As some of you may know, I was interested in the math teacher here. I mentioned to someone that since the Jeju trip, he pretty much avoids me and looks the other way. Guess the emotion of liking him somehow shone through. I totally don't have a poker face.
She said that if I wanted to get a guy to like me, I needed to do three things. 1. Lose weight. I've been told this before by others, but to hear it so point blank again... I really need to lose weight. 2. Wear make up. Never heard that one before. In fact, back home I have friends who try to keep the stuff off of me. 3. Change my fashion. I was wearing jeans and a t-shirt when she is around so I guess I can see her point. Not my most flattering outfits.
This is Korea. I will never be as skinny as those around me, but for my own health some weight loss is necessary. That said, with weight loss I will still not be able to find clothes that fit me. Make up is the only thing left and I don't even have to buy any. I already have some. I just don't use it often because I have a horrible habit of touching my face.
There you have it. How to get a guy to like you from a female's perspective. Wonder if the men really think that way? They must since it is those ladies who follow these tips that seem to have the most luck. Confidence or no confidence :P
Friday, June 29, 2012
Tuesday, June 19, 2012
Ambush
The debates we had done had the surprising 1st place winner of Blue Team 1. 2nd place and 3rd place when to Red teams. For Blue to have won at all is surprise to the students who consider the Red class to be the best class. Yet one of the Blue teams not only won a debate round, but the whole competition.
I just got back from lunch and walked into the classroom on my way to the office. As I was spotted by the students, a huge commotion went up and the next thing I knew I was being tackled. I ran for the office but it was locked. Turning, I faced my students. One student grasped my shoulders and begged, "Teacher! We must have a rematch! Blue versus Red!"
I assumed they meant to debate again. They simply wished to play a game of monopoly deal. That I could allow. I gratefully grabbed the game and sent them to the tables to play.
I just got back from lunch and walked into the classroom on my way to the office. As I was spotted by the students, a huge commotion went up and the next thing I knew I was being tackled. I ran for the office but it was locked. Turning, I faced my students. One student grasped my shoulders and begged, "Teacher! We must have a rematch! Blue versus Red!"
I assumed they meant to debate again. They simply wished to play a game of monopoly deal. That I could allow. I gratefully grabbed the game and sent them to the tables to play.
Thursday, June 14, 2012
Back Pain Lesson
The pain in my back is a lot less than it was. I can say with certainty that it is simply pulled muscles. However, the power of the mind is very strong. If I had not made a choice to not let the pain be the center of my life, then I am sure that I would be going through a lot more distress right now. I place things that are more important to me first: God, family, friends, work, students. With my focus on that, the rest just seems to fade away.
Cough
Has gone back on warm teas. It soothes the throat and allows me to be able to speak. Despite this change, I am taking cold medicine tonight. Insun warned me that though I should take medicine she has, that I must go straight to bed. That I won't stay awake and in order to not get hurt, have to crawl in bed immediately. Strong stuff I take it. After not sleeping at all last night, it is a welcomed idea. I would prefer simple cough syrup, but under the circumstances, I accept.
Wednesday, June 13, 2012
Jeju - Day Three (finale)
6:30 - Woke up and slowly attempted to get up. Not easy, but I managed. Stiff, sore, and desperately wishing for a different back.
7:30 - Since another school had arrived, breakfast was moved until later so that we both weren't be in the dining room. When we did get there, the math teacher sat across from me. Oh be still my heart. I had noticed that anything remotely crumbly got stuck in my throat increasing my coughing. So I only too a little fried egg as the day before it had been a problem.
9:20 - We went to a gift shop. Learned that Jeju is also famous for their unique oranges. Huge things that taste like mandarins. A student walked around with me and I was happy.
Also it was during this day that I was inspired as to the uses of a cane. I wished I had one to help me stand and sit. That would have raised so many questions though. Can't wait for the back to stop hurting.
10:20 - Stopped for an early lunch. They got hamburgers and chicken sandwiches from the Lotteria. Just think McDonalds and you have it.
11:00 - Stopped at a famous rock known as The Head of the Dragon. Took pics and ran.
11:30 - Reached the airport. Got ourselves sorted out. I was by this point staying close to my students and fellow teachers. The nerves before flying I think. However I was moved by employees to the foreigner like. Those I knew were done in 45 seconds and gone. I was in line for another 10 minutes. Finally got through and headed down to gate 9 to wait for boarding.
12:15 - Boarded the plane. The kids were eager to get on. I got a window seat again. Super happy. Then who should sit next to me but the math teacher. Heart beat. The plane took off and he fell asleep. His arm kept shifting so it was touching mine. He slowly drifted to sleep and his head started to fall towards my shoulder. Then he would wake up enough to adjust. It didn't help that I started having a coughing fit either.
