Andy

If teachers say they don't have favorites- they lie. Andy, I love the child to absolute pieces... here he is.

First video- he came up to me and bit me, and then tried to convince me he didn't.

The next video is him just being him. He really is the most affectionate little trouble-maker, and I just love him. I miss him over the weekends and I'm always so excited to see him.

Update

It has been a really, really long while-- family, I am sorry. I am really busy. I work and then play, and it is never-ending. I never thought I would have such a busy schedule, and I never thought I would be able to be so active after my mono epidemic, which I am grateful for.

( <---- me skyping cody and larry at work... shh!!! )

School is going well except for the few hiccups that happen. For example:
I had my students line up to leave the classroom and one of them decided to jump like a frog randomly. He did, and smacked into another kids nose--instantly the blood started coming, and I also instantly felt the tears in my eyes coming.... I know, i am a baby, but when you see your baby get hurt, thats how you feel! He was taken to the hospital... things like that I hate.

I really do love my students though, they are sooo cute and so annoying! Its wonderful.


Family-- I cannot believe how old these babies are getting.
Leah-Grant is so cute! What a little model!
Laura- Ellie, can never get enough of her, I love her videos. She talks so much!
The rest of you- I love you all so much!

<3.

(------> I bought a "bathtub" I use it every night)

Halloween!

So today at my school we celebrated Halloween! It was so fun! Korea does not celebrate it, but since there are American teachers at my school, we do. It was an absolute BLAST! The school went all out and hired a party planner, a magician and some new staff. I, and my other American co-workers were dolls. I used my mom's "hanger in hair trick" and did my make-up. The kids got a kick out of it. Anyways, here are the picture.

Ella Umbrella

This girl, Ella. She prefers to be called "Ella Elephant" which would insult any westerner, but she loves it. I asked her if she would rather be called "Ella Umbr-Ella", which she seemed extremely insulted by. Today I think she learned what a "yak" was because she came into class acting like this.... 

The other kids are a few from my homeroom. Love them to pieces. 

Head and Shoulders Necis, Toes, Necis, Toes

This little guy! I love him. His name is Andy. We were learning our different body parts and I taught the buggers this song. I could NOT get enough of him, my heart seriously melts whenever he sings this, so I had to film him.

A Few Odds and Ends

Well there are many things that I have been meaning to write down, but have not found the time. So today, Sunday, is my day to catch up.

So, did I mention I LOVE MY STUDENTS? I love them. They are so funny. Sometimes they say things and I cannot help but laugh, even when they are right in front of me.

Example: I was observing a class and this is what happened...
Teacher: We are going to talk about the different seasons and what you see in those seasons. Let's start with Spring, what do you see in the Springtime?
Student: People!
Teacher: No, you see people all year.

Another thing I get a kick out of...perms. Perms are very popular with the little boys. There is one little boy who has a perm and wears a lot of "Roxy" clothing... (girl's version of Quicksilver), and to top it off, he has a girl's name. I am still not convinced he is actually a he.

Now, you know how little girls always fight over the color pink? "I want the pink crayon", "I want the pink scissors", "I want the pink sticker". Well in Korea, its much harder because not only are the girls fighting over pink, but the boys are as well. One of my girls was complaining that she wanted the pink crayon and I looked over, a little boy was stubbornly hanging onto it saying, "No!".
 The following picture will further prove my point...

Ladies, how would you like for this to be your man? Please notice the purse (don't you dare say it is not a purse), capris and most importantly, the stance.
This was a huge ad in the subway station.  (But I have to admit, Korean boys are definitley growing on me, and not all wear stuff that make me feel more masculine then they).

So as for my branch, I really like my branch. I have a great branch president, great singles and great families. I feel so blessed. The building is funny, it is three stories high, located in an ally where it blends in with the other buildings. I will have to post pictures soon.

I have really grown accustom to the subway and getting myself around. I love it.... maybe the reason I love it is because I can go anywhere, and one thing I have really learned to love is the shopping. Im serious, I cant even believe it. A friend of mine took me to this place in Seoul... you walk into this building and then... well, you are history. You could spend all day in it. Apparently all the clothes in this place could clothe the world. I believe it. Its crazy insane, and if any of you like L.A. fashion district shopping... you would salivate over this.

Anyways on my way home from that night of shopping, I had some trouble. The last subway is goes out at midnight. I caught on of my rides but when I had to transfer to a differnet line. It was too late. The picture to the left is me, being a lone rider on the subway. Long story short, I had to get a taxi, driver could not understand my horrible Korea, ended up some place far from home. Needless to say, I am writing from my apartment, so I made it.

 Something else that is weird is that in a lot of shops, Koreans have dogs. like this one. If you know me, you know I LOVE dogs, like, more than some people, so I always get really excited. But the dogs are always very timid... and their owners yell at them a lot. I should kidnap the dogs in the city, set them free.


This picture I took when I was in Seoul. Its really pretty, it was a river below the ground level and people walk a long side of it.

 This picture is a building that long ago marked something having to do with Seoul and how a wall was built around it... ehh, I don't remember but it was very pretty and very Asian.

Last but not least, some things never change. 

Until next time. Love you all.

Charity

I learned quite the lesson today. I was going to meet with my branch president tonight. He gave me directions to his house on Sunday, but I ended up getting lost, as I assured him I would. (I was suppose to exit the yeougi or whatever its called, on 6 but instead i did 5, careless, stupid mistake.) Well as I was walking, looking past the buildings and I saw a security guard, so I went up and asked him if there were any apartments around my area. He didn't speak English, so his co-worker came up, he also did not understand so they called someone else to help me. He called a translator and studied a map. Then they invited me into their office, gave me coffee (I know, but I couldn't explain that because of my religion.... so yes, i sipped it...), and called three different translators. There were about five guys looking at my directions, trying to help me. I sat there in amazement and how much these people wanted to help me get where I was going. Then, they figured it out, and I realized my dumb mistake.  Then one of them walked me four blocks to my correct exit to make sure I got there. I could not believe the generousity of these people and their kind hearts, it made me reflect on the way I treat others, especially strangers. It would have been so easy for those men to dismiss the ding-bat American, that they could not understand but these people tried so hard to help me, like great lengths. I felt so much love in my heart and thought about how I have never had strangers treat me this way, people that stop everything for me.

I want to be like this, there are a lot of cultural differences that take some adjusting, but Koreans generally are so kind, and I feel so blessed to experience that goodness. This place is amazing, I am so grateful for the good people I have met and for the people I will met and I hope to bring some of the goodness home with me. So grateful.