Songpyeon Pictures!!

Okay... blogger's acting funky and not allowing me to move the picture order around, read from the bottom up. (Click to make the pictures HUGE)

In the play room.
ERIIIIIC!!! (just learned that he's turning 5 KOREAN AGE on Friday, which means that he is 3 right now and will be 4 - what!?!?!? Just a little baby boy!! They all are, except Roy who seems very big for a 4 year old... suspiciously so.)
Danny boy ate five songpyeons... one in the right hand, one in the left, and three in the mouth? :)
Roy's new, too!
New student, Arthur, is absolutely adorable!
Olivia loves the songpyeon!

Alex enjoying the songpyeon.Amy Teacher (part of the Korean staff - organizes curriculum for us and teaches one on one some afternoons with older kids) showing the kids how to roll the dough.

Chuseok Celebration at school!

"Chew sock" or the Full Moon Harvest, honoring of ancestors holiday... basically Thanksgiving because everyone goes to their grandparents' houses in the country to eat food and be with family, but then there's also the wearing of hanbok (or traditional Korean dress) and weeding ancestors' graves and then bowing to the graves, and spinning in a circle holding hands. It's pretty awesome, mainly because the kids dressed up at school today and they looked so gosh darn adorable!! The boys looked like little Aladdin's and the girls looked like princesses - it was great. I have some videos to share from the school festivities.

After the fun upstairs, we made songpyeon (chewy rice cakes) downstairs in the classroom... I'll add pictures in another post because blogger is being weird about adding type...

**The videos messed up the typing at the bottom, so sorry about that...

Here is one of the boys learning and practicing the bow:

Here's a video of Ganggangsulla, or a Korean circle dance:

I especially love the kid spin-dancing at the end. His name is Top and he's in Briana's class, and he's ka-razy and awesome!

Here's the kids playing tug of war... traditional? Sure...:

And finally, London Bridges, because no holiday celebration is complete without it, right? PS, I totally forgot how to play and didn't capture a child the first round, but we made up for it:

We get Thursday in addition to Friday off!! YAY!!! So, Colleen, Andrea, Morganne and I are flying to Jeju Island (or Cheju-do) to get in a little sightseeing and ocean time and waterfalls and majestic countryside, and it should be pretty great, and I'm really excited to ride on a plane with multiple friends because I've never done that before, and to not have to work for two days!! Also, it's little Eric's birthday on Friday, but we celebrate tomorrow because we don't have school Friday =ing CAKE!! YAY!! So, that's fun, y'know?

I Don't Like Parents...

Well, I like my parents, but not other people's parents... usually... unless I've known them for a long time. They're always asking questions and assessing my answers - or judging my friendship level to their child... I don't know, I'd just rather play. And, man, Korean parents, y'know, the parents of my kids - well, their kids, my students - they make me even more nervous.

So, a couple of Tuesday's ago, I think it was my second week... yeah. I was informed that my students' parents (the Mothers) would be sitting in the classroom, watching. I found this out at 9:38a, and class starts at 9:50. A sweat broke out, I became a nervous wreck. Huh? Wha? Are you kidding me? What am I supposed to do!? Two minutes later I learned that they would only be watching me through CCTV, so they could see how I taught and how their kids interacted as well, but still, I knew they were there, and really wish I didn't. I mean, I guess it's good they gave me a heads up so I didn't shake 'em as much (I kid! I kid!) but I would've much rather not known. I felt like I was lying. I think I'm pretty good about giving encouragement through smiles, "Good job"s, thumbs up and high fives, but that day it all felt so forced. Some of the other teachers told me to have the kids raise their hands, because they heard the parents really like that - I tried it and the kids looked at me quizzically, probably thinking we never do this. Teacher's crazy.

We have PE on Tuesdays, and I had a plan to run around and play games, but then the director or his wife called up and my helper (just for the two weeks), Sunny [Teacher], told me that they wanted us to use all the toys - bowling, basketball - I guess to say, "Hey! These are fun things we have at our school that your children play with and learn about." I don't know. This whole situation is sink or swim, learn as you go, and that's great and all, but it's pretty stressful to begin with, and I don't like the CCTV's either, and then you put a whole slew of parents behind it - GAAAAH!!

Oh, yeah, so I'm getting a new kid next week... I forgot his name, but he, his mom and his younger brother were at school today, and I notice his mom looking through the classroom window as I'm reading a story about ambulances, and Danny is standing on his chair behind me, giggling slowly in my ear and rubbing his little snotty hands (literally, he's been sick all this week and I have to blow his nose, and then he coughs on me, and the snot - and I try not to gag, but I have to turn away because it's hot in the tissue and I just think germs, germs, germs, and I want to say, "Eww!" but you can't really do that, y'know?) on my face, and it's funny, so I laugh. Then Olivia thinks it's a good idea to do the same, so she comes over and puts her hands on my cheeks and stretches out my face and then opens my eyes bigger, and plays with my hair. Then Alex wants in on it, and so he skips over and stands next to Danny, hugging my back and they're all laughing and saying, "Teacher! Teacher!" and I'm stifling my laughter trying to peel them all off because the mom's there, y'know, and I'm thinking, Oh, crap, is this good or bad? Cause on the one hand she likes that the kids like me, but on the other hand it looks like I don't have much control over them, and I don't really, unless I'm mean and start counting, and that's not fun. Thank goodness Eric is well behaved, and he just sat in his chair, waiting for me to finish the story. Yeah, so there was that, and then after Show and Tell we get the play room, and my kids were jumping up and down, roaring and ready to go (they all like being lions now, and Power Rangers, and tigers, too) and the new kid and his younger brother were in there. The Korean staff told me it was okay to let them play together, but as soon as we get in there, my kids start yelling, "Li-on! Li-on!" and I want to play Lion, I've been looking forward to it all day, but I'm worried about scaring the new kid and his mother, so I waited a bit for her to go into another room then I took off my shoes and roared to giggles and shrieks. So, we played and it was good, and the new kids stayed while we played and though the mother smiled all the while, I wonder if I'll still get that new student next week, or if they'll transfer to another institution, who knows.

