Kid at Heart

Trevi Fountain at Lotte World

Lotte World - the indoor section, view from the balloon ride

I made it back from my summer holiday - still feeling high on the wonderful sites, company, and memories made. After a lovely summer Saturday - outdoor patios, dinner out, lots of laughs - we headed to Lotte World on Sunday, for a day of amusements and thrills. Lotte World is a theme park - think Canada's Wonderland meets Disney. We entered the indoor section, and were blown away by all that we could see. The more we wandered around and rode rides, the more and more we discovered. I was thoroughly impressed with their space usage....There was a "Pirates of the Caribbean"-esque ride on rafts, but it had an Egyptian theme. Very cool. We decided to see what was outside. My understanding was that there was a carousel...HOLY SMOKES! The outside section was even better! Here's where all the GOOD rides are - big roller coasters and drop zone-style rides. We went on the Gyro Drop about 6 or 7 times because the line-up was non-existent. What a rush! There was a really great roller coaster that we got on three times throughout the day as well...through the mountain, over the water, all around. Excellent.

Outside at the castle

I think the scariest part for me was the haunted house. I get so jumpy. We actually had to walk ourselves through, and touch things to open doors. Thank goodness D led the way. He was my big strong protector. Haha So many laughs. Awesome day.

A few days before holiday, I told Pluto class that I called the police on them. A couple of the boys kept lifting up their shirts. I was so serious and told them it wasn't allowed and so the police were going to come and talk to the class about rules. The boys insisted that I call back and ask them not to come, and that they were really sorry. I told them to say sorry to the police. They finally convinced me to call them back, so I did. I returned with the message that if they lifted their shirts again, I would just call the police again and they'd arrive in five minutes.

I love being a teacher.

Today, Pluto class kept singing "Can't Take my Eyes off of You". It made me smile, a lot. In fact, I've been really good this week. I've gotten so much love from my students, after being away. I'm getting greeted with warm and welcoming hugs every day this week, and it's just what I need. Maybe kids know. They're smart. Today I whispered to Julian, "I love you!". His reply was, "Leah teacher! Me too. I love you!" He has actually memorized my afternoon schedule and shows up in the teacher room on all my breaks (he's supposed to be in the afternoon kindergarten program) - to play or to talk or to help me with my work. I always have a million things to do and can't have him there with me, but I secretly love that he comes to see me all the time. My Julian. My TERROR child when I arrived just under a year ago.

Jeju post to come!

Mr. Golden Sun

Harry Potter enthusiasts

We had a class field trip today to a local outdoor swimming pool. The weather was PERFECT and I may have had more fun than the kiddies, splish-splashing around. Sunny, one of my 6-year-old Venus girls, was very timid in the water, and always wanted me holding her hand or holding her in her inner tube. It feels so amazing to have a child put that much trust in you, to make them feel safe. Anyways, I got her laughing and she relaxed. When I took her for a washroom break, we were walking hand-in-hand, and she says to me, "Leah Teacher, swimming is fun!" These are the heart-warming moments.

All the kids looked adorable in their swimwear and mandatory bathing caps (yes, I had to wear one too). We had a yummy picnic after the swim, then back to school for the afternoon. I wish we could go swimming every week!

I returned from Mudfest a very red teacher. I told my students they could call me "Tomato" teacher if they wanted. Instead, they came up with some other ideas: Cherry Teacher, Apple, Strawberry, Fire, Watermelon, even Flower Rose Teacher (awww). The red has since gone down, as I've properly aloe-ed and after-sun cream-ed myself.

I blame the sunscreen. The brand was unfamiliar to me. I was very sun-conscious over the weekend. I applied, reapplied, stayed in the shade...and I was wearing SPF 40! Lesson learned: only use brands I know and trust!

Saturday morning started out very wet, and it wasn't looking good. Arrived in Boryeong/Daecheon Beach (Mudfest location) around 11am. The skies were threatening. We headed to the beach anyways. Went swimming - the water was SO refreshing! - then down came the rain. We danced in the rain, embracing it. It was a warm summer rain, after all. The wind was really strong though. We ended up taking shelter under a temporary wooden stall that was set up. It did the trick.

