An Update!!!

I just discovered that one of my students is about thirty pages ahead in her spelling book because her mother has decided that I am not moving through the material quickly enough. My student also told me that if she does not progress, at a speed her mother deems appropriate, she will quit. From I can tell progress means finishing the book (Korean parents are obsessed with external accomplishments) It was rather an unpleasant revelation to receive in the middle of class. I kind of wanted to cry. I want so much for my student's to actually absorb the material, not just complete the books. It felt like a slap in the face.

On a much happier note, Spring has arrived in Korea and it is beautiful. The city I live in is new and a beneficiary of city planning so there are flowers everywhere. Beautiful, luminous flowers - pink, purple, tropical orange, and white. Huge, thick patches on the side of the road and in parks. 

         I absolutely love the white flowers :)

                                         So many colors!

Before now I was not terribly impressed with the Korean landscape, but Spring has improved my opinion. Also, because of field trips and school exams I have had four classes instead of five this week. And next Tuesday is Children's Day- so it will be another light week!

Lazy and Unapologetic

I have been remiss in my posting. For some reason I've felt overwhelmed by the thought of writing. Its so much work and I tend to agonize over word choice, order, sentence structure, etc. This tends to be beneficial for essay writing but not for blogging. I am still feeling lazy so this will be a bullet points post highlighting exciting events from the past few weeks.

1. I had two more seizures three weeks ago. I was admitted to the hospital for the day and released in the evening. Last week I met with the doctor and he said that they don't really know what caused the seizures as all my tests have been normal. He prescribed medicine that I would have to take for at least three years. I have not decided what to do about that.

2. Aaron and I visited Hwaseong Fortress - a defensive wall built in the 1700's. It was actually much more interesting then it sounds. It was mostly a very big stone wall, but there were also many traditional Korean structures throughout the fortress. I love the beautiful curves of Eastern Architecture.

3. I bonded with two of my students while listening to the Beatles on Youtube a few weeks ago. Although we are separated by language and culture, we found common ground through the immortal music of the Beatles. It was pretty sweet.

4. On the flip side, two students accused me of cheating. In their opinion, I helped the opposing team with unfair hints. Basically, the students were supposed to spell a word and I simply defined that word for them. Boy, was the other team mad. That was pretty much high treason in their eyes. There is enough personal drama involved in teaching kids to inspire a hit soap opera or show on the CW. (That distinction was probably redundant :) )