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!