Ice Skating & Five Random Confessions

Myself and a few friends went ice skating this past weekend. Between my anxiety of falling and breaking a bone to hot chocolate and screaming children bundled head to toe in winter wear, it was a lot of fun!


As you can see, I'm holding on for dear life. Hopefully going back this weekend!

Five Random Confessions
Technically this was going to be something fun added to my posts if I happened to update my blog on Fridays. But who was I kidding?! My updates are very sporadic and since I still want to keep this new part of my blog, I've decided to change it from Five Friday Confessions to Five Random Confessions. Hope you enjoy!

1. I've been on vacation/desk warming (which basically is still vacation, but I must show my face at work for a few hours a day) since December 27th and the only thing I've accomplished on my "To Do" list is eat everything in sight.

2. Sometimes I forget how old I currently am/turning on Friday. I often find myself using a calculator to make sure. Yep, I'm really 27 turning 28.

3. Told myself I would yoga a few times a week during vacation.

Times completed: 0

Times attempted: 0

4. I think coffee is disgusting.

5. I've always loved orange juice and the flavor of fresh oranges/tangerines. But have had issues eating the orange itself. As a child and well into my early 20's I would chew the orange and suck all of the delicious flavor out. Once the flavor was gone I would spit the remnants of my orange out and toss all evidence of this weird behavior into the trash. If you're thinking "texture issue" you're wrong. I ate/currently eat pudding, bananas, oatmeal and anything else that is categorized in the weird texture group. I had an issue with the gross stringy parts of the orange. No matter how much you chewed there would still be long strings of bitterness left. And you are expected to swallow this?! No. Not happening. My dad found this dirty wasteful habit of mine out when I was in high school.

Story: Picture me and my dad (a large 6' something" tall black man) at the kitchen table with nothing on the table but a paper towel in front of me ready for my waste and the large bag of oranges in the middle of the table. 

me - Mouth full of oranges. Chewing then spitting out onto the paper towel. Then replacing that with another piece of orange.

dad - "What are you doing?"

me - "I don't like the strings. They're gross."

dad - "What do you mean?"

I explain while dad peels an orange for himself and watches me in my orange eating process. Chew, suck, spit, replace. Chew, suck, spit, replace until I'm finished. Since the juice from one just wasn't enough to satisfy my hunger I go to grab another orange when all of a sudden he slaps my hand. I look at him and he says..."If you can't eat it all. You can't have any." He finishes his last piece of orange, grabs the bag and puts it back on the shelf. As he walks out of the kitchen he says, "Those dishes wont wash themselves." I decided he's right. I yell, "AMANDA, dad said you have to wash the dishes."

I'd like to say I went and grabbed the bag of oranges and ate another despise his disapproval, but I didn't. Deep down I knew I was being wasteful and actually stopped eating oranges for a good five or six years. Only until moving to Korea have I started eating tangerines again. And yes, I'm eating the entire fruit now!

The past two months

Chuseok
This Chuseok (Korean Thanksgiving) was spent down south in Mokpo, a day on Bigeum-do and a short lunch break in Gwangju. Besides the small hiccup with ferry times combined with little sleep, someone whispering throughout the night (you know who you are) and an uncontrollable aircon, the trip was great!

Sports Day

Every year most schools host a Sports Day, which is a fun day filled with friendly competition and activities for all students, staff, teachers and even family members. Before starting any physical activity I was given a pregame snack - peanuts and sweet potatoes. The days events included tug of war and various kinds of races such as relay races, barrel pushing and even a scavenger hunt race where each student read a piece of paper and followed the directions given. For example, "Find your grandfather and run with them to the finish line." So, yes I saw a few grandparents, parents and even our principle and vice principle running as fast as they could to the finish line. It was hysterical! Even I had to run a few laps. And I really dislike running. But all in all, it was a lot of fun and a nice change from the typical school day!

Cutest field trip ever!

I don't remember when this was, but I traveled to Danyang Ondal Cave with my 4th graders; it literally was the cutest field trip ever. The weather was pretty crappy, but because of this all of my students had massive umbrellas which made them look tiny and so cute! They also wore hard hats while in the cave and that cuteness almost sent me over the edge. It was raining, but with the clouds surrounding the mountains it still was a beautiful day.

Halloween

It's no secret that Halloween is my favorite holiday. I just love it! And because of this love I make sure I have a fabulous Halloween lesson every year. This year was no different. My 4th graders had a costume party. I really wanted them to focus more on creativity and not just buy a costume from the store, which they did! Since it's my 3rd graders first year learning about Halloween (at least with me) I wanted to do a craft and game to introduce the holiday. If you've ever been to my apartment you know I've had a large bag of toilet paper rolls hanging in my entryway. I've been saving them with the idea of doing/making something; I finally found something to make, Halloween candy bags! I was so busy during this lesson I didn't have time to take any pictures, but they all came out really cute. Hopefully my students had fun! Also, thanks to everyone who contributed and added on to my collection. Leo + Grace Hillers, thanks a ton!

That Saturday I was able to celebrate Halloween with other adults which not only equals no yelling and threatening to take away stickers, but also...BEER. It was an 80's Class Reunion Murder Mystery party.

Five Random Confessions

For now on if I happen to write a post on a Friday I will include (if I remember) this new part of my blog. Five random confessions of the week. I'm not sure if this is going to be a good thing, but I have a feeling a lot of these will either do with food or make me look like a psycho.

1. This little 1st grader has been coming to my desk almost everyday for weeks just to say hi. Since she's so young, I actually don't teach her, but for whatever reason we're definitely friends now. My confession - Every time I see her I fight the urge to pinch her cheeks. They're just so chubby and adorable and I want to pinch them away!! But don't worry, I don't. I stick with high fives...for now.

2. It's getting cold. I've had to wear at least three layers of clothing everyday this week and I'm still shivering until I leave at 4:30. I may have to start wearing two pairs of socks next week.

3. I've had dirty dishes in my sink for almost two weeks. 

4. The backpack I use for school is literally falling apart, but I don't care. I really don't want to buy a new one when I will probably stop riding my bike to school in a few weeks.

5. I've had new bras since possibly June or July and have yet thrown out the old ones. Why? Because for some reason I think I can reuse/make something. I have yet to come across a DIY project using old bras.