Graduation Day

"Monkey See, Monkey Do"

Friday night was a very low-key evening at home alone in preparation for the next morning's graduation festivities. I woke up bright and early Saturday around 7:15 AM, got dressed, and headed to meet the kindergartners and other teachers at a nearby Catholic church. I helped the little ones get dressed in their costumes and we held a quick rehearsal before the show got started at 11:00. The kids did a great job. I directed a couple songs for my seven-year old class, and other than the fact that they were singing way too fast for the music, they were fantastic. The kids were so adorable, and the parents absolutely ate it up. Afterwards, we greeted the parents and took pictures, and I even received a few gifts and flowers.

World's best seven-year-olds.

After the ceremony was over and all the children and their parents left, we teachers and our director and his wife went to one of the students' parents' restaurant for lunch. The building itself was very inconspicuous in its rural setting, but the food was amazing. It was by far the best meal I've had since being here in Korea. They kept bringing in course after course after course of everything from sushi-grade salmon sashimi to jellyfish to soup. I was stuffed beyond belief.

My favorite kid, the little bully Danny...this is his last day at Swaton.

I finally got home around 3:00, and just over an hour later (and before I had a chance to relax), my friend Ryan informed me that he and some others were going to be heading into Itaewon at 5:30 pm. One of the guys he works with is going home on Tuesday, so they were all going out one final time to celebrate. We all went to Gecko's and spent the better part of the evening throwing darts and socializing, and Kelly eventually met up with us. After we had our fill of Gecko's, we went to a nearby Noribong (karaoke room) for some Grammy-worthy vocal performances. It was a blast, not to mention a much-needed night of crazy fun for my overworked soul.

Today I was in my pajamas all day long. Since the new kindergarten classes do not start until Thursday, I don't have to be at work tomorrow until 1:00 pm. Tuesday is Korea's Independence Day, so we have a holiday from work, and again Wednesday I will probably only to work the afternoon. This week is promising to be a relatively short and sweet one...and bonus points for not having to work Saturday!

Feb. 14 - Feb. 25: All Work and No Play

Well, this is my first blog in two weeks, but not for a lack of trying. My life has been nothing but work, work, work these last couple weeks, and not much else. At this point, it's all pretty much a blur.

Last week began with Valentine's Day...I completely forgot it was that special Hallmark day until a little boy at school gave me a red rose. I was informed later that afternoon by two older male students that in Korea, Valentine's Day is the time when the girls give the boys chocolates and other assorted gifts...they were asking for their goodies. Apparently, "White Day," which comes around in March, is when we ladies receive our gifts. My favorite Valentine's greeting came that evening, when, upon seeing the rose I was carrying, the female employee at Korea's equivalent of the 7-11 smiled at me and said, in broken English, "I love you." Feels good to know you're loved, even if it is by a total female stranger.


Last week of the kindergartners' school year.

As aforementioned, the rest of the week was a blur of teaching. I wish I could say that Friday night was marked with a celebration of anticipation of a restful weekend. Unfortunately, because we were given an extra day off during the Lunar New Year holidays, we had to go into work on Saturday for make-up classes. Thus, what would have been a nice Saturday of relaxation and possibly some Seoul-searching instead was a 10-6 day of teaching the youth of Korea.

Saturday night, my friend Ryan brought over his bootleg DVD of "The Aviator." In Korea, you can get any movie you want on DVD, even if it is still in the theatres, and regardless of whether or not it's legal. Anyway, I know the film has received loads of awards, but to me, after about 10 minutes into the movie, I was bored to tears. I guess Leo just doesn't do it for me like he did back in the Growing Pains days.

This past week was also a monotonous blur at work. It was also the last week of the calendar school year, with the kindergarten classes graduating tomorrow. That's right, tomorrow... Saturday...my second Saturday in two weeks that will be spent with little Korean kids. At least it will be a non-traditional workday, and I'm excited about the idea of getting a free lunch out of it. I taught my 7-year old class the Disney song "It's a Small World." They have no idea what they are singing, but the words they pronounce are dead-on to the actual lyrics, so I'm happy with that. Cross those fingers and wish them luck...apparently, parents at our school place immense value into their children's performances at graduation, with the outcome influencing the decision of whether or not to re-enroll.

Oh, I am soooo looking forward to the point tomorrow when my work-week ends and my weekend begins!

What Is Kim Jong Il Hiding Up There?

