Bi bim bap!

Today I removed my outer sweater in my hot classroom only to be serenaded with a chorus of gasps and huls. “Are you hot teacher?” asked a student. Yes, I was once again breaking another of Korea’s strictly-adhered-to rules of what you do–and don’t do–during certain seaons. This one was the rule against wearing short sleeved shirts before May, regardless of the actual temperature. So as not to forget, I asked my students to put a mark on my arm to show what should remain covered until that blessed first of May.