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