12-24-14 Christmas Eve

3 PM:  Fine day so far.

It's sleepy-cold Christmas season, so everything's a little idyllic and lazy. I stayed up waaayy late last night, baking and wrapping presents and painting homemade Christmas cards. It was crazy, but it made me feel Christmasy.

It's a season about giving, so being a Person Who Gives makes things better for me. I baked an entire pan of banana bread for the principal and another for the vice principal. I baked dozens of peanut butter cookies for Mr. B, my Lunch Co-ordinator, and NG, with enough left over to have a lot to hand out to students who came by my desk today.

The girls I work with (HS, SG2, JY, KBR, the special-needs teacher, and my school-bestie SY) all got very prettily-wrapped beauty product present like peach-scented body wash and grapefruit lotion. I have a great fondness for fruit-scented anything, and it's better to not give girls food if you can help it--you never know who's on a diet, so I didn't bake for the ladies other than my lunch co-ordinator, who I know for a fact likes my baked goods.

The girls were all thrilled with their presents and with the hand-painted cards I made. SY had actually forgotten it was Christmas Eve until I gave her her present. She in turn gave me this cool grown-up coloring book called Secret Garden, full of groovy little drawings and treasure hunts.

I Can't Wait!

It actually looks great for stress relief and I think I could copy some of the designs for my own artwork in the future.

I got NG cookies, but since the girl teachers got nicer presents from me, I added some batteries (which he's always using in class, for microphones) and wrapped it up to look really grand. I gave it to him in our class together and he noted that as soon as I left, the kids were going to ask him a million questions about the gift. The kids are always curious about us and there's no really good strategy for dealing with their questions. But in any case, NG's one of my best friends and one of the people I respect the most, therefore I don't mind the hassle of the kids always staring and sticking to us like paparazzi trailing Brad and Angelina.

Most of my 3rd-graders were gone to the high school next door to take their placement test, which will determine their level within the school next March. It was dullish for awhile, but then all the 3rd-graders who were accepted to different high schools started coming by. Jihyuk sat with me and read a Dr. Seuss book and chilled for ages.

Jihyuk's pronunciation is quite nice, even if his vocabulary isn't as high as some kids. He's A-level and super-polite and charming. I rarely get to talk to him, but I got a chance to really appreciate him today.

Pray for my 2nd-grade Jeongmin. He's having hardcore depression issues and I'm concerned about him.

I got invited to the big teacher trip this weekend! I won't be going because there;s a scheduling conflict and I have to stay to interview students for next year's special English program. Which actually works great because I didn't precisely want to go on this trip, but I did want to be asked. 

Before lunch, Mr. B called me downstairs and told me that the principal and VP specifically asked for me to come along, and the other teachers wanted me on the trip too, but that the other American, B-Teacher, was not invited. That felt a little weird, so i decided I would let JY decide it. She can be relied on to make good choices and I didn't really know what to do either way. So I won't be going, but I have the best of both worlds--nearly entirely free weekend, and also the knowledge that my presence was wanted.

One of my older co-teachers gave me a Christmas card today, saying she was thinking of me and praying for my future, and for some reason that card just made me cry. The second I finished reading it, I put a large number of tissues in my pocket, then walked down the hall to the English room, so I could have a good cry.

Because tears were imminent. I've been extra teary this holiday season, scarcely going a whole day without crying a little bit. Also, kindness is just my undoing--I can hold it together through anything tough, but as soon as somebody shows compassion or sweetness, I lose it.

This time, it wasn't just a small cry, like usual. I laid my head down on the table and fully sobbed, Knowing the double doors and the vestibule in the room would muffle the sound. Tears slid sideways off my face and collected in a sizeable puddle on the desk. It was a loud cry, too--coming not from the eyes and throat, but deeper down in the chest. 

I just let it go on for 3-4 minutes, knowing I'd feel better when it was done. It was almost like vomiting when you're sick--you're not really in control of it, it's just something your body needs to do. If you try to hold it back, it won't go away, but if you let it run it's course you'll be cool.

It was the same way with me. After a good, hard sob, I put my face in order, then went back to my desk when my bestie SY was waiting for me. She and I chatted, then went to lunch together, and we were happy. 

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12-21-14 Church Christmas Pageant, Y'all.

6:15 PM  Our church play was epic. Our preschool kids were cute to infinity, and my mind is blown by how Christmas pageants operate in Korea.

I viewed the whole thing with the a mixture of awe, excitement, a sliver of dread, and a perpetual mouthful of suppressed laughter. It's a lot like the Grand Wa-Hoo of a pageant once headed up by mother when I was but 15 years old, only this was kind of...more...bananas. Purely nuts. Worlds fail.

But still, I will try. It was a church-wide pageant thingy, with performances from the Slightly Older Ladies, the preschoolers, the low elementaries, the upper elementaries, the teenagers, and one final medley by a ukulele choir. (Side note: ukulele choirs must be a thing in Korea. This is the second one I've seen since October.)

Let's start at the real beginning, though. Let's start at Yuchibu service. "Preschoolers" in Korean is 유치부, and Yuchibu is one cute way to spell in in English, and not as sugary as Yoochiboo, maybe.

We rehearsed our songs, I wiped a bakers' dozen of little noses, and I was taken over by Seongwoon the Baby Tornado. He has made me into his class-mom, meaning that I'm his base of operations. If he's hurt he'll come running to me, he spends 50% of his time in my lap, and if he returns to find another lap-occupant in his chosen place, he will simply add himself to the pile and let me sort out the issue of how to keep them from suffocating each other.

He's rather like a cat, really. And a lot like my younger brother, too--a force to be reckoned with. And he was in fine flying-formation today. Much to my surprise, he kept his socks on, but he did keep tackling his hyung when hyung was trying to rehearse his song for the play. I had to lock Tornado Baby in a fireman's carry over my shoulder, just to keep him from launching himself at his big brother and taking him out every five minutes.

And Seongwoon and I also just spent a lot of time looking at each other's faces, smiling. I told him he was wonderful (in Korean). He told me he was an airplane (in Korean). I nodded my agreement. I have no way of knowing what my future kids will be like, but in the same way that I knew two years ago that I'd be assigned to work at an all-boys middle school when they're relatively rare, I now strongly suspect that my future offspring will be contain at least one Seongwoon. The kind of child that's 100% strong and active, 100% sweet and affectionate, and altogether exhausting and lovely.

So Seongwoon times today were good, as was time with my sidekick Hyoeun, a lovely little girl who has seen enough princess movies to decide that she knows who I really am. You can't fool her. White women who smile a lot, have long hair, and sing for no reason exist in Disney movies, so that is what I am to her. Hyoeun is loving and smart and always at my side, and I'm proud to be her friend.

After an hour, I left to go to lunch, them came back at 1 pm to find the kids in the preschool room completely transformed.

Feathers and halos adorned 8 of the girls. Yohan was dressed as Mary's Horse--not a donkey, but a horse. Hangyeol wore a crown and robe and was undoubtedly King Herod--the most accurate casting decision in the history of the Yuchibu. (I don't dislike Hangyeol, but I do find him amusing, because he's bossy and overpowering and manages to always be doing what he shouldn't. That's almost a talent.)

And then there were the witch hats.

Glaringly, inexplicably, there in the midst of the preschoolers were two boys dressed in witch costumes.

