Teenage Boys vs. Korean Men: What's the Difference?

I taught high school. I use the past tense because, well, it happened in the past. Or so I thought. Apparently, I still do. Here's why:

1. Comments About Physical Appearance-
High School: Ms. P what are you wearing?! Wow, please never wear that again.
Korean Men: Ah Jennifer, you have new hair style today. You look like little girl.
Lord help me if I look the least bit tired. They will notice and comment.

2. The Smell-
High school boys smell like sweat, body odor, too much Axe body spray, and that unwashable adolescent smell that all high school boys carry with them. Windows were always open in my classroom.
Korean men smell like the cigarrette they just smoked, last nights soju, or they smell absolutely wonderful in the new cologne their girlfriends bought to help the poor soul.

3. They don't do their homework.

4. They're not highly motivated or passionate about whatever you're teaching them. I still get glazed over looks sometimes. However, the high school boys dead pan empty stare was probably from lack of souls as the Korean men glassy eyed look is from not being able to understand a word I'm saying.

5. Jokes about sex and/or bodily functions are still funny. Boys will be boys eh.

6. They come to class late.

7. They "borrow" my pens/pencils, which inevitably means I have to go buy more because they don't fully grasp the meaning of "borrow".

8. They talk while you're talking. However, I can't always understand them here.

9. They're surprised when I catch them doing something they shouldn't i.e. talking, cheating. They always act so surprised. Don't they know that teachers take a special class in uni so that we can detect any bad behavior?

10. There are still brown nosers and troublemakers; a hierarchy among students.

When I meet new people here in Korea and they find out that I teach adults, they are so envious. My job must be the pinnacle of my teaching career. Umm....well. It might not be as different from your public school job. However, here are some reasons as to why teaching my boys here is a little different from teaching my "real" boys back home.

1. Going drinking with them is perfectly acceptable.

2. They buy the drinks.

3. They buy dinner.

4. It's ok to ride in the car with them.

5. Being seen in a coffee shop with two or three of them is cool.

6. The more sloshed you get on the drinks they buy you, earns you respect at your workplace (I've yet to earn a lot of respect. I hate soju.)

I love teaching these guys. But still, when I look really closely, teaching boys is the same in any classroom.