Oooh man. So this is pretty much the first moment I've had in the past few days to do some typing. I'm sure my loyal followers have just been dying, so let me ease your pain.
It has been a busy busy busy week! And you know me, I love that shit. Down time is no friend of mine. Anyway, last Friday was Field Day at school and it was really fun. I loved being outside in the sun, actually running around and doing real outdoor activities rather than playing "outside" on the roof. It was kind of strange though because the kids didn't seem all that into the sport aspect of it. When I worked at camps and we had those kinds of things, the kids were all about it. I think, sadly, these kids just don't know the spirit of athletic competition because most of the focus here is on academics and things like piano and violin lessons. The teachers all did a tug-of-war competition and the kids were just kind of like, meh. Campers used to go nuts when counselors competed against each other. Oh well. Also, the Fun Police (aka my co-teacher) was out in full force, making sure the kids did not have too much fun. All the other classes were running around like crazy people and my class was sitting on their mat. When we could finally blow some bubbles, they were confined to a small space and given strict instructions not to wander...or blow bubbles in their friends faces, which I did repeatedly. My co-teacher is nice and we get along, but she is really strict and not fun and it's frustrating. I know she's afraid the kids are going to get hurt, but they're kids. Again, I had a great time because I love doing that kind of thing (I wish we could have it every week!) but it would have been better for the kids if she would chill the fuck out.
Anyway, whatever. She's lame, so I'm the fun one and the kids know what's up.
After that, I was off to Jeju!!! That turned out to be fucking FANTASTIC. Seriously, it was everything I expected and much much more. Jeju is an island down at the bottom of Korea and it was amazing. It was sooooo beautiful, the weather was perfect, I met some great people and everything was just fantastic. Two tiny blips...I got a bad stomachache Saturday night so I had to go home early and not out with everyone, and my poor friend fell down some stairs and broke a bone in her foot. So that was a not so great ending. Even though, now, I have a fellow member in the "I broke my foot in a foreign country, on stairs, and not drunk" club. So hooray us.
However, the first part of the weekend was just ridiculously amazing. I had my doubts after the night long bus ride with no sleep, but I napped on the ferry ride over and then things starting being awesome. We rented scooters on U-Do, which translates into "Cow Island," but I never saw any cows. I was a little nervous about the scooter because the last time I drove a scooter (in Italy) I ran it into a wall. I am pretty bad with getting my hands to do two separate things, so I was afraid I would run into something, or someone, or run myself into the ocean. Luckily, I did none of things (except the one time I hit my friend, but I was going super slow, so it doesn't count) and I ended up having the best time on that thing. I also am pretty much a professional scooter driver now. Thinking of taking up a second job delivering food around the area on one (sike). U-Do was incredibly beautiful and I think probably my favorite part of the trip.
After that we hiked up to Crater Mountain, which was up A LOT of steps but worth it.It's one of the new natural wonders of the world. I'm not sure it was that spectacular, but I haven't seen the rest of them either so who knows. We checked into the hotel after that and I have never been so glad to take a shower. I also found out it would be my first experience with mats on the floor style bedding. It actually turned out to be pretty comfortable, so no complaints. We roomed with two other girls, one from South Africa and one from Wales and they turned about to be fantastic Soju drinking buddies. Soju is the official liquor of Korea and it's pretty potent. I don't mind the taste, when mixed with Cider (Sprite), and it gets the job done. We had really good Korean BBQ for dinner, with special Jeju black pig, which we were told was once fed with human feces. Yummy! Not anymore though, so we were told. Either way, it was totally delicious and my fatty roommates and i made some enemies because we were supposed to have a table of 6, but we were only 4 and people that came late didn't get any meat because we ate it all. Ooops! That is what you get for being late. Then it was hardcore Soju time and even though our "live band from Seoul" turned out to be a bust (one man acoustic guitar show), we still had a great time.
Oddly enough, I was pretty ok the next morning and had another great day of awesome sightseeing. I'm going to try and keep it short, because really only the pictures do the trip a little bit of justice (see fb), but each place we went was breathtakingly beautiful and awesome in it's own way. Don't ask me the names of any of these places because I never remember, sorry! The first place was a lagoon type place and we swam in some freezing cold water. Then we wandered down a beautiful ocean view path, saw "penis rock," walked through a movie set and then it was off to another spectacular view with volcanic rock shooting out of the ocean. Again, no idea the name of the place or the rocks, but they looked like tubes and were cool. Then we headed to a waterfall and another freezing cold lagoon, this time with an awesome bridge and cool fountains. For lunch we had some yummy Korean food and then it was to the beach. We only got about an hour of beach time, which was another sad part of the trip, but I enjoyed it anyway. Beach time is my favorite time and I need some more of it in my life soon! Then we went to a Buddhist temple to say Happy Birthday to Buddha and I got my fill of paper lanterns. I am in love with those things! I also drank so "healing water" that was dripping from a cave and I'm pretty sure that is what gave me the stomacheache. I wanted it to get rid of my cough, but I just picked up a new ailment instead. Dammit. Anyway, last stop of the trip was Loveland, which is probably the most ridiculous place I've ever been in my life. And that is counting LA. It's supposedly where Koreans used to go on honeymoons to "learn" how to have sex (apparently they are a little prude prior to marriage). It's a bunch of crazy statues and sculptures in these just ridiculous sexual positions. And lots and lots of penis sculptures. There's also a porn shop, and I video to watch (I didn't have time for that) and some interactive things you can do. It was interesting and funny, but I would have rather been on the beach for longer, haha. Oh well, least I can say I've been.
After the healing water, I didn't really have a stomach for dinner (mexican) so I went home afterwards and had an early night. I was super sad to go home but I knew I would be grumpy pants all night because I was not only filthy and tired, but also sick. So I spared everyone from that and went to bed. I was kind of glad the next day because after our two stops, it was a two hour ferry ride and a seven hour bus ride that included an accident, so I'm glad I was rested. The first stop was lava cave that was really interesting (and freezing) and the second was a maze that was not interesting. On the ferry ride back we watched the Korean version of American Idol. That show is on pretty much all the time, I'm assuming. I see it everywhere I go and once, in a bar, it was on the entire 4 hours we were there. Not sure what that was about.
Anyway, there was really bad traffic on the bus ride home and the bus driver rear ended another car, which then hit the car in front of it. No one was hurt, thankfully, and there was little damage to the cars. The most entertaining part was the Korean police officers that parked on the opposite side of the interstate and then just wandered across three lanes of busy traffic just blowing their whistles. Also entertaining, when we called our trip leader (on the other bus) and he's just like, oh ok, you guys are fine and will be on your way soon. This trip leader was one of the most ridiculous people I've ever met (he described Crater Mountain as "one of UNESCO's most fucking awesome coolest places in the world"), but he was right. He led us to some cool shit too, so I'm not complaining.
So that was my weekend. Again, awesome. This week has been flying by and tomorrow (Friday) we have a school cookout. A lot of people are being lame and not coming, but screw them. Me and my soju are going to have a great time! Then I'm going dancing. Can't wait!
Dream big people!
31 May 2012
23 May 2012
Le Tired
Hi friends! What a good weekend! Had kind of a crappy ending, as my allergies came back with a vengeance. Last night I couldn't decide if I was dreaming or if I was really that miserable with my stuffy nose and coughing. I'm guessing it was real since I woke up pretty much the same way. Damn pollen! Or yellow dust...or whatever they have here.
Feeling a little better today, but still not 100%. I have some meds, so we'll see how things are tomorrow. Anyway, the weekend! Friday I went to a Korean baseball game and it was tons of fun. So different from American baseball! Well, the same game and all that, but different atmosphere. I always had a great time at Dodger's games, but the crowd at this game was just total insanity and it was awesome. Nearly everyone had thundersticks, and a bucket of fried chicken (they are crazy for fried chicken over here). There were also cheerleaders and an actual cheer leader. This guy was standing on the dugout doing all kinds of dances and leading the crowd. I was in the cheap seats, in the outfield, so things were not quite as exciting in my section, but I could see and hear everything. They have a different cheer for each player, so they do his cheer when it's his turn to bat. Some of them are to really random songs, like "It's a Small World" and "Jesus Loves Me." They are, of course, all in Korean, so I couldn't really songs so I would either make up my own words or I would sing the real words. I'm sure everyone around me appreciated that. Anyway, the actual game wasn't all that exciting until the end, when "my" team (I just randomly decided to support a team) lost when they were down by run and the pitch hitter on second tried to steal third and got thrown out. Sucks to be him! After that, I cheered myself up with some Soju (Korean alcohol) and dancing so I was happy.
Saturday I went to the Lotus Lantern Festival, held in honor of Buddha's birthday, which is next Monday. It was really really cool. One of the coolest parades I have ever seen. And I've seen the Disney parade, so yeah, pretty cool. I put some pictures on fb and will do it here as well, but probably later because right now I am super tired. This cold or whatever I have going on is making me exhausted. But the parade had a lot of traditional Korean clothes, dancing, and homemade lanterns and the whole thing was just really interesting. I was, however, getting pretty fed up with parade bystanders. They had up barricades along the side of the road but they had gotten knocked down where we were standing so people just kept creeping out onto the road (and parade route) and it was really hard to see. I am a rules person, so I didn't want to be out in the road, so I was just getting angry. Plus, some of the people were getting in the way of the people in the road! What the hell? Move! Finally a "security guard" pushed them back some but we found somewhere else to stand. Rude.
Sunday I did some shopping and now it's Wednesday and I haven't really done anything interesting. Oh, I did get my haircut on Sunday and he straightened it again. Apparently this time it looked much better (than the first time) because literally, everyone at school complimented me on it. It was quite lovely. However, I'm a little worried to go back to the curly style because based on the compliments, I look a million times better with straight hair. It's too much work to do all the time so I am just going to have to be ugly some of the time. Sad.
Today at school we finally had our "Open Class," when the mommies come and watch us give a lesson. It's really more of a play than an actual class since the kids have to sing and dance and have rehearsed lines. It was kind of a stressful event, especially since some of the admin and other teachers make this HUGE deal about it. I guess if the moms don't like what they see, life gets difficult, but I didn't really think it was that big of a deal. However, I also think my parents seem pretty chill compared to other ones. Also, I was a little out of it, since I had taken cough medicine and it was a million degrees in our classroom. I honestly don't remember most of it. I do remember I asked the kids if they knew a grain other than rice and bread and no one answered, and then I couldn't think of one either so I just kind of tampered off and then started a new sentence. Hopefully no one caught that. And, pasta. Pasta is another grain in case you were stumped as well.
Oh! And I got a package in the mail from my mom this week and that made me SUPER happy. So if anyone else would like to make me happy, feel free to send some mail. I'll send you something cool and Korean back if you do!!!
Going to Jeju this weekend! Excited!!!
Whew, all this typing has made me extremely tired. Think I'll go to bed soon. It's 9:00.
Dream big people!
Feeling a little better today, but still not 100%. I have some meds, so we'll see how things are tomorrow. Anyway, the weekend! Friday I went to a Korean baseball game and it was tons of fun. So different from American baseball! Well, the same game and all that, but different atmosphere. I always had a great time at Dodger's games, but the crowd at this game was just total insanity and it was awesome. Nearly everyone had thundersticks, and a bucket of fried chicken (they are crazy for fried chicken over here). There were also cheerleaders and an actual cheer leader. This guy was standing on the dugout doing all kinds of dances and leading the crowd. I was in the cheap seats, in the outfield, so things were not quite as exciting in my section, but I could see and hear everything. They have a different cheer for each player, so they do his cheer when it's his turn to bat. Some of them are to really random songs, like "It's a Small World" and "Jesus Loves Me." They are, of course, all in Korean, so I couldn't really songs so I would either make up my own words or I would sing the real words. I'm sure everyone around me appreciated that. Anyway, the actual game wasn't all that exciting until the end, when "my" team (I just randomly decided to support a team) lost when they were down by run and the pitch hitter on second tried to steal third and got thrown out. Sucks to be him! After that, I cheered myself up with some Soju (Korean alcohol) and dancing so I was happy.
Saturday I went to the Lotus Lantern Festival, held in honor of Buddha's birthday, which is next Monday. It was really really cool. One of the coolest parades I have ever seen. And I've seen the Disney parade, so yeah, pretty cool. I put some pictures on fb and will do it here as well, but probably later because right now I am super tired. This cold or whatever I have going on is making me exhausted. But the parade had a lot of traditional Korean clothes, dancing, and homemade lanterns and the whole thing was just really interesting. I was, however, getting pretty fed up with parade bystanders. They had up barricades along the side of the road but they had gotten knocked down where we were standing so people just kept creeping out onto the road (and parade route) and it was really hard to see. I am a rules person, so I didn't want to be out in the road, so I was just getting angry. Plus, some of the people were getting in the way of the people in the road! What the hell? Move! Finally a "security guard" pushed them back some but we found somewhere else to stand. Rude.
Sunday I did some shopping and now it's Wednesday and I haven't really done anything interesting. Oh, I did get my haircut on Sunday and he straightened it again. Apparently this time it looked much better (than the first time) because literally, everyone at school complimented me on it. It was quite lovely. However, I'm a little worried to go back to the curly style because based on the compliments, I look a million times better with straight hair. It's too much work to do all the time so I am just going to have to be ugly some of the time. Sad.
Today at school we finally had our "Open Class," when the mommies come and watch us give a lesson. It's really more of a play than an actual class since the kids have to sing and dance and have rehearsed lines. It was kind of a stressful event, especially since some of the admin and other teachers make this HUGE deal about it. I guess if the moms don't like what they see, life gets difficult, but I didn't really think it was that big of a deal. However, I also think my parents seem pretty chill compared to other ones. Also, I was a little out of it, since I had taken cough medicine and it was a million degrees in our classroom. I honestly don't remember most of it. I do remember I asked the kids if they knew a grain other than rice and bread and no one answered, and then I couldn't think of one either so I just kind of tampered off and then started a new sentence. Hopefully no one caught that. And, pasta. Pasta is another grain in case you were stumped as well.
