halloween shmalloween.

In honor of Halloween we had a "Halloween party" yesterday at school. And when I say party I mean we gave them a little bit of candy and called it good. Decorations did not go up until Wednesday so Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday I did Halloween crafts with my kids to add to the decorations. There just wasn't enough! If I would have known there wasn't going to be anything planned I would have done more. There should have been more treats! I understand I am in Korea where Halloween isn't even celebrated but if we are going to celebrate at school, we should celebrate it! However, I did face paint my students faces all day and I might have found a new career option. Either way, it was still a fun day and cute to see my kindergarten kids dressed up and being dressed up with them. I turned an old umbrella into some wings and became a bat! Cinderella was pleased and the kids seemed to like it too. I was the only teacher dressed up...

two months.

Two months down. So much has happened in the last two months it feels like I have been here longer. I can't believe it has been two months and it is almost November.

Good news! My washing machine door was fixed yesterday! The chopstick method just wasn't cutting it. When I came back to my apartment last night I walked into a spotless kitchen. My trash had been taken out, my food was organized, the floor was swept, and all my dishes were clean. While the door was being repaired, Cinderella did a little touching up herself. If I can get her to do this once a week we are set.

Got my hair cut today. I have been meaning to get one, oh for about a year now. I have been nervous to get one in Korea in case there was some miscommunication and I ended up with no hair. However, today I stumbled pass a salon with a lady with red dyed hair and figured she looked cool so I couldn't go wrong. I told her to cut "jogeum" (the korean word for little) and showed her with my fingers how much.The whole time I was sitting in the chair I was nervous she was going to do something crazy.  I should have gave her more credit. My hair looks and feels great!

Apologies in advance if I come back to the States and I shove you out of the way to get somewhere...and not feel bad about it. At first it bothered me that people would bump me and not even acknowledge it. But I have realized it is normal and not rude. Even the little old ladies with hunched backs and canes do it. Also, I might come back walking unusually fast and possibly run to my destinations.

new style: moldy clothes.

When I first moved into my apartment I was informed that I had to open my washer with a chopstick. Seems easy enough, right? I could barely eat with chopsticks when I came here, but why not use it on household appliances.

Last Thursday night I shoved a bunch of clothes into the washer not thinking these little machines probably don't hold much. Before it started the spin cycle, it stopped and had "SE" flashing, which I think means "error"? Clothes still soapy and wet I tried to run the cycle again. It stopped on "SE" again so I thought there must be too many clothes, I'll just take half out. WELL, after trying for four days to pry the door open with a chopstick and even trying to rip the door off, I finally realized it locks shut in the middle of a cycle. (Special thanks to Google and the people who put English directions up of Korean washers).

With my amazing translating skills I set the cycle to spin and drain only and the washer finally cooperates and does just that. It sings a little ding a ling song and flashes "end" so I tried my chopstick prying one more time. It opens, I fall backwards, yahtzee! My wet clothes are free, smelly, and ready to be washed multiple more times to be normal again.

ajuma teacher.

Another week blows by!

A lot of my students have started calling me ajuma teacher. (again, ajuma is an old korean lady). At first I would say "I'm not ajuma teacher!" but now I just go along with it. 1st grade steve does it the most. So I call him ajuma steve; he doesnt like that. Whenever the kids draw pictures of me on the board, they make my eyes extra big and draw a pig nose. I know I look different but you don't need to make me look like goon!

New disciplinary action for the week: I write "cinderella" on the board and ask them what it says. They all know the name because she is the principle of our school and quite scary. I then tell them if they talk I will write their name on the board. Once they have 3 X's I will take them to Cinderella. After I write their name on the board or put an X they are immediately quiet. If they are doing well and doing their work I erase an X. So far it has worked.

We got a new student this week. We gave him the english name Bill. He is from China and knows no Korean and very little English. It doesn't make any difference to me because he is on the same level as most of the other kids. Hanna teacher was complaining today how she can't communicate with him and I was like "Welcome to my life! That is how I feel every day with EVERY kid!" Sometimes being the only foreign teacher at my school I feel like the Korean teachers and staff don't understand how difficult it can be. 

I lost my wallet on the bus ride home this week. That same day I got a text say to call a certain number. I had Hanna teacher call and apparently someone had turned my wallet in to the police station. After work I went to the police station and they knew right away who I was. "Jennypuh?!" Yes, that's me. After about 15 minutes of talking and joking with me I got my wallet back. Debit card, ID's, house key, and all my cash had not been touched. Only in Korea.

my cute kinder class. alice, chris, brian, and julie.

hannah teacher and chris.

i love you more than that.

Things have been a little slower on my blog lately due to the recent news of my aunt carrie passing away. It still feels like a dream, however, I am remembering the fun and good things that came from the 24 years of having her in my life. I will never forget her laugh, kind heart, and the amount of love she can give someone. Every time I watch the Cowboys I will think about her fist pumps and "WOO-HOO'S!". Every 18th of September I will miss her call thinking it is my birthday. Though, being in Korea it finally worked out! The 18th in America was the 19th in Korea. Carrie introduced me to two of my favorite foods growing up; grilled cheese with ketchup and "dippy eggs" (dipping toast in over-med eggs). My brother, sister, and I thought the world of her and she was a best friend to my dad and mom. My amazing grandparents raised a beautiful person and she will be missed.

kinder class

Every week I have my kindergarten class from 10:00-11:20. This can be the longest hour of your life if you have nothing prepared so I always try and print off coloring worksheets or some craft that takes a long time. Coloring and cutting always takes them a good chunk of time. The first 40 min we learn something from the Magic Time books. Today we learned about fruit, drew fruit, and colored fruit. I even got them to sound out the fruit they didn't know and read it themselves. I was a proud mama today. For the second half of class it is either science, art, picture memorization, math, or PE.

Playing, art, and anything crafty I can think of a million things to do. However, science is a disaster. I try to avoid it as much as I can but it is a nice change up and the kids really like it. The school has given me little packets of different activities but I have used all the good ones up. We made fans one day and I felt like I was jump starting a little mini car. Today I decided it would be science day so I pulled out the little packet titled Marble Drawing. Long story short I exploded the oiled-green coloring all over me, had no idea what the point was, and made the classroom smell really bad. However, the kids loved it, it lasted the rest of class, and when they are happy I am happy.