Lately I've been...

Lately I've been watching the Olympics. Non-stop. Cannot get enough. I even have an app on my phone with photos and articles and recaps and all kinds of other goodies. I'm writing this blog post in the middle of the night waiting for the hockey game I stayed up to watch to start. I just get so caught up in the competition, and it seems like every athlete has some emotional or inspiring story. The theme song alone excites me. I love it all. I don't know what I'm going to do when they're over.

Lately I've been re-reading the Hunger Games. It's so silly because I've read the series before and seen the movies - I know exactly what's going to happen but I still get so into it. Literally I was reading on the subway today, heart racing, and I almost missed my stop for work. Imagine if I had been late and that was my excuse.

Lately I've been walking little Bear several times a day. He made some bad choices last week that landed him in his kennel while I'm at work, so by the time I get home he has tons of pent up energy that needs to be released in the outdoors. Rain, sun, cold, or snow he does not care. Fun fact: after a rainy walk he hates being dried off with a towel. He cries like he's being tortured and I'm just waiting for my neighbors to come over one night prepared to rescue him from his cruel owner.

Lately I've been listening to nothing. Usually I like to listen to my music during my commute but I forgot my headphones a few days ago and I liked it so much that I chose not to bring them. It's kind of exciting being aware of my surroundings. The other night on my way home I heard a loud clacking sound and I realized I've been walking past a tap dancing studio every single day and never noticed. A tap dancing studio! How could I not know that was there? I'm sure it's either filled with little kids or old women, and I can't decide what would be better. I hope they have a recital one day.

Lately I've been so frustrated with one of my students. He consistently comes 30 minutes late to a 55 minute class. He hasn't done his homework since December and he brings his books and pencil less than half the time. He has given up, his mom has given up, and I'm very tempted to give up too. What's the point of me trying to get him to make an effort when no one else expects that of him? But at the same time if everybody lets him slack off in life what's his future going to look like? Ugh.

Lately I've been eating McDonalds often. Like once a week. They built one around the corner and I can't resist. Cooking is so much work and burgers taste so good. Don't judge.

And last but not least, lately I've been wearing my new heart socks! Thanks for the Valentine's package mom.

A blog about Bear part II

Right now I'm pretty mad at Bear because 3 days in a row he's chewed up his puppy pad while I've been at work. I'm mildly concerned that he'll make himself sick, but mostly I'm annoyed and grossed out that I have to clean it up. If anybody knows how to make him stop please share the knowledge.  

He now weighs 6 1/2 pounds.

He got a new kennel. 

Bear really hates bath time. He gets mad and refuses to make eye contact and I just laugh at him because he's half the size when he's wet and I cannot take his anger seriously.

He likes to chase his tail and then hold onto it for a while after he catches it. 

He knows 5 words: Bear, no, sit, stay, and walk. 

Sometimes I hold him in the air like he's Simba.

Bear is afraid of the neighbor's bike in the hallway. I've tried to make face his fear because we walk past it on the way to the elevator many times a day, but he just runs as far away as possible. Baby.

We go on 2 long walks and sometimes a few short ones every day. Little puppy has so much energy.

Speaking of walks, he tries to pick up every piece of trash lying on the street. A few times I've looked down and noticed a wad of paper or a cigarette butt hanging out of his mouth. 

Bear is clingy. He follows me around and I step on him kind of often because he's always right under my feet. Give me some space dog! 

He's starting to shed. Boo. 

I still love him, even though he's naughty sometimes.

Pictures I sent InAi today

My lucky friend InAi received quite a few messages and pictures from me today. I thought I'd be generous and share them here as well :)

Picture #1

My afternoon beverage, because some days those kiddos just wear me out with all their arguing and getting out of their seats and asking questions I've already answered. Luckily Coke is full of delicious caffeine that helps me not turn into cranky teacher. But today the label didn't say Coca-Cola, it said I love you. Isn't that sweet. I love you too Coke, which is why I was almost finished with the bottle before I noticed the difference.

Picture #2

The other day a few friends were telling me about yarn bombing, which is apparently when people knit around large existing objects, like benches and statues and bicycles. It seems like a waste of time to me, although it is a pretty beautiful and impressive waste of time. Well on my way home tonight I noticed that the tree across the street at the pub had been yarned. It's funny when you talk about things and then see them in real life. I hope they finish the rest of the tree. 

Picture #3

Bear oh bear. It looks like someone got bored today and discovered the toilet paper. This is the first real mischief he's gotten into and I have to admit, it wasn't that bad. Even as I was scolding him I was laughing to myself because really? Who does this? You have actual toys you could play with, and you choose the toilet paper. His bone was even in the middle of the pile when I came home. I imagine he was chewing on it, then spied the toilet paper and thought, "Yeah, that looks like fun. Let me just gnaw on that like a chipmunk for a little while." All night he's been running around and coming back to me with little shreds of white stuck to his face. Having a puppy is not dull, that's for sure. 

