That's a Picture of My Wish.

I knew the tour guide thing wasn't going to go all that smoothly when I failed my first attempt to make it to the train station this morning. Never having been to the train station, I wasn't exactly sure how to figure this one out. Jenn says grab the 48 and take it. "We saw it that time we rode the bus and didn't get to old downtown, remember? Man, you really don't notice anything around you."

That bus does not in fact go to the train station at all. That white building is a stadium. Who's the one who doesn't pay attention now, eh? So I grab a cab to Shinsegae, because I couldn't seem to explain to the first cab driver that I wanted to get to the train station. I even had a map. Turns out I'm not the only one who can't read those. Shinsegae. Take me there. It's a bus station, sure, but there must be a cab driver there who knows how to get to the train station. There was, Thank God, and turns out it's not even that far. I arrive 15 minutes late, which is 15 minutes early Paris Time. Unfortunately, the secret was out: Erin possesses the desire to show friends around the city, but is completely lacking in the ability to attempt such a task.

No worries. Teresa and Renee came with a plan, maps and the skill to read them. They even stayed in old downtown, so I don't have to worry about meeting up with them tomorrow. I mastered Old Downtown weeks ago.

Getting there, not actually getting around down there. Alright, well, how hard can this be? I've been downtown loads of times. Apparently I had my eyes closed the whole time, because I had no idea where I was going. They found the hotel on their own and from there we headed out to find food. Indian, of course, that's the only restaurant I've eaten at down there. Where is Indian? Don't know. How will we find it? Don't know. I think it was next to a wedding store... or maybe it was a dog grooming place...

I saw a sign for a dog grooming place that looked vaguely familiar so I started to head toward it. "Is that it? First Nepal?" How did Teresa even see that? It's not like the sign was super huge or anything and it was on a street that I was not leading us toward. Well, whatever, I can claim half credit for getting us there. I knew what the place was called, at least, and was able to confirm that it was the right one. Half credit seems more than fair.

From there we grabbed the subway and headed towards Sangmu. You guys remember Sangmu? It's right around Old School. I was feeling pretty confident that I could get us around New Downtown. I've been there enough times, right?

There is a temple downtown? That doesn't sound right. I've definitely never seen a temple there...


There is a temple there. The entrance is actually right across the street from the 50 bus stop. Man. My powers of observation aren't all that powerful. Looking at the map at the entrance, I was blown away. The temple was just the beginning. There was a huge wooded area of paths, temple, and May 18 Memorial. How could there possibly be something that big 10 feet from the 50 stop? How did I miss that? It took like 2 hours to walk around it was so huge. Two Strikes.



All those rocks? They're wishes. You have to place a rock on top of the pile and if you can do it without knocking the pile over you get a wish. If you knock it over: no wish. It's mad hard, but I got the job done. I also got a picture of my wish.


We walked around in there before heading on over to another May 18 thing. I can't actually remember what it was called, but doesn't it just figure that it's right down the street from another 50 stop. What the H?! How am I missing these things? It's the place where they held and tried the people involved in the May 18, 1980 protests. They were civilians tried by a military court and the place was mega eerie. Didn't help that it was raining and there was no one there.


After Renee finished showing me around Gwangju, we headed on back in the direction of the hotel to find some food. I was just about to come clean and confess that I don't know any restaurants in the area aside from First Nepal, but luckily Renee was in the mood for pizza and Teresa found a Pizza Hut. Safe. I haven't had Pizza Hut in 2 months. Since my first night in Korea, to be exact. Wow, memories.

To wash down the pizza, we headed back to the hotel to drink at the bar next door. We didn't want a bar overrun with foreigners (Americans) and I realized I didn't know any other kinds of bars. All I knew were German, Bubble, and Speakeasy. I didn't have the slightest idea where we were going to find a bar that hadn't already been taken over by Americans and Canadians. So back to the hotel we went.


And found my favorite beer of all time! I spent my Junior Year drinking my way across Europe and finding all sorts of crazy beers. Leffe Brune took the cake, though, and I can't believe it's here in Gwangju. Reasonably priced too, for being imported.

We traveled around trying to find more dive bars full of locals, but I can't remember how we got to the good one. It was mostly empty, but the people who were there looked like regulars. Maybe it's time to take Leo up on his offer of showing us all around Gwangju... He's probably not a creeper...

Today was just the adventure I needed.
Tomorrow: May 18 Cemetery.

The Student Has Become the Teacher.

I created a monster. That Because Kid got me again. I swear he sets these traps and lies in wait. It's just too convenient. "Do you have to wear a raincoat at Niagara Falls? Why?" That kid is crafty.

I have noticed, however, that he never uses "because" to start a sentence. It's a heady feeling. Something I taught him has influenced his behavior in class so much that he has changed the structure of his responses so that he can be the only 'Because Shouter' in the room. And, man, does he shout. From my seat I can see Ruby jump every time this kid becauses me. Who knew the system would be so effective? He catches me off guard. He's got a gift.

Apparently our private lessons are just about at an end, though. Come wednesday, I will be given my first real class. All those kids I've been evaluating were potential full size class students. Why wednesday, you ask? Well, Monday is a holiday. That's right friends and family, if I had grown up in Korea I would never be expected to go to school or work on my birthday. March 1 is a permanent holiday here in K-town. Eggcellent.

