teacher...

students are curious about their teachers. they want to know more about them, and i definitely understand. when i was younger, i completely adored a few of my teachers and wished to know more about their lives, what they ate for dinner, what was their favorite sport? book? candy bar? mundane yet surprisingly connecting things.

these are a few questions that students ask without fail:
1) teacher, how old are you? (my answer: i'm somewhere between 19-99. it's usually followed by a collective groan from my students.)

2) teacher, are you married? (my answer: nope. look at my hand! my student jeff looked at me in shock and admonished, "teacher! you MUST get married!" sweet jesus. talk about pressure! relax, already!)

3) teacher, do you have a boyfriend? (sometimes i want to lie and say yes, but, often times, i say no and quickly direct their attention back to the lesson. some of the girls get that slight matchmaking twinkle in their eye...)

4) teacher, are you korean? (the concept of dual identities doesn't really exist in korea, so i often explain to them that i'm korean and american. sometimes they tilt their head in confusion, but when i explain that i'm a "gyopo" they understand. gyopo, literally translates to foreign korean.

5) teacher, are you american? (uh, do you hear my accent? yes, refer to answer 4.)

and this one is a new one.
yesterday, my precocious student, eddie asked me, "teacher, why are you so strong?" hilarious.

tgfi

thank goodness for internet!
the other day, i finally saw the movie, "once." i'd been wanting to see it for the longest time and now i'm addicted to the soundtrack. addicted. enter npr.org, all songs considered. npr records concerts from various venues in the good ole nation's capital and with my volume turned up, i have my own live show. it's fantastic. fanfuckintastic! i had forgotten how vital live shows were in my dc days. i miss the 930 club, the black cat, the iota, the birchmere...i miss LIVE music. note to self: find out about upcoming rock concerts.

music appreciation. i'm grateful to my friends who share their tastes in kickass music with me. i was reminded of minnesota's the current, 89.3 fm, which showcases an indie rocker's wish list collection of classic, hip and in between. download the goods from either mpr.org or the current.org. you will not be disappointed.

skype is incredible. how is it possible to speak through the internet and for free?!?! freeeeeeee!!!!! marvelous, i tell you. absolutely divine! don't have an account? create one, for freee! for freee! and we can talk, for freee!

nasty

i've been learning some pretty interesting things about myself when i teach. last week, i realized that i say the word, "nasty" often. naaaaaaasty! during my reading class, my student sam, informed me that students in korea don't dissect dead frogs, instead, they put the frogs to sleep then begin dissection. i'm assuming that the forgs die during the dissection but apparently, some strong frogs awake and jump away from their student "doctors." baffled, i asked, "does blood get everywhere?" sam answered, nonchalantly, "yeah." i replied, "oh, man! that is nasty!" (i have to ask sam about where the frogs go...)

another student, alex asked, "teacher, what's nasty?"
"nasty means gross!"
"so, it's not nestea?"
"no, it's naaaaaaaasty! not neeeehhhstea."
"well, it sounds the same to me..."
"what?!?! repeat after me! naaaaaasty."
"naaaaasty."
"good!"
"now, say nestea. neeeehhhstea."
"nestea."
"nice!"
"teacher, it still sounds the same to me!"

puzzled, i made him repeat after me several more times, much to everyone else's delight. since that class, every time i use the word nasty, my students say, "naaaaaasty!" they no longer confuse it with nestea. nice! and they get to make fun of me in the process, bonus!

urban hike

it's easy here, like anywhere, to simply stay at home, read, lounge, putz around and do nothing. and on some days, that's exactly what you need to do...especially on cold and dreary winter days. however, spring weather has exploded recently, bringing with it light and lightness, joy and joyness! my travel bug within seoul has been re-awakened! yesterday, i went on an urban hike with my friend nami. the day was gorgeous, the buds on the trees were emerging and i loved feeling like a tourist!

i found this urban hike in my lonely planet. it had a lot of turn rights by random buildings and turn 180 degrees with little reference points. i don't think i've ever asked so many koreans for directions or felt as empowered to do so. the lonely planet guide made me feel like i was on a treasure hunt and the treasures were the landmarks written in bold. (man! i love treasure hunts! when i was younger, my sister made me a treasure hunt for my birthday--it was ze best!) one of the landmarks that told us we were going the right way were these black and white piano keys--BIG, anyone?

