More from Korea

So I haven't any new pics since I keep forgetting my camera at home. Allergy season is certainly here. I felt sort of off all weekend and ended up staying home from church and not going to Seoul as planned on Saturday because I thought I had a cold that should not be passed on, but today I felt much more distinctly allergistic. Itchy eyes, dry throat, constant mucus, no energy, you know the drill. So I took my meds this morning. They usually take a couple of days to start really working, so wish me luck that they work on Korean pollen, you know how kimchi strengthens everything, maybe it strengthens pollen too. Hmmm.

So because of the allergy issue, i had little energy to deal with my sweet little angels, aka rambunctious little monsters. It was fine until this afternoon after lunch. One girl brought in candy for after lunch and they were all pretty hyper afterward. As in, constantly talking no matter what hyper. No sooner would I get half the class quiet when the other half would start off and I had no energy to make it really interesting for them. Also, I was sort of unprepared for the afternoon because my wonderful coteacher insisted on talking to me about the plans for Mother's Day (very big) and talking about how I should do something different that afternoon. She says this to me while the kids are getting their books out for the afternoon writing time. Arghh. I wasn't at my best so I eventually told her that today we would do what was on the lesson plan and I would prepare something for Thursday. By the time that conversation was over, we had to start the class with the kids who had no desire whatsoever to pay attention, even the normally good ones. I guess chocolate will do that to a kid. So eventually I decided I didn't care and had them close their books and put their heads down on their desk for 2 minutes and any that made noise missed 2 minutes of free time. That got them quiet and I let them put their books up and play. You know, the kids are supposed to get 10 minutes of free time after lunch, but it never happens because they take so long to eat and brush their teeth. Yes, PSA believes in dental hygeine(sp?). :)

My little ones started clubs today. We have 3 in clubs on Monday, 1 on Friday, and 5 on Tuesdays and Thursday. Of the Monday ones, one had real problems. I guess she'd never been in after-school clubs before. This was Cheny (you know, the one who never smiles and looks very solemn and whome I make a point of making smile at least once a day) who started crying the minute I took her to her new club (the teacher wasn't there yet and neither were any of the students, so I waited with her) so I styaed with her and hugged her and told her how much fun the club would be and what sort of things she would make, but she was having nothing of it and kept crying. This is odd because she's not one of the criers in class. I had to leave after the other teacher came in because I had to go to my club upstairs, but I really felt sorry for her and hated to leave her because she was really clinging. I guess this means the kids are more used to me now. It's kinda sweet. During play time today, she crawled on my lap and gave me a hug. Cheny is a sweet kid and settled down after she went to phonics club when she go to be with one of the boys from class, Tayon.

What else is happening?

I actually have a show need. I never thought I would have so few shoes that I would actually need to buy some. My Korean size is 250-260 and the Yatap station actually has so nice looking shoes ranging from $10-$20. My comfy brown ones are dying since at one point they were very went and these small cracks started on the sides and the more I wear them, the larger the crack/tear gets. After them, all I have are my tennis shoes and black ballet flats and plaid ballet flats. Oh, and that pair of sandals.

There's a really nice Korean Italian placec I discovered here in Bundang on Saturday. It's Milli's and is right off the Samsung Plaza area, like across the street and it had a very modern restaurant feel. You know, stainless steel and stone. Now the pizza looks really good. So far, I've had the chicken spagetti alfreda and the spaghetti carbonara. Both were good, but the carbonara was better.

I went to Yatap last week and picked up some chips and queso and they were decent, not good, but edible. I also discovered a thrift store in the basement and a 15,000 won shoe kiosk and movie theater. Btw, I bought the foreign food in Homever whose prices seem comparable to Lottemart even though everyone says Homever is cheaper. Whatever.

Oh, so I've accepted the chance to stay after for an hour on Tuesdays and Thursdays for some afterclub homework time. Basically, the kids just sit down and do their homework and I go around helping them. For this 2 hours a week, or 8 hours a month, I get $150. Not bad, that's like $18 an hour or something.

Til later. :)