Missing the Following:

Its been ages now since I last stepped foot on Korean soil. Do I miss it? Yes. Very much. Am I glad to be home- of course. But still. To think, this time last year, I was enjoying Chusok, Soju, and the beauty of Korean autumn. I miss the following in no particular order:

1. I miss being a teacher! I miss going on dorky field trips with my preschoolers.

2. I miss this guy! Convenience Store Guy never spoke much more than a lick of English but was always friendly as hell and a bright, friendly part of my day.

3. Mingi. This kid was so frickin' cute and soooo unruly and misbehaving. Gotta love a spoiled 4 year old Korean child constantly keeping you busy.

4. Wild nights as the Soju Monster and good company. Damn, I know the terrible quality Korean booze downright ruined my stomach but still, where else can you get a bottle of booze that will get you wasted and almost hallucinating for only $1,000 Won ( about $1)????

5. Weekend trips! What a blast, even if it was cold and rainy and I bitched the whole time, I was still having fun. Trust me on this:)

6. The busy streets of Meungdong. Trips to Seoul came either one of two ways. Either ride for 45 minutes on a nauseating, over-crowded bus or ride for an hour and a half on an over-crowded, stuffy subway. I always chose the subway, or else I would feel like vomiting the rest of the day. Meungdong was always the ultimate fashion and shopping mecca for young Koreans.

7. Walks along the river on the little path to my house. I miss my old neighborhood, with all of its random call-girl cards strewn about, PC Bangs, and junk convenience stores. Oh, and I miss cans of Gatorade. Soo delicious!

8. Cute stuff galore!!!! Everywhere I went, cute and bizarre things would steal my heart and practically rip my eyeballs out of thier sockets. Everything and everyone was just so dang adorable, I felt as if I might burst.

9. Mondu. Of fuck, do I ever miss mondu!!!!!!! The ultimate warm your belly food. Those soft little dumpings are what dreams are made of. And cheap, cheap, cheap.

10. Korean BBQ and drunken, misbehaving coworkers. Lindsay's face is priceless and Aram, we always loved your misbehaving, abnoxious ways, even if we pretended we didn't. And my God, Korean BBQ is just sooo frickin' amazing. Best food ever.

Sometimes, I hear a little voice that tells me that I am ready for more travel and adventure. Day in and day out, I work here. We try to spice things up by getting a dog, getting a new car, new shoes, whatever but it still seems dull in comparison to my life this time one year ago. Then again, I remember many weekends never even leaving my apartment apart from getting a bite to eat. I remember being incredibly alone in one of the most densely populated countries in the world. But to me, the past is best romanticised and played up a bit.

Preschool Valentine's Cuties

Call me maternal or whatever but I think my little preschoolers are so very cute! While they tend to be monsters most of the time, when they are busy with scissors, glue, and crayons, they can be pretty darn adorable and non-obnoxious.

Sarah Y. showing off her Valentine's Day heart guy.

Mingi being innocent for a moment before doing something bad.

Jiho- a total sweetheart and overachiever at the tender age of 6.

Jenny actually finished something! Her little heart guy looks great.

Jay being his usual precocious self.

Eddie doesn't care to learn English but that doesn't stop him from being kinda sweet.

Christina D. is a rare child from another planet.

Hena learning the ways of women by being sweet to Matthew only to get what she wants.

Erica, my new little class spazz.

Christina J. and Tina being besties.

Brianna is always rocking the princess dress get-ups and pink glasses.

Its hard to believe someday Albert and June will run Samseong and get drunk off of Soju together every night, singing at Norebang with high dollar call girls. Or maybe not. But still!


In March, these preschoolers get to move on to Kindergarden and I get a new batch of naughty little bundles of energy to tear my hair out about. Fun, fun!

Snapshots with First Graders

We had some extra time to kill in class today so I let every one of my kids take a photo with my camera. (Hey, I figure my Canon digital cam is pretty indestructible, right?) I ended up with some really great photos and the kids seemed to have a great time goofing around for a little while. Korean kids work sooo hard all the time so it is nice to see them happy and having fun!

My extra special student, Edward just being his usual weird-o self.

The class suck-ups Catherine and Suyeon. Very nice girls but such teacher's pets!

Chung-ah and Ariel, two goofy friends who like to draw boobs. Naughty, naughty!

The often studious and over-achieving Annie. She reads more than any other kid in first grade and often times says she is afflicted with the "Giggle virus" when she can't quit laughing!

My kids giving teacher some love:)

Being crazy with teacher. I love it!

I love glasses on kids. Pretty cute.

Trying not to smile?

Seriously, this is the sad, serious face Annie makes 90% of the time. That girl was born to study.

See, they are totally having fun in my class.... And learning too, right? Ha ha!

Harry- what a ham. That kid will NEVER sit still.

Catherine, my bright little scholar.

These girls loooooove pink, right?

Hitler is on the $20 Dollar Bill

Thank God for kids like Edward, my little weirdo first grader that reminds me that not ALL Korean kids stick to the homogeneity of their culture.

ho·mo·ge·neous

1 : of the same or a similar kind or nature

2 : of uniform structure or composition throughout

Yes, that one word about sums up the Korean population. But not Edward. He is truly one of a kind. Edward is the kid who wears moon boots everyday who constantly mortifies his classmates on insisting that extraterrestrials are real and looming outside of thier windows at night. He is kid who stares blankly into space while the rest of the class is reading a lively story about a dragon going to the grocery store and blurts out a question during this time, "Teacher, how does a rocket propel itself into the air?"

Basically, Edward is your typical completely brilliant kid who is socially retarded and completely clueless in the field pertaining to common sense. In other words, I totally adore the kid.

Well, anyhow, today in class, we were discussing American currency and I asked the question to the kids, "Who is on the $1 dollar bill?" And they answered, "George Washington," like properly trained chimps. And then I asked, "And who is on the $5 dollar bill?" One of the smart kids in class answered, "Abraham Lincoln." And then I asked, "OK, who is on the $20 dollar bill?" With complete and utter confidence Edward blurted out, "Hitler!"

I nearly fell out of my chair, not knowing weather to laugh hysterically or die of shock. Best of all, when I tried to correct him, he further insisted that it was true and that he read it somewhere that Hitler was on the $20 dollar bill. Oh man, classic.

Its days like these that make me happy to be a teacher.

Too Much Preschool Cuteness!

Don't be fooled by their cuteness. They are really a naughty handful!

How cute? Too cute!!!

Many of the boys favor the "Vulcan" style haircut.

These kids have had WAAAAY too much sugar.

James, my quiet new boy. They always start quiet and then turn into little devils.

Sunny, my little sweetheart. She loves to give hugs.

Jenny, another very sweet girl, who is always forgetting and speaking in Korean when she is in class!

Brianna and Emily, my little Panda Class girls. They are a very cute combo.

Tina, and her missing teeth:)

Victor... This kid is soo smart but quite a handful!

The girls!

The boys eating cookies. Mmmmmm.

Say "Kimchi"!!!!

Preschool Birthday Time!!!!!!!

I think the preschool birthdays are the best! I don't have to teach and they get to stuff their faces with cake and snacks. A win/win situation!