Threatening skies

Hiding out

When the rain let up a little, we figured it would be a good time to go check into our accommodations (7-person room, fun!). No kidding, ten minutes later when we came back outside, the skies were blue and the sun was shining. It looked like a completely different day and place. HOORAY!

Back to the beach we went, and then we headed to the mud festivities. There were wrestling pits and inflatable challenges and slides galore.

There was a prison you could stand in and people would just throw buckets full of mud at you as you stood behind bars. We did this one inflatable challenge where you were strapped by the waist at either end, and you had to race to the middle to be the first to ring the bell. I was laughing so hard. During the first round, I completely wiped out as soon as I took my first couple steps. Because you are tethered, you flail and bounce around. Being covered in mud makes it all the more slippery and hilarious. The wresting was fun too! SO MUCH MUD! There were stations with paintbrushes too, where you can just paint yourself silly. The mud was quite liquidy, but it's this special made that they make for the event, and it is supposed to be excellent for your skin.

The events close up around six in the evening, so we missed the chance to use the cleaning pool. Back to the beach we went! (The events were set up just up from where the beach starts). It's WILD how much the tide moves in one day. There is virtually no space later on in the day, making the beach significantly more crowded.

High tide (Saturday late afternoon)

Low tide (Sunday morning)

Day 2 in the mud

Saturday evening we chatted with people, mingled, had dinner, and enjoyed the outdoors. Sunday was another beach day and getting in another coat of mud. Definitely a unique experience!!

Random side note - on Monday morning, one of my Pluto boys, Buddy, wanted me to feel his calves. "Leah Teacher, I was jumping rope all weekend!"

It's nice having the sun back so I can run outside again! Got quite soaked last weekend when I thought I could beat the rain. It was a welcome change from the stairs though!

When I Grow Up, I'm Going to Be a Magician

Monday morning science class with Venus...I sneakily place a red plastic ball in a pencil case at the front of the room. We carry out our normal morning routine, and then I introduce the science lesson: a magic jar. I show them that there is a red ball inside the jar. Then, I dramatically cast a spell over the jar, saying the magic words, to make the ball disappear. I animatedly react shocked beyond belief that the ball is gone when I lift the lid of the ball. I search high and low for it, to discover it in the pencil case. My kids go absolutely NUTS over this, laughing in total wonder. Wow, Leah teacher is magic.

They wanted to see the trick again, but a magician can only perform their trick once. When I taught them how it worked (as they each got their own), they had lots of fun hiding their red balls around the room, to reveal to their audience where the ball had disappeared to. Good fun.

Last Friday we made patbingsoo, as I mentioned. It's a popular dessert - shaved ice with red bean. The kids brought in fruit, cereal, chocolate, rice cakes, and jellies to sprinkle on and make it their own. We had some fun with the camera, too. Julian, who used to be so camera-shy, wanted a Leah-Julian photo shoot! I have many more, but chose just a couple to post.

Silly time with Julian

Chef Matthew

Chef Scarlet

Pardon me if I have mentioned this before, but my Venus class has gotten into a bit of a morning ritual with me. The students like to take the board markers (with the lids STILL ON), and the board eraser, and pretend to do me up - brushing my hair, applying make-up - fussing over me and giving me the star treatment. It's quite cute, really. I feel so loved.

Despite the rain, I had a wonderful weekend in Samcheok. We caught at 9 bus on Saturday morning and arrived around 1:30 in the afternoon. First stop: Haesingdae park, aka the penis park. There is a story behind all the phalli. There was a Korean bride-to-be that was brought out to sea by her husband-to-be. He told her to wait there for him, and he would return soon. She drowned waiting for him, and her bitter heart significantly decreased the catch of the fishing village. To remedy this, the people of the village carved and erected wooden penises, pointing them seaward. Once again, the fish were in abundance. The penises eased the bitter heart of the poor bride-to-be.

The obvious silly photos...

The park was in a really beautiful location, as you can see!

