You never quite know... Part II

Along with the first post about not knowing eggs were already boiled when I bought them, I have had a few other surprises this week. 

First of all, the bread I bought this week was completely covered in mold.  Completely.  I suppose in the States I could return or exchange the bread but I am pretty much at a loss here.  So, my dinner I had planned for last night had to be changed as I no longer had bread like I thought I did!

Then, (and this was just me being careless) the mandu I bought this week was...seafood mandu and I think wheat.  Something healthy.  Blech. ;)  I can't wait to go back to the good stuff--but I still have two bags to get through!

Everything else here is going well.  Summer camp has been fun.  This week I have 3-4th grade students.  They're fun.  I seriously love third grade.  They are always smiling and happy.  The sweetest little things. 

I am getting sick (again) so maybe they're not that sweet!  I hope this cold thing is gone before this weekend, however, as it's my birthday weekend!  It doesn't even feel like July let alone the end of July so it's weird that it's already my birthday in three days. 

Why I have awesome friends

I received this lovely letter in the mail on Friday from Curtis! <3  It definitely made me laugh and made my day.  (Curtis and I were having a conversation the other day about ransom letters and how you never see letters like this any more because of computers--and so he sent me my very own letter!)  

You never quite know...

You never quite know what you're going to get when you buy something in Korea.  Or, at least I never quite know.

This morning I bought some eggs.  I was quite excited as I found a place that only sold three eggs instead of the typical dozen--I mean, what am I going to do with a dozen eggs?  And lately I have been wanting to make some super delicious omelets with cheese and tomatoes and other deliciousness added in.

I just went to make this super delicious dinner for myself.  As I attempted to crack open the egg, I saw that it's hard boiled.  Not only was that super disappointing but it's not even the edible hard boiled egg.  In Korea, they like to over boil the eggs until all you have left is a rubbery hard mess of what used to be an egg.

Sad.

I suppose it's time for me to go to the store and actually buy some real eggs.  I still really want that omelet.  :) 

Day two of summer camp

My fifth grade students played dodgeball today.  If you know anything about Koreans then you'll know that they (especially the women) hate the sun.  Not only does it age you but pale is beautiful.  So the mean teacher that I am made them play a game in 96 degree heat.

Student: Teacher, the sun will kill me!
Me: It's ok.  You're going to play anyway.

Just call me "heartless teacher" instead of "Jessica teacher."

Of course I received a slight sunburn in my very short time that I was outside.  That'll teach me, but not really as tomorrow they are going to play soccer.  Maybe I'll stand in the shade to watch them. ;)

Summer begins today

It finally feels like summer in Korea, both physically and mentally.  Today is the first day of heat and sun since...well, a month or two.  It has pretty much been raining non-stop minus a day or two of sun.  It is also the first day of "summer camp" which means that it finally feels like summer vacation.  I don't know if I will ever get used to teaching in a year round school. 

I teach two weeks (5-6 grade this week and 3-4 grade next week) have nine days off, then I teach 1-2nd grade for four days.  Then the new semester begins. 

Today was the first day for the 5 and 6 years.  I think this shall be a decent week.

Two blogs in one day? Unheard of!

I love my students.  Some days more than others.  I always feel slightly envious of my friends who get to work with the older students, however, as I remember fondly upon my time working with middle school students in the States.  In fact, my "least favorite" classes are the ones with the youngest kids--partly because they don't know any English at all, and partly because I feel at a loss as to what to do with them.  

Today I was teaching a first grade class.  The students know random words in English (like hamster and guitar) but in no way can they understand a sentence.  This makes communicating very interesting, and they often just talk away at me in Korean, asking many questions.  Of course I can't answer a single one.  

There is a particular student in there, a girl, who has been very shy.  When I first started teaching, she wouldn't talk to me.  Eventually, she discovered that I would play "rock scissors paper" with her (a Korean favorite--they do this with everything) and would run up to me in the hall to play.  Then, today, when I came in she ran up to me, wrapped her arms around my leg, gave me a big hug, and then followed me around for most of the class clinging to my skirt, smiling up at me.  

My heart melted into a pile of mush.  

I suppose there are some upsides to teaching little kids, after all. 

Right then

I should probably update this.  It's been a while! (Ok, so I don't feel like it's been that long at all but that's only because time flies while in Korea.) 

First of all, I realized today just how PC everything is in America now.  I was writing up a lesson plan for the kindergarten class here and I thought about how they like to sing, "10 little Indians" to me.  The Korean Kindergarten teacher actually had to remind me how the song went as ...well...it's been a while since I have heard it.  It would definitely no longer be sung in an American school.  It's always very interesting to see small little things like that--it reminds me that I am indeed, no longer in America as sometimes it's easy to forget!

Anyway. 

I could write about my trip to the DMZ.  But, that would probably take a lot of time and I don't have any pictures to post on here at the moment.  They are on facebook though, so you can see them there.  So, I'll just say that it was very interesting.  I went in the tunnel that the N. Koreans dug to "mine" which goes into S. Korea (that was pretty cool...and very long).  I also went into the building where they (N and S Korea, along with the various other officials) meet to discuss diplomatic issues.  Which means that yes, I was technically in North Korea. 

That was a fun and interesting day.  And the weather was actually nice enough to stop raining so I could enjoy it! Don't worry though, the rain is back.  Lots and lots of rain.

So the DMZ tour was two weekends ago.  This past weekend on Saturday I headed into Seoul to meet up with some friends.  We went to the "Secret Gardens" which are these awesome gardens behind one of the main palaces.  Absolutely beautiful.  And green.  And once again mother nature was kind and it didn't rain.  Although it was incredibly hot and humid.  After we took that tour, we went in search of peanut butter, as our Russian friend has never tried it before!  We found some, bananas, and then went in search of a chocolate cafe where we consumed the yummy chocolate, peanut butter, bananas, and played euchre! 

I felt like I was back in Michigan again. :)

I also have pictures from that day, but I haven't posted them yet. 

Right now at school we are on our last week of classes.  Next week is week one of summer camp!  I am especially excited for this week as it's 5th and 6th grade.  I think we'll have a lot of fun.  Also, I managed to get my hands on some American candy thanks to an awesome friend so they should be very happy.  I teach summer camp for two weeks, have two weeks off, and then teach one more week of summer camp before the new semester starts.

I am excited for the two weeks off! I don't have anything in particular planned (my plans to go to SE Asia fell through because of having to change my dates for summer camp) but I am sure I'll find something to occupy my time with. 

And.  That's everything.  Nothing exciting to report!