Silent Night?

Yesterday I was in kind of a bad mood. I didn't even have a reason! Those of you that know me well, know that I am almost never in a bad mood, so I don't know what was going on...but anyway, throughout the morning at school I was just kind of doing my duty, but not really enjoying it. At lunch I decided I seriously needed to change my attitude.

My second class of the day, after lunch, is my second graders. This used to be my hardest class, but now it is the best. Since the school is closing, students are beginning to leave to go to other schools. Now in this class I only have 3 students...AND they're all girls! How fun! We finished our work really early, so we were just coloring (yes I was coloring too :)) All the sudden one girl busted out singing the Christmas Carol "Silent Night." At first I thought it was funny cause Chrismas has past. Then we all started singing. They were singing the words in Korean and I was singing the words in English. It was so cool. That was exactly what I needed to get out of the weird mood I'd been in all day. It is never too late for a good Christmas carol.

Do I look Korean Yet?

Today was Traditional Manners Day at school! We all got to wear the Korean dress, called Hanbok. The kids learned to bow and drink tea properly. I learned too!

Apparently I put the dress on all wrong because one of the Korean helper ladies frustratedly took it off me and put it on the "right" way! Whoops.

In my second grade class today, one of the kids called me an ajuma, which means an older woman. I said, "I am not an ajuma!" One kid said, "You are small small old..." I laughed. One of the girls stood up for me and said, "No, no. She is under 25 so she is not old. You are old when you are 26!" Whew, still got a few good years to go! :)

One of my kindergarteners said to me today, "You are a bad teacher!" Of course I told him that he cannot say that to me because it is a mean thing to say. I think he meant to say that he was angry with me. I think I am learning a bit about what parenting will be like through teaching. Sometimes I make the students angry because I tell them no. Of course I don't like it when they are angry with me, but sometimes I cannot let them do what they themselves want to do. I suppose this is like a parent looking out for their child's own good. The kid doesn't realize how what they are doing is actually harming them. Thankfully little kids only hold the grudge for about 2 minutes and then they are hugging me again... I guess I am learning a lot about God through teaching too. When He says no, I must respect that and know that He knows best. He will even let me be mad at him for a time, knowing that later I will see the reasoning behind why He said no, and thank him for it.

Almost a disaster...

Well I got to the checkout counter to buy my groceries when I realized that my debit card and ID had fallen out of my wallet! I had been all over Seoul today, so there was no telling where the cards were. I put all the groceries back into the basket and ran home, hoping the cards had fallen out in my purse, which I did not bring with me to the store. They were there!! Whew. That was a close one. All that to say, I got a little panicked and some blisters from making the trek to E-mart 4 times today...BUT I got the groceries!

Last night I went on a prayer walk with my church. 50 people speaking English walking around the "white house" and Buddhist temple areas must have been a sight! It was SO cold, but so worth it! We even got to give food and things to a few homeless people in a subway tunnel. It was my first prayer walk and it was a really neat thing to be a part of.

Today I had Korean class, which I love, and then I hung out with Rachel (from Dexter) the rest of the day. She took me to her favorite part of Seoul, an area that is similar to Ann Arbor. It's real artsy and has a bunch of cool shops and cafes. We ate at a Mexican restaurant and then sat in a coffee shop for a long time. Then we went to the huge outdoor market, which is really cool all lit up at night!

Rachel and I were talking about a lot of things, but I realized that I am a little insecure here. It's funny because you'd think I would be more so in the USA, because there, I compare myself to everyone else. But here, I feel like everyone is giving me the once over, thinking that I should be a certain way. I don't want to be the typical, arrogant American that people assume.

It's funny how everyone thinks their ideas are right. Obviously not everyone's ideas can be right, but I'm finding there are different ways to go about things. Just because I have a different way of thinking about things doesn't mean that others are wrong. They are just different. Thank goodness God made us all different, or the world would be a very boring place. Differences give the world flavor.

Just 5 girls playing dress up

Well, today was just an ordinary day in a wedding dress. What!? Don't worry I didn't get married! Before you roll your eyes and laugh (like I did when I first heard we were doing this) I must say that this is a popular thing in Korea! People go to this cafe and pay to dress up in wedding dresses. Kinda weird I know, but actually really fun. It's fun to dress up and be really girly every once in a while. How the Korean girls get their boyfriends to agree to doing this is beyond me, but four of my co-workers and I went for the afternoon. They did my makeup and everything! The poor lady helping me fit into the dress practically had to stuff me in because I am certainly not the size of a Korean girl. We all laughed and laughed. What a strange concept...

Last night I went to meet Angie for dinner. She leaves in about a month :( We went to the Outback! So expensive here, but it is worth it to splurge once in a while. Then we went to Coldstone. A night of Amerian food!

Today I went to my first Korean class at the church. My friend and co-worker Clara came with me, which was awesome. Our teacher was really cool and the class was a lot of fun! I realized this was the first time I had studied since college. I kind of miss learning. I even have some homework! I think I will really get a lot out of this class :)

What a weekend!

Erin made a steak

I have been teaching the kids that everyone makes mistakes, even me, their teacher! Yesterday my student Erin said, "Ahhhh, I made a steak!" I guess you kind of had to be there, but it was really funny!

