Talk about busy!!! Now that I am in the full swing of things, I have barely had time to catch my breath! Luckily, even difficult tasks and work are pretty fun so I am a happy girl.
Everything in Suji became familiar to me over the course of the first week and I am happy for that fact. I am always glad to see a familiar face and usually, the people at the stores I go to know me by face. The woman at the mondu place knows me pretty well, as I am a creature of habit and a hardcore lover of mondu! Their mondu is the best!!! It is soo welcoming and nice to have people like those women at the mondu restaurant. I felt soo moved by their kindness that I could practically buy them flowers.... And maybe someday I will! The woman at Skin Food, the cosmetics and skin care store, remembered me from the time before, as well as the guy at the internet cafe. Its just nice to be treated like a regular when you are new to a place.
Things at Poly School are going really well for me, I think. The kids are finally getting used to me and I am getting used to them. I have caught on to the schedule and how to do most tasks required of me. And I love the kids!!! The students who drove me crazy the most the first week of school are some of my favorite kids now. The first two weeks, I did another teacher's schedule, as he was away planning for his wedding.
I am very happy for the weekends, and the weekend is almost here again. This week has just flown by! Last Friday in honor of Nikki's last day at Poly, we went out for dinner at the Korean BBQ restaurant we all seem to like soo much. Dinner was followed by Soju at the Soju and Juice bar, and then dancing and more drinks at EXIT.
I woke up nice and hung over Saturday morning for John Teacher's wedding, which turned out so nice! The wedding was a nice mix of a traditional Western wedding and a Korean ceremony. I think the wedding was touching enough that most of us girls teared up on more than one occasion. Later on Saturday, most of us Poly Teachers went over to Clarence's and Sydney's house to chill out, order Papa John's pizza, and drink some wine.
Sunday, I went on a mini shopping spree, cheapsake Korean style! I got my hair cut for $10 bucks at this salon that is actually really hip and in a cool neighborhood in Suji. And then I bought a hoodie and a dress for $2 bucks each, as well as a Korean Vogue Girl that included a bonus Street Style Denim book for $4.50. And no cheapsake Korean shopping spree would be complete without a totally satisfying trip to Skin food!!! I got some fantastic white shimmer eye shadow there for $3 bucks. I can not sing praise enough for Skin Food! Amen!
Sunday night, I went to dinner with Elenor and had some delish and cheap Korean yummys. I am always glad to have friends who speak Korean, as they are my gateway to more fantastic food choices. I am basically living the live of an illiterate mute and restaurants here surprisingly usually don't have pictures of their food options. Since I am a Westerner, most restaurants will dull down the food for me. They just assume I am a pussy and can't handle spicy so I am learning how to say "Make it spicy!" Later that evening, some of us ladies when to see Mama Mia! and I have to say it was actually pretty good despite all of my former insults towards it.
This week, we started a new semester so I have all new kids and all new classes, and craziest of all, I have started teaching PRE-SCHOOLERS!!!!!! Aye, yay, yay! They are sooo full of energy and sooo loud and crazy, but cute too. And smart as can be. My first day of preschool was kind of nuts- basically, I was given a classroom full of kids and about 5 minutes worth of actual discussion on what to do and next thing I knew, I was in a room alone with 7 rambunctious little hellions! Luckily, Korean kids generally adore their teachers and I am pretty sure I rock their world. My kids are: Amy, Alice, Sarah, Brave, Sean, Victor, and Jeenah. Jeenah is such a cute little boy and usually ends up crying everyday for some reason or another. The first day, he ripped his paper during a craft activity and I apparently didn't get him tape in a timely matter because next thing I knew, he was breaking out the tears. Poor kid!
My older kids in the afternoon are starting to get better. Some of the classes have some troublemakers but I have done my best to be a total hard-ass the first week to show them who's boss. There is nothing like taking a tough show-off trouble maker kid out of the class into the hallway and lecturing them sternly until they look like they are going to cry. It had to be done, and today, the same troublemaker kid was almost a joy to have in class. Part of me feels a bit bad for these kids because I know they might not be getting the most attention at home. Most of their parents work extremely long hours so that their kids can go to expensive after school academies such as Poly School. Many of the kids don't see their dads except of Sundays maybe. The older kids told me that when their dad are home, they are reading the newspaper or busy. Reminds me of when I was a kid- my dad often times worked second shift so I never saw him.
Oh man, the food here is sooo awesome. My first thoughts on Kimchi were pretty negative, as I was just off of a plane and in no mood to try something strongly flavored or new. Lately though, I have been craving kimchi all of the time and I can not get enough of it! Also, I have developed a love for Green Tea flavored anything!!!! I love, love, love the Green Tea Chewistry Donut at Dunkin Donuts and I am also a big fan of the Green Tea ice cream at Baskin Robbins. Mmmm, heaven!
My other big exciting news is that we teachers are going on a trip for Cheosok! We are going off to the woods somewhere to ride ATV's, Wakeboard, and play Paintball. Sounds fun to me! I will be good to get out of the city and be free for a little while. Freedom- ahhhhh!
Myself after my haircut with a yummy cupcake before Mama Mia!
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