Out Like a Lamb...?

Elly, Sera, Shana, Alice

I seriously don't know where my time disappears to here!! I didn't even spring forward with the clocks!

Karen, Trevor, Patty, Alice

Earlier this week I was teaching similes to Pluto class: as _______ as a _______. "As quiet as a mouse". They had to first fill-in-the-blanks with nouns, and then with adjectives. The last one was "as _______ as Leah teacher". Fat. They said fat. "As fat as Leah teacher!" And then they pointed at my chest. Hahah Most of the time these kids are so impressive. They are in their third year of English study, at Korean age 7 (which is usually about 6-years-old North American). They speak in English ALL DAY. They threatened to tell on ME when I said a couple Korean words to them. "Leah teacher, no speaking Korean!" They are seriously dedicated. In art class last week, I let them have one or two paint colours (they were all primary colours: red, blue, yellow). Eventually they were mixing them all. Buddy said, "look, Leah teacher. I made a tertiary colour by mixing them all!" I couldn't make this stuff up if I wanted to.

Pluto class

Then there's my Julian. My little terror Julian who's really not a terror anymore. I am SO PROUD OF HIM! Instead of scribbling and rushing through all his work, and not caring at all during art class, he actually puts effort into his work now. Any spare few minutes he'll take out one of his books and start working. And he was SO proud of his art project this week and was really excited to bring it home. I think part of this behaviour may be due to his younger brother being in Mercury class now (and my early threats to send him back to Mercury with his brother?) and wanting to set an example. I will give myself a little credit, because I have worked so hard with him since my arrival. He just needed the right kind of attention, as do all kids. The trouble is that it's different for everyone!

Julian and little brother, Ricky

Last evening was Karen's birthday potluck chez moi. It went really well! There were 11 of us altogether, and it was really quite comfortable. Everyone brought tasty food - veggies, salads, nachos and salsa, baguette and camembert (my contribution), HOMEMADE mandu (mandu are Korean dumplings) - thanks, Colin! - sushi, and drinks. It was a relaxing evening, just chatting and hanging out. I wanted my place to look perfect. I started my cleaning regime on Sunday...a little bit every day so that my place was ready for Wednesday. haha

Shana and Colin

Romo, Tony (!), Elly

Shana, Alice, Elly, enjoying the food

Last weekend was fun. It was a perfect balance of relaxing, getting things done, and hanging out with friends. I went to Happidus on Friday (which I hadn't done FOREVER). I invited my new Korean friend that I met at dinner a couple weeks ago. I thought it would be nice for him, since he wants to meet foreigners. He wanted us to go together, so I met him at his work. It's an indoor driving range where you hit the ball at a screen. They also have virtual golf. He showed me around. It was pretty cool. I think he had a good time...it may have been a little overwhelming for him though. Although our table was a mixture of Koreans and foreigners, so he wasn't the only one. Anyways, Saturday I did my errands, had lunch at the usual spot, read outside in the sun, went walking, and went out in Hongdae for my friend Melissa's birthday. It was really great to go out dancing. Now that the weather is nicer it's a lot easier/seems less hassle to go into Seoul for the evening. It was a very late night getting home though...I went to bed at 8pm on Sunday night! Sunday was not wasted though. I cleaned and went to the gym. In fact, I went to the gym 6 days last week and ran a total of 27.5km! Wee!

The coat of a MILLION compliments (and that may be an understatement...seriously)

I'm really loving my new place, as I've said many times before. I'm getting to know the people in the area too...my staple produce vendors that I see daily and say hello to. It's nice having familiar faces around. All of my street food and market vendors are so friendly and helpful. They speak to me in Korean, trying to teach me. Some know a little bit of English. It always works out. My apples guy that thought I was Russian last time more recently asked if I was from Norway. Nope. Canadian.

I feel like my posts are becoming less and less exciting. Haha Oh! Karen and I are going on a bike trip the weekend before Easter. It's a few hours south of here, with a tour group. The cherry blossoms are in season in April, and are supposed to be stunning. So it will be a weekend of beautiful scenery, biking, hiking, and fresh air. I am really looking forward to it!

