Tuesday, May 30, 2006

"I don't think a man's ever kissed my hand..."--Mark

About my weekend. Friday I went out with some of the crew from school, because JohnandLindsay are leaving, like, this Friday. So that's, like, tragic to my life because, as we all know, I don't handle change well and a few big ones as far as staff is concerned are coming and... I don't wanna discuss it. But anyway... We went out and it was fun and I will miss my friends. A lot.

Saturday I went to class and then hit up 동대문 (Dongdaemun). (P.S. I can type in Korean now!!) Let me explain that Dongdaemun is, basically, cheap clothes EVERYWERE. There are floors and floors and buildings and streets full of them. But I'm feeling tired of what I have, and it's getting hotter, so I wanted to buy a skirt or two (I can't really buy pants here). My mission was successful as I got one skirt that is reversible. It's awesome and you're totally allowed to be jealous. I am in love with it. I also got three pairs of (men's) sandals (my flip flops are GROSS) and another shirt. I think my spending habits of late are me trying to deal with the impending changes. Balls.

Hmm... Sunday. Sunday I went to 현대 (Hyundai) Department Store, where I had intended to spend my gift certificate on a Coach purse, but I couldn't find one that cost what I was willing to pay at the time, so instead I bought a DKNY watch. It's a super expensive nice watch, and I ended up actually paying half price for it (thank you gift certificate!) and I'm really happy with it. I don't have a really really nice dress watch. But now I do.

Then I came home and did some work and finally went to church. At church, I met a Korean girl who speaks three languages. She speaks Korean, then she left here at 9 to move to Columbia where she goes to highschool (so she speaks Spanish) and she speaks nearly perfect English as well. I=jealous. I want my kids to have that life. Heck, let's be honest, I want that life. *sigh* But, at this point, I'm doing my best.

Something funny happened on the way home from church. We get on the subway (4 of us, Mark, me, and two Korean friends) and immediately I smell Soju (cheap Korean licquor). About 3 minutes later, the source of the smell reveals itself with this old dude we were standing next to starts talking, at the top of his voice, about me and clapping and making a noise like a blender. Apparently he was saying I was really pretty and he wanted me to marry his son. Then he gave me his seat, and his wife was telling me I should punch him. lol. It was TOTALLY embarassing and funny at the same time. I was kind of horrified that he wouldn't shut up, but the wife was really funny, telling him to be quiet and stuff. Oh man... old drunk Korean men on the subway. What can you do?

Moving on... Monday was Monday, but I had some solace realizing that I would not have to teach on Wednesday. Tomorrow is election day, and although we were supposed to work, our boss realized that it's kind of illegal to make us work, so he let us have the day off. So... day off tomorrow! I'm going ice skating with my supervisor, Karen, and one of my students and his mom and sister. He invited me today and it was so cute. So we're going and I'm excited, even if it is early and with people from school. Whatever.

And then there was today... Fairly drama free, and JohnandLindsay's last day (ㅠㅠ). My favorite moment (other than Eric asking me to go ice-skating) was when I didn't teach my 양훈 (Young Houn) class today because two of my kids didn't show, one was sick, and the other decided that class wouldn't be worth while, so she went home. And the two girls that didn't come, were suspiciously the two girls whose parents I met with last Thursday. And these parents also met with the big boss (keep in mind, he knows NOTHING about education... nothing) and now they're pissed about something so they didn't send thier kid. Karen told me it was some reason and I just said something to the effect of, "I've been in Korea long enough to know that something that sounds THAT stupid is a lie and the girls aren't here because their moms are pissed." And she just laughed. Because I am right. So anyway, they're gonna change the curriculum or something, and it's gonna piss me off because I hate it when parents run the dang school. They are not teachers so they need to shut up and let me do my job. More on the results of this stupidity later.

I'll let you know how skating goes. :)

Much love.

Sunday, May 28, 2006

"Um, my class is SEVEN."

Please note, I started this entry a week ago, and am just now posting it because Blogger HATES uploading pictures. Awesome.