Well, I've ended the perfect week of a combination of intense relaxation, lack of sleep, and mega money-blowing with a relatively low-key weekend. Friday night Kelly came over after she got off work and we lounged around my apartment for a bit while she showed me pictures from her trip to Singapore. I am so jealous, but I guess it's better I spend $400 on my hair than over $1,000 on a trip...right? Whatever. Anyway, we headed to the local ex-pat hangout for a bit before ending up in Anyang...I had to introduce her to my favorite new nearby dance joint. Turns out, showing up before 3:00 am at the Techno Bar is so-not-cool...with one exception, we were the only foreigners there! However, we plopped down on some stools and were quite entertained by the drunken youth of Korea...I was even fortunate to see a girl fall flat on her back. Good times.

One thing to note about Korea, and I never intend to insult anyone, but there are very, very few good-looking guys. It's definitely one of life's great mysteries that even the Koreans themselves cannot explain. There are so many pretty Korean chicks out there; however, to say that there is a lack of handsome men is an extreme understatement. The majority of Korean females I have spoken to agree that there is a serious shortage, which probably explains why so many foreigner men are dating Korean girls. Hey, where does that leave us single foreigner girls???

My favorite explanation for this phenomena is that after the war, all the good-looking men went north, and the beautiful women came south. I can honestly count on one hand how many times I have felt the urge to look twice at a fellow. Friday night, one such guy walked into the door at Techno Bar...well-built, well-dressed, and quite slick...I was immediately attracted. Next thing I know, he walks up to me and asks me, in a very So-Cal drawl, "So, are you girls American?" He's Korean-American and teaching English at a local middle school...and he hails from the very exotic Newport Beach...go figure. I guess he can't be included in the tally of good looking Korean men, now can he? This is definitely a topic I am going to have to further research.

Saturday I enjoyed another much-needed workout at the gym followed by a serious power nap. My original evening plans involved meeting Kelly in Itaewon around 8-ish, but when I awoke from my snooze around 7:45 pm, I knew would never be able to force myself to get snazzed up and onto the subway. However, but I did manage to meet up with Ryan and some of his coworkers at a bar in Pyeongchon. We played cards for a bit, enjoyed a Tom Cruise a la "Cocktail" bottle-flipping show by the bartenders, and eventually mustered up the energy to head into Anyang to, you guessed it, Techno Bar...I half-expected the patrons to yell out my name when I walked in the door. I danced until I was a sweaty mess before heading home.

Today was not unlike most Sundays here in Korea...I sat around my apartment, in my jammies, of course, enthralled in the never-ending array of American reality and teeny-bopper reruns (One Tree Hill is now my weekend passion...God help me!). It's definitely the kind of day I needed after my waste of a week...and before a fresh new week back at school!

Feb. 7 - Feb. 11: Lunar New Year

This was without a doubt one of my best weeks here in Korea. Monday was my only day to have to work, and it was a breeze. I had a very good laugh that morning when one of my six-year olds jumped up out of his chair in class, ran to open a window, screeching, "Daniel has a stinky hiney!" Good to know my southern dialect is wearing off on these little people!

In order to repair my hair mistakes from Sunday night, I found an English-speaking stylist in a foreigner magazine, so I immediately made an appointment for Tuesday. I went to the fancy pants Aveda salon, and as soon as JT told me he worked at the Vidal Sassoon in London, I knew I was in good hands. He took one look at my poor hair and almost passed out! He first had to bleach my hair twice to get it all the same color, recommended an intensive conditioning treatment (which included a lovely upper body and hand massage), put an ash blonde color in my hair, before finally trimming the ends. Five hours in a chair later, I walked up to the counter to pay. I almost died when he told me the final price...God, I'm actually too embarrassed to admit it! Okay, the total was...gulp...$360. No, that is not a typo. Of course, I had to tip, so I walked out of the salon in a daze, absolutely feeling $400 lighter. Ouch. So much for saving money this week...or this year, for that matter! That night I went out with a couple of my new Pyeongchon guy friends for some much-needed drinks and card games.


Ole, Ole, Ole, Ole! KOREA!

Wednesday was spent lounging around my apartment, doing absolutely nothing but relaxing in anticipation of the night's main event: watching Korea play Kuwait in a World Cup Soccer Qualifiers match!!! I met up with my newfound Pyeongchon friends at their building, and together we made our way to Seoul's World Cup Soccer Stadium. The place was abounding with the buzz of rambunctious soccer-crazed Koreans and tons of foreigners. We made our way into the brightly-lit stadium and were met with massive spanses of red shirts, posters, Korean flags, scarfs, and banners waving wildly in the crisp night air. And to say that it was cold is an understatement...the stadium is outdoors and the temperature was easily below freezing, which was not helped by steady gusts of wind throughout the evening. Once the game began and the fans got excited, the chill wasn't too insufferable. The highlight of the evening was when Korea scored its first goal...the crowd went wild, toilet paper rolls and confetti were flying through the air, and I was blowing my noisemaker as hard as I could with about 40,000 other crazy people. Good times! We ended up leaving in the middle of the second half of the game in order to miss the crowds and headed to nearby Hongdae for a late dinner and drinks.