This is even better than the feeling I got when March 1 was snowday-ed both my freshman and sophomore years in college. And they were both the first snow day of the year, too. Nope, Korean Independence day is totally for me. Woulda been great to get a bit of warning, though, I might've been able to travel it up this weekend. I'm totally ready to spend my weekends outside of Sketchville. Not that I don't love the place, but I've only got 44 more weekends here. I need to get out and see the world. I guess just see Korea. Save the other world parts for later. I already have to narrow my list down to 44 cities to see.

It's time to start working on that list, guys, I'm ready to get out and see it all.

Man, I Hope They Don't Pick This School.

So I had to do my first evaluation today and it was just as awful as I imagined it would be. This is where I talk to the student and try to figure out what level he should be in. Usually the evaluation is done by the teacher of the class that Ruby thinks the student should be in. It's sort of just a confirmation of her beliefs. Since I don't actually have any full size classes, I wasn't really sure what I should be comparing these students to. I already knew that Ruby was a firm believer in the "observe before instructing" method, so I wasn't too surprised when I was shown to a classroom with a student already in it. No books, no guidelines, no tips. Just go. Get it done.

Well, alright then. It took almost an hour. Much longer than any evaluation that I have ever seen happen, but to be fair, I had no idea what I was doing. Better safe than sorry, I always hear, so I figured I'd just cover all the bases. I asked this kid everything I could think of. I made him ask questions, read out of 3 different books, write sentences, make opinions, tell me stories, etc. EVERYTHING that I could think of. I was all the more nervous having the mother sitting behind her son staring at me. And instructing me in rapid korean what to ask her son next. Finally, I pulled one of those "I think I hear Ruby calling you" clichés. To my surprise, Ruby got the hint and stepped in.

Just when I thought it was all over, they brought in the little sister who had been in and out more than a dozen times during her brother's interview. It's now her turn. How old is this munchkin? She looked like a four year old and was constantly rifling through my stuff and trying to grab my purse. She kept trying to write on the board with my pens and rip pages out of my notebook. At one point I snatched my bag back and said the one word every three year old knows: Mine. She understood alright. Then her mother gets up to explain that she is only 8 years old and doesn't understand english very well. I know, right? Her mother watched this happen and exhibited her own special style of parenting. Oh yeah. And 8? Wow. I don't think so.

I hope they don't pick this school. I do NOT want to teach that little girl. Yuck. Give her to Miami, that's what he's good at.

Since I only had one lesson today (with Curly of the Becauses) I ended up having three hours of conversation with Ruby. I hope the other teachers appreciate what I do for them. She started talking about what we were going to do during the day now. She is writing a grammar book and needs a foreign teacher to help her edit this book. A teacher with a lot of extra time. A teacher who doesn't have a lot of classes.

Yes. This teacher. Apparently we're writing a book. Yay. And she's teaching me how to teach. Not so that I will know how to do it, but because she will need someone to teach all the new foreign teachers. She won't have that much time to teach every new teacher at this school. I thought I signed up to be a foreign teacher. What is going on here?

On a happier note, my bed has been fixed. Give those boys a screwdriver and 5 minutes and they can do anything. Good thing too, since Ruby and Mr. Kim almost invited themselves upstairs tonight. "Erin we will help you carry your boxes upstairs. They are too heavy?" NO. They're fine. I'm fine.

My boxes arrived. Not the best day, but at least they're here, right? No longer will I look like I robbed a hobo on my way to work every morning. I haven't opened them yet, but I hope all the clothes fit. My fear is that it'll just look like I robbed a smaller hobo.

I Don't Know How to Tell This Story Without Making Myself Look Stupid.

Yes. That is a bed. It was real bed day today, with my real bed delivered from a real store. I had a hard time being excited about it though, because the way they set up the bed was not the way I was willing to keep it. They had the bed parallel to the drawers with a foot and a half of space in between the two. I couldn't even open the drawers unless I was sitting on the bed. No way. I needed to put it back. How was I supposed to dry my laundry on the floor when there wasn't any floor to be had?

No, I did not wait for my roommate to get home. No, I did not have a real plan for putting my room to rights. And, no I'm not convinced I did anything wrong, per se. I just don't understand why they were so opposed to having the bed and drawers at a right angle. Looking at the remains of my bed, I'm still convinced that the bed will absolutely fit once I can get it there. Once I figure out how to put it back together and become five more people, I will absolutely be able to put this room to rights. No worries, right? God, I hope so.

I only had the bed for 5 minutes before I started this bed moving plan. Now my drawers are turned against the other wall and I can't close the door. It may have been a mistake, but I don't take it back. The second things started to go sour, the bed fell on my foot, and I limped out of my room to call California. I needed some advice bad. I had just broken my bed. I still have all the pieces, but the screws keeping them in place are now scattered across my bedroom floor. No worries. The boys will be here tomorrow for our friday celebration and they were nice enough to offer to fix this bed fiasco. They even have a screwdriver. How's that for qualified?