lovely little green buds.

cheonggye stream, a very expensive (313 million!) urban renewal project where business folks take breaks from their offices, and both old and young enjoy the walkways and rock steps.

spring smiles.

the "screw" statue. yes, many puns were made!

water fountain, city hall.

namdaemun market. sensory overload!

awestruck

do you ever get suddenly struck with the amazing realization that you are blessed, not jesus, mary and joseph blessed, but silly lucky blessed to have the most inspirational, thoughtful, intelligent, compassionate, generous, and talented people in your life? and they're your friends?!?!? thank you to you, my darling dear friends. words don't do justice, but know that i am extremely grateful to be in your company, albeit, oceans and time zones apart. HOO-HA!

i heart engrish!

it's the little things that humor me the most. here are a few choice examples of "konglish".

a case of upside down dyslexia: the m was probably meant to be a w in "good mine."
whenever i drink wine, i think oh yes, good mine.

doesn't eating grape jam give you a most precious and happy time?

in korea, rice is pronounced bop. mmmm...bop! but this label says bob. mmmbob. try the delicious bob and vegetable. wacka wacka!

this almond candy gives you the most gorgeous and luxuriant taste.

my excellent student, martin wrote perpect, instead of perfect. when i handed him his corrected paper, he laughed too!

that's my momma!

i called my mom last night, 3 am seoul time, 12-noon baltimore time. she was cooking, kimchi jigae, kimchi soup with pork and tofu. now, i've certainly eaten my fair share of kimchi soup in korea, but, nothing is nearly as good (or comes as close to being as yummy!) as my momma's. i told her that i wanted to eat her soup and she said, "well then, run home, i know you like to run!" when i responded that i wouldn't be able to run that far, she said,"when you get tired of of running, start flying!" how cute is that?!?!?! and you think i'm wacky...

i told her that i missed her and listed a few other things that i miss about america. i miss shopping without having anyone watching your every move or pestering you to buy something you don't like, at all. i miss meandering through thrift stores or slightly imperfect stores with tons of random goodies like marshall's, tjmaxx and yes, target. she told me to tell those pesky salesladies, "please stop talking, you're giving me a headache." wow! go momma! i love her bluntness, her forthrightness! and i wish i could be so bold, but, as a younger looking korean woman, i'd probably get slapped in the face if i said that. however, when my mom comes to visit, i want to see HER say that! and since she's older, she has every cultural right to.

what made me soooooo happy, in addition to simply hearing my mom's voice, was the fact that we spoke in korean 95% of the time. hell's yeah! i think i can be really demanding of my own goals and of making sure that they are being met, and i was pretty bummed out when i couldn't continue my korean classes this term. but, imagine my contentment when i realized that i spoke to my mom for over a half hour, in korean! and, to make it even better, when i told her that korean koreans often tell me that my korean is strange, she told me to tell them, "of course it is, i'm american!" and she said it with much sass and attitude!

then she asked me if i was eating well, (yes!) and taking care of my health (yes! i've been going to the gym nearly every day) and then she asked me if walnuts were expensive in korea. yes, yes yes they are. along with almonds and fresh fruits and vegetables. she then promised to bring over a huge bag of walnuts and other goodies when she visits. awww mom! you're the best!

k pop

if you're curious about korean pop music, aka, cute and cheesy overload, check out the latest bands:

wonder girls, tell me:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HQTIsi0IlZc

big bang, lies:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=57GPGTOwSPE

girls generation, kissing you:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GrPr9rQeR00

breakdown

i flipped out the other day. flipped out. went postal, nuts, crazy. it was not fun. i have two major coping mechanisms. i either cry or laugh. most of the time, i opt to laugh, as i try to not sweat the little things, but, laughter couldn't cut it this time. i had a good long cry and for as exhausting and draining as it felt, i have to admit my cry-fest was going to erupt sooner or later. it's been a very stressful past two weeks.

