Rude.

Korea, I think, is a more blunt society than the United States, and certainly more blunt than the guilt-ridden Catholic school world I grew up in. Kids in general tend to be blunt too. Combine this with the fact that people learning a second language probably struggle with the art of subtlety, and you get some howlers in class.

A friend recently had a kid say that it was obvious she didn't have much money. Otherwise, she would have gotten plastic surgery, because her face is "so-so" (not true, by the way). Women who are around 25 and unmarried are likely to be informed in no uncertain terms that their prospects for matrimony are waning.

It's not always negative. Another friend had a student write on the desk "_______ is f***ing hot" in Korean. I've been told on numerous occasions that I am very handsome, though this is usually from a student who didn't do his or her homework and is trying to butter me up.

I was blown away earlier this week though. A recent addition to the curriculum is the online community, where kids can post "webzines" about their class work and rate and give feedback on webzines from other kids. This was, word-for-word, one of the comments:

"Zero rating for you! What a bad webzine! Yeah, like ____, do not make your own webzine."

This kid got an earful from me. Tactfully, of course.