Now the bad news. My old school class just got cancelled. The only girl left in the class waited until the end of Pride and Prejudice to tell her mom that she doesn't want to go to the school anymore. She doesn't want to take Grunter's class and she doesn't want to learn vocab. So her mom called and told the director she was pulling her daughter out of the school. It was pretty obvious to all involved that it had nothing to do with me. She managed to keep quiet until an hour after our final P and P class. She just had to know how it ended. Don't blame her. I teach it pretty darn well.

HOWEVER. That means no more traveling to the old school to hang out with the boys and Jenn. Now I'm all New School. Goodbye 50 bus. Goodbye Teacher's Lounge. Goodbye Narky!

The Return of the Lent Jar.

For those of you who are unaware, today was Ash Wednesday. It is now Lent and all my Cypriot Girls know what that means... The return of the Lent Jar!! It's going to be 40 days of crazy good fun.

So now the story behind the Lent Jar.

Whenever I spend excessive amounts of time with all of my brothers together I usually come out with some pretty colorful vocabulary. This past holiday season was certainly no exception. I figured that hanging out with California would be good for fixing that, since he's so totally PG, but, sadly, I still haven't fully recovered from all the family fun. Luckily, it's Lent. Just the time for giving something up.

Having already done this once before (Cyprus) I knew the only real solution was Lent Jar. It's not enough just to give something up. I still remember my second grade teacher, Mrs. Bailey, trying to explain the difference between giving up and giving of. So for every word that doesn't belong in a PG movie I have to donate 100won to the Lent Jar and at the end of the 40 days, the proceeds get donated to a good cause. How's that for "giving of"? It counts as long as I give some part of myself to help mankind. The potty mouth part. And whenever I slip up, it's the spare change part.

Jenn has predicted 20,000won and California called dibs on 26,000won. Any other predictions? There's no prize. Just glory.

Sooo... Where is Everyone?

I showed up today at 1:45, let myself in and settled into the counter to get some work done before the superiors showed up. Once they make their appearance all work comes to a standstill. I don't take my work home, so I was hustling hardcore to get it all done before anyone showed up to slow down the day.

I didn't notice anything suspicious until about 4pm when the phone rang and I realized I haven't been trained for situations like these. What am I supposed to do when the phone rings. Blank Stare to the rescue. Do that long enough and eventually it will stop ringing.

Why am I still the only person here? Where is everyone? It's the middle of the school day, for crying out loud. Then I start thinking maybe today was a holiday, too. Maybe Jenn's waiting at home for me right now, but no one can get in touch with me. Why didn't I ever ask about potential situations like that?

I decide to wait it out and see if the Sisters show up for class. At 5pm Sister2 walks in. So somebody else missed the memo about New School being on holiday, too, huh? An hour later, in walks Sister3 and then 60 minutes after that is PandPGirl. So I'm left to conclude that I am in fact in the right place. Alone. I really am New School. After PandPGirl I assumed it would be cool if I left. She walks me out and we try to figure out how to turn on the lights out in the hallway. We find the switches, but none of them work. Why would they? There have only been 4 people on this floor all day. Lighting a floor is expensive.

I was so thankful that I attached Zack Effron to my keys, because I wasn't entirely sure on the procedure for locking up the school and I couldn't see 2 inches in front of my face. PandPGirl ended up calling the director and asking and then she hands me the phone.

R: "Erin!"
E: "Uh, yes? Hello?"
R: "Erin, we won't be able to come to New School. Harry Potter Girl and her mom are here, so we cannot get away."
E: "Oh. That's too bad."
R: "Did you get dinner? You can go home now."
E: "Okay, see you tomorrow."

I was a little confused when I hung up, but turns out I no longer have HPGirl. Jenn got her. Guess I just get all the luck. Now HPGirl has 2.5 hours of private lessons a day. I win. Even though I had just finished writing questions for the first 4.5 chapters...

So on the way out the door I'm still a little amazed that I did it. I'm the youngest teacher here by at least 3 years and they gave me a school. They gave me a key, tested me out and then just gave me the school. Now that's trust. I really am the winner.

Then PandPGirl turns to me and says "My mom wants to drive you home if that's okay." Sure that's okay. It's mega freezing outside. Your mom doesn't scare me at all...

I don't even think I know exactly how to give directions to my home in the states to someone who speaks english. How on earth was I going to explain the roundabout way I get to school. I've never even had to walk myself home before. I'm not entirely sure how it happened, but I saw a 50 bus stop and I knew what to do. The 50 has always been good to me. Except for that time it took me to the mountains and left me standing in the snow for half an hour. That sucked.

But at least I got home. That's what counts, right? And I did it. I successfully survived on my own in New School. Too bad the other teachers had all 3 siblings today. Ha. Ha.

I Spent My Well Money Actually Getting Well This Time.

Finally, the moment I have been waiting weeks for: a Korean Lunar New Year Celebration in Korea with real Koreans. Oh man, it was better than I could've imagined. It was a holiday well spent, for sure.

We started out at Shinsegae in U-Square to buy a few things before meeting up with Christina to celebrate the holiday. At 12:45 we find her hungry and she drives us over to her swanky apartment to meet her mom. Her mom was adorable and spoke almost no english. Didn't matter though, her cooking was wonderful. Beef. I haven't had beef since I first found out how much more it was going to cost me to survive on it as opposed to eggs and tofu. I have missed beef so. And it wasn't just beef, either. No, there was all kinds of fun stuff at the table. All of it Pork-Free. The woman's an angel.