Potluck fun!

That's it for now. Hope all is well...until next time! xo

I'm Not Irish

Tony and me

I celebrated St. Patrick's Day TWICE this year!! Well, I'm not sure if consuming three beer (two of which were GREEN) over an evening AND an entire day really counts as "celebrating", but I was there. I've never been crazy about the holiday like some folks. I have nothing against it...I've just never sought it out nor been really excited about it. On the actual day, I went to Happidus for a couple drinks with friends. It was PACKED. And it was my first time having green beer! Saturday there was an all-day festival in Insa-dong, a fun neighbourhood in Seoul. Peer pressure got the better of me and I went along with a group of friends. I saw SO MANY PEOPLE that I know!! It was really fun. There was live music and a sea of green clothing! I sported my green tights, of course, although you can't see them in the photos I have. A big group of us had dinner at a small Korean joint after, then I headed home. Everyone else was heading to Hongdae for a night of more drinking and dancing. I went to see The King's Speech instead, back in Anyang. IT WAS AMAZING!!!!


Elly is so adorable

Overall, last week was much smoother than the previous. My practically foolproof points system that gave me much success in Mercury is working in my other classes, elementaries too, helping me gain some order and control over the chaos and noise of the new groups. Yes, I was actually in a great mood at the end of Thursday, after my Wednesday/Thursday jam-packed/hardly-any-breaks-let-alone-time-to-breathe days. Phew! I am happy.

On Friday, one of my new Korean coworkers started telling me that one of her (male) Korean friends is interested in meeting foreigners. So then she started asking me some questions...like how old I am, if I like golf, and if I am seeing anyone...wait a minute...is this a set-up? Is Sera playing matchmaker? She even threw in that he is a gentleman! Ha! I told her I'd be happy to meet him, but that I'm not looking for a boyfriend, and that she has to come with me. I wanted that to be clear, because he is Korean age 33, which means he DEFINITELY has marriage on the mind. She called me Saturday morning saying he (Fred is his English name) wanted to meet me, so we made Sunday dinner plans. The three of us went for Korean food, then out for ice cream. I must say that I am flattered by how impressed they were with my chopstick skills. They said I'm Korean. Haha Anyways, when we went for ice cream, Sera kept leaving us alone...SO OBVIOUS. We were all walking to Fred's car because Sera had her bag in it. Then she is getting in, and tells me to get in the front seat. We drive out of the parking lot, and as soon as we're out, Sera jumps out of the car, which leaves me and Fred. They conned me into getting a ride home!!! Fred is a really nice guy, and his English is much better than I was expecting. He wants to meet foreigner friends to practice speaking, as he is writing a test for a masters program. I will likely see him again (he works at a virtual golf company really close to where I live) and he wants me to come. I'll bring some friends with me. It was an enjoyable evening. Definitely an experience!

In general, I am hanging out with more of my Korean coworkers than I was before, which I like. I guess I am just always hanging out with different people here, changing it up, because I can!

So next Wednesday is Karen's birthday. I have offered to host a potluck chez moi for the occasion. In the past, the Korean staff tended to skip out on any weekday social invites (mind you, we had a lot of changeover in Korean staff). I put a poster with a sign-up sheet in the teacher room today, and it seems EVERYONE wants to come. Plus some of Karen's friends. I am totally happy to be hostess, but I am getting slightly nervous about having about 15 people come over! I think this will be my first solo hosting experience with that many. It will be fine. I still have to get some of my other friends over here, but I'd prefer to do it in baby steps, one or two at a time. Haha

I've finally put more pictures up! Check out my previous posts/posts below again, just to see the photos! Hope everyone had a nice weekend! xo

My favourite elementary class: I love teaching prepositions.

Mid-March?!

Ahhh, sunshine!

Old and new friends!

