Throwback - H

There seem to be more Russian-American students in my classes this year. I'm guessing they're children of recent immigrants. I met with one such parent today. He was a big, burly man, with a deep and imposing voice. He's quite intimidating when you see him. He spoke very little English and brought his older son (not my student) with him to translate in case he had some trouble. He would be saying something to me and then break into Russian for his son to translate. It reminded me of my own parents b/c I would often accompany them too to try to translate for them when I was younger. I think my Korean was actually better when I was younger than it is now. I just haven't had occasion to use it since high school. Now, I just speak to the people at the Korean market when I need some help.

Anyway, I really enjoyed meeting with this parent. I'm not exactly sure what the connection was. We could hardly communicate with each other, but I was left with this sense that I really liked him, that I'd love to just sit and get to know him. It may have been that he's an immigrant and I could relate with that b/c of my parents. I mentioned that I thought his younger son, my student, lacks a bit of motivation, to which he replied something akin to, "Oh, I'll show him what motivation is!" as he pounded the table once with his fist. As he was leaving, he says, "If he does something wrong in class, don't hesitate to put him in the corner. I give you full permission to do that." It just made me laugh. Though I've met this person for a total of about 10 minutes, I think there was a sense of familiarity and likeness, and that must have been the connection.