Done!

Last class, last day, last students...done! I'm headed out for a celebratory meal and drink in just a few minutes--I just can't believe that it's official! I am very excited and feel good about the hours logged this year. I am so ready to get back to the States and look forward to getting out to California to start my next adventure! Now, for vacation time... I officially leave here in another two and a half weeks, so what can I do in the meantime? Well, I'm headed out for a little r&r at the spa and on the island!



I'll keep you posted in the next days of packing up and getting things ready to move across the ocean! I'll be in MN for much of September and will be looking forward to seeing friends and family!

Racecorse Park

Yesterday was an easy day for me at work. The students had a poetry/painting/picnic day at Racecourse Park. We all had to be there at 9 and I left at noon!

Funny story: there were a couple of thousand students at the park. At least 800 of them were mine, but I couldn't seem to find anyone I knew (including teachers). The students were not in their uniforms, so it was difficult to tell who was who. A group of girls said hello to me, so I went over and sat next to them thinking they were my students. Well, after about 15 minutes of chatting, they asked me what school I worked at. They were from a high school in the area and were definitely NOT my students! I had to wander around for another 30 minutes before I found the kids that went to my school! At least I made it in time for lunch! :) The parents prepared a lunch for the staff in honor of Teacher's Day. We all received gifts and flowers and chocolates! I like this holiday! :)

After work (at noon), I went and ran a few errands that I had been putting off (hair cut, the bank, etc...) before meeting up with Kara for a movie. We saw Penelope at the mall. It wasn't too bad--it has a good message (especially for a culture with mirrors and plastic surgery everywhere--although, the same could be said for many other places around the world). Has anyone seen it yet? What do you think?

Interesting Day

I saw a video today at work--it was embedded in another person's blog (yes, I spend my working hours surfing the internet...sometimes I have 4+hours of prep time...gets boring). It didn't work to upload, but it was showing guys doing really great tricks with a soccer ball. I think these guys are super talented--I have never seen anything like it! I can't even do that stuff without the ball! Sorry it didn't work to upload! I will try again another time...

I am not sure why, but today I had an interesting day. More interesting than usual.

I have been addicted to this blog for the past two days: http://www.fourhourworkweek.com/blog/. It is written by the author of the book The Four Hour Work Week. If you have some spare time (at work, if you live in Korea), check it out. He has posts on how to manage your time, take mini-retirements and how to lose up to 30 pounds in a few weeks without going overboard. I am attracted to the travel posts, such as the one about living like a rock star in Buenos Aires! :)

On the way home from work, I noticed the street fruit stand trying to sell their watermelons for $25! I can't believe that anyone would pay that much for a watermelon! They aren't even the XL oblong ones sold in the States! Martin and I bought a watermelon off a street stand this summer in Romania for a couple of dollars--and that was a top-of-the-line model! $25? No way! The price of fruit here is unbelievable. I just bought three apples for $3.50 (which isn't actually horrible if you didn't grow up eating as many as you can eat off the tree) and passed on the $19 strawberries.

Today I received no less than 3 aloe drinks (pronounced "aloe-ay" here), one box of apple juice, a white dress shirt from a student's mom (it is Teacher's day soon), and a box of homemade donuts from a co-worker's friend! It is not uncommon for me to go home at the end of the day with health drinks or rice cakes, but today was quite the mother load!

I am leaving for Japan on Thursday morning--I am excited to get there! Has anyone been to Tokyo? What was your favorite thing to do?

Dinner with the art teachers.

Tonight was one of those times I wished I had better Korean language skills. I have often thought that it would be great to somehow instantly implant language into my brain for quick communication ease--like some kind of computer chip or something. After school today, I was invited out by the two art teachers. These two guys have become some of my favorite people in Korea. They are so easy going and unassuming. They treat me as a normal person and don't draw attention to my alienness. One of them is Mr. Ko, the one who's art exhibit I attended in the fall. The other one, Mr. Kim, has this great, deep, nasaly voice that reminds me of the singer Shaggy (the one who sings "Darlin' you're my angel, you're my darlin' angel, closer than my peeps you are to me, baby")--one day before I leave, I want to request that he sing that song in the karaoke room! These two guys invited me to be their guests for dinner--they brought me to a Korean restaurant and treated me to as much food and drink as I could handle. We weaved in and out of conversation topics and enjoyed our time despite communication breakdown. We had plenty to talk about and when we didn't understand each other, we just said "no problem" and moved on. Great! I do wish I could speak with them--I think we really have a lot of things in common.