Also, speaking of parents, I heard things about this "Parents Day" that seems to be totally for show. The Mothers actually sit in the classroom, making not only the teachers nervous, but the students as well, and also a lot of the lessons are repeats of the previous day's so the kids will have the answers... so I've heard, so it goes. But, y'know, it's all hearsay, and maybe it won't happen that way. We'll just have to wait and see... I'm just telling you what I know, and that ain't much.

Put You in My Pocket!!

Three weeks and three days since I’ve arrived. Also, my second season, though I didn’t experience much of summer… and I don’t really mind that, because it rains two months straight and then it’s muggy as hell all the while, so I’ve heard, and so I don’t mind.

I kind of wish I could put people in my pocket. I’ve already explained this idea to a few friends back home, but please, let me explain before you close the tab because you’re worried about your safety. A1, I’m overseas, so nothing could happen if I did mean ill intent, and B2, that’s not what I’m going for so wipe the sweat off your brow. See, I want a more of a magic Polly Pocket thing. Sort of like voodoo, but not… I’ll start at the beginning. So, Polly Pocket came out, what – when I was six, or something… so ’91? Yeah, sure, let’s say that. I wanted to live in Polly’s world, more so than Barbie’s I think – there was always too much drama with Ken and then Skipper came around… and the steering wheels on the cars never worked, AKA, death traps. I did like the clothes and the Dream Mansion, but you couldn’t really take that over to friends’ houses. But Polly, man. That was portable fun; girls’ PS2s of the non-technology era. Portable being the key word in terms of my thought process on people I love and left, and didn’t really want to…

Alright, so, let’s say I want to put you in my pocket. Don’t you often hear people saying that, “Oh wow! I love x so much I just want to put pronoun in my pocket!!”? Yes? No? Oh… well, I do, quite often, actually. I tell my friends that when they do something silly or cute, and then when I found out I was leaving for Korea, that desire heightened into something I actually wanted to make possible. So, I’d have this PP, right? But it wouldn’t be any ole PP, it would be magic in a way that I would keep you, but only your, uh, would it be avatar? Yes. You wouldn’t be with me all the time, but I would give you notice as to when I wanted to see you (via: FB, gmail, Skype, ESP, whatever) so you would you know that you needed to be at home, or at least not driving a car. Then, I would open up the PP, put your doll-avatar-person in, and voila! welcome to Korea!! Ka-razy, right? I know, but let’s say it would only last an hour, or something magical like that, and I could only do it 5, no, 6 times, so I would have to make it really special, right? So that way it would give us both the freedom to live our own lives as we saw fit while also giving satisfaction of being in the same place, at the same time for a bit of time. Waaaaay better than Skype, right?

And, yes, yes I do realize, that I just described some sort of teleportation, but this is seemingly less dangerous because it’s based purely on magic and whimsy, and has nothing to do with science (because I absolutely don’t trust it, probably because I can’t understand it, AKA robots). So, yeah, I’m just saying… I wish I could keep you in my pocket.

Related song... but not in my suitcase because that would require some contortionist, and my friends and family aren't that flexible:

Ello, ow are ou?

Like I said before, my "H" key really isn't working, so every time I type something... y'know, whatever it my be, most of the H's are missing and I feel as if I need to start speaking with a cockney accent. Of course, as I type this all the H's are coming in flawlessly, but I'm just sayin' most of the time they stick and do not appear. This is just something that makes me smile more than sigh, and that's really all I have to share... I double typed some of the H's in, just to make it easier for you. Aren't I so considerate? The answer, by the way, is yes, yes I am. Tank you.

But ten again, maybe tat’s exactly wat appened wit tis advertisement (ayeyiyi, ok, I’ll stop with the no Hs) “Fasion Trend” poster… y’know? Well, it only explains the title, not so much the “intorocated” or “evertone”… I honestly don’t get it. It’s like in “When You Are Engulfed in Flames,” Sedaris writes whether or not the Japanese have American or English-speaking cousins that they could check with on the translation. I mean, do we have Korean, Chinese, Japanese, French or other mistranslations in America? Maybe, but I’m thinking not, as usually the people who own the shop or restaurant are of that nation… Maybe someone scratched the letters off, y’know how people change movie marquees? But, changing removable letters is easier than stickers… Maybe it’s a joke, Koreans are a funny people always joking and laughing, and sometimes the humor is lost on Westerners… So, maybe they’re poking fun at us, but then again, I don’t think so… But really, “fasion,” “intorocated,” “bom to be loved.” Maybe the English draws non-English speaking Koreans in, because, oooh, it looks foreign… and to Westerners, it’s ‘umorous, and that’s good enough for me. Today will be best day.

Blue Skies Are Coming… Well, They’re Finally Here

I love this place. I love these people I’ve met. Is love too strong of a word; too soon? I don’t think so. But, maybe that’s just it. I usually, always, indefinitely jump into things without thinking ahead – “Yeah! Why not!?” – but they tell me that life is short, and we only get one chance, so we have to make the time worth it while we have it. I’m in Korea… you’d think that being surrounding by a place would help you in realizing where you are, but it doesn’t. I don’t know if this is just a phase, or if my whole year will be filled with open-mouthed awe. Which, well, yeah, I want it to be.