Oh! And I got a package in the mail from my mom this week and that made me SUPER happy. So if anyone else would like to make me happy, feel free to send some mail. I'll send you something cool and Korean back if you do!!!
Going to Jeju this weekend! Excited!!!
Whew, all this typing has made me extremely tired. Think I'll go to bed soon. It's 9:00.
Dream big people!
14 May 2012
Free stuff, FTW!
Today was awesome! It started off crappy, with rain and a frustrating morning meeting, but it improved 1000% by the end of the day.
Bad stuff first. Apparently it is a big no no for parents to give us presents. Even though it's teachers day AND the school didn't give us anything AND we work really hard AND we don't get paid all that much. But whatever. I'm not saying I deserve anything extra, but I think if the parents want to give us something, they should be able to do that. But no, the company makes this big deal and tells the parents to not give us gifts and today we were told that we would get punished for accepting them. They think we are going to show favoritism to kids whose parents give us gifts or some bullshit like that. Again, not that I expect to be showered in gifts, but I really don't think giving me a small token of appreciation is going to change my opinion of your child. It's especially frustrating because they don't even get grades or anything! I really just don't even understand how favoritism would even be shown. Like, would I start giving an excessive amount of high fives and hugs to one kid because his parents gave me a gift certificate? No. That is ridiculous. And the even more ridiculous part is that our supervisor was saying that some of the parents are sneaky and will offer up the present and then tattle on us if we keep it. They'll tell the other parents and look down on us. WHAT THE FUCK PEOPLE?! Seriously the stupidest thing I've ever heard. I haven't had to deal first hand with any total crazy parents yet, but some of the stories I've heard have made them sound straight up psycho. Some were at the school spying on a teacher the other day! Not looking forward to my turn. Today I did get some cookies and apparently we are only allowed to keep presents we can eat. Which makes zero sense because it's still a form of "bribing" if that's how you want to look at it and furthermore, I don't want to keep the edible presents because I'm trying to lose weight AND Korean sweets are the least appetizing thing ever. So dammit. Additionally, I think it would be kind of rude to just give a present. Like, thanks for your thoughtfulness, but no thanks. Whatever. Spent too long on the bad news.
The good news! Lots of it! I found the Subway today! And it tasted the same as at home! Yay, got my sandwich fix. Also, our principal agreed to let my friend and I host Zumba classes in the gym after school some days. This is going to be hilarious and awesome. Zumba is super fun and while I have a great time with my one woman Zumba party in my room, it's kind of small and lonely. So having it in the gym will be nice. Also, doing it with other people will be really fun. It might be a little hard since no one else has done it and we don't have a teacher...we just have to follow along with online videos. We'll see how it goes...I'll keep you posted. Plus I get to go to a legit class tomorrow! Maybe we can talk that teacher into coming to our school. It's kind of far. We'll see. Our principal also agreed to let us have a teacher's cookout on our roof in a few weeks, so that will be fun as well.
More good news! Going to a baseball game on Friday! Fun fun! And, there is a lantern festival this weekend and it looks SUPER fun. I can't wait! The stuff online looks amazing. And on Sunday you can make your own Buddhist paper lantern and "pray for your wishes." So hopefully after this weekend all my dreams will come true. Can't wait.
And the best news! I got a ton of free shit today! A girl in my building is moving out and is giving away tons of stuff. I got shoes, a table, a bookshelf, a Swiffer, all kinds of awesome stuff!!! I am seriously so stoked. I have been scouring the internet for a bookshelf and not only did I NOT have to pay for this one, but it was just two floors down from me! Free stuff is awesome! Hooray!!!! Monday, for the win! :)
A sandwich and a free bookshelf! What a good day.
Oh, also, not to totally copy LizzyLou, but I've decided to start posting my craftiness as well! I made it a page on the side ----> http://jackydoeslife.blogspot.com/p/craft-craft-craft-it-up.html Check it out, if you want.
Dream big people!
Oh yeah, and if you didn't watch Will Ferrell host Saturday Night Live, you should look that shit up right now and laugh your ass off. Funkytown was amazing and the 100th Digital Short rocked my face off. I was literally laughing out loud in my apartment, by myself.
Pics of the free stuff:
Bad stuff first. Apparently it is a big no no for parents to give us presents. Even though it's teachers day AND the school didn't give us anything AND we work really hard AND we don't get paid all that much. But whatever. I'm not saying I deserve anything extra, but I think if the parents want to give us something, they should be able to do that. But no, the company makes this big deal and tells the parents to not give us gifts and today we were told that we would get punished for accepting them. They think we are going to show favoritism to kids whose parents give us gifts or some bullshit like that. Again, not that I expect to be showered in gifts, but I really don't think giving me a small token of appreciation is going to change my opinion of your child. It's especially frustrating because they don't even get grades or anything! I really just don't even understand how favoritism would even be shown. Like, would I start giving an excessive amount of high fives and hugs to one kid because his parents gave me a gift certificate? No. That is ridiculous. And the even more ridiculous part is that our supervisor was saying that some of the parents are sneaky and will offer up the present and then tattle on us if we keep it. They'll tell the other parents and look down on us. WHAT THE FUCK PEOPLE?! Seriously the stupidest thing I've ever heard. I haven't had to deal first hand with any total crazy parents yet, but some of the stories I've heard have made them sound straight up psycho. Some were at the school spying on a teacher the other day! Not looking forward to my turn. Today I did get some cookies and apparently we are only allowed to keep presents we can eat. Which makes zero sense because it's still a form of "bribing" if that's how you want to look at it and furthermore, I don't want to keep the edible presents because I'm trying to lose weight AND Korean sweets are the least appetizing thing ever. So dammit. Additionally, I think it would be kind of rude to just give a present. Like, thanks for your thoughtfulness, but no thanks. Whatever. Spent too long on the bad news.
The good news! Lots of it! I found the Subway today! And it tasted the same as at home! Yay, got my sandwich fix. Also, our principal agreed to let my friend and I host Zumba classes in the gym after school some days. This is going to be hilarious and awesome. Zumba is super fun and while I have a great time with my one woman Zumba party in my room, it's kind of small and lonely. So having it in the gym will be nice. Also, doing it with other people will be really fun. It might be a little hard since no one else has done it and we don't have a teacher...we just have to follow along with online videos. We'll see how it goes...I'll keep you posted. Plus I get to go to a legit class tomorrow! Maybe we can talk that teacher into coming to our school. It's kind of far. We'll see. Our principal also agreed to let us have a teacher's cookout on our roof in a few weeks, so that will be fun as well.
More good news! Going to a baseball game on Friday! Fun fun! And, there is a lantern festival this weekend and it looks SUPER fun. I can't wait! The stuff online looks amazing. And on Sunday you can make your own Buddhist paper lantern and "pray for your wishes." So hopefully after this weekend all my dreams will come true. Can't wait.
And the best news! I got a ton of free shit today! A girl in my building is moving out and is giving away tons of stuff. I got shoes, a table, a bookshelf, a Swiffer, all kinds of awesome stuff!!! I am seriously so stoked. I have been scouring the internet for a bookshelf and not only did I NOT have to pay for this one, but it was just two floors down from me! Free stuff is awesome! Hooray!!!! Monday, for the win! :)
A sandwich and a free bookshelf! What a good day.
Oh, also, not to totally copy LizzyLou, but I've decided to start posting my craftiness as well! I made it a page on the side ----> http://jackydoeslife.blogspot.com/p/craft-craft-craft-it-up.html Check it out, if you want.
Dream big people!
Oh yeah, and if you didn't watch Will Ferrell host Saturday Night Live, you should look that shit up right now and laugh your ass off. Funkytown was amazing and the 100th Digital Short rocked my face off. I was literally laughing out loud in my apartment, by myself.
Pics of the free stuff:
11 May 2012
I am a good sister
Just wanted to let everyone know that my sister started a blog about the cute things she makes. So check it out yo!
http://lizzylou-erik2.blogspot.com/?spref=fb
So, all 12 followers, enjoy!
And like I said, I myself have really been into the crayon medium lately so maybe I'll post some of my fantastic creations when I feel like uploading pictures. For now, enjoy her crafts!
Annyeoung!
Dream big people :)
http://lizzylou-erik2.blogspot.com/?spref=fb
So, all 12 followers, enjoy!
And like I said, I myself have really been into the crayon medium lately so maybe I'll post some of my fantastic creations when I feel like uploading pictures. For now, enjoy her crafts!
Annyeoung!
Dream big people :)
09 May 2012
Sea Mustard Soup
Health and food month is proving to be a bit difficult here in Korea. For one thing, when I try to get the kids to talk about what they had for breakfast, I get a bunch of blank stares. I think part of the problem is that they only know the foods in Korean and eat a lot of foods that there isn't an English translation for (or they don't know it). I managed to get "sea mustard soup" out of one girl as her breakfast meal. I have no idea what that is, but it doesn't really sound like an appetizing breakfast to me. Another one said rice, which also doesn't seem that tasty in the morning. That also means they have rice for at least breakfast and lunch (we have it everyday at lunch) and I'm guessing they probably have it at dinner as well. That is a shit ton of rice. I eat the rice once every few weeks...I can't imagine eating it for every meal of the day.
Every day we have a "password" and the kids are supposed to keep repeating it all day. It's basically just another stupid thing we have to worry about during the day. Yesterday's was "I had breakfast this morning," which is why we were discussing breakfast food. I loved today's password, "lunch was delicious" for a couple of reasons. One, it was boiled octopus day, along with kimchi and rice, of course. So, I don't really think lunch really was all that delicious, but whatever, I don't make the passwords. But also, the kids saying it was cracking me up so much. Delicious is a pretty long and grown up word for them and it was pretty hilarious to hear them all saying it. Plus, now, they all say, "jacky teacher, delicious!" for the snack or whatever instead of "yummy." They grow up so fast.
I really do like school, but damn if they don't make us do SO much stuff. Pretty much every day something new gets added onto my to do list and it never all gets done. I wouldn't mind so much if we didn't have to do the stupid after school classes. What bothers me about those is there is no book or anything so I just have to find stupid crap to do for an hour and a half. Whatever, enough complaining.
We got two new students this week. One is a little girl and her dad was a famous soccer player in Korea and is now on the Korean version of Dancing With the Stars. (*note: this may not be true. I just spent the better part of an hour looking for this guy and found nothing. It's what I was told, but my school is full of crap sometimes) I can't wait to meet him so we can discuss our TV star lifestyles. Also awesome, she has a brother who's English name is Messi. Pretty fantastic. Her name is not after anyone cool...that I know of anyway. Messi is a super famous soccer player for Barcelona and he just broke some major goal scoring record recently. You can also see him in the 'Waka Waka' video from the World Cup 2010. He's the one with the really bad hair. Anyway, I guess the dad is a fan. I've heard from another teacher they knew a kid named Totti, who is a famous soccer player for Roma. Cracks me up.
Anyway, went to Zumba last night! Super fun, so glad I found a class here. It's pretty far to get to, but I think it'll be fun if my friends go as well. It wasn't as fun as in LA, but it might have been because it was in a teeny tiny bar with a pretty crappy sound system instead of a gym, but whatever.
So, yeah, I'm done with this post. I just realized how boring and stupid it is. Sorry friends.
Dream big people!
Every day we have a "password" and the kids are supposed to keep repeating it all day. It's basically just another stupid thing we have to worry about during the day. Yesterday's was "I had breakfast this morning," which is why we were discussing breakfast food. I loved today's password, "lunch was delicious" for a couple of reasons. One, it was boiled octopus day, along with kimchi and rice, of course. So, I don't really think lunch really was all that delicious, but whatever, I don't make the passwords. But also, the kids saying it was cracking me up so much. Delicious is a pretty long and grown up word for them and it was pretty hilarious to hear them all saying it. Plus, now, they all say, "jacky teacher, delicious!" for the snack or whatever instead of "yummy." They grow up so fast.
I really do like school, but damn if they don't make us do SO much stuff. Pretty much every day something new gets added onto my to do list and it never all gets done. I wouldn't mind so much if we didn't have to do the stupid after school classes. What bothers me about those is there is no book or anything so I just have to find stupid crap to do for an hour and a half. Whatever, enough complaining.
We got two new students this week. One is a little girl and her dad was a famous soccer player in Korea and is now on the Korean version of Dancing With the Stars. (*note: this may not be true. I just spent the better part of an hour looking for this guy and found nothing. It's what I was told, but my school is full of crap sometimes) I can't wait to meet him so we can discuss our TV star lifestyles. Also awesome, she has a brother who's English name is Messi. Pretty fantastic. Her name is not after anyone cool...that I know of anyway. Messi is a super famous soccer player for Barcelona and he just broke some major goal scoring record recently. You can also see him in the 'Waka Waka' video from the World Cup 2010. He's the one with the really bad hair. Anyway, I guess the dad is a fan. I've heard from another teacher they knew a kid named Totti, who is a famous soccer player for Roma. Cracks me up.
Anyway, went to Zumba last night! Super fun, so glad I found a class here. It's pretty far to get to, but I think it'll be fun if my friends go as well. It wasn't as fun as in LA, but it might have been because it was in a teeny tiny bar with a pretty crappy sound system instead of a gym, but whatever.
So, yeah, I'm done with this post. I just realized how boring and stupid it is. Sorry friends.
Dream big people!