One of the nice things was the captain said to fasten seat belts for turbulence. There really wasn't any, but the clouds were super neat to see.
1:20 - A short while later, we landed, got on our buses, and returned to school. The staff decided to go eat out. We had beef that was fried by us at the table. I was full and unable to eat the second course of rice and spicy tofu soup. So the math teacher ate my share as well.
Then we went outside where I was having another coughing spell. Teacher Oh gave me some traditional tea. It is in a liquid form and very sweet. It soothed my throat nicely, but I have since switched to ginger tea in an attempt to get rid of the cough. Will sooth the throat when the coughing stops.
Then we drove back to school. Teacher Oh parked on a slight incline with my side up. I was getting out of the car when my door started to close back on me. The math teacher quickly shot out a hand and grabbed my door for me. *heart beat* I am going to be a sappy lady and sigh dreamily right about here in my tale. After that we went our separate ways. Then end.
PS - My back still hurts, but I can live with this a bit easier. If after class on Friday it still hurts, I will go to the hospital. Also, if I still am coughing then, I will go to the doctor. I am reluctant to since I would have to return for a checkup in 4 or 5 days which is when I am teaching. But maybe I can talk him into letting me come on Friday, a whole week later.
PS - Sigh, I spent my time at Jeju with the math teacher. Was super shy the whole time. Hope he didn't think me rude. Also loved the horses so much ^_^
7:30 - Since another school had arrived, breakfast was moved until later so that we both weren't be in the dining room. When we did get there, the math teacher sat across from me. Oh be still my heart. I had noticed that anything remotely crumbly got stuck in my throat increasing my coughing. So I only too a little fried egg as the day before it had been a problem.
9:20 - We went to a gift shop. Learned that Jeju is also famous for their unique oranges. Huge things that taste like mandarins. A student walked around with me and I was happy.
Also it was during this day that I was inspired as to the uses of a cane. I wished I had one to help me stand and sit. That would have raised so many questions though. Can't wait for the back to stop hurting.
10:20 - Stopped for an early lunch. They got hamburgers and chicken sandwiches from the Lotteria. Just think McDonalds and you have it.
11:00 - Stopped at a famous rock known as The Head of the Dragon. Took pics and ran.
11:30 - Reached the airport. Got ourselves sorted out. I was by this point staying close to my students and fellow teachers. The nerves before flying I think. However I was moved by employees to the foreigner like. Those I knew were done in 45 seconds and gone. I was in line for another 10 minutes. Finally got through and headed down to gate 9 to wait for boarding.
12:15 - Boarded the plane. The kids were eager to get on. I got a window seat again. Super happy. Then who should sit next to me but the math teacher. Heart beat. The plane took off and he fell asleep. His arm kept shifting so it was touching mine. He slowly drifted to sleep and his head started to fall towards my shoulder. Then he would wake up enough to adjust. It didn't help that I started having a coughing fit either.
One of the nice things was the captain said to fasten seat belts for turbulence. There really wasn't any, but the clouds were super neat to see.
1:20 - A short while later, we landed, got on our buses, and returned to school. The staff decided to go eat out. We had beef that was fried by us at the table. I was full and unable to eat the second course of rice and spicy tofu soup. So the math teacher ate my share as well.
Then we went outside where I was having another coughing spell. Teacher Oh gave me some traditional tea. It is in a liquid form and very sweet. It soothed my throat nicely, but I have since switched to ginger tea in an attempt to get rid of the cough. Will sooth the throat when the coughing stops.
Then we drove back to school. Teacher Oh parked on a slight incline with my side up. I was getting out of the car when my door started to close back on me. The math teacher quickly shot out a hand and grabbed my door for me. *heart beat* I am going to be a sappy lady and sigh dreamily right about here in my tale. After that we went our separate ways. Then end.
PS - My back still hurts, but I can live with this a bit easier. If after class on Friday it still hurts, I will go to the hospital. Also, if I still am coughing then, I will go to the doctor. I am reluctant to since I would have to return for a checkup in 4 or 5 days which is when I am teaching. But maybe I can talk him into letting me come on Friday, a whole week later.
PS - Sigh, I spent my time at Jeju with the math teacher. Was super shy the whole time. Hope he didn't think me rude. Also loved the horses so much ^_^
Jeju - Day Two
It was about 6am when I woke up. I rolled over and slept another 20 minutes. Then I pulled myself out of bed and got ready for the day. I made sure I had what I needed packed in my day bag. Then I straightened my area and walked to the door. I slid my feet into my shoes and bent a little to reach down to finish pulling them on when a sudden pain spyked through my lower back holding me in a paralyzing grip. Dumbfounded, confused, and desperate for relief, I tried nonchalantly to put my bag down and basically fall onto my bed. Laying there, I learned I couldn't cough without the pain spyking and paralyzing all my abilities including breathing. The base of my spine felt like it was about to twist off. I knew what would help, but there was no one who had the ability. A massage to loosen those muscles up enough for me to function. Not happening.
