I'm looking forward seeing my fourth-graders tomorrow. This year, they are a lot better well-behaved, thanks to my new co teacher's awesome organization and discipline. The students who spent the entire last year being disruptive or spacing out during English class actually show some interest in activities and songs this year. They fight less, and lower-level students try to mouth along to songs and fill in the blanks in their textbooks.
Tomorrow, we are starting Lesson 11: I'm Making Bubbles; its a lesson covering basic -ing verbs.
Target Expressions
What are you doing?
I'm making bubbles/ cooking/ singing/ dancing/sleeping.
Tomorrow, we're playing an action telepathy game, and doing a lyrics fill-in for "Lemon Tree".
Students will fill in this worksheet using the word prompts on the board.
Then, hopefully, everybody will sing along.
This is my favorite version on YouTube despite the spelling mistakes, because of the doodles and line by line Korean translation.
Two years ago, if someone asked me where I live, I would have told them the exact location without hesitation. Living at home gave me an impenetrable sense of safety and security; I could not be touched when I was surrounded by a protective network of friends and family. Now that I live alone in Korea, I value my privacy a lot more, and put my safety first. I've learned to answer questions about where I live with a vague "Oh, around here...". I no longer have a problem saying "no" to strangers, or standing up for myself. It's all about self-preservation.
I've learned that diplomacy comes before ego.
This is my first full-time job working with co-workers who are above me in the social hierarchy in every conceivable way. I have to remind myself to be diplomatic at all times. You're under contract. If you argue or look pissed off, it'll be awkward for everybody afterwards. Don't roll your eyes, don't let your annoyance show, don't give attitude. I'm not in control all the time yet, but I'm definitely learning how to behave like a grown-up in the workplace.
I really love being around children; I never knew that about myself.
I'm not going to run off and start having babies, mind you. But they bring an inexpressible, bubble of happiness with them wherever they go. My students remind me everyday how fun it is to be excited for lunchtime, to laugh loudly at a funny picture, and to win at races and games.
I've become less spoiled and materialistic, and that goes together with learning to be more grateful.
Twelve years ago, my mom took me to Disneyland Sea in Tokyo, Japan, and I sulked for the whole day, because she got me the wrong ice-cream flavor. I used to be the master of passive aggressiveness, and I still hate myself for it. Going on vacation used to mean shopping and acquiring materialistic possessions in different cities, so that I could return home and be complimented by friends on my new stuff.
Going on vacation now means planning itineraries and being excited at the prospect of vacation. It means being accommodating and working together with travel buddies. It means doing things and collecting experiences rather than shopping and accumulating things. Now, I would rather go for a walk or hike with friends instead of spending the day at the mall, looking at bags and getting manicures. Good coffee, good company, and great conversation - these are all things that I would have considered a total waste of time when I was younger - but now, they are my fondest memories.
Last year, we had a cooking day at C's place. This year, the hostess honour fell on me. Hawaiian Poke 101 with C, J, M, R, and yours truly last Sunday afternoon. It was an intense morning of cleaning, followed by an afternoon of craziness and an evening of sub-par Chinese food and Thursday Party in Nampo.
I never understood how people could live like pigs. Even if you could stand stewing in your own filth alone, when you know that you're going to have people over shouldn't cleaning be the first thing on your to-do list? Oh and hide potentially embarrassing awkward things, lace thongs, sticker photos with a guy you really like, you know, that sort of stuff.
M mocking C's "non cubed" tuna chunks
by comparing them to his more superior ones.
His look of disbelief
at C sneaking bites of tuna sans sauce or condiments.
Ugly mixture in the process
of becoming this beautiful swan.
The cooking crew bids thee farewell, until next time.
We tried cooking again last night for M's video, but failed spectacularly and went out for dinner afterwards. It didn't help that our only ingredients were hot cheetos, sliced cheese, eggs, carrot sticks, shrimp, and bread crumbs. We coated stuff in a messy mixture of egg, hot cheetos, and bread crumbs before deep frying them.
In ascending order of my favorite grades to teach is as follows:
Grades 3 or 4 (both wonderful this year thanks to my co teacher's excellent guidance)
Grade 5
Grade 6
Last week, I didn't see my sixth graders either due to holiday and the typhoon. This week, they're visiting Seoul from Monday to Wednesday, and my other co teacher is going along with them for supervision. My fifth grade classes with her are also cancelled, and so is the Wednesday broadcast.
Today will be spent lesson planning well until next week, reading The Cursed Child, and making an itinerary for Tokyo and Singapore.
My mood of the week summarized in one word: Hallelujah!