So... Gym Day. Let's just say I was pissed off within half an hour of it actually starting, and it only got worse until lunch, when it finally got better. Let's just say that the new (and I'm talking has worked at the school for about 5 minutes) "vice-principal," Eunice, spent the morning making me line my kids up for games they weren't supposed to play because she thought they were 6. Um... They're seven. Leave me alone. THEN she told me I had to put my dog in his cage because parents were complaining, which I don't doubt, but then she came back and said it was "allergies." Now, I'm pretty sure this is a lie. If it IS the truth, fine, I can accept that. But I'm pretty sure the real problem was that the other parents were jealous because my class got to play with a dog, and thier kids didn't so therefore, it must be put away. You may think this is childish, and it TOTALLY is, but THIS is how adults here act. Like children. It's ridiculous. Then the final straw was when Liz, the old principal at my school and current principal of another CIS, came by to arrange my kids because they weren't sitting perfectly straight and still on one square mat. I looked at her and said, "They are FINE." At least she took the hint. UGH... I HATE people who try to mess with my class and who THINK they know what's going on but are actually DUMB as rocks. GAH! But on the bright side, I got to meet parents I don't ususally see (dads) and siblings and stuff. And despite poor organization (hello, Korea), it turned out to be an okay day. So... here are some pictures. This first one is my cute little Lucy's cuter, littler sister. She is my new best friend, and she LOOOOOOVED Lancelot.


OMG... So cute. And just in case you can't remember what her sister looks like, here's Lucy, bangin' her thunder sticks like it's her job.


Also cute, this picture of Jenny smiling like she does right before she starts laughing really hard. Nothin' like a sack race to get ya goin'.

This is me and my class... we were probably lining up for something.

And finally, here's Willy and his mom. She was playing a game where you pass a ping-pong ball along the line with spoons. They look alike, eh?

So that was it. Gym day.

So exciting.

Much love.

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Saturday, May 20, 2006

"We should take a picture of this."--John

Monday was Teacher's Day and my kindys sucked at presents but my BC class was a little bit awesome. I got a $100 gift certificate to an expensive department store (SCORE!) and some other, like, bath stuff. Which is cool and I'll use it for sure. And it's awesome because I kind of hate that class and I deserve presents from them.

Tuesday... I dunno. Nothing exciting. But Wednesday, JohnandLindsay and I went out for shaboo shaboo (it's Japanese food) and it was SUPER good. It's basically this pot of oil and water, and you throw in all these veggies, and thinly sliced meat and eat it all up. Then at the end you cook noodles in what's left over and it's SUPER yummy. Plus, it looks really pretty on the table. So pretty, in fact, I snapped a picture.



I got bored sometime during the week and decided to end my boredom with some Scotch tape and a kid's face. So of course, they all wanted it. But at least I had the good sense to take a picture.

Don't they look like whos from Whoville?

Friday I had Parent/Teacher Conferences for my B.C. class and despite HORRIBLY stupid planning on someone's part (NOT mine) it went okay. I met with 9 of the 12 kids' parents and it was weird. I hate that they all think this test the kids took is a big deal (it's not and it was a poorly written test) and that if their kid doesn't do well it's the end of the world. These kids are WAY stressed out and they're 10. Eight and nine actually if you calculate thier western age. Horrible. Get off your kids' backs! They're all smart, okay? Geez...

Monday is local election day, so all week candidates have been campaining pretty hard, with posters and signs and all kinds of stuff all over the dang place. I mean, check out this guy's method of advertising...


We should SO do this back home. I'm JUST sayin'...

Today I just went to class, and then after went with Mark and In Seok to In Seok's aunt's restaurant in Dongdaemun. Let's just say the eats were super good and SUPER free and it pretty much made my life. AWEsome. I love having Korean friends! Unfortunately, that was the end of my day out because I have to get up at 6:30 tomorrow and be at school by 7:30 for Gym Day. Um... Joy. But I'm sure I'll take lots of pics and update about it all. So you can share the fun.

Til then...
Much love.

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Sunday, May 14, 2006

"Apparently I turned 75 and didn't know it."

More on the title later. Let's take this thing cronologically.

So... Remember that dress thing I did a couple weeks ago? Turns out Jade's husband is a photographer in a photography club and he wanted all of us to come to another dress cafe (it was called "Princess Diary" if that tells you ANYthing about this situation) and pose for pictures for some photo contest. Or something. I don't really know what happened, and even now there are still parts of it I'm blocking out. All I remember is me in a HUGE dress that was stabbing me in the side (and the dress was made for a Korean so the rib cage of it was narrow and mine is, well, not narrow, and there was a pretty serious boob situation...) but it was a Korean-style dress, so that was kinda cool. Anyway, we posed all over the place, couches, beds, everywhere. I had to sit on this pink velvet bed and a little bit of my soul died. It's fine.