After awhile I moved just a little in different directions to get those muscles used to something besides me laying on my back. After a few minutes, I realized that unless I wanted to cause a panic among the Koreans that I needed to move and do my best to hide the pain. I couldn't just sit up. The pain stopped me and my ability to breathe before I even tried. So I did the next best thing - I rolled. Getting onto my knees, I stopped to catch my breath and so learned the skills I would need to get through the rest of the day. Using my hands to brace or pull myself up or to let myself down.
I made sure I told Teacher Oh. He immediately offered to take me to the hospital. I declined. There was too much of Jeju I wanted to see that day. I know that now he was really concerned since I had two things wrong with me. The teachers at my school worry about something be wrong. Like us foreigners are delicate china or something.
9:30 - After worship and breakfast, we headed to our first destination. I don't know how to explain what the place was except to say that it was a mini world, an outside museum, and a playground. It literally had every famous building in the world built to ratio scale. In addition to that was all the fun children's figures. There was Cinderella and Snow White. Unfortunately there was also the Teletubbies. We had a lot of fun. Sadly, I forgot my camera back at the hotel. So Day Two was photographed by students and staff, whom I hope to get pictures from later. It was here that I learned, despite my back pain, I was not an invalid. I could, if I really put my mind to it, function through the pain. I knelt under some arch in Franch, posed by a big bridge, laid down beside Gulliver, and pretended to do martial arts as one of the characters from Kunfu Panda.
10:50 - We arrived at a wonderful place about this time. It was a dream come true. Horse riding! Now this particular stables was set up a certain way and they trained their horses differently than I am accustomed. You mount on a block that is high enough so that you don't use the stirrups. They get upset if you do. You sit down and they make sure your feet then and only then go into the stirrups. Then you simply hold onto this upside down shaped "U" that is the "horn" of the saddle. The horses have the reins tied to it. You don't touch the reins. They are trained to walk around this small section and then to trot around another corralled area. I was uncertain about not being able to control my horse and being in the center of the pack. It worked out great though and I felt perfectly safe and happy.
11:50 - This was the second highlight of my trip. A Mongolian Show. It was so amazing, I can't even remember half of all the incredible things that happened. It started out with 5 really hot men in their costumes coming out and doing break dancing. Some of their moves I have not seen before, and I have been through youtube. They finished and ran back to the back. Then came out on horses. I proceeded to watch a show full of awesome trick riding, mock battles, showing off of skills like none other. There were also some ladies with their own talents. Contortionists. Acrobat who used the high bar. Trick riding with their own styles. It was pretty impressive. There is just no way to get the words to explain to you the amount of mastery in several areas they needed in order to perform the show they did. Afterwards, a student borrowed Teacher Oh's camera and dragged me from the bus to a few of the guys who were sitting outside on their horses. Got a pic of me with them. I liked what I saw and could have watched all day.
Lunch - was at a traditional restuarant. Babimbap. Rice, various vegis, and hot sauce. Think of it as a form of haystacks. Only with rice and green stuck instead of beans and cheese. I ate little and they learned that I really do have a small stomach. On the up side, I discovered I like fish a little bit.
14:00 - We then went to a maze museum. Outside I took three girls through an easy maze. Then when we got to a harder maze after that, we disagree about which way to go. So we split. Two students when towards a series of dead ends while I turned the student who stayed with me around and we went another direction. It was long but I got us there quickly. We finished, rang the bell and ran to get ice cream to cool down with. The others finished later and were more tired from being in the sun. I felt proud and that was encouraged my my admiring students.
15:30 - From there we went to a strange museum. The first part was old Seoul like 50 years ago. So much has changed. It was a fairly expansive place and had many exhibits. From there we went to education, then agriculture, then the embroidery building, then through a horror house (never do that again), and finally through what life in the Korean military is like. It is rough. They are all the stronger for it I think.
17:00 - From there we went high into the mountains to a walking park. There was many paths, many places to rest or lay down, playgrounds, springs... it was a beautiful mountain retreat. The paths were made of boardwalks, some with traction mats. The places to rest were large clean platforms. I didn't see, hear, or feel a single bug. The playgrounds were diverse. Some were normal. Some were for exercise. Some I am sure are a mini bootcamp. It was fun though and the kids lost a little more energy (not that they went to sleep until after midnight though).
