Friday, July 24, 2009

goggles and swim caps

ok. so my sporadic updates are not from lack of eventfulness... its just that it all seems normal now. (it's going to be interesting living in indiana after this year)

we went on a "field trip" yesterday to the swimming pool. it was also the day of my last (and most difficult) open class. so i wore shorts and a tank to the pool. i was not planning on getting wet. i figured the swim instructors and the three other teachers could handle it. well... one of my preschoolers was have issues with her goggles, so i went over to her to help her out. the kids were so adorable with their goggles and all of them had swim caps. so then, without (an english) warning, i was soaked. one of the instructors told the 50some students to splash me!! so at this point i just jumped in. when the pool fun was over we followed the girls into the showers, where christina and i proceeded to rinse off our naked lil girls. they stripped their suits and just stood there in lines waiting for us to rinse them off. then they pranced into the changing room and changed. i proceeded to glare at the jerk instructor that got me all wet and then plop onto the cold tile floor waiting for jason to take pictures of all the kids. when we got back to school i changed into my dress for open class. i had a science activity with the lil newbie kids. when i walked in, they were all freaking out bc amy had smelly clay. so when i told her to put it away she started pouting. then hugh started pouting bc his helicopter pieces were white and not colored. so i switched him. but then amy wanted by pink balloon. so i gave it to her, but then she popped it. so i had to give her her old one back. and then hugh and jessica popped their balloons and jessica started crying. so i made her stop crying but then she climbed onto my lap and the strap on my dress started ripping. SOOO, i went home and changed for the third time that day. i ended up having to make a-young (one of my best/favorite students) write 'lines' today bc she was so disrespectful. and then my open class didnt go well bc the students wouldn't talk. they wouldnt even repeat new vocab words i was teaching them. my boss left me a note saying that the parents think the material i'm doing is too boring and that the kids dont speak enough. IT'S THE SCHOOL'S CURRICULUM!! bah
anyways, today stephanie offered to take all of the staff to a movie and dinner. no one went. so bryan and i went. it was incredibly awkward. i felt like i was in a class being taught on how to act like a 21yr old korean girl. i was disregarded and pushed aside so much by stephanie. she would barely answer anything i said to her. i was expected to sit there and listen. it was ridiculous. she was all talking it up with bryan. at one point bryan looked at me and was like "so beth, what do you think?" it's unbelievable that i can be one of her best teachers and that means squat to her. she treats the male teachers so much better. and she treats christina better bc she's older. but i get nothing. it's soooo completely different from the american merit based system. and i've had class after class tell be about the difference in certain cultures, but it's still so insulting when you have to live it.

ok. well that's just a small glimpse as to what my days consist of. haha.

i'll be in chicago/nwindiana from july 25-july 30. and st louis for july 31-aug 1.

Thursday, July 9, 2009

when the rain starts to pour

i'll be home in 2 weeks and 2 days. for 1 week. for lunch today morg, christina and i went to galguksu. its amazing soup--noodles and veggies (galbi pego -- without beef). we ended up eating with jordana. a friend of ours from cali. she just got back from 2 weeks at home. she still has four months here, but she said it was so strange being home so close to the end of her contract. when she woke up this morning she said it felt like it'd all been a dream. and it was really hard to be there, but it was even harder to leave it after just 2 weeks. we'll see how i do after just a week, with less than a month left.

i dont really have a reason for not writing on here in a while. i havent been that busy or anything. just laziness i guess. i feel like im starting to slide into my normal leaving process with people here. i've been getting annoyed or even arguing with people here more.

we just had another song contest on monday. my alligator preschoolers ended up being one of the two classes that won. bobby chose surfin usa for them to sing. they were so good. everyone sang and they even did motions and a bit of dancing. i had chosen aint no mountain high for my bear kids....which they all knew, but they just dont like singing as much. but their motions were great! haha i'm going to miss those kids so much.

today one of my kids told us that his dad was yelling at his mom last night so she started to yell back at him. then she got really mad when he said something so she starting hitting him a lot. then another student piped in with his own story. he was working on his homework the night before. he was reading his storybook when his mom came over and yelled at him because he wasnt working hard. he told her he was trying very hard. so she grabbed his book and threw it at the trash can. some of the stories our kids tell us are heartbreaking. like...earlier this week one of my elementary school students told me that he had fallen at soccer practice and scraped up his arm. then when his mom saw him asleep doing his homework she started smacking his wound until it broke open. can you imagine?? ugh. i wish i could scream at their parents! and then take all my kids... i dont know what i'd do then. but still.

it's definitely monsoon season. its been raining more often...every weekend at least. and today it was storming ALL day. it's not so much fun at this point to not have a car. maybe this is preparing me for when i'll own my own car. mama, i'm so glad i have those rainboots. best gift ever :)