A little cold here...

Thursday was another low-key day. I had to force myself out of my pajamas and into the shower around 4:00 pm, then met my coworker Chris to run some errands, namely, grocery shopping. Yippee.

Today is the end of my lovely week away from work. I finally caught up on some sleep, not awakening this morning until 11:00 AM. My gym has been closed for the past three days, so I was glad to be able to get back in there this afternoon for a few hours. Kelly is probably going to come over later and we plan to find something around here to do tonight...I need to enjoy my last two days of freedom before it's back to work on Monday!

Central Anyang

This past weekend, I finally met some new people in my area. Friday night, I met up with my friend Ryan and some of his coworkers. There are about fifteen foreign teachers at their school and they all live in the same building and hang out together. It makes me very jealous! Anyway, we took a 15-minute cab ride to Anyang...you could probably say that Pyeongchon is a suburb of Anyang. We decided to check out the scene at a dive dance club called Techno Bar, where we had a blast. Good music, good people, and I actually discovered some Koreans with some serious hip-hop moves...based on what I've seen on television, I didn't know they existed!

Saturday was a complete relaxation day...I did laundry, worked out, then went up to Kelly's. She left early Sunday morning for a few days in Singapore (more jealousy), so we spent the evening catching up on the week while she packed.

Sunday morning, I came back to Pyeongchon and decided to walk around the Beomgye station area. I found the closest thing I could to a Korean version of Urban Outfitters, and ended up spending an hour shopping. Most clothing stores in Korea do not have dressing rooms, so you have to guess whether or not something fits, which is one of the reasons I haven't bought anything here yet. My body is not a pick it out and pay for it kind of body...dressing rooms are essential! So imagine my surprise to find a little corner of the store with a swinging door just large enough to cover the area from my chest to my thighs...enough room to strip down to my skivvies and still have my pride. I only walked out of the store with a hat and a shirt, but it felt oh-so-good to give myself a satisfying shopping fix.

The rest of Sunday was completely boring...I didn't even leave my apartment again! However, I did attempt to dye my hair. I know, I know...my original plan was to treat myself to a hair color change only after succeeding in losing five pounds. No, I haven't lost any weight, but I do believe I have dropped some serious body fat. I ended up with the same brown hair, but ultra-blonde roots...definitely not the look I was going for! Thus, it is mandatory to have a professional repair my mistakes ASAP! I'm going to make an appointment first thing tomorrow.

I am so excited about only having to work one day next week, though! Yippeee!

Jan. 31 - Feb. 4: Bad Teacher

This week was spent in giddy anticipation of next week's four-day (six, including the following weekend) "Lunar New Year" holiday. Initially, we only had Tuesday-Thursday off, with the option to close the school Friday, so long as we had a make-up day on Saturday the 19th. Well, Chris and I were all for the opportunity to have six days away from work; I was having visions of lying in a hammock, sipping a frosty drink, watching the sun set on the ocean.

When we approached our supervisor about it on two separate occasions in December, she complained about having to work on a Saturday, but promised to speak with the director about it. When we returned from Christmas holidays, she still had not spoken to our director, so I knew at that point there was no use in pushing the subject. I buried my warm sandy beach dreams under the reality that I probably needed to stay home and save money anyway.

Well, what do you know...two weeks ago, my supervisor informs us that yes, indeed, we will close the school on Friday. Unfortunately, Korea only has three airlines, and therefore only a small number of flights leave the country each day. People can book multiple tickets months in advance, but don't have to pay until the week before their trip. So, of course everything was completely booked, and as hard as I tried, I could not find a way to get out of this country! So now, I have six days in Seoul with no plans whatsoever!


Child abuse at its worst: a little boy, who doesn't have older sisters, in Hello Kitty! 

This week I found out what a terrible teacher I am. I have this one student, Jun (who is actually on the cover of that newsletter with me), whom I really like, but at times can be a whiny pain in the butt. Anyway, on Monday, he was being a total jerk in class, and after numerous warnings, I was forced to raise my voice and take away five reward stickers (a big deal, let me tell you). When that didn't change his attitude, I took him to see my supervisor to put the fear of God in him.

Well, the next day, I was informed that Jun's mom called and Jun wants to quit Swaton because of me, and it's not the first time this has happened: a teacher swap occurred a few months ago to accommodate this kid's sensitivities. Fortunately, my supervisor, director, and even Jun's mother can see through this kid's manipulative ways. All said, Jun is not quitting Swaton anymore, but there may be another teacher swap...and I feel like the world's meanest teacher!

I need this weekend to release some steam!!!