18:30 - Supper. We ate in the guys' room. The math teacher sat next to me. Oh happy day. I ate raw fish for the first time. Tasteless and gummy, but I didn't dare say so. This particular fish is famous in Jeju. I happily finished up and went to the shower. I had an idea. Heat relaxes muscles right? So take a hot shower with the water focused on my lower back. That didn't work and I was still coughing as I attempted to sleep. It wasn't easy, but I got some sleep. Thankfully, the following day was a little bit easier on the back though the cough has left much to be desired.
After awhile I moved just a little in different directions to get those muscles used to something besides me laying on my back. After a few minutes, I realized that unless I wanted to cause a panic among the Koreans that I needed to move and do my best to hide the pain. I couldn't just sit up. The pain stopped me and my ability to breathe before I even tried. So I did the next best thing - I rolled. Getting onto my knees, I stopped to catch my breath and so learned the skills I would need to get through the rest of the day. Using my hands to brace or pull myself up or to let myself down.
I made sure I told Teacher Oh. He immediately offered to take me to the hospital. I declined. There was too much of Jeju I wanted to see that day. I know that now he was really concerned since I had two things wrong with me. The teachers at my school worry about something be wrong. Like us foreigners are delicate china or something.
9:30 - After worship and breakfast, we headed to our first destination. I don't know how to explain what the place was except to say that it was a mini world, an outside museum, and a playground. It literally had every famous building in the world built to ratio scale. In addition to that was all the fun children's figures. There was Cinderella and Snow White. Unfortunately there was also the Teletubbies. We had a lot of fun. Sadly, I forgot my camera back at the hotel. So Day Two was photographed by students and staff, whom I hope to get pictures from later. It was here that I learned, despite my back pain, I was not an invalid. I could, if I really put my mind to it, function through the pain. I knelt under some arch in Franch, posed by a big bridge, laid down beside Gulliver, and pretended to do martial arts as one of the characters from Kunfu Panda.
10:50 - We arrived at a wonderful place about this time. It was a dream come true. Horse riding! Now this particular stables was set up a certain way and they trained their horses differently than I am accustomed. You mount on a block that is high enough so that you don't use the stirrups. They get upset if you do. You sit down and they make sure your feet then and only then go into the stirrups. Then you simply hold onto this upside down shaped "U" that is the "horn" of the saddle. The horses have the reins tied to it. You don't touch the reins. They are trained to walk around this small section and then to trot around another corralled area. I was uncertain about not being able to control my horse and being in the center of the pack. It worked out great though and I felt perfectly safe and happy.
11:50 - This was the second highlight of my trip. A Mongolian Show. It was so amazing, I can't even remember half of all the incredible things that happened. It started out with 5 really hot men in their costumes coming out and doing break dancing. Some of their moves I have not seen before, and I have been through youtube. They finished and ran back to the back. Then came out on horses. I proceeded to watch a show full of awesome trick riding, mock battles, showing off of skills like none other. There were also some ladies with their own talents. Contortionists. Acrobat who used the high bar. Trick riding with their own styles. It was pretty impressive. There is just no way to get the words to explain to you the amount of mastery in several areas they needed in order to perform the show they did. Afterwards, a student borrowed Teacher Oh's camera and dragged me from the bus to a few of the guys who were sitting outside on their horses. Got a pic of me with them. I liked what I saw and could have watched all day.
Lunch - was at a traditional restuarant. Babimbap. Rice, various vegis, and hot sauce. Think of it as a form of haystacks. Only with rice and green stuck instead of beans and cheese. I ate little and they learned that I really do have a small stomach. On the up side, I discovered I like fish a little bit.
14:00 - We then went to a maze museum. Outside I took three girls through an easy maze. Then when we got to a harder maze after that, we disagree about which way to go. So we split. Two students when towards a series of dead ends while I turned the student who stayed with me around and we went another direction. It was long but I got us there quickly. We finished, rang the bell and ran to get ice cream to cool down with. The others finished later and were more tired from being in the sun. I felt proud and that was encouraged my my admiring students.
15:30 - From there we went to a strange museum. The first part was old Seoul like 50 years ago. So much has changed. It was a fairly expansive place and had many exhibits. From there we went to education, then agriculture, then the embroidery building, then through a horror house (never do that again), and finally through what life in the Korean military is like. It is rough. They are all the stronger for it I think.
17:00 - From there we went high into the mountains to a walking park. There was many paths, many places to rest or lay down, playgrounds, springs... it was a beautiful mountain retreat. The paths were made of boardwalks, some with traction mats. The places to rest were large clean platforms. I didn't see, hear, or feel a single bug. The playgrounds were diverse. Some were normal. Some were for exercise. Some I am sure are a mini bootcamp. It was fun though and the kids lost a little more energy (not that they went to sleep until after midnight though).
