Updates

What's going on here in Kimchi Land...

-I had my greatest triumph and greatest defeat as a pre-school teacher in the same half hour. The youngest class I teach, Leshi, has two developmentally challenged kids who are about 3 years old. There is a Korean assistant in that class who is SUPPOSED to help me keep them under control while I teach the other three kids in the class but she's pretty flippin' useless and I usually spend the class running after them instead of getting anything accomplished.

So...one of them, Jae Min, I've been teaching for about 5 months now and he's picking up things here and there. He loves singing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star and he knows to say "hello" rather than "annyong" to me so he's getting there. This week, though, for the first time in 5 months, he did the Hokey Pokey on his own. I was so proud of him, I was totally crying and trying to hide it. It totally made my week and I still get all weepy when I think about it.

Then, about 25 minutes later, Seog Hyun threw the big story book out the window. It was hilarious but...damn it!

-I've finally started kumdo (검도 in Korean)! To recap briefly, my friend Steve's roommate Dan has been taking lessons for a while now and I thought it would a really cool thing to do. Dan's also been talking it up to other people so there's a group of 4 adult foreigners and 5 Korean elementary school students in the class. It's pretty funny, the instructor treats us (Dan not included) like very slow kids. We even get dropped off at the subway station in the school van with the other kids.

The kumdo itself is pretty cool. We wear blue outfits and have bamboo swords. So far, I've learned the basic foot movements, how to hold my sword, and basic arm movements. I totally make light saber noises because yeah, I feel like a Jedi. Assah!

Videos!

Yes, more videos.

Video One: Claude

You know what? I'll have as many videos of my cat on my blog as I want. Did you just call me a crazy cat lady? Huh?? Say it to my face!

But seriously, he totally looks like a catnip junkie, all wide-eyed and freaking out...so cute!



Video Two: Musical Chairs

Holy crap, musical chairs was some dog-eat-dog hyper competitive game with the kindi class. There were tears, bruises, and triumphant dances. It was pretty funny.

I'm pretty bummed and pissed about some moron burning down the Namdaemun gate. I almost typed "...Namdaemun gate burning down" but that makes it sound like an accident. I guess this is so upsetting because the Japanese and North Korean armies did such a good job of destroying significant historical sites that they didn't need any help from their own people.

On my first full day in Seoul, Justin took me by this on our way to the market and its remained one of my favorite visuals in the city. A lot of people said it was pointless but I loved how this modern city sprung up around the gate. It was built in 1398, it was the number one historic site in Korea and the oldest wood structure. Sigh.

Happy Lunar New Year

Today was my first day back after 5 glorious days off for Lunar New Year. One of my favorite things about living in Asia is all the time we get off for lunar holidays...though there is the trade off of Western holidays basically ignored. I can't believe I didn't get Martin Luther King Day off, damn it!

My holiday followed two intense 13 hour days. A friend was going on a ski trip to Japan so I subbed for him on Monday and Tuesday, meaning I was working all damn day. It was kinda cool to be around the middle school/high school kids again. I forgot how fun it is to gently mock them! Apparently, I was a big hit and the director of the school offered me a job at the end of Tuesday but I declined. I would miss my little hooligans too much if I left them.

I began the break with an intense night of drinking at a little place (ha!) called Monkey Beach. They serve their drinks in buckets and that's all I'm going to say about that. Stef and I made it home around 4:30 after a detour in Itaewon for grilled meat.

After that auspicious start, I did absolutely nothing for 5 days and it was amazing! No, wait, I did do some teaching prep work and I did a major cleaning of my room but that was it. I got wicked drunk on Saturday but it was at a bar I can see my house from so it doesn't really count as getting out there in the world. On Sunday, Stef and I worked it so we each only had to leave the house once (and the trip each of us made was for food!). I really needed the rest, though. The bags under my eyes are finally gone!

The greatest thing about the break: I found another Jew!!!

I've officially gone balls to the walls for Obama. Why support a candidate half-heartedly, I always say. My lovely auntie is sending me an "Obama for yo Mama" t-shirt and whoever sends me an Obama window sign will have my love forever.