catching up

Thursday June 13th
School was decent today. I have 2 gym periods right now on Thursdays. It is a slight break thought often not a real break. I had no criers today! There were several students on the verge, but I corrected the situation before tears. It was just the same ole people finished before me, someone said something mean, I did something dumb...... oh well, it is a win in my book (though I do know I only had one hour of France and one hour of Australia because of gym).
I like when students give me stuff. Not important things... just something like a small eraser. It means so much to them and them giving it to me makes me feel really good and they are really happy too.Its those little things that just make me smile. Some kids even just fold up a piece of paper in a faux origami fold. They are so proud of it. Sometimes if I can, I clip it onto my tie clip. Kids have the cutest gestures.
My afternoon Korea class wasn't that bad. The new girl we have livens up things a little. The boys seem like they try a little harder to impress her... though with that is them also doing other things to try to impress her. Erica seems a little happier that now she is not the center of their attention. My afternoon Australia class is still a fun group of kids that seem excited to be there. They are fun to joke around with because they like to joke around too. They all wanted to take pictures of me, so I let them. Better to do it like that than to have them try to take candid shots in class. It will be interesting to let Rob get them back in 2 weeks.
Just had a relaxing night in. I watched a movie and netflix. Just spent the night relaxing and energizing.

Friday June 14th.
France was energetic. Juliet wept in math because she was behind. During snack time when I went to go put the trash and dishes away, I hear a loud wail from my room. A sound I can recognize anywhere. Sharon. So I put the stuff away and make it back to the room. She stopped... most likely because nobody came. As soon as I get in I see in her eyes that she will scream again. Before she could get the chance, I told the kids sternly that play time was over and there would be no playtime on Monday. I said if we cant get along during playtime, than we wont have playtime. I was talking to Christine in the afternoon and she said that France cries more than the 5 year olds she teaches.
Today was an observation day in my Australia class. Every classroom has CCTV. We have an observation room where parents can come and watch us teach any day. But there are set aside days where parents are invited to come watch. My kids acted really well (as Australia does most of the time). They raised their hands and worked hard. I am not sure what the parents thought, but from where I was it seems like it turned out okay. I talked to Ama at night and he said he usually gets the kids to laugh some so it seems like they are having fun too. I'll know for next time.
Denmark was Denmark with lots of energy. It is amazing how different the class dynamic is between them and Australia. They used to be mixed together... but the separated the classes into pretty much the smart kids and the slower more active kids. The biggest problem is that the classes have the same expectations. I can get through so much more quicker with the Australia kids than the Denmark ones.
David in my afternoon Canada class was mocking Ronnie when I came into class. Ronnie, the person in charge of the school. That is one of the big problems with him micromanaging and working just to keep the kids happy. They do not fear his position.  He eventually got frustrated and just left. So David won that battle. I am able to keep him under control better. As I was walking home, I did so with Ama. I talked to him about David, and it turns out that there is a long back story with David and ECC. So I am going to try to change how I interact with him. Maybe turn him around from being the trouble maker to a good student. I took Ama's advice with Billy, worked it into my own way of doing things, and Billy almost never gives me trouble any more.
One thing I have been doing for school is reading. A lot of the students have speech competitions. for their elementary schools (in English). I read these kids speeches in English slowly and monotonously so the children can practice the words. Everyone likes my voice.
At night we went to Costco because we were having a beach day on Saturday. After Costco, we went to the Samurai BBQ place again. Ate lots of food, came back to the GS and drank for a while just having a good time.

Saturday June 15th
Beach Day. We went to Wangsan beach. It is right next to the one we went to last week. We have to take the subway to Incheon Airport and transfer to a bus. While at the airport we got brunch consisting of McDonalds but myself and a few others chose KFC. First time I have had KFC out here. Delicious. And it is funny because it is different than the other fried chicken we get out here. KFC chicken has spices in the breading, but here, most of the breading is not particularly spiced. Here they put more toppings and sauces to change and alter the chicken.
Wangsan was a good beach. Both have their advantages and disadvantages. The water and water area here were much better, but the beach sand was very coarse. The beach sand last week was soft, but the water area was different. The mart and bathrooms last week were also much closer.
We swam, played frisbee, played volleyball, played wiffle ball, grilled, relaxed, talked. In all a good day. Though on the way back, I had a rather cathartic moment. People talk about how a lot of expats are in a state of arrested development. A lot are immature adult children. Seeing how some of the the people were acting on the train on the ride back, I definitely understood why people think this. I mean, not just the ride back, but even the whole going to the beach shtick. Dont get me wrong, its fun, relaxing... but it does not really do anything to better myself or advance goals that I have, Not saying that staying home or exploring Seoul (or anywhere else) would change that... I guess I see the beach as more of a vacation...  The only difference between a beach here and a beach in SoCal are Koreans set up tents and are afraid to swim.  So I am not hating on the beach... but I do not want to fall into the trap of doing these things over and over again.
We got back to Bobo. We still had some hotdogs out, so we decided to set up the grill in front of the GS. We did, the GS people thought it was fun. We also gave them some hot dogs. We were playing music and were going to watch a movie, but that did not turn out so well.
By the end of the day I was not feeling so hot. At the beach I really didnt drink a lot. I think I only had 3 beers the entire time I was at the beach, and I had one on the ride home (1.5 hrs). I was coated in Suntan lotion the whole time. But this time we had no shade structures. So I think I got way too much sun.

Sunday June 16th.
I slept, and I slept, and I slept. We were all going to get up early and watch hockey. I woke up briefly when the messaged me. I was still super tired and not feeling well. I turned off the notifications. I went back to sleep and slept till 2 when they knocked on my door to see if I wanted pizza. Nope. I went back to sleep till nearly 4. Woke up and still was feeling super tired and not the best. Decided I would just spend the rest of the day home in bed. If my body is saying sleep, sleep, sleep... than I think I need to listen. I am also running my AC but still feel hot to the touch. No sunburn, but feel feverish. Think I may have gotten a minor case of sun poisoning/sun sickness. I'm presenting most of the symptoms found online.
Slept slept and slept. I did laundry. I set it and started it, woke up by its beeping, changed the load, and went back to sleep. At night I Skyped my parents and wished my dad a happy Fathers day. Showered, and now I am ready for bed and more sleep.
This may have been one of the most unproductive days I have had since I have been here. But I think I needed it.