Monthly Archives: August 2010

the real essential things in life

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Throughout college, during my internship, and even while substitute teaching, I never understood how teachers could spend so much of their own money  for things in their classroom and on their students.

Yesterday was payday (yippee) and as I headed off to good ol emart to get the essential things in life (milk, bread, pants) the entire time I kept finding things I wanted to buy for my classroom and not for myself, “If I had this we could do this”, or “this would make reading time so much better”, or “this would make my classroom’s environment more comfortable” were all the phrases that kept echoing in my head.

I am starting to realize that my apartment may be the place I lay my head to sleep, but my classroom is my home,  I mean I do spend the majority of my awake time here. Who needs to eat breakfast when I can buy a bunch of new books for my kiddies to read? Who needs pants without holes when this game would make indoor recess more enjoyable? Okay so technically I would never be allowed to wear pants with holes at school,  but you get my point.

Paying back college loans? Pssshhhh, I will be doing that until I die anyway. Or until I get an awesome book deal for my memoir of my first year in this country known as South Korea. I might need to finish writing it before that happens…

my brain

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Who should I pair up for partner reading? Should I spend two days on this math lesson? Does this seating arrangement work? Who needs to sit close to the board? Who can’t sit by each other? What title should I give this bulletin board? What should I put on this bulletin board? Will they ever fix my computer? patience, patience, patience. Who didn’t turn in their homework? Did I put deodorant on today? Do I have an updated class sheet? Did I remember to send attendance in this morning? Will it rain, please don’t rain, outdoor recess? Indoor recess? Is this the best time for literacy centers? Should I take grammar out of centers and put something else in its place? I need to get tape recorder/ cd player, does any other teacher have an extra one? How many copies of this do I need? What do I need to make copies of? What is next in math? What are the differences between US government and Korean government? When will I get my supplies? patience, patience, patience. Who has after school programs today? Which students are taking the bus? Is 2A doing this in language arts? How can I best describe this personal narrative assignment? How can I transition from personal narratives to picking out a small moment from their story and expanding on it? Do they understand place value? What do I need to laminate? What specials do we have today? I am hungry, when is lunch? What days do I have lunch duty again? What field trips did the second grade go on last year? Where is my pen? Where is my head?  Whose backpack is this on the floor? Who left their violin case? What do I need to get done during my prep time? Do I have a bible verse printed out? What songs do we sing during chapel? What problems should I put on the board for morning work? Who is going to be our class representative? When should I give them their Time for Kids magazine? How can I incorporate technology into the classroom? Can I create a class blog? Did I remind the students that we have library time tomorrow? Who didn’t get their plan book signed?! patience, patience, patience. Can I fit this in before recess? Should I change the class jobs? Who would be a good line leader? How long should I keep that on the board? When can I read this Lucy Calkins book? Should I go to this workshop? Am I teaching this the best way I know how? What time should I get to school tomorrow? What day is it today? How much homework should I give? Did I remember to put the homework on Edline? What are my students Korean names? What do their parents look like? Who hasn’t read to me yet? What color should I paint my nails? When can I paint my nails? patience, patience, patience….

and repeat.

gratitude

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one of my most treasured memories from my childhood is when I made the weekly trip to the public library with my family (home schooled, what can I say?). I absolutely love telling people that when I was little I would get grounded from reading. not the t.v. or nintendo (that gray box back in the day? yeah, people actually played games with those. my brother seth and I went halfsies and bought one- it was a total of $49, outrageous) or the computer (back then it was only to play games though, insanity to think how far technology has come in such a short time) or playing outside (though I did that a lot, let children RUN). nope. when I got in trouble I wasn’t allowed to read. and it was torture. PURE TORTURE. I loved going to the library and checking out the highest amount of books allowed; usually after these trips my family wouldn’t see me for three days.

as I grew up (okay, that still remains in question, hush hush) my obsession only got worse, I would get so caught up in a book (harry potter anyone?) I would read straight through the night and head off to high school or a college class with an hour or two of sleep under my belt. because I was up late reading. my love of words and how they can form such brilliant stories came second to something silly like sleeping. (okay that is a lie, sleeping is NOT silly and I actually really enjoy it.)