Erm. Could this be an attempt at a "magician" costume, since the wise men were "magi"? But I saw other kids in more traditional Wiseman garb. And there were only two boys in these. And the witch costumes were accented with large swaths of gold collar trim and gold-spangled stars, like the Pittsburgh Steelers of wizardry. After doing an image search, I found the exact outfit they wore:

                                   Pictured: Nothing You've Ever Seen at An Alabama Pageant

It was only during the play that I saw they were King Herod's "advisers" and that their strange outfits actually highlighted the way that their advice was not to be trusted. Or at least, that's how I chose to make sense of our jaunt through A Very Halloween Christmas.

But that wasn't the only unusual thing that I noticed about the childrens' appearances.

In the one hour I'd been gone, makeup had been applied to all 45 kids. Had been applied with a heavy hand, and regardless of gender. A swipe of silverish shine-powder adorned every child's face, giving them definition. The apples of their cheeks held a Red Delicious blush, and their identically bright cherry lipstick was visible from fifty yards away.

The girls looked ready for a ballet performance, and the boys like they'd taken up a side career selling Avon. Most of the boys had had their hair shellacked back with styling gel, too, either to allow us to see more of their faces or to be extra K-poppy.

1/3rd of the kids were in costumes for the short nativity play, and all the others were going to sing one of two songs, divided into Big Preschool and Little Preschool. In preparation for these songs, they all had white gloves on, fastened around their hands with tinsel wire.

This Stuff.

On the top of each had was a giant shiny paper star, which flopped around precariously, held in place by fabric glue. 

ALSO....half of them were wearing tiny top hats.

LIKE SO.

Anyhover, I was completely flabbergasted and had to instantly hide both the flabber and the gast, so my fellow teachers would not see how weird I thought this was. 

We marched our little bedazzled troop downstairs to the main sanctuary to practice. The first hour (1-2 PM) was spent trying to keep them from climbing over the pews or starting fights. The second hour and thereafter was spent trying to keep them awake. It was afternoon and post-lunch and they'd had their fill of running and fighting, which means they crashed hard.

Little Minseo, a lovely and incredibly small child of about 3 years old, crawled into my lap while the other age groups were performing and it took me ten minutes to realize she was asleep. Dead sleep, too--I could shift her to my other arm and she wouldn't rouse. 

In the sleepy confusion, the kids began to lose their makeup. Lipstick smudge-prints began to appear on everybody's white shirts. They rubbed their faces and got blush all over their palms. Their tinsel stars began to fall out and their feathers shed a bit, so by the time they sang they were a tweensy bit bedraggled from the long wait, but they still nailed their performances.

The performances from the other age groups were sweet and charming. And also quite shocking, because in my experience of being brought up in the church, dancing is simply not done--preferably not done by anyone at any time in any location, but most-certainly-definitely not done in church by church people.

All those rules go out the window in Korea. Dance is a staple of church events. The only groups that did not dance were the Slightly Older Ladies and the Ukulele Choir. Both our preschool songs were fully choreographed, mostly with cute hand motions and jumps, but with one questionably appropriate movement. Repeat this statement for all 3 of the elementary songs and for the teenage song, too. If you get uncomfortable with the dancing, you just look away. There's nothing to be done about it.

Add to this the fact that the opening sequence of our pageant was two high-school girls singing "All I Want For Christmas Is You".

I...I didn't know what to think. I adore "All I Want For Christmas Is You"--it's a favorite of mine. But it's romantic. It's not for church. I also like "Can't Help Falling In Love With You," but I wouldn't sing it in front of the congregation. So I decided to clap along lightly and smile at the girls on the stage, because they were clearly worried and having a hard time, trying to sing in another language in front of a large crowd. 

IN ADDITION TO THIS, I was wondering how we would somehow worth the soundtrack of the film "Frozen" into our pageant. Because this in Korea, and Frozen music finds its way into everything from food commercials to high school graduations. Given enough time, we will definitely discover a path to our musical goal. And we did. 

"Let It Go" was played as a violin and cello duet by two of our college students, used as a backdrop to a slideshow about Jesus' birth, depicting the entire nativity story. I didn't even try to force the lyrics of "Let It Go" to connect in any way with anything from the Bible. It's not meant to. This song is just something that happens at large event, and people expect to hear it.

But, we did also sing all 4 verses of  the songs Hark the Herald Angels Sing, Joy to the World, Angels We Have Heard on High, and O Come All Ye Faithful. And I cried a little bit because I remembered how much my God loves me and how he come to the world for me. And how I should adore him and worship him in his beauty.

I don't know, sometimes even in the flat-out stangest circumstances, the Lord's glory shines through. It did for me today.

So! Thus went my first Christmas pageant in Korea. Here's to the future, and to many, many more.

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12-18-14 Prep for the Big Field Trip

1 PM:  Calm day. Had only one morning class and will have only one afternoon class.

SG2 had to give a math and science test to some 2nd-graders this morning--a "test" test, if you take my meaning. It's an experimental test, given to a randomly selected class at every middle school in the area, and I guess it's meant to test the effectiveness of the test, so they'll know if they want to make all the kids take it in the future?

Anyhobbit, the kids were very confused by it, said SG2, because it was asking them questions about things they hadn't been taught. So no, it doesn't look super effective from my vantage point.

Ponyfish Minwoo says I look like Emma Stone. Same hair, skin, and nose, says my baby boy. For reference, this is what Emma Stone looks like:





Thanks, buddy. He wasn't even trying to get chocolate out of the deal, so I'm left to conclude that this is what he genuinely thinks.

Hyungjoon, one of the smart 3rd-graders who only started talking to me 2 months ago despite my having taught him for three semesters--talked to me about his expectations for high school, and it was a good convo.

Clever Sunwoo came by to chat about seeing me at my favorite cafe last Monday. Me and my friend were studying in our usual spot, when Sunwoo, Youngminnie, and Hyun came by, had a conniption fit of excitement outside the cafe window (much shouting and waving at me), and decided to come in. They settled at their own table, ordered lemonades and amused themselves, pleased to just be in the same space.

Cute, cute, cute.

Hyo doesn't just have perpetual allergies, I found out--it's some kind of inflammation that never goes away. Poor baby.

HH is in good spirits. He thinks he did good on his finals and all he's got left to do is take one last high school entrance exam next week, and he's done! Good job, mister. Of all my endless rounds of much-loved kids, HH is right at the top.

Tonight, me and the 3rd-graders and 3rd-grade teachers will all pack up on a train to go see the sunrise on the east coast. This will be approximately a 6-hour train ride, during which sleep will be nigh-on impossible.  Then we'll hang out on the coast for a few hours before turning right back around and coming back to our town by nightfall of the next day.

Me and KBR have been talking strategies about how we'll manage to look decent during this trip. 20 hour field trip, with 12 hours of it on a train plus (probably) no sleep equals messy-looking teachers. :-)


Also, Mom, if you're reading this, could you text me to let me know you're alright.

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12-17-14 Application to Cool School and External Wisdom Drives

9 AM: Another calm morning, the last day  of finals.

Yesterday I put in an application to work at a particular school for 2016. The way I understand it, I can stay here at my school through next year (2015), but after that I'll need to find another place, because of the budget cuts. JY Teacher recommended a place she thought was good for me, and yesterday morning I sent a proper email to our co-ordinator at the office of education, asking to be considered for that position for the future.

I'm; satisfied now. I'm not worried about the future. Either I'll get that cool school for 2016, or I'll flip to an elementary school for a little while, or I'll find a local university job. Something will come through and I'll find something good to apply myself to.