We’re all in the same boat, (so, rock that boat, baby, just don’t tip that boat over) and I dig that. All these people here – well, foreigners, in speaking – have come for mostly the same reasons. The number one reason seeming to be to become better acquainted with oneself and the world we occupy. The number two reason being a need for change and, well, let’s be honest, work with the dollars is a big pull, too. I mean, I relish in the idea that we’re do-ers here – y’know, less talk, more action. How long had I been thinking and talking about taking on an opportunity like this, to work and see the world? At least since college graduation, but most definitely before that, as well. “We cannot become what we need to be by remaining what we are.” I needed a challenge, and boy!, in coming here, I sure am getting one! Every day, stepping out my front door, siren whirring behind me as my robot lock secures the few belongings I have in this strange place, I take a deep breath and prepare myself for the unexpected. Every day is an adventure, I needed that, I wanted that for so long. I wished, and it finally came true… in Korea. Maybe I’m just listing my reasons – yes, I am – but I’ve found a lot of similar characters, and maybe that – in addition to the whole stranger in a strange land, “Oh! You’re just like me!” – is why the friends pile up after only an introduction. As my favorite Kurt Vonnegut (well, told to him by his son) quote goes, “We are here to help each other through this thing, whatever it is” – we want to help; help kids learn the English language, help ourselves, help each other, (moment of cheese) help.the.world! And yeah, it’s not for free, but there are loans that need repaid and savings accounts that need replenishing. We all have to start somewhere, right?

Speaking of the helping, “help you, help me.” I can’t tell you how long I stood in front of my elementary students (two of them) on the first day saying this. “Help you, help me.” Gestures and all. Slowing down, speeding up. Changing the inflections and volume. I probably scared the crap out of them, but I was scared too. Two little Korean children, Ellen (oh my god! it was so mortifying to realize her name was “Ellen” because “Alan” was written on her bag in permanent marker, and I thought, huh, that’s weird for a girl to be named ‘Alan,’ but this is Korea, and there is a kindergartner named ‘Winner,’ so, sure, I’ll take it. Only to find halfway through the class that Alan was scratched out and Ellen was written underneath… in pencil.) and David sat before me, mute as mimes. Apparently they are the two shyest kids, ever. Koreans are shy when it comes to foreigners, they giggle out of insecurity and fear of doing or saying the wrong thing. Whereas, when it comes to Americans dealing with foreigners, we just get louder and use bigger gestures, thinking “Idiots! Coming to my country, not speaking my language!” Well, I’m trying, but hangul is really difficult, and I’m all like – what, no F sound? What do you mean these characters represent sounds and not actual letters… isn’t that like our alphabet, too? I’m confused! But I can count to three(!) without being corrected now! Yay! Ahhhh, I digress. Ellen and David. Good kids, really they are. And I totally get that they’re tired when I see them, I mean, they’ve already had a long day at their normal (Korean) school. In the books I’ve read, it says that sometimes mothers pack their children lunch and dinner because they’ll have such a long school day. Ayeyiyi. I mean, M, W, F we get done at 6:55p. Insane. So, yes, Ellen and David not only are shy and scared, but they’re tired, too. It’s so hard, because they’re really smart kids and I can see that, I mean the English language isn’t easy and they’re only freaking eight year’s old and they’re already having the world thrust upon their shoulders by their parents and their other teachers, and then here I come, this loud-mouthed American talking 1,000,000 miles a minute at them, being thrown into this deep, foreign pool with school books as floatable devices all around me, but only discovering them as I start sinking to the bottom – ah, the “curriculum,” don’t even get me started! Again, I digress. Because where I was really going with all this, but wanted to give you a little bit of background information, as convoluted as it all was/is… (AH!) is what happened on Friday… maybe it was just Friday and he was tired, but David came in, late, and sad. His shoulders were stooped more than usual and I didn’t get a return smile when I said, “Hello, David, thanks for dropping in!” He shuffled to his seat and sat. “Alright, we’re doing vocabulary right now, so could you please write each word three times and then we’ll move on to Treasures,” (I hate this book, though I feel we made good progress Friday, as we actually were able to compare and contrast ‘Little Rabbit’ to ‘Henny Penny’ – I could’ve cried I was so happy to have a group dialogue going. And sure, there was a lot of prompting on my part, but there was discussion!!!) I said as I unzipped his bag for him and put his notebook in front of him. Blah, blah, blah. We go through class, have one break, a little more class, a lot more sass from David, one more break, and in coming back from that there was more sass and shoes not being on his feet and so I said, “David, you put your shoes on now, or go into the hall.” (it’s official, I am my mother – an educator. BAH!) He didn’t do it. There was a feigned attempt, a whimpered, “teacher” but no real progress. So, I gave the three other students instructions on the page – to cut out this weird “noun, pronoun, verb” fortune teller thingamabob – and said, “David. Come out in the hall. Right.now.” He was upset, but I had to stick to my guns and figure out what was going on. “You’re not in trouble, but I do need to talk to you. Please.” Miserably, he made his way into the hall. I gave him a drink (of water, I don’t think Koreans start with alcohol that early, because when I asked Jason if he celebrated his 10^th birthday with shots of soju, he laughed and said, “No, no.”) and said, “Calm down, first.” “What’s going on? Is everything okay?” and he said he didn’t understand, and I said, “What don’t you understand?” and he said, “Teacher.” And so I probably started talking louder and using bigger gestures and Korenglish saying, “David is smart. So smart. Teacher knows David is good.” And I don’t know, I think I blacked out because I was like, “Whaaa? You’re my best student, always finishing your work and reading well.” Sigh. It’s a day by day thing, and every day I learn to do something differently. It’s like that Rod Stewart with The Faces song, “I wish that I knew what I know now, when I was younger” like, yesterday. And I told him that he needed to tell me what he didn’t understand, because otherwise I won’t know, and I tapped the side of his head and said, “Teacher can’t read David’s mind. David needs to tell Teacher,” and he shrugged his shoulders, and I sighed and said, “Alright, go back to class.”

