Something About Names

When I first moved to Korea three years ago something very strange happened to me: I unintentionally called my housemates "grandma." I had been living with my grandmother for about 10 months prior to my trip, so I guess I got used to using her name. It reminded me of the time I was a student teacher in a grade one class and the students sometimes called the teacher "mommy." Well today, yet again, something very strange happened. I was sitting at my desk planning the day's lessons when one of my Kindergarten students came barreling through the door. "Teacher, Teacher, candy please!" He was jumping up and down like a rabbit. I was a bit annoyed at this sudden burst of energy in the room. My response: "Please, Venus, wait just a minute." And there you have it. I've gone from calling my housemates "grandma" to calling my students "Venus." The funny part is that this particular student's English ability is not the best and he had no idea that I had referred to him as my cat.