And I'll continue to study Korean! Getting a 2 this November has strengthened my resolve to get a 3 by next November. And I'm more invested in my church than ever, really feeling blessed by helping with the preschoolers--there is much to celebrate.

I'm still actually crying a tiny bit every day--not because I'm miserable or because I think I'm on the wrong track, but just because it's my second Christmas away from home and that's hard. It's 100% my choice to be here, but there are still some trade-offs and this is one of those trade-offs that makes me weepiest. :-0

Last night, me and B-Teacher had dinner with one of our co-teacher and her 2-year-old daughter at a ramen restaurant (Japanese-style ramen, not Korean-style ramyun, though the supposedly Japanese "ramen" you can buy at stores in America has more in common with Korean noodles, in taste and texture). It was delicious and I enjoyed riding in a  warm car for a long time. I really love being driven--it reminds me of being with Mom or Dad, not having to worry about our destination because I know they've got things covered.

Speaking of relying on and trusting Mom, she brought up something in conversation last night. She was saying that instead of asking her for confirmation if certain things about my life were going right, I should just ask God.

Novel concept.

I was a little flabbergasted. Isn't that what parents are FOR, to be your moral compass and tell you what the right choice is? When you're little, yes. But I somehow assumed that this arrangement of things would continue well into adulthood. Age 28, in my mind, was not too old to be getting the Mommy Stamp of Approval on every tiny choice.

But I've been listening to the Lord more lately, and I think he's developing my conscience-sensitivity and my ability to hear his voice. So rather than getting a constant heads-up of parental advice, I have to catch myself in bad patterns and ask God directly to help me change my route.

And to this end (making me become more spiritually reliant on Jesus himself rather than on godly-but-human 3rd-parties), God has been keeping me from communicating with my mom at certain key moments.

I'll have a decision quandary, send her text asking about what I should do, then have the text go unanswered until I have to figure out a choice, just me and God. My texts normally go through to her just fine, but this month I've had two major ones get lost, in just such a way that makes my solve my own problems.

And of course I can still ask Mom for good counsel--I just need to remember that she's no longer my External Wisdom Drive, and neither is Daddy. I can't just pass off every choice, big or small, to them and trust that whatever they pick is the right thing. I have to speak to my heavenly Father and get his approval on things directly, rather than having another mediator.

Another part of growing up, mentally and spiritually? I think so.

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12-15-14 Favorite Preschoolers and Drying Tears

11:30 AM  The kids are all taking exams today through Wednesday, so things are quiet.

I spent 2 hours of the morning writing a more detailed lesson plan for my winter camps. I had already done a 2-page plan in October, but I expanded it to 5 pages, and I feel like the whole idea is coming together much better now. I cut out the crafts component--to be frank, I'm just not the awesomest person at crafts, especially crafts I've never personally tried out before, so we're better off if the class sticks to things I do know rather than experimenting too much.

So far, the lesson plan leans heavily on film discussion and baking cookies, two areas of expertise for me. :-) Hee! It should be delightful, especially since I've got (I think) 1st-graders for 4 class periods a day, 5 days total. That's a lot of time, but through my afterschools I've learned a lot about how to construct enjoyable classes. And it can be practice for next year, too, when I've got a new schedule.

I got worried about my job yesterday, since I heard that in 2016 there won't be any more middle-school teaching in my area. For whatever reason, it came as a shock to my system--I'd hoped to stick around right here for another 3 years or so, but it might just be one more full year. I got to thinking about it I renew my contract in August, whether it would mean one last semester at my school before getting shifted to elementary.

For some reason, I let myself get really upset over possible future changes like this. I got agitated to the point of crying, and it was just a messy situation for me, yesterday evening.

Then I remembered that the Lord is taking care of me, by way of recalling an incident from that very morning when I was helping with the preschoolers at my church....


Seongwoon is one of my favorite babies. He's international age 2 (Korean age 4), so he's a bundle of wild energy, with the biggest heart and sweetest smile. His older brother is just a well-adjusted, lovely kid, but Seongwoon is a baby tornado. Seongwoon has lower lows and higher highs than his hyung. He's a climber; lose track of him for one minute and you're sure to find him scaling a stack of tables or clambering onto the piano bench, with his sights set on even higher ground.

When this happens, I go over to Seongwoon, give him a tiny lecture, and hold out my arms to lift him down. He jumps, I catch him, all is well. He takes his socks off and puts them on his hands then shows them to me because he knows I think that's weird.He runs around the room and comes back to where I am sitting to butt his head against my leg or shoulder until I pay attention to him.

In short, he just owns my heart.  And yesterday morning as we teachers were getting the kids into their coats and boots (and seeing them out the door when their parents came by to pick them up), I noticed Seongwoon near the door, his face absolutely stricken.

I rushed to him to find out what was wrong, because something was surely awry for the Sunshine King to look so sad and I knew that tears were imminent. This dialogue happened in Korean:

Me: Seongwoonie, what's wrong?
S: Ma...mamaaaa.... *points outside the open door*
Me: Oh, baby. It's okay. It's okay. Mama's on her way.
S: *tears burst forth* *face is instantly soaked with the evidence of his heartbreak*
Me: *picks up S* *wipes tears* Look, look over there--it's okay. Just wait. She's coming.
S: Mama.... *further tears*
Me: *kisses cheek* Just wait 2 minutes. I promise she'll be here. She didn't forget you.



And sure enough, she came. For whatever reason, even though his mother has always, always come for him--had never NOT come for him--Seongwoon thought that she wouldn't this time.


Then I realized after several emotionally turbulent hours on Sunday afternoon was that I am Seongwoon. Standing at an open door, crying and worried and scared that I won't be taken care of. That even though God has blessed and protected me to the far corners of the earth, this one time he'll forget me.

It's not true. :-) I'm well-loved and of more value than many sparrows. God will come through for me this time as he does all the the other times. I've been given a future and a hope. I can wait by that door without any fear, because I know I won't be left behind. Someone is coming for me.

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12-11-14 So Much Good News

9:15 AM

Feeling fine. Yesterday, I got really good news in the midst of trying times--I still have my exact same job here at this school next year. This is miraculous because the English teaching program of my city is being downsized. The high school teachers are being transferred to elementary (which is a massive change for them), and the middle school teachers all have to work at two schools.

Except me. Out of 8 middle school teachers, I'm the only one getting to keep my exact job.

Praise the Lord. I feel like I've been given a present, the present of peace and security. I didn't want to move to a second school. That would mean bus rides and two different student bodies to memorize and never really belonging to a school. Some teachers enjoy having two schools because it means you don't have a lot asked of you.

If you have two schools, you don't get asked to do extra work or get pressured to participate in school events, because you're only in each place part-time. You get more vacation days because you get vacay for each school instead of just for one. It's a sweet deal for a lot of people, but I wouldn't want that. I like belonging to one place, knowing the co-workers and the kids. And I get to continue doing just that! How lovely.

Also, I passed my Korean exam! I got a 2 (High Beginner) when I expected to get a 1 (Basic Beginner), and I couldn't be more thrilled! I printed off copies of my certificate and started showing them to everybody--JY and KBR, and I trotted down to the first floor office to show Mr. B the results, as well as the Vice Principal. In the hall, one of the older guy teachers congratulated my on my score.

