Looks like someones got a case of the Mondays

I have been lame with my blog, sorry about that. I know I should update more but I have kind of fallen into a routine so everything seems too boring to write about. It also has been raining a lot and you know how I feel about rain… it ruins your life and makes you the laziest person on the planet, more or less.

However it is a good thing that I am feeling more at home and comfortable teaching, I know what’s expected of me. I know where the supplies are, I know all my students names, I am getting better at understanding the Korean/English accent, and I am definitely becoming more animated when teaching. I don’t worry so much about if I am doing a good job or not. I stress a lot about doing a good job, I want to make sure when I do a job that I do it well, so you can get a little paranoid when everyone is speaking a different language, you always wonder if it’s about you.

I had a good weekend, Friday I went to the grocery store after work, which is always an adventure. You’d think by now the grocery store workers would avoid me like the plague but no they come up and ask me if I need help, or at least that’s what I think they are saying. I polity pantomime that I am okay, just looking, thank you; the one phrase I know…thank you and say it all the time, I figure if I speak English and pantomime but end it with a Korean thank you it’s about equal to speaking all Korean ; ) I just don’t know how to explain to them, that it’s okay that I am looking at this shelf for 20 minutes, I am just trying to figure out what it is then which one is cheaper/the best deal…but wait make sure it’s still the same product.  Luckily most things have pictures and some even have it written in English, so it’s not too difficult. The most annoying this though at the grocery store is the damn announcers, I think they are telling about the store deals but freak it is non-stop loud monotone announcer voice, the Charlie Brown parents spoke with more emotion. English is very sing-songy compared to Korean, my students struggle with it, I have to be very expressive when I speak or read, basically over emphasize.

Saturday was very fun; I met up with a Korean boy my age that had been an exchange student of one of my mom’s friends. We met at Myeongdong, which is an area in the city famous for its shopping, oh my gosh! It was amazing, (un)fortunately I didn’t have any money so I couldn’t go shopping but man I can’t waited to do some damage there : ) We got some tea, I tried pine needle tea, which is surprisingly delicious, I would totally get it again, it was sweet but not candy sweet. Then we took a bus to Namsan, it is a government protected park/mountain, might be a little over kill I’d say big hill but there is a tower kind of like the space needle and you can see a panoramic of Seoul, we saw it at night so we could see all the city lights. It was a really cool place, I want to go again when I have a camera, it would also be cool to see it at different times of day as well as seasons. We didn’t stay long because he had to get back to his city because he had to work in the morning. He was really nice, I’m sure we will hang out again. After that I met up with some friends and we went to Hongdae again (the club area), it was a lot of fun again, we danced all night and met lots of new people, my new friend Brittany will talk to anyone/everyone I really admire that about her, I want to try to be more like that. There is one of her coworkers that reminds me a lot of my brother, maybe it’s because they are around the same age and are some of the few guys that really get into dancing, but it was kind of a fun reminder of home.

Speaking of my brother, I was able to talk to him, via skype Sunday night, which is way more fun that just IMing. It was great chatting with him and hearing about his adventures as well as sharing mine.  I think he would have a field day if he visited or taught here, his personality would just fit in really well, I really don’t think you can be too goofy when teaching Korean kids, they just love it.

Today (Monday) was a little ridiculous, it wasn’t a bad day but one of those days when you ask yourself “really?!” several times throughout the day. It started off with one of my students crying because he was being scolded by the Korean teacher, I think he didn’t practice his reading. Then later during lunch one of the girls threw up, I don’t think she was sick, I think she was just trying to hurry up and eat and that made her sick, then literally like 3 minutes later two kids bonked heads together and one got a bloody lip ( I think they were just spazing around and knocked heads, they’re 7 it happens). Then later I come into the classroom and a shelf has been knocked down, what I can guess, a student was trying to reach something off the shelf above and knocked the one lower down. One of the 5 year olds licked my arm. Then to round out the day I had to scold my older students, one in particular, he even got a head flick; but I did promise those students that if we get finished with our class work early I will teach them a few slang words (feel free to leave some suggestions).

I hope everyone has a good 4^th of July! Shout out to Regan and Janet’s family you know how big of a deal 4^th of July is to us. I wish I was there to celebrate it right with you all! Love you all!!

PS. Enjoy this youtube video in honor of 4^th of July

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8adJShQSX8o