We had that New Years soup with the rice blobs. It was way better when Christina's mom made it and tasted like an actual soup. There were at least 10 different kinds of kimchi and I tried them all. I guess I dislike kimchi in all its forms, but each one comes with health benefits. An offer I couldn't refuse after spending my first Well Money on something so lacking in health benefits. There was also an apple, egg and mayonnaise adventure we mistook for cheesy potatoes. I don't know why we even try guessing what's put in front of us anymore. I don't think we've been given potatoes yet and still we assume every white food is made with potatoes. Six weeks in and we're still making rookie mistakes. Not that it wasn't delicious, cause it was. It was really good for clearing out the kimchi taste.


After lunch we were given a lesson in bowing. Who knew lessons would be necessary. They were. There is form and grace involved which I never believed I could master, but I pulled it off.





That's just us being awesome. We rocked those bows.





And got more Well Money?! Christina's mom handed us our Well Money and delivered her parental guidance and advice. Christina was translating for us and wrote it down on our Well Money envelopes. As best as I can recall (she wrote it down in Korean) it went something along the lines of "have many adventures this year, meet many people and don't be afraid to try new things." I'll have to have her translate it next time we meet.

After the bowing, Christina tried to take us to a real Korean spa. This is where everyone goes for the traditional washing to bring in the new year. The place was packed, but after trying to find a less crowded one we just ended up back at the super packed one.

Super packed with Naked People. I know I mentioned something about how we had to buy robes for this thing, but the spa is actually just a public bath house. You can't take your robe in the water, of course, so we wore our towels in the water. It wasn't the towels that made us stand out. In America, we probably could've convinced ourselves that everyone wasn't looking at us and just pretend that we fit in. Well, this is one of those rare moments where I was forced to accept that I don't look like everyone else. They were staring. Hardcore.



I was much more comfortable after we left the water area and headed on over to the co-ed saunas. Co-ed means clothes. Not cute ones, of course. I'm not sure where these people find shorts in these weird colors, but at least we had shorts, right?

Next time we probably won't be going on the biggest spa day of the year. What am I talking about. Next time I'm playing sick. I know it's a Korean tradition and I have resolved to be Korean while I'm here, but I just wanted to get a facial. We were definitely misled. Spa day was not what I expected.

I did learn how to tie my head towel in that crazy Princess Leia style. I'm going to teach everyone. Definitely the highlight of spa day.

We headed upstairs at the end of it all and grabbed some dinner. Christina did the ordering and felt so bad that she forgot to say "hold the pork" that she ended up fishing out all the ground pork in the center of my bibimbap. I tried to grab the bowl back, but she was going to hold onto it until she got every little piece out. I was so hungry. More hungry than fresh veggies in hot sauce can fix. I wanted more beef. I miss it already.

I had an ice tea to go with it and this was where I realized how much I have changed since being here. It was peach tea loaded with sugar. In America, I don't eat fish or peaches. Who am I? I don't even recognize myself.

This was by far the craziest awkward korean adventure yet. More crazy than the mandarin surprise. More crazy than falling asleep on the bus. More crazy than the Crazy Cake.

Oh Christina...

C: "You have to accept that you're in a different culture now. This is just the way. It's not weird."
E: "Yes. A different culture. A naked culture."
C: "You're an adventurer. You love this."

Happy Lunar New Year!

Today is Korea's Lunar New Year. We have just entered the year of the Tiger, ladies and gents, and I can tell its going to be a good one. I'm a tiger. I know these things.

And what better way to usher in a New Year than by chilling at home enjoying a no pressure Sunday? No school tomorrow! Ahh, three day weekends really are heaven sent. Movies and laundry. That's my kinda holiday.

Since today is the first day in over a week that isn't completely wet, we finally got a chance to do laundry. Doing laundry is a little different here. Instead of putting things in a dryer (which you can't buy here) or hanging them on a clothesline (which takes a week in winter) we just strew them all over the floors. Heated floors, you know. Gets 'em dry overnight. We haven't turned the floor on in a while so it was good to get some heat going in here. Energy conservation. It's a good thing.

Speaking of being Green, Korea takes recycling to a whole new level. The whole nation separates their trash into food items, paper, plastic, metals, boxes, and other. The 10liter other bags are just over $1 a bag. You can bet we're conserving those. Everything else has a place to be thrown outside by the security gate. Ah! And all the trash bags have a serial number so if you get caught throwing away something that has a place somewhere else you get a pretty hefty fine. It's about half our monthly pay check. Yeah. I'm being EXTRA careful.

Back to laundry day, though, with all the steam, this place turns into a sauna. I can't open my windows, either, to air it out since my windows are on the main hallway and people can look in on my stuff and self and can hear everything we say. It's too creepy to try.

I guess the sauna today is good practice for Real Spa Day tomorrow. Christina is taking us and our robes to a traditional Korean Spa. It'll be after we meet and dine with her mother. Korean New Year feast followed by Korean traditional spa. Should be a good time.