Jin-woo is one of my fourth graders. When I came two months ago, this kid was the lowest and he refused to do any work. He didn't want to do it because he actually couldn't do it. When I would ask him to read, he would need help pronouncing every word. I felt bad for him, but it's hard to give a lot of one-on-one help when I have to keep up with the rest of the class.

A few weeks ago I noticed that he was really doing well at the grammar portion of our class. I started to praise him on the things that he was doing well, hoping to build his confidence in the rest of the class too. Throughout the last few weeks, he has improved SO much. When he used to refuse to read because he was so embarrassed, now he actually volunteers to read and is dissappointed if I don't call on him. He can read now! He still needs help, but he's so excited that he can do it himself.

On Tuesday he came in with the results of his monthly test. He held up the results and waved them in my face. "Teacher Teacher! I am number 3!" He got the third highest score on the monthly test! Granted, there are only 6 students...but I didn't mention that :) He was SO proud that he was not the last. It gave me so much joy to see this kid so excited, when he had been so defeated before. I'm convinced that loving and caring about these kids really can make a difference. I know it's not my teaching that is making the difference... I'm so blessed to have a job where I can see improvement!

The huge scarfs all make sense now

The Korean girls all wear enormous scarfs with their winter coats. At first I just thought this was a fashion statement. So of course, in order to go along with the fashion, I bought one last weekend. Well, I found out this week that it is not just for fashion. It is super practical in 3 degree weather!! Yes, it was 3 degrees on Monday morning. So my BIG scarf has come in very handy! The Koreans use it to cover their mouth and noses too cause it's so cold. The funny thing is, they wear their huge scarfs with mini-skirts. I would think their legs would freeze! I almost needed to help a girl stay upright yesterday because she was wearing stiletto heels when it was snowing pretty hard. Then I thought, "I guess I shouldn't hold on to her. I might take her down with me when I fall!" I don't think she'd be very happy about that! When I asked my Korean supervisor if this is normal Korean weather she said, "Oh no! It's because of global warming..." Oh....hmmmm. Not quite sure how that works :)

My students are increasingly curious about me. They must think that because I am white, I am different than them. I am realizing it is dangerous to wear a skirt at school because they always try to look up it! They also try to lift up my shirt! What in the world? Yes, my belly button looks just like theirs... Yesterday one of my girls drew on me with her marker. A kindergarten teacher comes home very dirty at the end of a day!

So, it's all in the works now that I will be moving to a new school and new apartment. I am actually starting to get excited. I saw pictures of the school and it looks awesome! My new students will be first year Kindergarteners, 4 and 5, and come to my class in March knowing NO English. Ah, what I job I have cut out for me! I think it will be really rewarding though. The move is at the end of February when the Korean school year ends and a new one begins. I'm sure the move will give me a lot of funny things to blog about :)

Grocery shopping should be a sport

I found a new grocery store today and I must say I had a lot of fun shopping. This store is much bigger and nicer than my old one. I was like a kid in a candy shop, "I'll take this, and this, and ooooh that looks good too!" This store had a lot more variety. I still can't read any of the labels, but at least there was more variety of things I don't know! Haha. I think I am becoming Korean. I am starting to buy Korean foods. I am trying to imitate the way the lunch lady at school cooks our school lunch. I even bought some kimchi today. Note to self- pre-packaged kimchi is not a good idea. It wasn't so good... Let's see what other adventures did I have at the store? Well, I found out that concord grapes are...different. Apparently you can't eat the skin, they have little seeds, and the middle is like a jelly bean and you can't bite into it. Bummer.

My dad thinks I used to be a bad influence on my mom at the grocery store because I always got her to buy new things. I like to try "new" things. He sees them as "weird." Well he's probably right, most of the new things I buy are gross, but then I know now to get them again! :)

I am in the process of making meatloaf. It's looks great in the new toaster oven that I got for Christmas! I made chocolate-peanut butter cookies in it last night. So for lunch I made Korean food and I'll have good old meat and potatoes for dinner. Man, cooking takes a lot of planning and time. Now I know why it took my mom an hour to make her grocery list every week!

I am starting to learn Korean today. I already learned the alphabet!

My school is closing!

Well, my first day back in Seoul, I was told that my school is closing! What?! Talk about a shocker! So, I have to move to a completely new school (which is only about 15 minutes by subway) and move to a new apartment. Yes, this is REALLY unfortunate, but there is nothing I can do about it. At first I was really upset about it, but now I guess I've accepted it and I am trying to make the best of it. I am trying not to complain, because all of us teachers are in the same boat. Everyone at my school has to go to a new school and move apartments.

I think I am most unhappy about moving, because I have so many things to move. I have to move my bed, all of the furniture, dishes all of my food, clothes...ugh. That sounds awful! The apartment I am moving into will be 1/2 the size and just has a nozel attached to the sink for a shower. I am just having a hard time getting excited...

At least I get to go with one of the other teachers from my school. She is the one I am closest with, so it worked out well! It stinks to have to start all over getting to know all the teachers at the new school, getting to know the area, and school and everything, but I guess it won't take too long to get acclimated. At least I have a job.

It's confusing because I know God told me to take this exact job, and now my school is closing! How is that possible? I guess God knew all along this was going to happen and I know it will all work out for the best. Maybe this school will be even better! I must have a good attitude about it. I'll write back when I have more info.