I got two new 5-year-old boys in one of my elementary classes yesterday (keeping in mind that this means 4-years old North American years). They have absolutely no English. One of them spent the class screaming and hitting me, while the other was eating his sticker board paper, and giggling uncontrollably at my attempts to communicate with him, miming "are you hungry?" All the other kids in the class are 6-year-olds, and can speak sentences like, "Hello! My name is Flora. What's your name?" Oh dear.

Both yesterday and today, Alvin has tried to hold me hostage. He warmly embraces me, holds my hand, leads me to Mercury class. Then he closes the door and stands in front of it, arms crossed over his chest. It's one of the most adorable things ever. It makes me feel very loved, and successful as a teacher.

Hongdae park on a Saturday night

I ended up having a most FABULOUS weekend. Saturday afternoon I met up with some current and past coworkers for lunch. I ran into my friend, Neil, too, so he joined us. Kelly, one of my old Korean coteachers, brought a new coworker of hers - a really cool girl that I hope to see more of! Anyways, it was such a carefree and leisurely day. After lunch we all went walking to the park and just hung out in the sunshine. The boys played soccer with some young Korean kids. Did I mention it was 16 degrees and sunny?! That's right - t-shirt and cardigan weather!! In the evening I met up with Stef for dinner in Seoul. Then we headed to a going away party, followed by some clubs in Hongdae. Hongdae is a very popular night-life area in Seoul. En route to the motown party, we found a great club/bar that reminded me so much of the places I love to go in Warsaw and Berlin. It was quite small, and had an open concept. I will definitely go back there. The motown party was great! They played all my requests that I had posted to the event page on Facebook. Wee! (Twist and Shout, The Name Game, and Rave On.) Some people from the going away thing ended up meeting us there later. It was a VERY late night indeed, and I ended up crashing in Seoul, at "Hunter Hotel". (THANKS!) Made my way back to Anyang Sunday afternoon, and was out and about to enjoy day two of sunshine and mild mild weather (17 degrees)! I took my book down to my favourite rock spot. Ahhh. So relaxing. And then I went to bed at 8pm. Haha

Motown with Elly and Stef

Farewell, Sivan!

The weather has cooled again. It's -1 this evening. The highs this week look to be just below 10 degrees.

I had the following conversation with a fruit vendor on Saturday.
Vendor: You are beautiful!
Me: Thank you.
V: What is your name?
M: Leah
V: How old are you?
M: Korean 26.
V: Ah, very good. Do you have a boyfriend?
M: No.
V: Are you Russian?
M: No, Canadian.
V: Ah, beautiful! You come back tomorrow?

I swear all middle-aged Korean men know the word "beautiful": cab drivers, vendors, men in the streets, at the gym, and the guy that collects the maintenance fees in my building....

Oh! LINDSAY IS COMING TO VISIT IN JUNE!!!!!! We have a weekend trip to Busan booked/planned, which I am super excited about. Yey!!!!!

Ok. Back to my tea and my book. Good night! xo

Sorry for the lack of pictures recently!

Much Better

My (new) walk to school...

Past the mountains...

Through Anyang city centre...

By the metro station...

Over the rainbow...

To the other side of the tracks...

Down the stairs...(after going up, of course)


And along the river...

Ok. So the work week ended on a high. There was some administrative business at school I was dealing with all week, but on Friday it was all resolved. All of my requests were met, and the issues have been handled as best as they could, given the circumstances. I know this is all rather vague, but I don't want to bore you with the details. The main thing is that I'm satisfied with the way things turned out!

To treat myself, I took myself out on a movie date last night (I brought my journal along, too). I watched "The Black Swan". I really enjoyed it, though it was more disturbing than I was expecting. A very beautiful film though. Interesting cinematography. I dreamt last night that I was cast as "Alice" in Alice in Wonderland. It was hours before the show was to start and I was still learning my lines. Doesn't sound like me, does it?