Wonderings

I wonder what my dog is thinking a lot of the time. Like when he suddenly gets up and runs from room to room, and then calmly lays down again? Or when it's 2:30 in the morning and he decides to wake me up to play? I imagine his little brain says something like "Oh, she's so still, she must be bored. I should probably try to jump on the bed and liven things up." And why oh why does he continue to poo right next to the puppy pad?

And in case you're wondering what an unhappy wet dog looks like, here it is:

I wonder why my students show up to class with a backpack that doesn't have any books, pencils, or homework in it. Surprise! This is English class, and those are all things you're going to need to use today. And what are you carrying around if there's no school supplies in your bag?

I also wonder what my student was thinking when he drew this:

When we learn new vocabulary words I sometimes have the kids draw pictures to help them remember. As you can see, the word was bite but the picture was not. When I asked him what he drew he said it was Obama. Usually I can sort of figure out why they do weird things, but on this one I am at a loss for words. 

I wonder if it is ever going to snow in Busan. We're halfway through January and I haven't seen a single flake. Meanwhile everyone back home has pounds and pounds to play in. Share the goodness!

And probably most importantly...I wonder why I've had "Deep in the heart of Texas" stuck in my head all day. I have no idea where it came from. I don't often think of Texas, or hoedowns, or anything else that would make you sing that song. One of life's great mysteries I guess. 

A blog about Bear

Bear is about 3 months old and he has lived with me for almost 2 weeks.

He is honestly so cute. Every time I take him outside at least 3 people tell me he's cute or want to pet him.

His favorite toy is the ball.

He sleeps in a box that he recently learned how to jump out of. I need to upgrade to a kennel soon.

Walking is very challenging. At first Bear would go limp when I put his leash on. Then he would walk but decide to lay down in the middle of the street sporadically. He gets scared of every car and thinks every person is a friend, so he changes directions approx every 10 feet. And he just learned how to run, so he'll go from zero to sprinting in 2 seconds.

He gets the hiccups a lot.

He's pretty quiet, doesn't really bark except for sometimes at his toys.

I took him to the beach and he ate a lot of sand.

He plays for an hour and then sleeps for an hour. Being a growing puppy is very tiring.

He likes to look at himself in the mirror.

He weighs less than 5 pounds and half of him is just fluff.

I love him.

Alllll the parties

Hello again! I sat down to write a Christmas post last week and I just couldn't do it. I was so worn out - it has been a busy, fun, tiring couple of weeks full of all kinds of celebrations and parties and togetherness. I of course missed celebrating with everybody back home and I'm so jealous of  the white Christmases I saw plastered all over facebook, but I have great people here that make Busan feel like home too. 

Christmas Eve is a working day in Korea, so during class the kiddos and I listened to Christmas music and made stockings. 

After that I had a party at my house. I think this was the first time I've planned and hosted a party all by myself, and it was a huge success if I do say so myself. One of the girls told me that it was one of her top moments in Korea, and I felt so proud. We had so much fun! Cookies were decorated, presents were opened, and I'm a little surprised the neighbors didn't complain because we were definitely very loud. We were very cozy in my little apartment but I think that added to the goodness. 

Christmas morning I opened my presents from my family over skype. The box got here a week early and I had to look at it every day and think about what was inside. My mom made me promise not to open it and I obeyed, but I was not happy about it. Then in the afternoon we all gathered at church to celebrate together. We sang some carols and people shared what they were thankful for in 2013, we played games and ate lots of sugar cookies too. 

My friend InAi's birthday is on Christmas, so later that night we had her birthday party. We ate at a restaurant with the most beautiful view, and then crammed 17 people into her apartment afterwards to open presents and eat cake. 

The day after Christmas I got a puppy! I admit it was not the most thought-out decision I've ever made, but oh well. Sometimes in life you just have to be spontaneous. His name is Bear and I adopted him because he was abandoned. It's been a week and so far so good. The biggest struggle has been getting him to walk on a leash - unexpected. In the beginning he would just go limp when I put his leash on, or he'd decide to be done walking and lay down in the middle of the street. The vet says he's part Pomeranian, 2 or 3 months old, and he'll grow to 20 pounds max. 

And then it was new years. We got dressed up, went out to dinner at a new restaurant, and then did the countdown and lit off sparklers in the balcony of an apartment. At first I thought it was a super dangerous, terrible idea. It maybe was, but it was the highlight of the party for me. 

Oofda, I just got tired recapping all that. It's been wonderful, but I'm glad the holidays only roll around once a year. I hope you had Merry Christmases and Happy New Years!

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.