18:30 - Supper. We ate in the guys' room. The math teacher sat next to me. Oh happy day. I ate raw fish for the first time. Tasteless and gummy, but I didn't dare say so. This particular fish is famous in Jeju. I happily finished up and went to the shower. I had an idea. Heat relaxes muscles right? So take a hot shower with the water focused on my lower back. That didn't work and I was still coughing as I attempted to sleep. It wasn't easy, but I got some sleep. Thankfully, the following day was a little bit easier on the back though the cough has left much to be desired.
Jeju - Day One
Day One
5:30 - I finished packing and closing down my apartment for the weekend. Sorta. Breakfast was supposed to be at 5:30am so I headed out the door then and walked to the cafe. It wasn't open yet. So I went back to my apartment and took out the trash. A must if your going to be gone for several days. Wrote some more goodbyes on the internet but was restless now. Went back to the cafe and found it was unlocked, but they weren't ready. Davin (student in middle school) came outside and I asked him (he is a favorite, eager to help and please others as well as abstaining from bullying which is rare in Korea) what time breakfast was. He said that we were waiting for the bread.
A car pulled up and a teacher got out with two big boxes from the famous and popular Paris Baguette. They were half circled balls connect and filled with strawberry jam. I helped carry a box inside and looked longingly at what the rest of the school was getting to eat. Salad with kiwi yogurt salad dressing and the must desired bean paste ham that is for all intents and purposes "vegi meat." Getting my strawberry dessert bread and strawberry milk, I hurried back to my apartment and gulped them down. Grabbing my bags, I headed back to where the bus should be.
Double checking with the staff on the way, I confirmed I was indeed supposed to get on that bus. Putting my small bag underneath, I climbed on up and inside. Three girls quickly waved to me and I sat with them. Then I got the surprise of a lifetime. I wasn't sure if I should be happy and nervous. I went with slyly happy. The math teacher, single I am told, was checking to make sure students were on the bus. Turns out he is a Sophomore home room teacher in middle school. YES!
6:10 - Our bus pulls out and we get going. I talk with the students a little bit but mostly focus on not freaking out. You see, I am not fond of planes. I like them well enough, but there is always a strong sensation similar to fear and dread when I am going to fly.
7:00 - We got to Daegu airport and got ourselves organized. Two other buses were already there with other sophomores in middle school. In some cases, parents had brought the kids since it was a weekend we had just enjoyed. I got my ticket. A student walked with me to check in my bag (I don't speak Korean, so I get really shy about what to do here.) Once that was out of the way, we all went through security and to our gate. Once on board, I happily settled into the window seat.
8:00 - Our plane took off just after 8am. Settling in, I slept between stewardess' offer of something to drink. Not making it difficult by seeing if they had ginerale, I opted for water. You see, I had a slight cough at this point. It had been just lack of drinking enough water, but by the end of the weekend my allergies had kicked in. So now it had developed a little and I figured with enough water it would go away. Oh how naive I am at times.
9:00 - We landed in Jeju. Paradise. Korea's own Hawaii. The vacation place to be if you visit South Korea. We got out bags and headed outside. I was greeted with palm trees. That just made my day. I happily snapped pictures and followed my students out to our tour buses. To make sure I wouldn't mistake my bus, I snapped a picture of the sign in the front window of the bus. I didn't need to. I am in group one with 2-1. Teacher Oh's homeroom. Each bus (no matter the Korean writing) had a 1, 2, or 3 in the window. Also, my bus was the only one with tropical blue print for window shades.
10:00 - We reached our first stop. The science museum with all it's art and inventions showing Leonardo DaVinci. I snapped a lot of pictures and followed the tour guide or students from place to place. Thankfully, most of the exhibits had English as well as two other languages explaining more. Very helpful since I couldn't understand the tour guide. There was replicas of the paintings. I knew that the original "Last Supper" had been falling apart shortly after being painted and that the restoration and preservation of it was difficult at best. I learned here that actually, almost the entire painting is no longer the original but restored/redone because so much of the painting over time had simply peeled away.
Finally we headed outside and around to the back. The kids got to build bridges such as Leonardo designed for warfare. Some were sturdy and it was fun to climb on those. Others were not so sturdy and we worried. I took this opportunity to get pictures and video of a certain young math teacher.
11:30 - We arrived at our resort and were given our room assignments. They did their best to get the boys on one hall and the girls on another. The teachers were all on the girls hall though. The room is a large open room with all the bedding kept in one large dresser. Sleeping on the floor. Different but alright. I was so glad that the bathroom, though similar to my own bathroom, had a shower stall and good water pressure. We got lunch at the hotel's buffet and then got regrouped for the afternoon.