I've still been in touch with Tony pretty regularly, since he's changed jobs. We chat on the phone a couple times a week, we're meeting up with some of our Korean coworkers for lunch today. Yey! It looks gorgeous outside (and I know because I have GIANT windows)! Highs of 13 and 15 forecast for this weekend!!!

And FYI, we did not feel any effects of the earthquake in Japan. Safe and sound here!!!

Time to go enjoy the day and the weekend! xo

P.S. You are springing forward this weekend. There is no time change here, so we will be one hour closer!

Ouch

View from my window at my new apartment!!!

This week is kicking my bum.

As nice as it is to be back in a routine, it's a very hectic one. I find myself tired each night at 9:30. I'm fighting to keep my eyes open right now. Though I only have two more classes than my previous schedule, I have two homerooms. This means two classrooms to keep decorated and lesson plan for, prepare arts and crafts, science, and storybooks. I am making 44 storybook packages/activity books per month! And my five elementary classes that I teach in the afternoons are large and a little nutty at the moment.I know this means nothing to you, and I am just venting. It just feels like the few breaks I have at work are spent CONSTANTLY working, with no time to breathe. I was working on my breaks before, but at a more leisurely pace. And because of my new schedule, my breaks are at wonky times. Take Wednesdays. My first break is at 5:10pm. From 9:30am! Bah! No wonder I am wiped. The kids are still adjusting too. New teachers and new routines, so I think it's just one of those weeks.

On the bright side, I am looooooooooooooooooooving my new apartment. So much. And this week has gone SO quickly. It's almost the weekend! I am really looking forward to Saturday - meeting up with Roxy's friend who just moved here, going to a goodbye party, AND a motown party, all in Seoul. Weeee!! I need it. But for now, to bed! Happy Thursday! xo

A real shower!!!

My laundry is hanging...and I still have space!!!

March Madness

I AM MOVED INTO MY NEW APARTMENT!!!!

(I'll post more pictures. I just bought a table and chairs!)

I appreciate the following things:

-having the option to and being able to shower at home, as opposed to the gym (though I will continue to do so when it suits me)

-living in a proper apartment building

-having a real washing machine

(this is NOT a real washing machine...I will not miss it)

-being able to do errands while a load of laundry is running

-having ample room to maneuver around my drying rack

-not having a misproportionately GIANT fridge

-having a dry cleaners on the main floor of my building

-having a mailbox (instead of having to sort through piles and piles of everyone's *KOREAN* mail when I lived in the "villa", rooting for my bills)

-having a really nice 25 minute walk to school: passed mountains, passed anyang station and all the shops and vendors (and markets on Fridays), over two bridges: crossing the metro tracks and the river...ahhh

What a week. I feel like I can finally breathe. Moving took a lot out of me.

Monday - Romo and I moved my stuff from my old place to my new place. We did this after work. It took from 7pm to midnight. We walked most of it because cabs didn't want to pick us up with all the boxes and bags we were carrying. It was kind of a drizzly night, but we still did it. We had some good laughs, but I had some lows too. I definitely felt it in my arms and butt the next couple of days. The last load we took I couldn't help but giggle every few minutes. We must have looked ridiculous. A Mexican and a blonde, lugging so much stuff. Romo was carrying my bookshelf, my drying rack, and a paper bag. I was carrying my space heater (which I pretended was a ray gun and was zapping things), my plastic bathroom shelving, and my laundry bag slung around my neck and shoulder, hanging down my back (it was filled with laundry). Every corner we turned, I would just imagine my reaction if I were to see two people in such a state. I fell quickly asleep that night (at my old place).

Tuesday - Though it was a bank holiday, we still had to work, from 9-1. It was kindergarten orientation, for all the new students coming in. A few of us went for lunch after, then I returned to my old place to give it a final clean. Then with a little help from my friends, we carried the last of my things. I spent the rest of the day unpacking and cleaning my new place, til about 8. I fell asleep at 9 that night. I needed it.

Wednesday - After work I did a little more shopping for some household things and spent a few more hours cleaning. Finally started to feel settled, after putting much work into the move.