In the whole being affectionate to kids thing – like when little Alex hugs my hand – I guess I need to be more reciprocal. The director and staff really encourage us to hug and kiss the students back – like I mentioned before, Koreans are an affectionate people – and I think it’s because as children they have the weight of the world thrust down upon them as if they were adults, so the reinforcement of positive touch and praise is like hanging on to one last bit of childhood? I don’t know, I don’t understand, but I’m learning, and as I do, it’s not always pretty the things I hear and witness, like stories of violent parents, but I do it with a smile, however forced it may be, these little people are children, no matter how adult-like they seem, and I want them to be carefree. So, I play Lion and I put up with the coughs and sneezes in my face as I’m helping them form the letter Q or put together a sentence about roller-blades and best friends, and I laugh with them and indulge them in their excited stories and I give them longer breaks in the play room when I’m frustrated, even though the elementary kids aren’t supposed to be in there – they’re kids.

So, yeah. I’m learning as I go, about them, about me, and my patience is growing, too. It’s only been three weeks, and I’ve got 49 to go J

-- and about the title of the post, the blue skies are literally here, apparently Korea is known for their clear, beautiful skies in autumn... something us Westerners take for granted 365, and also was from a Noah and the Whale song from Friday's All Songs Considered podcast... I'll get a link on Monday, as it's Saturday and I'm stealing internet from someone (a shoddy connection to say the least). Thirty minutes later... here's the link, at Jennie's, she has the interweb and shared!

Peace!

"Mary Got a Little Man"

During science today, Alex started singing a different version of "Mary had a little lamb," by changing the words to "Mary got a little man..." interesting take on an otherwise boring song. It took everything for me not to interrupt his angelic singing with giggles galore.

And that's what I have for you from school today. Also, the kids are becoming more comfortable with me... which is great and all, but today Alex grabbed my hand like he was going to hug it, then he kissed it and licked it and put my pointer finger in his mouth - YUCK!! These children have a surprising death grip and it's hard to wiggle away. And Olivia is really good at going limp when she doesn't want to do something... like today, since Danny was gone (kid went on a picnic instead'a coming to class... :( okay, fine then) she was infatuated with Eric and kept sitting in the same seat as him, so I had to physically move her... and my, stubborn children.

It's good.

It's Friday. Thank God!!

Rachel's parents are in town, so we're going to show them around and go to a norebang (literally: singing room) that has FREE ice cream!! -- I had my first ice cream (I love ice cream, PS. Every day.) in Korea last night, at Baskin Robbins, with Briana and Jennie, after octopus bibimbop (the tentacles/suckers were more than I wanted) and before we went to my first DVD bang (again, DVD room... usually frequented by young couples to escape for necking without parents around, because most people live with their parents until married around here... thanks, but no thanks). We rented "Taken" and MY! Liam Neeson is a badass!! He was killing people left and right, and not taking any names - totally the Bourne series, but with his dad. Yeah, so that was good. And then on Saturday, my friend Elaine is having a murder mystery birthday party, AKA LIVE CLUE!!! and I'm super excited - should be lots and lots of fun. Also, in talks with a dude from Seoul, hoping to buy a guitar... but dude isn't being very decisive about who he's going to sell to... so, we shall see.

Just gotta get through elementary and I'm OUTTA HERE!!!

Peace.

"Sorry, Wrong House"

--this is from "The Kids Times" that some classes read here:

"Did your daddy ever drunk* and come home late? Drinking alcohol is something adults enjoy. It relieves their stress. Sadly, drinking too much can make you not think straight. Well, that's exactly what happened to a 26-year-old man in the U.S. Recently this man partied with his friends. He had a fun time. But he had too many drinks. Later, he got really drunk. Being the smart person he is, he didn't drive. Unfortunately, he went to the wrong house! Yup, he thought his neighbor's home was his. He entered the house, and slept in a room. The next morning, the people in the house were shocked. They thought a robber was in their home. Although this man didn't steal anything, he was arrested by the police. If your daddy is planning on drinking tonight, tell him this news. I bet he won't drink as much!"

Hilarious and "ohhh!" heartbreaking all at the same time. Kids news!!

*not my typo, their lack of proofreading

Under the Table, Behind the Door

No matter how many times I leave the classroom in a day, whenever I come back I can never find my class. "Where's my class?!" I say, "Where did all the children go? ... Danny? Alex? Eric? Olivia?... Wheeeeeeeere are you?" sometimes I pretend to cry and wait for the giggles, otherwise I jump down to their level and shout, "I FOUND YOU!" or I close the door and act surprised, or I say, "HEY! Everybody in your seats! You do this everyday." They don't get tired of it, only I do. So, this week I've made up my mind to play along, and I think it's made all the difference. They actually wanted to read their Potato book this morning, after we played Reader Rabbit. OH! These Potato books are the worst, because it's all "Repeat after me, class" and I get blank stares, because we do it every.day. Example: the first book, "In the morning. I wake up." Next page, repeat the first page then say, "I get out of bed." Repeat the first two pages then, "I wash my face." Repeat three, "I eat breakfast." Four, "I brush my teeth." Then, "I get dressed." - so apparently this Potato's family believes in nudity. And finally, "I go to school." We did that for two weeks, and they were just as tired of it by the end as I was, and I would have to bribe them with play time to finish it.