Magda and me

Grey day, checking out the beach

Curious abandoned house

I can never resist testing the waters

On day 2 we checked out the Hwanseon caves. There were very few buses heading out this way, so we had to get our timing just right. As we were eating lunch in town, I joked that it would be funny if we missed the bus for not watching the time. We check the time...the bus is leaving in five minutes. Time to sprint across town!! We arrive in time, sweaty from the muggy weather, collapsing into our seats.

We take the monorail up to the caves, as we have to complete the course in a record 90 minutes, in order to catch the local bus back to the bus station, to get to the bus leaving for Seoul, early enough that we don't miss the metro. Consensus told us we would need two hours. Anyways, we get to the cave entrance, 1.6km of path. No problem! We're laughing. We don't have to rush through, but we also can't go too slowly. We emerge from the (AMAZING) caves. It's 4:15. The bus is at 4:30. The path down is almost 2km. It's raining. We run. We run the whole way down. Once it wasn't so steep and the ground leveled a bit, I was on such a runner's high. It felt really good. I could have kept running for a long time. We made the bus with time to spare (though it left earlier than the timetable said, so every minute counted)! We had a good laugh.

(It's now Wednesday morning as I complete this blog)...HARRY POTTER TONIGHT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Blue Sky Interlude

I'm happy to announce the rain let up for a few days earlier this week, during this monsoon season. The weekend was rainy though. Karen and I met at the gym again last Saturday morning, followed by lunch. I spent the rest of the day doing some errands and relaxing a bit. I FINALLY made it to a Dr. Fish cafe on the weekend, too! Everything about the cafe is normal at first glance - order your drink, sip and enjoy in the cozy atmosphere, browse the bookshelf...and if you so choose, pay an extra $2 to put your feet in with the fishies for 20 minutes! Boy does it ever tickle!! They go nuts, eating away at any skin they find delicious. My feet felt quite refreshed after that!

With all of this rain, and my gym membership expiring last Monday, I've had to get creative. Yesterday morning was no trouble getting out to run along the river, but this morning the rain was coming down. I was up and ready to be active though, so I ran up and down the stairs of my building a couple times (ground floor to ten, back to ground, up to ten, back to ground, and up to three, where I live). It was certainly a challenging change! I will definitely keep that up a few times a week! It wouldn't be worth it to renew at the gym, as you must pay for three months. Plus, my calendar is becoming busier and busier. I can just stay fit on my own - running, the stairs, yoga, and the outdoor equipment around the city are sufficient!

Tony Teacher came to visit Choo Choo on Monday to say his goodbyes. He has since left for Canada. It is making me get sadder and sadder about leaving. Every day I look at my kids and try to savour everything. How I would love to bring (some of) them back to Canada with me!

Tony Teacher and Leah Teacher with Venus class (my loves, my favourites...I started with them when they were Mercury!)

Julian (Venus) still amazes me every day. I wouldn't be surprised if I'm inspired to write a children's book based on his actions. He is obsessed with numbers. If he's drawing a picture of milk (this has happened on a couple occasions), he writes "1000 mL" or "190 mL" on his picture, depending on the size it is, of course. When we were reviewing time, I drew a clock on the board that read 7:27. Julian requested that I ask him a "PM" time. He looks at what I've drawn and within five seconds replies "it's 19:27". Let's remember this kid is actually only 5-years old. None of my Pluto kids could do this (my 7-year olds).

He loves prepositions, too. Now that he knows between and across from, he finds delight when he can apply them. "Leah Teacher, Wednesday is BETWEEN Tuesday and Thursday!" In fact, he applies everything he learns. It's amazing. Julian, the kid that no one liked when I arrived last September because he was such a menace. He mimics me perfectly, when he "takes over" the class. "Is everyone ready to start?" "How about _____?" He makes me happy.

I taught Venus class the game 3-6-9. I learned it as a drinking game. It's great for number review. Starting at 1, the kids count one at a time, around the circle. Any number containing 3, 6, or 9, however, the kids have to clap instead of saying the number. When they get to 33, 36, 39, they have to clap twice. They loved it, and we got up to the 70s. Of course, Julian wanted to play again, "but this time 4, 8, 12, 16"....Sorry, Julian, I don't think anyone else can play with you yet.

