A New School Year

At the end of February we had graduation for all of the seven year old kindergarten classes. I was asked to MC the ceremony which was okay, but that meant that I didn't get to be part of the backstage excitement as I otherwise would have been. My students did an excellent job though and saying goodbye to them was tough. It was definitely harder to say goodbye to them than my first kindergarten class the year before. I tried my best not to cry but as we lined up at the end of the day for the last time, knowing I would not see them again, I told them that I would really miss them and the tears flowed to their surprise - "Teacher, really crying?" Yes. Really. I love those kids to bits. 

Monday morning brought a whole new set of children and changes (mostly in my opinion, for the worse). I now have a class of six year olds who arrived without knowing any English. I walked in on the first morning, stood in front of them and my supervisor, threw my hands up and said "I don't know what to do with these children." I ended up taking them to the play gym to break the ice. That first week has to have been the most challenging teaching week I've ever had. I wanted to quit everyday and sometimes I was fighting back tears as I taught.  

A whole month has gone by now and while there are definitely still challenges, things are starting to get more routine ... sort of. The kids are cute, but it's not a level that I really enjoy teaching. (Note that the last two kindergarten classes I had were students who already had 1-2 years of English learning already.) 

One thing that is a bit adorable, and awful at the same time - I was told before I met my students that one of them is particular about what their teacher looks like but that he approved of me (he saw me at the orientation). Since, this boy, Tommy, continues to tell me everyday that I am soo pretty. His mom wrote me to tell me that Tommy told her that his heart beats faster when he sees me, and that he checks his hair before he comes to school. 

Here are some photos of the new kiddos and my new classroom:

Lily

Sunny (who recently changed her name to Rosa)

Micky and Daniel 

Tommy

Eunice

March also meant saying goodbye to my best friend! I spent as much time as I could with Chris and her amazing Mom but was still super sad to see them go home. We both did so well, but on the last final goodbye we were both a mess. I miss her being in Korea so much!!

<3 <3

Chris and her Mom, Cindy - 3 years in Korea creates a lot of luggage

Things have been pretty uneventful aside from these things, when I am not in Paju doing diving stuff, I am usually at a cafe playing board games, reading books or simply relaxing. 

Coffee Prince (a famous Korean drama) Cafe 

A cozy cafe near my place where you get to take off your shoes and curl up with pillows and blankets!

Mel and I have booked tickets to Vietnam for summer vacation. The day before it starts is my last teaching day, so I've booked a one way ticket. I still have no idea what I'm doing, I have no plan, but that is where adventure begins! 

<3

Quarter of a Century

Celebrating my birthday in Korea this year felt different despite it being the second birthday in a row spent abroad. Growing up it seems everyone always thought twenty-five was something special to celebrate, so it was strange to not celebrate with family and old friends. Regardless, my friends made it amazing.

Reservations were made at Ashley (an American style all you can eat buffet) with the help of my Korean teacher, Won. As a result of my birthday also being the last day of the school year, I stayed behind at work for a bit to organize some things for Monday, the new school year. Because of this, I was running late to my own dinner. Thankfully many of my friends were on time ... but to all of our disappointment, I learned while still on the way that they did not have unlimited wine! A big part of going to Ashley is that they have the equivalent of $3 unlimited wine, which is amazing, so I was quite devastated. Won called Ashley again to confirm about the wine, I guess when they said they had wine they failed to mention they had bottles of wine to purchase, not the usual unlimited wine. So at this point, there is a group of us in the subway station and a group at Ashley already and some stragglers throughout Bundang (my area). We were going to change locations, to another nearby Ashley with unlimited wine but learned that some had already started to eat at the original planned location. At this point I took a step back in the plans for the rest of the night.

I was led to Ashley, the originally planned location and the rest is still unknown magic to me. I walked in to James telling me that everything had been sorted regarding wine. Later on, Won showed up with a box of bottles of red wine for all to share. When does that happen in real life? Restaurants never allow you to bring in your own drinks!! Seriously still blown away at how amazing my friends are.

Part of the magic was also the wonderful cake and birthday hat!! So fun. This also truly surprised me.

                                           

Not to mention how many of my friends were able to come out and celebrate with me! The rest of the night was spent at a place called The Big Chill for drinks, darts and pool!

THANK YOU <3

To finish out my birthday weekend, Liisa and I went up Namsan. It's still quite cool in Korea, so the top was quite cold. I had been wanting to do this for so long now as I had only been there once before, during my first week in Korea and at night so I wanted to check it out during the day.

<3