Sleepover Party

I had a nice relaxing morning. I cleaned and got groceries ready for my upcoming party. Then I ran a few other errands to look for a gift for a friend.

Jacob came over a little bit early to help me put up my plastic covers over my windows. We actually had a little bit of a problem with the plastic and ripped a hole near the top. So...we did a patch job and was able to properly seal it. It took a bit of time to get the cover up, so I decided that I wouldn't bother putting up the cover for the other window because Min Kyung and Bora were coming and I didn't have time to put it on.

Min Kyung and Bora arrived and Jacob started cooking the cheon (pancakes) that he brought. The four of us hung out until everyone else arrived (late!) Colin came next and started cooking the chicken and vegetable mix he brought. Then Tim arrived and then Krystle. We ate first round of dinner. Then Tim made curry (vegetarian and chicken). Jacob had to leave and Krystle also left shortly after as well since she was a bit tired.

Colin, Tim, Bora, Min Kyung and I played some games and we chatted. We went to go get ice cream from Baskin Robins to go with the apple crisp I made. I heated up the apple crisp and then it was dessert time. We talked some more and then everyone crashed.

Colin cookin

Min Kyung, Tim, Bora, Colin and Jacob

Back: Tim and Krystle; Front: Bora, Min Kyung, me and Jacob

Bed time~~

Black Friday--I'll keep the tradition alive

Finally Friday! All the classes did alright. My 5th graders were learning about different countries so the activity I had them do was make their own flag representing themselves. We didn't have much time because we also played a game where they had to guess the country when they saw a flag. So, I told them to come to my office and show me their flag when they finished. Yesterday no one came. Today, I had 2 girls come and show me and talk about their flags. After lunch I had 2 more come. Then. Wham. I had a huge line of maybe 10 students to show me their flags. My trick? I bribed them. I gave them a piece of candy, so I think word spread that they got candy and that's why they all flocked to me. But hey, they were speaking a little bit of extra English!

I went back to Myeongdong area after school. I stopped at a bookstore to pick up my textbook for my Korean classes that will start in January. I'm kind of bummed I didn't do better on the placement test because I was reading through the book and I know most of the stuff in there. Oh well. Guess it won't hurt to have it drilled in my brain again. Plus it's free-the class--so no harm in reviewing. Then I met Jacob in Myeongdong. I saw a jacket on Wednesday that I really liked. I didn't try it on because I figured I already bought a winter jacket. So, I restrained myself. But with a little bit more thinking, I decided, "hey, why not?!" So back I went and tried it on. There were two colors-blue and one that was grey and black. The blue one looked really big, even though the clerk said it was one size. I tried the grey and black one on and it fit a lot better; the sleeves where shorter and there was less material around the sides. I bought it and a pair of sunglasses (I've got some tropical vacations coming up!). Then we went for dinner at a fried rice place. We did a bit more shopping (it IS Black Friday afterall!) and I got a pair of sweatpants and the best investment ever--I finally found some plastic kits to seal my windows with! I was so excited! I hope it helps with the draftiness of my room!

I came home and did some pre-cleaning and also finally got to use a face mask that I bought a few weeks ago. I decided an early bedtime sounded good to me!

Thanksgiving!

I had a bit of a rough start to the morning. I broke a plate as I was putting dishes away and my hot water took a long time to heat up, so then I was running late for my skype date with the fam. The best part of the morning was seeing my Mom, Grandpa and Phil. What a good way to start Thanksgiving. :) I talked with them for as long as I could and ended up going over my time limit a little so I had to run to work and was maybe 1 or 2 minutes late.

My 5th graders were fine, but now I'm a bit wary of them because my co-teacher told me that they are not very good and the 6th graders this year are the best she's had. I only see my 5th graders once a week so they could just be on good behavior when they see me!

It was sooo cold today! I decided I would take a bus to the subway instead of walking. I headed to Hapjeong and met up with Jacob to go to the GOA'L Thanksgiving Dinner. My adoptee friend, Christian cooked the meal. We had turkey, ham, mashed potatoes, mashed sweet potatoes, cranberry sauce, stuffing (THE BEST), rolls and tortillas (Christian was adopted by a Mexican family). He also made some pumpkin pies that rivaled my Mom's (sorry Mom!!)--though the crust was store bought so, no competition there! It was all so delicious and I was so thankful that I was able to have a 'real' Thanksgiving dinner. This was the 2nd time-in a row- that I've been away for Thanksgiving. Korean's don't know what turkey is or tastes like--no where can I buy turkey, so it was such a treat to have this feast. The only sad thing was-no green bean casserole. Again, green beans don't really exist here so it was difficult to get them and with the budge Christian had it got cut.

