open fire

this week, i had the pleasure of hosting two open classes for my kindergarten classes. i initially thought that an open class would mean parents would come in to observe a regular old day of class. this made me nervous, but the maybe only the kind of nervous that makes you sweat a little. well, i later learned that we actually had to "perform" elaborate activities, songs, and choreographed dances. now this is the kind of nervous that makes me want to cry. i am not a performer. i never joined the drama club for good reason. i don't like memorizing things. i don't like all eyes on me. i don't like singing and dancing in front of staring and judging parents. my supervisor changed our lesson plans for each class just about every day. i had to memorize who to call on for each activity. i had to memorize what numbers to count to during one of our scripted games.
me: so i count down from 10 first and then basically count down from a descending number each other time?
supervisor: no. you start by counting down by 10. then you count down by 9. then you count down by 5. then 3.
me: so it doesn't really matter. as long as i start with 10 and then count down from any descending number, right?
supervisor: no. you start by counting down by 10. then you count down by 9. then you count down by 5. then 3.

everything was pretty much scripted out for me. i don't think they trusted me to wing it. grrr. so the open classes came and went. for my first class, the mothers reminded me of the korean version of housewives of orange county. they were decked out in bright colors, gold, pumps, and disapproving looks on their faces. it's funny. you know when someone has a booger hanging out of their nose, but you don't want to explicitly say, "hey you have a booger hanging out of your nose," so you do that subtle brushing your nose with you finger move? well, i thought i had a booger cemented to my nose all day because 3 of the korean staff at school kept doing that to me. after several mirror checks, i realized i had no booger. they were just trying to tell me to take out my nose ring. without actually telling me. so, in order to avoid another all day game of charades i took my nose ring out for the next open class.

my second open class was much better, but it was far from fun.

i'm really not into having people watch me while i work. but it's funny, i'm actually getting used to it. by the end of this year i may crave attention at all times. well, i'm glad that it's all over. every week at school seems to bring about fun new adventures. we'll see what happens next.

e-mart thinks i'm fat

e-mart is our local walmart/targetish one stop shop. it's big and convenient and there are free samples galore. it also feels like there is an employee for every customer in the store. if you have a question, just turn around and you will find a bevy of eager ajumas longing to show you the way to the best shampoo deal. if you don't have a question, it's ok. they still have answers for you. i like e-mart for their cute stickers and stationary. korea is a very cutesy place, and anyone who knows me knows that i'm into "cute". they also have fun deals like buy batteries and get a free pack of moist towelettes. or get a free can of spam with your laundry detergent. i don't like e-mart because they really don't want me to buy desserts. i tried to buy an ice cream bar and one of the million employees told me i couldn't. jared tried to buy donuts once, and again we were denied. today, i was so excited to buy a bag of mini twix bars. no dice. the cashier said something to me in korean, smiled, and slowly placed the bars underneath the register. i can't figure it out. i have gained some weight since coming here, but damn...

why can't everyday be saturday?

things have been well for the old man and i. we have settled into our jobs pretty well. now, we are focused on the daily joys of classroom discipline. it's a delicate balance of letting kids be kids without letting them go so far as burning the building down. any tips?

we have been doing a lot of traveling around the south of the country on our long weekends. we went to the south west province, jeollanam do, several weeks ago and saw a bamboo forest and a green tea plantation. a few weekends ago, we went to a sea town, tong young. from there, we went to two small islands. the island that we slept on was like stepping back in time. there were no cabs and the buses stopped running at 4pm. it seemed as though people were fishing or hiking earlier in the day, and then they would start getting wasted at 2pm. so, we joined in the festivities by drinking soju and loitering on a dock. good times were had by all.

we spent a few separate weekends in busan. i really heart busan. there is a yummy turkish restaurant that i've been having dreams about. i will go broke shopping there. i kind of love young korean style. too bad i'm an old lady. dan k took us to a lotte giants baseball game in busan. it was pure fun. $7 gives you a general admission seat of your choosing. you can bring all the food and drink into the game that you'd like. i saw one woman take up 4 seats with her makeshift kitchen. i really love the weekends. sigh.

big brother and the whole damn family are watching

something that i didn't realize when i signed on to work at my school is that the bored mothers of my students would be hanging out on a regular basis watching me teach. yes, that's right. there are video cameras in all of the classrooms and parents come in all of the time to make sure that we are showering their children with English mastery skills and goodness. Needless to say, I absolutely love it. I also feel the need to mention that my home class is directly across from the parents watching me. so on hot days when i leave the door open i can watch the parent(s) watching me. it's pretty sweet. it doesn't really happen all of the time, but just a few times feels like too much. in a way, i understand that it's a way to ensure that your child is not being molested or abused or playing tic tac toe all day. BUT, come on. if anything, it certainly doesn't motivate me to become a better teacher. it just annoys me and makes me want to play tic tac toe all day. in korean.

happy one month

so, we've been here for a month. it's been a mixed bag of highs and lows. i finally had a weekend to relax. last saturday i woke up after 11 refreshing hours of sleep. i have finally stopped eating for two and have come to terms with the fact that the korean food is not going anywhere. i even filled out an application for the public gym. i wonder when i will actually turn it in. i have thought about it several times, but i'm not sure when it will actually be handed to the receptionist and be processed. one day at a time, right? it's been a delicate balance of adjusting to a new job in which i have no experience, a new apartment, and a new country. i really love the kids that i work with. they crack me up, when they are not being little bastards. sometimes they're the most charming when they are being little bastards. i enjoy working with them, but i'm learning that a teacher must have an immense amount of patience. i was never the patient type. maybe i'll learn. probably not, though.

i have been trying to find this korean language exchange, but it just doesn't seem to be in the stars. someone was supposed to email directions to me, but it never happened. so, i went to the bar that they go to after class, and they never showed up. hmm. i don't think i'm supposed to learn korean. so, instead of pursuing this further, we joined the dvd rental thing at o'brien's pub and have finished disc one of lost. i think finishing the series will be more productive than learning korean anyway.

going to korea. round 2.

well, i will be off to korea again. i have been in guam for the past 2 days to visit with halmoni. she's in very poor shape, but apparently she has gotten much better over the past week. so, today i must say goodbye to her. it's a very strange feeling. saying goodbye to someone that you know is going to die.

more travels

i'm heading to guam on friday night to see my grandmother. she's pretty sick. my boss has been gracious enough to give me some time off to see her. i haven't seen her since 2002. thanks bossman. i haven't been the greatest granddaughter, so i'm glad that i can see her soon. since being here i've noticed how important the family system is. this is especially true of our elders. i struggle with finding balance between my western upbringing, valuing individualism, and my korean heritage which focuses less on the self and more on the family unit. i love the idea of making it more about the family, but it's not easy to put into practice. especially since i love me so much. i think my time in korea will help me to appreciate where my family is coming from, namely my parents.

so, my travels continue. i realize that we've been here for a month, but it feels like a week. we've been going non stop: learning our neighborhood, our job, our mountains, our neighboring provinces. it's been great, but tiring. next weekend. i think i will lay in bed from friday until monday morning. maybe i'll get up to use the bathroom. maybe.