Teacher’s Pet? Yep that’s me in the front row with my teacher’s hands on my shoulders. I was told by my Japanese friend, also in the front row, that Koreans are very fond of this pose with their hands on someone else's shoulders. This was the first time I have experienced it so personally.

This is my Korean class at Ewha University. My closest friends in class are the three women on the right, one is from Columbia and the other two are from Japan. We also have 3 students besides me from the US and a group of men working for the military in their respective countries of Malaysia, India, Vietnam, and Cambodia who have been sent here to learn Korean. When our class first started the military guys always repeated the teacher in such loud voices I could not even hear my Japanese friend Ritsuko who sits right next to me. They have gotten a little quiter now, but they are still always louder than everyone else.