MonkeyPants

Springtime Comes to the Sisters Kim.

Spring is teetering on the edge of bloom. I know it by looking at the garden, but I’m seeing it in my students as well.

I teach two sisters. They come in for a double block of reading and writing. Much to my gratification, I have been whispered to that the reason they have configured their classes the way that they do is so that both have reading classes with me. I couldn’t be more flattered.

Elder Sister is the very epitome of perfect Korean young ladyship. She is tall, much taller than average. In fact, she stares many Korean men in the eye. Or, rather, she would, if her eyes were not so downcast and demure. Her height makes her stand out, but then you notice her grace. She is a study in economy of movement. Every motion is restrained and precise. Just so. She is always cheerful, but not unduly so. She has pleasant words for the younger students, but never stoops to actual chattiness. She is a calming infulence on even the most rambunctious children Her calm demeanour is unshakeable in the face of anything. Anything but Spring. Tonight, she couldn’t sit still. Looked out the window. Crossed her legs again. Flipped through the vocabulary exercise. Wrinkled her nose. Spring made her more human, and I loved her for it.

Younger Sister is the opposite. She never walks, but bounces everywhere. Loves dangling earrings that make her look like an Eighties princess. She looks everyone straight in the eye and laughs as much as she talks, which is quite a lot. She is slightly chubby, to her mother’s despair, despite the fact that she has as much nervous energy as any eight-year-old boy. Spring has exacerbated that condition. Tonight, she skipped and bounced and sang. She heemed and hawed and shifted. She told jokes and giggled. Twenty-five minutes into class, she sighed gustily and blurted, “I just want to go outside!” I had to laugh, because I feel the same way.

Persephone’s coming back from the Underworld! Everyone, get up and dance!