Introducing Venus

The past two months have been so busy that I haven't even introduced my new kindergarten class. So here they are! Since my school is so clever, each kindergarten class is named after a planet; hence the name Venus. Most pictures were taken recently during our field trip. Enjoy!

   

Update on cold: The cold isn't too bad. Yesterday I felt like death, but I was actually able to get rest last night. Well, until construction began on my apartment building at 7:45 am. Even with more rest and somewhat cleared sinuses, I lost my voice today. Instead of teaching I played scrabble and word games with all of my classes.

Conversation between Gwen (one of my students) and I:
me - popped a cough drop in my mouth during a game of scrabble
Gwen - Ugh, teacher give me candy.
me - It's not candy. It's a cough drop. It's medicine.
Gwen - what?
me - It's not candy. It's a cough drop. It's medicine for your throat.
Gwen - Oh, mo candy?
me - NO! It's medicine.
Gwen - Yes teacher. Mo candy?
me - Looking at Gwen sternly. Gwen, no it's medicine.
Gwen - Teacher I know. Mo candy is Korean for cough drop.

I'm not sure if that's how you spell cough drop in Korean, but that's basically what Gwen was saying (mo candy). After I realized what was going on I just burst out laughing. Gwen is pretty smart so she also caught on and after our laugh we continued to play scrabble.

They got me

You know the scene from movies where a person is sick, hair is a mess, they look like death and they’re in bed lying among snot filled tissues? That person is currently me. I’m not sure when the germs decided to attack my body, but it doesn’t matter. The only thing that does matter is they did. Bastards. I haven’t been able to properly breathe since about 4 o’clock yesterday and because of this, forget sleep. Between coughing, sneezing and wheezing when I breathe I’ve successfully slept three hours tonight. Yay for me! I’m not 100% sure when I was attacked. It could have been when a fellow colleague of mine, who is also sick, handed me a glass to use or when a little girl named Macy coughed in my face. I’m personally leaning towards Macy. She probably was pissed I gave her homework and decided to get back at me the only way she knew. Make me ill. Regardless of how it happened my face and head hurts. Plus it’s now going on 7 am and I’ve been up since about 4:30 am. I shouldn’t complain. I do have an eight hour work day filled with teaching and loud children to look forward to. Yay for me again.

What a great weekend

It's Sunday evening and I can honestly say it has been a great weekend. Saturday morning was spent in my Hangul class, which by the way is basically done. I just have one last class and then I'm done! I could take the second part, but I'm going to give myself time to digest/really know what I've learned so far. But, I'm definitely happy I took the class -- it makes life so much easier. After my Korean class I grabbed a fast lunch and went to Sun Bin Orphanage to volunteer. It's an all girls orphanage and although I've only volunteered maybe three times now, I definitely like it and will continue to give my time. Plus I've also met some awesome people! After volunteering I met some friends and we headed towards the Kia Tigers baseball game! It was my first baseball game so I didn't think I would be so into it, but I was and the Korean crowd is great! They cheer like football fans do back home. I personally thought fans were quiet at baseball games. If this is true for home it's definitely not true for Korea. They are loud, intoxicated and excited to cheer their team on...it was great and I want to go back!

Sunday was spent at Moodong Mountain. We hiked a little, picniced in a bamboo forest, went to a tea house and took a lot of pictures of cherry blossoms. Again great.

Tea House: green tea with smashed rice mixed with green tea leaves. Sounds weird, but pretty good.

Random photo from earlier this week. I've decided it's Octomom before giving birth.

I'm Back

So much to update. First, I finished my online TEFL course. YAY FOR ME!! Now, it's done and I don't have to pay hundreds of dollars to get an extension. Second, I've finally started my Korean class and can now read Hangul. I know amazing right?! I can barely believe it myself. I literally am walking down the street and I can actually read most (okay not most, but a lot) of the signs. Unfortunately, the words are typically in Korean and although  my Korean vocabulary is growing it's definitely still limited. Regardless of this.......I CAN READ HANGUL!

A few weeks ago I went to Busan to visit some friends and celebrate Kim's birthday. It was a great time and just nice to see people from home! I also came across possibly one of the most interesting books I've read in a really long time. Several people, well more like a table full of people suggested I read The Hunger Games. I did and I loved it -- I suggest reading it! Both Kim and Ashley are planning to come to Gwangju in about two weeks and I'm looking forward to it.

Let's see......what else has been going on?! I was able to utilize my party planning skills to co-plan/co-host a cocktail birthday party. The party was last weekend and it was fabulous. Maybe when I grow up I can be a party planner. Maybe. 

I haven't done really anything today. I had Korean class this morning and have done nothing else all day and I like it. Sorry to cut this short, but since I haven't blogged in a long time I forgot how exhausting it is to try and be creative. I'm too tired to be creative. I do have a few things I want to blog about still. It will just have to wait until next time.

Chelsea and SK, I hope you both had a great birthday!