Chasing the Easter Sun: An Experiment in Public Transportation, Part One

This weekend I experimented with Korea's public transportation system and almost did something that you can't do in the United States without an airplane and something that will most surely earn me the grand prize of dorkiness. I watched the sun set (almost) on the west coast, rise again on the east coast, and set once again (almost) on the west coast.

It all started when I decided that in the absence of a church, I wanted to watch the sun rise on Easter morning. I talked to Joy and Chloe, and they suggested that I go to the East Sea (known in the rest of the world as the Sea of Japan), so on Friday, Joy helped me book train tickets online. The plan was for me to take an overnight train from Seoul on Saturday night, arriving in the east coast town of Jeongdongjin just before sunrise on Easter Sunday morning. Then I would return on the afternoon train, arriving back in Seoul Sunday night. I liked this plan, especially since watching the sun rise over the East Sea is a relatively popular thing to do among Koreans.

Saturday morning I needed to get caught up from my long week at the school, so I slept in, met Joy for an early lunch, and then headed over to the school to finish progress reports. I had made good progress by late afternoon, so I decided to head into Seoul early and take a detour through Yeouido, the island in the Han River that is a media, financial, and governmental district. It's also the home of some of Seoul's most spectacular cherry blossoms. It's peak season now, and the trees made for a wonderful display. It reminded me of living in northern Virginia and made me a little sad for my family and friends who are so very far away. I wasn't alone in my admiration of the flower-adorned trees. The streets and narrow sidewalks were so packed that the best one could do was inch along with the crowd.I was very pleased with myself when I noticed the sun not-quite-setting over the Korean National Assembly building, with some delicate cherry blossoms in the foreground. It took me a couple tries, and I had to come to a dead stop in the middle of a busy sidewalk to get this picture, much to the annoyance of everyone else trying to walk along, but I'm pleased with the result. While taking this shot I realized that I would be seeing the same sun again in about 12 hours on the other side of the country.I still had a few hours before my train to the east coast, so I continued walking along Yeouido for a while. There were several vendors selling snack food, including the Korean favorites, small snail-like things and beondeggi--boiled silk worms. As I've well documented here, I love Korean food, but no matter how open-minded I try to be, I can't quite accept silk worms as food. Not only do they look and taste horrible, but you can smell them from several yards away. To be fair, I have tried them, but it was not an experience that I ever need to repeat. The snails aren't that bad, but since they're almost always sold at the same places as beondeggi, they're on my "no thanks" list by association.When I had had enough of the crowd at Yeouido, I walked across a bridge to the other side of the Han River. I saw these traffic signs as I was walking, and they confirmed for me that I should stick to public transportation and never drive in Korea. Now, I've gained a lot of confidence since flunking my learner's permit test at sixteen, and I'd say I know the rules of the road pretty well, but these signs have me stumped. What are they saying? If you drive into the river, don't play a bugle? Despite the confusing traffic signs, I thought the bridge was pretty cool, and it was a pleasant walk across it in the early evening.
From the other side of the bridge, I took a bus to my favorite jjimjilbang (public bathhouse) since I still had a few hours before I needed to be at the train station. I had an excellent dinner of dolsot albap (fish eggs, rice, and veggies in a hot stone bowl), one of my favorite Korean dishes, along with kimchi, of course. Yum! Then I soaked in the tubs.

I left the jjimjilbang at 9:30 and took the subway to Seoul's Cheongnyangni Station where I caught a 10:40 PM train. By then, it was pitch dark outside, so even though I had a window seat, the only things I could see on the trip east were lights from the towns we passed along the way. After the first hour and a half of the trip, the seat next to me was vacant, so I curled up across the two seats and slept intermittently, waking up briefly to check my watch, press my face against the window, trying in vain to see something, and reposition myself before dozing off again.

To be continued . . .

Relay for Life

My cousin Kristy and my sister's friend Meredyth are both participating in the American Cancer Society's Relay for Life in honor my mom this year. If you're interested in making a donation toward a cure for cancer, please visit the links below by clicking on their names:

Kristy, participating in the Relay for Life on June 9 and 10 in Wheeling, Illinois
Meredyth, participating in the Relay for Life on April 20 at Virginia Tech

Great Kid Art

The assignment today was to make a picture of a clown, and 4-year-old Haley created . . .. . . me! Complete with yellow hair and a purple shirt. Too funny.