this little visit down memory lane is because today was the first day I brought my students to the library. as we (quietly; such a good class) walked in and started browsing the books my heart started to accelerate and I had to remind myself to help my students pick out books for them and not get lost amongst the shelves myself. books. they are so beautiful.

one of the small drawbacks of living in a foreign country such as korea… well they don’t have barnes n nobles. or borders. or whatever major bookstore is in your area. I was the person you see sitting in the big overstuffed chair, drinking a strawberry frap from starbucks, while reading a book off the shelf  and not buying it; I was the one who gave the bookstore its great ambiance.

so now, I would just like to take a moment to thank God for giving us words to write down and imaginations that have the ability to take someone (me!) into a different world. thank you God for giving people the ability to share their own stories, and other persons, in ways that are powerful and touching and thought-provoking. and thank you God for giving people the gift of storytelling. it is a great, great gift.

I wanted to include a picture of me reading, you know, to go with the post. This is the closest I found on short notice… this is where reading can get you someday?

café comeon

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I have never noticed the plus in the name until just now... hmmmm

This is the entrance to the best sandwich place I have been to so far in Seoul. The best not because it has thick meat slices and awesome slabs of cheese, no no no. The best because it is a two-minute walk from my morning church (yes, I happen to have an afternoon church as well), I eat lunch every Sunday with wonderful company here, and the sandwiches are toasted. At least the one I get, which is delicious, really (even without slick slices of cheese). Koreans are in tune as well as pretty far advanced in a lot of things (t.v. on your cell phone? that is soooo five years ago), but for some reason they just haven’t jumped on the sandwich bandwagon… they love rice too much or something. It is hard to find a lot of decent sandwich making places in this city, but let me tell you, café Comeon is good. Not only do they offer a nice variety of food besides sandwiches, if you order a sandwich set you also get any drink you want on the menu (and they make some delicious fruit smoothies with real fruit)and it only cost… get this… 5,000 won*. That is less than 5 USD. It is amazing. SO CHEAP. SO GOOD. *The price may go up to a whopping 6,000 won if you order your sandwich with Hommel bread or a bagel.

And as I was writing this blog post and doing a bit of research (mostly for the benefit of this website that asked me to send them my blog posts- yeah I am pretty cool, no big deal) I discovered from my good friend Jennifer that café Comeon is ACTUALLY A  CHAIN. WHAT? This was very exciting news for me as I moved farther away from the heart of Seoul that I would have cared to venture too (but the benefits far outweigh the not-benefits…?… anyway, so I can’t complain) and I found one of the restaurants is decently close to me ^^ (that is how they show a smiley face in Korea, did you know?).

For those who live near Sinsa Station on line 3, that is the location of the restaurant I visit every Sunday. Walk out of exit 8 and make the first left, then the first right, then the first left again (not confusing at all). Walk down that road for approximately five minutes (I don’t do measurements) and you will see café Comeon in all its glory on your right. If you hit a road with no where to go but left or right you obviously missed it.

the inside is cute and comfortable, I love the red... and the tree.

my meal, the picture gives off a yellow glow, but I promise the sandwich is not yellow and IS so so so good!

a new beginning in an old place

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I now hold in my hand the bright minds of twelve adorable children. It’s a ridiculously large responsibility. One that scares me to think about, but one I know I am completely capable of handling.

Three days of school completed. I feel like I am finally home. I find myself realizing more and more that a teachers job really is never done. I could stay at school for 24 hours every day and still find something I need to do, I look at the clock and see that 6:30 p.m. has come and gone and I don’t care. I feel comfortable in my room. I feel satisfied when I leave, while at the same time I am constantly going over what I still need to get done.