Carving the turkey

John and Christian

The spread!

My plate! YUM

Myeongdong and a Friend in Trouble

The revisions I made to the lesson helped a lot. I had my "worst" class and I was quite worried about how they would do with the activity, but they did really well. Their level of English is relatively high, but their attitude is really bad. Anyway, I thanked them for doing such a good job.

I went to Namdaemun Market after school. At the subway station I ran into my co-teacher. It was a bit ironic because she ducked out a few minutes early and then took a bus to the subway; I left on time and walked and we both arrived around the same time. Anyway, I had to make small-talk with her until I transferred lines. At Namdaemun I got "hoddeok" which is the fried pancake, but instead of the honey/sugar inside, I got one with jap chae noodles, vegetables and cheese. Yum! I found a pair of smartphone gloves, but maybe my phone is too old because it doesn't really work on my phone. Anyway, I got a message from Jacob and he said he was in trouble. A little bit later he updated me--apparently there was a mentally handicapped teenager standing in front of the door to board a car and he didn't move very quickly so an older man started hitting him with his umbrella. Jacob went up to the old man and asked him in Korean to stop. The man hit the teen again and Jacob asked him again to stop. He didn't so Jacob grabbed his umbrella and threw it. Then the old man went to slap Jacob in the face, so Jacob blocked it and at the same time kind of pushed against him so the man fell down. Then the subway security came running down and yelling at them. Jacob told them he didn't speak Korean so they got a translator for him and took them into an office and reviewed the tapes. Nothing happened to Jacob, they just told him to call for the subway security if anything ever happened again. So, Jacob was really upset because of the situation all around. He and I met in Myeongdong and had dinner at California Pizza Kitchen. We got a BBQ chicken pizza and the Cesar salad; it was pretty good.

Ewha Shopping

I tried a new speaking activity with my last class and it went pretty poorly. It took them a long time to settle down and be quiet when I tried to get them back together. I spent the afternoon trying to figure out a way to adjust the lesson for tomorrow.

After school I went back to Ewha to look for a sweatshirt I saw last time. I found the store, but the sweatshirt was gone. Sad. Jacob came and met me for dinner. We went to a Western restaurant; he ordered a steak and I got a pizza lasagna dish. It was really good. After we ate, I got a piece of pie from Peggy Pie (I went there a few times last year) and we booked our hotels for the Malaysia trip. I did a little bit more shopping when we were done with that and found a pair of "winter" boots.

Chili Day

Nothing special happened at school. The screen is still not fixed so I've been going into the students' homerooms. It helps the day go faster moving to their classrooms.

After school I grabbed some groceries and started dinner. Jacob came over and we had chili. It wasn't as good as my Grandpa's chili, but it will do for the time being. I was surprised to find kidney beans at my Emart, but thankful! I made garlic cheese bread too. For dessert made apple crisp.

Chili and garlic bread

Second Day of our MT for Mentoring

We had to get up early to make it to breakfast. It was alright. We checked out and had a short meeting with Eric before going to an activity with our mentees. We took a group picture and then played some games outside with the kids. That was fun. We had lunch, a little farewell speech, and then loaded up the buses. I was concerned about getting motion sick so I sat near the front. I sat with Hollee, the guest speaker for the parents. She and her husband (also adopted) brought their son (biological) along on the trip-he is 5 and so adorable! I still got a little bit nauseated but we arrived before it got too bad. My family actually rode the bus with us and we dropped them off at a subway station near their home.

The rest of us arrived in Sinchon/Ewha area and then we went for dinner together-just the mentors and Eric, the volunteers weren’t able to join. We got “dalk galbi” a spicy chicken stirfry. After dinner, Jacob and I went to church at Sogang.

Our awesome team having our meeting

My mentee and me doing the project

3 legged race--we almost got run over by Todd and his mentee!