Busy life

"Busy" is the word of the day, week, month lately. It's the end of one month and the beginning of the next, so I'm especially swamped with monthly progress reports and lesson plans to give to parents. One of my classes took a huge final test last week, so I also have a lot of papers to grade. I'm happy with my new (as of the beginning of March) teaching schedule, but it does keep me going nonstop. I teach from 10 AM until between 6 and 8 PM, and I rarely leave the school before 9 PM. I'm not complaining, though. My students are incredible. I can't imagine learning a foreign language at their young age, let alone being able to use it as well as they can. Even some of my littlest students have a better command of English than I have of Korean. I don't think they know just how amazing they are.

My students have a great sense of humor, so something makes me laugh everyday. I take attendance at the beginning of every class, and the kids have to answer "Yes, I'm here" when I call their names. One of my very lovable and bright little girls has started answering "no" when I call her name. Then, before I can even look up from the roll book, she bursts into giggles and yells, "IS JOKE!" Then she giggles some more. It's really cute. Sometimes at odd moments during the day, I hear her giggling voice in my mind yelling "IS JOKE!" and it makes me smile. I'm always delighted when my students learn that they can joke in English, no matter how simple the joke is. It shows that they're really using the language, not just mechanically memorizing words.

I'm also impressed by my students' creativity. On a recent homework assignment, my bilingual 3rd graders had to write about things they could and couldn't do when they were little. Most of them wrote things like "When I was little, I could swim" or "When I was little, I couldn't speak English." Not Mary, however. She wrote, "When I was little, I couldn't go to the north pole in wintertime and eat ice cream with ice cubes on it." It came complete with an x-ed out drawing of her eating an ice cream cone. Standing next to her was a rather large critter with a caption that read "a penguin that followed me." Her other answer was "When I was little, I couldn't go to the desert wearing a very thick jacket and carrying a boiler." Umm . . . what 8-year-old knows what a boiler is?

I also appreciate my students' sincerity. One of the girls in my bilingual 3rd grade class is perhaps the most upbeat kid I've ever met. She's always smiling about something. A recent homework assignment included the question "When do you feel sad?" She wrote, "I don't feel sad. I'm always happy." May you always have that joy, Jinnie!

So my kids bring me great joy everyday. My bilingual elementary school kids recently finished the textbook we've been working on since September, so to celebrate, we had a party on Monday. Everyone brought something to share, and we played games rather than having a class. A good time was had by all, as you can see here. Since I was so bogged down in end-of-the-month stuff last week, I didn't have a chance to post much. This is a photo I took last week of my near-bilingual 3rd grade class during their break time. We just got a new student today, so I'll take another picture of them in the next week or so. I try to make sure I have a photo of each of my students.Last week to celebrate Chloe's 15th birthday, we took her out for dinner after school. Catherine and I brought the cake--a cheesecake, at Joy's (her mom) suggestion. Chloe seemed thrilled with it. Chloe is a student at our school, but since I don't teach the middle school classes, I know her more as a friend than a student, which has been fun. She has an incredible gift for languages, can speak Japanese fluently and is making great progress toward mastering English. Like her mom, she frequently helps interpret for me or explain things to me, and my understanding of this culture and country that I live in is more complete because of her. She's a cherished part of my experience here indeed. A couple weeks ago, she helped give me a Korean name (Ko-eun), which is my favorite souvenir or Korea so far. So here we are, celebrating Chloe's birthday with a cheesecake. (Incidentally, we didn't eat it that night but sent it home with Chloe to share with her friends from school. It was just as well by me since I don't care for cheesecake and like knowing that she can enjoy it with her friends.)Following on the Chloe and birthday theme, after work tonight we all celebrated our school's directors' birthdays at their apartment. Here are Chloe and I with their two little girls.And finally, besides this weekend's yellow dust storm, here's a clear harbinger of spring--some of the first cherry blossoms of the year in my neck of the woods! I took this picture outside the school during my lunch break this afternoon.Now it's late, and I still have tests to grade and progress reports to write. Yes, "busy" is the word of the day, not to mention "sleepy."