Fish Biting At My Feet: This Should Be My Nightmare.

I wouldn't say the day started all that stellar. Our ritual Friday celebration went on into late saturday morning and I ended up catching the bus at 10am solo. Jenn had bounced about 2 hours earlier leaving me to finish the party with the boys. Not having been to bed yet, I couldn't wait to get home and nap before spa day started.

Apparently I couldn't wait that long. I got on the bus, it passed the Wonder Bread Tribute and I passed out. I woke up an hour later to the bus driver yelling as he got off the bus. My stomach drops. Why is the bus parked?

I sat on the bus for another couple minutes trying to process what had happened here. Why was I sitting on the bus holding a half full pizza box sideways surrounded by snow covered mountains? According to the clock I was only a half hour bus ride from my own stop. No biggie. I'll just catch a cab. Spa day doesn't start for another 2 hours.

I get off the bus and look around. There aren't even any roads here. Where are the buildings? The cabs? I don't even know which direction we came from. I get about a half mile down the street thinking "What would Jenn do?" when it hits me. Obviously the bus stopped next to a bus stop sign. Just stand there and get back on it when it comes around. Jenn is always full of good ideas.

I managed to get on the bus, stay awake, and arrive home safe just shy of 1pm. I'm shaken up from my adventure and worrying that Jenn has gone off to Spa Day without me. I didn't even know where Spa Day was, so I was fervently hoping that when I opened her bedroom door she would be there.

And she was. Still asleep. Guess I wasn't the only one who almost slept through our ManiPedi appointment. She was a little sore about being woken up, but I personally think she should be thanking me for her cute nails. The nail lady can only do so much. Showing up is at least half the battle.

We started our mani/pedis with a dip in the fish tank. Flesh eating fish have never been my favorite thing (pirana what?), but having failed to convince Jenn to go first, I plunged my feet right on in. It was the weirdest sensation ever. It felt like little vibrations from the tips of my toes all the way up to mid calf. My whole body was screaming "Take them out take them out!!" but I held on. If that old lady could do it last week, I certainly could, too. I'm definitely doing it again next month.

Next, I headed over to get my first real manicure while Jenn got her toes done. The whole time I was nervous about the pedicure part. I didn't want anyone touching my feet. Feet are gross.

But, as you can see, my toes are super cute. Yes. Those are frogs. You're all jealous.

Our first spa day was such a success I almost can't wait for our appointment next month. I'm already thinking about what to put on my toes next. And it was all under 50. Even my legs feel softer where the fish were biting them.

After we got out of the ugly shorts, I headed home while Jenn shopped. I needed a nap hardcore and I was pretty confident I would never fall asleep on the bus again.

Although if I did, at least I'd know what to do...

I Got the Keys to the School.

I finally made the attempt to walk myself to school today. Success. Only took 15 minutes. I didn't get lost once, good thing, too, since I definitely hadn't planned in any time for that.

Not that it mattered. I walked up the steps and down the scary glass hallway only to arrive at a dark school. What the H? Where is everyone? I decided to wait around for a little bit, see if anyone showed up. Listen to me, "decided"? As if there was anything else I could've done. Why aren't the hallways heated or lit? That was the coldest 90 minutes ever. By the time they showed up, I had convinced myself that they must have sent me an email telling me to go to the Old School. I was on the point of walking back home to check my email, stood up and there they were. Ruby apologized profusely and rushed to open the door. She set the alarm off and out come the security guards. I'm sure they were already suspicious. They had probably already been watching this foreigner loitering for an hour and a half.

I can't be entirely sure what the guard said to them, but it resulted in me being handed a key and the code to the school. They don't know how often they're going to be able to show up on time and this will allow me to avoid any scary yelling guard situations in the future. Talk about putting faith in a teacher. Anyone else get a key? Nope. Just this kid.

Grunter took me out for lunch again and I decided over the tuna fried rice and bibimbop that I was going to stop calling her Grunter. Maybe I'm just being brainwashed, but I kinda like her now. And, no, it's not just cause she's saving me money. She's just nice. Any suggestions for a name change?

Overall tuesday/thursdays are super easy. Just the Sisters back to back and then I get to go home. I can't do any work after that since they keep turning the computer off, but I do like getting home before 9pm. Sure beats getting home at 11. Because it was pouring I got a ride home, too. It wouldn't have mattered if I had walked though, since I have the Milk Lady's umbrella. Man, is it swanky.

I can't wait to get back to Old School tomorrow, though, 'cause I am going through some serious Old School withdrawal. I miss looking up and having someone to talk to. Now I just sit in my March classroom with the heater on talking to myself. Not nearly as satisfying.

On the way home:

E: "What time should I be in tomorrow?"
G: "Whenever you want to."

I'm torn between trying to see how late I can show up before I get into trouble and showing up early to get some extra work done. Judging from the last 3 days, I won't be able to finish up work before the weekend if I don't do it before they get there.

At least I'll be back at Old School when it's time to celebrate yet another Friday Successful Completion Party. I was worried I'd have to bus it back over to hang out.

No worries.

Erin is the Winner.

