Another Day

Chilling while I desk warm another day.  I'm not completely bored.  I have lots of grading and such to do.  Plan to get that finished up today.  Tomorrow I will prepare for the classes that I teach on Thursday and Friday.  Since the kids will have just taken midterms at that point, it will have to be something more fun and less academic.  School culture dictates that and I choose my battles carefully.  It doesn't really matter, their focus will at that point be sleep.  So I will need to find a way to help them stay awake in my classes until they can make it to the weekend.

There isn't really much happening right now.  The parents all come to the school early and wait around for thirty minutes until their children get out of testing at 12:30ish.  The whole campus is quiet during the day as kids test or study.  It is getting warmer out, so the chances of them spending more time exercising outside has increased.  That is about all I suppose.

Mid-Terms (3 pictures)

Yes I am at school... for three days... with no classes...

This is called deskwarming... paid to sit at the desk...

But never fear... there is grading to do here.

It is now midterms and foreigners do not give students tests at this school.  Normally we would go on a trip and sightsee some place.  However this time the principle and vice principle have business trips to be on.  So we are to stay here instead.  Probably a good thing since our next trip is to Andong Folk Village, with dusty streets, and it is raining.

What?  Rain?  But Teacher Mindy, you have bright light from the window behind you.  Where is this rain you speak of?

The picture lied.

It is drizzling a little off and on right now.  It should be more so later after lunch.  So I, who didn't bring her umbrella, will not dwaddle here come noon.

During midterms, there is testing during the morning and then the students are free for the afternoon.  Most go and study.  There are students who study so much that they stay up all night.  Tried to tell them they will remember better if they get some sleep.

Tomorrow afternoon is a teacher's sportsday.  I might participate in badminton, but I think that my team would lose if I did.  There will be snacks there though like pringles so I am totally going.  Got a love for the salty chips that I shouldn't have if I wanted to lose weight.

The cold weather has stayed here longer than planned.  Yesterday was the first semi hot day.  However I am going to be going to the track at least every other day if I can.  Went Friday night and then spent two hours yesterday walking around for a photoshoot.  Still, need to get out there and exercise.  This weight can't stay.

PenPals

Anyone want a penpal in South Korea?  I have students today who are starting express an interest in penpals.  I have one girl wanting a penpal.  Told her I would look.  I wouldn't be surprised though if once I find one for her, someone else will ask for a penpal.  So can I create a waiting list for them?  Or is that a bad idea?

What can you do?  When students want help... I answer.

Okay, that picture was weird.  Here is another that is more normal.

Where is the elephant?

I was bored this morning so...

I doodled!  Where is the elephant?  That is the original picture I started with... can you find it?

It is Friday and I have tried all week to catch up on the grading that my students continuously kick out.  So today I needed a diversion for an hour or so... and this happened.

Sleep

It happens to the best of us.  That stressful week occurs.  Allergies from the yellow dust that is starting to drift in from China and pollen from all the flowers assaults the sinuses.  Just everything that can get at you does making for restless nights.  Then finally the big day arrives.  You are tired, stumble through work only to get home and see that bed.  Oh how temptingly it invites you.  Your mind says a nap would make sleeping only harder that night, but your body has stopped listening to your mind 5 seconds earlier.  You crawl onto your bed and just drop into a sleep like you had been in a triathlon 

That is pretty much my story and excuse for not being online at all for a few hours.  And by a few hours I mean in reality 15.5 hours.  Got home at 3:30, somehow, and didn't even pause to remove my laptop from the bed.  Woke up at 7am to a gorgeous Sabbath morning.  Yes it is gorgeous.  I love that gray sky promising rain.  Rain would be amazing right about now.  It sounds beautiful, looks calming, and will get all that trash out of the air I am trying to breathe.

Friday Fever

The students have Friday Fever.  The first class hasn't started yet and I can already tell from the noises in the hallway that today will be a challenge.  Not quite the type of classes I want to face, but a part of life.  The students have midterms coming up in 1.5 weeks, so right now when they are not studying they are playing hard.

