Pen Pals

This is my friend Katie. We went to the same college, and for about 3 years we had almost every class together. We built starburst towers in the back of the classroom and she made me a checklist of the due dates of all our assignments to keep me from going crazy. Then we did our student teaching in the same school. Then we came to Korea together. Then she left me to go back to Wisconsin and I cried. 

Now she teaches 4th grade and we decided to make our students be pen pals. When I first told my kiddos what we were going to do I had to explain it a few times before they really understood it. "I will write a letter to America? And America will write a letter to me? Teacher real? (sometimes they just say real instead of really)" They giggled at all the silly American names like Drake and Sophie and told their new friends about their families and how they like chicken and pizza but they don't like studying.

Then 2 weeks later Katie's letters came, and oh my gosh. I've never answered so many questions about mail in my life. 

"Teacher how did this get here?" 

"It came in the mail kids." 

"From America? Real?" 

"Yes."

"But how?"

"On an airplane."

"Teacher did you write this letter?"

"No I didn't write that letter! Your American friend wrote to you."

"Sophie is a real person?"

Needless to say their little minds were blown and I told my boss we better plan a field trip to the post office, because mail is apparently very confusing.

We've done this a few times now and after they got pictures of their American friends I think it finally sunk in that there is a real child out there they are communicating with. They know about how long it takes to hear back after we've written and they ask for days when their mail is coming. And no matter what kind of mood they're in when class starts, they get so excited and happy to read their letters from their pen pals. It's adorable. Our most recent ones were Christmas cards with Christmas pencils. So cute!

So thanks for doing this Katie! I'm having just as much fun with it as the students are. 

My students are funny

The kiddos did some pretty cute stuff this week. I've been teaching them for a few months now and I think they're starting to feel more comfortable with me and they're showing off more of their personalities. They say the funniest things, and the best part to me is that half the time they don't even know they're being funny. 

ShinWoo is in 5th grade and he's becoming one of my favorites. He's the quiet but quirky type. And he's so small - looking at him I'd guess he was in 2nd or 3rd grade. He sat down in class this week and I asked him if he did his homework and he said, "Yes teacher, because I am handsome." And then smiled at his own joke. Because handsome = smart I guess? A few days later we were reading a story titled A Difficult Decision about a boy who finds a toy in the park and has to decide whether he should keep it or return it. Riveting literature. I asked the class what would be a difficult decision for them to make and ShinWoo raised his hand and said, "Choosing between SunWoo (a girl he apparently likes) and my mom. That would be hard." And he was so serious about it that I couldn't even laugh. 

In another class I was writing something on the whiteboard, and when I turned around I saw a boy blowing up a giant green balloon. He obviously knew that wasn't something he should be doing in English class, so he tried to hide it under his desk when I caught him. I'm sure he expected me to get mad but I just laughed so hard...where did that even come from and why do you want to blow it up right now?! And how do you think you're going to hide it from me? Then I started to wonder what his thought process was - English is a little boring today so I'll spice it up a little bit with this balloon? 

My students are pen pals with my friend Katie's students in Wisconsin, and we started writing them Christmas cards on Friday. There's one boy who is so quiet, he hardly ever shows emotion. I think I've seen him smile 3 times. When I told the class they were going to write Christmas cards for their American friends, he put his head down and started writing and didn't look up till I told him it was time to go. He made this:

He made letters into pictures, he used a million exclamation points, he drew a giant tree behind the whole thing. And he would have done more but it was time to go home. It was so sweet. I'm glad I finally found something that gets him excited. 

One of my highest level classes is only boys and I look forward to teaching them every day. They're all upper elementary and they can speak well enough to really express themselves - to me and to each other. They're all friends and they're all so funny. One of them was making this really strange helicopter noise while they were writing and another kid said, "Why you make that stupid noise?!" and helicopter boy shrugged and said, "Just because." The rest of us laughed so hard and he continued being a helicopter for a little while longer. 

Oh kids. Stuff like this is why I love teaching. 

Oh no

So bad, so funny.  I couldn't not take a picture. 

Fall fall fall

One of the things I really love about living in Korea but haven't gotten to do lately is day trips. It's very easy to get stuck in a routine around here, but its also so much fun to get out and do something different for a little bit. It feels like a mini, mini vacation. Everything is more fun when it doesn't happen in your own city, right? It's also fun when you take a crew of 8 people with you. 