Pretty sweet, right? Over two years of study, and I finally get an official government-sanctioned piece of paper saying that I'm well on my to really knowing this awesome language I've begun studying. Right now, I'm studying to take the Level 3 next year. They say the 3 is super hard--full of essay-writing, etc. I definitely don't think I'll be ready for it until next fall, but I already have study plans in place to get me to that level. :-)


One of the 1st-grade babies that I don't know stopped me on the stair case to offer me a snack of chips. I took one and chatted with him for a bit, and it was a good moment.
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12-5-14 Missing the 3rd-Graders and Solid Employment

10:45 AM   Calm morning and way too silent, but not unhappy.

The 3rd-graders are all gone on field trips, meaning that the 3rd-grade teachers--my closest friends at school, outside of the English department--are all gone as well. Except for me and B-Teacher, there's nobody in our big ol' office, and it would be terribly lonely if I wasn't listening to peppy music and praying, too.

Today I've had 2 classes and I've only got one with NG left to go. Normally my Fridays are swamped with 5 classes, but my 3rd-grade class is gone and my final 2nd-grade one was switched out because the school has to prepare for hosting the national teacher's exam tomorrow.

The national teacher's exam is a big deal. It's not weird but not super-common to pass it on your first try, so a lot of people are stuck with no jobs or with temporary and non-awesome jobs until they finally pass, and it's only held once a year. SG2 has two friends sitting for the test tomorrow, and SY's boyfriend is also sitting for his test--I'll be praying for them to pass, because I know it's not fun living in limbo, waiting for solid employment.

Observation: I have solid employment.

Wow. Isn't that a blessing from above? I spent years wondering what my next step was, when I'd be settled, and now I am. I may not stay at this school forever and I may not keep teaching English forever, but for now I have a nicely-paying job and a nice cozy apartment, and a cute little town to live in, I'm well provided for.

In 1-1, 1-2 I had to tell my beautiful Changho and Sunwoo that I won't be seeing them on Monday because our afterschool class is over. Last week it wasn't clear to me if we had one more week or not, but it's not. Sunwoo's face just fell when he heard that, which touched my heart. And then, the tought of not seeing my boys in afterschool made me think about the 3rd-graders graduating, which is not something I should allow myself to do.

But the fact remains that my proper teaching of the 3rd-graders is totally done. Their finals are soon and we're just watching movies before and after that. January, we've got no school and I'm going back to the states. Then we have a little snippet of school in February--two random weeks leading up to graduation. So I'll never work with Soccer Minwoo on a worksheet again or listen to BY and BH some up with slightly inappropriate variations on their speaking practice or answer Youngmook's questions about America.

however, they're not gone yet. I will simply take every opportunity possible to appreciate them and let them know how loved they are. Also, like 20 of them have added me as Facebook friends, so I'm not likely to lose track of them.

(Side note: having teenage boys as Facebook friends is a great way to keep track of what is popular in the nation. They are constantly linking to hyper-current comedy videos. Also, they like all my statuses. Every picture I post is the best picture ever, according to them.)

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12-3-14 Vanilla Cookie Birthday

9:15 AM  It's still blessedly, beautifully snowy. I walked to school in my snow boots and didn't fall down, and it was a pretty view on the way, complete with trees that looked like they'd been painted with cake frosting.

The weather is super lovely, the school is super cold, and I'm doing well. It's the tip-tail end of the semester, so everything's winding down. It's less than two weeks until finals, and I'm just doing speaking with the 2nd-graders, speaking and games with 1st, and movies with the 3rd-graders. Everybody's sleepy and chill and just getting the daily stuff done. We were all really picked up by the change in the weather--refreshed by snow as it were.

Lately I've been praying for NG because he's got this big work thing weighing on his mind. He's having to come up with creative lessons and he works best within a traditional structured format. It's a whole new thing for him and it's counter-intuitive, like when I had to learn how to teach a class based heavily on visual materials like Powerpoint, instead of based on conversation between myself and my students. I know he'll get it eventually, but right now it's a really unpleasant process, changing his whole style.

Yesterday was Ponyfish Minwoo's birthday. He had a cold and was gloomy, and he wanted me to make cookies for his birthday--vanilla was the request. So last night I stayed home from dance practice and made 50 vanilla tea cakes, some for Minwoo and some for the other kids. I also drew him a birthday card, so I'll have his present ready to go when he visits later.

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12-1-14 A Very Charlie Brown Thanksgiving and Snow, Snow, Snow

10:45 AM

Happy first of December! It's snowing somewhere nearby, but in my little town we just just tiny plop-sprinkles of the coldest possible pre-snow rain. But now I'm in a toasty office, sipping coffee and nibbling on ddeok, and life is good!

On Friday night, the native teachers all had Thanksgiving dinner and it was good. Last year I did not go to Thanksgiving because it was doomed (in my head) to remind me of home and to make me miserable with its inadequacy.

Actually, this Friday when I got off work I was struggling with the idea of just NOT going to the dinner. It was cold and gloomy and raining and I was in full Charlie-Brown mode. Straight-up Grump. But just as I was leaving school, my little 1st-grade Sunwoo trotted up to me. I held my umbrella over both of us.

Sunwoo told me his parents were out of town because his grandma died and they were attending her funeral. This worried him because he's just 13 and he's been left in charge of his 10-year-old brother and 6-year-old sister, and when he got home he'd still have to buy groceries for all of them. I walked with him and kept him out of the rain, and I bought him a Dominoes pizza for him and his siblings. I walked him all the way to his apartment building, then said goodbye after making him promise to call me if there were any problems, especially with his little sister.

It was a blessing from God at that moment. I needed to help someone else, to quit my pity party and be loving to a child who was going through a very stressful day, one which was much gloomier than mine.

And Thanksgiving was fine! I spent most of my time entertaining my table with word games. B-Teacher invited our office leader to the dinner, along with Office Leader's wife and young son. It was nice to see them, and this morning Office Leader was bragging to JY-Teacher that I was easily the prettiest girl at the party. For some reason, hearing this really made me happy, like it was some big badge of honor, or a pageant win: Miss Thanksgiving.

Helped out with the preschoolers at my church yesterday morning. They were a delight as always, just indescribably sweet. There's always a spill to clean or a nose to wipe or a book to read to them or a hug to be given. It's like God's own little place, the preschool room. It's so packed with good things.
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1:30 PM:  IT'S SNOWING. SNOWINNNNNGGG, FIRST DAY OF DECEMBER AND THE FLAKES ARE FALLING LIKE A STORM OF MAGIC, SO MUCH SNOW WOW YES WOW


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11-27-14 Happy Thanksgiving!

10:40 AM  Merry Thanksgiving, y'all. It's been a lovely morning for me and it promises to be a good rest of the day.

The heat was off  in 2-1, 2-2, so despite it being not a terribly cold day, my hands were icy-freezing by the time things were over. I had a good time chatting with the kids, especially Beomjoon. Beomjoon has decided that he's really quite fond of me after all. He had lots of things to tell me and things to tease me about.

Daejeong commented that my hair was "real, true yellow" as if it was a new revelation. No matter how long the kids have known me, it always surprises them that my hair is real.

Soonhyuk wants to know when I'm getting married. He has a girlfriend, so I jokingly asked him when he was marrying her, and he replied "tomorrow". I marveled at the bravery of a middle-school wedding and Soonhyuk told me that he's actually an adult. Also, he lives in Australia and owns a private jet, so he says. I was duly impressed.

SY and I sat and ate tangerines together this morning, at we pored over my Intermediate Korean textbook. She remembers most of the English words from her college studies, but it's been 10 years since she had to use them. It's nice for me to see how much effort she puts into learning words to say to me. The verbal side of our friendship isn't effortless, but it's good.