This week we started, "At School." And, like I said, they were all about it which shocked me, but was great. I'm a preschool teacher, for Koreans... this is bizarre, and trying, but also insanely fun. I play with blocks and cute little kids who ask me to act like a lion all day. Oh! And yesterday I got them to play like Power Rangers, so maybe I'll save my voice a little bit in that... though want of the lion came through at the end. It always done. Curse my awesome impression!

Pancakes, anyone?

Is it possible to get jet lag after two weeks? Does that happen? I've been really tired lately... maybe it's the fact that I'm working 50 hours a week, or rather sitting in my office for 20 of those hours... twiddling my thumbs, talking to family/friends on Skype, reading Sedaris articles on The New Yorker's webpage, talking with co-worker friends and who knows what else... sitting... NYT crosswords puzzlin' and the like.

As the Electric Prunes song goes, "I had too much to dream last night" and laid awake in my bed tossing and turning for what seemed like hours... though I'm sure it was only one, or less than. As usual, there were drunkards oot and aboot reeking havok on the otherwise quiet Youngtong night, and scooters roaring, and norebang (sp? I don't know, but it's karaoke) blasting on loud speaker. I don't mind this, in fact, it's fun to be sober and observe the silly drunks. On my way home from an internet cafe last night, my friend Rachel and I were talking and I lost our conversation as we walked past a group of 7-8 business people (drunk) playing a game similar to "the wave," complete with hoots and hollers as they jumped when the middle person pointed them out. It was amusing to say the least, and a regular occurrence, too. I was telling my Aunt Mary Lou about the affectionate Koreans, and how they hold hands and wrap their arms around each others' shoulders while they walk through the neon night. I said it was cute, she said they probably did it in order to stay upright. Touche! Regardless, it makes me smile.

Korea is like that. Making me smile, a lot. But then it also makes me blush and feel bashful being a foreigner and not understanding what the heck is happening around me.

But to the pancakes. Last night, in the internet cafe, I was writing an email to a friend and it smelled like pancakes, but my nostrils must've been fooled, because Koreans don't believe in breakfast the way Americans do. Like, it just doesn't exist. No pancakes, waffles, toast, bacon or eggs. OH MY!! And the hash browns and breakfast-y sweets are off the map, too - traditionally speaking. Koreans eat kimchi, rice and meat morning, noon and night. I do not agree, and therefore buy fruit, yogurt and granola from Home Plus. But those pancakes, man! They made me yearn for a tasty treat in the morning time. Maybe they had a maple syrup drink... I don't know.

Note: waffles are really big here, but as a dessert... topped with fruit and whipped cream, or chocolate sauce.

Just call me Kate Teacher

It's true. I was looking forward to being called "Miss Kate," but they're all about keeping the "Teacher" in the title. It's professional, eh?

My days consist of... M-F, 9:50a - 12:30p (hour break for lunch) and 1:30p - 2:30p teaching my little preschoolers (3years old: Alex, Danny, Eric and Olivia) their alphabet, fruits/veggies and soon to be other themes, counting and math, PE, reading stories, singing songs, playing "Reader Rabbit: Sparkle Rescue" (SPACE PI-RATS!!), Arts and Crafts and Science. There's also plenty of play time which is either playing with blocks and a kitchen set in the classroom, or going across the hall to the Play Room.

Speaking of the Play Room, I made the mistake of pretending to be a lion one day - I think we read it in a story or something and I roared when I spoke as the lion and the kids loved it and wanted more... so yeah, I pretended to be a lion one day, chasing them around and roaring, and now everyday it's, "Kate Teacher, lion! Lion! Lion." I can't tell them no, but I do tell them, "Give lion 10 minutes, I just ate seven children and I'm too full" (if it's after lunch), or, "Shhh. The lion is sleepy." and then I sing, "In the jungle, the mighty jungle..." and they tilt their heads to the side and look at me confused, until I roar. Then they run away screaming, or turn around and shoot me, "Baow, baow, baow!" until I fall dead on the ground, but then I jump up and grab them as they run by. It's really fun and they get a "kick out of it," if you will. Yesterday I made little Eric be the lion, and he did such a good job of falling down and dying and shaking as the bullets hit him - it made me so proud. Their mimicry is outstanding, I must say! Then today I turned little Danny into a lion when I roared on him and then he turned and started cannibalizing my legs - it was weird and hilarious all at the same time.

Everyday they do something that surprises me and makes me laugh. They're silly kids and I really enjoy having them in class. It's pretty amazing that they had such a hard time even holding their crayons to write their names on the first day, and now they're writing their names on their worksheets without me even having to ask. WOW!!

I also teach elementary M, W, F from 4:30p - 6:55p. We read, go over vocabulary, write, read some more, talk about grammar... blah, blah, blah. There are only four of them and they've all already had a long day at their normal school so it's harder work getting them excited about stuff, but sometimes they tune in, and that's good. I do have to say I'm happy I only see them three days a week because it's a little more stressful teaching less responsive students.