I was up early this morning- beyond nervous- waiting for my second first day of school to start. Remembering the first time we did this, I don't think a little anxiety was unreasonable. I still didn't even know which Sibling I was going to be sharing New School with, but I knew tension would be running high for them, too. This is New School. This is what we've all been waiting for.

Around 2pm, Grunter shows up. SWEET. Sharing a school day with just Grunter would be super easy. Being the least scary of the three, she would probably make this the easiest transition yet. So my nerves calm down enough to attempt watching where the car is taking us. I will eventually have to figure out how to get there on my own, after all. The fact that it was raining, though, made me truly grateful for the ride. No one wants to get lost in the rain. Been there.

We get to school and I see Ruby out in the hallway sweeping the floor. Maybe she's just visiting? No. Today will be spent with both sisters. Everyday will be spent with both sisters. This seems like a real nightmare, right? Well, I had a lot of first day of school optimism and I was only thinking one thing: Phew. No Narky. Sucks to be the other teachers!

I start to make my way back to the teachers' room and was told that I had to be the receptionist (or "counter teacher," as the kids say) so that I could keep an eye out for the students. (Ruby: "Receptionist is foreigner, haha, people will think is strange school!") Ruby and her sister had a lot of cleaning to do. They weren't cleaning the inside of the school, though, they were cleaning the hallway out into the rest of the building. They didn't want anyone to think that the school was in a bad area because the rest of the building was dirty.

Speaking of the rest of the building, there doesn't seem to be anything in it. It's three floors and the only one that's hoppin is the first floor. There are three restaurants down there- fish, judging by the smell. Up on the 3rd floor, where the school is, there is only one office space filled. It's probably the only space that's even finished. Looking through the glass walls I saw a lot of crumbled concrete and broken chairs. There're a lot of glass walls to walk past before you get to the school. Mega eerie. The hallways aren't lit or heated, either, so it's like a scene straight out of a horror flick. I couldn't walk into the school fast enough. Once in the school, it's very nice and clean. There are lights aplenty and just as soon as they turned the heat on, I knew the goosebumps would go away.

So back to being Counter Teacher. I sat behind the desk for 2 hours shivering. Like, when are we going to turn the heat on? Am I the only one wearing a coat and gloves? For goodness sake, I can see my breath... Grunter poked her head out of the office every now and then to use the computer or offer me a rice cake. Not the crunchy kind. This stuff kind of resembles a... well, I don't exactly know. Its like a super compressed cake. It's not spongey at all. Just... It kind of reminds me of string cheese. I'll have to bring some home. I like it. And it had this powdered red bean stuff on it. I do enjoy the red bean stuff.

Anyways, at 4:00 exactly, Ruby opens her door, comments on the cold and moves the party into her office. The "party" being me, of course, I jumped on it. They had a space heater and I was too frozen to be nervous about being in the demon's lair. Come what may, I was definitely going to be warm. It was heavenly, I definitely didn't want to leave when my first student showed up at five.

I had picked the March classroom, for obvious reasons, and almost immediately realized what a bad call that was. It's within view of Ruby's office door. Oops. I wonder if I can take it back...

But March has a heating unit up by the ceiling! And a camera dome....? Not that I had anything to hide about my teaching style. I'm pretty loud when I start getting into a book so all they have to do is stand outside my door to hear what's going on. Never been afraid of volume, that's for sure. There's just something about being watched while you're doing it...

I had Sister2 first. She loves talking. Any english she knows she says. Yet again, I was grateful the little girls next door made me watch so much Disney Channel. Miley Cyrus and the Jonas Brothers are, of course, internationally famous.

I was supposed to have Sister3 right away, but Grunter thought I might be hungry so she treated me to some Kimbap, spicy ramen and doboki (sp? pronunciation?) She offered to get sushi for me tomorrow. There's a sushi buffet downstairs, but there was no time for a buffet today. I wasn't watching the clock, but I figured Grunter knew when I had to be back and she didn't seem concerned about the time.

So I was late for Sister3. Not the best first impression. Apparently not a first impression at all. I had noticed with Sister2 that she brought up things I had spoken to PandPGirl about. And this morning, Grunter mentioned that the sisters were all very happy with me. Sister3 did it, too. She talked about things that I'm positive I have never spoken to her about. I know I met them my first day teaching, because they came with Ruby to come pick us up and take us to school. I may have even sat in on a private lesson of Miss Honey's with one of them. I wouldn't say I know them, though.

Sister2 said she saw Jenn and I waiting for a bus on saturday and she yelled out "Hey! It's Sister2!! Hey!!" I didn't notice and even if I had heard it, I'm not sure I would've recognized her. She wasn't one of my students then.

So the Director and her sister both interrupted my class. One to come in and turn on the heater and offer me a glass of water to cool the burning of the spicy ramen. The other to offer me an orange. What's going on here? They've been giving me snacks all day. I offered them both bananas and gave the rest to my students. In Korea, when you have food you're supposed to offer it to whoever is near you while you're eating it. Now I understand what Jenn was saying. You can't just hold a bunch of bananas or a few apples. You have to offer them to the crowd. Got it.

