Mr. Clean's Got a Secret and It Isn't Bleach!

I walk into my classroom first thing in the morning to find the usual group of grade 4 students cleaning. In Korean schools, children are assigned the responsibility of cleaning the classrooms which I don't think is that bad of an idea.

For a long time, the same three girls, who incidentally remind me of a younger version of the Golden Girls because of their constant drama, showed up everyday to fulfill their responsibilities. More recently, a little Cabbage Patch boy has been cleaning alongside the girls. His round and chubby face paired with his short plump body cause his peers to affectionately call him "Baby Boy," which he seems to have no problem with. When he started coming in for the daily cleaning sessions, I assumed he had nothing better to do before school and at lunch. Today, my coteacher reveals the real reason. 

As I walk into my classroom, Baby Boy runs to the door, waves and smiles and then runs back to the desk he was so determinedly scrubbing before I arrived. Soon after, my coteacher calls Baby Boy over and asks him something in Korean. Baby Boy protests what she says but eventually smiles and nods. Coteacher pats Baby Boy on the back and puts her finger to her lips to assure Baby Boy that his secret is safe with her. 

As soon as Baby Boy leaves the classroom, coteacher says, "Amarta. I know Baby Boy's secret..."

"Um. What is it?"

"A long time ago, I asked him why he came to clean everyday. He didn't answer. When I asked him if it was because he wanted to see you, he denied it. So, I asked him again today and I told him I wouldn't tell anyone. This time he confessed that he comes 'to see Amarta Sam' (Sam is a nickname that Korean students call their teachers)."

Yet another reason I sometimes feel like a celebrity in my school :D