Isn't it lovely to know somebody cares? That they want to connect with you even if it's hard? I hope the kids feel that way when I talk to them.

The Americans in town are having Thanksgiving dinner tomorrow night. I'm looking forward to it. Last year I didn't go, but this year will be a good time to have a big meal with friends and really think about the holiday and about being thankful.

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2:40 PM  Whoa, I've got tears in my eyes because C-Jeongmin is sad. He came to my desk with a brochure in his hand--it's for a Technical high School.

Only the lowest students go there. It's a sentence to a future of blue-collar labor, and the sentence gets handed down at age 16. My boy sat down by me and I kept my arm wrapped around his shoulder for 15 minutes as he tried not to cry and bit his lip until it bled.

It was awful. C-Jeongmin is not just a quiet kid--he's next door to silent. But he always taps my shoulder when he walks by, always remembers to give me candy or ask if I've eaten lunch. He's incredibly sweet and thoughtful. While C-Jeongmin hung his head and just sat steeped in hopelessness, I left my arm around him while I talked with his buddy Seongjik in Korean. Seongjik is going to the Tech school also, but he's more hopeful.

I used to call this one Bitty-Baby Seongjik because he was a tiny mite of a 2nd-grader last year. This year, he's still kinda short and his voice hasn't changed but he's not actually what you'd call small anymore. I pointed him out to C-Jeongmin and said that he'd have Seongjik and lots of other boys from our middle school to see. He won't be alone.

I also told him that he must come and visit me often. He has to come by, somehow, It's terribly important that I get to see him again. I want to know that he's living well and growing up safely.
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11-25-14 Braiding and Thoughts on Exam

10:35 AM   First classes were fine. Speaking tests for the 1st-graders and some super basic speaking practice for 2-7, 2-8.

The Yunho antics were in a whole different level today. He wasn't being bad, but he was in High Frolic. He and Gicheol had brought a board game to play and I took away their pieces, largely because even if the kids read comics and sleep that's fine, but I really can't bear to let any class other than the giant one actually play games during class time.

So Yunho and Gicheol would periodically walk up to me to plead their case. Eventually they stopped pleading and just hung around me and whoever I was working with. Yunho and Gicheol tend to play with my hair a lot, and they requested to be taught how to braid.

So I taught them, and for the next ten minutes, I had little-boy-hands industriously working on braiding my hair. Hyunshik joined in, and Dohyung, and while they were speculating on how many centimeters long my hair was, it was determined that it was two times the length of Taehoon's (very tall) head. My hair is 2 Taehoon-Heads long.

When asked by Haneul why such a fuss was being kicked up over my hair, Hyunshik replied in Korean without looking up from the strands he was sifting through, "Because it's amazing, obviously."

I'm also terribly pleased with how soft-hearted Gicheol seems lately.

I started exercise at a dance academy with SY, one of my best friends at school. We had so much fun doing it, and I'm glad I've been working out hard on my own because I can only just barely keep up with our tiny dance instructor. Nobody wants to be the only person in the room who can't do the endless crunches and lunges. SY and I are thrilled to have a hobby to share, and we're considering trying ballet or traditional Korean dance (complete with hanbok!) in the future. We just only have time for one thing at a time.

I took my Korean language exam on Sunday morning in Seoul, and it was an excellent experience. During my practice tests, it was easier for me to do Reading and almost impossible to do Listening, but at the actual lest I found the opposite to be true--Listening was fine, but reading was hard because I'd never timed myself on the reading before. I ran out of time for the last four questions and marked random ones, but I still feel like my score was okay. Maybe I didn't get the level-2 that I wanted, but I'm sure that I got a level-1.

I'm going to study for the level-3 next year in November. I figure one year might be time enough for me to gear up for that. I'll have to put my nose to the studying grindstone, but I think I can get it done.

SG2's problem student skipped four classes yesterday and was wandering around the hallway with inexplicably wet hair, looking dramatically forlorn. Not sure what's going on there.

Thanksgiving is this week, as is my baby brother's birthday. It's an eventful last-little-smidgen of November, isn't it? I promised to bake stuff for the native English teacher's get-together on Friday, because I still don't have a handle on cooking meals, but I'm fine at breads and cakes and cookies.
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11-21-14 Test Preparations

11:50 AM

I should write since I'll be busy through Sunday. My teacher orientation roommate (with whom I vacationed in Busan in May and Jeju in September) will be with me in Seoul this weekend. We're going to wander around, get pedicures, watch Mockingjay, etc etc. And Sunday morning I have my Korean language test.

I kinda don't want to go to my language test. No matter how much Korean I learn, I still feel like I'm behind and by now I'm quite gloomy about the prospect of getting a '2' on the test. A '1' is Basic Beginner, a 2 is High Beginner, and I keep banging my head against the listening section, though I ace the writing section.

But. I'm going to go anyway. I paid for the test, printed out my special admission ticket and everything. I should be set to go. I'm going to take it in two days and not bother myself with worry about this thing that I decided to do just for myself. There's no pressure because I don't need these scores for anything like job applications or college admissions--I just want to know.

Also this sort of experience is likely to help me sympathize with my boys more. I never had to sit for a foreign language exam and they have, so after this go-round with the Korean test, I'll fathom their world a bit better.

Read one of my poem's to BY, explaining to him what each line meant. Unsurprisingly, he really seemed to "get" it. He's a smartie pie.

11-19-14 Translating Comics, and Russian History

8:40 AM   First morning where I have had to wear earmuffs on the walk to school because it's -2 Celsius outside. But despite the freezing cold, I can at least rest assured that my earmuffs are adorable, so says the guy who works at the convenience store, and also Dohyun's mom, who I ran into as she was leaving school.

I'm currently translating a Korean comic book that I read in college, and the process is hilarious. I understand the story because I read the translated English version 8 years ago, but I forget the specifics and the vocabulary is really complex, so translating the Korean text to English is quite involved. Now that I consider it, this comic book--Chocolat--was the first Korean thing I ever consumed, even if I was reading it in English.

Illustration From Chocolat. Their Eyes Are the Size of The Moon.

My 3rd-graders occasionally help me with the translation, but some concepts are just too complicated for the aveage kid to explain to me, so BY helpfully explained a few of the tougher ones.

Yesterday, my Wooseok came by the desk to watch Beauty and the Beast with me and Hyo. If you had EVER told me that rough-n-tumble Wooseok would willingly pull up a chair to watch an animated feature about the power of love, I would have called you crazy.

Aferschool yesterday was stunning. We finished watching Anastasia, and Cheolho enttertained me with historical details, such as the fact that the Qing Dynasty in China was not Chinese but Manchurian. When asked to draw his favorite character from Anastasia he drew "this extra!" It was a random side character in a Cossack hat who had appeared during the song sequence in St. Petersburg. To the drawing of the extra, he added "picture of Joseph Stalin!" so now his paper has a mid-sized Cossack extra on it, with Stalin's giant head floating menacingly above him.

The things the kids do that you can't make up, I swear. 

My Changho in afterschool continues to be beautiful and amazing, and Hoyeong is getting smarter all the time. He asks the best questions ever. He asks them in Korean, but he has the brightest mind.

Went to the movies with SY last night and had the best time. She's a great friend and I'm so fortunate to have her.

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11-17-14 Thinking 'Bout SG2, and Sleeping All the Time

10:30 AM   Just got an ice-coffee-can present from Shion, which is one of the universal "I like you" gestures in Korea. Unless you're giving an iced coffee can to everyone in a group, it's a very pointed, chivalrous sort of thing. That's the first time Shion has done something like that. The coffee is very tasty, too.