But it was pretty funny anyway. I mean, there's only so much a girl can take, so when we went down stairs for round 2, I started playing with my dress. I was using it as a shawl because I was cold, wrapping other people up inside it too. I was dancing around to make Christa laugh. I moved my hair piece to the front of my head to look like a unicorn. And apparently one of the guys asked Jade (remember, all the photographers were speaking Korean) if I was a tomboy. Ha ha. I think that's funny. :)

So that was my Friday night. And since I was out late, my goal for the rest of the weekend was to just sit at home. Which I did, after class and a doctor's appointment and church today. Sweet. Anyway, the doctor said I have the begining signs of arthritis in my knee. Neat. So I have to take meds and wear a brace and rub this magical gel of joy on it that takes away all the pain. The gel is the BEST thing ever. :) And after the doctor, I was so depressed that I'm a 75 year old woman with arthritis that I went on a spending spree. But I DID get my mom a mother's day present, so that's good. And an amythist necklace. And a wallet. And a CD. Anyway... depressing.
Watched Memoirs of a Geisha Saturday night. Pretty good movie, although I needed English subtitles to watch it, and there weren't any. Balls. But still a good movie. I really loved the part when she's narrating, and she talks about the poem in the temple called "Loss." And she says that the poem has three words that the poet has scratched out, because you can't learn about loss, you can only feel it. That part was... good. And the part where she dances in the snow on the friggin' GIANT shoes of death. Anyway... interesting movie.

So that's my weekend.

Happy Mother's Day to my mom, and all others. :)

Much love.

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Monday, May 08, 2006

"Isn't every day Children's Day?"

Children's Day was the reason for my long weekend. I'm just wondering what exactly is the point of Children's Day? Isn't EVERY day Children's Day? Kids get presents and we get the day off... LAME. BUT, getting the day off was key so yay for Children's Day.

I spent my day rather well. I went to the National Museum of Korea with my pal Kelly in the morning. It was a bunch of artifacts and stuff, tons of Buddah's and old pottery and wooden objects. Anyway, it was pretty interesting.

That night, I went with Mark, Fredrick and their friend Jen to Insadong, attempting to buy a Mother's Day gift (unsuccessful) and eat some chow (Thai food, yummy). There was a festival going on down there this weekend, the Hi Seoul Festival, so we encountered a bit of that too. We wandered along the Chongguechon River, at night, and it looked a bit like this:


Really pretty, fountain and everything. And I would be remiss if I didn't post the group shot. Here's Fredrick, Jen, Mark and me, along the river.


Anyway, good times.

On Saturday, I wanted to head back out and check out festival stuff, but unfortunately it rained. All day. So I made it out of the house for a brief period only to each Chinese and watch Elizabethtown with friends, which wasn't really what I was in the mood for, but it was still something to do. And it was nice to be amongst other Americans (even though they were from Ohio, ick) instead of the token American, which is what I usually am. So yeah... rainy day pretty much wasted inside. BUT, I got a lot of work done, so it's all good.

Sunday was SUPER nice out, so I took the dog for a walk in the park, then came home and worked a bit, and went to church. After church, Mark got the burger he's been craving for a week when we went to T.G.I Friday's. Yummy.

So that was my weekend... fairly well spent, I feel. Here's hoping the week goes by fast!

Much love.

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Thursday, May 04, 2006

The dress thing

I was a genius to take Monday off because if I had to work more then three days this week, I would have died.

I'm so beat right now I'm staying at home instead of hanging out and watching fireworks with some pals. I am pretty fired, and I feel bad about bailing, but I'm just BEAT. I had a rough week in a lot of ways, and I'm staying home and having a pity party tonight. That way, I can have fun the rest of the weekend.

Anyway, I'm so tired because a) I stayed up til nearly 1 on Tuesday night watching Walk the Line with a pal 2) I forgot about this thing I promised to do last week which I'll elaborate on momentarily and d) my knees have been hurting so badly I can barely walk. Nice.

So the "thing I promised to do" was go to this dress cafe with supervisors and girls from work. Apparently you go there and try on, like, wedding and prom dresses and hang out and whatever. And my supervisor Karen REALLY wanted to go, like in the depths of her soul desired to go, and so last night we went. I TOTALLY forgot about it, but, because I'm a good person, and because Karen is so nerdy it's super-cute. So anyway, we went and we tried, and here are pictures.

First, me in what I WANTED to wear, the BEST prop ever!


But unfortunately, the earmuffs didn't fly. I had to wear a wedding dress, because they were the only dresses that fit me. So here it is...