what is most irritating is that the stress came from work, and i dislike letting work affect me so much! work schmirk! but, teaching is unlike any other job that i've had before. and girlfriend has had a lot of jobs! teaching is like acting, performing, thinking quickly, spontaneously and intelligently so, knowing your shit and being able to explain it clearly and in more than one way. this new term has had a rough start. i teach 3 new programs, 10 different classes, which equals 89 new students, double my student number from last term. in the hallways during break time i feel like i recognize about half the students' faces! it's super cute when they say, "hi teacher!" to me. i haven't memorized every student's name yet, so i'm constantly flipping through my mental rolodex.

for me, living a healthy and happy life is about finding balance...easier said than done, that's for sure. i allowed myself to feel like a victim and in some ways, i suppose i was, but i don't want to play that card. my schedule is very d-d-demanding as i'm constantly switching from one program to another. you know it's bad when a fellow instructor tells you that when someone complains about their schedule he says, "well, at least you don't have ji sun's!" mmm, hmm. that bad. but, such is life. suck it up. get it done. but first, cry and then effectively and calmly voice your displeasure. next term, i better effin be coasting! COASTING!

my fabulous friend kathi, sent me this hilarious--HILARIOUS!--award pin. it made me laugh so hard i almost lost my shit. too funny! and whenever i feel like i'm going to go over the edge, i want it to remind to lighten up. because i am #1 of fucking everything.


monkey has a new friend!

p.p.p.

i went to the spa today! my first spa experience was glamorous, relaxing and painful. my friends diana, amber and i went to the park hyatt's park club spa--a fancy smancy place, with a great view of seoul on the 24th floor. unfortunately!!!!! i'm the dumbass that forgot her camera, so i'll have to spa again, just so i can show you its splendor.--where we relaxed in the hot tub, steam room and received our facials and upper back massages.

i received a wonderful facial from a very pretty beautician named lin, who pampered me with a lovely cup of tea while she massaged my feet. then, i received a rejuvenating yet stinging face treatment. i received the combination facial, calming and purifying for my skin needs to be calmed (too much damn stress!) and cleaned (and too much damn pollution in the air!) the first part of my facial was the toughest to endure because lin turned out to be a p.p.p.: a professional pimple popper. i don't pop my pimples. i was told that popping pimples can actually make your skin worse because it can spread oil to other parts of your face. because of this, i've left my blackheads alone. i say, let them work themselves out. lin, however, went to town. i think she must've popped at least 20 pimples! it hurt like hell! and afterwards, she showed me the nasty pimple junk all collected on the cotton pad. GROSS! my face, however, after about 5 masks later, looks good! and the massage afterwards was simply divine.

(*note: since i arrived in korea, my skin has been very unhappy with the environment. korean air quality is awful! and because of this, i've broken out in pimples of all shapes and sizes and i don't like it one bit! thankfully, the face products i ordered from acne.org are working. adult acne got you down? check it out!)

sunday spa days may have to become a monthly staple!

oh no you just DIDN'T!

i have had a rough week. it started out shaky--two new classes on monday--but gradually improved. when i was walking to work on friday afternoon, i felt pretty confident and relaxed. according to my schedule, i was assigned to teach two listening classes. classes i had taught three times already this week. sweet. i've got this under control, i thought.

oh hellllll no! once i logged in, i found out to my extreme dissatisfaction that my 4:30 class was indeed listening but my second class at 7:30 was a class that i have NEVER taught before and therefore have no idea, NO IDEA how to teach!!! wtf?! i thought maybe, just maybe it was an error on the computer, but nope, that was not the case. (you know that part in superbad where mclovin goes to the liquor store to buy the goods and he drops the canned beer? and then the store employee comes out and says, "excuse me sir, did you do this?" mclovin says, "no, i didn't and you should really clean this up because someone could get hurt..." and the employee says to himself out loud, "fuck my life." yeah, that's sort of how i felt...i had to laugh because what the hell else is there to do? but seriously, surrrrrriously, that was riDONK!)

so, in about ten minutes i received a crash course, literally. and considering the circumstances, i think i did alright. i definitely spoke quickly--i had extra time remaining and filled it up by talking about my family in the united states!--and loudly. i think i must have thought that i could mask my "i have very little idea of what to do" by overcompensating with volume. good grief! i was wiggin out!

and today, my first day off, yay! my friend diana is treating me to a spa date. i'm going to get a facial and a back massage and sit in a hot tub where my worries will steam away. i am so ready for it!