Excuse my Julian tangent. I could go on about him FOREVER.

Pluto class told me that I can leave Choo Choo and Korea in 2013. That's when they'll be ready for me to go. But not before then.

Here are some pictures from Monday evening after work. We went out for a farewell drink with Tony.

Selina and me

Me, Elly, Shana

Tony and me

We'll see each other again! He'll be in Kingston when I'm in Ottawa...and he's actually from Ottawa. So there.

Tuesday evening Magda and I met up for our weekly tea, walk, chat. We had to plan our upcoming weekend as well. We're going to Samcheok, on the east coast, for a park and beach weekend. Looking forward to it! Fingers crossed the rain won't interfere...!

Last night I packed a box of winter stuff to ship home!

I love this treat. It's red bean and shaved ice...when it's served at cafes, it usually has fruit and yogurt or ice cream with it too. Mmmmm.

Tomorrow at school we're making 팥빙수. I love this treat. It's red bean (surprise!) and shaved ice...when it's served at cafes, it usually has fruit and yogurt or ice cream with it too. Mmmmm. It's pronounced "pat-bing-soo".

Time to enjoy some reading (The Girl Who Played with Fire) on this quiet, rainy evening. Kammy had to cancel our language exchange.

OH! OH! OH! The release date of Harry Potter 7 Part 2 got changed!!! It wasn't supposed to come until DECEMBER in Korea, but it will be here NEXT WEDNESDAY!!! Opening night, here I come!!!

It's almost the weekend...again! xo

Umbrella Season

Actually, the title is misleading. Umbrellas and visors are used and worn quite liberally here, at ALL times of year: rain or shine, snow or fog. Of course, what I'm refering to is the rain.

Yes, indeed. It has been raining quite steadily since Wednesday. In fact, when I asked the about the weather in Venus class today, Julian confidently stated, "It's raining heavily". Wow. Some 6-year-old. He surprises me every day.

Magda and I embraced the rain with open arms on Saturday night, venturing to Hongdae to celebrate her birthday in style, in matching blue ponchos. We had a grand time - good tunes, good company. We even brought extra clothes as we had intended to have a puddle fight. Unfortunately we forgot about it. Rain check? Or would it be sun check...? Hmmm...

Karen and I met at the gym on Saturday morning. After completing my running intervals, some free weights, and stretching (and having been to the gym the previous evening) I was looking forward to my shower just minutes away. But no. Then the lady that works the front desk on Saturday mornings FORCED Karen and me on the bicycles. In Korean (I could understand) she demanded, "20 minutes!" She was pointing at our legs. I guess she thinks our legs are fat? She even held my iPod hostage. It's good for us, we know. So this is what we came up with as we biked, a limerick:

There was a bossy lady at the gym
Who wanted to help us get slim
She made us ride bikes
Which neither of us likes
But now we are fabulous and trim!

Last Wednesday I met up with Hunter for dinner. It was great to catch up. He took me to a nice little Italian spot that makes pizzas out of focaccia bread. Perfectly simple, light, and satisfying. Especially since my mom and I have had Italy on our minds, our trip having been a year ago at this time!

I find it terribly hard to believe I have only EIGHT TEACHING WEEKS LEFT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Where did the time go, eh?

Sorry for the lack of photos. Will update with a few as soon as I get them on my computer! I've been busy with work and school stuff. It will get done though!

That's all for now...!

Summertime...and the living is easy

As promised, some pictures from my previous Saturday out with my (at-the-time-but-has-since-turned-platonic) crush! Biking and rowing and BBQ, oh my!


We had smoked duck BBQ...possibly the best BBQ I've had here.

View from the restaurant

Swinging in the park

Rowing our boat

We came across this little band playing on our ride back to town...we stopped to listen for a bit

Things are good between us. We've been talking, and we're going to hang out on Sunday so he can help me with some stuff...not that you were worried!

In case you missed the kiddies, here are a few snapshots from our field trip last week to see an "English" musical: Tom and Jerry in New York (it was still mostly in Korean...but hey! I got the gist of it)!