My poor dear SG2 is having horrible issues with a student's parents. Her problem student has become so much of a problem, his parents are intending to transfer him to another school next week. They blame her for the boy's behavior problems because he's no trouble at home and only goes nuts at school. But all the other teachers in SG2's office have said that the boy is causing issues because he likes her--he talks to her for hours and invents problems for her to solve, and when that's not enough attention, he punches walls or runs away.

As illustrated in the aforementioned canned-coffee example, student crushes toward teachers are quite standard at our school. YSR got so many presents on Peppero Day, you couldn't even see her desk--it was a mound of notes and homemade goodies and lavish 6-box peppero contraptions. We all (the female teachers) get some of this attention and it's mostly harmless. Most of the kids are not serious about their feelings, so it's not as if little hearts are being broken by the revelation that they're not actually going to grow up and marry teacher someday.

But with SG2, she seems to have gotten the rare kid who is 100% serious  and who is also cold-hearted enough to not care whether he makes her life difficult by taking up all her time and throwing tantrums. And the parents say it's her issue, not his. They're going to meet with her soon to discuss the issue, but mainly just to criticize her, I think.

I'm trying to figure out how to be a good friend to her. How do you bless a friend going through such an icky situation? Plus if she's like me, terribly concerned with her job and with how well she's performing, it's got to feel like a professional failure too.

I see her again for the next class period, and I've offered to be moral support, to hang out in the room when she has the parent conference--it would be weird to have me around, but I wouldn't be able to understand the conversation and I thought maybe it would comfort her to have a friendly, supportive face around, so I offered anyway. I think I'll leave a note and some chocolate on her desk after lunch, too.

Also, Swan Teacher is back! The 3rd-grade Class 2 Teacher who's been on rest for four months (because of back surgery?) has returned, and looking as lovely as ever. I hope she has healed well. She was always very sweet to me.
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1 PM   I'm feeling pretty amazing and I think I can chalk it up to extra sleep. Lately, I've been going to sleep early even if it means that I don't get to hang out with friends as much as I'd like. By making sleep a priority, I feel way more energized and just generally happy.

I think I got into the sleep habit during my 2-week cold, wherein the only way to assure I'd be in good enough shape to teach was to sleep endlessly and drink all the water in town. Since my serious colds usually spiral into bronchitis and this one didn't, it clued me in to the possibility that sleep is a great healer. Novel concept, I know.

Also, I've mostly had to stop staying awake to talk to my mom, unfortunately. In the past, I could call her at my 10 PM, her 8 AM, and we could chat for about an hour, letting me go to bed just after 11. But with a recent time change, I have to wait 'til my 11 PM to call her, and she's having internet connection problems, so it takes even longer to connect. Le sigh.

Sometimes I wake up around 3 AM and make a call,  but last night I didn't. I went to bed at 9 and stayed asleep, so I'm ridiculously healthy and perky today, but I reeeeeally miss my mom.

Because Daddy works and the kids don't wake up early, sometimes video chatting with my mommy is the only contact I have with my family, so it's important. but I've been through communication issues before. It always evens out eventually. There's no need to panic about dropped calls or missed connections because everything finally goes well. I've been in this country for 15 months (FIFTEEN MONTHS) and this is just part of life.

Lunch was good. SY Teacher was worried about where I went last Friday and it occurred to me that of everyone I've told about my culture trip to the DMZ, she wasn't one of them. So one of my best buddies was just eating lunch without me on Friday, wondering where on earth I had gotten off to and if there had been an accident.

I was fine of course. The trip lasted Firday and Saturday with 40 of us English-speaking teachers, and we painted ceramic plates and visited art museums and learned about North Korean historical tensions toward the south. It was really informative and unbelievably enjoyable--good sights and good company all the way.

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11-12-14 Kimbap and Study

9 AM:

Good morning. My cold is virtually gone. The office has kimbab and sushi this morning because class 7's parents sent along huge vats of it. They are delicious.

I'm trying to study for my big test, since I really want to make that Level 2. I've already pinpointed that I try to finish questions too quickly, and that trips me up when it comes to answering questions in paragraph form. I think I've found a good answer and I rush ahead and don't really parse the meaning of what I've read.

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11-11-14 Pepero Day, and Walking With SY

11 AM   It's Pepero Day and my desk looks like a fountain of chocolate boxes. I think I got 3 boxes last year, and now it's about 15.

Got things from Jeongmin, C-Jeongmin, Minjoonie, Youngmin, Cheongyu, Ponyfish Minwoo, Guhyun, Jinseo and others. BY honestly didn't know that he was supposed to have gotten anything, despite other kids ribbing him for forgetting the special day, and Sujin told me he'd left his present at home. I actually think Sujin doesn't want to give anything on the same day that other kids are giving stuff, because that un-special-ifies it.

HH eyed the pile of Pepero on my desk like it was an infectious fungus and I knew better than to tease him about not getting me anything, Some of the kids(like my Yunho in 2nd grade) think it's cute when I joke with them about their lack of presents, but HH is a Level 99 Serious Boy and doesn't take jokes very well.

SG2 is still having troubles with her one wall-punching homeroom student, but she was all smiles this morning, due to the sweetness of her other kids on Pepero Day. She's been getting piles of goodies and it just makes you so happy to know that cute little people think you're special.

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1:40 PM  Been the best day so far. SY and me went for a super-long lunchtime walk and talked about so many  things. She really brightens my day. She noticed that I didn't look happy at lunch yesterday and she ran me through a list of her thoughts on the subject. I told her I was just looking down because I had a cold for almost two weeks, but I was grateful that she had devoted any time to think of me.

She and I are going to the movies next week again. There was a French movie she wanted to see, but for me that would mean listening to French while reading Korean subtitles (which is actually doable--I know a teensy bit of French and my Korean reading skills are really picking up speed). We then switched to an English sci-fi movie, which is better if you see it in a certain special type of theater, so we may be heading out of town for that.

SY told me that she's always envious of a Korean-Canadian friend of hers who's fluent in English, because if she was like that friend she could talk to me more. I told her not to worry about it because I've learned so much from her, language gap and all. I've learned Korean words, but also learned about history, social issues, school funding...we talk about big subjects, and I learn new facts as well as new vocabulary. Talking with SY is good for me in all ways, and she's a believer too, so we can talk about the Lord.

11-10-14 Vigorous Subway Debate and Blanket Washing

10:30 AM  

Just listened to the most hilarious argument between two of my favorite kids, BY and HH. They both came to sit with me and chat, and they got into an amazing debate over the relative confusingness of the Seoul subway system, with BY regaling us with stories of how often he got lost on Friday when he went to Seoul to listen to a speech given by a famous author.

HH retorted that the Seoul subway system was easy-peasy to follow, and began to write BY a map to illustrate his point. I could follow most of their banter and I was nearly laughing to the point of tears at my fluent-English guys getting into verbal brawls in fast-paced Korean which I could mostly understand. Also, BY and HH are patting shoulders and holding hands like best friends, so I get some happy feelings from seeing that, too.  

I'm just doing movies for the kids this week, because I'm only at school for 3 days, the 2nd-graders are having speaking tests, the 3rd-graders have been in the same chapter for 5 weeks and need a break, and I still have a headcold that's been going strong for a week.

