"I feel like my eyeshadow is buring a hole in people's souls..."

80's prom was an absolute blast. It was an early night for me, unfortunately, but I still had a great time. Christa and I were so excited about the whole thing, from makeup and hair to our outfits, that it was a little bit inappropriate. We got ready together and we were giggling the whole time.

Then there was the subway ride. I mean, people stare at foreigners anyway, when you're dressed like we were, they started even more. This one adjuma could've killed us with her stare. Horrible. But we did meet some nice ladies, and I managed to convey to them in Korean that we were going to a party, so it was excellent. This one lady was telling us how to get there, to make sure that we transfered at the right place to the right line. She told us, like, 10 times. It was really sweet of her, even though we totally knew how to get there.

So anyway, without further ado, here are some pics. This one is Christa and I in our outfits.


You can't really see it here, but I was wearing the teal eyeshadow of death. It was so bad it was good. And my hair is teased up... it felt the exact same as the scrunchie I was wearing. Gross!

This next one is Adam playing... It might have been "White Wedding" but I can't remember exactly. Anyway, it was awesome.


And this last one is Christa dancin' it up. She won prom queen, y'know...


The whole night was super fun. We just danced and bopped around. Super great.

I kinda wanna do it every day.

Now my next thing to look forward to is China. Yay!

XOXO

"See you later... crocodile!"--Benjamin

Only Thursday and I'm posting. Must have been an interesting week already, huh? Well, never fear faithful friends, indeed so far it has been.

It all happened on Tuesday. First we had a birthday party. Now, usually there's, like, one or two kids in the same class with a birthday in the same month. Oh, not in my class. I had four September birthdays. FOUR. Balls. Anyway, yeah, we got through it and of course I have pictures. The first is a class pic, the first since Joon left and Christina joined. So here we all are. I kinda forgot about the birthdays that day and dressed kind of slobby and wore my Lisa Loeb glasses. Whatever.

This picture is of Willy in this totally Korean shirt he wears. It's pretty much my favorite shirt ever. You can see why...

Um... right. WHAT does that even mean? Who knows. Okay, this final one is awesome. My kids discovered the magic color-changing properties of Now & Laters.

Kinda the cutest thing ever, right?

Birthday fun was not the only thing on the docket on Tuesday, however. Let's just say that CIS is down another teacher.

I don't know what happened, and of course there's the version of the story that Paul tells and the version that CIS tells, but the actual truth is probably somewhere closer to Paul's version of events. He says he was fired, the school says he resigned, which he technically did over two months ago but the school did not accept. Funny how, when it was convenient to them and served thier purposes, they decided to accept it. Anyway... yeah. So Paul's gone and the principal has a meeting about it (Which I find interesting. I asked for one concerning the Christmas performance, which everyone was confused about and our supervisors also were unsure about, and she didn't bother to show. Yet when she looks like the bad guy, she has a meeting as fast as possible. Hmm... Can anyone say evil b!%@# from hell?). Anyway... CIS drama that I'm not involved in is FINE by me. I feel bad for Paul and all, but let's be honest, that $#!t hole is no place for a seasoned teacher. Heck, it's no place for a just-out-of-school-and-trying-to-pay-off-loans teacher. It gets more aweful and ridiculous by the day.

When am I done?

So yeah... oh! This brings me to the quote that is my title for the entry. Paul teaches one class on T/Th. afternoons, which I agreed to take over until someone new shows up. The class is three kids, one of whom I've taught before, Benjamin. He totally has a cruch on me, which is so cute, and today at the end of class I'm telling them goodbye and he busts out with, "See you later, crocodile!" It was SO CUTE. I even watched him process the thought and I could tell he kinda knew what to say but not really. SO CUTE! Anyway... it made my day.

It really doesn't take much.

I finished a book this week too, The Rule of Four. I don't recommend it, but props to two best friends from Princeton attempting to write a book. Cute.

80's prom is Saturday so you can bet I'll be posting pics and stories as soon as I can! I can't wait!!

XOXO

"All in all, it was a pretty decent week. Shockingly enough."

My week was pretty decent, despite some stupid crap that happened at school (big surprise). On Tuesday it was a PJ/GA night with SeetaandJamie. They kinda got hooked on Grey's Anatomy, an addiction I totally condone because I need someone to talk about it with, and they came over on Tuesday to watch it and eat Papa John's, which I don't think I've had but once since The J left. I never order it myself because it's too much and too expensive for just one person to eat. Anyway, it was DELICIOUS and reliving the G.A. was magical.