08 May 2012
What Remind is Future
The title is what I saw on a woman's t-shirt the other day on my walk to school. Love it! Makes no sense whatsoever, but who cares. I love that someone was like, yes, let's put that on a shirt. Then someone else approved it and did the actual making of the shirt. And then yet another person was like, ok, I'm going to buy this and wear it out in public now. And none of these people questioned the validity of this English statement. Again, love it. Can't say that I wouldn't do the same with shirts in other languages. Couldn't tell you what they said and probably wouldn't care. My only thing...the shirt with this sentence had only the words on it...not even anything else. So I'm not sure what kind of statement they were trying to make. Anyway.
Happy late Cinco de Mayo everyone! But even more important, HAPPY 2 YEAR ELLEN ANNIVERSARY!!!!! Yes yes, the best and most awesome day of my life ever (it's in close competition for one other day, but still remains the best) happened two years ago on May 5 and thus catapulted me into TV stardom. Seriously, I can't walk around anywhere without getting stared at. Here, it may be because I'm one of very few non-Korean people wandering around, but whatever. It happens all the time. But, that is the price you have to pay for being awesome and famous.
May 5 is also the day I graduated from college FIVE years ago! Time is just flying by! Seriously, I can't believe it's been five years. Lots of craziness has gone in these five years. Don't feel like getting into all that now.
What I do feel like sharing is my fantastic victory over Korea today. I bought ONE tomato!!! Take that, stupid grocery store and even stupider veggie selling truck man!!! I get what I want, bitches! And I wanted one tomato. If graduating from college five years ago is not a sign of getting old, I definitely think counting buying one tomato as a major victory is a big sign. Also, a sign of slightly sad and lonely life. But whatever! I have regained some faith in this crazy country I'm in. Things are looking up. As are the temperatures. See what I did there? Nice.
Anyway, it is a little late for me to be posting. Nothing too exciting going on over here other than making new friends, enjoying my one tomato and been really getting into crayons lately. And I'm really looking forward to tomorrow because I found a Zumba class to go to!!! Yay!!!!
Dream big people!
PS-In case you needed a reminder of the awesomeness:
Happy late Cinco de Mayo everyone! But even more important, HAPPY 2 YEAR ELLEN ANNIVERSARY!!!!! Yes yes, the best and most awesome day of my life ever (it's in close competition for one other day, but still remains the best) happened two years ago on May 5 and thus catapulted me into TV stardom. Seriously, I can't walk around anywhere without getting stared at. Here, it may be because I'm one of very few non-Korean people wandering around, but whatever. It happens all the time. But, that is the price you have to pay for being awesome and famous.
May 5 is also the day I graduated from college FIVE years ago! Time is just flying by! Seriously, I can't believe it's been five years. Lots of craziness has gone in these five years. Don't feel like getting into all that now.
What I do feel like sharing is my fantastic victory over Korea today. I bought ONE tomato!!! Take that, stupid grocery store and even stupider veggie selling truck man!!! I get what I want, bitches! And I wanted one tomato. If graduating from college five years ago is not a sign of getting old, I definitely think counting buying one tomato as a major victory is a big sign. Also, a sign of slightly sad and lonely life. But whatever! I have regained some faith in this crazy country I'm in. Things are looking up. As are the temperatures. See what I did there? Nice.
Anyway, it is a little late for me to be posting. Nothing too exciting going on over here other than making new friends, enjoying my one tomato and been really getting into crayons lately. And I'm really looking forward to tomorrow because I found a Zumba class to go to!!! Yay!!!!
Dream big people!
PS-In case you needed a reminder of the awesomeness:
02 May 2012
Eat Your Rice
Nothing super exciting going on over here in the far East. The prison tour last week was pretty interesting. It was where the Japanese people kept Korean activists during the Japanese occupation in the early 1900s. Apparently the Japanese were total jerks. I kept my Japanese heritage to myself during the tour...I just felt it wasn't something my company needed to know. Not that I'm ashamed or anything, I just didn't feel it needed to be brought up then. There is still some animosity against the Japanese here, mainly with the older generations but I think most of it is gone now...or people my age are just kind of indifferent. Anyway, they have a museum and people can go into the basement and see how people were tortured. Our guide said they used to have reenactments and sound effects, but it was making children cry, so they stopped. And I'm glad, it was pretty creepy down there and I don't think I would have enjoyed screaming sounds in addition. They also had this box type thing that was supposed to be designed so that you couldn't stand up all the way...they would lock you in there for a few days. However, I could stand up in it just fine. I guess I am short, even by Asian standards.
After the tour, we went on a hike that was described as "easy" by our guide but my out of shape self did not find it particularly easy. It was a lot of steps and some pretty steep climbing for a pretty long amount of time. I did make it to the top, though, and go a lovely view of some construction. There were other spots where you could get a good view of Seoul, so it was nice. It was an intense walk down, almost harder than walking up. Our guide fell and possibly broke his ankle, so that was no good. There are guards are all over the place on the trail, and they are apparently not trained in emergency rescue tactics. I was told they are mainly up there so people don't take pictures of the "Blue House," which is the Korean version of the White House. However, everyone around me was taking pictures of whatever and no one was saying anything, so I'm not really sure what they are for.
Anyway, nothing too exciting this week. Had our random day off yesterday. I got some rest, took a nice stroll around a park, had Indian food for a friend's birthday and had some wine down by the river. The weather is finally nice and it's been really nice to chill down by the river in the evening. I also went "running" down by the river today and it was lovely. There are a ton of gnats, all in these huge swarms, but you can kind of dodge them if you're paying attention.
Oh yeah, so this month's theme is "health and nutrition." It already makes me laugh that we're teaching them about "healthy" eating, but the school food doesn't really include a lot of fruit and veggies...also, the Korean teachers encourage them to eat all their rice..not all their veggies. Anyway, not that I'm one to harp on healthy eating, but I also love that this Friday we're celebrating "Children's Day" by giving them a chicken burger and a soda for a picnic. Eat healthy kids...but only at home. Love it.
Looking forward to the weekend! A very important anniversary is coming up! Exciting!!!
Dream big people!
After the tour, we went on a hike that was described as "easy" by our guide but my out of shape self did not find it particularly easy. It was a lot of steps and some pretty steep climbing for a pretty long amount of time. I did make it to the top, though, and go a lovely view of some construction. There were other spots where you could get a good view of Seoul, so it was nice. It was an intense walk down, almost harder than walking up. Our guide fell and possibly broke his ankle, so that was no good. There are guards are all over the place on the trail, and they are apparently not trained in emergency rescue tactics. I was told they are mainly up there so people don't take pictures of the "Blue House," which is the Korean version of the White House. However, everyone around me was taking pictures of whatever and no one was saying anything, so I'm not really sure what they are for.
Anyway, nothing too exciting this week. Had our random day off yesterday. I got some rest, took a nice stroll around a park, had Indian food for a friend's birthday and had some wine down by the river. The weather is finally nice and it's been really nice to chill down by the river in the evening. I also went "running" down by the river today and it was lovely. There are a ton of gnats, all in these huge swarms, but you can kind of dodge them if you're paying attention.
Oh yeah, so this month's theme is "health and nutrition." It already makes me laugh that we're teaching them about "healthy" eating, but the school food doesn't really include a lot of fruit and veggies...also, the Korean teachers encourage them to eat all their rice..not all their veggies. Anyway, not that I'm one to harp on healthy eating, but I also love that this Friday we're celebrating "Children's Day" by giving them a chicken burger and a soda for a picnic. Eat healthy kids...but only at home. Love it.
Looking forward to the weekend! A very important anniversary is coming up! Exciting!!!
Dream big people!
28 April 2012
Clap your hands, yall
Watched the Whitney episode of Glee last week and have been a Whitney kick since then. She's so good. And so pretty. So many amazing songs. I can't believe I didn't have My Love is Your Love on my ipod. Or When You Believe. What was I thinking? Oh yeah, I was thinking I had to narrow it down to the best of the best when my mom reclaimed her ipod (booo) last year and I was reduced to the piddly ipod touch that only holds around 1000 songs. Lame. Maybe after Korea makes me rich, I'll buy myself an ipod. Yeah right, I'm going to spend all my money on shoes, food and traveling before I save enough for such things. (birthday present...July...wink wink)
Speaking of spending money, I discovered the best store ever today! Well, I didn't actually discover it...I had been there before but I didn't have the time to explore it to the fullest and I did today. It is FANTASTIC. It's kind of like a Wal-Mart, but more expensive. So like Target I guess. But with 4 floors. And with food. And a pet store where you can buy super cute puppies. I resisted. But the food is the best part...because guess what I can buy there?! ONE TOMATO!!!!! Best discovery of my Korean life, obvi. It also has a pretty nice selection of cheese, as well as wheat bread and tons of other things the grocery stores near me don't have. This place isn't too far...a 20 minute walk probably. Not so bad now that it's warmer. And worth it for the good cheese, if nothing else. Oh yeah, and there are tons of free samples of stuff, which is awesome.
Oh, and I love this Korean nonsense: We got a memo on Friday that lets us know we now have the day off on Tuesday. I love the ridiculous short noticeness of it all. It's the Korean Labor Day and our company I guess just decided yesterday we should have the day off...4 day notice. Love it. We were also supposed to have a teacher workshop with other schools in the area next Friday, but because of the new day off, we will now have off and the workshop is rescheduled for DECEMBER 12. Awesome. I mean, whatever, I wasn't really looking forward to the workshop nor did I have big plans for Tuesday, but it just cracks me up that they tell us Friday we have a day off the next Tuesday. Fantastic. I've learned to mark everything on the calendar in pencil..nothing is certain here. Not even 4 days before.
Last but not least, if you have Skype, you apparently have to update now to the newest version (5.9) in order to see video. So update and talk to me! I discovered that the ridiculously long way today EVEN THOUGH I had already checked on the website and it told me I had the latest version. Apparently not. I love Skype, but why can't they just have a little pop up that says, update here: blahblahblah or you can't see video. The end, thank you very much, problem solved. Ugh, whatever. Technology is really annoying sometimes. Especially when things think they have to constantly revamp their appearance and make everyone get used to a whole new set up that very rarely has any interesting/useful new features (ahem, blogger). I'm talking about pretty much everything but the biggest pain is the new gmail. I think it's because of my stupid small computer, but the new layout makes it SO annoying to read emails. I hate you, new gmail! Let me go back to the old way, please! Pretty please!
Anyway, I have an early morning tomorrow. Going on a tour of a prison and a hike. Exciting, but it sucks because I'll be getting up earlier than I do for work. Totally lame. So now I'm going watch Corrina, Corrina (throw back to 5th grade) and make birthday cards. Thrilling, I know. But I'm happy. :)
Dream big people!
Speaking of spending money, I discovered the best store ever today! Well, I didn't actually discover it...I had been there before but I didn't have the time to explore it to the fullest and I did today. It is FANTASTIC. It's kind of like a Wal-Mart, but more expensive. So like Target I guess. But with 4 floors. And with food. And a pet store where you can buy super cute puppies. I resisted. But the food is the best part...because guess what I can buy there?! ONE TOMATO!!!!! Best discovery of my Korean life, obvi. It also has a pretty nice selection of cheese, as well as wheat bread and tons of other things the grocery stores near me don't have. This place isn't too far...a 20 minute walk probably. Not so bad now that it's warmer. And worth it for the good cheese, if nothing else. Oh yeah, and there are tons of free samples of stuff, which is awesome.
Oh, and I love this Korean nonsense: We got a memo on Friday that lets us know we now have the day off on Tuesday. I love the ridiculous short noticeness of it all. It's the Korean Labor Day and our company I guess just decided yesterday we should have the day off...4 day notice. Love it. We were also supposed to have a teacher workshop with other schools in the area next Friday, but because of the new day off, we will now have off and the workshop is rescheduled for DECEMBER 12. Awesome. I mean, whatever, I wasn't really looking forward to the workshop nor did I have big plans for Tuesday, but it just cracks me up that they tell us Friday we have a day off the next Tuesday. Fantastic. I've learned to mark everything on the calendar in pencil..nothing is certain here. Not even 4 days before.
Last but not least, if you have Skype, you apparently have to update now to the newest version (5.9) in order to see video. So update and talk to me! I discovered that the ridiculously long way today EVEN THOUGH I had already checked on the website and it told me I had the latest version. Apparently not. I love Skype, but why can't they just have a little pop up that says, update here: blahblahblah or you can't see video. The end, thank you very much, problem solved. Ugh, whatever. Technology is really annoying sometimes. Especially when things think they have to constantly revamp their appearance and make everyone get used to a whole new set up that very rarely has any interesting/useful new features (ahem, blogger). I'm talking about pretty much everything but the biggest pain is the new gmail. I think it's because of my stupid small computer, but the new layout makes it SO annoying to read emails. I hate you, new gmail! Let me go back to the old way, please! Pretty please!
Anyway, I have an early morning tomorrow. Going on a tour of a prison and a hike. Exciting, but it sucks because I'll be getting up earlier than I do for work. Totally lame. So now I'm going watch Corrina, Corrina (throw back to 5th grade) and make birthday cards. Thrilling, I know. But I'm happy. :)
Dream big people!
23 April 2012
The Tomato Saga
This is pretty much the worst story ever, but I'm putting it on here because I would feel too lame retelling it to people at school. One, I'm pretty sure no one would care and two, I will hopefully be over it by tomorrow.
Ok, so. Last week I bought some onions at the grocery store, as well as some balsamic vinegar, olives and feta cheese. Then I got the great idea that I would make myself a yummy Greek salad with these lovely ingredients, I just needed to buy a tomato. I didn't have time last week, so that was my mission for today: buy a tomato. Emphasis on the A. Just one tomato. So, after school today I was all excited about my Greek salad dinner and off the the grocery store I went. I tend to get fixated on ideas and once I decide I'm going to do it, nothing can stop me. Even if it's just making dinner.
