Settling Down Once More

Random Backpack at Cat Cafe

So I haven't posted in a while ... and for those of you waiting for a new post, here it is.  And yes, I finally took pictures of my new students so please enjoy.  Anyway, it took a little bit of time for things to settle down.  The kindergarteners' work level went from little to crammed full of work and so they needed time to adjust to the increased work loads and the new teachers, including our newest teacher, Elliot.  There isn't much new except Heather Teacher left and Elliot Teacher is here, but my classes seem to be going well.  There is a lot of work to do but I enjoy it for the most part (well except when I get sick .... again) but that is one of the hazards of working with kids.  I also seem to be eating out for lunch a little more often though still need to work on trying more foods.  Tried a random ramen the other day and my tongue yelled at me for a while and I didn't get to finish it even though it tasted fine. 

My Afternoon Kindergarteners

Another funny story is when I overheard one of my 6th graders asking Lucy Teacher where I was in the teacher group photo.  So I basically said, "Jin, turn around," and then at the same time took off my glasses and let my hair out of its ponytail.  It amused me just how wide her eyes got and she was like, "Wow, you look so different!"  Now that I wear my glasses more often ... eyes don't seem to like contacts anymore ... I tend to forget how different I do look when I take my glasses off.  The one day I randomly showed up in contacts, all of my students were like, "Who are you?" and I was like, "Your teacher...."  And of course my kindergartener Amy (new kindergarten) screamed cause it startled her so much.

My New Morning Kindergarteners (Missing Amy)

From Left to Right: Britney, Daniel, June, Michael, Mellisa, and Clara

Otherwise, we had a field trip to see a play about two kids and a tiger.  Basically, at least from what I understood, the girls didn't listen to their mother and opened the door to the strange tiger.  This caused the tiger to get there mom and eat her.  The tiger eventually catches them and they use many silly antics to get away from the tiger and eventually the girls ascend safely to heaven and become the sun and the moon.  My students (minus Britney) said it was not fun, but I think they actually enjoyed it and just want to give me a hard time.  Britney said she liked it because the tiger was funny (and it really was).

Went to see the movie Django in theaters with some co-workers.  It's nice to go to English movies here once and a while.  Django was pretty bloody and I hear there was a lot of controversy because it was a slavery movie made by a white person that made you laugh.  But at the same time, it really showed how cruel slavery was.  I enjoyed the movie, though at the same time it felt odd to laugh at things that really did happen but because of how they portrayed it, you couldn't help but laugh.  And the bad men (and women) got what they deserved in the end. 

After talking to my dad before his wedding, I came to the realization that when I was in Itaewon, I had only been maybe a 15 minute walk from the hospital that I had been born in.  It was ironic because when I was heading into Itaewon, I mentioned to Megan and Sarah that I wondered if that place was near where I had been born, because the area sounded familiar to me.  According to my dad, he figures that he and my mom had mentioned it enough that it was subconciously in my mind.  Either way, it was a little ironic and amusing that my hunch had been right.  I will have to convince myself to go back and check out the hospital where I was born because I hear it is open to the public.

Otherwise, I finally tried the Dino restaurant (all you can eat meat buffet that you cook yourself) that everyone was talking about.  It was pretty good though I do like to have more than just meat in a meal.  I also started watching Japanese dramas with Chris (*shakes fist at Chris for getting me addicted to them) and occassionally Megan.  We will have to try some Korean dramas sometime, too, as I know Chris really enjoys them.  The weather is finally starting to get nice out again, so hopefully now that I am getting better I can enjoy the weather on the weekends.

Ah, and I also went back to the cat cafe with Chris (this time without Nathaniel) and we stayed for quite a while.  There were a lot of people there that day, and a lot of kids, so the cats were running around everywhere.  I finally got ahold of my favorite little black and grey one ... if only I could adopt him...  but alas it would not be fair to have a pet when I would have to eventually put him on a plane and deal with all of that and the fact that many weekends I am visiting Nathaniel and a pet would be left alone.  But I can still go visit the cats a the cat cafe occassionally.  And I still need to find that dog cafe and drag Nathaniel to it.

And something else that is new, we are now doing themed projects with the kindergarteners.  Basically, they learn about a theme and do fun projects based on the theme.  Last month's theme was Seasons and this month's theme is Polar Bears (or maybe Arctic Animals).  Either way, they are having a lot of fun.  Last month, they got to make a tree for each season with a bunch of different materials.  It takes a lot of time, but I think it is one of their favorite activities.