In Korea, smoking is a big thing for guys! A good number of them are chain smokers. Today, I sat at the bus station for a few minutes and watched my bus drive across the street smoke a cigarette before he came and picked us up! (We are the last stop in one direction and the first stop the other direction. They let off a load and then pull a U-Turn to come and pick us up!) I thought to myself—only in Korea!
It was great though, b/c I was the second person on the bus. I picked a seat by the window, on the left side, next to a buzzer! It was the perfect seat!! I looked out the window and counted my stops and double checked my landmarks before I hit the button today! I got off on the right stop… I was so proud of myself! (I must celebrate even the little accomplishments right now!)
Today I had the other half of the fifth graders! I felt like I was having déjà vu, but then remembered nope, just teaching the exact same lesson over again: “’v’ violin.” Gotta love the phonics! I went through my basic introduction again today. I said my name and then showed the pictures of my family. Yesterday, they looked and said small comments. But, today they instantly started yelling, cheering, and clapping! It was so great! They were yelling ‘handsome’ and ‘beautiful’ with every picture! It was so cute… I couldn’t help but laugh!
I finished my classes and then it was lunchtime! I was so nervous after yesterday! Last night I walked down to Lotte Mart (my version of Wal-Mart) and stocked up on snacks to take to school! I was starving before lunch so I had a quick snack just to be on the safe side! We walked into the cafeteria and I instantly scanned the room and looked at the kid’s plates… spaghetti… score!! Yes, it was spaghetti, but Korean spaghetti… not quite the same, but I’ll take it! I ate it with my rice and we also had a beef stew with potatoes! I was actually full today when I left lunch! So much better than yesterday!
After lunch, I had a class of 3rd graders. These guys were so cute! They all went around the room and introduced themselves, “Hello, my name is ___________. Nice to meet you.” The first 2 names I tried to repeat and I totally butchered it! The kids got a great laugh out of it though!! After that, I decided I would just respond, “Nice to meet you, too!” That was so much easier!
I also had a classroom full of 6th graders run into my room and attack me during my planning period! I felt like we were playing 20 questions: “What’s your name? How old are you? Where are you from? Are you married? Do you have a boyfriend? How are you?” Most of them couldn’t really understand my responses, but they tried! I had one boy grab my bicep and squeeze it. I really have no idea what he was trying to do! I gave him a funny look and he gave me a funny look back! He asked how much my watch was and then said, “Show me the money!” Oh 6th graders! All of the girls wanted to shake my hand for some reason?!? I shook like 10 or 15 hands. I really felt important! J
They don’t have janitors at the school. The students are responsible for cleaning the school. They have a one hour break for lunch. During this time they clean, go to lunch, and then have free time to play outside! It’s so cute seeing little Korean children sweeping the floor with little hand held brooms and dustpans! They are very hard workers though!
After school today, the PE teacher came into my room to introduce himself to me. He said he would like to talk to me to learn English. I said he can come and we can talk. He asked if I liked sports and I said yes. He asked if I like volleyball and I said yes. He said, “You play on Wednesdays with us. We meet at 3. Do you have sport shoes and sport clothes?” I asked if shorts and a t-shirt were okay. (They are really weird about what’s appropriate here and what’s not!) He told me they were so I guess I’m playing volleyball tomorrow after school with the male teachers! This should be fun! I was hoping to be able to watch one week so I knew what to expect, but I guess I better go big or go home, right?!? I’ll let you know how it goes! Hope I don’t come home with a broken nose or anything… I have no idea how good they are!
This afternoon, my English teacher came into my room about 3 o’clock. She said, “You come to the store with me. Usually you can’t leave, but since you’re coming with me, it’s okay.” I got to leave 2 hours early… I’m not going to complain about that! We went to Hi Mart (which is like Best Buy) to get a few things. She bought a mini fridge, 2 electronic dictionaries (they translate like 13 different languages. They also speak the word so you can hear the pronunciation! They’re sweet… expensive, but sweet!!), 2 fans and a sweeper thing. I wasn’t sure what this was all for, so I asked, “What’s all of this for?” She told me it was for the English room… that’s MY room! Oh my word… I was worried she was buying this with her money (that’s what they do here) but then I saw the credit card with the school’s name on it! They also gave us a free gift b/c it took so long to check out! (They give away the most random things here. On cereal boxes, they tape DVD’s on them, or a pack of sticky notes on batteries… RANDOM?!?) I got a 16 piece package of Tupperware and 2 bars of ‘mud’ soap—no idea what that means! My teacher got a gift pack of laundry soap, stain remover, and fabric softener! Good times in Korea!
We then went to E-Mart (I would say this is more like a Target!) to get something else! They have a Baskin Robin’s IN this place!! So great… of course we had to get some ice cream and it was delicious! We then walked around for a bit and she told me to pick out some fruit. I got a package of grapes. She made me find a fresh pack… which I do appreciate! Then we went to buy drinks. (From what I gathered, I think this is for a lesson?) We then went to the cookie aisle and she told me to find a pack I liked! It’s pretty much looking at the pictures and then finding one that looks okay. (I think she saw me tear the pack of cookies up the day before and figured I really liked cookies… actually I was just starving and anything would have done!) She bought me the grapes and cookies with her own money to take back to my apartment! How sweet is that?!? She then drove me home and I arrived at 4.50pm… which is 40 minutes earlier then I would have usually gotten home!
I ran into a few of the other native teachers (that’s what we are called) when I got home! It was so good to talk with them! She was asking me how my day was and I was able to process a lot with her! They were things that other people wouldn’t understand so it was comforting to have her feedback! We stood in the hall for about 45 minutes talking. By the time were done, there were about 7 or 8 of us there talking! I’m beginning to realize that b/c I don’t speak a lot during the day, I have all of these words built up inside of me and I have to talk someone or I’ll just explode! I’m not much of talker, but tonight I couldn’t shut-up! I’m usually a bystander in conversations, but tonight I think I dominated! I feel kind of bad, but I just had to get it out!! It’s such a strange feeling!
I met a couple at dinner tonight who were about my parents age. They have 2 sons who are about my age and they are professors over here. They’ve been here for 7 years. It was so comforting to talk with them. I kind of felt like I was having dinner with my parents in a way! It was nice. I totally needed that tonight! Again, God is revealing things to me that I didn’t even know I needed! I know He’s here with me through this process and that is so comforting! It’s been so neat to see the way He will lay certain people on my heart and different times throughout the day! I’ve really been trying to learn to be in constant conversation with Him throughout the entire day. It’s so amazing how much more I am aware of Him and what He’s doing when I do this! It helps me to be more outwardly focused instead of inwardly focused (which is very easy to do with where I’m at right now)! I feel like a sponge right now… soaking it all up!
Oh and GOOD NEWS: I found an American Toilet today!! I finally just broke down and asked my teacher if they had one! It’s a pretty sweet set up! They have books and pictures and mirrors in this one stall! It’s of course only the teachers bathroom but it’s great! She told me that over Summer Break, they are supposed to replace all the ‘squatty potties’ with American Toilets! She made my heart happy!! It’s the little things in life… remember that! J
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