More thoughts on yellow dust

Yellow dust levels continue to skyrocket here. I'm just staying in today. I have plenty of work to do here anyway. Here's the latest graph from the US military showing dust levels in Seoul (1233 ug/m3). The levels are even higher just northwest of Seoul--1876ug/m3. Anything over 1000 is considered "hazardous" and people are told to "avoid all physical activity outdoors." High risk personnel are told to "remain indoors and keep physical activity low." I can feel my allergies acting up today, even though my windows are tightly sealed.

To show you the difference between a non-yellow-dust-day and a yellow-dust-day, look at these photos taken from my apartment window.

First, a beautifully clear day (3/11/2007):Now, here's the same scene, taken today at noon:Here's looking the other direction on 3/11/2007. Notice the mountain. And the same scene today at noon. Where'd the mountain go?

Yellow Dust Storm

We've been having a yellow dust storm today. The level in Seoul is 776 ug/m3 now, which is extremely high. The US military lists it as "very unhealthy--avoid prolonged or heavy exertion" and says that "high risk personnel should avoid all physical activity outdoors." There's a weird yellow haze outside, and my town has been strangely quiet this evening.I was thinking about going hiking tomorrow, but they're forecasting more yellow dust, so I think I might just hang around my apartment. I certainly have enough work here that needs to be done. It's the end of the month, so it is progress report and lesson plan time. I also have a whole pile of tests to grade, and my apartment has been embarrassingly neglected the past couple weeks. Yeah, I guess I'd better stay here tomorrow.

Sad Good-byes (UPDATED 3/30 with more photos)

I hardly ever cry in public, but yesterday was an exception. Yesterday was my last day at the Daerim Methodist Church in Seoul. At the end of the church service, they had me come up to the front to say something to the congregation. I cried. Then we went to the fellowship hall for pizza and cake. One of the middle school girls came up to me in tears, and surely you can guess what happened. I cried again. It was really hard to say goodbye to the people who have been so kind to me these last several months. They said a special prayer for me, asking God to communicate to me their gratitude for the work I've done. Their gratitude for me? What about my gratitude for them? People kept saying to me, "Don't forget us. Don't forget Korea." Forget? How can I forget that which has become a part of me? I'm so thankful for their generosity and hospitality during the time I've been in Korea. They've helped me to feel at home. I stayed at church until everyone else left. Four of the middle school girls walked with me to the bus stop on their way home. We took a quick photo in front of the church and then one from across the street. Then my bus came, and it was time for another tearful goodbye. I'm really going to miss the people here.On a much lighter note, my littlest kids were in their tae kwon do uniforms at school today. They were just too cute, so I lined them up and snapped a photo. They're three years old in Western age (5 years old in Korean age). How cute are they?Monday is over, and there were no crying students. I realize that the week is still young, but I have to see this as a good sign.

The Teacher Becomes a Student

My British friend Mark recently found a Saturday Korean class for foreigners at the YMCA near his home, so today I went along to check it out. At first, they had me read something to check my level, and decided I needed to go to the Level 3 class. The only problem was that they didn't actually check to see if I understood what I read, just that I could read it. I tried telling them that I can read just about anything but that I understand very little. It didn't matter to them. Level 3 it was.

The teacher started the class by having the other students ask me questions in Korean. (Nothing like putting the new kid on the spot from the beginning!)

First question: What's your name?

Oh good, I can answer that one.

Second question: Where are you from?

Yep, I can handle that one too.

Third question: WAWA WAWAWA (imagine the adults' voices in the Charlie Brown cartoons)

Then, in case I didn't catch it the first time, the teacher repeated it for me: WAWA WAWAWA.

Then there were more of those voices from Charlie Brown as other students chimed in:
WAWA WAWAWA. WAWA WAWAWA. WAWA WAWAWA.

In exasperation, I finally blurted out my standard, "I'm not good at Korean!"

Finally the teacher looked at me and said, "Okay, maybe Level 2," and she directed me toward the Level 2 classroom.

