"Just Been...Loving Mr. Soni"

I decided to write something more lighter with all the economic issues, mass killings, hopelessness, worldly views, and despair in this world today. Here's something sweet in the midst of the sin that's in the world.

I'm teaching one of my favorite and more effective conversation lessons at my high school lately, called "High School English." I call it that because the PowerPoint addresses more trendier language usage such as "what's up" rather than "hi," and "how's it going" rather than "how are you."

Well, one of the questions in the lesson is "what've been up to lately?" Its a common conversation starter to see what the other person has been doing this past week. For a Korean learner, its important to give them a structured answer or formula to keep their answers to the point but at least allow them to maneuver for more answers.

The answer is, according to my PowerPoint, "Just been + Verb + ing." Insert any verb of choice to tell your listener "what've been up to lately."

I choose different kids in the classroom to present their answers to me, or practice the dialog with a partner in a different part of the classroom. They can earn $oni Dollars for their participation.

While teaching class 1-8, I ran out of volunteers as the main active girls already raised their hands and got the ball rolling. I needed more participation, so I decided to choose a girl of my own to keep them on their toes. "Jeong...Ji...Na. Who's Jeong Jina?"

Jina bashfully raises her hand and stands up. The girls are giggling at her.

Mr. Soni: "What's up, Jina?"
Jina: "Nothing much, what's up Mr. Soni."
Mr. Soni: "Nothing much, how's it going?"
Jina: "I'm cool."
Mr. Soni: "What've been up to lately?"

(Pause)

Jina: "...just been...LOVING...Mr. Soni!"

There is a huge roar of laughter and "ahhhhhs!" I'm quite embarrassed myself but being at a girl's high school, its natural to have a crush on the male teachers. Its part of Korean girls high school culture. So with her participation, I have to give her a $oni dollar for her efforts, but this time around, the girls see it as a "love gift," and as I hand the money to her the classmates around her "ahhh" in admiration.

One classmate, Kye-rin smirks at me, "I am going to cry now."

"Just been loving Mr. Soni."