Today will be a particular challenge because I couldn't sleep last night.  Needless to say, wearing heels while being dizzy from lack of sleep is an interesting combination.  Keeps me on my toes.  When I realized around 2am that I wasn't going to sleep, it was too late to take a sleeping pill.  So I grabbed my Dr. Pepper, opened my computer, and watched some tv episodes.  Gave me ample time to also work on my face.  So I am for once wearing make up.  The mixed blessings of the extra time I had.

Closed Campus

I am unsure of what the reasons are for this decision, but YoungNam SahmYook is now a closed academy campus.  This means that from 8:30am until 5:00pm there is a security guard at the front entrance.  Visitors must get permission to come onto campus.  Staff must wear name tags to identify us.  I am unsure how this will affect off hours and getting back to campus in the evenings when I go shopping.  Might just not leave as often?  Anyrate, not just anyone can come onto campus this year.  It is more protected and secure this way.

Grading

The never ending task of a teacher.  I am spending Monday morning grading the work my students did last week.  Monday morning, I have only one class right before lunch so it is a good way to spend that time.  And I forgot how much I had assigned.  It is the essays that are taking the most time.  However it is also the essays that improve my students' English the most, so I assign them whenever I can.  Hopefully they understand and don't regret this decision of mine too much.

The news has gotten boring.  North Korea has nothing new to say except that everything is South Korea's fault and that South Korea is trying to trick them.  Soooo... you can only read that so many times in the news before it gets boring and old.

Now I am just tapping my foot and wishing it would rain or something.  The wind has been a nuisance lately, almost forcing the pollen and yellow dust into you whether you like it or not.  Trying to not go outside if I can help it.  However I had no choice on Friday, and I was outside a lot again on Saturday.  The double dose was enough to get to my sinuses and somehow also create a sore throat.  I've so far kept the cold from fully forming, but if I stop taking allergy medicine or drinking warm water then all will be lost and I will get a cold. Not eager for that.

I guess the only other news is that the book club I am a part of is almost finished with Pride and Prejudice.  We are finishing the book this week and will need to settle on a new book this weekend.  The others in the group are Koreans, but they speak English very well.  One of them is a good friend and used to be an assistant here at school.  She still tutors some of the students, and introduced me to her other friends that she knew at university.  Turns out that that Korea is a small world, very much like the SDA world.  I'm hoping to bring Janelle to the book club and get her involved in that since she is a literature guru.

War

So I decided to get your heart rate up with a scary title with no context... other than your fears.

You can calm down now.  North Korea is still just sitting there planting in their fields.

Actually, this time the title refers to the English Boys' Dorm and the class I taught tonight.  Unlike Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday when I just have one grade level... tonight is Thursday and I had them all.  So I needed to think of something fun to do that would keep them engaged.  Beyond holding candy up as a prize for... something.  I could think of little else.

In the end we played two games.  The first showed me just how expansive their vocabulary is.  So we quit that one as no one was losing.  Then we played a version of rock, paper, scissors.  Only camp style.... and called Bear, Hunter, Woman.  I found that having just one winner was a really bad idea.  I got mobbed by the boys all wanting candy.  I stayed firm and then the word "flee" came to mind.  I made my escape.

On a side note, next door in the girls dorm, Janelle was playing a game known as MASH.  Basically you create lists, pick a number, and eventually have a funny version of your life.  For how you die, almost everyone had nukes.  Janelle (who is sitting beside me looking at my art) just laughing told me, that none of my students ended up (in this game... cuz it is only a game...) dying of a nuke.  So in light of recent, and useless, threats I thought that was amusing.

Chicken Orders

YES!!