Level 2 was slightly better, but since the class has been in session for a few weeks, they're already on page 50 in the textbook. If I had started at the beginning, I think I could have handled it, but it was a little much to start that far into the book, which is almost entirely in Korean and has almost no English explanations. I could basically get the gist of the lesson, but the material was just advanced enough that even though I could figure out what it was about, I couldn't quite use it on my own. I asked about the Level 1 class, but they're just learning the alphabet, and I am beyond that, so that class isn't right for me either. I bought the textbooks to study on my own--from page 1, not page 50--but I don't think I'll be going back to the class.

The experience was good for me, though, because it let me see what it's like for my students to sit in a class and not understand what the teacher is saying. It was just one class, but there were times when I felt so frustrated and overwhelmed that I wanted to cry. In my day-to-day life, I can get by without using Korean or with just using my survival phrases, but when the spotlight is on in the classroom, it's a totally different feeling. I hope to keep this in mind when I find myself getting frustrated with a student who is hesitant to talk and participate in class.

Insadong (Seoul's Cultural District) with Friends

I met up with my friend Mi-jin and her friend Yi-soon in Seoul this afternoon. They live in the far northern part of South Korea, almost on the border between North and South Korea. We met in Insadong, the cultural district of Seoul, and had a very enjoyable afternoon. Mi-jin and Yi-soon can speak basic conversational English, but it's not easy for them, and I really appreciate the effort they put forward to talk to me.

First we went to a tradtional Korean tea house for none other than traditional Korean tea. I had jujube tea, Mi-jin had Chinese quince tea, and Yi-soon had cinnamon and persimmon tea. We each tried all of them. I liked the cinnamon and persimmon tea the best. It was ice cold and had a dried persimmon in the bottom of it. Yum. Mine was kind of thick and gritty. It wasn't bad, but I'm not sure I'll order it again. We also had some ddeok (rice cakes) and han-gwa (a different kind of rice cake) to go with our tea. Yum again.After our tea, we went out and walked around Insadong. We saw this man making ddeok. He took steaming rice, seasoned with daisy leaves, and used this giant mallet to smash it into a think, gooey paste. It was fun to watch, as you can see by the crowd that gathered around. Next we visited a contemporary art gallery that was really interesting. The photography and collage exhibits were my favorites, but there were also terrific paintings of giant snails with shells made out of fruit, vegetables, and seafood. Mi-jin and Yi-soon walked through a little faster than I would have preferred. There were 6 floors, and I think we saw the whole thing in under an hour. I'm not sure how long the exhibits will be there, but I definitely want to go back.

From the art gallery, we walked around a little more and then decided it was time for dinner. We ate a wonderful spicy chicken soup that was served sizzling, with all kinds of side dishes, including kimchi of course. Yum!EMH and Mi-jin in the restaurant:Mi-jin and Yi-soon had to catch a train to go back home, but it was still early this evening, so after saying good-bye to them, I went to the jjimjilbang (public bathhouse). Since it was a Saturday night, I was worried that it would be really crowded, but it wasn't too bad. I stayed for a couple hours, soaking in the different tubs, sweating in the fomentation rooms, and eating kwa-il-bing-soo (shaved ice with milk, fruit, and juice--yum!), before heading back to my apartment. I will definitely miss the jjimjilbang when I go back to the U.S.!

So it was a nice day with good friends. I'm happy.

Mashed Potatoes

A few days ago one of my Korean coteachers asked me if I'd do a cooking class with three of the preschool and kindergarten classes. She wanted me to make mashed potatoes since that's a "traditional American food." I had to confess that I didn't know how to make mashed potatoes, which surprised her. The truth is that I've never cared to make them. I'm not a picky eater in the least, but I've never been able to understand what the fuss is all about when it comes to potatoes. They're starchy and bland, and I plumb don't like 'em. Mashed potatoes, baked potatoes, french fries, potato chips . . . I'll pass. Nevertheless, I agreed to do a mashed potatoes cooking lesson for the kids, though I had to search the internet first for some basic mashed potato recipes. Then I checked with Mom to confirm.

