Awesome

I don't know if its because we just had a party in the theme of Fresh Prince of Bel-Air or what, but this Jimmy Fallon as Neil Young is fantastic. I'm in love with him.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Since I used all my good turkeys in the post below, I don't really have anything funny to post. But I'm about to leave to go to a Thanksgiving feast with my church and I'm super stoked to eat good ol' Mormon mom food.

I also wanted to say some of the things I am grateful for today:

-Family

-Friends

-Faith

-America

-Korea

-Candy

And so many other things

But really, I am super glad to be where I am. I've mentioned I've had some hard days, but they pale in comparison to the good days I've had here. And I'm positive there are many more to come.

Happy Thanksgiving world! Eat some pie for me!

Korean Turkey's

I taught a lesson on Thanksgiving to the boys. And I made them draw turkeys and write things they are grateful for just like we do when we're little! Suckers.

They are a creative little bunch.

Here are some of my favorites:

The turkey bus going to hell

This one gets a spot because of what the little bugger wrote on the bottom. If anyone can translate my nickname, let me know. And its good to know one can be both scary, fun, and likable!

The next two are just the most random. And they have to deal with physical ailments. Which is usually what I think of when I think American Thanksgiving...


Yes, skin cancer turkey and handicap turkey (complete with wheelchair) round out this boy band of drawings. Who even knew?

Gems

Today ended poorly, but there were some gems strewn throughout the day:

-Sometimes I arm wrestle the boys. It gets them to shut up for a bit. Today I suffered my first loss to date. I'm not gonna lie. It was embarrassing. I became the loser. And so the whole class called me loser. Good thing I'm not still in middle school or my self esteem would have suffered. I went to talk to the winner a few minutes after it happened. He explained to me that he won because he was a young boy and I was an old woman. Ouch.

-I tried doing a lesson on slang vocabulary. It stemmed from the fact that the only greeting they know is "how are you" in which they reply "Fine, thank you, how are you?" every time, which is fine, but when I see them and I say "hows it going" and they look at me confused or answer "to class" I get sad for their English. So I taught them other greetings, and the words 'awesome', 'hanging out', and 'big mouth' (one kid was telling on other kids so I had a great example). During the 'hanging out' explanation I asked if anyone ever went out with girls. Two boys at the back table both have girlfriends and the rest of the class instantly pointed to them. Another boy told me wished he had a girlfriend. And one boy said it was too expensive to have a girlfriend. So then I asked the two boys in the back if it was expensive and one responded that his girlfriend gave him money. So then I taught them the words "sugar momma". Very educational.

-The two who have girlfriends and I also had a great conversation about hip-hop music because one was wearing a pin that said "I love hip hop". Awesome. Their favorite artists? Tupac, Nas, Snoop Dogg (which was real hard to understand the first time), and DMX. Then I told the class that if they want a girlfriend, they should listen to hip-hop. Makes sense, right?

-I asked them how long they had been dating their girlfriends. One said 30 days. One said 432 days.

-I told a kid to shut up in front of the class. It might have been a mistake.

-I'm going to watch some football tonight with friends I haven't met yet.

Just another day in middle school.

Fake out

Look what I found today at the grocery store! And in case you can't see it, its not just normal Cheetos. It's hot and spicy Cheetos! If you know me, you know I love them. They are a more recent addiction and they were basically the snack of choice this past summer. Naturally, thoughts of the Sanchez Sanchez family ran through my mind as I bought these suckers (three bags to be exact). And sooo cheap.

Also, you don't have to tell me how good I look in the picture above. I think it speaks for itself.

I shouldn't have let my hopes get so high. Because they were soon destroyed.

The moment I opened the bag and saw the color of these Cheetos, I knew they were not going to be the same as the ones I love so dearly. They barely even leave any cheet on your fingers, which we all know is the opposite of real flamin hot Cheetos. Also, hot and spicy is a lie. You'd think in a country where they put red peppers on everything, they could have at least made these a little spicy. A little hot. But no.

Darren, eat an extra bag for me when you can.
(Which, you might have gone a little too far with that post Darren. Don't click on it if you like Max Hall)

Birthday Love

I might have the best family in the world.

Scratch that.

I definitely have the best family in the world.

They sent me two birthday packages of love. And love did overflow from them.

So happy.

My spoils. It includes cake, popcorn, candy!, like 10 Reeces peanut butter cups, crazy straws, yarn and knitting needles (booyah) and peanut butter. Oh thank heaven for peanut butter.

