were just shy or under too much pressure to speak to me in English. I worry sometimes that I confuse students by suddenly talking to them one-on-one in English.

Your thoughtful translations were much appreciated. I confess that I’ve gotten a little lazy in studying Korean, but reading your blog has inspired me to continue my studies with more devotion. I read the Korean in your letter out loud for practice – it’s very difficult for me to pronounce Korean sentences fluently, so it was good practice but humbling. :)

Sometimes when things are translated into other languages, the meaning or the sense of humor is not always clear, but I can tell from what you shared with me that what you write is often funny and insightful. I’m very proud that I have a student who doesn’t just focus on studying but also uses his energy to create something that other people can enjoy and use to learn. You are a credit to Bugo.

Something that you might like to know is that when I first learned that I was going to teach at Bugo, the school’s name was longer than ANY of the names of my friends’ schools. I worried that I would never be able to learn how to say all fifteen syllables of the name correctly. I was so relieved when I found out that the school had an “official” nickname: Sadaebugo. As I spent more at the school, I learned that the students call it “Bugo.” I love calling the school that because it’s something that my students taught me.

I know that I have a lot to learn from you and other students at Bugo. Thank you for taking the time to teach me with your blog and your letter. I’m very grateful to be your teacher and so glad that I will be at Bugo for another school year.

Cheers!

Ms. Morrow