Please, throw this life ring to the drowning person!

"Please, throw this LIFE RING to the drowning person!" I think I might need that ring pretty soon! Work has been getting more and more difficult! I come home so exhausted each night after teaching all day. I have been teaching morning classes for a couple of weeks (as well as my regular schedule) and find myself drained of energy each day! Of course, I am getting paid for the extra hours, but still... The good thing is that it keeps me busy and the time is flying by! I noticed that I have started on the 3rd of 6 chapters in my textbook that I am required to teach this term! And, midterms are in a couple of weeks--wow! I am half way through my 8th month in Korea. Four more to go--I'm in the home stretch! :)

My work situation has improved since last term (it wasn't bad before, it is just better now). I really have been enjoying my new co-workers. It is refreshing to have other's around that I can speak to (in English)--I really have a lot in common with some of them and they are less shy about speaking to me. Also, I know the students better this term and fell less like a fish out of water. I have a few students who stop by my desk daily to practice English (and one student who likes to practice German with me). Some students have spent years in the States or in Canada and have a little bit of a hard time transitioning back into Korean school culture.

By the way, I have a 5-day weekend coming up in May and will be taking a mini-trip on my own! Through working these extra hours, I have been able to pay off both my plane ticket and my hotel with about $25 to spare! :) I am looking forward to it! I leave May 8th! Woo-hoo!

Not Exactly

I received this note on my desk on Friday. I had some problems with one of my classes and asked a few boys to write me a letter in English as a punishment. This is one of the letters I got. It is not exactly what I hope for in my conversational English classes!

Singles Club

I didn't realize this, but my "Happy Thursdays" are actually club days! I have gone all year thinking we had a random hour off every other Thursday, but nobody told me there were club meetings going on (I just wasn't invited). There are a lot of new, young, single teachers that have started working at my school this term. They are really nice and have afternoons and evenings off like me! Monday, we decided to go to the Grand International Hotel and partake of their wine and food buffet for $25 . Kara joined us for the evening and she has a standing invitation into our school's singles club. By the way, the term "single" is used quite loosely. Two of the members are engaged, one is married, and a couple of us have boyfriends. The picture above shows some of the members, but the group is 14 or 15 strong!


Cheers to the singles club!


Our entertainment for the evening: a little "Lost in Translation" lounge singing. That grand piano was used as a stand for a hi-tech keyboard and computer system. There was a guy mixing sound behind it.

The evening was lots of fun, and we plan to meet frequently! Yeay for new friends!

Student Election Day

Today was the day the students chose their student body president. This was such a serious event--I couldn't believe how much the students got into it! When I was in middle school, the candidates made their campaign posters at home with paper, glue and glitter. Here, they were professionally made and laminated--very authentic.


This pic is of the student mass assembly. This kind of assembly happens at least once a month. The students stand in perfectly straight lines as the assembly master shouts out orders (attention, turn right, turn left, at ease) and holds what looks like a horse whip (I haven't seen him use it, though. I think it is just used as a prop so he looks official).


I added this last picture to show you my new favorite student--he is the one who is standing in the front of the line, posing and leaning to the right. This guy could be the littlest one at the school. He likes to pop his head around the corner near my desk and say hi. He visits me every day and usually stays for a short chat (and a piece of candy).

Oh, the outcome of the election was somewhat predictable. The elected leader is basically the kind of student who is good at everything. He has near perfect marks, is athletic and has lots of friends. Congrats to him!

What do you mean exactly?

Whenever you have the chance to work with people who are learning English, funny conversations are sure to happen frequently! I had one of these the other day, and as I relayed the conversation to a friend here, she encouraged me to blog about it. So, here is the conversation I had with a 27-year-old, female English co-teacher:

Korean co-worker: Would you like some chocolate?
Me: Yes, thank you.
Korean co-worker: You know, it is important for women to chew on things like squares of chocolate. It keeps our teeth healthy.
Me: Really? I didn't know that.
Korean co-worker: Yes, that is why chocolate is good for women. Also, it is good to chew on gum and penis.
Me: Gum and what?
Korean co-worker: Gum and penis.
Me: (laughing) Do you mean peanuts?
Korean co-worker: Yes, penis.
Me: (laughing harder) I will write what you said on paper. (I write it down and hand it to her)
Korean co-worker: (immediately realizing her mistake and red in the face) Oh no!