I had this weird thing this morning where I had ordered books online and found they were delivered not to my apartment but to the convenience store two blocks away, because everyone in our neighborhood just knows that the convenience store is where parcels go to live.
Anyhow, my packages of books had been there for so long they got sent back or something. Dude. At least now I know that when I get a little text saying my package has arrived and it notably has not arrived, I can go find it down at the pyeonijeom.
Went to listen to Joonsung play piano this morning. Hugged Chanyeong and tried to teach Sungjae how to play Heart and Soul.
Word has reached me that there is a snake in the school! Apparently, yesterday, someone saw a snake downstairs. But I think it's more likely that a kid saw a snake far outside the school and the rumor got elevated until Mr. Slither was actually within the building.
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11 AM
Ha, I only had one pan of banana bread leftover today from yesterday, and I got an entirely different batch of kids hooked on it. The usual crowd came by, but I also gave some to Seongsu, one of the funniest 3rd-graders who was a real card last year when I taught him and who sings in the hallways. He gave me a thumbs-up of approval.
Our Science Teacher doesn't even ask for bread anymore--just comes over in his lab coat and gets a piece. This means a lot to me. I haven't formally asked many of the teachers to try the bread because I wanted to test it out on the kids first, but sure enough, it's actually truly tasty, so next week I'll start asking the adults to try a bit, too.
Yeongjoon, one of the clever 3rd-graders, took a piece when I asked him to, then as I was talking to Hyo, I noticed that Yeongjoon kept coming back for the crumbs. He cleaned the remainder of the bread pan, and I promised him that I'd make more on Monday.
Ee! It's so satisfying to have the kids like the food I made. Hyo was actually so enamoured with the banana bread, he sat by me and got me to dictate the list of ingredients while he wrote it down.I emailed him the recipe for good measure, taking out the hardest English words. I know from experience how frustrating it is to follow a Korean recipe, so I want to make English recipes easier for him.
How cool is that, my little guy wanting to bake his own banana bread?
Saw HH's mom in the hall. She asked me about my summer vacation with my family and I talked about how they'd moved to a new state, a place which I actually really liked despite being worried about it previously.
Minjoonie says his history midterm was really hard, and Yonghan says their next exam is PE. They're having a written test for PE, so I'm assuming they have learned a lot about exercise science and physical therapy, not just about how to jump around.
Emailed JY-Teacher a list of crafts and activities which I think will be good for our Halloween party. I'll keep my open for possible snacks and games, but I think I got the craft aspect nailed down.
KBR told me that she needs to get the lesson plans for Winter Camp (January 5-10?) together by Monday, because the new vice principal is a very detail-oriented person, and also so that we can put together a budget.
First off, whee! We have a budget! Last winter, I did everything on my own and it was not a success. Now with acutal budget to back me up, who knows what's possible? Secondly, I was feeling really pressured and worried about getting a plan together, but then I calmed down and realized that 5 days of 4 class periods won't be that hard.
We'll do a Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe camp! We'll watch the movie bit by bit, use the school kitchen to cook one snack per day, and make two crafts per day. I've been using Pinterest to compile ideas and I think it'll all turn out splendid. No need to stress.
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12:30 PM Our lunch is at 1 PM apparently, Right now the homeroom teachers are eating burgers with their kids, so I'm not sure who B-Teacher and I will be eating with at one o'clock but my school mom tells me that's when the food happens.
Jaehyung came by to chat with me. He's not going on the field trip to Seoul tomorrow, so I'll be missing him. He explained to me why his fingernails are orange, and I still don't really understand it. It's some kind of art form or beauty treatment called 봉숭아물. It leaves fingernails stained orange, like this:
Not even exactly pretty, just oddly colored. I can't tell if it's done to look nice or to improve the health of the nails or what. I used to see this occasionally on students, usually female students, and I thought it was some rare form of nutritional deficiency. Like a special Korean-only finger disease. I'm really curious about what it's for.
Annnnnd I just broke up a fight in the hallway. Taekyeong from my 1st ever afterschool last fall and a 3rd-grader I don't know where about to throw down in the hall. Two friends were trying to keep them apart and I stepped into the hall to put my hand on Unknown Student's chest. He wasn't stopping pursuing Taekyeong and Taejyeong was about to escape his friend's clutches, so I yelled out for Office Leader.
Thankfully, Office Leader is a big, scary man and took care of the situation. He gave Unknown a stern talking-to and is now making the kid laugh. I like how he brings them back from their anger, sometimes.
Also, one of our graduated students came by the office and I led him to YSR teacher, his former homeroom teacher. It was a sweet moment, watching the reunion. :-)
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