13:00 - We next went to a museum a tea company set up that was all about - tea. There were fields of tea surrounding the entire countryside. A calm and enjoyable place, I relaxed there and ended up buying rose tea. Haven't tried it yet. Drinking ginger tea in an effort to combat this cough. We got group pictures there. Yes, I was in one with the math teacher. *sigh*
14:00 - From there we went to the Glass Castle. A museum full of glass art. I was so astonished. Had a lot of fun getting pictures there. I refrained from buying anything there. It was all well out of my price range.
15:00 - We drove a ways until we reached the ferry. It was actually a big boat with three levels. There was room outside to stand or sit. I stayed inside. There were plenty of tables and soft seats. I sank into one with a female teacher and the rocking of the boat soon had me dozing. But as I relaxed, and ran out of water, I started coughing more and more. Soon I had the Koreans worried if I would be alright. When we got back to the bus, I hurried to refill my water bottle. But by now, nothing was stopping my cough.
16:30 - After that nap on the ferry, I felt a renewed sense for adventure. We got to our next destination, a waterfall. We parked in the parking lot and then I followed the others down towards the shopping booths and stores that were there to attract tourists. The kids got stuck by the snacks. I snuck past most of them and headed down the path. A teacher warned me it was like 500 stairs. It might have been, but didn't seem like it. They weren't even though so some students were tripping. At the bottom was a gorgeous waterfall.
I wanted a head start back up just in case I needed to stop and take a breather. Worked out fine in the end. I was almost to the top when I stopped for the fun of it to rest. A little old Korean lady, an ajima, was sitting there as well. She tried to talk to me in Korean, but wasn't asking the normal questions that were usually asked so I didn't know what they were or how to answer. Normally answers like "American" and "teacher" are enough. Nope. So I snagged a student who was walking back and told her that I needed a translator. She listened, giggled, and asked, "Are you married?" At my answer of no, I was then told repeatedly that I was beautiful. Evidently, it is a mystery to everyone here as to why I am single.
We headed on up and now I was distracted by the shops. Bought a Korean hat. Almost bought one I though was rather nice and close to a ball cap. A student quickly told me no, that it was an ajima hat. I don't want to be considered an old lady before my time (at least not by my students) so put it down in favor of another. It always is pretty and gained me quite a few compliments from Teacher Oh and some of the boy students about how pretty I was. Evidently a simple hat raised my beauty points.
18:00 - Headed back to the hotel and stopped on the way to see a famous sports stadium. It was pretty large and everyone else looked thoroughly impressed. To me, it is a stadium. With soccer goals. We got back and had supper. I then went to the gym where the girls were gathered for a game of dodgeball. It was played differently than I have seen before. Confined to a small badminton lines, the girls had one ball with which to get each other out. Once out, they went to the outside of the opposite team to help them get out. My team lost once and won twice before I left. Every time I had the ball, the student I was looking at would plead/beg/scream "Ah! Teacher no!" I evidently got very lucky. They think I am super good at sports ;)
After that I went, showered, and crawled into bed. Feel asleep happy (except for the continual coughing) with no idea of both the wonders and paralyzing pain the next day had to offer.
5:30 - I finished packing and closing down my apartment for the weekend. Sorta. Breakfast was supposed to be at 5:30am so I headed out the door then and walked to the cafe. It wasn't open yet. So I went back to my apartment and took out the trash. A must if your going to be gone for several days. Wrote some more goodbyes on the internet but was restless now. Went back to the cafe and found it was unlocked, but they weren't ready. Davin (student in middle school) came outside and I asked him (he is a favorite, eager to help and please others as well as abstaining from bullying which is rare in Korea) what time breakfast was. He said that we were waiting for the bread.
A car pulled up and a teacher got out with two big boxes from the famous and popular Paris Baguette. They were half circled balls connect and filled with strawberry jam. I helped carry a box inside and looked longingly at what the rest of the school was getting to eat. Salad with kiwi yogurt salad dressing and the must desired bean paste ham that is for all intents and purposes "vegi meat." Getting my strawberry dessert bread and strawberry milk, I hurried back to my apartment and gulped them down. Grabbing my bags, I headed back to where the bus should be.
Double checking with the staff on the way, I confirmed I was indeed supposed to get on that bus. Putting my small bag underneath, I climbed on up and inside. Three girls quickly waved to me and I sat with them. Then I got the surprise of a lifetime. I wasn't sure if I should be happy and nervous. I went with slyly happy. The math teacher, single I am told, was checking to make sure students were on the bus. Turns out he is a Sophomore home room teacher in middle school. YES!