The people who work at my new job are kind, helpful, and have already  built a good community that I find myself wanting to jump right into. Figuring out how I am going to balance work life/social life/church life/ friends I already have in Korea from last year life/activities life… should be interesting. I am taking a break from taekwondo and I haven’t seen little Han Wool in weeks (today! I will see him today!), but as soon as I get in the swing of things I hope it all just falls into place.

And because everyone loves a big ego booster, I shall now include excerpts from the letters I had my students write to me as their homework after the first day of school:

“Dear Ms. Welton, I am very happy to have a great teacher like you.”

“let’s have a bright and perfect class ok.”

“Please teach me well for the school. You will be a great teacher because I all ways meet good teachers.”

“I wished to go to your class.” (This one confused me since I am new, but I will take it! We just won’t tell Ms. Lee -the other second grader teacher-)

“I am glad to meet you in second grade.”

“I am happy you are teaching us.”

My students, working diligently AND quietly near the end of their first day of school. What? Where am I??? This is amazing!

THESE KIDS. Love them too much already. The worst part of being a teacher is saying goodbye at the end of the year, EVERY year. Luckily it is only the beginning ^^

11:39 p.m.

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That is what time I got off the subway this evening, 11:39 p.m. and I walk out of exit 3 to see a family: father, mother, daughter, brother (they stop at 2 regardless, mom and dad you are considered very patriotic for having nine, I had no idea what that meant until about a week ago, another story for another time), eating ramen noodles on the sidewalk. Literally all four…in a line… chopsticks in hand… and buckets of ramen purchased at the convenience store located directly behind them. Little children, put down your chopsticks and go to bed.

Rewind to the beginning of the weekend. Farewell Animal Onesie Party for a one Mr. Dinosaur Eric Choi and a one Ms. Giraffe Melissa John at the restaurant mentioned in the post before this one. Yes, more than twenty full grown adults dressing (and acting) like animals graced an elegant Italian restaurant for a delicious dinner.

We proceeded to a park, which took us to a dance party in a bar, which took us to another dance party in a different bar, (people taking pictures of us and asking “why the animal suits?” the whole time), which took us to eating kebabs to get out of the rain (thank goodness our onesies have hoods), which took us to a FAILED attempt at noraebanging. The room was VIP, their was an animal limit, it was just silly. I did sing two and a half songs before we got kicked out and therefore, (I am not speaking the word aloud Kathleen so it is okay) I was happy.

I woke up at two p.m. Saturday and felt like whole morning was gone because A) well, it was and B) I don’t really have a B, I just like lists….  Text from Tami to get my butt to Itaewon and there I went, I then ended up at a superhero going away party (themed parties are totally cool) only none of us were dressed as superheroes and we left our animal costumes (I could have been SuperCow?) at home. I left for home by nine p.m. Saturday evening to have a productive Sunday morning preparing for my new classroom, and it felt good.

I had to say goodbye to EJ this afternoon (now it is Sunday) in English Cell because she is getting married (on September 11, think about that one) and once you get hitched you get kicked out of the 2 p.m. service at my church, who knew? I didn’t, if I get married during the next two years I am totally breaking that rule, because I am not going to the stuffy older married peoples service in the morning, which is where the people who get kicked out of the awesome young, Jesus-likes-it-when-we-sing-fast-worship-songs-too, service go. ANIYO.

This evening, after the cook and waitress of the restaurant we ate at “chased” (we were sitting on steps right outside) us down to give us back the 6,000 (about $5.14) won that we accidentally over-payed (did I mentioned I left my cell phone on the subway and got it back within 24 hours because that is just how Koreans roll, they give things BACK! It is a novelty) … anyway after that happened Eric showed the Seoul Family this amazing video he made of our last year together and there is a scene of me showing off my one truly amazing talent, putting my entire fist in my mouth, perfect. WHY? WHY? WHY?

My dear friend Melissa leaves tomorrow evening to head back to Toronto and study Law. I will miss her terribly, after a quick goodbye hug I had to jump on the subway (as the doors were about to close, and I didn’t want to be that one awkward person who gets stuck halfway and then has to get the attention of the driver to get the doors to open because that actually does happen!) and wave mournfully through the window while her mother pretended to chase after the subway. I love MJ’s mom. Can’t wait to visit Toronto.