PandPGirl was last and during the lesson I realized we are almost done with the book. That sucks. Jane Austen has been super cool to me. She got me almost 6 weeks of not being yelled at, a whole family asking to have me, and the best reputation I could hope for. Now I have to pick a new book. I kind of feel like whichever book we do next will be a serious step down, though. I don't even have any ideas. Maybe Gulliver's Travels? Any and all suggestions welcome.

After class, The Sisters' Mother came to talk to me. Her girls are all very happy with my lessons. They are so excited that they all get to have me. I guess PandPGirl put in a good word for me. Then the mom offered to give me a ride home. Whoa. Luckily, she didn't know what street I lived on so I didn't have to impose. But seriously. How awesome am I.

Ruby's told me before that the Sisters' mother is her favorite parent. So having that parent on my side is the best thing that could've happened here. Now I just have to avoid screwing up.

Two points for Erin.

I Want to Say "For Real This Time," But It's Just So Risky.

I was supposed to start at the New School today. When I left on Friday I hauled all my stuff home since New School has nothing. No books. Any books I would need to teach, I was going to have to bring with me. It was a lot. The only real downside to having so many private lessons is that each student has their own lesson plan and 2 or 3 of their own books. No biggie. I would only have to haul this mess once.

At 12:45, Narky shows up at my door. Oh Crap. Is he the Korean teacher working at New School? No. He came to get me to show me the New School before giving me a ride to Old School. So I checked out New School. It was freezing, the Teacher's Lounge was awful, it had 12 classrooms and almost all the windows were covered by the giant New School opening banner. The classrooms were pretty big and named after the months of the year. Only one misspelling in the whole school: Janusry. Oops. At least there are enough classrooms that I won't have to worry about teaching in the Dining Room anymore. The teacher's lounge at Old School has all the desks facing eachother so you can talk to other teachers inbetween tasks. The New School lounge seems to have been designed to fix this productivity snafu. The desks are all facing the walls and are separated on either side of the room by about 15 feet. No more conversing with the other side of the room.

What am I talking about. There isn't even anyone there to talk to. Just me. In the teacher's lounge. Aww man...

I watched the clock tick down 2 hours. It was big, but certainly not 2 hours big. As 2pm came and went I couldn't help thinking about how I could've been at school teaching One some serious grammar, and instead I was here watching Narky set up a couple of computers.

Then he took the long way home, almost got us both killed and turned a 30 minute bus ride into a 40 minutes car ride. Why was the car longer? Don't buses make stops...? Yeah, they do. Then he swung by an eel place to show me where to find the best eel in the city. I said something back when we were living with the Director about how I think I like eel.

E: "Oh great, you'll have to write the address down for me so I can find it again."
N: "Address? Ummmm... It will be hard to know, I think."

Sooo... how am I supposed to find it again? What was the point of that?

We get to the old school right about 3pm and I had another day of a class and a half. I know it was only 2 hours, but I missed Old School hardcore. I still don't really know who is going to be at New School with me, but it sounds like MWF its going to be Grunter. She's supposed to be the one driving me back to Old School those evenings to teach my second Pride and Prejudice class. Since I don't have any class before 4 any day of the week, I was kind of hoping they'd say something about bussing me back for One, but evidently Miami hasn't sucked yet, so they're in no real hurry to help me out there.


So it's Super Bowl Monday over on this side of the world and congratulations Drew Brees. I am curious to know, however, why you didn't rock that hard during the fantasy football season. Anyways, Miami and Jenn hit up Speakeasy tonight which is showing the game. It actually happened this morning so Jenn knows who's won already. I don't actually love football and the Steelers were a no go so I came home and enjoyed having the apartment to myself. It is excellent.

That concludes my last full day at Old School. Tomorrow I'm at New School. Quite possibly for real this time. We'll see, won't we.

Pay Day. Not Just a Candy Bar.

I got paid today!! And it was a great feeling.

I had to open up a bank account this morning in order to get paid, though. It was kind of weird. I think they messed up my name on the card since Jenn's is last name first and mine is first and middle name first. First and middle combined as if its one word. It's the super long name I always wanted. No more 4 letter first name for this kid...

In all seriousness, though, lasting through the first pay day was such a relief. Especially since I hit up one of those friday street markets this morning and spent my last 13,000won. Not my most financially responsible move, to be sure, but no regrets. It's a really cute white bag that looks like its covered in newsprint, but upon closer inspection you notice that its not english. In fact, its not any language. Just someone typing on a keyboard and hitting the space bar when so inclined. It's a pretty nice piece. I can't show you, cause my camera charger's in america, but it's definitely a keeper.

A great start to my last day at old school. Man. I'm really going to miss the teachers' lounge. At first I didn't want the day to end. When it got to be 11pm I started to think it never would. Couldn't be avoided. I had to find out when I was getting picked up and ask about which books I was taking and all that good stuff.

And Miami got One. I want to hate him, but I know he's not too fond of me right now. Grammar is his nightmare. He kept trying to explain that he moved to the US in 4th grade, so he didn't especially enjoy grammar. Ineffective. Sorry, Miami. I'd take him back if I could.

The One brought me a set of swanky pens. They are amazing. I love them. I miss him already. Maybe Miami will suck and One's parents will demand to have me bussed over to old school every morning to teach him grammar. Maybe, right?

