"I'm a person. I'm not Jesus... I can't do miracles."

Of all the things I said this week, that's the one I can remember the best. Well, that and daring my boss to fire me.

Let's go back in time, shall we? We were told at the beginning of the year that we would have one extra day of summer vacation, July 31st. So people made plans accordingly. Then about three weeks ago, we were told, oh, just kidding, you really don't have that day off! So the foreign staff was all a little bit upset because we'd made plans already thinking we had the Monday off, so we asked the principal to explain the situation to Mr. Kim (He owns/runs the school but doesn't know JACK about education, only business. Oh, and he doesn't care about anything but money. It goes without saying that he is NOT my favorite person.). I let it lie for about a week, and then Monday asked Eunice (our fake principal) what Mr. Kim had said in regards to the vacation day. He said no, we couldn't have it off.

So that night I went home and wrote a letter about how it was inappropriate of him to punish the teachers for something that was completely not our fault. I felt that this letter, filled with beautiful nuace that I'm SURE got lost in translation (tragic), was the best way to handle the situation, especially since it was something I could make a copy of and prove what I'd actually said. I asked the other teachers to read it and sign if they wanted and most did. I gave Eunice the letter to give to Mr. Kim on Tuesday before my last period of class.

By the time I was done teaching that night, a mere 40 minutes later, he was all in a rage and threatening to fire everyone who signed the letter. Then he pretended that he couldn't speak English, and I got pissed so I started raising my voice and we basically had a fight via the supervisors that were there. At this point, I decided that Mr. Kim is Satan and I hope he burns in hell, which I'm sure he will anyway.

That night I got a call from our real principal who's at home recovering from stomach cancer. Satan had dragged her into the fray. So basically, long story short, I told her that I dared him to fire me and I am not backing down on this because it is unfair and inappropriate for him to treat people this way.

It's been an emotional and extremely stressful week for me, but I'm still employed with CIS so there's that. Not that I necessarily want to still work for him, but it would suck for my kids, which is the only reason I'm staying anyway. Anyway, I'm too valuable to fire; I have a full class of kindergarteners who's parents are happy, 11 BC kids who's parents will be PISSED if I leave, and two kids in a brand new pilot class. I'd LOVE to see him fire me just to see the crap he gets for it. That could possibly be my favorite thing EVER.

And on top of all this stupid mess, I have a parent of one of my 5th graders who's expectations and version of reality are SERIOUSLY warped. A) She thinks her daughter is the be-all and end-all of students when she's not. 2) She thinks it's possible to read TWO NOVELS in ONE month. She needs to shut the hell up. D) I hate it when people who don't know try to tell me how to do my job. This crazy mom needs to send her daughter to a school where she can learn to stop being weird and learn how to make friends. Because that's what she needs. UGH. That mom needs to just shut up.

I realize that job stress is present at ANY job, and it really just depends on how a person can handle it. So I'm just trying to leave all of this at school and enjoy my weekend. So far, I have managed to do so. Friday night I went drinkin' with the boys from school and it was really nice because Rodney and I totally bonded. And I never thought it, but he is seriously my backbone at that school nowadays. He is true blue and that's something not a lot of people can truly, truly be.

Saturday I went to Youngsan and bought a new magic stick (read: jump drive), new headphones and 6 bootlegs. Joy!! I bought The Producers, Nacho Libre, Madea's Family Reunion, Edison, X3: The Last Stand, and Cassinova. Watched Madea and Nacho last night and thoroughly enjoyed my life. Also went to Dongdaemun and bought a skirt, a shirt, 4 nose studs, three cute pins and I think that's all. AND I got to eat mandu gratin, which is KEY to life. And the only place you can get it, at least that I know of, is Dongdaemun. Mmmmmm.

On the docket today is church and staying nice and cool. 'Cause it's hot out and eewww. My AC is my new boyfriend. I might have to cheat on my iPod Rex with it. lol

Anyway... thanks to all the people who listened to me this week when I needed them to, and thanks to the people who took my mind off everything.

I really needed it.

Much love.

"I'm deadly!"--Drunk Adam, my new favorite person

Last night was SUPER fun. First I went with AdamandChrista and SeetaandJames and we met another couple for dinner. We went to a restaurant called Marekesh Nights for Moroccan food and let me just say...YUM! Seriously, SOOOOOOO good. We got seven dishes and just split everything and it was all really good. I heart lamb and Moroccan food. Joy!