Pluto - Fiona and Chloe

Pluto - Kevin and Alex

Pluto - Thomas

The elementary students had a speech contest last week. I was so proud of them! They worked so hard and did a great job (as nervous as some of them were).

Jason, talking about Van Gogh, and how he wants to be an artist like him

Antony - this kid is ACTUALLY a monkey. He climbs on me every day.

I've still been meeting Kammy on a weekly basis for our language exchange. Between that and going out a few times with a Korean guy, I feel like my learning curve over the last month really spiked. Reading is coming a lot faster to me, and my vocabulary is growing. Yey! Kammy wants to simply work on her conversation and pronunciation. Last week she started reading "The Time Traveller's Wife" aloud to me. I was hooked by the first page! I haven't read the movie or seen the book yet, so this is really fun for me. I just help her with some words and explain anything she gets stuck on. The week before we actually went to see X-Men. Please don't judge me, but this was my first X-Men film. It had Korean subtitles, but for the parts where the characters were speaking French, Spanish, German, and Russian, the subtitles were STILL Korean. French and Spanish were fine; German and Russian were iffy. I recognized a few words, although the action was pretty explanatory! Anyways, I really am enjoying the language and cultural exchange.

I've also been meeting up with Magda on a weekly basis. I can't get enough of this girl (we met on the Gyeongju bike trip in April; she lives in Anyang; Polish-Canadian from Toronto). We just REALLY get each other, and thoroughly enjoy each other's company. I hadn't really really clicked with anyone here until we met. It's nice to have her around. We have a few upcoming things planned...this weekend is her birthday so she and I will celecrate that together in Seoul. The second weekend of July, there is a specific park we want to check out, then we'll spend the rest of the day at the beach. We'll feel it out if we want to stay the night or head home the same day. Then...! I have the last week of July off. I will be going to Jeju Island for five days. The second weekend overlaps with Magda's holidays so she is going to meet me at my hostel, and we'll spend the weekend hiking and touring together. Yey!! It will be awesome. I can't wait. I plan to have some relaxing beach days, explore some parks, and savour the beautiful Korean island. I really want to take advantage of the country while I'm here. I am suddenly feeling the crunch of "oh-my-goodness-I'm-leaving-soon-and-there-is-still-so-much-to-see-and-do!"

I started working on that this past weekend. Early in the afternoon on Sunday, I thought to myself - hmmm...I have never spent any time in Hongdae during the day. I think I'll go get lost there! So off I went. Hongdae is a popular clubbing area in Seoul so is often a nighttime destination. However, there is an art university there, and it's a really groovy little neighbourhood. Lots of quirky shops and cafes, art, young people, music...I enjoyed my aimless meandering. Anyways, I'm going to start taking little afternoon weekend "trips" into various parts of Seoul and greater Seoul, just to check out some neighbourhoods that I haven't seen yet!

Hongdae

Charlie Brown Cafe in Hongdae

Hope Market in Hongdae - AWESOME handcrafted jewellery and things

Hongdae graffiti

Barrow boys, vintage clothes, coffee and chocolate shops

It was right around here that some giggling tweens asked me to be in their school projects. I had to wear this big read flower in my hear and say "hello" in Korean, two times, in a specific sing-song way, while the girls recorded me. I was a good sport. It's not the first school project I've participated in, although most involve surveys, and no on-screen time.

A couple weeks ago I bought a pair of Birkenstock sandals, for all the walking I do. I was the worst customer. I tried on SO many pairs and colours and styles and sizes, and FINALLY made up my made. The salesman (salesBOY) was asking my name, where I'm from, how old I am, the usual. He rung in the sandals $5 less than they should have been. I pointed this out to him, and he said "It's okay, you have beautiful eyes". Then he GIVES me a $5-off coupon for another purchase, AND a t-shirt (that I later check is labelled at about $35). SWEET! He made my day. Thanks, ABC-Mart salesboy.

And...drum roll please...I HAVE CONFIRMED A PLACE TO LIVE IN OTTAWA!!! What a relief it is to have that settled!

I'm outtie 5000. Night night!