Also on Tuesday I asked the school (aka, the new principal) if we could get a filing cabinet in the back room for teachers to put any sort of supplements or games or whatever that they've made so that teachers n the future could use them and not have to make them over again. I asked about this months ago and heard nothing. I went in and asked the principal about it and not only did I get the distinct impression that she would rather have each hair on her body be pulled out one by one than talk to one of her teachers, her reply was "I'll think about it." You'll think about it? Are you retarded? What is there to think about? What is wrong with these stupid people? Just because it costs a little money, and because I asked for it... God forbid anyone do anything in that school that actually benefits teachers. OMG... I can't WAIT to blacklist that damn school... It just frustrates me because there's an office that just got all kinds of new stuff (including a computer) an no one working in it. Um... yeah. Way to put your priorities straight.

Wednesday I feel like I did something... Oh, I had Parent/Teacher conferences during the day and then went out to eat kalbi with Christa and SeetaandJamie. I also haven't had that in a long time, and I forgot what I was missing. I can't remember if I've explained what kalbi is before, but it's basically marinated pork that you cook over a grill in your table. And you eat it wrapped in lettuce with rice or garlic or sauce or whatever, like a tiny little meat taco. It may sound gross but I am telling you--it is SO GOOD. Oh man. Good.

Conferences were good too. I met the mom of my new girl and everyone else still seems happy with what's going on, so whatever. I really don't care 'cause I'm almost done and then CIS can SHOVE IT!!

Thursday Mark and Inseok came over and we watched Napoleon becuse Inseok had never seen it. I hadn't watched it in a while either, so it was pretty funny. Watching it with other people is key. :)

Friday night I actually went out (!) and saw Adam's band again. It was a pretty early night, considering, and Adam wasn't too pleased about the set, but I DID talk to a guy who looked like Doogie Howser and it was a little bit magical. Clearly, I frightened him but I enjoyed it. :)

Saturday was class and then a shopping frenzy. I was looking for an outfit for the 80's prom next weekend (OMGI'MSOEXCITEDICAN'TWAIT!) and it was touch and go for a minute, but eventually I found an outfit and it's The Awesome. I can't WAIT to wear it. All I need to complete it is a scrunchy and possibly some gloves. We'll see. It's awesome just like it is, though. :) Also on Saturday, I kept running into James (of SeetaandJamie) and it was pretty funny. Ran into them again today. Clearly, they are stalking me.

I chilled the rest of the weekend because I haven't been sleeping well and I just needed to chill. I slept about nine hours last night and when I woke up this morning, I felt like I won a prize. It was so great. I'm reliving Ally McBeal Season 3, so that's occupying my time. Oh, and I'm reading The Rule of Four which is... okay. Anyway, it's relaxing and it takes up time.

I paid for my trip to China, so I'm officially going. It'll be a nice little break, and fun to see The J again. Other than that, no big news.

XOXO

"I. Had. So much. Fun man!"--Adam

This week was far too exciting. You already heard about Tuesday's excursion (fun times). Then on Thursday, in retaliation for "boys night" we had "girls night." Seeta, Christa, Lindsay and I all went to Hyewha and ate at Istanbul, a Turkish restaurant. It was SUPER yummy but the hot waiter was absent. Balls. I drank a new beer at dinner called Hoegaarden (Ho-garden... yeah, awesome) and it was yummy.

After dinner, we mosied to get ice cream at Hagen Daas. Yum. Outside the ice cream shop, Lindsay spied a dancing bottle of soju. Luckily, I had my camera and this is what I managed to capture:

Three dancing bottles of soju (a.k.a. "rocket fuel," the local liquor of choice...) on a float of somekind. Terrifying... and strang-e.

Friday was nothing spectacular. I was kinda supposed to maybe have a date but, as well all know because this is my life we're talking about, it didn't happen. Over. It.

Saturday a.m. was class. Then I quicklly came home to rest up for going out that night. See, Adam (of AdamandChrista) joined a local band here a couple months ago, and last night was his first gig with them. The band, Sun Radio, is decent and Adam was super excited to play. So a bunch of us went out to support him: me, Christa, JohnandLindsay, Gareth, Nate, and various other sundry pals from afar. Since the place was a venue and not a bar, most of us just stood on the hill drinking and chatting. Lindsay and I decided to be cool and drink wine out of plastic glasses with straws. Because we are cool. I forgot my camera but I definately took a mental picture of drinking wine with straws. It was funny. We are awesome.

