crazy, busy, school.

My weekend in food.

Hello world. It's been a wild past week and a half for me! The new students came last Monday and none of them speak any English at all. Before coming to Korea, I had planned to work in a school where the students already knew a little English but my life never really goes according to plan. It's been so hectic. I've been focusing on little things such as having the students imitate what I do - stand up, sit down, open the book, close the book.. and practicing colors. The kids are a little rambunctious but I think I can manage. One student, Ethan, is my karma in it's finest form. He throws tantrums every single day. He doesn't want to wash his hands, sit down, color, or anything else. He even made a big fuss about eating lunch today. In my mind, I call him the devil child. There's also one little boy, David, who hits everyone. I just want to hit him and see how much he likes it. But I obviously can't do that. Most of the kids are super cute though and it makes the ones who misbehave manageable. In one of my classes, some of the kids didn't have English names yet. One boy's Korean name begins with an H so my co-teacher told me we should make up a name that begins with H. I literally just named this child Henry. Twenty years from now when he's fluent in English and introduces himself as Henry.. a part of me will be with him. Too funny. One little girl who only comes for two classes in the

Nitrogen infused ice cream shop

afternoon is absolutely petrified of me. The second she sees me, she bursts into tears. It's almost been two weeks and she still is so scared of me. My co-teacher told me it's because she has no experience seeing any foreign kind of person so to her, I pretty much look like an alien. They keep taking her out of the class when she starts to cry which makes no sense. If they keep removing her from my presence.. she won't ever get used to me. Slowly but surely.

I've taken on more responsibility at my job - I am now a homeroom teacher. I go to work twenty minutes earlier and spend time with the children in the morning - getting them to unpack their water & toothbrush and to drink their milk. I also help out during lunch instead of having my own time. Helping out with lunch is super easy though so I don't mind.. mainly because I get free food and I am actually eating a balanced meal during this time. After lunch the kids have to brush their teeth. Almost every single one of the children have silver caps on their teeth - and in multiples. I was so shocked at how many of them have cavities.. and at how many they have!

Last week was cool. I went to Hannah's friends with her and she cooked dinner for us and we drank wine and had some good conversation. It was cool to see what the inside of a Korean person's home looked like. I didn't know what I expected. Her apartment was beautiful and modern. Almost nobody has an oven here, which is sooo weird. And there is no such thing as a dryer. You need to air dry your clothes - which I will never get used to.

No pictures were allowed - this was all on the outside

On Saturday, I went into Busan to the LIFE Magazine exhibit. It was sooo cool. There were old magazines from like the 1950s. There were also lots of pictures of significant people and tragic events over the years. There were pictures of Hitler, soldiers from the Vietnam war, JFK and other old presidents, Gandhi, James Dean, Neil Armstrong. I loved just taking a look into history through pictures and magazine articles. It was really moving.

Sunday, I went to Beomeosa Temple. This temple was super cool. It had a bunch of different hiking trails, stones with water running through them, and trees waiting to bloom. I would definitely come back here once I find myself a nice pair of running shoes. I don't even own a single pair of sneakers. There was a giant golden Buddha and dozens of miniature statues surrounding it. The entire area was very serene and peaceful. I even walked through a trail of giant bamboo. It was a great Sunday.

Yesterday, I went to Costco with Kate. I realized that I am perfectly fine without most "western" food. I bought a giant package of Mexican shredded cheese and those chocolate coins for the kids. They didn't have ranch dressing there though, which I definitely would have bought. What's funny is that this past weekend, I went into a restaurant that said "Mexican" on the sign.. obviously because I am dying without Mexican food. To my surprise though, there was no Mexican food on the menu - only chicken. They should change the name on the outside, it's totally false advertisement.

Anyways, Friday is one child's birthday and "Yellow Day." Next Monday is "Green Day" for St. Patricks Day. It should be fun. I probably have a thousand things I want to write about, like how people here will talk about you in front of you and you know they're talking about you because you heard your name and stuff, buuuuut I'm about to head to the store! I've hit my two month mark! Things are good. Peace out.

Oh YEAH!! There's an apartment complex called "Lynn" in the city I live in here. HOW FREAKING WEIRD?! / COINCIDENTAL?! Most of the complexes are in Korean. It's like a little piece of home is with me all the way on the other side of the world.

This is so random but I watch the following shows and I really wonder how I have all of this time to keep up with all of them: The Following, The Walking Dead, Grey's Anatomy, Revenge, Bates Motel (FINALLY BACK!), Suits<3, Revolution, Criminal Minds, Blue Bloods, and Shameless! All are fantastic!