I totally just ordered on the phone chicken to be delivered to my place for supper.  I can't tell you how completely happy that makes me.  I can do something on my own without an interpreter.  It really helps that one, the person knows me and two, that a friend's husband who is Korean explained to them about me.  So when I was given a Korean phrase to say, I said it and it worked.  The guy on the phone clarified if I wanted one or two, normally I would get two but since I don't want to freeze it and have no one to share with, I just got one.  And they will bring it here and I will eat it and not feel so dependent on others.  In addition to this, it saves those beautiful American microwaveables for more desperate times... like lunches ;)

Good Morning!

Yes, I know.  It's morning.  What happened for Mindy to be so awake?

It is simple, I am listening to music I like that is upbeat.   Who can sleep with such beauty streaming in my ears?

Just wanted to drop a note saying hi.  Enough foreigners have gotten scared that it is affecting the children.  I worry for my students.  They were fine until us adults expressed concern.  So last night I spent a lot of time at the dorms doing damage control.  By the time I was done explaining why this school was in the safest place in South Korea, they were ready to bring their families here.  Didn't realize I was such a motivational speaker.

It is a problem though.  Foreigners who were unhappy here used this possible conflict as an excuse to quietly leave the country.  Their employers didn't know what had happened until they went to their homes and found them empty.  A quick check with the government would have confirmed that they left because if you work here, you have to show your Alien Registration Card at the airport to leave.  Needless to say, Americans' reputations are not getting better.

North Korea propaganda

During war and other major times in history, there is always propaganda and common public opinion.  I'm sure you all heard the joke by now that North Korean soldiers invaded through the DMZ, got to Seoul, then dropped their guns as they attacked the grocery stores for food.  

Here are a few more jokes that have been all over facebook.  I've seen them many times with many amusing (though very unChristian) comments accompanying the.

These are just a few of the jokes going around.  There are plenty more that are less funny but possibly more true to the attitudes over here.  The North Koreans are desperate.  More people than normal died this past year from drought.  So they are truly taking out their negative feelings most inappropriately.

Anyrate, about to head to bed.  Good night all.  Be back online in 12 hours or less.  

North Korea Stress Relief

Advice from students about North Korea:

"Oh teacher, teacher, teacher, they are only playing."

"They do it ever month, nothing ever happens, it is just a joke, a big joke."

Response to this:

Exactly....nothing to see here..move along.....if the world ignored them...they would stop it

smile and wave boys, just smile and wave

*******


"What? I don't want to worry about them being in dry cleaning if I need to pack to be evacuated." ... yeah... dry cleaning... wouldn't want to waste my ten bucks.

((A friend and I were fooling around... don't take this seriously.))

North Korea

Yes, I put my hair up into a messy bun.  I look scarily more professional that way.

Good morning one and all.  I have been faced with the question of why I don't talk about North Korea and how they are affecting lives in my blog.  After all I am in South Korea, so shouldn't I be writing about my life here and how such a momentous threat affects life here?  The simple answer to that, my friends, is it simply doesn't change anything.  At least not for the Koreans.

There is one change that took the amusement out of the situation.  The economy is fluctuating because one man is threatening war.  The exchange rate that us expats watch so closely is horrible right now.  Normally we hope for a 91 or 92.  I was lucky back in January and wired money home when it was at a 93.  As of yesterday evening it was at 88.  That is low.  So the foreigners living in South Korea are less than pleased.

We are definitely not the only ones.  Japan and China are experiencing the same problems.  Their economies are experiencing instability on the world market due to North Korea's rhetoric war.  Something that China will not take lightly.  You do not hurt allies.

That said, life here is normal.  We go to school and work like always, worry about the weather and which students in our lives are doing what for studying.  Plan lessons that we think will get the students' attention and adjust when they don't work the way we had hoped.  I'm going into town tonight to pick up dry cleaning, and most likely won't be back in town again the rest of the week.  Life is just normal.

