Working miracles

I found a $1 store in Korea. For $1 I bought sticky wallpaper to put in my kitchen. See that bottle of wine on the counter... that used to be water!
This is my nook. I quit TV and have since inherited a free guitar, table, and several books.

unplugged

I'm turning off my television, limiting my computer to school and music, and trying to rest my brain.

I will now sit and eagerly await the moment when my muscles unclench and the scattered matter inside my head slows to a quite hum.

This could take days.

the kiddos

Jun-Han. He is crazy!

This is May. She is also crazy. And a little handful.

Today we were supposed to go on a field trip to the aquarium, but it rained. The parents didn't want their kids stepping onto a bus exposed to the poisonous rain, so instead they stepped onto a bus and went to GDA. When I finally wrap my brain around that one, I will explain what that means. As you can see, some of the kids were a little upset. I decided to let them play with my camera to cheer them up. May took this picture of Jae-Hee crying. When Jae-Hee saw how sad she looked, she started laughing.

This is Sharon. Two seconds before this photo she was crying, most likely because Jae-Hee was crying. We got the camera and she cheered right up. I said smile.
Then I said silly face. She is still learning English.

here we go

On my way home from the gym, where I just got my very own membership, I decided it really was time to exit "vacation mode" and enter into my new reality here in Seoul. I keep saying this, but I am surprised how easily I have accommodated to Korean life - the food, the job, the friends. Walking home I realized that I really haven't had that culture shock moment I'd expected.

My guts, however, have been singing a completely different tune. I won't sing it for you now, but I did sing it...and dance it...to a complete stranger.

I took my guts to an herbal pharmacy full of mystical remedies and was welcomed by an older woman. I pointed to my angry stomach and began grunting, pouting my lips, puffing out my cheeks and waddling around like a bloated penguin- generally trying to get the point across that I was in agony. She watched patiently and quietly until I was finished with my little constipation dance, then asked if I had been eating a lot of bread of drinking too much beer.

"Sometimes," she said, "that can cause some intestinal problems and those foods should be avoided."

Before the red in my cheeks could reach their full brilliance, she cracked open a bottle and a pouch of grain and forced it down my throat. She didn't charge me. (Perhaps it was the humiliating bowel dance I did.) She just told me to hurry home and go to bed within the next 4 hours.

Not entirely sure what is about to happen to my body. Not entirely sure what it was I ingested. All I know is the next time I walk into a pharmacy with an ailment, Ill ask if they've ever lived in New York for 10 years and speak perfect English. Spare me the shame.

UPDATE: it worked.

when texas meets korea

Jane came to visit last week and I had such a great time with her and her friend Bart. The perfect pair to wander around seoul with and discover what an amazing city I now live in. It was painfully hot, but amazing. I will post more but wanted you all to see a peak at the temple. I thought it was beautiful and so quiet sitting in the center of such a busy city full of noise.

snow white class

This is my Snow White class. They are the first level of kindergarten meaning when they started school at GDA a few months ago they had never heard English. I have been told by other teachers that most of them cry the first week. I adopted them after the crying, and right around that point where all they do is repeat what I say, then say no.

For example: Teacher- "Grace, please sit down and be quiet."
Grace- "Grace, please sit down and be quiet," arms folded in protest in the corner of the room. "NO!" It's pretty awesome.

Top, left to right: Alex, Jun-Han and Jae-Hee. Alex is just about the cutest boy that every existed. He wears suspenders that tug his pants to his navel and after he uses the bathroom, has bits of shirt hanging out. Jun-Han is like a rubber band. He can't sit down and he can't control his enthusiasm, or boredom for that matter. Yesterday when I told him we were going to make chickens and pigs and hang them on the wall, he lept into the air, arms waving, and shouted "oh boy, oh boy!" Jae-Hee is shy but sweet. She is just getting comfortable with English and that deer in the headlights look I saw the first week is starting to fade.

Bottom, left to right: That is Grace. Grace always has an ouchy that "hurts many so bad a lot, teacher!" and always has to pee. She knows more English than most of the kids and is younger, but somehow only manages to utter three bits of vocabulary: no, pee-pee, and MINE! Next to Grace is Alex. He looks scared.