InKAS Mentoring Program

I was so nervous I was going to be late or show up to the wrong place. But, I made it on time (early) and in the right place. When everyone arrived, we boarded the bus and took off for our “resort” outside of Seoul. It took a really long time to arrive; the traffic was bad in Seoul. At the “resort” we met our families and then took off to a temple for some hiking. We saw a really old gingko tree-it was around 1,100 years old!

After hiking, we came back and had a little break. Then all of us mentors introduced ourselves to the families through a PowerPoint/show ‘n tell. We had dinner and then watched “Wreck it Ralph”. The translators took the mentees back to their parents and the mentors had a debriefing with Eric (our program coordinator).

My mentee and me

On a cool bridge with my mentee

The really old gingko tree

My mentee's mom, dad, younger brother, my translator and me

Mentoring Get together Night

Nothing too special at school, just the usual. It has been interesting going into all of the 6^th graders homeroom classes. We decided for 5^th grade it wasn’t a problem to do class in the English room and not use the screen at all.

After school I made a reservation for the hotel in Bali for Krystle and me. Then I was off to Hongdae to meet up with some of the other mentors for our mentor program through InKAS and Connect-a-Kid. We went to Gusto Taco for dinner. Only Melissa, Jonathon, Jacob and I were able to meet up for dinner. It was delicious. After dinner, we walked to the place all the rest of the group (staff and volunteers plus other mentors) were meeting for some drinks. We arrived first and got some tables together. I met my volunteer/translator for a few minutes and then she had to go. Turns out she lives outside of Seoul, quite far so it’s difficult for her to meet and spend time in the city. Everyone dispersed early because we had an early start in the morning. Jacob and I did go and get a waffle with ice cream and walked to Sangsu station. When I got home, I packed for the trip.

Art Museum, Min Kyung and Sick

The first thing I noticed when I walked into my classroom was a note on the board: “Amy Teacher—You are cute. From Eric Teacher”. Eric Teacher is the afterschool teacher that uses our English room when we are done for the day. He and I have met a few times (just Tuesdays and Fridays when my schedule goes a little bit longer). Actually he is from Michigan too! Anyway, I laughed when I saw the note because it was obviously written by a student and I could tell that something had been erased after it was written and redone to ‘edit’ it. Anyway, I taught my 5^th graders heads up seven up with an educational spin on it. They enjoyed playing the game.

After school I went to City Hall area; I was meeting Min Kyung for dinner. Before I met her, I went to SeMA (the Seoul Museum of Art) because I saw they were having a photography exhibit—I saw a part in this series last winter when I was here. There is a cool-looking Nordic furniture exhibit also going on, but you have to pay money for that so I skipped it. Then I went to meet MK. I had mentioned I wanted some Korean food—soup and she suggested a place near her work. I waited for her to finish working and we walked to the little restaurant. She said in that area, it is a famous restaurant-it was a little hole in the wall place, but cheap and pretty good. She ordered ramen and I ordered ddeok (rice cake) mandu (dumpling) guk (soup). We split our soups and shared.

Then we went to Dunkin Donuts across the street and had a donut and a drink. We chatted and caught up-which is nice because it’s been a few weeks since I’ve seen her. She suggested I take a bus home and we walked to the bus stop together. Her bus arrived before mine and then I took my bus. After riding for a bit, I started to feel a little sick. It got worse and I was trying to hold on til I came to a stop that was near the subway or even make it to my stop. I was 6 stops away and heard the subway station that is near where I go hiking. I got off and tossed my cookies (er, ramen and soup). I took the subway home and went to bed right away. Unfortunately besides getting bus sick the whole travel time took me over an hour and 15 minutes. The subway would have been faster.

Walking around near the art museum and central downtown area

Loving the colors

One of the photos from the exhibit

From the "Nordic Passion" exhibit--like a giant seesaw with wings; moved as you walked across

Namdaemun Gate completed!

Tickets to Malaysia

I adjusted the lesson from yesterday a bit. Instead of listening to a song and then doing the interview, we started with the interview. My students did an okay job; some were quite creative, but others couldn’t even come up with 4 questions and answers.

In the evening I met Jacob so we could buy our tickets to Malaysia. It was actually cheaper than my flight to Bali and it is with Cathay Pacific, which I’ve heard is a good airline.