At the first grocery store, you can't buy just one tomato. You can either buy a bag of 6 or a container of cherry tomatoes. Here's the problem: I don't really like tomatoes except in a Greek salad or caprese situation. So I definitely would not eat the 5 other tomatoes. I just wanted one. Next grocery store...same problem, only this time the only option was this huge box of tomatoes with like, 12 inside. You would have to be some sort of tomato loving fool for all those.
Now I'm getting frustrated. I just want a damn tomato, I'm hungry and my feet are hurting. Then I remember there is a guy that sells fruit and vegetables from a truck across the street from my apartment. I was kind of trying to avoid this option because I didn't want to attempt trying to talk with this man, but my options were limited. So I go there...he's not there. I mean, who leaves their veggies truck abandoned? I was sooo tempted to just take one and leave a 1000 won bill there, but I didn't want to get questioned by anyone watching. So I wait and wait and wait and finally he comes back. His tomatoes are in these bowls with like, 10 in each bowl. I say "hana" (that means one) and point and put up one finger, just in case I'm not saying hana correctly. Through some rude gestures and exasperated facial expressions I learn you cannot buy one tomato, you have to buy the whole stupid bowl. WHAT THE HELL PEOPLE?? Why can't I have just ONE gd tomato?
Of all the stupid nonsense that has gone on in this country since I got here, this is the first time I got truly upset and frustrated. I think it was a combination of looking forward to it since last week, being hungry, striking out at two previous places and overall, just putting way too much time and energy into something really stupid and insignificant. Bah! Plus, the man was so rude! What a stinker. And again, why the hell can't I just buy one tomato? The grocery stores here are so small and frustrating...I have to go to one for chicken and another if I want carrots. I'm going to make it through this grocery store situation, but I kind of miss one stop shopping.
Whatever, over it now. I also tried the corner convenience store, and while they have individual apples, onions, dried fish heads, and assortment of other completely random products, they did not have just one tomato for me to buy. So I had chicken and onions for dinner instead.
Again, sorry this is the worst story ever, but there is no one else around to listen.
For some good news, my kids were super cute as always today and it's starting to warm up! Hooray! Also, putting my ipod on shuffle is awesome.
Dream big people!
Ok, so. Last week I bought some onions at the grocery store, as well as some balsamic vinegar, olives and feta cheese. Then I got the great idea that I would make myself a yummy Greek salad with these lovely ingredients, I just needed to buy a tomato. I didn't have time last week, so that was my mission for today: buy a tomato. Emphasis on the A. Just one tomato. So, after school today I was all excited about my Greek salad dinner and off the the grocery store I went. I tend to get fixated on ideas and once I decide I'm going to do it, nothing can stop me. Even if it's just making dinner.
At the first grocery store, you can't buy just one tomato. You can either buy a bag of 6 or a container of cherry tomatoes. Here's the problem: I don't really like tomatoes except in a Greek salad or caprese situation. So I definitely would not eat the 5 other tomatoes. I just wanted one. Next grocery store...same problem, only this time the only option was this huge box of tomatoes with like, 12 inside. You would have to be some sort of tomato loving fool for all those.
Now I'm getting frustrated. I just want a damn tomato, I'm hungry and my feet are hurting. Then I remember there is a guy that sells fruit and vegetables from a truck across the street from my apartment. I was kind of trying to avoid this option because I didn't want to attempt trying to talk with this man, but my options were limited. So I go there...he's not there. I mean, who leaves their veggies truck abandoned? I was sooo tempted to just take one and leave a 1000 won bill there, but I didn't want to get questioned by anyone watching. So I wait and wait and wait and finally he comes back. His tomatoes are in these bowls with like, 10 in each bowl. I say "hana" (that means one) and point and put up one finger, just in case I'm not saying hana correctly. Through some rude gestures and exasperated facial expressions I learn you cannot buy one tomato, you have to buy the whole stupid bowl. WHAT THE HELL PEOPLE?? Why can't I have just ONE gd tomato?
Of all the stupid nonsense that has gone on in this country since I got here, this is the first time I got truly upset and frustrated. I think it was a combination of looking forward to it since last week, being hungry, striking out at two previous places and overall, just putting way too much time and energy into something really stupid and insignificant. Bah! Plus, the man was so rude! What a stinker. And again, why the hell can't I just buy one tomato? The grocery stores here are so small and frustrating...I have to go to one for chicken and another if I want carrots. I'm going to make it through this grocery store situation, but I kind of miss one stop shopping.
Whatever, over it now. I also tried the corner convenience store, and while they have individual apples, onions, dried fish heads, and assortment of other completely random products, they did not have just one tomato for me to buy. So I had chicken and onions for dinner instead.
Again, sorry this is the worst story ever, but there is no one else around to listen.
For some good news, my kids were super cute as always today and it's starting to warm up! Hooray! Also, putting my ipod on shuffle is awesome.
Dream big people!
22 April 2012
Considerably Ferocious
The past few days have been pretty exciting! Thursday, my class went on a field trip to the Seoul Olympic Museum. It was a pretty interesting place to visit. They have a simulator ride for Kim Yu Na, who is a Korean gold medal ice skater that we did. It was a little strange, but the kids liked it. The kids also made an Olympic pictogram, which I don't think they understood what was going on, but whatever. We also wandered around the museum some. Sadly, my co-teacher is kind of anti-fun so we didn't get to stay outside and enjoy the awesome weather like the other classes. Instead, we got right back on the bus and headed back to school. It was a whirlwind of a trip...I guess it's a big pain to take lunch with us but to me, it seemed stupid to go the 45 minutes there and only stay for 3 hours. Oh well. Most of Korea makes no sense to me.
Friday the weather was fantastic again and we also had a birthday part at school! I was really looking forward to the party, but it turned out to be super lame. Apparently it's really stressful for the teachers because the moms come in and we have to make sure the class is clean, the kids are behaved, basically that everything is perfect. I didn't really care, but the moms don't usually talk to me, so I'm not the one that gets fussed at. Anyway, the kids mom brought in a cake and food for everyone. All the students have to bring a present for the birthday girl/boy and he/she stands at the front of the room and each kid comes up with their present, says "happy birthday!" and gives him/her a hug (that's a requirement). It was reallllly awkward. The poor birthday girl was sweating, she was so nervous to be in front of everyone! Then everyone sings happy birthday and we all ate in silence. It was sooo weird. The mom didn't even really talk to her child! Or me, even. She might not speak English, I don't know but she didn't even say hello! There are no games or anything...it's so bizarre. I finally put on some music because it was getting uncomfortable. I don't really remember what birthdays were like in elementary school (I never got one...stupid summer birthday), but I think it usually just involved cupcakes at the end of the day. We had cake, watermelon, chicken nuggets, grapes and cherries (in one container), cookies and juice. This was like, an hour after lunch. Korean birthday parties weird me out. Whatever...it was a nice little break from school work at least.
After school I headed to Seoul to hang out with my friend and her coworkers and we just hung out down by the river for a while. It got a little chilly at night, but it was a really nice day. It was fantastic because we were just chilling next to a free standing 7 eleven (I've never seen a free standing one!) so we could just wander in and get whatever we fancied. I had some ice cream and most people were drinking beer. Then we had fried chicken (Koreans LOVE fried chicken) delivered right to our table! Pretty awesome. We also saw a literal giant....he is a Korean boxer and he is like, 7 feet tall. His hand was the size of my torso. I reallllly wanted a picture because I'm pretty sure I would have come up to his waist, but I didn't want to ask. Lame!
Saturday my friend and I went on a tour of the DMZ (the demilitarized zone between North and South Korea) and it was really really interesting. It just sucked a little bit because it was cold and rainy the entire day, but it was still fun and a little on the crazy side. I am not going to get into all the history of the area and conflict between the two countries, but the whole thing is just nuts. And very sad, really. I mean, the country was basically just divided for no real reason, families were torn apart and now there is this really tense conflict between the two countries. Some people have no idea what happened to their family on the other side because they are not allowed to communicate. It's totally insane.
When you go on the tour, I found out you don't actually go into the demilitarized zone (I was kind of glad..seems a little scary), you are right outside where the DMZ technically starts. It's about a 2 miles wide and there is a fence in the middle where the North and South is divided, at the 38th parallel. We went to about 5 different spots where you get out and do different things. The first stop was a peace park sort of area. It has a wrecked train from the Korean War, a memorial garden, a peace bell you can pay to ring and a fence where a lot of Koreans put messages for people in the North. It's really interesting and moving but at the same time it's a little bizarre because it's really touristy. There was an amusement park and a Popeye's chicken! And you can buy DMZ t-shirts!
The next place is still touristy but it was more like a national park with an information center, rather than stuff you can buy...or rides. At this stop you could go into one of the tunnels the North dug in the 70s. The tunnel itself, like the whole thing, is just crazy. I know I sound like an idiot, but I really can't think of any other way to describe them! I think it's just a hard concept for me to grasp too. You hear about people digging tunnels in like, the Vietnam War, but this is current. I mean, this is the present reality of this country! The Northern army wanted to invade Seoul and they dug a tunnel through the earth to try and do it. The tunnels are really narrow and small. Most people had to duck, but I fit through pretty nicely, haha. The one advantage to being short, I guess. They are also pretty far underground so you have to walk down this really steep incline, which was not fun to come back up! The tunnels have "coal" painted on the walls so the North could claim they were just coal mines, and not part of an attack plan. Good try, North. This stop also had a video and a museum. Again, the whole thing was really, really interesting.
Next, we went to the last stop on the train before you get to the North. There, you can buy a "ticket" to NK and get it stamped. You can also take some pictures with the guards there. A few years ago, they were a lot closer to reconciliation and the station was built in hopes they would be able to continue into the North. According to our guide, the election of George W. Bush ruined all that, so the train stops there. Hopefully things will get back on track (literally) because if the train is able to go through the North, it would be possible to take a train from Korea all the way to Europe. That would be a pretty cool trip. Long as all hell, but cool.
Then, we went to a viewing area where you can use binoculars to look over into the North. There are two towns in the actual DMZ, one in the North and one in the South. The one in the North is rumored to be fake. Apparently if you look close, you can tell there is no glass in any of the windows
After that was lunch, which was also quite an experience, since we were in a tiny little town that I think rarely gets foreigners. The waitress person didn't really know what to do with us and kept yelling at one guy that was with us because he was being rude by sitting and eating the wrong way. It was so weird...she kept trying to turn him the right way. I thought it was strange she was doing that, but the guy was being such an ass about the whole thing. It was just uncomfortable and awkward. But, on the plus side, the food was really really good!
Next was another tunnel. This one was not as difficult to get in and out of, and it had a TV at the end of it, which I thought was pretty hilarious. I thought the tunnels were so cool. I wonder if Northerners ever still try to use them to get to the South. This place just had a small little store and you could buy Northern money and alcohol. My friend bought Kim Jung Il cognac, which I thought was totally hilarious. Our guide also got some and gave everyone on the bus a shot. It was supposed to be blueberry flavored, but it just tasted like whiskey. Warmed us up a little, at least!
Another place was where you could really see into North Korea, and see a few guard posts and roads. This place also had a museum that focused more on the lives of North Koreans, which is what really interests me. Obviously no one really knows what goes on there, but it's well known that food is hard to come by and they are no where near as advanced as the South. I also really wonder about the mindset of these people. They are fed propaganda from day one, and what little they do have is given to them by the government so I wonder if they truly support the regime or if they are faking it because they have to.
Last we stopped at a famous battle sight that also has a mini museum and a memorial statue and peace garden type of thing. There is a guard stationed there that can speak English so he gives a tour of the area. However, at this point, it was pouring down rain so the tour kind of sucked. It was really cold and hard to hear, so we got an abbreviated version. The soldier was cracking me up though, because I don't think he can really "speak" English, I think he just has his speech memorized for tourists. The phrasing of some things he said was hilarious and when someone asked him a question he was just like, ummm, no sorry I don't understand. Poor guy, though he tried to give a tour but it wasn't working out. We also got a brochure telling us about the battle there (White Horse Hill) and the English in that is atrocious. It's hysterical. An exert:
"Next day ROKA recaptured after 8 times hot fight on Oct 10. It's considerably ferocious."
Another:
"As using cooling system, pouring water on hottest canon, it is possible to support firing of our force. So quelling was completed."
I'm not hating, because I wouldn't even know how to start translating English into Korean...but it is pretty entertaining.
So that was the tour. Like I said, really interesting and informative. The secrecy that surround the North just fascinates me. Again, it's a little on the scary side, being so close to it. But, according to our guide, being at these touristy places near the DMZ is one of the safer places to be because there are lots of Chinese tourists and the North would never harm the Chinese since they are really their only ally. He also thinks an attack on the South is pretty unlikely since there is a lot of business between the two countries and if they attacked, it would pretty much be a suicide mission since they don't really have the back up support for it. I obviously have no idea, but that seems a little reassuring, at least.
I would love to do the tour again, when it's not raining because that made some parts of it pretty miserable. Also, we didn't have a very good view into the "fake" town and I really wanted to see that. Another time, maybe. Now it's time for dinner and a movie.
Dream big people!