After that we went to Hongdae (a cool, college, clubby area) and watched a bunch of bands play. It was cool because AdamandChrista were friends with most of the guys in the bands so that was cool. It was a CD release party for a band called The Waking Party, so they were the main event, but this band called Jet Echo, which is basically a guy on guitar and a guy on drums, was SUPER wicked. Man, they were awesome. We were talking to the drummer outside the club before, and I was like, whatever. But then I saw him play drums and he is CLEARLY now my new boyfriend. Anyway, they were super awesome and I want to see them again ASAP.

Let me just say that seeing live music was the best thing ever because I haven't in about a year, maybe even more. I have truly, truly missed it. I forgot how great it is to feel the music vibrate in your whole body and be in a room with people who are totally just feelin' great. Anyway... it was an awesome night. And drunk Adam is my new favorite person. He was freakin' HI-larious and dancing all around. So funny. I'm really glad I went because it was really, REALLY fun.

And today I went to church and the speaker was from Calvin College and it was a little bit awesome. It made me miss home though.

Much love.

"I feel like a whole new person."

I've had a kinda rough week, at least at the outset. My cough of death reared it's ugly head on Sunday so badly that I had to go to the doctor. So Monday after school, I went to some guy and he gave me, like, 6 pills to take three times a day. So I start taking them and whatever.

Tuesday night I watched Korea's first World Cup game against Togo, which they actually won. It was pretty fun; I watched it with school people and a whole herd of Korean fans, and the atmosphere was cool. Anyway, happy Korea won, as were all Koreans everywhere. They have some SERIOUS soccer pride over here. Anyway, we're somewhere in this crowd...


So I wake up on Wednesday, and I feel HORRIBLE but figure if I eat and get to school, it'll take my mind off everything. So I go, and I'm working on a test I have to make up for my class, and I have to rush to the bathroom and throw up. Nice. So Jade takes me to the doctor and he says it's the cough stuff that made me ralph. So I quit taking that, and started taking something else (4 pills three times a day) and my stomach's been fine since. I went home that day, and remained horizontal for most of the day, and got a good sleep at night, and I woke up Thursday feeling like a new person. Ahhh.

Thursday, my YH class was canceled and it was awesome. Granted, not teaching is rather boring, but it does offer me quite a bit of time to catch up on work, which is awesome. :)

Yesterday, I felt so good that I actually took a minute and had a good time with my kids. Here are some of the results.

Caroline lost a tooth, and she looks really funny. Almost like she's been in a fight.

Then there was Eric, my mullet kid. His mom put him in a magnetic earring, and he looked so much like a pirate I just couldn't NOT take a picture. If only he still had the patch from when he got shot in the eye with a BB...

And I love that Jenny's behind him, showing off his mullet.

This next picture takes some explanation. I was on the floor because I was laughing at the way one of my kids was dancing to "Take on Me" because it was THE funniest thing EVER and I was literally crumpled on the floor laughing about it. And Eric took my camera, and the kids climbed on, and we have this picture. Eric's got a future in photography, I think.

And finally, because I hadn't taken one in a while, here's my doggie. :)

I did end my week with some fun, and not only at school. Last night I FINALLY saw X3 and IT WAS AWESOME!! A) Kelsey Grammar is totally a bad @$$ 2) boys that cover them selves with medal, have an adimantium skeleton, and have wings are HOT and d) the magic 30 seconds after the credits was THE BEST! I could watch 6 more X-Men movies. Seriously.

I woke up this morning and got to talk to Abita. That was nice.

On my agenda is finding my T-Money card, finishing laundry, cleaning and maybe getting out and taking in this nice day. I should be going out tonight, but we'll see.

Much love.

"I've had a very good food week."

Indeed I have.

It started on Tuesday with a handful of cherries (let's just say we split the cost of a carton amongst three people to justify buying them--SUPER expensive!!) that were MAGICAL. I believe in my heart they were Michigan cherries, but I really have no idea. Anyway, Corrine, 인석 (Insok), and I went to the aquarium at the 63 Building, which is the tallest building in Korea. We ate the cherries on the way there. :)

I took some pics, of course. First up is a MEAN lookin' Japanese Spotted Crab. I'm tellin' you, dude was WICKED!


And here are some cute orange fish with big eyes. This picture actually came out pretty nice.



And here's one of me with some weird wooden ball statues.



And outside the building, I discovered the best thing ever: the remnants of the Olympic torch, which had been moved from the top of the bulding to the bottom. It was a little bit awesome. OMG... I love the Olympics.


So... super awesome day on Wednesday.

