I have a few days to get caught up on! Lucky for you, I’m going to do a two for one here! Thursday and Friday were 2 drastically different days for me here!
Thursday started with me thinking I saw my bus at the bus stop when I was at the top of the hill, so I took off running… I’m sure that was a sight! I cut through some trees to get there and then I realized this was a bus that was just sitting there and it didn’t have a number lit up which meant it wasn’t in route! I saw 3 other people do the same thing, so I didn’t feel that bad for looking ridiculous! The bus gets there shortly after and we get on. Then, the bus driver puts the bus in park and gets up out of his seat and gets off the bus. He pulls out a pack of cigarettes, smokes one and texts on his phone, while he has about 10 or 12 passengers on the bus! No one else looked alarmed or perturbed, so I just went with it and waited patiently! I chose to enjoy the beautiful sunshine instead!
I arrived at school and got ready for my first class of the day (6th graders). My teacher told me, “It’s your lucky day, you can’t teach this section, only I can. You go to your room and take a rest!” So for 4 classes, I spent about 5 or 10 minutes in each class and that’s it! I was really frustrated with this! I talked with a few people about it that morning though and they really helped me put things into perspective! One suggested that I take the time to myself to get things done I needed to and another told me to use it to pray for my students! Let’s just say I spent a lot of time in prayer that day!! It was truly amazing to see how God worked it all out! (stay tuned until my Friday update!) It reminded me yet again of what we can do when we simply aloud God to take control of the situations instead of us trying to take it on our own! I also had another teacher who totally changed my mindset about this situation! We were talking about how things can get frustrating b/c of the language barrier and how there is always miscommunication! He reminded me that this is true for both sides! I will get frustrated with my teachers, but they will also get frustrated with me b/c of miscommunication and failed expectations! It’s a constant learning game!
Thursday was just a rough day and I felt like I just kept being misunderstood! I went to use the ‘American toilet’ and it’s clogged! I literally almost got sick when I walked in! I tried to tell my teacher and she said, “Oh, just use another one!” Are you kidding me… no “I’ll get someone to take care of it?!?” Oh… this is an experience! J
I had to get my picture taken today for the 6th graders yearbook. (This isn’t what they call it, but I’m pretty sure that’s what it’s like.) It was quite comical trying to figure out what the photographer was wanting me to do. Finally, he just came over and physically put my head the way he wanted it! Sometimes, that’s just the easiest way!
The day did end on a positive note though! I had a great class with my ‘teachers class.’ I really feel like they are getting in to it! Everyone returned from the first week… that doesn’t happen very often! They are a fun group and I enjoy getting to know them better!
I found my favorite meal in Korea!! It’s called Kalbi. It’s meat that gets cooked in front of you and then you wrap it in lettuce with rice! The meat is pork and it is marinated in something amazing! I will be frequenting this restaurant often! The owner is super nice and he knows a couple of the guys in my program (they play soccer together). He gave us free Pepsi! He saw my camera and so we started talking about it, b/c he has an SLR. It was way fun getting to know him!
I met a few new girls tonight. I went out to this sweet coffee shop downtown. I had my first Frapaccuino without coffee! It was black tea! It was pretty tasty… definitely an experience! This place also gives you a free piece of cake if you order 2 drinks… how sweet is that?!? Definitely worth it!
Thursday turned around a bit, but I was looking forward to Friday! Wow… can I just say what a difference one day can make! I know God knew I needed to catch a break! I get to school and my teacher greets me. I asked her how she was and she said, “I feel much better then I did yesterday. Yesterday wasn’t a good day!” I’d second that!! She was in the middle of cleaning her room when I came in. She handed me a wet towel and said I needed to clean room. No big deal, I wiped the tables off and the counters off. I just think it’s so crazy that the teachers and students have to clean the schools! Oh one of the many differences!!
I had so much fun in my classes today!! We reviewed during all of the classes and the kids were really into it! Probably b/c I was giving them stickers for the right answers, but hey whatever works! I have some really smart kids! It is a lot different here though, b/c if a student gets a wrong answer or doesn’t know how to answer, they have to stand up in the back of the class until we move on to the next thing! I always feel so bad for those kids! Today I asked a student what her favorite month was and why. She told me August, but couldn’t tell me why. I was going to give her a sticker for trying, but the teacher told me, “Don’t give her a sticker. She can talk English.” I felt horrible for this girl, but I couldn’t go against my teacher. I just made sure I called on her to answer a different question so she could get a sticker! I don’t feel that negative reinforcement in positive for kids! I’m more of an encourager so this has been a little difficult for me to witness sometimes!
We had shorter classes today b/c the teachers were going on a field trip and the students were leaving school early! Some classes were late b/c they had to take ‘urine tests.’ I was a little concern when I heard this b/c I was thinking, what did you have an outbreak of drugs or something? No worries, they do this to all 6th graders… it was a physical. My teacher called it a ‘pee test’… ha, I had to explain to her that yes it was technically a ‘pee test’ but we call them ‘urine tests’ b/c it is more polite! That made me laugh! J
I had one boy come in and introduce himself as David. I asked him if that was his English name. He told me, “My name is David, David Beckum and I’m from Enland!” Ha, I laughed in his face! His friend told me his name was Obama… oh man!! These are 2 of favorite boys though!
During lunch, I ate with my teacher and then with another teacher who is in my ‘teachers class.’ It was neat to sit and talk with and see how hard she is trying to learn English. She’s doing great and she is such a sweet person! I enjoyed getting to know her more! I also noticed at lunch that our nurse was wearing a sweatshirt jacket with playboy bunnies all over them! I don’t think Asians have a grasp on what that symbol really means! The SCHOOL NURSE was wearing that! Oh, My!
I lucked out and got to leave school at 1pm today! It was so amazing to have the afternoon off! I did laundry and relaxed… I totally could get used to this! It was nice to have some time to myself!
Today I was reminded how faithful God is! He helped me work through my frustrations and He allowed me to see things in a new perspective! 2 things I really needed!!
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