Beach Fun

Well this is what we have been waiting for. It was the beach party of the century! Great weather, awesome food and amazing people. And of course lots of beer and soju!! I cannot tell of all of the wild and outlandish acts that took place at the beach (Sorry mama and dad!). But I did have fun playing volleyball and frisbee, partaking in night time fireworks and a beach fire. And we met some really cool people! Now if I can only get rid of the sand brought back with my to my apartment!

Cookie Angels

Well since the screaming incident, my kids were good. On Wednesday they did their work and I was even able to play a game with them! Now they weren't perfect angels now mind you, but a sheer cry from what they were. Although after the bell rang, they stayed put. The desk teachers are making them stay late!

My youngest Kinder class is just 6 years old. It is thier first year of English, they know just the basics. And so of course they are naturally going to speak Korean. But lately it has been more constant. So I decided to introduce a new concept to them: Bribery! Speak English for the week and you get a snack party on Friday. I am monitoring it by placing a happy face or sad face on a calendar for each day of the week. A sad face denotes too much Korean. Their names are marked on the board and next to each name are stars and x's for being good/bad. Every day got a happy face until today. They were just blah blah blahing in Korean! They begged me not to put up the sad face becuase they wanted that snack party, but they have to learn somehow! I decided to reward them a little though for their efforts and give them a chocolate chip cookie. It will satisfy them and it's cheaper on me!!

Love is in the air......

Congratulations to Linda and Jay!! You guys should have open bar at your wedding!

Sean: Congrats out to you too. Why aren't you having your wedding when I am able to attend!? Send me some wedding cake!

At the Top of Her Lungs!

It is the last class of the day, and the class that is guarenteed to misbehave. Since I started teaching this has been my most challenging class, but I have always kept them at bay. But lately they are starting to get out of hand. Shouting doesn't work because my voice doesn't reach a top of them. Games certainly don't work. And extra homework doesn't get done.

So today I lined up the students and place them out in the hallway. I told them to stay there until the bell rang and that is when we would begin class. They dear not move becuase the Korean desk teachers (secretaries) are keeping a watchful eye on them. Next thing I know Anna is in the class room with her ruler in hand, giving this 15 minute lecture with the kids and they have such horrified looks on their faces. Now Anna is an awesome Korean teacher whom I really like, but the kids are afraid of her. She she gives out the warnings, I tell ya! She didn't use the ruler, but the kids knew she meant business. It is not unusal for the Korean teachers to hit the kids with rulers and such, but it is not seen a whole lot. (At least not as much as a few years ago, I suppose Sister?)

And so I walk into the classroom and silence. So I continued on with my lesson. The bell rings and no one moves, not even an eye blinks. They knew better at this point. And when I am finished, Anna comes in for some more yelling. So by now I hope they get the idea. We'll see how much of angels they become on Wednesday! haha.

Shoes

Okay, I think I have an addiction. I have known it for a while but was not ready to admit it. Now I am ready to come clean. I like shoes!! And Korea is really bad for this. No matter where you go it seems as if in every nook and cranny there are shoes and of course jewelery!! And of course I have to stop and look. I have brought with me a few pairs of shoes from home. But for sure that I have "acquired" and accumalted more since I have been here. And what makes it worse is that they are cheap. 5 bucks for a pair of shoes. Sure I will buy.

Koreans are famous for looking good. And so must their feet. Their shoes are mostly big heels and dainty-like with colors, sparkles and the all the rest. I really cannot comprehend how they wear these heels. And they were them everywhere, even hiking! Most Koreans have small feet, so some shoes are hard for me to fit into. What is worse though is seeing small shoes worn by bigger feet. Why squish your feet into shoes that do not fit and only have them bulging your shoe? "Excuse me mam'e but did you know that your feet are overflowing?"

Kinder Field Trip

Our school is cool! Well we go on cool field trips anyway. Friday was the kinder field trip, and it being in season and all, we went to the World Cup Stadium. There was about 50 kids, and they trust me with 20 of them. Now why would they do such a thing!? Haha. No major problems encountered and we came back with the same number of kids that we left with, no more and no less. Bonus! The World Cup Stadium was pretty cool, the kids seemed to enjoy it chanting songs and all. The stadium is pretty big, imagine it filled to capacity! (What's that like sister?) We got a tour of the locker rooms and showers, and much to my disappointment they were empty. Afterwords we had a picnic in the park next to the stadium and Melissa Teacher gets all this food offered to her. And so I stuff my gob as the kids do the same. What a day!

If it's one thing Koreans are serious about, it is their hiking. They must be the best dressed hikiers going, with their top notch suits, jackets, poles and of course knee socks! A popular passtime, especially on the weekend, Korea has some many nearby moutains and hiking trails to escape to the natural beauty.

This weekend (Thanks to Lonely Planet!), I took in the Western Namhansanseong Hike. Namhansanseong once guarded the southern entrance to Seoul during the Japanese occupation. Four gates (N, S, E, W) were manned by soldiers and it's guided by the ancient fortress wall, which defines the boundry closely following the contour of the steep mountain it is on. Here are a few pics of the west gate and of the fortress wall.

The Kids Call it Yellow Hair

And so a question that has been thrown my way while in Korea: "Is that your real hair color?"

I'm thinking "What's that supposed to mean?" Is my hair so good that people can't believe its color, or is it so aweful and I just don't notice?

But being the polite girl that I am, I give the shorter version of the story titled "It's somewhat real"!