17 April 2012
Everything is Grand
In a super fantastic mood right now. First off, I made myself dinner. Turns out, I'm awesome at making dinner. Even with a limited selection of ingredients. Good cheese in Korea is hard to come by. It's quite sad. It's hard to find it and most of it is only in specialty shops so it's expensive. And you have to buy it in these insanely huge amounts...like, Costco style. Who is going to go through that much cheese?! I am trying to work on a sharing situation with some people but there are a lot of people into organic only here and that complicates things. Losers. Anyway, my quesadillas were fabulous if I do say so myself. Since I'm the only one that ate them, I'll have to vouch for myself. And this is even without cheese! I'm a culinary genius, obviously. Anyway, I also have a yummy wrap all ready to go for lunch tomorrow. Even though school lunch today was quite tasty...we had gimbap, which is the Korean version of sushi.
I also did laundry, did a bunch of stuff for school and cleaned my apartment tonight. Extremely productive evening. I started on a series of bombass birthday cards for my students. Seriously, they are awesome. I did tell myself I would go to bed at 10:30, but that is not happening. It never does. 1:00 is more realistic. I get going and just can't stop. Plus I am getting so many great ideas for school! There are a million things I want to do and songs I want to sing. However, the school admin is a little bit on the crazy side and gives us like, 10 side projects to do each week. This is in addition to the set curriculum and books we are supposed to be doing.
We have a thing called "open class" coming up at the end of May and everyone is already freaking out about it. Being the newbie, I obviously have no idea what it means but apparently you have to plan way ahead and rehearse and blah blah. It's when the moms come in and observe a "class." I say "class" because like I said, it's rehearsed, and we have to sing songs. So it's more like a play. I wasn't really worried until today when I realized my kids are a bit on the slow and shy side and we might have some problems. In open class you have to make sure every child speaks. I'm worried my kids will freeze up with an audience. Plus, they are not very good at answering questions. They are excellent at repeating things, but asking individuals questions poses a problem. We have a few weeks, so hopefully we can get it together. However, I'm not too stressed. I mean, I want the parents to like me, but this whole thing seems way ridiculous and blown out of proportion. But, that is the Korean way, I'm finding.
Anyway, I am going to watch some SNL online which will continue to make me happy. Now I just need to figure out how to stream Ellen and Jimmy Fallon. Anyone know?
Dream big people!
Another source of happiness: watching The Muppets Movie online. It was fantastic in person and it was equally as good on my computer. The sound quality suffered a bit, but other than that, amazing. Jason Segel is a genius. Hilarious and precious...a difficult combination, I think.
I also did laundry, did a bunch of stuff for school and cleaned my apartment tonight. Extremely productive evening. I started on a series of bombass birthday cards for my students. Seriously, they are awesome. I did tell myself I would go to bed at 10:30, but that is not happening. It never does. 1:00 is more realistic. I get going and just can't stop. Plus I am getting so many great ideas for school! There are a million things I want to do and songs I want to sing. However, the school admin is a little bit on the crazy side and gives us like, 10 side projects to do each week. This is in addition to the set curriculum and books we are supposed to be doing.
We have a thing called "open class" coming up at the end of May and everyone is already freaking out about it. Being the newbie, I obviously have no idea what it means but apparently you have to plan way ahead and rehearse and blah blah. It's when the moms come in and observe a "class." I say "class" because like I said, it's rehearsed, and we have to sing songs. So it's more like a play. I wasn't really worried until today when I realized my kids are a bit on the slow and shy side and we might have some problems. In open class you have to make sure every child speaks. I'm worried my kids will freeze up with an audience. Plus, they are not very good at answering questions. They are excellent at repeating things, but asking individuals questions poses a problem. We have a few weeks, so hopefully we can get it together. However, I'm not too stressed. I mean, I want the parents to like me, but this whole thing seems way ridiculous and blown out of proportion. But, that is the Korean way, I'm finding.
Anyway, I am going to watch some SNL online which will continue to make me happy. Now I just need to figure out how to stream Ellen and Jimmy Fallon. Anyone know?
Dream big people!
Another source of happiness: watching The Muppets Movie online. It was fantastic in person and it was equally as good on my computer. The sound quality suffered a bit, but other than that, amazing. Jason Segel is a genius. Hilarious and precious...a difficult combination, I think.
14 April 2012
Minor Complications
Korea seems to be the land of secrecy. Or, land of omitting vital information. For example, I asked the administration at school the other day if I would get a health insurance card. I was told it should have been mailed to me a while ago. This information irritated me. No one ever told me I should be checking the mail. In fact, I didn't even know where my mailbox was located until recently (it's in a separate building) and since I wasn't expecting any mail, I hardly ever check it. I was asking another foreign teacher about this and she was like, yeah, and your bills get mailed to you as well. Wait, what? I also was unaware that I was going to be getting bills (I assumed the school took them out of my paycheck), that they needed to be paid and that I should be looking for them in the mail. WHY would no one tell me this? Furthermore, should any bills come, I have no idea what they would even look like because I cannot read Korean. I realize this is my own stupid fault, but seriously? I feel like someone should have told me. Also, and again, this is my fault for being stupid, but the few things I have picked up from the mail didn't seem to be of any importance, so I threw them away. Had I known I was going to be getting bills and health insurance cards, I would have brought it all in to be translate by someone. Oh well, hope they don't turn off my power!
I also recently found out that 2:10-2:35 is the my designated break time. Again, why would no one inform me of this? Not that I am in desperate need of a break, but it would have been nice to know that I didn't have to hang around my class if I didn't feel like. It's especially helpful if I have to get stuff ready for my afterschool programs. There is also no sort of schedule and/or curriculum given for the afterschool stuff so I just hope I don't get in trouble at the end for not doing anything right.
I am beginning to feel like this happens a lot. I often find myself saying or thinking, "no one told me that!" Another example, there is a guy that works in administration at school...I don't know what his official title is, but anytime I needed anything, I was told to go to him. Also, he handled all my paperwork when I got here, so I assumed I needed to speak with him if I had questions. Problem is, his English is terrible so we can never understand each other. This is especially problematic since he is supposed to be the one helping me with important legal matters like documents I need for my visa, apartment, health check, etc. He also just started in the last few months so he isn't always super knowledgeable. So whatever, I always go to him even though he never has any idea what is going on or how to tell me, even if he does. Again, today, I was talking with other foreign teachers and they were all, oh, you are not supposed to go talk to him, you are supposed to talk to Melissa (our supervisor). Well, dammit! No wonder he always looks so flustered! I mean, why has no one told me? Why hasn't HE told me to talk to her?! And the other thing that irritates me is that his desk is next to the accountant, who speaks better English. When he and I are doing are ridiculous communication dance, she doesn't offer any help until like, 20 minutes into the conversation. At which time she basically says everything I've just been told and/or said is wrong. So frustrating! Why not say something earlier?! Save us all this trouble.
Another interesting thing I learned recently...Koreans will pretty much never tell you "I don't know" or "I don't understand." Apparently that is not an acceptable answer. So, when I ask a child a question and they just stare at me blankly for 5 minutes, it's because they don't understand. Instead of saying that, I just get stared at. Which, in my opinion, is a little rude, but it does make more sense now. I mean, I figured they didn't understand but sometimes it doesn't occur to me that is the problem. Also, sometimes I'm like, it can't possibly be you don't understand. I mean, when we do book work in class we do like, 10 examples of it AND I put the book up on the touch screen and actually put the answers on it. So, when a child does 3 questions and just stares blankly at the 4th, I don't understand (I'll admit it!) what the problem is. You just did 3 exactly like it, and you basically just have to copy off the board. Are you being lazy or do you not understand? Say something! Instead, it's a stare down until the kid snaps out of it or I physically take their hand and show them how to circle the answer. Very strange.
I guess I should also keep in mind that they are 4, are leaning a new language and are getting a lot of new, confusing information thrown at them all day, every day. I don't really get angry with them, but it can be a bit frustrating. But then they're super cute so I get over it.
But for some good news, my friend and I just booked a super fun trip to Jeju Island for next month. Jeju (it's at the bottom of Korea) is supposed to be really beautiful and nice so I'm really excited about it. There are so many places I want to see and go, I don't know how I'm going to have time for it all! Maybe I'll just have stay on for another year or two! We'll see how things are going next year, haha. It's a little too early to be making those kinds of decisions now.
Anyway, my cold seems to be on the way out, finally! Hopefully the same can be said for the chilly weather. There is a nice little roof area on top of my building that is just begging to be partied on. Things just keep getting better, so I'm excited for what's ahead. :)
Dream big people!
I also recently found out that 2:10-2:35 is the my designated break time. Again, why would no one inform me of this? Not that I am in desperate need of a break, but it would have been nice to know that I didn't have to hang around my class if I didn't feel like. It's especially helpful if I have to get stuff ready for my afterschool programs. There is also no sort of schedule and/or curriculum given for the afterschool stuff so I just hope I don't get in trouble at the end for not doing anything right.
I am beginning to feel like this happens a lot. I often find myself saying or thinking, "no one told me that!" Another example, there is a guy that works in administration at school...I don't know what his official title is, but anytime I needed anything, I was told to go to him. Also, he handled all my paperwork when I got here, so I assumed I needed to speak with him if I had questions. Problem is, his English is terrible so we can never understand each other. This is especially problematic since he is supposed to be the one helping me with important legal matters like documents I need for my visa, apartment, health check, etc. He also just started in the last few months so he isn't always super knowledgeable. So whatever, I always go to him even though he never has any idea what is going on or how to tell me, even if he does. Again, today, I was talking with other foreign teachers and they were all, oh, you are not supposed to go talk to him, you are supposed to talk to Melissa (our supervisor). Well, dammit! No wonder he always looks so flustered! I mean, why has no one told me? Why hasn't HE told me to talk to her?! And the other thing that irritates me is that his desk is next to the accountant, who speaks better English. When he and I are doing are ridiculous communication dance, she doesn't offer any help until like, 20 minutes into the conversation. At which time she basically says everything I've just been told and/or said is wrong. So frustrating! Why not say something earlier?! Save us all this trouble.
Another interesting thing I learned recently...Koreans will pretty much never tell you "I don't know" or "I don't understand." Apparently that is not an acceptable answer. So, when I ask a child a question and they just stare at me blankly for 5 minutes, it's because they don't understand. Instead of saying that, I just get stared at. Which, in my opinion, is a little rude, but it does make more sense now. I mean, I figured they didn't understand but sometimes it doesn't occur to me that is the problem. Also, sometimes I'm like, it can't possibly be you don't understand. I mean, when we do book work in class we do like, 10 examples of it AND I put the book up on the touch screen and actually put the answers on it. So, when a child does 3 questions and just stares blankly at the 4th, I don't understand (I'll admit it!) what the problem is. You just did 3 exactly like it, and you basically just have to copy off the board. Are you being lazy or do you not understand? Say something! Instead, it's a stare down until the kid snaps out of it or I physically take their hand and show them how to circle the answer. Very strange.
I guess I should also keep in mind that they are 4, are leaning a new language and are getting a lot of new, confusing information thrown at them all day, every day. I don't really get angry with them, but it can be a bit frustrating. But then they're super cute so I get over it.
But for some good news, my friend and I just booked a super fun trip to Jeju Island for next month. Jeju (it's at the bottom of Korea) is supposed to be really beautiful and nice so I'm really excited about it. There are so many places I want to see and go, I don't know how I'm going to have time for it all! Maybe I'll just have stay on for another year or two! We'll see how things are going next year, haha. It's a little too early to be making those kinds of decisions now.
Anyway, my cold seems to be on the way out, finally! Hopefully the same can be said for the chilly weather. There is a nice little roof area on top of my building that is just begging to be partied on. Things just keep getting better, so I'm excited for what's ahead. :)
Dream big people!
12 April 2012
No Hugging
My Korean co-teacher told me today I should stop hugging the students so much. Especially my little buddy Lay since he has been getting worse recently. A no hugging policy is obviously never going to work for me, since the little boogers are so dang cute, but I am going to have to start getting a little stricter with Mr. Lay. He has started saying "no" to everything I ask the class to do. Unacceptable. The other kids all laugh, but thankfully no one else has started down his path of rebellion as well. They rest of the class is doing pretty well, behavior wise other than some getting a little too worked up for their own good sometimes. But, it is a pretty long day for them, so I can understand when they start getting a little stir crazy.
Anyway, I finally went to the doctor here. He spoke really good English and it was really really cheap. About 11,000 won..that's like $10 and some change! To see a doctor! Amazing! And the meds were cheap too. So fantastic. I did have to pay $11 for some honey, but it's all relative I guess. Anyway, I feel a lot better, but I have a cough that will NOT QUIT. It's so annoying. Especially when it wakes me up at night. Or when I have coughing fits on the subway or in front of the class. Not fun. The meds have not taken care of that quite yet, but I'm hoping soon. The doctor said the coughing at night is because of acid reflux...but I'm not so sure. I mean, he's the doctor and all...but I cough all day and it's not any better/worse at night. Who knows. Apparently I have to stay away from chocolate, alcohol, caffeine, ice cream and peppermint. The caffeine is kind of a problem, since I get such bad sleep and the meds make me tired. Doesn't really work well when you have to teach and be happy all day. I have never eaten so many Halls in my life. They don't have the heavy duty Ricola here, so I've stocked up. For a good thing, they are only 1,000 won ($1 about) so I can buy lots. For a bad thing, the package says "cherry candy" on it. Which kind of concerns me. I can't read the rest, so I'm thinking they are probably chock full of sugar. And even though they do soothe the coughing, they don't work for very long. Oh well, I haven't found anything else helpful. Do they say that in the states? I never paid attention. And where they that cheap? I don't ever remember being sick for this long. I usually have allergies, but they only has a few days normally. This is getting ridiculous. Although, I was warned since pretty much everyone told me I would be sick for a while. The "Korean Crud," or just "The Korean," is what people call it. I think I'm going to call it the "Korean Funk."