Then I teach a Phonics class from 3p - 4p on Wednesdays, to 15 8-9 year olds, and they're a riot. Sometimes it's hard to get and hold their attention, but they make me laugh and they mean well. They're kids, I mean, c'mon. Sometimes I get frustrated about the language barrier, but I have to look at it as a challenge to approach teaching a different way, and they're so little and cute and I want to make sure they have fun, right?

Okay, I have to prep for my elementary... aka, drink some coffee.

Should be another good weekend!! We have my Welcome Dinner tonight and then it's off to the local bars and karaoke with co-worker friends, YAY!!!

Dr. Fish

Note: these are fb videos, so you just have to be logged into your fb page to watch since I made it so everyone can see (even if you're not "friends" with me).
Here are a couple videos from my adventures at Dr. Fish, with co-workers, in a Gangnam, Seoul coffeehouse. They say it's relaxing... I beg to differ. Fun times for sure, though!! Enjoy.

Health Check

Tuesdays and Thursdays are my days to TCoB as I am done teaching at 2:30, but I have to stay at school until it ends at 6:55p so I'm not out teaching illegally... just policy, y'know. And it's fine, I like my co-workers, we laugh together about school/office shenanigans -- like how yesterday a slightly intoxicated mother came in and started screaming in Korean (obviously) about how the curriculum here is whack (no comment), it was a major yell fest, my heart was racing, there was serious tension in the air and let's just say there was almost a throw-down - it came real close, like reaaaal close. (Angry Koreans are something you don't want to experience - ps.) The kid wasn't my student, and the teacher who taught her wasn't doing anything wrong... poor kid's apparently been through 8 hagwons in the past year or so - mothers! Oh, yeah, and after I went back to class (this happened during the elementary break time), the police came - 6 of 'em!! And then today we had a birthday party, so there were party hats and cake, and I emailed and blogged and tried to figure out why my computer wasn't working right (Skype and Firefox aren't friends, but everything is fixed now)... but, ahhhhh, yes, last Thursday I didn't have time to do any of these things because I had to have my health check so I can get my Alien Registration Card and then get a Korean bank account and set-up the interweb in my home, and other fun things that I don't even know about yet (woot!).

So, yes. The health check. Mr. C (the director man) came to get me after class on Thursday and said, "Alright, Kaserine. It's time to go to the hospitar for your heas check." (ayi! that's it, no more Korean di-rect writing [after that one] anymore) I hop in his car, and we have to drive to Home Plus (um - did I write about this yet?! Target + Wal-Mart + Bed, Bath and Beyond + your local grocery store on speed, all together, holding hands... YES!! YES. yes. New fave.) to get my pictures from the day before - for the card, y'know? So, we did that and then drove through Suwon to get to St. Vincent's hospital.

We went through some doors, up some stairs, down some stairs, through a hallway. Mr. C talked to the women at the reception desk and I smiled, bowed and said, "Annyong haseyo!" There was some sitting and waiting and then a nurse pulled me (yes, because I don't understand anything besides "hello" and "thank you") into a room where I changed out of my top half clothing and into a hospital shirt. Then I sat and waited some more; had my blood pressure taken, peed in a [dixie] cup, had blood drawn, maybe had a mammogram? - I don't know, I had to open up the hospital shirt and stand very still, "No breathing!" up against this machine, shoulders pushed against it and all. Then I was measured and weighed in the waiting room, took a sight test and then a hearing test, and pulled into another room to have my chest measured... yeah? Um, are the Koreans going to welcome me with new bras? I don't know. It's standard...? One more room to have a psych evaluation. Okay? All finished, I think because I'm lead into the changing room to return to my teacher top, but then Mr. C leads me through the hallway, up some stairs, down some stairs, through the doors, outside for a bit and over to the ear, nose and throat area to be poked at a little more. Then it's down the hall to the dentist. Now we're done, but it's one last go down the hallway, outside, inside, up some stairs, down some stairs and through the hallway to the initial place to hand in the paperwork. Phew! That was fun. I had heard such horrible things about the experience... being in a crowded waiting room - no one was there, peeing in a dixie cup and bringing it out into the waiting room - I didn't spill and was able to fill it to the line even though I wasn't allowed to eat or drink after 8am, and just the general confusion of, "Wait. Why do you need to do this?" It was more fun then when I went to the hospital down the street, Samsung Women's Hospital, to figure out if I had swine flu or the common cold (it was the common cold, fyi) and I was sitting there talking to the doctor, through my Korean co-teacher, and the nurse just yanked up my button shirt to let the doctor have a listen to my lungs - it was a little violent, y'know, yanked. So, yeah. It was kind of like an amusement park, sort of. Oh, and Mr. C and I also talked to a doctor about general health history.

Another thing was that I got a chance to get a better feel for my surrounding area, Suwon, which is much bigger than I thought. Living in Youngtong is seemingly like a Wicker Park of Chicago... but it's the suburbs... I'm not familiar enough with Evanston to continue the former analogy. Also, I had time to talk to Mr. C... he's a Buddhist, has older brothers and sisters, wanted to know the correct way to use "to be" verbs - and we allll know that I'm not the best person to ask about that!, was curious about race relations (specifically black-white) in America, and I told him that Obama is definitely helping bridge that gap along with making progress in world relations after G-Dub burned most-if not all our bridges in the last eight years. It was fun to talk (and be able to understand) a Korean and get a better feel for them and the culture.