So today, armed with a bunch of potatoes and some cooking utensils, I proceeded to demonstrate for my very young students how to make mashed potatoes. It turned out to be a fun lesson. The kids all got to take turns putting the potatoes in the water, stirring them (unnecessary, I know, but we needed to do something while they were cooking), and then mashing them. The kids got to eat some with their lunch. Everyone was happy. I'd call it a success.The Korean teacher thought I should put sugar, mayonnaise, and corn in the mashed potatoes, but I talked her out of it. After she tasted the final product (sans sugar mayonnaise, and corn), she told me she was surprised that they turned out so well without those extra ingredients. Oh my. Mashed potatoes are bad enough. Mashed potatoes and mayonnaise?! Two things from my "no thanks" list in the same recipe?! You've got to be kidding me.

I had another crier today. That makes 4 for this week. I was hopeful that we'd be back down to our usual weekly average of 3, but no such luck. To be fair, he had an acceptable reason to cry. Another kid, who has a hard time keeping his hands to himself, pushed him. I'm hoping tomorrow can pass without a crying episode. We shall see.

Some of my coworkers at the preschool told me today, through an interpreter, that they're really happy to have me working with them and that they wish they could talk to me. I wish that, too. It feels weird to see someone everyday and not be able to say more than just a few greetings and simple sentences. I really like getting to know people, especially the people with whom I interact closely. It feels weird to have this barrier around me all the time. I really appreciate it when people are friendly to me and make an effort to get to know me, despite feeling nervous about their English skills. I understand that it's difficult to learn a foreign language and that talking to a native-speaker of that language is uncomfortable when you're not confident in your own skills. I feel like that everyday when I need to use Korean, so when people go out of their way and put themselves in the awkward situation of communicating with me, I really appreciate it.

(Note: This is quite different from the complete strangers who are so overzealous about practicing their English that they do silly things like ask other people to move so that they can sit next to me on the subway and have a conversation, or come up to me in the English section of bookstores and ask me what words mean, or want me to listen to the English lecture they currently have playing in their MP3 player. Those are all real experiences, by the way. A little odd.)

Today Joy did something that she's only done a couple times but that really tickles me. She was trying to figure something out, and instead of speaking to me in English, she unintentionally blurted out her frustration and asked me for help in Korean. I had a deer-in-the-headlights expression as I was trying to make sense out of the few words I understood. She realized what she had just done and repeated herself in English. It tickled me, though, because it meant that for that brief instant, I wasn't so different in her mind that I automatically required a different language and a lot of thought to talk to. It always tickles me when people momentarily forget that I'm different and open themselves up to me as they would to a Korean friend. These are the situations that inspire me to work harder at learning Korean--wanting to understand my friends and students more fully, not only in my native language but in theirs as well.

Reading Day

We have a group of second graders who always come to the school 15-30 minutes before their class starts. They usually sit still for a little while and then get more and more active until they're running around and acting like monkeys. Today Joy had a "novel" idea. As each child came in, she handed him or her a book, and we had an impromptu reading day right in the middle of the school's lobby/library until it was class time. The kids were really good. Why didn't anyone think of this before? I had already finished preparing my lessons, so I sat out there and read with them. I was a little disappointed when it was time to put the books away and go to class.I finally got a good photo of one of my preschool classes. I've been trying for about a week now, but someone is always moving around or in a bad mood or absent or . . . well, they're four and five years old. This list could continue indefinitely. This class is really funny. One little boy has spent a lot of time in Canada and can speak English quite well, but he doesn't because he's very shy. He also hates art projects, especially coloring. One of the other boys and all three girls are also very quiet. The third boy more than makes up for the reticence of his five classmates and has more energy than anyone I've ever met. The kid is truly unable to hold still. He's also always in a good mood.This Sunday is my last official Sunday at the church for a while. I'm planning to take some weekend trips in April and May to see some more of the country before I leave, so I don't want to be committed to teaching the children's classes at the church each Sunday. I'm also finding that with my new teaching schedule, I need weekends that don't involve more teaching. I'll still visit from time to time. I know this was the right decision for me, but it still makes me a little sad because I really do like the people and will miss them.