However, I did have some energy today and I cooked myself a nice little dinner! It's amazing what a little energy, motivation and grocery shopping will do for you! As always, though, I have to buy more food than I can use before it goes bad so I'm going to see if anyone is interested in some onions tomorrow at school. I also looked into how to freeze veggies, but it seemed pretty complicated with blanching and blah blah. Can't deal with all that, sorry.
Oh, and I finally got paid! So fantastic. I have a bank card and everything! Korean banking is a little on the wack side, though. Setting up online banking was a pretty arduous and ridiculous experience. They have like, 10 different security things you have to install and use..it's a little much. Which also means you can't just sign into online banking just anywhere, like at school. Also, you can't make transfers into foreign banks unless you actually go into the bank, with your passport. Seems a bit much to me. But whatever. My money is going fast though! I can finally buy groceries..which includes some expensive "foreign" groceries..like honey and pesto sauce. Luckily, I got a hook up at the commissary on base and he has provided me with 3 boxes of Crispix!!! So excited! Also, there are pretty much a million trips I want to take and things I want to see, so money is just flying out of that bank account.
Well that's it for now. Got some cool trips coming up, including a DMZ tour next weekend! Excited! And now I'm going to watch the last Harry Potter movie. Also very exciting! I really like it here. Once it gets warm, I think things are going to be even better. Can't wait!
Dream big people!
Anyway, I finally went to the doctor here. He spoke really good English and it was really really cheap. About 11,000 won..that's like $10 and some change! To see a doctor! Amazing! And the meds were cheap too. So fantastic. I did have to pay $11 for some honey, but it's all relative I guess. Anyway, I feel a lot better, but I have a cough that will NOT QUIT. It's so annoying. Especially when it wakes me up at night. Or when I have coughing fits on the subway or in front of the class. Not fun. The meds have not taken care of that quite yet, but I'm hoping soon. The doctor said the coughing at night is because of acid reflux...but I'm not so sure. I mean, he's the doctor and all...but I cough all day and it's not any better/worse at night. Who knows. Apparently I have to stay away from chocolate, alcohol, caffeine, ice cream and peppermint. The caffeine is kind of a problem, since I get such bad sleep and the meds make me tired. Doesn't really work well when you have to teach and be happy all day. I have never eaten so many Halls in my life. They don't have the heavy duty Ricola here, so I've stocked up. For a good thing, they are only 1,000 won ($1 about) so I can buy lots. For a bad thing, the package says "cherry candy" on it. Which kind of concerns me. I can't read the rest, so I'm thinking they are probably chock full of sugar. And even though they do soothe the coughing, they don't work for very long. Oh well, I haven't found anything else helpful. Do they say that in the states? I never paid attention. And where they that cheap? I don't ever remember being sick for this long. I usually have allergies, but they only has a few days normally. This is getting ridiculous. Although, I was warned since pretty much everyone told me I would be sick for a while. The "Korean Crud," or just "The Korean," is what people call it. I think I'm going to call it the "Korean Funk."
However, I did have some energy today and I cooked myself a nice little dinner! It's amazing what a little energy, motivation and grocery shopping will do for you! As always, though, I have to buy more food than I can use before it goes bad so I'm going to see if anyone is interested in some onions tomorrow at school. I also looked into how to freeze veggies, but it seemed pretty complicated with blanching and blah blah. Can't deal with all that, sorry.
Oh, and I finally got paid! So fantastic. I have a bank card and everything! Korean banking is a little on the wack side, though. Setting up online banking was a pretty arduous and ridiculous experience. They have like, 10 different security things you have to install and use..it's a little much. Which also means you can't just sign into online banking just anywhere, like at school. Also, you can't make transfers into foreign banks unless you actually go into the bank, with your passport. Seems a bit much to me. But whatever. My money is going fast though! I can finally buy groceries..which includes some expensive "foreign" groceries..like honey and pesto sauce. Luckily, I got a hook up at the commissary on base and he has provided me with 3 boxes of Crispix!!! So excited! Also, there are pretty much a million trips I want to take and things I want to see, so money is just flying out of that bank account.
Well that's it for now. Got some cool trips coming up, including a DMZ tour next weekend! Excited! And now I'm going to watch the last Harry Potter movie. Also very exciting! I really like it here. Once it gets warm, I think things are going to be even better. Can't wait!
Dream big people!
05 April 2012
Danger!
That is what my buddy LAY (Ray) says every time a picture of something "dangerous" comes up....in a book, on the TV screen, in a powerpoint, a flashcard, whatever. Things like sharks, anything sharp, like a saw or a knife, big animals or anything that is pointy that my co teacher has warned them about the evils of what can happen if they wave it around in the air, like a pencil or fork. There is lots of danger in the classroom! We are trying to get him to say dangerous, but I think he is pretty proud that he knows the word danger...I also don't think he realizes there is a difference. He looks at us like, yeah, that is what I said fools.
Anyway, the kids have been cracking me up this week. Today we had "Uniform Day" and once again, the same kid didn't get the memo. I guess his mom doesn't like to conform or something because this kid NEVER wears the uniform on designated uniform day. He wears a track suit instead. So 70s and awesome like. All the classes had to get on stage and sing a song in front of the rest of the school and oddly enough, the child that sings the loudest in class refused to go on the stage. Stage fright I guess. He didn't want to share his gift with the entire school. There have been other funny things going on, but I cannot remember any of them right now. My brain is a bit foggy since the last few days have been the return of the mucus attacks. I'm kind of glad the kids have no idea what I'm saying because some dumb shit has been coming out of my mouth this past week. I know they think I'm a little strange, but now they also probably think I'm crazy since to them, I am always laughing for no reason.
I seriously cannot believe how many times I have blown my nose over the past two days. I had been feeling a lot better too, dammit! You know who else is sick? LAY!!! That little booger! Buuut, probably my own fault for catching it since I am always touching everyone. Most of the class has a runny nose. Probably because it's still FUCKING FREEZING HERE. Such nonsense. Can't even talk about it anymore. WHERE IS SPRING KOREA?!?!
For some positive news, The Hunger Games opens here today! I am going to see it this weekend, woo hoo! I am also going to a birthday party tomorrow where my plan is to drink my cold away. I have also been downloading movies and need some suggestions. I am about to watch "Say Anything" because I've never actually seen the entire thing. I decided to first catch up on 80s classics I've never seen or need to re-watch. This past weekend I re-watched "Pretty in Pink" because it's so damn good and "Annie Hall" because they talked about it on "How I Met Your Mother" and I felt I needed to see it. Wasn't a huge fan. I've also never see "Star Wars" or "ET" so those are on the list.
So I'm going to go watch that now and go to sleep soon (it's 9:00 here). I wanted to go to bed at 7, but I knew that if I did, I would never sleep the whole night. Last night I went to bed around 11, woke up at 1 and again at 5 and ever really went back to sleep. That suckkkeeedd. Crossing fingers tonight is better.
Tomorrow will definitely be better because I will finally get PAID!!! YAY!!!! I am marching myself straight to the grocery store and buying whatever the hell I want! Damn straight. And then I have to pay back everyone that bought me stuff while I was poor.
Ok, dream big people!
Anyway, the kids have been cracking me up this week. Today we had "Uniform Day" and once again, the same kid didn't get the memo. I guess his mom doesn't like to conform or something because this kid NEVER wears the uniform on designated uniform day. He wears a track suit instead. So 70s and awesome like. All the classes had to get on stage and sing a song in front of the rest of the school and oddly enough, the child that sings the loudest in class refused to go on the stage. Stage fright I guess. He didn't want to share his gift with the entire school. There have been other funny things going on, but I cannot remember any of them right now. My brain is a bit foggy since the last few days have been the return of the mucus attacks. I'm kind of glad the kids have no idea what I'm saying because some dumb shit has been coming out of my mouth this past week. I know they think I'm a little strange, but now they also probably think I'm crazy since to them, I am always laughing for no reason.
I seriously cannot believe how many times I have blown my nose over the past two days. I had been feeling a lot better too, dammit! You know who else is sick? LAY!!! That little booger! Buuut, probably my own fault for catching it since I am always touching everyone. Most of the class has a runny nose. Probably because it's still FUCKING FREEZING HERE. Such nonsense. Can't even talk about it anymore. WHERE IS SPRING KOREA?!?!
For some positive news, The Hunger Games opens here today! I am going to see it this weekend, woo hoo! I am also going to a birthday party tomorrow where my plan is to drink my cold away. I have also been downloading movies and need some suggestions. I am about to watch "Say Anything" because I've never actually seen the entire thing. I decided to first catch up on 80s classics I've never seen or need to re-watch. This past weekend I re-watched "Pretty in Pink" because it's so damn good and "Annie Hall" because they talked about it on "How I Met Your Mother" and I felt I needed to see it. Wasn't a huge fan. I've also never see "Star Wars" or "ET" so those are on the list.
So I'm going to go watch that now and go to sleep soon (it's 9:00 here). I wanted to go to bed at 7, but I knew that if I did, I would never sleep the whole night. Last night I went to bed around 11, woke up at 1 and again at 5 and ever really went back to sleep. That suckkkeeedd. Crossing fingers tonight is better.
Tomorrow will definitely be better because I will finally get PAID!!! YAY!!!! I am marching myself straight to the grocery store and buying whatever the hell I want! Damn straight. And then I have to pay back everyone that bought me stuff while I was poor.
Ok, dream big people!
02 April 2012
I Laughed, I Cried
Today was a mixed bag. First off, let me just say that I am (for the moment) genuinely excited about seeing my kids every day. I went to sleep Sunday night pretty pumped about seeing all their goober selves Monday morning. Waking up Monday morning was another story. I have discussed previously my dislike for mornings and Korea is no exception. I don't think there is anything I hate more than waking up to an alarm....any morning, for any reason. I know I should be grateful for the day and all that jazz, but horrible, horrible thoughts are in my mind when that alarm goes off. Horrible thoughts and reasons why I should hit snooze 1...then 7 more times. Every night I decide tomorrow is the morning I'm going to get up a little earlier and have a little extra time in the morning to make coffee, get to school a little early, whatever. And every morning I decide how long I can feasibly stay in bed and make it to work on time. I hate it, but I am a night owl and that's that. The absolute latest I can leave my apartment is 8:50...8:55 and I feel guilty about being late, even though no one would say anything. My alarm goes off at 7:40, I usually get out of bed at 8:20 and leave around 8:45. I've given up on trying to look decent. I like Korea, but it's freezing and it's making me ugly. I don't know what is happening, but whatever small amount of good looks I had before I got here have been sucked right out of me. It's very sad.
Anyway, point is, after my initial anger of having to get out of bed (seriously, this happens every morning...even weekends when I can get up when I want. And even days when really great things are going to happen. It's bizarre), I get pumped because I get to see all my little goobers. I stress a little about what I'm going to teach that day, but I usually manage to get my shit together. Monday mornings we have a teachers meeting so I don't get to greet the kids as they come in and it makes me a little sad, but I get to see them later and I get a "Good Morning Jacky Teacher" so I'm good. Well, today, we had snack (fried cornbread with some sort of honey glaze) and then it was off to the bathroom for hand washing. We go on class bathroom breaks probably 6 times a day. I noticed one girl was wearing her headband around her neck so I took it off and tried to put it back on her head. And that son of a bitch broke. It just snapped right in half! Apparently it was made of plastic and not the flexible rubbery material mine is made out of. All the little girls in the bathroom were just staring at me, silent. And then the little girl burst into tears. OMG-I felt SO terrible. And the worst part was, at first I kind of laughed. LET ME EXPLAIN. First off, that is what I do when I get nervous/uncomfortable/awkward. I didn't think it was funny at all, but it did make me super flustered. I was basically thinking in my head: FUCK. This is not good. Plus, all of them were staring at me like I had just chopped off her hand so it was horrible and I had an audience. And she didn't stop crying for like, 30 minutes. She also refused to look at me and wouldn't come write on the board when I asked her too when we got back to class. Oh my, I just felt so awful! But, later I got her laughing and I gave her a sticker...she seemed pretty pleased about that, so I hope I'm forgiven. I also wrote her mom a note and made an "I'm sorry" card. I think she and I are good, I just hope the mom is cool with it. I'm kind of nervous because a lot of the families have a lot of money and the other teachers are always talking about how demanding the moms are. So, I'm nervous she'll be mad AND I'm nervous that the headband cost a lot of money. I wrote the mom that I would replace it, so I'm just hoping it wasn't a Burberry or Prada headband. Because some of them have Burberry and Prada jackets and clothing. No joke.
So that was the crisis for the day. But at the end of the day, I squatted down to give a little boy a hug goodbye and he gave me a kiss on the cheek! Then my heart exploded. So everything ended on a good note. :)
Also, I have been coming up with some bombass ideas for my class and I'm pumped about using them. I haven't gotten everything 100% ready, but those kids better be prepared to be stunned and amazed. And I also hope they like it because they sometimes don't get into things I think they'll be excited about. We'll see.
Well, I'm tired. Time to go to bed all excited about tomorrow and then wake up grumpy and cursing the world. Yay!
Dream big people!