Oh Lord... And the best part was that on the way there Christa said that it's bad luck to try on a wedding dress before you're engaged, or something like that, which I've never heard but that doesn't mean it's not a completley valid superstition. So basically, I'm screwed for all practical purposes. Nice. Anyway... here's my supervisor Karen and I. She's the mastermind behind this whole plan.

OMG... I should be on the top of a cake. A REALLY big friggin' cake. Foul.

And finally, here's the whole clan. Karen, Christa, Sophie, Jade, Margaret (back for a one night engagement and complaining the whole time), Linds, and me.

The most fun was how riduculous it was. Anyway... too many late nights this week and other stuff going on that's making me drained.

Blah.

I gotta get to bed.

Much love.

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Tuesday, May 02, 2006

"Feelin' better?"

It's funny because I feel worse today than I did yesterday. You see, it turns out that yesterday was the worst yellow dust day of the season, and guess who was out walking around in it all day... This kid right here. So now I have this cough that's pretty icky, not horrible by any means but icky indeed. So that's... fun. Balls.

Anyway, here are the Korea University pictures I promised yesterday. This first one is the view you see when you enter the gates.


There's art everywhere on campus, but it's not totally phallic like the stuff at GV. Here are two examples.

And this was called "The Special Time" I think...

Here's a closer view of the left side of campus, the field is the same one you see in the first picture.

And of course, here's my baby exploring the flowers that were ALL over campus.

So that was my lovely afternoon walk in the yellow dust. But still, it's a gorgeous campus. I kinda wanna go there...

But I won't. :)

Much love.

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Monday, May 01, 2006

"Those Buddhists sure know how to party!"

Let me start with Buddah's birthday stuff. JohnandLindsay and I headed out about 2:30, and just started walking around. The festival took place in Insadong, a part of town where many of the more traditional crafts are sold. So we walked around, and we came across a traditional band playing, or rather, not playing. So I asked Linds to snap a pic and here we are:


This traditional band is all drums, like the one the guy is holding, and cymbals. It sounds really cool when they get it going, although I must say, those hats are a bit scary...

Then we made a lotus lantern outside the park gates (mine turned out... decently) and ventured in, and it was amazing. Lanterns EVERYWHERE! And flowers all over! It was sooooo pretty, I could barely stand it. Here, see for yourself. Me and Linds in the park.



The lanterns, all hung together.

Now let me explain what the deal is with the lanterns. I'm not actually sure why it's lanterns, but if you'll notice, they have little tags hanging from them. Those tags have a person's name or a prayer on them, and these are attached to the lanterns, and they are sort of prayers for that person to move higher on the chain of life (rather than lower, to like, an animal or something) and get closer to nirvana.

I think.

Anyway, AdamandChrista met up with us in the park, and we continued to wander about. We wandered toward more festivities, including a bunch of stages and tents. The stage had a drum band playing music, then this guy came out and flipped about a million times and then twirled plates. Kinda cool. When we investigated the tents, we discovered all kinds of stuff, from jewelry for sale to accupuncture. And most of it was free! I painted a slice of tree with a lotus on it (the lotus flower is one of the symbols of Buddah).

As dusk settled, we decided it was finally time to eat, so we found this magical place and got to eat outside (yay!!) and we stayed there until the parade came our way. We missed a lot of it (it's like, two hours long) but the stuff we saw was cool. It was basically lanters and a few floats. Anyway, here are two pictures. The first is a bunch of lanters, all lit up.

And here's a dragon!

All and all, the whole deal was pretty cool and I'm really glad I went.

Then we come to today... my "sick" day. I started off excited by life, enjoying a delicious breakfast, talking to Mom and Dad, joy everywhere. Then... I went to the doctor. I actually went to two places, and it's pretty much been decided that I can't get my supplies in Korea because they have a different pump here, only one kind and... yeah, I got lost in the hospital in Hyehwa and ended up crying in the bathroom because I was so emotionall distraught by the whole experience. And on top of it all, I forgot to get a note from the doctor to take to work tomorrow. Hopefully, they believe me.

I did manage to salvage a little bit of my day by going out to Korea University with Lancelot and taking a walk. It's super pretty; the campus looks like a bunch of castles with greenery and flowers everywhere. I WOULD share some of the pics I took but again, Blogger HATES me and won't let me add more than five pictures. Nice. I'll upload some tomorrow.

So... I'm left wondering if I can stay here or if I'll have to resign. And that would break my heart.

So... think about me. Please.

Much love.

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