So tonight I went out to dinner with a family from church as a farewell, even though I'm not leaving Korea yet. They took me to VIPS, which is an American-style steakhouse and salad buffet. (Koreans claim that it's an American chain, but I'd never heard of it until I came here.) This is only the second time since I came to Korea that I've been to a Western restaurant. The first time was over a year ago when a family from Sapkyo took the foreign teachers to Outback Steakhouse one day. The food tonight was excellent, and I ate way too much. The company was nice, but it made me sad to think that this is the beginning of a good-bye.

Here I am with the Lee family. I think we should be wire-rim glasses models!It's events like these when I realize that many aspects of life are irreconcilable. Living in Korea means being far from my family. Being closer to my family means leaving the life here which I've grown to love. Accepting an increased teaching schedule at the school means taking a break from church work, which has been the focus of my life for the past 10 years. It makes me wish I can have it all, but I know that saying yes to one thing often means saying no to something else. It's far too late for me to continue these thoughts tonight in. Maybe I'll pick them up again tomorrow.

3 criers so far this week. If we can make it through the next two days without any more, we'll be back to our weekly average! Assah! (Korean for "Cool!")

Cooking according to 8-year-olds

This week my 2nd-4th grade bilingual classes are working on a writing assignment about their favorite foods. First, they have to describe their favorite food. What does it taste like? (Salty, sweet, spicy, sour, bitter, etc.) What is it made of? Then they have to write directions for making it. One of the langauge lessons they're learning is to distinguish the animal name from the food name. Cow meat is beef. Pig meat is pork or ham. Chicken meat is still chicken. It's very confusing. One of my boys said his favorite food is pig. "I like eating pigs," he said. Since we had just learned that pig meat is called pork, I pretended to be confused. "You eat PIGS?" I exclaimed. "You mean, like this?!" I drew this picture on the board.As you can imagine, the kids thought it was really funny. And now everyone remembers that we eat pork, not pigs.

Another highlight of the class was when Grace, a little fireball of a girl, gave me these directions for making her favorite food: duck. I wrote it down on the board exactly as she said it.
She's the only student whose recipe started with "kill the . . . "

There were some more funny recipes, but I don't have them here at home, so I'll have to post them later.

So far I've only had two criers this week. Not bad for a Tuesday at the beginning of the school year!

Another good week

The tape player in my classroom is a little temperamental at times. Sometimes it plays the music really fast, resulting in Alvin and the Chipmunks voices. It's happened countless times in class, but it never fails to make the kids laugh. Lately I've found myself relating to the cassette tapes. Sometimes I feel like I'm stuck in the tape player, sometimes going at normal speed and sometimes at Chipmunk speed, with no way to predict or control the pace myself. I'm acutely aware these days of how quickly time passes. How can it be Friday night already? How is it possible that another entire week is over already?

Here's a recap of the week. I had 11 criers this week--3 less than last week but still a long way from my weekly average of 3. I'm hoping we get there again soon.

One of my little boys had the most impressive explosively runny nose I've ever seen. I've never seen so much snot in all my life. "Pinatubo" might be an apt nickname for him.

The staff at my school got great news this week that one of our 3rd grade students won first place in a nationwide book report contest sponsored by Oxford University Press. We're all so proud of her. Catherine and I both teach her, but she wrote the book report in Catherine's class. Today we had a pizza party in class to celebrate. (Korean pizza is fun. It has potatoes and corn on it.)

On Thursday one of my Korean co-teachers asked me if I'd do a cooking project with the preschool and kindergarten kids this week.

EMH: No problem.

TEACHER: How about mashed potatoes? They're not a traditional Korean food, but they're a traditional American food. You can show the kids how to make them. How do you make mashed potatoes?

EMH: Well, I've never actually made them. I think you boil the potatoes and then mash them with milk and butter.

TEACHER: You've never made mashed potatoes? Aren't they a staple food in America?

EMH: Well, yes. But I don't like potatoes, so I've never made them myself. I've helped my mom and grandma make them, but I just follow their directions--stir this, mash that. Since I don't like them, I've never really paid attention to the whole process.

TEACHER: YOU DON'T LIKE POTATOES? Aren't potatoes to Americans like rice to Koreans?