Anyway, point is, after my initial anger of having to get out of bed (seriously, this happens every morning...even weekends when I can get up when I want. And even days when really great things are going to happen. It's bizarre), I get pumped because I get to see all my little goobers. I stress a little about what I'm going to teach that day, but I usually manage to get my shit together. Monday mornings we have a teachers meeting so I don't get to greet the kids as they come in and it makes me a little sad, but I get to see them later and I get a "Good Morning Jacky Teacher" so I'm good. Well, today, we had snack (fried cornbread with some sort of honey glaze) and then it was off to the bathroom for hand washing. We go on class bathroom breaks probably 6 times a day. I noticed one girl was wearing her headband around her neck so I took it off and tried to put it back on her head. And that son of a bitch broke. It just snapped right in half! Apparently it was made of plastic and not the flexible rubbery material mine is made out of. All the little girls in the bathroom were just staring at me, silent. And then the little girl burst into tears. OMG-I felt SO terrible. And the worst part was, at first I kind of laughed. LET ME EXPLAIN. First off, that is what I do when I get nervous/uncomfortable/awkward. I didn't think it was funny at all, but it did make me super flustered. I was basically thinking in my head: FUCK. This is not good. Plus, all of them were staring at me like I had just chopped off her hand so it was horrible and I had an audience. And she didn't stop crying for like, 30 minutes. She also refused to look at me and wouldn't come write on the board when I asked her too when we got back to class. Oh my, I just felt so awful! But, later I got her laughing and I gave her a sticker...she seemed pretty pleased about that, so I hope I'm forgiven. I also wrote her mom a note and made an "I'm sorry" card. I think she and I are good, I just hope the mom is cool with it. I'm kind of nervous because a lot of the families have a lot of money and the other teachers are always talking about how demanding the moms are. So, I'm nervous she'll be mad AND I'm nervous that the headband cost a lot of money. I wrote the mom that I would replace it, so I'm just hoping it wasn't a Burberry or Prada headband. Because some of them have Burberry and Prada jackets and clothing. No joke.
So that was the crisis for the day. But at the end of the day, I squatted down to give a little boy a hug goodbye and he gave me a kiss on the cheek! Then my heart exploded. So everything ended on a good note. :)
Also, I have been coming up with some bombass ideas for my class and I'm pumped about using them. I haven't gotten everything 100% ready, but those kids better be prepared to be stunned and amazed. And I also hope they like it because they sometimes don't get into things I think they'll be excited about. We'll see.
Well, I'm tired. Time to go to bed all excited about tomorrow and then wake up grumpy and cursing the world. Yay!
Dream big people!
27 March 2012
Littlecase
Yall. I am so in love with these little Korean babies...they are too much. Oddly enough, what amuses me the most is when they have their shoes on the wrong feet. Every morning when they get to school, they take off their "outside" shoes and put on "inside" shoes. And there is always one that puts them on the wrong feet and it cracks me up every time. I know, it's weird...but they're such goobers. I love it. I have been trying to teach them to use uppercase and lowercase instead of big and little for letters. One kid keeps splicing the two and when I ask what kind of letter it is, he yells out: "LITTLECASE!" Precious. These kids are either silent, whispering or yelling. There are no other options.
Also, today, our little trouble maker gave me a hug out of the blue and it just made me so happy. He is so dang cute! He is the worst child!! He never listens, is always touching people, can't sit still, is always talking (in Korean) and when I ask him his name, he yells out: "I AM LAY!" Which is supposed to be Ray. Makes me smile every time. Also, he is terrible at lunch...he ends up with rice all in his hair and the hair of the child next to him. But I sit behind him and every now and then he just turns around and grins at me. With his whole face, if that makes any sense. It's too precious. I'm pretty sure he has ADD, but he's giving out hugs so I don't care. I pretty much love them all, but he cracks me up the most. I also yell at him the most so I hope I'm not sending mixed signals.
I also got observed today. Didn't get really find out anything helpful, but didn't get any negative feedback either so whatever. My principal just thinks I should play more fun games with them, but the kids are never into the games I try to play with them. I guess I need more fun games. Every teacher I've asked has suggested Duck, Duck, Goose. Which seems odd to me since it's not educational. Also, we are in the tiniest classroom and there is no way we could play in the room. Let me know if you have other suggestions! We are singing lots of fun songs, but she missed all that. That's too bad.
Bedtime for me! But, here are a few pics of the cuties and one of Mr. Lay. I tried to get some singing, but the video turned out crappy. Trying again tomorrow. And no, I did not tell them to throw up the peace sign. They do it all on their own. It's the Asian way.
Oh, and my class is Cherry class and today I made a "Cherry Family Tree" with pictures of the kids family for the hallway. I don't think I've ever been prouder of anything. Seriously. I think it's so awesome. It's a work in progress. Behold:
Dream big people!
Also, today, our little trouble maker gave me a hug out of the blue and it just made me so happy. He is so dang cute! He is the worst child!! He never listens, is always touching people, can't sit still, is always talking (in Korean) and when I ask him his name, he yells out: "I AM LAY!" Which is supposed to be Ray. Makes me smile every time. Also, he is terrible at lunch...he ends up with rice all in his hair and the hair of the child next to him. But I sit behind him and every now and then he just turns around and grins at me. With his whole face, if that makes any sense. It's too precious. I'm pretty sure he has ADD, but he's giving out hugs so I don't care. I pretty much love them all, but he cracks me up the most. I also yell at him the most so I hope I'm not sending mixed signals.
I also got observed today. Didn't get really find out anything helpful, but didn't get any negative feedback either so whatever. My principal just thinks I should play more fun games with them, but the kids are never into the games I try to play with them. I guess I need more fun games. Every teacher I've asked has suggested Duck, Duck, Goose. Which seems odd to me since it's not educational. Also, we are in the tiniest classroom and there is no way we could play in the room. Let me know if you have other suggestions! We are singing lots of fun songs, but she missed all that. That's too bad.
Oh, and my class is Cherry class and today I made a "Cherry Family Tree" with pictures of the kids family for the hallway. I don't think I've ever been prouder of anything. Seriously. I think it's so awesome. It's a work in progress. Behold:
Dream big people!
23 March 2012
Thank you for the food
Only not really. I am getting more and more disillusioned with the Korean lunch food. Again, I try to sample most of it, but sometimes it's just really sketch/unappetizing looking and I can't do it. Yesterday, for example, we had stir fried baby octopus:
And it looked straight up disgusting and I didn't want to try it. I've had octopus before...it didn't look like that, it was cut up in much smaller pieces and was in spaghetti. That was in Greece and I didn't really like it then either. It's too chewy. Anyway, definitely wasn't trying this...especially since I'm pretty sure you can see it's brain in that first picture. No thank you. However, we did have some sort of yummy rice cake thing with jelly today. Wednesday we had cream puffs for snack and they were fabulous. I ate like, 10. And then I stole 4 and took them home. I don't feel bad taking from the school because they are the ones not paying me until April. Also, yesterday we had doughnuts that tasted like hushpuppies with sugar on top, so I only ate one. And Tuesday we literally just had a plain baked potato. For snack, at 9:30 in the morning. No salt, butter, sour cream, nothing. I didn't eat that at all, so I think it all balances out.
I also had "real" Korean BBQ last night and it was, sadly, not as delicious as the Korean BBQ in LA. It was also more expensive and there was less of it. Also, people were smoking in the actual restaurant and that was not pleasant at all. Especially since there is already a ton of smoke from the grill. Oh, at Korean BBQ, you cook the meat yourself at the table, btw. That's why there's a grill. This place was a little different from LA though, in that they give you lettuce to make wraps with the meat. So those were pretty tasty...but really messy and kind of hard to eat.
Oh yeah, and the other weird thing this week. So we have to do a fire drill sometime in the near future with the kids and they are making us evacuate to the roof. The ROOF! What the hell?! Makes zero sense to me...and the rest of the foreign teachers. We all made a big stink about it at our meeting and then we got a memo giving the following reasons as to why we have to go to the roof and not downstairs:
"1. Smoke is the worst damage from the fire especially in the building so it's the best to get fresh air for everyone asap. (Roof is the nearest place that we get fresh air).
2. Going to the 1st floor is a very long way especially for the kids.
3. This building is built out of concrete not out of wood, so there's no possibility for this building collapsed by fire so it will be fine to move to the roof and wait there until they put out the fire."
I love that third one the best. It was claimed that the fire department was contacted about this matter, but I'm not so sure. I am no expert, but going somewhere you can essentially be trapped does not seem like a good idea. Again, not an expert, but I'm just saying...if there is ever an actual fire, I am grabbing as many kids as possible and heading downstairs.
That's it for Korean strangeness this week. Going on a bus tour Sunday...can't wait to see what that brings!
For now, enjoy this fantastic video of my kids singing their "thank you" song. I guess it's kind of like a prayer before eating. See if you can spot the goober that NEVER seems to get the memo about uniform day, and the crazy child that always seems to be off in his own world. Hint: he's waving a fork around. And FYI, Kate teacher is the assistant that gives out the food. I wish I could video them all day, every day. They are too funny and cute. I am going to try to get some dancing soon. Enjoy!
Dream big people!
I also had "real" Korean BBQ last night and it was, sadly, not as delicious as the Korean BBQ in LA. It was also more expensive and there was less of it. Also, people were smoking in the actual restaurant and that was not pleasant at all. Especially since there is already a ton of smoke from the grill. Oh, at Korean BBQ, you cook the meat yourself at the table, btw. That's why there's a grill. This place was a little different from LA though, in that they give you lettuce to make wraps with the meat. So those were pretty tasty...but really messy and kind of hard to eat.
Oh yeah, and the other weird thing this week. So we have to do a fire drill sometime in the near future with the kids and they are making us evacuate to the roof. The ROOF! What the hell?! Makes zero sense to me...and the rest of the foreign teachers. We all made a big stink about it at our meeting and then we got a memo giving the following reasons as to why we have to go to the roof and not downstairs:
"1. Smoke is the worst damage from the fire especially in the building so it's the best to get fresh air for everyone asap. (Roof is the nearest place that we get fresh air).
2. Going to the 1st floor is a very long way especially for the kids.
3. This building is built out of concrete not out of wood, so there's no possibility for this building collapsed by fire so it will be fine to move to the roof and wait there until they put out the fire."
I love that third one the best. It was claimed that the fire department was contacted about this matter, but I'm not so sure. I am no expert, but going somewhere you can essentially be trapped does not seem like a good idea. Again, not an expert, but I'm just saying...if there is ever an actual fire, I am grabbing as many kids as possible and heading downstairs.
That's it for Korean strangeness this week. Going on a bus tour Sunday...can't wait to see what that brings!
For now, enjoy this fantastic video of my kids singing their "thank you" song. I guess it's kind of like a prayer before eating. See if you can spot the goober that NEVER seems to get the memo about uniform day, and the crazy child that always seems to be off in his own world. Hint: he's waving a fork around. And FYI, Kate teacher is the assistant that gives out the food. I wish I could video them all day, every day. They are too funny and cute. I am going to try to get some dancing soon. Enjoy!
Dream big people!
19 March 2012
A Little Tenderness
Latest music obsession: Otis Redding. Why has it taken me to get on board the Redding train? I mean, I've been a fan of 'Dock of the Bay,' duh and his version of White Christmas is my fave, but there are SO many other good ones. He does a version of 'Stand By Me' and 'The Glory of Love.' Love them both. Wish I had like, a million dollars so I could buy it all on iTunes. Come onnnn April 7! I need money! I have a whole list of things I want to buy and I'm probably going to be able to buy all of one of those items when I get paid finally. Apparently a lot comes out of the first paycheck, which blows but whatever. Better than nothing. Debating if my first item (besides food) is going to be a book bag or new tennis shoes. I've seen badass ones of both and both would be useful. But maybe a book bag because I don't have one of those here and I do have tennis shoes. Decisions, decisions. I also need a phone.
Today was a good day! Felt good at work, no longer feel like the walking dead and am getting a grasp on how things work. I haven't blown my nose in like, 2 days! Lunch wasn't terrible. Not great, but it wasn't broiled squid, so a definite plus. I also did a little Zumba in my room which always makes me feel awesome. I mean, I also felt pretty stupid since my computer is tiny and I'm having a one woman dance party in my teeny apartment, but this is me making-do. :) I also figured out how to make my Korean frozen dumplings more crispy and therefore, more tasty. I also flossed. Things are looking up.
Also, real quick, wanted to share with everyone how awesome I am. I wrote this life plan as a note for myself on my ipod touch last summer:
Now: study/take GRE, look into Australia.
Fall: move back home, find temp job
Dec: ham store?
Feb: Switzerland
Mar: Korea
2012: apply to grad school/be awesome in Korea
2013: travel? Grad school in fall
Car, save money, GRE, 15 lbs
Get on it, you can do this. Dream big :)
Cool part is, most of it came true. I didn't take the GRE, but I did do a little studying for it. I also looked into Australia and that is an option for the future. Then I moved home, did some temporary work, worked at the ham store in December. In February "Switzerland" came to me instead of me going there. I got to Korea a little earlier than March, but so far I'm being awesome in Korea so dreams are coming true. This is what happens when you dream big and then write it down. I also got a car, and saved money. That last 15 pounds is still tripping me up, but I haven't lost all hope. Joining a fitness club here so it's definitely a possibility. Especially if I keep up with apartment, one-woman Zumba classes.
I have some travel goals, so I'm gonna write those down and see if I can make those happen as well. Top of list: Great Wall of China, Terra Cotta Warriors, and Japan. A lot to fit in two weeks vacay. But....
Dream big people!
Today was a good day! Felt good at work, no longer feel like the walking dead and am getting a grasp on how things work. I haven't blown my nose in like, 2 days! Lunch wasn't terrible. Not great, but it wasn't broiled squid, so a definite plus. I also did a little Zumba in my room which always makes me feel awesome. I mean, I also felt pretty stupid since my computer is tiny and I'm having a one woman dance party in my teeny apartment, but this is me making-do. :) I also figured out how to make my Korean frozen dumplings more crispy and therefore, more tasty. I also flossed. Things are looking up.
Also, real quick, wanted to share with everyone how awesome I am. I wrote this life plan as a note for myself on my ipod touch last summer:
Now: study/take GRE, look into Australia.
Fall: move back home, find temp job
Dec: ham store?
