The Week in Short

Although this week is short because of Christmas it has not been without excitement. 

1. Harry, one of my kindergarten students, started crying in the middle of class. I think the other kids were mocking him because he and another little girl, Julie, both received stickers for winning the same game. Apparently this was enough for them to conclude they were in some kind of relationship because they all started singing "Congratulations" I think thats what happened. They were all shouting in Korean so it was hard to tell. Kind of a rocky way to start a relationship but he's young. 

2. A little boy, Larry, had a bloody nose right before class started. He was remarkably composed about it. No tears, no hysterics. He actually seemed quite cheerful, chattering away, sticking tissue up his nose, and harassing the other students. 

3. It snowed!! Not much but it was still beautiful for a few hours. The kids were very excited and some brought in hardened snowballs that proceeded to melt during class. 

4. Best of all tomorrow is Christmas. I am so very excited although I miss my family terribly and wish I could celebrate with them. Merry Christmas to all my readers. May the joy of this season be with you always. 

 

Part Three

To top off an amazing weekend, Aaron took me on a date to an Indian restaurant in the basement of the Seoul Finance Center which is a lot classier than it sounds. There were many other restaurants in the same area. One was a sushi place that had a rotating conveyer belt in the center and tables arranged around it. The patrons removed whatever food they wanted from the belt. It looked really cool. We, however, were there for the Indian food which was delicious. They had real nan and saffron rice. Aaron brought some poems and read them to me as we ate.
It was a very food oriented weekend. There is not much variety in my diet here so anything new is quite a treat. Now it is Monday and I am back to the grind. Thankfully it is a short week because of Christmas :)

Part Two

On Saturday I went to Leesum Art Museum in Seoul. It a very posh art museum, the kind of place you would hold some fabulous soiree for a high finance company or a fundraiser to save dying sea anemones or something. The museum is actually divided into two separate museums designed by different architects. The first houses an excellent collection of traditional Korean art. Beautiful pottery, calligraphy, prints, and Buddhist sculptures. I found the blue-green celadon pottery with delicately sketched cranes, peonies, and plum trees particularly beautiful. In this part, the artifacts are illuminated but the rest of the exhibit is quite dark. There are no windows and you descend to each level by a white circular staircase. It has very solemn and splendid feel.

The second museum has modern art from Korea, America, and Europe. I saw Warhol and Kooming. This part had a kind of trendy, upscale warehouse feel. An exposed ceiling, rectangular windows, and steel walls. The design fit perfectly with the abstract and often minimalistic art. One work contained rows and rows of different colored pills, another had many tv screens piled high that showed various images. On a patio outside there was one huge metal spider which I was not so much a fan of.
After visiting the gift shop, I took the subway to Itaewon- an area full of international restaurants. My little town has mostly Korean food so it was a welcome relief. I spent a good 45 minutes trying to find a french restaurant that my guidebook recommended but it was well worth the search. The food was divine. I had a pastry filled with Camembert cheese for an appetizer, roasted scallops and risotto with lobster sauce as an entree, and an amazing white wine from France. There was even a French guy sitting at the table across from me. I felt very cool and sophisticated and forgot for one evening that I was a poor schoolteacher from the countryside of Korea :)

A Fabulous Weekend- In Three Parts

It has been quite a weekend. On Friday evening Aaron and I went out to dinner with our TaeKwando class. Before dinner we played a quick game of soccer inside with a ridiculously bouncy ball. We went to dinner at a Korean pork restaurant- you grill the pork at your table and eat it with a bewildering and ever varying array of side dishes. This particular restaurant provided a box of rice cakes in which we wrapped pieces of pork. You can also eat the pork with grilled kimchi or garlic. This is my favorite type of Korean food. After the meal, we went to a karaoke room. The Koreans love rooms for specific things and they are quite taken with karaoke. You sit in room, pick songs, and sing while a little bouncing object tells you how long to spend on each word. We sang the Eagles, the Beatles, ABBA, Nat King Cole, and some Korean artists. Everyone was off key but noone really cared. It was so much fun.

I just received a package from my family. It was full of wrapped presents, candles, an ornament, fudge, and nuts. What a wonderful surprise!! I miss my family especially now that it is Christmas so it was nice to find a little bit of home in a box that traveled around the world.

I have been taking TaeKwanDo lessons here with a teacher, Master Kim, who attends my church. Its alot of fun and a great way to stay in shape. On Wednesday evening, Master Kim introduced Aaron and I to the ballet teacher who has a studio on the same floor. She took us out for drinks at a nearby bar and we had a fantastic time. Her English was limited and our Korean basically non-existent but somehow we managed to have a good conversation. One of Master Kim's students and his parents came too. The ballet teacher handed the student a shot of Soju, a Korean liquor, to the boy when his mom got up. We all giggled surreptitiously when she came back.
It has been a long time since I have had so much fun with a big group of people. Just when I feel most isolated God blesses me with an experience like that. He is very good.

I sadly do not meet one of the most important requirements for a grade school teacher; I cannot draw to save my life. Any four legged animal I attempt to sketch on the chalkboard ends up looking like some bizarre combination of a dog, a rabbit, and a horse. My stars are lopsided and even my rectangles are mishapen. All this has lead me to conclude that Google Image is a beautiful thing.

To Arcadia

In order to obtain an E-2 visa for teaching I had to travel to US soil and since my employers decided that the mainland was too far away Guam was the best option. It was a beautiful island and a welcome respite from the bitter cold of winter. I think it was 80 degrees when I landed. On Monday I spent about 4 hours on the beach, enjoying the clear water and a nearby cliff. I even got a sunburn ... in December. Oh the irony of life...







After the beach, I ate at Wendy's, went shopping, and found brown boots that fit! It was pretty exciting :) For dinner I went to an upscale seafood restaurant and had real cheese, pinot noir, and tuna. The whole trip was an idyllic vacation from the challenges of teaching. I would definitely love to go back someday.