Friday - I picked up a couple more things and put up my posters. I was actually able to put a load of laundry in, leave to do my errands, and come back to have my laundry finished and ready to be hung. Wow. Amazing. For this I am grateful!

*PHEW!*

Ok. So Monday was my last day as Mercury teacher. Where did the time go?!

I love you, Mercury!

I am thoroughly enjoying my change in school schedule. I still teach most of the kids above, but they are now Venus class (6-2...6-year-olds, second year English. In Mercury, they were 5-1). I also teach Pluto, the 7-3 class. WOW...what a difference from 5-1. These kids are SMART. Two of the boys got in an argument over a book the other day, and their entire argument was in ENGLISH.

Justin - Teacher, I want to read the book. Edward read it two times, and I had it zero times.

Edward - I want it one more time, Teacher. Telling is bad, Justin. Shana teacher says no telling.

We were talking about parts of speech, and brainstorming verbs. One of the students said, "break". Chloe raises her hand and says, "Leah teacher, yesterday I broke a CD player!" After this, all the kids were fighting to speak next, with their "Yesterday, I broke...." statements. Too awesome. It's a class of 13 kids - 8 boys and 5 girls, and they are generally all GREAT kids. In Friday's science class, we made balloon cars and ran them through the hallways. The kids (and I) loved it!

The new Mercury kids are SUPER cute. There are some siblings. Kevin is in my Pluto class (and I adore him), I teach his older brother in elementary, and now their little brother is in Mercury. He is a little Kevin. So cute. And JULIAN'S brother is in Mercury too. Oh dear. He is a little terror, JUST LIKE JULIAN. They are team trouble. Ricky has all the same mannerisms as Julian. Julian has been pretty good in Venus class so far though. He is my constant time keeper. On Friday, I said "we will clean up in ten minutes!". Julian then wrote the following on the board:

11:53

11:59

11:46

He pointed to the first and said, "clean up time". The next, "get out your lunch box". And the last, "right now". Apparently my time estimates are not good enough for him.

I'm enjoying my elementary classes so far. There is one group from hell that I used to teach on Tuesdays and Thursdays with a coupel other classes. I am now their course book teacher. On Wednesday when the kids were finding out their classes and teachers, I was surprised to see the kids from this class high-fiving each other and "ASA"-ing (equivalent to the English "YES!" while pulling two fists into your side, like "score!"), clearly excited that I was going to be their teacher. That made me happy. I have a couple of new groups, with very limited English. They have been responding really well so far. One of these new groups is a class of 6-year olds. I get to do yoga with them twice a week. Yey! One of the boys has chosen "A.P" as his English name. According to his mom, he likes the way it sounds. I just tell people it stands for Alexander Peter. haha My favourite elementary group is a class that combines Lily and Ben (two ADORABLE students I've taught before...really great students always happy to learn) and four boys that graduated from the 7-1 kindergarten class. They are all really keen to do their work and have great attitudes.

I know I am rambling. I'll stop.

I just have to note that I am sitting here and the SUN is so warm on my back, shining through my GIANT WINDOW.

Yesterday Melissa and I spent the afternoon walking around outside. There are lots of new foreigners around, as March is the start of the new school year. We went out for Korean BBQ dinner, then went to Happidus for a drink. It was nice to be back. I hadn't been in about three weeks! Jimmy, one of the bartenders, came to chat, and was asking how I was since he noticed I'd been away. He told me that Friday night was quiet (it's usually the busy night). It was busy last night though! He said it's because I was there. Hahah It was a fun night. I was saying to Melissa how much I miss seeing live music. Sure enough, an American guy with a guitar played a great set of oldies tunes, followed by a Korean guy. They were both really talented! I was loving it. Everyone was. A nice change.

I am really looking forward to getting back into my gym routine this week, laying low, and catching up with people on Skype!!! I'm sorry I've been a bit out of touch the last couple weeks. I did warn you I'd be busy though! Hope all is well! Enjoy the rest of your weekend! xo