Feb: Switzerland
Mar: Korea
2012: apply to grad school/be awesome in Korea
2013: travel? Grad school in fall
Car, save money, GRE, 15 lbs
Get on it, you can do this. Dream big :)
Cool part is, most of it came true. I didn't take the GRE, but I did do a little studying for it. I also looked into Australia and that is an option for the future. Then I moved home, did some temporary work, worked at the ham store in December. In February "Switzerland" came to me instead of me going there. I got to Korea a little earlier than March, but so far I'm being awesome in Korea so dreams are coming true. This is what happens when you dream big and then write it down. I also got a car, and saved money. That last 15 pounds is still tripping me up, but I haven't lost all hope. Joining a fitness club here so it's definitely a possibility. Especially if I keep up with apartment, one-woman Zumba classes.
I have some travel goals, so I'm gonna write those down and see if I can make those happen as well. Top of list: Great Wall of China, Terra Cotta Warriors, and Japan. A lot to fit in two weeks vacay. But....
Dream big people!
18 March 2012
Rainbow Mullet
Happy St. Patrick's Day from Korea!!! My St. Patrick's Day is actually over, but for people in the US, the drinking is probably still going on. Crazy.
I didn't do a lot of hardcore drinking yesterday...just wasn't feeling it. Also, I didn't want to feel like death this week so I've decided to skip drinking for a while. I know, I am soooo boring. Don't care. I woke up today at 7, went back to sleep until 12, had a snack and went back to sleep until 2:30. It was awesome. Except I was having a very weird, disturbing dream and I didn't like that. I have really strange dreams here. They are seriously so bizarre. Last nights involved me and a family (not my real family, but mine in the dream) running away from a killer and lots of people getting shot. Didn't enjoy that at all.
Anyway, St. Pats was not as crazy as I thought it would be here. Probably because actual Koreans don't celebrate, it's only the crazy foreigners. There was a festival with Irish dancing and music. It was actually kind of nice out, so it was a lot of fun to sit and watch the bands. One was all Korean, and I thought it was pretty fantastic they were playing an Irish jig. It was also fantastic watching all the drunks people trying to do an Irish dance. I mean, I guess they thought it was just jumping up and down, so that is what was happening. Maybe it, I don't really know a lot about Irish dancing but Riverdance seems a little more complicated than that.
After the festival, I got dinner with friends and took the bus home. All in all, a fun day. I can't wait for the Cinco de Mayo festival!!! Latin music blasting in a Korean park somewhere sounds like a blast!!! I have some pictures from the festival, but I'm too lazy to upload them right now. You'd think with all the sleep I'd be more energetic, but not really. There was a guy in a pretty awesome rainbow mullet running around. He was actually a friend of a friend and it was hilarious until he got suuuuper drunk and started spilling things on people. And then he took his shirt off and it wasn't cute anymore.
Afterschool classes start this week. Wish me luck! Still haven't gotten my actual classes down yet...should be interesting teaching things I have no idea about. I mean, I know my letters and numbers. But science fun? Uh oh. I'll let you know how it goes.
Dream big people!
I didn't do a lot of hardcore drinking yesterday...just wasn't feeling it. Also, I didn't want to feel like death this week so I've decided to skip drinking for a while. I know, I am soooo boring. Don't care. I woke up today at 7, went back to sleep until 12, had a snack and went back to sleep until 2:30. It was awesome. Except I was having a very weird, disturbing dream and I didn't like that. I have really strange dreams here. They are seriously so bizarre. Last nights involved me and a family (not my real family, but mine in the dream) running away from a killer and lots of people getting shot. Didn't enjoy that at all.
Anyway, St. Pats was not as crazy as I thought it would be here. Probably because actual Koreans don't celebrate, it's only the crazy foreigners. There was a festival with Irish dancing and music. It was actually kind of nice out, so it was a lot of fun to sit and watch the bands. One was all Korean, and I thought it was pretty fantastic they were playing an Irish jig. It was also fantastic watching all the drunks people trying to do an Irish dance. I mean, I guess they thought it was just jumping up and down, so that is what was happening. Maybe it, I don't really know a lot about Irish dancing but Riverdance seems a little more complicated than that.
After the festival, I got dinner with friends and took the bus home. All in all, a fun day. I can't wait for the Cinco de Mayo festival!!! Latin music blasting in a Korean park somewhere sounds like a blast!!! I have some pictures from the festival, but I'm too lazy to upload them right now. You'd think with all the sleep I'd be more energetic, but not really. There was a guy in a pretty awesome rainbow mullet running around. He was actually a friend of a friend and it was hilarious until he got suuuuper drunk and started spilling things on people. And then he took his shirt off and it wasn't cute anymore.
Afterschool classes start this week. Wish me luck! Still haven't gotten my actual classes down yet...should be interesting teaching things I have no idea about. I mean, I know my letters and numbers. But science fun? Uh oh. I'll let you know how it goes.
Dream big people!
14 March 2012
Whipped Butter
I am beginning to wonder if Koreans know how real cake tastes. We keep having cake at school and it looks so delicious and I'm all, yummm, caaaakkkkeeeeee. The cake is all eeeeaaaatttt me and I agree and then the cake just tastes like bread and whipped butter, even though it looks like mocha sugary yumminess. It is SUCH a disappointment. Really, it's so very sad. And I keep trying it because I'm like, maybe this time the baker remembered to put in the sugar, but they never do. Such a shame. Arent' there any bakers in Korea that have been to America or another country with sugar and tasted how fantastic cake and frosting can be? The cookies are the same...very flat and sad tasting. I think they're all just confused though, because today my Korean co-teacher was describing a banana to the class and kept calling it sweet. Bananas are delicious and nutritious, but sweet? No. This is coming from a candy addict, so I know what's up.
Speaking of candy, feel free to buy a bunch of Easter candy when it goes on sale next month and send it this way. Specifically jelly beans. Specifically Starburst jelly beans. And JellyBelly..specifically Very Cherry, Watermelon, and Top Banana flavored JellyBelly jellybeans. If you're feeling generous and nice and want me to love you forever, ship em on over. Oh, and those sourpatch watermelon things. Please, don't send Peeps, Cadbury Creme eggs, or malt eggs. Those are gross. And if you're feeling especially generous, throw a box of Crispix in there. I would LOVE me some Crispix right now. I would probably eat it every meal. I am already over my Iron Chef Korea phase...it got old pretty quick and eating out is expensive. Crispix is the perfect solution. Who really loves me? :) Email me for the address.
For those of you don't really love me, but read anyway and are mildly concerned about my well-being, I am feeling MUCH better these days. The fever is gone and I actually had some energy today. It was a lovely change. However, I am still astounded at the amount of mucus that is coming out of me. It is insane. Where is it all coming from?No idea. And, I am still having sleeping problems, but hope to get that remedied when I can finally go to the doctor next week. I will finally get my alien resident card next week so I can hopefully go to the doctor and get a phone. But maybe not since I still won't have money until April. So we'll see.
Speaking of money, I can't wait until get some. Mainly so I can buy more food and start bringing my own food for lunch. Like I said, I am usually down for trying things at school but I might also be getting over that phase as well. Especially when I'm feeling under the weather. I mean, if I'm feeling miserable, I'm really sorry, but I just cannot handle eating broiled squid, kimchi, quail eggs and bean sprout salad for lunch. I know, I know. I'm inflexible, non adventurous, picky, whiny, whatever. Don't care. Even on a good day, I don't know that I would put a quail egg in my mouth. It does amuse me, however, to watch the kids eat because they eat all of that. Please, people of America, try to get your 4 year old to eat quail eggs for lunch. Let me know how that goes.
Oh yeah, I found out that all my kids are 4 in "American" age. Crazy! Such babies! But I'm impressed with them. We had no crying today, everyone uses the toilet by themselves and everyone can write their name. I have no idea what age kids starting doing that stuff in the US but either way, I'm amazed such a tiny person can really, do anything by themselves. And today I found out that tiny people really like to shake their sillies out. It was sooo funny!! The kids lost their minds! It was awesome. I only wish I had Raffi to sing for them. There is not a lot of Raffi music on YouTube over here (no idea why not) so I had to use the Wiggles. They are not as great but it was still pretty fun.
Today we found out what we have to do for our after school programs and that stuff is going to be such a bitch!!!! It sucks because it's an hour and a half and there is no book to use so I have to make up everything. Luckily, I have 3 classes and each one is only once a week. Unluckily, one of the classes is science. Not that I hate science, but I haven't done anything science-y in a looong time. Also, I was finding videos and materials to use today for the life cycle of a butterfly and science is gross. Watching a caterpillar make a cocoon is disgusting. So are the words pupa and larva. So far, science is grossing me out. I couldn't bring myself to watch anything actually being born so we are just going to skip over all that. Sorry kids, someone else will have to teach you the miracle of life.
My other class is speech, which should be pretty easy..it actually does have a book. But the last one is "Speech with Fairy Tales" which is as vague and stupid as it sounds. I have no idea how I'm going to fill an hour and a half AND apparently at the end of the 6 weeks, we have to have a script and make a video. Oh, and there are two kids in the class. Anyone know of any two character fairy tales? Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs is out, obviously. My favorite part was my supervisor, who is the most vague, ridiculous person ever (this seems to be common in Korea) was all, oh I'm sure you can come up with good ideas since you have experience. Mmmm, not sure where she got her information from but I do not have any experience in science, speech or fairy tale teaching. Also, every time I talk to her, she adds more to the list of things I am supposed to do. So I'm going to stop talking to her.
Anyway, things are good. Still waiting on it to get warmer. Learned my lesson last weekend and will not be venturing outside again for more than 15-20 minutes at a time until it gets at least in the 60s. Not even kidding.
Dream big people! Send candy and cereal!
Speaking of candy, feel free to buy a bunch of Easter candy when it goes on sale next month and send it this way. Specifically jelly beans. Specifically Starburst jelly beans. And JellyBelly..specifically Very Cherry, Watermelon, and Top Banana flavored JellyBelly jellybeans. If you're feeling generous and nice and want me to love you forever, ship em on over. Oh, and those sourpatch watermelon things. Please, don't send Peeps, Cadbury Creme eggs, or malt eggs. Those are gross. And if you're feeling especially generous, throw a box of Crispix in there. I would LOVE me some Crispix right now. I would probably eat it every meal. I am already over my Iron Chef Korea phase...it got old pretty quick and eating out is expensive. Crispix is the perfect solution. Who really loves me? :) Email me for the address.
For those of you don't really love me, but read anyway and are mildly concerned about my well-being, I am feeling MUCH better these days. The fever is gone and I actually had some energy today. It was a lovely change. However, I am still astounded at the amount of mucus that is coming out of me. It is insane. Where is it all coming from?No idea. And, I am still having sleeping problems, but hope to get that remedied when I can finally go to the doctor next week. I will finally get my alien resident card next week so I can hopefully go to the doctor and get a phone. But maybe not since I still won't have money until April. So we'll see.
Speaking of money, I can't wait until get some. Mainly so I can buy more food and start bringing my own food for lunch. Like I said, I am usually down for trying things at school but I might also be getting over that phase as well. Especially when I'm feeling under the weather. I mean, if I'm feeling miserable, I'm really sorry, but I just cannot handle eating broiled squid, kimchi, quail eggs and bean sprout salad for lunch. I know, I know. I'm inflexible, non adventurous, picky, whiny, whatever. Don't care. Even on a good day, I don't know that I would put a quail egg in my mouth. It does amuse me, however, to watch the kids eat because they eat all of that. Please, people of America, try to get your 4 year old to eat quail eggs for lunch. Let me know how that goes.
Oh yeah, I found out that all my kids are 4 in "American" age. Crazy! Such babies! But I'm impressed with them. We had no crying today, everyone uses the toilet by themselves and everyone can write their name. I have no idea what age kids starting doing that stuff in the US but either way, I'm amazed such a tiny person can really, do anything by themselves. And today I found out that tiny people really like to shake their sillies out. It was sooo funny!! The kids lost their minds! It was awesome. I only wish I had Raffi to sing for them. There is not a lot of Raffi music on YouTube over here (no idea why not) so I had to use the Wiggles. They are not as great but it was still pretty fun.
Today we found out what we have to do for our after school programs and that stuff is going to be such a bitch!!!! It sucks because it's an hour and a half and there is no book to use so I have to make up everything. Luckily, I have 3 classes and each one is only once a week. Unluckily, one of the classes is science. Not that I hate science, but I haven't done anything science-y in a looong time. Also, I was finding videos and materials to use today for the life cycle of a butterfly and science is gross. Watching a caterpillar make a cocoon is disgusting. So are the words pupa and larva. So far, science is grossing me out. I couldn't bring myself to watch anything actually being born so we are just going to skip over all that. Sorry kids, someone else will have to teach you the miracle of life.
My other class is speech, which should be pretty easy..it actually does have a book. But the last one is "Speech with Fairy Tales" which is as vague and stupid as it sounds. I have no idea how I'm going to fill an hour and a half AND apparently at the end of the 6 weeks, we have to have a script and make a video. Oh, and there are two kids in the class. Anyone know of any two character fairy tales? Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs is out, obviously. My favorite part was my supervisor, who is the most vague, ridiculous person ever (this seems to be common in Korea) was all, oh I'm sure you can come up with good ideas since you have experience. Mmmm, not sure where she got her information from but I do not have any experience in science, speech or fairy tale teaching. Also, every time I talk to her, she adds more to the list of things I am supposed to do. So I'm going to stop talking to her.
Anyway, things are good. Still waiting on it to get warmer. Learned my lesson last weekend and will not be venturing outside again for more than 15-20 minutes at a time until it gets at least in the 60s. Not even kidding.
Dream big people! Send candy and cereal!
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