6:10 - Our bus pulls out and we get going. I talk with the students a little bit but mostly focus on not freaking out. You see, I am not fond of planes. I like them well enough, but there is always a strong sensation similar to fear and dread when I am going to fly.
7:00 - We got to Daegu airport and got ourselves organized. Two other buses were already there with other sophomores in middle school. In some cases, parents had brought the kids since it was a weekend we had just enjoyed. I got my ticket. A student walked with me to check in my bag (I don't speak Korean, so I get really shy about what to do here.) Once that was out of the way, we all went through security and to our gate. Once on board, I happily settled into the window seat.
8:00 - Our plane took off just after 8am. Settling in, I slept between stewardess' offer of something to drink. Not making it difficult by seeing if they had ginerale, I opted for water. You see, I had a slight cough at this point. It had been just lack of drinking enough water, but by the end of the weekend my allergies had kicked in. So now it had developed a little and I figured with enough water it would go away. Oh how naive I am at times.
9:00 - We landed in Jeju. Paradise. Korea's own Hawaii. The vacation place to be if you visit South Korea. We got out bags and headed outside. I was greeted with palm trees. That just made my day. I happily snapped pictures and followed my students out to our tour buses. To make sure I wouldn't mistake my bus, I snapped a picture of the sign in the front window of the bus. I didn't need to. I am in group one with 2-1. Teacher Oh's homeroom. Each bus (no matter the Korean writing) had a 1, 2, or 3 in the window. Also, my bus was the only one with tropical blue print for window shades.
10:00 - We reached our first stop. The science museum with all it's art and inventions showing Leonardo DaVinci. I snapped a lot of pictures and followed the tour guide or students from place to place. Thankfully, most of the exhibits had English as well as two other languages explaining more. Very helpful since I couldn't understand the tour guide. There was replicas of the paintings. I knew that the original "Last Supper" had been falling apart shortly after being painted and that the restoration and preservation of it was difficult at best. I learned here that actually, almost the entire painting is no longer the original but restored/redone because so much of the painting over time had simply peeled away.
Finally we headed outside and around to the back. The kids got to build bridges such as Leonardo designed for warfare. Some were sturdy and it was fun to climb on those. Others were not so sturdy and we worried. I took this opportunity to get pictures and video of a certain young math teacher.
11:30 - We arrived at our resort and were given our room assignments. They did their best to get the boys on one hall and the girls on another. The teachers were all on the girls hall though. The room is a large open room with all the bedding kept in one large dresser. Sleeping on the floor. Different but alright. I was so glad that the bathroom, though similar to my own bathroom, had a shower stall and good water pressure. We got lunch at the hotel's buffet and then got regrouped for the afternoon.
13:00 - We next went to a museum a tea company set up that was all about - tea. There were fields of tea surrounding the entire countryside. A calm and enjoyable place, I relaxed there and ended up buying rose tea. Haven't tried it yet. Drinking ginger tea in an effort to combat this cough. We got group pictures there. Yes, I was in one with the math teacher. *sigh*
14:00 - From there we went to the Glass Castle. A museum full of glass art. I was so astonished. Had a lot of fun getting pictures there. I refrained from buying anything there. It was all well out of my price range.
15:00 - We drove a ways until we reached the ferry. It was actually a big boat with three levels. There was room outside to stand or sit. I stayed inside. There were plenty of tables and soft seats. I sank into one with a female teacher and the rocking of the boat soon had me dozing. But as I relaxed, and ran out of water, I started coughing more and more. Soon I had the Koreans worried if I would be alright. When we got back to the bus, I hurried to refill my water bottle. But by now, nothing was stopping my cough.
16:30 - After that nap on the ferry, I felt a renewed sense for adventure. We got to our next destination, a waterfall. We parked in the parking lot and then I followed the others down towards the shopping booths and stores that were there to attract tourists. The kids got stuck by the snacks. I snuck past most of them and headed down the path. A teacher warned me it was like 500 stairs. It might have been, but didn't seem like it. They weren't even though so some students were tripping. At the bottom was a gorgeous waterfall.
I wanted a head start back up just in case I needed to stop and take a breather. Worked out fine in the end. I was almost to the top when I stopped for the fun of it to rest. A little old Korean lady, an ajima, was sitting there as well. She tried to talk to me in Korean, but wasn't asking the normal questions that were usually asked so I didn't know what they were or how to answer. Normally answers like "American" and "teacher" are enough. Nope. So I snagged a student who was walking back and told her that I needed a translator. She listened, giggled, and asked, "Are you married?" At my answer of no, I was then told repeatedly that I was beautiful. Evidently, it is a mystery to everyone here as to why I am single.
