My computer is on the fritz. It keeps shutting off randomly. Jake thinks it has something to do with the battery or something. I really hate when things go wrong here. It takes every ounce of my being to work up the nerve to go and get help. I've put off taking in my Ipod for months now and all that needs to be fixed is the little headphone hole. It must be the anxiety. To get something fixed means giving details about what is wrong with it which means explaining to someone that doesn't speak English. It's all very frustrating, but if my computer keeps doing what its doing then we'll have a real problem on our hands and I'll have no choice but to seek assistance. My colleague gets ALL week off for Chuseok...I wish my schools weren't Nazi about classes. That would be nice.

It's Coming

So close I can almost taste it...
CHUSEOK!!!

Six whole days of doing whatever I please. I could cry I'm so happy.
I just have to get through the next two days...so far classes have been alright. I got another new Korean teacher at my Tuesday school. Apparently the kids at her other school were a lot smarter than these ones. That doesn't surprise me though.

Theeey're Baaaack

Tonight's events went from studying Korean to listening to Korean music and then watching Korean music videos. I can't decide which is my favorite yet...I think it's this one

and then this one

and then this one


I LOVE THEM!!!

Good Grief

I don't remember kids being so cruel. I wanted one boy, Kevin, to join the other team for a game, and some of the students raised such a fuss. As he made his way across the aisle one boy, the smallest of the bunch, reared back in preparation to punch him back to the other side. Of course I intervened, but I was a little surprised. I could literally lift this kid up over my head if I wanted so I was shocked that so much anger was welled up in his tiny body. Personally, I think Kevin is pretty smart and quite a nice boy. It makes me wonder why they don't like him.

It hasn't been 24 hours yet...I miss my Louie. I'm such a baby.

Bookface

This little guy caught my eye in my student's textbook. There are no words...except maybe yikes.
In other race related news, the children here are a bit daft when it comes to understanding nationality. They don't believe I'm from the USA and ask the Korean teacher why I don't speak Korean. They're always asking me to speak Korean. Today a small girl told me (in Korean) that I couldn't be from America because I don't have blue eyes. Then she crumpled my paper and called me a shoemaker.

The Bucket Residence

Feeling a bit homesick lately so I downloaded a bunch of my favorite British comedies, both old and new. I've made my way through the Vicar of Dibley and a couple seasons of Keeping Up Appearances just finished. I watched all seasons of Gavin and Stacey, but I can't find Roger and Val Have Just Got In. I really like the new show Grandma's House. It makes me giggle with joy every time a new episode debuts. Something about the British makes me feel right at home.

This weekend we have yet another visa run to Japan. We really wanted to go somewhere else this time, but we had neither the funds nor the time for a real vacation. Quite a bummer. I don't know what we'll do this time. We've kind of gone through the whole song and dance with Fukuoka, but it's only for a couple days...I'll miss Louie. We're trying a sitter. I'm really hoping he will behave. Ugh, at least it's cooler these days.

The Best Contraception

If you ever want to persuade your partner that having kids is a bad idea, ship them off to Korea to teach bratty 1st and 2nd graders.

Today was probably one of the top ten worst workdays in Korea. First there was a whole class of new students that just started this week that I was not aware of. They didn't have books or anything so I spent the whole time playing alphabet songs and a super easy game that they actually went wild for. The next class was a d-i-s-a-s-t-e-r. The kids are little brats that don't listen or do what they're told. I spent half the time trying to get them to just sit in their seats. The Korean teacher was busy with the worst of the batch and in the end he threw a fit, kicking chairs and crying. Then two of them show up late and start banging on the door like a couple of apes. She yelled at them, but that didn't stop them from crawling on the floor to collect these little plastic balls that are in a different area of the room. Of course, only 3 of them brought their book and half of them didn't even have a pencil. The book I'm supposed to be "teaching" them to read is rubbish. Most of them can barely say the alphabet and I'm supposed to get them to understand The Rich Man and the Shoemaker. They don't know what's going on and then they have the AUDACITY to look at me like I'M the dumb one. ME! Luckily I always end my day with the 5th and 6th graders who are normal people so I don't go completely nuts.
:::
Aaaaand my Louie is cone-free!!!!

Looking rather regal this evening.

My eyebrow pierces the night.