Then let's see, Thursday was uneventful. Friday night, Mark, 인석, and this girl Mark knows, Alana. We went out to Hyewha and chilled at a bar for a bit, then hit up the 노래방. Nori bong is Korean kareoke, but instead of a dive bar and skeezy white trash, you and your friends rent a private room for an hour, and get to sing in there. It was a little bit awesome; I hadn't done it since my birthday. I sang a ton too: "Don't Speak," "Sweet Caroline," "Hotel California," "Smells Like Teen Spirit," and some other stuff too. I pretty much rocked the hiz-ouse, and got a perfect score on my first two songs. Clearly, I am a rockstar.

Saturday it rained ALL day, but I did get a haircut for Lancelot. I alsto tried to make the most of the rest of the day and went out to explore a new area near Ewha Women's University. It was an interesting area, and I would definitely like to enjoy it again on a sunny day. I also got to eat a soft pretzel, and it gave me GREAT joy. Soft pretzles and cheese are KEY to life. Saturday night I watched a movie called Green Street Hooligans, which was about a bunch of soccer thugs and had Elijah Wood in it. Some interesting camera work, but not an amazing movie. Still, soccer thugs=hot.

Sunday I skipped out on church and went to 압구정 (Apgujeong) and got my hoop put in my piercings (yay!) and then we went to 인사동 (Insadong) to find some stuff for the new couple at school's apartment. Finally, we ended the day with an AMAZING Italian meal. Unfortunatly, the cream sauce made a little sick, but it was still REALLY good. Mmmm.

To recap: cherries, soft pretzel, Italian food. PLUS my favorite Korean meal (들섵 비빔밥)twice and strawberry short cake (with Redi Whip!!). I ate goooooood. :)

Unfortunately, I've got a cough of death that is preventing me from sleeping well, and I pretty much just want to lay down at all times. I went to the doctor today, and he gave me TONS of drugs to take so we'll see. I'm hoping the humidifier will also help. I just need it to go away.

I am sick and tired of being sick and tired. :(

Balls.

Much love.

"Eric, put your poo stick away, please."

I pretty much fail at life for not updating about my day off. Especially since I'll have another one to update about tomorrow. :)

So the day we had off was election day, and we weren't supposed to, but I guess our stupid @$$ of a boss decided to give it to us anyway. And to celebrate, the night before I took a picture with some of the adjumas who were campaigning. I got two groups in the pic, the #2 and the #3. Lovely.

So then Wednesday I went ice-skating with Eric and Caroline, and thier sisters and thier moms and my supervisor at work, Karen. I feel like all we did was eat and skate, but it was still a great time. I mostly skated around with Caroline, which was super cute because she didn't really know what she was doing but she was trying really hard. Caroline's mom even asked her if they could skate together, and Caroline told her mom that she didn't skate fast enough. Cute! And I raced Eric a couple of times and I let him win, of course, and it was just nice to hang out with them not at school.

I only took a couple of pics, so that's lame, but here they are anyway. The first is everyone (minus Karen and I) coming home on the subway. Eric's mom, Caroline, Grace (her sister), Jessica (Eric's sister), Eric and Caroline's mom.

This next one is the beautiful Olympic Bridge, as seen from the subway somwhere near Jamsil.

We were gone ALL day, and I was SUPER exausted, but I still came home and grabbend Lancelot, and headed out to BRachel's place for left over meat and conversation. It was nice, and Lancelot was really happy to get so much attention.

The rest of the week was pretty lame. I thought I'd have a huge fight trying to get the overtime that I earned, but the "principal" just rolled over and gave me what I want. Really, I was looking forward to a fight. But then again, the school will be needing 4 teachers in the coming couple of months, so they probably just want to keep the ones the have happy.

I'm FINE with it.

My weekend was pretty lame too. Last day of class on Saturday, and spent the rest of the being a lame @$$ in my apartment and my A/C (thanks to The J!). Watched an ungodly amount of TV shows that somehow magically showed up on my computer. Sunday did the church/dinner/movie thing. (P.S. Capote moved me... Must read In Cold Blood.)

Sometimes at work, I say things that I NEVER thought I'd say in life. For example, "Who's chopstick is this?" And "Do you want some more squid?" I also said today's lovely subject line, and that was this morning. I had to commemorate this lovely moment, when Eric, my mullet kid, brought in a poo stick for Show and Tell. Yes... It's smiling, yellow poo on the top of a stick. What is WRONG with these people?

Anyway... plans for an aquarium visit tomorrow with a couple pals, perhaps some grocery shopping. Excitement abounds.

Hopefully this time it won't take me a week to update about it.

Much love.