My mama had to remind me not to do anything special this weekend--not even ministry at my church, because it's only tons of medicine and constant rest that's keeping my cold at normal levels. I've been indoors a whole lot, downing endless fluids and taking naps between bouts of studying Korean. My language test is coming up in two weeks, and I want to be ready for that.

It's been a nice morning with good, quality talks with H-Sol and SG2, the latter of whom is having serious problems with one of her homeroom students who has anger issues. I told her I'd pray for her, because I know this is a huge issue for her. At various times, I've been in exactly the same place, worried to pieces over a student's emotional health,

Saw Jeongminnie over the weekend, walking downtown with his family. I got to introduce myself to his dad! That was a pretty nice moment.

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1:45 PM  Hahaha. Saw Jeongminnie and I was really excited to talk to him about running into him yesterday, so I was just rattling on about how good it was to meet him, and he interrupted darkly, "Was that guy your boyfriend?" I had completely forgotten that when I saw Jeongmin I was waking with a guy friend (honestly just a friend--he feels like a younger brother). While that detail didn't seem important to me, it was the only one Jeongmin cared about.

I quickly reassured him that my friend was just that; a buddy, but it got me laughing. I forget how the kids see things through a different lens than I do, and they have different priorities than I do.

In my 1st grade class, I sat int he back with SG2 and Jaehoon and Minjin came to the back to talk to me for 20 minutes. They quizzed me on Korean and taught me a few new idioms.

After lunch, I started putting together a puzzle with Yeongchang. I had learned that my  boys love puzzles, so I bought a 300-piece one, hoping it would bring delight to someone, and it has certainly done that.

Last night I had to turn on my floor ondol heating for the first time because I was getting cold. My apartment never gets properly cold, but I was sick and I had made the mistake of washing both my blankets that morning. And since apartments here don't have dryers, when you get something wet, it's out of commission for two full days usually. There is no "oh, I'll just wash these jeans and wear them to the book club meeting tonight". Nope. you'll wash those jeans and wear them to the grocery store in three days.

The blanket-washing was part of my resolution to live like an adult in my apartment, not like a college kid. I'm buying bookcases, coat racks, and umbrella stands. I'm dusting. I'm making sure nothing ever "lives" on the floor--not bags, not socks, not anything. I'm trying to keep my laundry constantly going and my bedding changed out regularly.

But sometimes being a grownup means having the foresight to wash your blankets one at a time so you have one to keep you warm while the other is being cleaned.

Aside from blowing my nose a zillion times, i'm holding together pretty well at school. Playing videos certainly helps. Teaching full-length classes would drain all that pleasant energy right out, at this point. I'm gonna go home after afterschool and eat and sleep. And that's about all I'm going to do for the next four days. On Friday, there's a big special culture trip to go on, and I need to be 100% for that, which means nothing taxing in the meantime, maybe even no hanging out at cofeeshops.
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11-6-14 Ball on the Roof, and Seunghoon's Fever

11 AM

Still got a cold, but I'm getting business done just fine. Just unlocked a room for Sanghwi the guitar player, who explained to me in clear English that he and his buddy needed a ball and that the only way to get it was to go into this spare room.

I though they'd locked the ball in the room, but in fact they had kicked the ball onto this large outcropping of 2nd-floor roof which was only accessible by climbing out of the spare room window. It's fully enclosed and covered with grass and weeds, so it looks like a ghetto garden of some sort, and sure enough, there lay the soccer ball in question.

It was safe enough, and Sanghwi thanked me profusely. And it occurred to me that since I've never taught him, he can't quite remember my name which is why he greeted me in the hallway as, "Oh, Elsa Sem. Do you have a room key for English room?" I didn't know that anybody but 1st-graders called me Elsa Sem, but it may be the go-to name for others.

2-1, 2-2 was good. Love my Soonhyuk, and Beomjoon did his part nicely, which was extra sweet considering that he did something really inappropriate toward me on Monday--something bad enough to not repeat in writing, but not bad enough to report him to the school discipline committee for. My Beomjoonie is just one of the "bad" boys at school and I have to adore him while not letting him get away with any weirdness. It's a fine line.

About 4 of my kids have added me on Facebook. I remember being furious with BY for looking up my Facebook a few months ago, and that was when he couldn't even see my timeline, but now I'm just letting the 3rd-graders add me as a friend like it's no thing. My Facebook is super kid-friendly--all I ever post is vacation photos, food photos, and stuff about the kids themselves, anyways. And how could anybody say no to Minhwe when he asks to be added? You couldn't.

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4:20 PM   My poor Seunghoon (3rd grade) has a fever so bad, I can feel it in his face. He looked pitiful, so I put my hands on either side of his face and prayed for God to heal him. Poor baby has to go to hagwon after this, then school and hagwon tomorrow before he "has time" to go to the hospital on Saturday.

I don't mention Seunghoon too terribly much, but he's a constant presence in my world. He's quiet, smart, and unassuming. He's got a giving heart and one of the sweetest natures among the kids.

11-5-14 Persistent Colds and Speaking Tests

3:20 PM  Good day. Had a nassssty cold this morning, but it cleared right up by noon. I think my colds disappear when exposed to strong sunlight because the last 3 days I've woken up feeling lame and snuffly, only to rally after 3 or 4 hours.

I had a great class with 1-7, 1-8, who have been a little nuts of late, so that was pleasant. I sat down with Jihoo and Jihoon and chatted, which led to us bonding. Jihoon is the huge-eyed baby from my spring afterschool, the one overrun by Wiliam-Jiyoon's antics. He and I made slow progress together back then, but we bumped it up a few notches today. We're laughing and teasing like true buddies.

NG and I worked out the details of the kids' speaking tests. the big scheduling issue is that we have Korean SATs for highschoolers next week on Thursday, which means that even middle schools are closed so that people can be quiet and calm for that day. Often, middle school teachers have to go and proctor that test, too.

Also, I won't be there Friday because of a culture trip the native teachers are all going on. All told, it means I'll be administering 3 speaking tests this Friday, so the kids can have their answers recorded.

In cute news, I pulled up the Korean lyrics to Roy Kim's "Bom Bom Bom" with 1-7, 1-8 and we all sang the first verse. Then I repeated the procedure with 3-1, 3-2, and they were even better--sweet voices, all together on the song. It was the best.
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11-4-14 Yunho's Sudden Interest in Hair

2 PM   Dragging a bit because I have a cold coming on. I'm not having too much of a runny nose, but just full-body tiredness.

I actually slept in the nurse's office for the 3rd and 4th class periods, and that helped more than anything. I think the way to get rid of this sickness is to sleep infinite amounts of time. I've got 2 more classes, then afterschool, but I should be okay if I move slow.

Yunho was in fine form today. He and Gicheol have been treating me with more interest lately--tapping my shoulder in the hallways, etc--and Yunho continued in that vein today. While his classmates played a computer game at the end of class, he played with my hair and asked me questions about when I would cut it, how much I would cut, etc. I told him January, and probably 4 inches.

Jungbok came by to draw a unicorn for me, and Minjoon came by to discuss dogs with me. He likes beagles.

Yeongmook came by for the first time. I haven't talked to him since the sports day, but he's pretty cool and full of interesting opinions, so I was glad he worked up the courage to visit.
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10-30-14 Piano, Special Snowflakes, and Minjoonie

10:30 AM

Good morning! I got a piano delivered last night--a digital piano, but it's full size with all the keys. I played piano in high school and let the talent fall by the wayside in the past 10 years. I wanted to pick it up again, knowing that being able to play songs might bless somebody someday.