One also taught me a little something about the Steelers.
O: "There is a Korean playing on that team?"
E: "Umm.. I don't think so...
O: "Oh, Hines Ward?"

Somebody give that kid a sticker! Hines Ward is Korean. Go One! I do NOT want to give him over to Miami...

Speaking of students, I turned Kid1's fate over to Ruby today. I'm done trying to teach some pompous brat who doesn't even do homework. I also trashed the book we were reading. Thanks to me no one will ever have to read that plotless 60pgs of trash ever again. Guess I've successfully made my transition here. When the boss agrees with your opinion on a book she's never read, you know you're safe. For now.

So I packed up the contents of my desk in my green eco friendly Giant bag and said goodbye to Old School.

Yet Again, I Am the Only Member on the Girl's Team.

What the Hockey Sticks. It IS just me. I will be the only teacher in the new school until March. I am the new school. Come monday, I am exiled. Voted off the island. Eliminated.

I am on a team by myself.

Luckily, a childhood of boys team (4) versus girls team (1) has prepared me for just such a situation as this. My new seemingly endless optimism has allowed me to see the forest through the trees. This isn't just an exile. No, this is my escape from Narky. No longer will I have to avoid him all day long. So I guess I am the luckiest of all the teachers. Theerrre's that silver lining. Score one for girls team.

... But what about The One...? I'm resolved to dislike whichever teacher gets him next. They're dead to me.

No, not really, but friday is going to be one depressing day. My only consolation is that The One may be coming back in August and can pick the new school if he wants to. Which I super hardcore hope he does.

And how about being the only teacher? That's gonna be nuts...

Guess I get first pick on classrooms.

No, Your Eyes Do Not Deceive You.

THAT is a bed. I know. I'm excited, too. Let me tell you bout this bed.



Narky screwed up. I knew it, you knew it, we all knew it. Bed guys don't deliver on Saturdays. No one's even sure they deliver at all. Apparently his sisters were unaware that he was so incompetent. Amazing. How did he get so far without anyone figuring it out?

Well, a monster fight ensued between the siblings at school during one of my classes. I was pretty engrossed in what The One was saying so I didn't bother trying to eavesdrop. Jenn walks by the door, as per usual, and gives me a thumbs up and happy face. SAFE. No need for me to worry.

I get out of class and Jenn whispers, "You're getting a chest of drawers today." Not a bed? Wow. Priorities...

The Headmistress calls me into the office and apologizes profusely for what she just kept calling "Narky's very big fault." The Grunter was so upset by his inability to follow up on a bed order that the altercation very nearly turned physical. She tells me they put my chest of drawers into the van and were going to bring it over tonight.

But then they found out that I don't have a bed. So they loaded up miniKim's bed and were going to bring that over. NOOOOOOoooooo..... The very same bed I tried to trade for a floor.

"Is she joking?"

No. She is not. I might still get a different bed by friday, but it's pretty unlikely. I mean, it took me 2 weeks to get the very same bed I thought I had managed to escape from. There's just no running from miniKim's bed.

Its not all bad, though. I feel like it's not as bad as I remembered. Maybe it's because I don't have to wake up with the sun anymore. Or maybe it's the fact that it's in our own apartment. I just can't be sure, but it feels like a cloud. I haven't slept on it yet, but I'm keeping upbeat. The drawers should be here at 10am tomorrow. The boys say I'm setting my self up for disappointment. Jenn says don't get your hopes up too high. "We've been burned by '10am' before. Just don't expect too much."


I'll stay positive, thank you very much, and we'll see won't we?

The excitement didn't end there, of course. I had a lot of free time today. Day school has begun again and a lot of my students have stopped private lessons, I think. I don't know for sure, but I do know that I only had 2 of my usual 7 students today. As long as I have The One I don't have a problem with it. I tried to ask about the new schedules and was told "Tomorrow is too soon to switch to New School, I think." ... Yeah, me too. Am I moving by myself? I'm not used to them telling me anything. And no one said anything to Jenn.

So is this the last week we get to work with the boys? Are they splitting us into Boys Team and Girls Team? Why is Girls Team always smaller? I am going to miss the Old School. Especially if I'm the only one moving...




Anyways, with all our free time today, we decided to finally take pictures of our classrooms. Mine is the Dining Room. Doesn't really matter, I guess. I'm getting a whole new school, right?


There's me at my desk. It looks much better with me behind it. Miami sits to my left, California's directly across from me, Jenn's to his right and New Guy's behind California. For Now. I'm sure once I'm exiled he'll grab my desk. Maybe the desk was cursed...





And, of course, what's an adventure without a nice Hominid face? Hear that, Belize Kids? There're Hominids in Korea, too.



Now I'm off to break in my new-to-me bed. Time to test if absence really does make the heart grow fonder.

Without the sun shining through my window at the crack of dawn I've had to set an alarm. Or try to, I guess. Not so self-explanatory after all, mom. I probably coulda done with a few written instructions. Not worried. I have a mental panic button that keeps me from sleeping past 7.5 hours when I'm in a foreign country. Its a pretty cool feature. A gift, if you will.

I cannot wait to sprawl on my twin bed. Cause its mine. My Bed Day. My Bed.