Good morning. Chilled with SG2 and talked about vacation plans. She suggested that she and I try a short vacation together in the second semester--I think we could do it. I like her enough for that, and I think we're practical enough to make it happen.
Class with NG was also good. We talked about our plans to improve our individual teaching styles over the summer. I need to work on my intros, he needs to work on his explanations, etc.
It's interesting how I progress from "I Am a Deliciously Perfect Teacher" to "I Am an Imbecile Who Cannot Teach At All" to "I Have Many Shortcomings, but Also Many Good Points and I Can Finds Ways of Improving Myself." I'm very happy to be in this last phase.
BY and HH are getting along. They laughed and leaned on each other all this morning when they came to talk to me. Jaehee grumped at me over something, but then we quickly threw heart-signs at each other, to re-establish friendship. Not-My-Byeonghyun looked upset, so I threw him a heart, too, which he returned with a smile.
Looks Roughly Like This, Wink Optional.
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3:30 PM: Sanghwa stuck his head in the office window and looked at me with exaggerated puppy-dog sorrow. "Aieee want to go to house-suh...." So darling. He's grown so much since last August. 11 months is like 4 years in Teen-Boy measurements of time. They alter almost entirely, some of them.
Movie classes went well. Took Soccer-Minwoo a birthday present (his birthday was yesterday), and in our class he brought up how he'd seen me yesterday, when he was out walking with his girlfriend. Soccer-Minwoo is quite the gentleman, because he was proud of both his girl and of his teacher. He introduced us happily, like it was an honor to have us making acquaintances. I feel like he's one of the kids who treats their little sweethearts nicely.
My present went over well, too. Soccer-Minwoo liked it and Pony-Fish Minwoo reported to me that he heard I'd given the other kid a birthday present, and this seemed to make him very happy. The students often appreciate the general goodwill that arises from one of them getting something special.
I just learned the Korean verb for "to lower" so I understand Hyungmin when he asked me to lower the shade in class.
Sat by Changho in 1st-grade class. The younger kids think Megamind is an utter laugh riot, and I think it's even funnier because of their reactions.
6 PM: Some lovely blessings from today, just practical which I want to remember:
1. I now know how to internet shop in Korea. This sounds very basic, but it's actually a teensy bit complicated, considering that many English-language sites won't ship products to Korea for anything less than a vast fortune. And I was intimidated by Korea's main shopping website, GMArket, because even though the pages translate into English, the order-forms themselves are in Korean.
What if I accidentally ordered acessories I didn't want, or what if they delivered my stuff to the wrong adress? Anyhoo, I was too timid to try it out until my amazing Tutor helped me order my treadmill. After she showed me how to do it (payment form can't work in Google Chrome, must use Internet Explorer/ don't pay directly online, instead go to the bank one block away and make the transfer at the ATM there), everything was easy.
My treadmill was delivered within two days, and then assembled lickety-split. It has been a great benefit to me and has freed up so much time, so I determined that GMarket is an excellent resource for getting things I might need.
It's also a better alternative to only buying what I can physically carry. With no car, the stuff I can obtain is fairly limited. But now! Now I can buy a bookshelf and a comfy chair! I can turn my dorm-style apartment into the type of more-orderly and homelike place that I've been trying to achieve lately. I want a clean, grown-up residence.
Today was the first GMarket purchase I made by myself. It was an iPod, because my previous iPod just died and there are no Apple stores in Korea at which to get repairs (I think it's because Apple is a direct competitor of Samsung). I needed a new one because my iPod was my saving grace on my international flights in January. When you can't fall asleep, 12 or 14 hours on a plane is an unending loop of time, but iPods have superlong battery lives, so I could listen to music or college lectures the whole time.
And now I have one again! Score, score score. How wonderful. Another tool in the arsenal for braving the Great Plane Journey.
2. I booked a vacation to Jeju Island in September. Chuseok is Korean Thanksgiving, and last year I didn't do much during it. But this time around, my former roommate found us a great vacation deal for 4 days on Jeju Island with an English-speaking tour service for foreign teachers. 50+ people are going and it's going to be a great chance to explore part of Korea that everybody says you should see.
It's a blessing because I was wondering what to do with that vacation, and it knocks off a prime location on my list of must-sees in Korea.
3. I gave C-Yooseok an apple this morning. The baby passed me in the hall as I was walking in to school and he told me he was hungry. I fished out an apple from my bag, so he got some breakfast.
4. A friend linked this Christian talk about disappointment on Facebook. I've only listened to the first 12 minutes, but it's already been exactly what I needed to hear. The things he says about meeting with God...about your heart being the place where you meet with Him.
It just kind of blew my mind. I don't know why. But the idea that I can meet with God and commune with him seemed totally foreign and wonderful. So I stayed a few extra minutes at school just to hear what he had to say. Then I walked home quietly, feeling the sunshine and talking to God, thanking him for things. How astonishing my life is. How little the small disappointments matter. It was a great walk.
Dealing with Disappointment from Antioch Community Church on Vimeo.
