Let’s begin with Justin. It has been an adjustment with him going to university. I am trying to treat him like an adult, but he is not always acting like one. He leaves his dirty clothes and rubbish on the floor in his room. I am continually asking him to put things where they belong. He says, “Yes Mom”, but he does not actually put anything where it belongs.  Needless to say, his room at the end of the hallway is avoided. 

I think that most university students spend way too much time on YouTube watching ridiculous videos. Justin is no exception to this. The other night he told me that he identified with with being black and female. I assume that he watched something on YouTube and thought it would be funny to share that with me. I looked at him and said, “You are look male and caucasian!” He was amused by my comment and walked out of the kitchen. I do love this child’s sense of humor!  
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Have I told you this story? When Justin was about 5 years old, he liked cuddling with me. We were cuddling, and he looked up and said, “Mommy, we are having a moment!” I said, “Yes dear. We are having a moment” and laughed to myself. A little less than five minutes passed. “Mom, the moment is over! I am hot!” Of course, I let him get up, and I was laughing hysterically.

Aidan has been a very studious student through elementary school and this continues in middle school. He goes to class and then goes to study room after school. He eats dinner with us, and then spends about three hours studying in the evening. I suggested that he take Friday night off and come swimming. I could see the eyes darting back and forth. He was thinking if he could afford to do that. 
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I am more than glad that he is ambitious. I am not sure that it is normal to sit and study that much in grade 7. I am also thinking he is going to burn out with all the studying before he even gets to high school. I realize these are Canadian standards of what is normal for a 13 year-old boy to do as opposed to Korean standards. 

He also had a birthday this month! Chocolate cake, Andong chicken, and new airpods! He will be in his own little world for the next two months with those airpods.

Jordan has been a trooper over the past two weeks. He had COVID. He started to feel like crap on Saturday, running a fever and complaining a bit. He tested negative on Saturday, but positive rather late on Sunday afternoon. It was a weird week of sliding food into the library room. There would gasps of delight when the food was something he liked and absolutely nothing when the food was something that he did not like. Still, I love this child’s enthusiasm. He never complained, read every single comic book we have in the house, and he was able to deal with the heat in the room. I think my husband believes that the heat was going to help him sleep, so the temperature was turned up. I could see the relief on his face the following Sunday when he was told that he could eat with us. Lots of hugs were happening.
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Myself? It has been recommended that I put in a proposal for a new course. Many of my colleagues have been sweating through the paperwork to get new courses into the university’s portal system. I am working on something as we speak. And I am hoping to finish it this afternoon…

This month there was relief from CoVid 19. The boys have gone back to school. My husband has gone back to work. Everyone is being careful to not get infected.

Just as spirits were beginning to rise, I watched the video of George Floyd being killed by the police. I looked at my children differently that night. I was thankful for their lives. I was thankful for the fact that we are very far removed from what is going on. I was just thankful.

I was also a little disturbed. The boys and my hubby carried on as usual. I was disturbed because it seems like I was the only person who was thinking about George Floyd. I was also thinking about Breanna and the myriad of other names that we should know but the memories have faded.

I was more than a little curious about race relations when I was a teenager. My mother had encouraged me to read To Kill a Mockingbird. I remember being enraptured by that world. I also read Cry the Beloved Country, a novel about apartheid in South Africa that was just as beautiful and poignant as To Kill a Mockingbird. 

Justin and I had a conversation about George Floyd and it went something like this:

"You are blessed Justin."
"Why?"
"You look Caucasian."
"I suppose I do. No yellow here!"

God bless that child for making jokes.

Aidan looked at the TV screen carefully. He took it in with his eyes. They flickered and he scrunched his nose. He didn't say anything. 

Jordan was not in the room when the rest of us saw the video. He was playing a game somewhere. I am not sure he would have understood that the officer had been on the man's neck for nine minutes. He probably would have thought it was a video game of some kind. 

We turned off the screens for a while. We turned them back on and saw all the demonstrations that were taking place all over the world. 

The following week KOTESOL, a non-profit for English teachers, put out a statement saying that black lives do matter. I was a little stunned, but thought it was good that people were being supportive of what was going on in the U.S..

Was the situation accentuated by CoVid 19? I think the fact that so many people were at home has made it a reality. 

It rocked my world. Why wouldn't it rock somebody else's?

In the end, I pray. 

I ask the kids to pray.

Everything about 2020 has been disturbing. 

It started with classes I was taking.

Then it was CoVid 19.

Then it was 19 hours teaching a week while taking a class online.

Then it was George Floyd. 

Then it was a CoVid 19 scare. 

I pray for change.

I pray in the morning. 

I pray during the day.

I pray at night.

I pray for my family.

I pray for people who are living in poverty.

I pray for people who need a little assistance.

I pray for black lives.

I pray for leaders.

I thank God for all the good, small things around me.

I pray to God for all the terrible, horrible things that I know need change. 

I pray.

I pray for Justin, Aidan, and Jordan. 

Praying is starting to feel like breathing.

And that is really what I want you to know.

Love and justice are trying to breathe.

Amen. 

Things are calming down here in South Korea in regards to the virus. A number of schools will be going back to the in-class format. I have absolutely loved this time with the boys, but it is time for a change. There is just way too much down-time in their daily routine.

What is their daily routine?

For Justin - He gets up a little before 8:00, hugs his father, gives me a hug, has a shower, eats breakfast, and then spends the morning online. Around 12:30 he sheepishly comes out from the study room, asks about lunch, makes a few jokes using an accent (he has many), and eats noodles.  After lunch, he sits in front of the computer for a few more hours, wanders into another room to take a nap or play a game for about an hour, and then wanders back. In the evenings, he is playing games, giving me a hard time, or just joking around with his father.

For Aidan - This child absolutely hates getting up in the morning. The wake up call starts at 7:45 and lasts until 8:15 or 8:30. I usually have to come back to wake him up about 3 times. He will sit down, eat breakfast, and enjoy his morning if he has had enough sleep. He is online with his teacher by 8:50 and offline by 9:20. He will do whatever it is the teacher asked him to do, and then wanders off to play games. He won't come for lunch until he is called. After lunch, he is off to Study Room. He usually plays outside for a few hours in the afternoon. He is also playing computer games in the evening. 

I should add that Aidan is the child who enjoys attention from the teacher the most. He would be considered the teacher's pet and he can turn on the charm in regards to this. He is not so charming if his food is cold or if you bother him or ask him to do something during a game. 

For Jordan - He is the first one up after me. He is actually pretty good at eating, getting dressed, washing his face and hands, and brushing his teeth. He is in a hurry so he can go play computer games before school starts. He is online by 9:00 am and he is done by 9:30 as well. He is then back to the computer games for the rest of the morning. He is a pickiest eater in the house. He wants to eat cereal, noodles, and rice and soup. He has quite a few preferences in terms of what kind of soup he likes which drives me crazy. In the afternoons, he goes to piano and plays outside. Sometimes he goes to play soccer in the soccer field beside his elementary school. 

A recent addition to the routine is to write in Korean and English diaries in the evening. Both Aidan and Jordan are able to churn out about ten sentences in Korean and two or three in English. I also love reading books to them in the evenings, but they do not seem to love this as much as I do. I am hoping to add handwriting to this little routine in the evenings, but we will see how things go.

Weekends, of course, are a little less stressful for my husband and myself. The boys are to help with cleaning up on Saturday mornings and then they are free to do what they want for the rest of the day. Sunday has turned into the most social day with church in the morning, a rather lazy afternoon, and our Sunday night family prayer meeting. 

What is your family doing? How have you passed the time during the quarantine?