As the World Turns

"Just call me Handsome."

That's what my swim partner said to me the other day when I asked him what his name is. lol. Yeah, buddy, you're handsome... Actually, he's a really nice guy. He's about 23 or 24 years old and is studying law at a university in Deagu. I meet him and his brother Hun (pronounced hooon) each morning for swim practice and then they drive me home. I just love how helpful Koreans are. :)

Happy Birthday to you!

Yep! It's my birthday today--October 5th! I am now 23 in America but will remain 24 in Korea until January 1st at which point I will turn 25 here. As for celebrating, it's been some-what eventful. Last night Mi Hyang came over to my apartment with her family and brought with them the most beautiful cake! Wow!! I'll post a picture later when I go home (I'm at work now). She also brought with her a gift--a belly dance skirt, some ballet shoes, a dance duffel bag, and two gift certificates to her belly dance school so that I can go and bring a friend with me! I'm seriously so blessed! I have the greatest friends at home and here! Thank you for all the love you guys have been sending me! I really appreciate the spaghetti makings, the books, the earrings, and the wonderful letters! I sure miss everyone! Today, my school threw me a birthday party with a big chocolate cake, candles, and party poppers! The funny part was watching everyone eat: we cut the cake into individual piece but nobody took one--they just attacked the thing with their forks and ate it family style. :) Sometimes the inefficiency of Koreans is so amusing.

Taxi ride from hell

Since today is my birthday, I decided that I didn't have to walk a half hour to school today. Instead I decided to take a taxi. My landlord offered to help by finding me a car and telling the driver to take me to my school, but darn it! He told the driver to not only go to the wrong school but the wrong city! I could tell we were going in the wrong direction but I gave him the benefit of doubt and figured he knew more about the area than I did, but it was pretty clear that we were definitely going to the wrong city when he started following signs to Hamchang and not Munchang. So here I was, helpless with almost no Korean language skills at all, trying to say from the backseat, "Anio Hamchang! Anio! Muchang!! Muchang! Ne! Ne!" (No Hanchang! No! Munchang! Yes! Yes!) What followed was a mad dash through the heart of my city. He flipped a U and took off at the speed of light (well, okay, 100 KM) through down town, through red lights, and passing cars in the middle of intersections, making some pretty close calls with a couple on-coming cars, and laying on his horn as people tried to cross the street. He was going so fast that I really did prepare for impact. I was gripping the door handle, bracing my knees against the backseat, and clutching my backpack in my lap. I've never been so scared or sure that I would be in an accident. The taxi drivers in China weren't as bad as this guy--and they're awful. Thank God I was still alive when I got out of the car. I'm pretty sure he was only driving fast because of his mistake because most taxi's here are great, but I'm still a little shaken. I mean, dang! 100 km through down town?! That's about 62 mph!

Weekend Plans

As soon as I get off work (which is hopefully around 1 today) I am joining Courtney and another friend name Sara, and the three of us are heading out for another weekend adventure. We're going to Andong for a tradition Korean mask festival. I don't know mush about it except that there is a lot of art projects where you can do things like make your own mask and I've heard that the dances take place in the woods. It sounded pretty cool to me so I figured I'd check it out.

You can't teach an old dog new tricks...

So, most days teaching is great, and there are days like yesterday... My co-teachers are generally really helpful (I have 5), but one in particular--Mr. Nam--has absolutely no control over his classes. His students are by far the worst students I have. They don't follow directions, their English ability is pitiful, they always talk when I'm talking, and I am always catching them listing to mp3 players or text messaging on their cell phones. Yesterday I had to yell "stop talking!" several times before I finally got their attention, and when I finally did, it only lasted for a about 30 seconds before they went back to talking. What do I do? They don't respect me, their teacher let's them get away with everything, and I feel like I have absolutely no control over the class. In fact, I have no control over Mr. Nam either--he just sits in the back of class and reads the newspaper. He doesn't help at all. Later that day I cornered him and told him that he needs to do more in my class. I told him he needs to help me explain games, help students complete their assignments, and keep order in class alongside punishing students. His response: "All second year students are bad. They no listen to me either." Argh. I'm not ready to trow in my towel yet but it's so much harder to stand alone when your more experienced partner gives up despite your efforts. Mi Hyang suggest I just kick them out of class. I'm not sure how that will go over--I suggested this to another teacher who was having problems and she looked at me like I was crazy. But then again, I am the foreigner... I can get away with a lot more than the Korean teachers... Maybe it's time I start capitalizing on my foreigner status... Surprisingly, the boy students actually behave better than the girls, which I hardly understand, but I attribute it to the regular teacher beatings. I'm certainly starting to understand why Korean teachers hit their students. I almost want a baton myself (Christmas gift idea). Just kidding... Kinda.

Over-all Health

I've been pretty sick for the past three weeks and I still having a hard time getting over it. I was almost recovered before we went to Seoul but somewhere out there it got bad again. For two days in a row now I haven't had a sore throat when I woke up but I realize that over exerting myself this weekend can change things and bring back the bug. Please keep me in your prayers. I'm so tired of being sick. I haven't been sleeping well either because of the coughing and sore throats, and when I do get some decent sleep, I have nightmares. The days get pretty long when you have to teach 5 classes on less than 5 hours of sleep. Pray that I don't get too carried away this weekend with all the fun and that I get some good rest. Thanks.