We ended up seeing three bands, The Waking Party, Sun Radio, and Jet Echo, all of which I've seen before. Jet Echo=THE AWESOME. I'm pretty sure I've talked about them before, but they are seriously sweet as heck. ANYway, it was cool to know someone in the band and watching Adam perform was kinda cool because I know that music is a huge part of his life. Plus, he was really greatful for us all being there, and that was really sweet.

We didn't stay much past the last band because everyone was tired and Adam was starving. So we grabbed a cab home, where all I heard was Adam talking about how much fun he'd had on stage and did we have fun too? And blah, blah, blah. It was funny. So we stopped at the McDonald's in Miasamgeori (whoever decided to keep it open 24 hours was a GENIUS) and ate some nasty food (Big Macs are gooooooood) and came home.

Of course, I slept like poo because that's apparently what I do now. Awesome.

Today was church and then a Dongdaemun run. I just shopped for a little bit and got depressed that I couldn't find anything 'cause over here I'm a big fatty, so I went to eat, which was secretly the whole reason I wanted to go there in the first place. Key.

While it was a great week and I had tons of fun, I'm hoping this week is calmer. And now that I have 6 hours a week free, work is MUCH less stressful. :)

Parent/teacher on Wednesday and then smooth sailing for a while. Sweet.

Much love.

"It tastes so much better when it's on the house!"--Christa

It's been an eventful week, and it's only Wednesday. So, I figured I'd better update before my usual weekend entry gets too long.

So last Tuesday, I lost a kid from kindy. I asked Karen, "Am I going to get another kid?" and she said probably not. And what happened yesterday? A new kid shows up. NEAT. Just when I put the extra chair in the hallway... Anyway, I guess she'd been going to the Uijeongbu campus of our school where the teachers apparently smoke large amounts of illegal substances because she is no where NEAR where my class is. She's not close to the same place in the books (Her math book, which was supposed to last THE WHOLE YEAR is finished. Um, hello?) and she can't really read or write, which, I'm proud to say, all my kids can. So... yeah. Balls. And of course she can't be in any of the other classes... gah! It just bugs me. And now I have to get a new kid used to the routine that's been going on for over a year now. Sweet.

Anyway, she's a sweet little girl named Christina, and of course I'll do my best to catch her up, but still. It just bugs me that once again, a teacher's opinion or expertise isn't wanted. So nice. But... here's her picture. She's cute, of course, and all the kids in my class have been really helpful trying to get her into the groove. I <3 my class.

In other school news, one of my favorite kids, Cindy, quit CIS. She was in Rodney's class but she was super cute and every day she'd give me a hug. It was so sweet! But... oh well. Bye bye Cindy.

And apparently my Young-Hoon class quit so I now have no class on Tuesdays/Thursday. At least, that's what I thought. I found it funny: when I was teaching the class the way I wanted to, the kids were happy and liked coming to class. Once the class changed because some psycho mom who had NO CLUE about what her kid needed/wanted/could do, everyone quit. Makes me feel pretty good, actually. I am SO GLAD I don't have to deal with that psycho mom any more. But anyway, I'm sitting at the desk doing my work yesterday, and John (one of my two Y.H.ers) walks in. I straight up told him to go home. lol. So apparently they really DIDN'T quit. John had no clue. But he doesn't want to study alone and the school doesn't really want him to because God forbid I teach one student who wants to learn when there are potential others who could make the school more money. Because teaching isn't about kids, it's clearly about money. Again, niiiiice. I can't WAIT to be done.

Oh, and we got a new "principal" on Tuesday who seems like a total b!$@#. So I'm excited about that, too. She's already saying stupid crap that pisses me off. Um... I've been at that sorry excuse for a professional school for over a year. DON'T tell me what to do.

But I did manage to have some fun on Tuesday. Christa has been doing a detox diet for the past 30 days, and yesterday was the end of it. She planned dinner at this really good Italian restaurant, and we all went after school. We drank wine and ate our faces off, and it was SO GOOD until one person didn't get thier dinner because the waiter screwed up. So in the end we got a free bottle of wine and 3 free desserts (tiaramisu... YUM!!), which was kind of awesome. Here's a pic of the boys, Jamie, Adam, and Nate.


They all look a little... wined up. lol. It was super fun and waaaaay yummy. Clearly, key to my life.

So that's been my week so far. A little too much excitement if you ask me.