Good times, good times. Alright, spell check and then I'm out to go to Seoul for Andrea's (co-teacher) birthday. We're going to this place called, "Dr. Fish" (if they're still open) to have fish eat the dead skin off our feet and then eat ice cream (us, not the fish). YES! Both those fish and I will probably leave the experience in food comas... awesome and disgusting all at once. I'll let you know how that goes, and also to come: run/hiking in the hills (um - mountains) around here, Korean Man Love, my first weekend out in the area, the food!! (the delicious food), and of course, the funny things the CUTE AS A BUTTON chir-ren (sorry!) do. :)

Jet Lag - Schmet Mchag!

I think the main reason I didn't suffer from much jet lag is because I didn't sleep for almost 48 hours before my flight. Yep, that's right. I woke up Thursday morning and pack, pack, packed, lunched with friends, packed some more, then I went to my going away party, slept from 3a - a little before 7a, packed a little more, moved some of my stuff with a family friend, brunched for my roommate's birthday, packed(?), cried, packed, cried some more, freaked out, packed, birthday dinner and last minute packing purchases, packed, said good-byes :( then showered, and sat with Erin and Christine, ate Froot Loops and 'watched' "Married With Children" (it's weird - I wasn't allowed to watch it as a child, and sometimes I still feel guilty about doing so...) then it was off to the airport.

My beautiful friends, Erin, Christine and Mariko got me Shel Silverstein's "The Giving Tree" because I didn't remember reading it as a child, and wrote amazing notes to me in it. On the way to the airport Erin read me the notes and I cried like a little baby who just had candy yanked out of its hand. Everything seemed to be going smoothly at the airport until we weighed the bags... 54 for one and 75.5 for the other. AYE!! So much for sitting on the suitcases to smoosh everything inside two and keep extra fees down. Rather than take the $500ish overpacking fee for both bags, I got charged $210 to move 30 pounds into a box ($10 for the box and $200 for the "3rd bag"). Then I said my final good-byes to Chicago besties and went off to stand in lines and sit and wait.

Lack of sleep coupled with emotional strain at the thought of moving half-way around the world and massive amounts of tears equaled one mighty cold that overtook me. I lost my voice and had a nasty cough. We boarded the LAX plane on time and I was asleep before we even left the ground. I woke up and was happy to look down over the Grand Canyon - OH WOW!! I've never been, nor do I remember ever flying over it, and WOW!! how incredible. I wanted to go down and shout across it. I gaped at it, interrupted my seat mate's Bible reading to say, "Hey, look! It's the Grand Canyon!" and took pictures for 10 minutes before the pilot came over the loud speaker and said, "Now folks, if you all look to your left, you can see the Grand Canyon." Oh... well, it's pretty big... maybe he was just notifying us at the biggest point? Or, maybe he fell asleep at the wheel and that's when he woke up? There was a little turbulence. Who knows. Then I went back to sleep, woke up to see the hills around LA burning, fell back asleep and we were on the ground.

My friend, Suzy, came to see me off during my lay-over at LAX. We drove around the airport circle for a while then parked after some shuttle driver motioned to the security guards when Suz stopped for .2 seconds - jerk! The Int'l terminal, specifically Asiana Air was a mini introduction of the people landscape to come. I checked in, then Suz and I checked out the Duty Free shop so I could find a gift for my school director (aka Boss Man). I picked out a Johnny Walker Green Label for the boss and got a box of Godiva chocolates for the rest of the staff - Koreans are big on first impressions and love gifts - but who isn't/doesn't?! I said my good-bye to Suz Wuz and off to security I went.

There was more than enough time before the flight took off, so I bought some water and made some calls. I should've brought more water as I seem to get severely dehydrated on planes and the staff didn't bring around as much water as I needed in my sickly condition. I didn't have a window seat (was in the middle section), but I did have a movie screen!! I watched "Aliens v. Monsters" in a Tylenol haze and fell asleep. I woke up just in time for my first Korean meal, and MY!! it was taaaaaaasty! Seriously, best plane food I've ever had (which isn't saying a lot, but it is at the same time). There was more sleeping then I watched my first Korean movie, Castaway on the Moon, which I just loved! I started to get really excited and ancy to land, so I went back to sleep, then woke up and started, "17 Again" - um, I loved it... is that bad? (didn't get to finish it because they turned off the movies for the descent.)

Suddenly, the cabin turned from night to day and we prepared for our descent to the land that's intrigued my dreams for the past three months. It was so wonderful to get off the plane. Just the thought of landing made the old woman (ajema) next to me start clapping. HAPPY TIMES!! Besides the fact that my feet were swollen to the size of a third trimester pregnant woman's, I was in good shape. Groggy and ready to get to my new home. After some searching, I located the baggage claim, but I couldn't find one of my bags... (you already know this story)... Asiana couldn't find it and told me to contact them on Monday. So, I started tearing up out of nervousness/tiredness. I tried to compose myself as I stepped through Customs, but then I couldn't find my name on a poster as I walked through the gate. I walked back and forth, straining my eyes and trying not to cry. Surely someone is here for me. "No, I'm not Amanda.... No, my name's not Charles..." Of course I had forgotten the contact information of the company I was recruited through on the TV in Chicago, so I had to exchange my American dollars for Korean cash - which I needed to do anyway - and get online to figure out who to call. Teary-eyed and frog-throated I went up to the information stand and told the woman my sitch. She called the recruiter for me and he told me to meet the person who was supposed to pick me up at the McDonald's. Disoriented and swollen-footed, I rolled my cart over and sat down next to Ronald McDonald. The guy came about 5 minutes later, smiling and welcoming, and apparently he had been at a different gate... no worries, it's all good. Then, there was a little more waiting, and off to my fancy taxi. I slept on the hour trip from Incheon to Suwon, and stood outside my new school as the driver and I waited for the director to meet us and take me to my new home.

