jasmine-teacher

Here is the gym Adam, Trena, and I joined. Formely known as California Fitness, it is now appropriately named California Wow Experience!

As I write this, I am saluting all of my previous teachers... wow did they have a lot of work cut out for them!! I was always told the first few years of teaching will be your hardest, until you get into your groove. Today is only my second day and I am exhausted! I think that my job may be a little harder at the moment because none of my kids speak any English! I am teaching the Koala Class, which is 4 year old kindergarten. This is the first time most of the kids have ever set foot in a school and today I had three kids cry all day! On top of my kindergarten class I am also teaching 4 after school classes until 6:30 every day! I know that once I get my routines figured out, straighten out my school books and basically get organized things will get much easier! Needless to say, I have been consumed by school lately. Also, I think it is cute that all the kids call me, "Jasmine teacher." In Korean it is respectful to refer to your teacher by their name and then the korean word for teacher after it. In English this literally comes out as Jasmine-teacher. Some of the kids will say Ms. Jasmine, but most don't. It is better than Ms. Hetfeld, I guess!

Adam, Trena (another teacher from school), and I joined a gym! It is absolutely amazing! I have worked at a few gyms and this is by far the best one I have ever seen. It is like something you would see in the movies. It is 5 floors, with rows upon rows of exercise equipment (and really good looking people using the equipment too!) The picture I put up is of the outside of the gym at night. You can also check out their link here: http://www.californiawowx.co.kr Since I quit working at the gym in Merrill I have gained a few pounds so I am hoping to lose it again while I am in Korea. I think it will be possible too, because already I have noticed that my diet is much healthier here. I am eating a lot more vegetables and rice. I haven't had much meat or bread, and I haven't even really touched potatoes since I have been here! Drinking is a big part of the culture here and I have heard that many teachers gain weight when they are here because they drink so much! I, however, am hoping to avoid getting sucked into that part of the culture!

Despite the fact that school and working out have been taking up most of my time lately, I am still trying my best to explore the city! This weekend will probably be some sort of cheap exploration of a different part of Seoul. I am living off of about a hundred dollars until April because that is when we get our first paycheck! Luckily, Adam and I have found a great place to eat that is only 2,000 won per meal (about $2.00). We are both broke so we have been eating Kimbop! Basically it is rice rolled in a seaweed wrapper with different things inside. I like tuna kimbop the best. I haven't seen any kimbop with raw fish in it so I think all the meat in it might be cooked, if you even want meat at all. I also really like Mandu, which is a steamed dumpling that can be filled with different things; like kimchi, meat, spinach, etc.

So, that's me at the moment: broke, living off of kimbop, busy with school, (missing a certain someone) but happy! It feels good to be finally doing something that I have been wanting to do for a while. My next quest is to convince Jason to get a job here next year! Ok, hope all is well with everyone else. Feel free to send me donations! hahaha!