Note: another installment!
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I recently started volunteering at the public library once a week as a reading tutor for this seven-year-old black kid. His name is Gerard, and unlike some other kids his age, Gerard is not as hyper and a fairly good listener. Today, we were going over this short story set during the Revolutionary War. I usually like to quiz Gerard on some of vocabulary words that we come across, and in this story, we came across the word “battle.” I asked him if he knew what “battle” meant.

“Yeah, I know what it means,” he said. “It’s when there’s two people and they have to dance to see who wins.”

I stifled what could’ve been a burst of laughter since he was serious when he answered me, but I found it quite amusing. I had to explain to him that, sure, his definition was correct, but that was just one form of the word “battle.” Hopefully, he’ll remember the definition I gave him the next time he’s in a history class and they talk about the Battle of Gettysburg or something.

Volunteering feels good, especially since Gerard tries hard and seems to be making some progress. I used to think volunteering, or any sort of charitable work, was for purely selfish reasons. You know, just to justify your own goodness or to look good in the eyes of other people. And I still think there’s an element of selfishness in “trying to do good.” But if I can get Gerard to remember a few more vocabulary words and raise his level of reading, then I can at least say that we both benefited from the effort. Makes sense, right?

I think for our next book, we’ll try to tackle In the Year of the Boar and Jackie Robinson by Bette Boa Lord. It’s a charming story about a ten-year-old Chinese girl who emigrates to America in 1947 and finds inspiration in Jackie Robinson, who breaks into the Majors the same year. Since I’m Korean and he’s black, maybe it’ll be a feel-good story for the both of us. Am I trying too hard? Well, we’ll see.

Okay, this Oriental Brewery beer is beginning to taste more and more like Coors Light. Back to Teutonic beers.