Anyhoo it was delivered last nnight, along with a stool and a stand which I can't assemble until I buy a screwdriver. And it occurs to me that I've never seen a screwdriver in Korea, because I haven't needed one until now. I wonder where our hardware stores are?

HH wants to go to the normal academic high school next door instead of the big fancy foreign language high school, and I was going to keep encouraging him to go to the special snowflake school because why, when you're exceptional, would you go to a place meant for kids who are merely quite good?

But then I realized that he's got his own reasons for choosing the normal high school. He says he's nit pickign it just because his friends are going there, and my guess is this; HH has never been a showoff like BY. BY wants to go to the snowflake school, and he'll probably get in and take them all by storm. But HH, while being the best at everything, has never liked the spotlight. He likes being noticed and appreciated for being special, though.

And he'd just be one snowflake in a large flurry if he went to the foreign language high school. Every kid there is an academic stunner and a dazzling overachiever. Better for HH to go to a place where he can be obviously excellent, while still being comfortable. It won't knock him out of the running for a top-notch college anyways, so all the more reason to keep things academically simple.

My poor BY was freezing yesterday morning when he came to see me. I gave him my coffee mug to hold, to warm up his little hands (well actually, giant hands, bigger than mine--but I perceive him as being little).

He'd just gotten out of PE class and apparently, the kids are still doing PE outside on the soccer field while wearing shorts and t-shirts. And in the October mornings, it's still like 40 degrees Fahrenheit out there, so right chilly. I can't wait until they switch to our ugly winter PE uniforms--these burgundy tracksuit monstrosities that at least cover their arms and legs and keep out the worst of the cold.

Had a good morning class with 2-1, 2-2. SG2 was in there with me and we all got along well. Proposal Heejoon followed she and I down the hall after class and he didn't know who to flirt with first, so his words came out in a tumble of two languages, teasing me about my song and her about her dance at the school festival. It was pretty adorable.
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2:15 PM

Had a great class with Minsu the Cat. 3-9, 3-10 are precious, and included our school president and Seongmo serenading me with "Bom Bom Bom," which was sweet.

Minsu kept telling me that other kids were craving "attention," to which I replied that I thought he was the one who wanted attention. And he was. I chatted with him and told him the English equivalent of Korean words all through class. I promised him he could play the pizza parlor game in class next week.

Hyo downloaded a cute game onto my phone and he, I, the Barista twins, and 3rd-grade Jinseo played it a bit. The Barista Twins also informed me that Minjoonie likes me--not just as a teacher, but for reals--and Minjoon nearly strangled one of them in an attempt to get him to be quiet. But that's the issue with being buddies with twins; you can't shut them both up at the same time.

Minjoon went on to reiterate that next year I need to teach at the boys high school next door. I told him that I'm sticking with my middle school, but that he can come visit me everyday at lunch. He also asked if I was going to the fish shop by the movie theater after work today--meaning, was I going to buy him a fish-present for his birthday tomorrow? I said maybe, by which I meant yes, cause I've already made plans to walk to the aquarium this afternoon and pick out a finned gift.

I only have to keep the new little guy alive for one night, them bring him to school for Minjoonie's birthday tomorrow, so I think I can manage that. And my own fish won't have a chance to get jealous.
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4:40 PM    I am Jane Bennet.

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10-29-14 Bom Bom Bom, Coming and Going

11:50 AM

School festival was yesterday! It went well. I had to jerry-rig several supplies for my English quiz room, but the quiz went well and the kids and I had fun.

Then we all went to a giant gymnasium to have our performances. I was scheduled to sing and I did sing, but only the first verse and chorus of my song because I was so busy this week with work and church, I wasn't able to practice it. It's a spring song and I was singing it in fall, but it went over well: "Bom Bom Bom (Spring Spring Spring)" by Roy Kim.






3:20 PM Well, the boys are all thrilled with my singing performance. They've hollered their "bom bom boms" at me all day long and it's daaaarling.

Minjoonie, however, feels like I didn't sing for long enough. All I hear from any other child is "cute!" and "sweet voice" and "good singer!" and "best song!" but Minjoon said, "Teacher, song-uh very short-uh." He feels like he's been shortchanged because he was supposed to hear me sing the full deal.

Minjoon also wants me to transfer to the neighboring high school next year so that when he goes there, I'll still be his teacher. It's too sweet for words. I've decided that I'm sticking with this school through 2016, though, barring something unforeseen. I'm just comfortable here and I like living a quietish life.

I've been talking to the other teachers, getting a feel for who's staying around. KBR and JY want to leave in March, which will fairly devastate me because having JY in charge of the English department is the best thing ever, in my book.

My close friend SY is staying, though, as is my becoming-better-friend YSR, who chose to stay in this little town although she's still frustrated with her choice. I told her that maybe God wanted her to stay. I believe that the Lord puts us in contact with the people we need to be around.

I have to teach Saturday class, which I don't really want to do because it's my one morning to sleep in each week, now that I'm helping with preschool service at my church. But I had to fill in for a friend who had a surgery and JY-Teacher relies on me to get things done when it's hard to find other help. She's my person, and when she needs something I'll be there.

Classes are going fine. I've been playing scary (but not horrific) games with the kids all week because it's Halloween time, and they love it.

Took some selfies with Yeongchang and Jaehyung and sent them to my mom. Mommy wants more pictures lately, so I'm going to try to send them.
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10-22-14 Videotape and My Little Pony

9:15 AM 

I have an open class today. Noooo. And please no. I was counting on just having the two open classes on Friday, not three total. This week was supposed to be speaking tests for the 3rd-graders.

Anyhoo, it's a 3rd-grade class with Mr. B, so we'll be okay. And he says we'll be photographed? I think my hair looks decent today, probably.

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11:30 AM   First class went fine. It was 2-7, 2-8 and Gicheol really shone. He's one of the tangential 2nd-grade cool kids, because he doesn't have the same swagger as Beomjoon, the same entitlement as Yunho or the same flair as Soonhyuk. Gicheol slumps. He hides. He's deathly quiet.

And he's usually overshadowed by my little Yunho, who sits by him. I'm rarely gonna work overtime to get Gicheol to talk to me when charming Yunho's gobbling up the attention. But today, Yunho was gone to the bathroom when I got around to the back of the room, and I spent several minutes with Gicheol, happily realizing that he was getting the questions right without much help.

And later on, he walked over to where I was working with two other kids (who have a lower level of understanding), and he sat by me and watched every move as I helped them fill out their paper, often supplying the answers when they were too slow, in his opinion, I finally left Gicheol with the boys and instructed him to help them, which seemed to please him immensely.

I built an Eiffel Tower out of rubber-coated wire leftover from the Saturday class party. I was accompanied in my efforts by various kids, particularly Jinshik, a 3rd-grdaer who has a lot of English and great pronunciation for a B or C level. If I give him time to form his ideas, he can communicate a lot. He and I discussed our mutual love for the Korean crime show "Bad Guys," which is currently airing.

Jaehyung sat with me a lot today and he was singing a song in English, I asked what it was from and he said "mai riropani". I could not parse this, so he googled it. And came up with this:

Mai Riropani: Friendship is Magic

He then asked me to select my favorite pony. I said Rainbow Dash, while Jaehyung prefers Pinkie Pie. However, he doesn't feel like this will cause a rift in our relationship.

Open class wasn't open--nobody came, we just set up a video camera and Mr. B and I taught. But when we checked the camera, the memory card was full, so I don't know how much footage was captured. We may have to do it again?

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