I didn't know how to respond to that one. I'm glad my national identity doesn't hinge on the starchy food I do and don't eat. I did, however, feel a little silly and slightly not American when I had to search the internet for basic mashed potato recipes later that day. (In case anyone cares to know, the other foods on my "no, thanks" list are cooked carrots, cheesecake, mayonnaise, and after a rather awkward lunch here in Korea, dog meat.)

So it's been another good week. Here are some pictures of my super students. First, tae-kwon-do in preschool.

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One of my kindergarten classes was a real handful this week. On Tuesday, one little boy wouldn't keep his hands to himself. He kept punching two of the other kids and shoving books at a third. I tried moving him, moving them, taking away his books, putting him in time out, etc., and he just kept at it. The final straw was during music time when he roared, ran to the wall, and proceeded to pull off the posters. It was almost the end of class, and his mother was waiting out in the hall, so I told him he needed to wait outside. He refused to go, so I called Joy in to help. I'm not sure what got into him that day. He's very bright and usually very good in class. There isn't a full moon until April 3rd, so I guess he just wasn't having a good day.

On Thursday, I couldn't get the two little girls to stop talking. They just kept jabbering on and on and were starting to sound a little angry, all the while completely ignoring me, even when I called their names, separated them, threatened them with time out, etc. Finally I called Joy in to mediate. She said the argument was something like this: Girl 1 wanted Girl 2 to come to her house to play after school. Girl 2 didn't want to go because she doesn't like Girl 1's dad. Girl 1 was offended and told Girl 2 that her dad is really nice. Girl 2 was offended that Girl 1 didn't share her opinion.

It cracks me up when the little kids get talking to each other. They can be so serious and so animated sometimes. With my very limited Korean, I can sometimes get the gist of what they're saying, but most of the time I have no idea. What do kids that young have to talk about? Politics? The economy? Sometimes I imagine that they're plotting some kind of mass uprising against the adults of the world. If it ever does happen, we're in trouble.

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And here are two of my bilingual 3rd graders working on their oral reports for next week.One is reporting on Paris and the other on New York City.They have to give at least a 2-minute presentation about the location of the city (continent, country, etc.), the geography, and at least three important landmarks. They found it pretty amazing that the Statue of Liberty was shipped across the Atlantic Ocean from France. (I don't think they understood that it wasn't assembled at the time and instead imagined an intact statue on the ship.) They wanted to know what would have happened if the ship had sunk during its journey. Would someone have tried to retrieve it from the ocean floor? Would there have been a second statue? The best part of the conversation was when one of the boys asked, "Is it bad luck if liberty sinks?"

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I taught my once-a-week mothers' class this morning. The mothers' class is a welcome break in my week from teaching small children. It's nice to work with adults for a change, but they still make me a little nervous. I know what to do with small children if my lesson flops or if we end up finishing the material with class time to spare. There are always games to be played, songs to be sung, pictures to be colored, but none of those things work with adults, so I have to be on my toes. When I first started teaching the mothers' class, I was really nervous and didn't enjoy it very much. Now I look forward to it, and I think it makes me a better teacher to have a class that is a much different sort of challenge.

They speak basic conversational English. Most of the time, I can figure out what they're saying, but sometimes I can't. Then I have to decide if I let it go or ask for further clarification. Sometimes the clarification is even more confusing. Sometimes I can see in their expressions that they face the same dilemma with things I say to them. It makes me constantly think about the words and sentence structure that I use. Many of my conversations with people are like this every day. I don't "dumb things down," but I do find myself constantly thinking about the best way to be clearly understood.

When people ask me what I miss most about home, after telling them about my family and friends, I tell them that I miss not having to think so much. At home, I know how things work. I know what to expect. Here I don't. At home I can read and speak and understand without concentrating. I can glance at a sign or hear a snippet of an announcement and understand it. Here I can't. The two times that I've been home this year, as soon as I got off the plane in Chicago, I felt that instant release of simply not having to think so much. It's strange to me that of all the things I could miss--food, television, or even familiar places--what I miss the most is simply not having to concentrate so much to understand the world around me or to make myself understood in it.

