Charpie's Travels

There was a pig but he has a tail as straight as a nail.  He was sad.  He eat noodles a oodles and prizle.  Now he get a tail with curly like the real pig. -by Lewis

Kindergarten Phonics Question 1 :  Where is the Statue of Liberty? Answer : Peter  - United Skates! Question 2 :  Why does Lady Liberty hold the torch of freedom above her heard? Answers :   JunSeo  - because it wants to be handsome Henry  - to make the thief (pronounced "teef") afraid Annabelle  - because she is gift from France Kelly  - so at night the people can see Andy  - because he wanna eat the ice cream Jaden - she want to be the beautiful monster Peter   (hand raised like Lady Liberty)  - it is free!!

They call me RGM. They are my smallest and, somehow, my loudest class.  Jun gave up on participating in class conversation long ago. We move too slowly, and he hates having homework. I can't say I blame him. Then again, something would be wrong if these boys actually got excited about English grammar class. Ethan is incapable of remaining completely silent for longer than 6.5 seconds. Most often, he's speaking to anyone who will listen -- or to the air, if necessary. He speaks more Korean in class than my other 81 students combined. He spends most minutes trying to make the other boys laugh. At the moment, he's singing the Korean soccer song to himself. I prefer the singing, partly because his soft voice puts a funny twist on his tough-jerk persona.  Henry spaces out more than me. I invited him back to Earth once, and the other boys won't let it die. Today, his classmates have failed to inform him about the chunk of tape in his hair. I don't mention it e...

Not young enough - or old enough -  for crawling on all fours Pausing to puff his cigarette which keep falling to the floor Far too hot for sleeves yet he wore a sweater Tattered pants, dirty shoes, hands and feet no better Never seen a slower crawl finally staggered to our spot Pathetic looks and pleas to no avail others shunned and shooed him on One fellow had a change of heart pursued the forsaken man Called Emergency as he collapsed clasping ragged shoes in hand A feeble attempt to depart with Samaritan still standing guard a heartless drunk took a rod struck his head, knocked him forward Maybe he lost all strength maybe he tried to crawl Plunged head first down the steps and vanished before us all Police showed first, then ambulance violent citizen got off free Resolution I will never know memories will never leave me Though I never hurt the beggar like the beast who cracked his head I fear that doing nothing  made me al...

This was the best writing class of the Kindergarten year. We didn't make it past the first page. I didn't even finish reading the directions before Justin blurted, "What is inbisible??" So I explained, and then we spent half of the period thinking up and acting out the pranks we'd pull if we were invisible. Writing class can be the bane of Thursdays, but today would have been a good day for a video camera. Assignment:   Would you like to be invisible? Write about what you would do if no one could see you. Responses: I want to be invisible because... Kelly  ...the person is moving but other people just see the clothes moving. Jaden  ...I want to play. Peter  ...I want to go to the gril bathroom. Ellizabeth  ...I don’t want to listen to my mom. Andy  ...I want to steal money. Justin  ...I want to throw dynomite to build a campfire. Ann  ...I could surprise people. When my mother yells I will do work and pencil will float. Henry  ...I will...

My parents are here!! I feel like a tourist now... 7 months late. It's kinda cool though; it's a different perspective of the city than usual. And it's quite nice to have family around to be touristy with you.  I took the subway home tonight and decided to get off at a different station. I NEVER get of there. But I figured, by the time I caught the transfer and walked home, I'd arrive about the same time. Plus, getting off at a different stop meant a change of scenery.  As I was passing a line-up of street food vendors, a lady tapped my shoulder. She pointed somewhere across the street and asked, "Hae-aw een lau-buh?" I quickly put on my puzzled face as I removed my headphones and replied, "What?" "Hae-aw een lau-buh," she repeated.  Ahh.  I nodded, thrilled and relieved that I understood. My last haircut was at the salon across the street. It's got a stellar Konglish name. (Look back at what the lady said to me and read it quickly....

Rainy season is here.  I took the subway to see Amy. She lives on the edge of civilization, so the number of occupants dwindled with each stop. As we approached Nowon, the man sitting across from me took his position in front of the door. I started to tell him he'd forgotten his umbrella, but realized I had no way to say such a thing. Fortunately, the elderly man to my left took up the cause.  It did no good. Despite the yelling, the younger man obliviously exited the train. The noise did, however, wake the woman on my right. She dashed out the door only to realize her umbrella was still hooked on the rail. While she ran back in for it, the old man threw the abandoned umbrella out on the platform, still yelling at its owner.  I can't say if the younger man finally heard the commotion or just switched his brain back on. But he jumped and made a mad dash for the nearest subway door. Fortunately, the sleepy woman got his attention before he could board again. She re...