So we got on the train and went to Gyeogju to see the fall leaves. Busan has the ocean, which is magnificent, but the ocean doesn't change colors with the seasons. And we have a lot of buildings, but not a lot of trees, therefore not a lot of leaves. It hasn't really felt like fall yet. The temperature has been dropping and I've been wearing sweaters (my favorite) every day, but there's no red and orange in the trees, no apple orchards, no hay rides, no pumpkin flavored anything. It's not truly fall until you've crunched through a pile of dead leaves, so off we went! 

Literally the first thing I did after getting out of the taxi - feet. in. grass.

We took a walk around a lake/river/big pond. We stopped and took a lotttt of pictures, threw some rocks, threw some leaves, hopped across some stepping stones, ate some snacks. 

This is my favorite picture of the day. 

 The city we visited is very historic...I think it used to be the capital a long long time ago? All those hills are tombs of kings and their wives. I know there's a pile of bones under there, but I kept thinking about how fun it would be to run to the top and then roll down the hill.

 Ta-da! This is what I've been waiting for all season.

Girls picture. 

And now I'm ready to move on to Christmas. Starbucks put up red and gold the day after Halloween, and I don't hate it. Normally I want to get through Thanksgiving first, but this year I'm ok with celebrating an extra long Christmas. Ho ho ho!

At work yesterday...

When I got to work yesterday the boss lady and some kids were standing in the hallway because the door was broken. We could unlock it but not open it. The top corner somehow got jammed overnight so we were stuck outside. The kids thought it was hilarious of course. Boss lady did not find it hilarious, and she went to find a locksmith and I stayed behind with the children. My coworker James showed up and wondered why we were all waiting around out in the hallway. I told him what the problem was and he yanked that door right open. For a second we were excited, then pretty immediately we regretted it. We decided next time to just leave the door closed and go home - good excuse to not work right?

In between the first and second classes a spontaneous game of "What time is it Mr. Fox" broke out. It was seriously so cute and heartwarming to see all the kids actually playing nicely together. There were first graders and fifth graders and boys and girls, and everybody was happy. I loved it!

In one of my highest classes we were working on writing, and in the spirit of Halloween I gave them words like ghost and zombie and monster to make sentences with. I told them to write a sentence with blood and one boy wrote this: I killed my sister and her blood was red. Ahhh, sibling love. 

I finished out the day by teaching Lightning Thief to my middle school class. I read that book in a young adult lit class and loved it, and now I'm having so much fun teaching it! I'm thrilled to have students that not only understand what they're reading, but enjoy it too. One girl laughs out loud a lot...its so cute. I have a good time just watching her read and giggle at the funny parts.

A million dollar purse?

I went to the department store yesterday morning, and while I was riding the escalator I looked down and saw this:

They set up a structure, a large structure, to showcase 4 purses. They put those purses in glass boxes and had men in suits escort potential customers around while other men in suits offered them champagne and kept regular people out of the structure. 

What? Really? Why?! At first I was intrigued, because for somebody to go through all that effort this must be a big deal. Except it wasn't, it was 4 purses. Then I was disgusted, because I'm all for pretty things but you cannot convince me that anything is worth this. This bag is not going to cure cancer, some rich lady is maybe going to buy it and put her mascara and tissues in it. Then I was curious, because what in the world could possibly be so special about these bags? Did the leather come from rare cows? Is there a golden egg inside? With your purchase do you also get one of the men in suits to always follow you around offering you champagne?

And then I thought about how much one of these probably costs and how much money I have in my bank account and I got a little sad and bought a $2 notebook and left. The end. 

Home Sweet Home

I paid rent yesterday, which means I've been living in my apartment for a month! It feels like it's been about a week. It's starting to feel very cozy and comfortable around here. I've bought bedding, a mirror, a lamp, pots and pans...the more I bring home the happier it feels. It's fun making this place mine. 

I made a nice video tour for you but it was being difficult and I got tired of trying to get it to upload, so these pictures will have to do. 

 Bathroom. Self-explanatory. 

 Kitchen. I still need to get a table - I've got this nice wooden white one in my head and now I just have to find it in real life. I tried to hang some pictures the other night and I learned that my walls are made of cement. I tried 3 times and bent 3 nails. The first time I thought I did something wrong, the second time I thought maybe it was because my hammer has flowers on it, and the third time I concluded it was the wall's fault. So, the pictures sit on the floor. 

 Bedroom. My window looks out at another building and I realize this may not sound appealing to you, but it blocks the sun in the morning and that is very appealing to me. The kitchen is on the other side of the wall on the left, and I like the separation. My apartment is technically a one-room but because of the wall it doesn't feel like it.

Bedroom part 2. TV, closet, storage, and friends. 

And there you have it! My home sweet home.