In a couple minutes, the director, his wife and son arrived, smiling and welcoming, and told my driver to follow his car. My apartment is a hop, skip and a jump away from the school, which is great because I tend to forget things sometimes. After carrying my things up the stairs, the director's family left to let me settle in, informing me as they left that the other teachers were excited to meet me and would be over in a minute. Sure enough, the doorbell rang and in addition to the director's family, I saw six friendly faces, all offering names and hands. Whoa! Overwhelming, but great. Then they left and I settled in and went to sleep because I had to be at work the next day...

So, that's how I got here.

Oh, shucks.

I sure do feel silly! Luggage is found!! Thank goodness! It's not here yet, but should be tonight, and if not, then tomorrow. What a relief, just to know. I think it came because I wanted it to. And like Hulk Hogan says, if you want something badly enough, it will come to you... (Rolling Stone issue #1077 - won't let you read article online). I feel pretty embarrassed about getting so upset yesterday, but my afternoon Conversation class was a bit overwhelming and topped off with the luggage information of potential lost forever-ness... I was a mess.

Last night I went out to dinner with Briana and Rachel, and then Rachel and I went on a walk around the town - quaint and neon! Also, surrounded on some sides like a forest circa M. Night's "The Village." Ewww, we saw a tarantula-like spider scurrying across the sidewalk. Man, oh man I hope they aren't the norm. Rachel also showed me the Northwestern equivalent in Youngtong (Kyung Hee University), and wow! most of the architecture in Youngtong is pretty concrete blah and basic, but the campus starts out with a huge Greco-Roman gate complete with toga-ed statues, continues along rolling hills packed with trails and open fields, and leads up to this great big amphitheater that I imagine an Aeschylus or Sophocles play would be shown in. It was too dark to take pictures, so I'll go sometime during the day. Then I went back to Rachel's and listened to some Bing Bang, a Korean pop sensation. I'm too tired to youtube a link for you now because I have an elementary class in 12 minutes and I need to rest from my Phonics class (15 very excitable children), but I will.

Peace and love from across the sea.

Bing Bang's "GO!"

Pretty sure they're all students at Kyung Hee, too, so that's neat.

Lost Luggage :(

I am so sad right now, so sad. I hope this will pass, yes? I wish I wasn't at work right now because all I want to do is cry (I am anyway, so it doesn't really matter, but I'd like to sob). Stupid airline idiots lost my luggage. My luggage with my bedding, running shoes, teacher shoes, clothing, family mementos, make-up, who knows what else.... oh man. I wish I could go even further in the future and have my bag and just laugh about the mix-up and the stress that it's currently causing me. I mean, I know they're only things, but they're my things and they're 1/3rd of all I have in this place. It's only my second day and I'm already questioning my decision... I thought I was a stronger person than this, and that makes me sad. It's been a tiring day. AND MY JEWELRY!! All my favorites of favorites, and I had to pay $200 extra because my luggage was over-weight and they can't even keep my stuff straight. BOGUS!! Oh... man. This sucks. I need a hug. I want a hug. I wish I could get myself together and stop crying - I can't even go for a run because my shoes are in that stupid bag. DAMNIT!

Again, god bless these teacher-friends.

Annyong Haseyo!

Well, that might be how you write "hello" in Korean, I'm not really sure... or it could be "yanyong"... it just depends on who you ask.

I'm here. It's strange and wonderful and exciting and confusing, and well, let's just say it's a learning experience. My bathroom is my shower - like the whole thing... bath tubs don't exist in homes, from what I understand, or at least not cheap studio housing, but rather the public goes to bath houses. Mayflies love my place. At least they're prettier (except up close, like in that link - eww!) than fat American flies. Youngtong (or Yeongtong) is smaller than I expected, but not really. For some reason I keep comparing it to SpongeBob's Bikini Bottom... don't ask me why - maybe because there are some tall buildings and it's foreign and usually smells like fish. I can see the Sea... bar from my window. Har har har. Youngtong is to Seoul what Evanston is to Chicago, to put it in American perspective for you.

The food is tasty. The drivers are crazy. I have my own class, three 3 year olds (but in Korea they're counted as aged 5, again, cultural difference, everyone turns another year older at the new year. You're 1 when you're born, and New Year, bam! 2... so if you were born in December, well, it's just difference.) and today I explained "Red Light! Green Light!" in gym class. One little boy was confused by the concept of stopping at a red light because he said his mother doesn't - neither do most, if not all, Koreans; stop lights are merely suggestions to driving. I had to explain that in this game the whole point is to stop on a red light and go on a green light. We're all learning together. Luckily, one of the kids in my class only speaks English and the other two will catch on quick... I hope. They all like to color, and they're all really cute as buttons!

I have a pre-K class in the morning from 10a-12:30p, then an hour for lunch and class again from 1:30-2:30, then I have an hour break (right now) and go into an hour long conversation topic class with 3-4 students, elementary aged. At least that's my Tuesday. I observed yesterday and I have my own classes today. It's fast-paced here. Everything; talking, walking, driving, etc.

My head is spinning, maybe? I'm still trying to figure out what's going on. I'm eternally grateful to my fellow teachers, who have been so kind in showing me the ropes of the town and the school. I can't believe it's only Tuesday.

I have to get ready for class. I'll write more about the travel experience and arrival later.

Annyong! (also "goodbye," like "aloha") But in leaving you say, "annyong-he gyesayeo" and if you're the person staying in the place I believe it's, "annyong-ha gasayeo."

PS - my brosef sent me this clip from "Arrested Development"