Goodbyes suck.

Plan B

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For those of you who are wondering why I titled this post “the morning after pill” I can completely understand your logical thinking… or for those who are wondering where my post about “Plan A” is, I also see where you are going with that.

But no, ‘Plan B’, happens to be the name of my favorite restaurant in Seoul. No, it is not Korean food. WHAT? My favorite restaurant in Korea is not Korean? the INJUSTICE. Whatever, I can’t eat spicy food. I am over it. Anyway, back to Plan B. It is an Italian restaurant that I discovered with a group of friends in my old after school program. I then introduced this restaurant to the Seoul Family and everyone fell immediately in love. The owner is this young hip guy named Hong Won. And the Chef, “Bobby” speaks excellent English and always joins our table for a glass of wine after changing out of his white when his shift for the night is over. You can bring your own wine and they love us so much they never charge us for a corking fee. You would probably be charged though, unless you mentioned that you are friends with “Melody”, yes they all know my name there.

Also, there was an incredibly handsome waiter (very young, but age is just a number) who worked there and recently went off to the army. I was very sad.

the outside of the restaurant, the owner is at the door to greet us.

Bobby outside, grilling up a feast for us on the patio.

Needless to say for anyone living in Seoul (or even Korea, make a trip into Seoul!) I highly recommend this adorable Italian hot spot. It is conveniently close to Sangsu Station (line 6). Go out exit one, make a hairpin turn to the right and you will find Plan B (excited that you didn’t go with your first choice for dinner) happily waiting for you just around the corner on your left.

ear to ear

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That is how hard I am grinning right now. This smile has NOT left my face since yesterday around 3:30 p.m. Every stressful phone call, paperwork gathering, conversation with a non-English speaker, emotional feeling of realizing you may not have a job, every single trial and tribulation I endured over the past couple of weeks (yes I said trial and tribulation, I am trying to sound cool and biblical) disappeared, evaporated, went into non-existence and was completely forgotten when I stepped foot into my new apartment.

If you asked me last August how much joy a bathtub could bring me I probably would have answered “meh, I take baths occasionally so not that much.” If you would have asked me how much joy my living room brought me, my kitchen table, my OVEN, I would have responded with the same mediocre, “I take them for granted because I never knew what it was like living in an apartment where your living room is your bedroom and your kitchen and your toilet is also your shower.”

I am in heaven and I would bring you all here with me if I could. There will be dinner parties for those in Korea to show off my wonderful kitchen and full size gas range and my excellent home-made pizza cooking skills (possibly the only thing I know how to bake). That is, if my new awesome roommate approves. Which I think she will. She is old enough to be my mother (which she laughed at, I already called her mom) as she has two sons who are 22 and 24, and she was the one who mentioned herself as my mom when I said “oh, haha… I am 25.” She is absolutely lovely and I have a feeling we are going to get along great.

But enough about that, let’s look at pictures of my new CRIB!!!!

BATHTUB!!!!!!!!!! and what? its separate from the toilet, and the sink? WAAAAA!!!

why yes, that is an oven. why yes, that is counter space, why yes... A KITCHEN.

matching furniture? never thought I would see the day. didn't even have this back home.

you mean I dont have to dry my laundry in my living room/kitchen/bedroom anymore? DYING OF JOY.

well I obviously NEEDED a spare bedroom and ironing room... obviously.

a view from the living room into the kitchen. STILL SO HAPPY.

how many suitcases can one bedroom hold?

another pic of my bedroom slightly unpacked. i have a DESK.

the girls are beaming because I had literally starved them up until this point, WHAT TROOPERS. thanks for helping me move babes!!!

And there you have it folks. These next two years are going to be so much more enjoyable because I now know what it is like to live without things that I once again have. That being said, I know I did not have it rough WHATSOEVER, but I appreciate God blessing me with this amazing new home all the same. Hallelujah.