I eat peanut butter on everything now. Currently (at this exact moment) it is a topping for my Hershey kisses. But like I told my parents, I'm trying to ration it so it lasts longer.

So this is a shout out to you family. Thank you a bijillion times!

(PS For a late birthday present, I would like you to get rid of the cats/dogs by the time I get home-thanks!)

The Pancake, the Donut, and the Muffin

Alternative Title: "Blessed by Pastries"

I have said it before and I'll say it again: I love Koreans.

I've been here long enough to know my neighborhood, and it seems like they are getting to know me too. I have my own neighborhood grocery store, my own path to school where I pass the same people every day, I say hi to the bank teller when I see her outside of the bank, I have my own food stand around the corner from my apartment, and I have my own local convenience store run by the nicest woman on the planet. And while I only speak a few words in the language of these people, we have become friends.

They are the kindest, most generous people I have ever met.

There have been rough days for me here. I've had days where I've mapped out my return flight home. I've had days where being sick made my homesickness 80 times worse. I've had the most job related frustrations ever. And each one of these days when I've just wanted to hide from the world, the world shows me how good it can be in the most simple but profound ways.

So far, these ways have also come in the form of a pastry.

It had been a rough day at school. I felt the most inadequate and the most hesitant in my decision to come to Korea. I questioned my motives for coming and asked myself why I thought I could do this. I had never taught before and I didn't know anyone.

I decided to get some of those fish shaped pancakes from the lady around the corner from my apartment. She is the sweetest woman. I walk past her at least twice a day and every time I do I am guaranteed a smile and a hello. It makes my day. I try to get food from her every once in awhile to kind of show my love back. And those little things have grown on me. So this particular day I stopped by to say hello and grab some treats, and I noticed instead of three, she gives me six. I tried to pay her more money, and she just smiled and laughed and waved her hand in front of her, denying any further payment. All I can do is say thank you and smile. But that day when I felt so worthless, she made me feel like a million bucks (or six fish shaped pancakes).

My birthday started a little rough. I had to teach COT's classes that day (little devils), I knew the packages my family sent me (which were awesome and the results will be posted soon) would be late, and mostly I just knew my birthday wouldn't be the same without my peeps and family back home. I stopped by the convenience store down the street from my house on the way home to buy some grape juice to ease the pain. It is my favorite you know. And just as I was paying for it, the woman who owns/runs the store calls to a man sitting in the back. A moment later he is walking up to me, handing me a donut. Again, all I can do is thank them for their kindness and hope to return it someday. I walked out of the store and down the street, looking to the sky in amazement of how these people can know my needs so well. Because at that moment, I needed some love.

Today was another not awesome day at school. I mean, it was awesome for some reasons. But it ended poorly. As COT began to take my two month vacation and slowly transform it into a less than one month vacation, I was seething. See, I've asked her about a million times about January. There is no school that month so I assumed I had it off, but Koreans are really bad about telling you information when you want it. At least the Koreans at my school. Which explains why I've asked so many times. And which is why I was surprised that today she told me something different than before. I have always been told that I would have a one week English camp and thats all. She tells me this and I repeat it back, making sure we understand each other. Well today that one week of camp was moved to the first week of January, and the following three weeks have turned into weeks of conversation classes.

As you can tell, it is not good news. Basically every week I had decided to travel somewhere awesome is gone. I have to rethink my whole situation. And I have to plan for a month of classes instead of a week. Excuse me? I was livid. Every second she stood next to me was another moment I had to restrain myself from breaking every bone in her body. I'm not joking.

So just as I was fuming from this experience, I went to the grocery store to buy some junk, including some bread. As the lady and I were exchanging money and bread, in the very last second she was holding onto the bag of bread, she grabbed a muffin and threw it inside.

If that isn't a sign that I need to remember to be grateful, I don't know what is.

So with that, and it being Thanksgiving this week back in the States, I am thankful for pastries. And how they have come to symbolize little acts of love in my life.

In class

My students always participate and listen in class.

Oh wait.

No they don't.

But sometimes when they're not paying attention, they do funny things.


This is what happened today when we played a review game.

Love it.

I'm going back to school

Yeah.

I'm looking to be a 'hip-hop scholar'



Who's with me?

Just like General Conference...

If any of you have ever gone to General Conference in Salt Lake, you'll know what I'm talking about:

Yes, even in downtown Seoul, there are people giving out free hugs.

You better believe I ran into these arms real fast.

And the following 'I LOVE YOU I LOVE YOU' didn't hurt either.

PS did you see the new bsb video?