11 AM: I think my mom and siblings are moving to Texas on "my" tomorrow morning and their tomorrow night, but I'm not sure. Time is weird weird weird when you're living a half-day ahead ahead of your family. It's so strange thinking that after another day or so I'll never see those walls (which I helped paint) or that carpet (which I helped destroy) ever again.
I grew up there. Most of the traditional Good Childhood Memories I've had were made there, after I was 10. Our first place was less happy, but my whole family seemed to bloom in the light of the new house. And we lived there for almost 18 years, and now we....they...are going somewhere else.
It's also funny to say that we're moving, because I'm not moving. I've already moved. My family is moving, and now when I go home, home will be Texas. So many things change when you're a grownup. You're never fully separate from your base camp, your true family, but you're also kind of doing your own thing.
In H-Sol's class this morning, 2-7, 2-8 were charming. Dude! They sat quiet and utterly rapt, playing the game I made for them. I was fifteen levels of astounded at how well they did with their speaking practice and their game playing. My baby Yunho was splendid, and so were Hosung, Taehoon, Hyunshik, Hyunseo, and Suyong. A lot of these boys are just now starting to open up and smile and talk, and I think they have lots of potential.
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2 PM: My "where can you find these things?" game worked super well. The 3rd-graders loved it, easy though it was, and it went over pretty well with the 2-5, 2-6 boys, even though they have the nasty computer that plays everything at super-slow speeds. Only Minshik, Seonghoon, Yehoon, and Daehwan were interested in playing, but they were hardcore interested, jumping up and down when they got a right answer.
There's classical music playing from our school speakers right now, in anticipation of a fire drill. They're testing the system to see if it works all right. The poshness is quite enjoyable. Clarinet solo!
I went by the special needs room. Joonsung was happily singing the number '54' in Korean, repeatedly for no clear reason.
My Minhwe is Buddhist, I just found out. He was explaining to me why he doesn't celebrate Christmas.
I didn't go to Lunchtime Games. I just let the kids come to me. Jeongmin and Hyo came to play the dual-person game on my computer, and little Hyunseop did the same. Deokryong came by about 5 times today, including lunchtime. I didn't feel like climbing up to Sa-ban, and we all got along with just the existing kids.
I got to talk more with Hyo, who helped me with my Korean vocabulary app. Hyunseop did the questions for the first time, and I was so glad to have him around--he's another kid that I want to keep safe, especially since he's nursed a broken arm and bandaged hands for a couple weeks, and since SG2 thinks he's been bullied.
Several of my 3rd-graders hung around us, buzzing about the game Jeongmin and Hyunseop were playing, chattering about my new phone, trying unsuccessfully to change the language on my tablet to English. HH asked a million questions, and he heartily disapproved of the 2nd-graders playing on "Sem's computer," but I explained that I was cool with it.
I miiiiight just be able to buy a treadmill soon. One of the South African girls in town is selling hers, and I've been looking for a way to exercise when it rains. Could this be my chance? It could! It could!
I wonder if I'm over-feeding the 3rd-graders. Ever since the animal crackers ran out and I refilled the "Food Bear" container with multi-flavored popcorn, they've been coming by several times a day to get more small handfulls. The bear is getting perilously low. But still, popcorn is a relatively cheap way to feed a relatively massive number of young'uns, so.
BY informed me that Chocolate-Jinho is a gambler, but since BY himself is often in trouble for that, I told him I didn't care about that sort of thing. BY is an excellent source of information at other times, though--I just have to remember to ask him. He's a well of smartness.
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