gorilla in the kitchen

aren't they the cutest kids?????

I smell like children! At school today I kept sniffing myself because I thought maybe I smelled funny. I couldn't figure it out though... finally it hit me, I smell like children! At the end of the day I feel like I come home looking nothing like I did in the morning when I left home. I am dirty and wrinkled, my hair is a mess and I probably have kinder-boogers all over me! Maybe that is a sign that I am a good teacher, who knows! I have to laugh though because anyone who went to college with me knows how much I really wanted to teach middle school. I still want to do that someday, but I am really enjoying being a kindergarten teacher! My kids are so cute and really smart. Most of these kids do not know any English at all, but some know a little. One kid asked me the other day, "Teacher, did you get a perm?" My mouth dropped open when he said that! It really is amazing to see how much kids absorb!

Today was actually my most frustrating day of teaching yet, but I am still optimistic because I know they are so young and they can't understand most of the things I am saying. None of my kids seemed to have a good attention span at all today! I couldn't get them to sit down, none of them would stand up, they just seemed to be going off the wall. On top of all the lack of concentration, I had a kid puke all over himself today, another one needed me to wipe his butt, one almost cut his tongue with the scissors, and I have two little girls that cry most of the day! There was a point in time today that I just said ok, just play...I didn't know what else to do! I had to collect my thoughts and rethink how I was going to handle my class, but let me tell you, it was soooo tempting to think about giving them an "all day" recess. After lunch the day went a lot better, but man, it was a rough day today!

Let's see, this week has flown by! On Tuesday, Trena and I went to the gym to take our first aerobics class. The class was called Power Jam so I just figured it was some high impact aerobics class. Well, when we got there we met our 3 instructors. They were probably the most beautiful Korean girls I have seen yet, all dressed in the latest hip hop gear! As soon as I walked in the class I knew I was doomed! I have no sense of rhythm whatsoever and when our class warm up seemed like it came straight out of an MTV video I knew this was going to be one of the longest hours ever. First of all, all the instructions were in Korean, which was to be expected, but I didn't expect the little granny in front of me to be better than I was, which she was! Needless to say, the music was great and I got a good laugh at myself in the mirror (and I'm sure all the macho men lifting weights in the area surrounding our studio got a good laugh as well). Next was Max's Kickboxing class. I decided to stay for that because I still needed a workout. The class was awesome! I only stayed in for the first half though. I ended up pulling a muscle or something in my foot. The past few days I have barely been able to walk on it! I feel pretty silly at school because I have been limping around.

Since I needed to give my foot a rest, Adam and I took a day off from the gym yesterday. Yesterday also was White Day, so we decided to splurge. White Day is a funny Korean holiday... On Valentine's Day women confess their love to their husbands, boyfriends, or even a man that doesn't know she likes him. They give chocolate and gifts, similar to our Valentine's Day in the states. On White Day, a month later, it is the man's turn to reciprocate to the woman. He gives her candy, gifts or takes her out in return. It was crazy to see all the stores that had huge displays of candy on the sidewalk. Since Jason isn't here I thought it would be nice if Adam gave his favorite roomate some candy, but no, I wasn't so lucky. I did, however, get a nice box of amazing chocolates and a cute little "I love you" note from a boy in my class! Since Adam and I skipped out on the gym we decided to go out for dinner. We picked a place in Apujong, the really really rich part of Seoul, that we walk by every night on the way to the gym. It is called Gorilla in the Kitchen and it is awesome! The ambiance was great and so was the food. I got black pepper chicken and black rice. It was so good! It is hard to just find grilled chicken breast here so this was a nice treat! After dinner we grabbed a coffee and had some tiramisu. It was actually a really nice way to veg out in the middle of the week. And Jason, you can still send me some candy for White Day, I don't mind if it is late! hahaha!

Plans for the weekend are up in the air, we are going to celebrate St. Patrick's Day in some way or another, but I think a parade will be involved! Also, another random thing I noticed about Korea: when you lock the door you turn the key left, not right like you would in the States. It is not righty tighty, lefty loosey. It is left to leave, right to return. I know that is random, but it still strikes me as odd everytime I unlock the door!