yet another misunderstanding

i found out shortly before this incident that it is common for boys in korea to be circumcised in their early teens. they believe this is better because the child will understand why they have to get the surgery and they can be put under for it.  one day, i had one of my students who is around the age of 13 walk into my classroom limping. i asked the students what happened and half burst into laughter and the other half set to work trying to figure out how to explain this to me in english. one student volunteered,"teacher, he cut his..." and makes a cutting motion on his finger. i THOUGHT i understood but was confused as to why he was limping. when i asked them they shook their heads and kept making the cutting motion, "no, no, no....a part very important to a man." after i got the awkward "OH!!!!" expression off of my face, i explained that in the states we do that when the boy is still a baby. the conversation ended shortly after that but about 5 minutes into the lesson i had one student interrupt and say "i think the states way is much better teacher."

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