If that changes, I will gladly post it here.  This blog is to reveal life as I learn it here in South Korea.  Those of you who have facebook with me can panic if I am not online for a day or two.  The rest of you, don't stress. I would feel horrible if I knew that I was the cause of stress for you.  The prayers have been welcome by the way.  Just don't be overly worried.  Everything is okay here.  God's got my back ;)

Coffee and Blossoms

Good morning!  *said with false enthusiasm*  I apologize for the not so awake smile I attempted.  It was the best I could do.  Yes, there is coffee sitting in front of me.  No I haven't had any yet.  It's too hot and would scald my mouth if I tried.  Just not a morning person.

Anyrate, wanted to write up another blog and say hi.  It was such a sad weekend.  It rained and all the cherry blossoms in Daegu fell off in the storm.  There went my photo opportunities I had planned for Saturday afternoon.  Now notice that I said in Daegu.  Here is where I am evilly happy at the misfortune of others.  You see, the school still has it's cherry blossoms.  That's right!  It pays to be in a slightly cooler place.  Ours started blooming a day or two later, so were strong enough to not fall off the tree in the storm.

So while all the other Koreans who are not attending this school cry over not being able to enjoy cherry blossoms anymore this year, I am gleefully (and sleepy) thinking to myself, "mwuahahahaha."  Okay, not quite to that extent.  My humor is off this morning too.  I apologize.

Anyrate, not much else happening around here beyond the sadness at the loss of the flowers.  The students even forgot about their homework in their excitement to see, then disappointment in not seeing, the cherry blossoms this weekend.  Thank you rain storm.  The one time I don't want rain, how rare is that?

Security Message from the Embassy

Just got an email from the embassy. Not the regular one, but a special security email. It says the following:

"The U.S. Embassy informs U.S. citizens that despite current political tensions with North Korea there is no specific information to suggest there are imminent threats to U.S. citizens or facilities in the Republic of Korea (ROK). The Embassy has not changed its security posture and we have not recommended that U.S. citizens who reside in, or plan to visit, the Republic of Korea take special security precautions at this time. The U.S. Embassy takes as its highest priority the welfare of American citizens in Korea. Should the security situation change, the Embassy will issue updated information. "

Fast but Late

Something about being in Korea is their attitude about time.  They will rush around like ants if something needs to be done quickly, they are late, or someone is waiting for them.  Things can be done fast in this way. For example, counting out change takes too long, so many professional place (mostly banks though) have machines to count it out since it is faster.  However, despite their quick speeds, they are almost always late by 15 minutes.  It is inevitable.  When they have free time, they take life slow and easy.  Walking downtown is so frustrating because most people are walking slower than me.

Then I get a change of view.  We have two new teachers from the states.  Adjusting to our new American coworkers has been a lot of fun and I am so glad they are both here.  However, they are not Koreans nor been here long enough to be Koreanized to this place.  So I get to see the differences between them and the rest of us.  They are definitely more relaxed, and dare I say, more practical?  For example, one of them became sick over the weekend.  The other couldn't understand why I would wait two hours until the end of the parents' ceremony when we couldn't understand what was being said instead of rushing right away to help the sick one get meds from my apartment.

Americans tend to do things at their own pace.  In a more timely manner instead of having those quick speeds that occur when you are out of time.  Also, Americans tend to be more on time.  It is expected of us and we follow through.  An adjustment I have had to get used to is when it is time for something, people not jumping and doing it then, but in a few minutes when they finished whatever thought or action they were already doing.

Was talking to a US soldier who has been here for 5 years.  He has been in the US maybe two months since arriving here, and none of that in the last 3 years.  I remember the culture shock and just the difference in communicating I experienced when I visited the US after a year.  He must adjust to the culture shock as well as becoming a civilian.  Will be an interesting experience and I hope that he is happy when all is said and done.

I feel that this blog might be me rambling.  If that is so, I apologize.

Gift Giving

In Korea, it is customary when you have a child, buy a car, have a close family member die, or another similar large occasion to buy gifts for everyone at work.  One of the teachers at school had her father die.  Out of appreciation for all the teachers who came to the funeral, she bought gift sets with various rice cakes inside for everyone.