free hugs, swear words, and buddha's birthday

For those of you actually reading this, thanks for not giving up on me, I know it has been almost a month since my last blog. I suppose that could be seen as a good thing- my life is just too dang exciting to fit in time to blog! No, actually, the truth is I have just been a bit lazy when it comes to blogging. I heard that it takes 14 days to make something a habit. So I decided that I am going to make it a goal to write at least one thing a day for the next 14 days, even if it is only a thought, feeling, one experience or even one sentence, just to try and make this a habit. =o)

I hugged a man holding a sign that said "free hugs" on Sunday. I have heard about people that have gone around holding these signs and since I have been to Korea I have seen about 4 of them. On Sunday I decided to actually do it. Adam said it was probably just a guy trying to be perverted and cop cheap feels off of girls who hug him, so I made him and another girl do a group hug with me just to keep things innocent. Sunday was the Lotus Lantern Festival. The festival is held once a year to commemorate Buddha's birthday, which is May 24- no school!!! There are lanterns everywhere! The tradition is to make a lantern shaped like a lotus flower and as you hang it up you make a wish (either in your head, or you write it on paper and hang it from the lantern.) That night the lanterns are lit and it is a beautiful sight! ( I have pictures that I will post eventually, once I take them from Adam, my photographer until I buy a camera.) There is also a parade. All the floats are huge lanterns made into different shapes. It was getting dark just as it started, it was great!

May 15 was Teachers' Day. On Teachers' Day it is common to get gifts from your students as a token of their appreciation for teaching them. I was expecting a gift or two, but was pleasantly surprised to find an abundance of flowers and gifts from my students. I am lucky enough to be teaching in a very affluent area and I figured out my gift value to be about $300. Let's just say I have enough face and body lotion, shampoo and shower gel to last me all year! We also had our Spring Picnic on May 17. We took the school to Yongsan Park and had a treasure hunt planned for the kids along with various other games. Along with the beautiful weather and sunburns we received, all the teachers had a great time playing with their students. It was nice to let the kids run around all day instead of keeping them cooped up in their desks.

Teaching so far is going well for me. There are always challenges and days where I get really frustrated, but it always keeps me on my toes, which I love! One week I was getting really frustrated with my students and their behavior and it just dawned on me, "they are getting too smart!" Our normal classroom routine just wasn't working anymore. The kids were getting bored and distracted. I am happy for that now because I realize they are learning. Teaching is a constant progression of evaluation and change. I was told this in college, but I don't think one really realizes it until they are actually teaching.

My kids are really funny too! One day, as I was about to put a boy on time out he says in the most genuine voice ever, "Ms. Jasmine, your toes are a beautiful color!" I couldn't help but laugh as I put him in time out! Today we were learning the letter "F." I was playing a game with my students and, not realizing it, I held up the letter F and C. I said, "What sounds do these make?" My class shouts, "Fff" and "Ck" Then all of a sudden a little boy shouts out, "Fuckah!" (imagine this phonetically... then a little girl, "yeah, "fffckkah" pretty soon the whole class is saying it out loud. Granted, they have no idea what this means, or that it is even a word... but here I am in the middle of a group of kids thinking, "I just taught them a swear word...." I thought that was pretty funny too.

I had my first visit to the dentist today. I chipped a tooth way back in the 10th grade, about 10 years ago, and it has slowly been getting worse. Yesterday I finally made an appointment to get it fixed. Going to the dentist made me feel a little more like I live in Korea, instead of just visiting. You don't go to the dentist when you visit a country, at least on a good visit you don't. I have been here for almost 3 months, but sometimes I feel like I am still on a trip.

I will leave you all with this. I am feeling more and more like I belong here. I am making some great friends, exploring, and constantly trying to become a better teacher. This is day 1 of my 14 day blogging challenge, so feel free to hold me accountable on this one. Expect some pictures soon. I will leave you all with a quote from an amazing book I am reading (that you all should read too) "Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close" by Jonathan Safran Foer. "The mistakes I have made are dead to me. But I can't take back the things I never did." Chew on that one for a bit! Until tomorrow...