Learning to Drum

Here are some of my students learning traditional Korean drumming at school this morning. It looked like fun. I wanted to join in! The kids do terrific cultural things in the preschool. They also learn tae-kwon-do. They are just too cute running around in their tae-kwon-do uniforms. I'll try to get a photo next time. Unfortunately, my camera isn't handling indoor shots too well these days, so the photos are a little out of focus.And here is "my littlest student." She's actually the younger sister of one of my students. She just celebrated her first birthday last week. She's such a sweetheart, always happy. Today she followed me into the teacher's room when I was preparing for class, so I snapped this shot. A lot of the babies here look at me and start to cry, but this little one has become my friend. Today she learned "high five!" She's almost always smiling, but she looks a little worried here.

New School Year

Unlike in the U.S., the school year in Korea ends in late February, and the new year begins in early March. And what a busy beginning it has been! I have about 80 new preschool and kindergarten students--thankfully not all at the same time--and most of my old preschoolers have returned. Unfortunately, the textbooks don't arrive until next week. Since it's a new school year, the number of crying episodes has increased drastically from an average of 3 per week to 14 last week. I'm hoping to get that back down again very soon. Here are some photos from this past week.My kindergartners moved up to 1st grade, so while I still see them in the hallway, I don't teach them anymore. They don't seem to be distraught about this, but it makes me a little sad. They made great progress in their reading and writing in the past few months. I'm so proud of them, but I do miss seeing them in my classroom on a regular basis.

I still have my bilingual 2nd-4th graders, plus a couple new students in my bilingual classes. My older students moved up to the middle school, so I don't see them anymore, except to run into them in town on occasion.

So with all the hustle and bustle of the first week of a new school year, crying kids, missing textbooks, matching 80-some names with new faces, and the rest, I managed to come down with a nasty stomach bug that's apparently making the rounds these days. I woke up on Friday morning feeling a little unusual but not bad. I skipped breakfast, so by my break time at noon, I thought the uncomfortable feeling in my stomach was hunger. I went down to the restaurant on the 2nd floor of the building my school is in and ate lunch. About 30 minutes later, I was sitting at my desk in the teachers' room when I started to feel extremely ill--headache, nausea, fever, chills, shakiness--not a good combination. My coworkers said my skin was changing from red to ashen in waves. Fortunately I only had three more classes left in the day, and two of the other teachers were able to cover them for me. I quickly jotted down the lesson plans and left the school by about 2 PM. I spent the rest of the day and most of Saturday in bed, in the bathroom, or running between the two. Not fun and definitely not my choice way of spending the weekend.

Just to emphasize that I have truly terrific friends, three of them called on Friday evening and Saturday to check on me, and another one came in person. On Friday night, Joy offered to bring me juk--rice porridge, which Koreans eat when they're sick like Americans eat chicken noodle soup. I like juk--I even eat it when I'm not sick--but not even that sounded good, so I thanked her but said no. By Saturday night, I was glad to find a can of Campbell's chicken noodle soup in the back of the cupboard from my shopping trip after my last round of the stomach bug back in October.

I was feeling quite a bit better on Sunday morning and was supposed to teach Sunday school for the first time in three weeks, so I got dressed and headed for church. I was about halfway through the hour-long bus ride to the church when I started feeling ill again. By the time I got to church, I was not about to spew but was pretty uncomfortable. I said a quick hi to the kids and then told the adult helpers that I needed to go home. One of them kindly offered to drive me, which was exceptionally generous since I live so far from the church. It took about 40 minutes by car but was much more comfortable than the stop-and-go and limited seating of the bus. By 2:30, I was back home. I made a pot of homemade chicken noodle soup (much better than Campbell's, not as good as Mom's) and spent the rest of the day in bed, watching Korean dramas on TV (I don't get any English language television stations) and preparing a few things for this week's lessons.

I'm still not 100%. I'm tired, have a mild headache, and feel a little dehydrated, but it's a huge improvement over the weekend. I was able to make it through all 9 classes today without any trouble. One of my coworkers told me this afternoon that it's good to see that I'm back to "a people color" again. I'm pumping the fluids and plan to take it a little easier than usual for a while. There's nothing exciting on my calendar for the next week or so--just classes and taking care of myself. Speaking of which, it's past my bedtime. I'll try to post some more cute kid pictures again this week.