I do have a couple more pictures though. James in my class is my little monkey and he does whatever I tell him. One day round about last week, I was bored and this was the result.


That's his shirt around his head.


I think he's secretly my favorite kid. NEVER tell. ;)

Much love.

"Once you hit 25, it's all downhill."--Rodney

Yep. So I'm 25 now. It really doesn't feel like it; I can hardly believe it myself. I don't FEEL 25... my adventures are just beginning... But, yeah. I'm a quarter of a century old. Balls. More on that later.

Let's go back to Tuesday. On Tuesday, I lost one of my kidergardeners. Joon, "the smart one," left CIS. He left because his mother felt he was too far above the other kids (true) and he really wasn't learning that much (questionable). I understand why she did it, and I'm glad it wasn't really anything to do with me, but I still miss the little guy. It happened so suddenly I barely even got a chance to say goodbye to him. He really is a sweet little boy, and I'm not sure he'll do well at another school (he's emotionally still a little baby), but what can I do? I was glad to teach him for a year, and he'll certainly be a success. And then there were 11.

Thursday was my birthday. It was really nice, actually. Paul got me a towel (SO KEY) and Nate brought me a piece of carrot cake and a pack of real hot dogs. Kinda awesome. Karen and Sophie teamed up (my supervisor and another Korean teacher at school) and bought me a cake (it was actually decent too!). Everyone sang and blah, blah, blah. Also, Miriam and Jade got me a book, Blue Like Jazz, which is a Christian book everyone at school is reading (read: all the supervisors read it while they are working... neat.) It might be next o my list after I finish In Cold Blood which is SO FRIGGIN' GOOD I can't stand it. And SeetaandJamie got me Pride and Prejudice (at least people know me enough to get me books!!) and a dance movie Step Up, which I watched and loved. It was cheesy and magical in a way only dance movies can be. SO great.

After school, Christa, Rodney, Miriam and I went to Sizzler for dinner, and Mark, Rachel, and Inseok met us there. It was a nice dinner and it was really nice to just spend time with them away from school. As I said in my other blog, thank you to EVERYONE who made me feel special on my birthday. You only turn 25 once, and although it wasn't the prom I'd planned, it was still great. So, again, thank you.

On Friday my B.C. class decorated my board and made me cards for my birthday. Even though I usually hate them, I kind of loved them for 10 minutes. It was super sweet of them, and I appreciated it.

Also on Friday we learned that we're getting a new principal. According to Eunice, she's coming on Tuesday and Eunice still has a job. According to Miriam, who spilled the beans Thursday night, Eunice got fired, Satan sold 30% of the school, AND we're getting a new principal. Rodney worked with her before and says she's a b!^@#. So that's... awesome. Big B. or not, she's the fourth principal I've seen in my time at C.I.S. Um... yeah. It's a GREAT place to work.

Hopefully I can just keep my head down and do my work until January 31st. That's ALL I'm asking for. *sigh*

Saturday I was supposed to go out for my birthday, but I kinda felt like poo. So I went to class, then bopped around Meyongdong for a bit and came home. Watched movies and chilled out. I feel better today, though, so I'm glad I didn't go out. I'll be out next weekend, though. ;)

I DID go out to dinner with Karen, which was nice. She got me caught up on all the school gossip (not really what I wanted to talk about but whatever) and we enjoyed a meal. They didn't have French onion soup, which broke my heart, but it was still good. What can ya do?

Today I got up early and went to church early. I got to see my friend Elysia, who just moved a lot closer to me, so that's awesome. Then after church, I came home and walked my dog. Then James convinced me to go out to dinner with him and Seeta, so I did. We went to Marikesh Nights, a Moroccan/Arabic restaurant. It is SO GOOD. We had baba ganush and then I had something that I can't remember the name of, but it was a big hunk of lamb and some sauce and rasisins and onions in it. And yellow rice. And it was magical. Let me just say, I love a demon hunk of lamb. Mmmm. I kinda wanna go to Morocco now. Whatever. And the funny thing is, when we walked in Miriam was there (with a cute boy, I DON'T wanna talk about it) and then as we were finishing up AdamandChrista came in. Clearly, C.I.S. LOVES them some Marikesh.

I hope that meal qualifies as eating "something weird" as per the reqest of The B.F. Ha ha ha. I did my best.

Overall, I feel like I had a good week. Maybe Rodney was wrong. Maybe 25 won't be so bad...

XOXO