To Do List Of The Day
Toilet paper shopping
Buy salad for tomorrow
Jog
Workout
I am very aware of the fact that as I'm typing this I cannot hear any noises from the classrooms across the hall.
My slogan is much better sounding than the real one, "Colorful Daegu", in my humble opinion. We had a long weekend with Monday being National Foundation Day, a holiday celebrating the myth of the creation of Korean people. I think it's interesting that a nation can be so firmly rooted in traditional folklore while identifying with religions that are historically speaking, non-Korean, such as Buddhism, Christianity, and Catholicism to name a few. It's a paradoxical balance that I don't fully understand, as an outsider on both religion and nationality.
To me, it was simply a great weekend, one of the best I've had since the school year started again in September. But I'm getting ahead myself.
Friday, September 30th, 2016
We skipped ball to have fun like high-school students. Jon, Julez, Michael, and I had dinner at a tiny homestyle restaurant at PNU, before we went bowling at a nearby space-themed alley. I lost both times unsurprisingly, but my score did improve in the second game. Thank Buddha we weren't placing bets.
After Jade joined us, we went to 노래방. Donghoon came, and then Joyce came, and then Jade left, and then Jon left, but the entire music sesh was super fun.
Good crowd, awesome music.
Saturday, Oct 1st, 2016
I went to a wedding without an invitation. Alex's friends from Ultimate, whom I didn't know, were tying the knot. The groom is American, and the bride is Korean, and the wedding was outdoors under a white tent tucked in an alcove between a very traditional Korean hanok house, and a very modern glass building, surrounded by trees and stone steps.
I'm a little embarrassed about crashing the wedding of, and posting a photo of a couple I never met and probably will never meet again. However, I'm not so embarrassed that I wouldn't do it.
We had a family-style traditional Korean meal afterwards, and the whole experience was super surreal. But in a neat way.
That night, we celebrated Julez's b-day even though it's a day early. Dinner was at 유가네, and here is a clip of the birthday girl eating a banana GyeongMin gave to her (unabashedly as a present).
Wow, the freeze screen looks super dirty.
We had a quick game of bowling while more birthday guests came, and we realized afterwards that nowhere could accommodate such a large group of buffoons except for Prix, so we went there.
I did not buy it like this. Sora knocked it to the floor at the bowling alley. An accident, so she says...
B-day girl got cake smeared on her face by Eddie
Weird moment at Prix
It started out innocently enough. Eddie thought that someone should smear cake on the birthday girl's face, so he did the honours.
After we had a good laugh, and washed it off, Julianne decided to take revenge, on both Eddie and GyeongMin. Then Joyce got cake on her face.
I don't know how it happened, but I heard girls screaming and saw running, and suddenly it was a cake fight between the 4 of them.
Joyce tried to get GyeongMin back, missed, and got Jade and me instead - hair, dress, coat, and all.
And my bitch mode was activated.
Jade stayed cool, and ate cake calmly while Julianne wiped the cake off the back of her shirt. To be fair, she didn't see the damage. I however, turned to Joyce in a fit of murderous rage, and could only enunciate, "PAPER TOWELS. NOW."
When I saw her come back, still giggling, with dry paper towels, I stomped off to the washroom with an expression that Michael took one look at and said, "Woah, that's scary". After chucking the soiled paper towels onto the floor, and taking out my phone to glare at it furiously, Eddie sat beside me.
"Are you okay"?
"Yep."
"You seem really mad".
"I am".
Joyce came back, put her jacket back on, and sat meekly in her chair at the end of the table in silence, because she knew I was pissed. Man, I tell you, kids these days. I don't even feel bad about it; I was really pissed off.
But, I got over it and everyone danced together at Yaman afterwards, and we're okay.
Went home early though, I had to pack for an overnight trip to Daegu for next day.
Sunday October 2nd, 2016
My mom's birthday. She's having a great time though. She's currently on a cruise in Europe with my dad and a dozen other good friends, and they all celebrated with her, and she sent me sweet photos.
Happy 40th birthday mom! (For the 14th time lol)
Meanwhile, I was taking a 40-min KTX ride to Daegu to meet Jayden, trying desperately not to fall asleep and miss my stop.
Pikachu donuts, nature's sleeping pill.
Daegu is a really charming city. The pace of life is less rushed than Busan; older people don't shove past you for a seat on the subway. Located in a valley surrounded by mountains makes Daegu a beautiful, lush, green city, but also a humid, hot AF one. While the rest of Korea is in autumn mode, Daegu was still in mosquito season. They gave me plenty of action, those tiny mofos.
On Monday, we went to E-Land, which has way less people than Lotte World on any given day, so we didn't have to wait in line at all. It rained a bit in the afternoon, but it wasn't too bad.