We headed on up and now I was distracted by the shops. Bought a Korean hat. Almost bought one I though was rather nice and close to a ball cap. A student quickly told me no, that it was an ajima hat. I don't want to be considered an old lady before my time (at least not by my students) so put it down in favor of another. It always is pretty and gained me quite a few compliments from Teacher Oh and some of the boy students about how pretty I was. Evidently a simple hat raised my beauty points.
18:00 - Headed back to the hotel and stopped on the way to see a famous sports stadium. It was pretty large and everyone else looked thoroughly impressed. To me, it is a stadium. With soccer goals. We got back and had supper. I then went to the gym where the girls were gathered for a game of dodgeball. It was played differently than I have seen before. Confined to a small badminton lines, the girls had one ball with which to get each other out. Once out, they went to the outside of the opposite team to help them get out. My team lost once and won twice before I left. Every time I had the ball, the student I was looking at would plead/beg/scream "Ah! Teacher no!" I evidently got very lucky. They think I am super good at sports ;)
After that I went, showered, and crawled into bed. Feel asleep happy (except for the continual coughing) with no idea of both the wonders and paralyzing pain the next day had to offer.
Thursday, June 7, 2012
Recent Happenings
This has been a pretty fun week. Wednesday was a holiday. A Korean Memorial Day. So there was no school. Instead I went to downtown Daegu and met up with the Mannem group that is based there. After having everyone together, we went to a school's ball field and worked together to create a flash mob.
When you hear the word flash mob, what generally comes to mind is a crowded city scene where people randomly start dancing in perfect sync with each other to a famous song. It looks really cool when 50 to several hundred people are all doing the same thing at the same time. It also looks like it took lots of practice and effort.
I was surprised that it would only take from 11am to noon. However, my expectations were not quite what happened. It was video taped with no public watching. We never did the whole thing straight through and messed up often. However the goal was noble. They were promoting international peace for both Korea and the world. At the end, I got to wave an American flag. There were several countries present in our group of about 40.
I was there until 1pm and got a slight tan out of it. It cut into my schedule for the day but I suppose that it turned out alright. Got some grocery shopping done afterwards and returned back to the school.
Now next week is going to be awesome. Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday will be spent at Jeju - The Korean Hawaii.
When you hear the word flash mob, what generally comes to mind is a crowded city scene where people randomly start dancing in perfect sync with each other to a famous song. It looks really cool when 50 to several hundred people are all doing the same thing at the same time. It also looks like it took lots of practice and effort.
I was surprised that it would only take from 11am to noon. However, my expectations were not quite what happened. It was video taped with no public watching. We never did the whole thing straight through and messed up often. However the goal was noble. They were promoting international peace for both Korea and the world. At the end, I got to wave an American flag. There were several countries present in our group of about 40.
I was there until 1pm and got a slight tan out of it. It cut into my schedule for the day but I suppose that it turned out alright. Got some grocery shopping done afterwards and returned back to the school.
Now next week is going to be awesome. Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday will be spent at Jeju - The Korean Hawaii.
Sunday, June 3, 2012
Exotic Foods
About once, sometimes twice, a week Emma comes over to share a meal and play monopoly deal with me. Today she brought McDonalds and I actually managed to win two games against her. So proud of that. I asked when she was coming again and she suggested Wednesday. Since it is my turn to provide the food (and I am a little tired of ordering chicken... *gasp*...) I asked if she would be willing to try my cooking.
She asked what I had in mind. After warning her it was very midwestern and bland in comparison with Korean food, I told her I was thinking about potato and onion soup/broth with bread. I made it two weekends ago with McKay's chicken styled seasoning and it was really good. She said she would love to try my cooking and eat exotic food.
Exotic food?! Grandma would love to hear her cooking called exotic. I suppose that is something Koreans would think of as exotic though. Now I am intrigued about what else I can make on the stove top that she might like to try. One step at a time though. Pity cottage cheese loaf isn't made in microwaves... (but I would have to make the cottage cheese first and haven't had the courage to attempt it yet.)
She asked what I had in mind. After warning her it was very midwestern and bland in comparison with Korean food, I told her I was thinking about potato and onion soup/broth with bread. I made it two weekends ago with McKay's chicken styled seasoning and it was really good. She said she would love to try my cooking and eat exotic food.
Exotic food?! Grandma would love to hear her cooking called exotic. I suppose that is something Koreans would think of as exotic though. Now I am intrigued about what else I can make on the stove top that she might like to try. One step at a time though. Pity cottage cheese loaf isn't made in microwaves... (but I would have to make the cottage cheese first and haven't had the courage to attempt it yet.)
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