Expensive

Thursday August 8th.
Pool on the roof. No gym. Classes all went pretty well today. I had 2 France and 2 Australia instead of the standard 1 of each on Thursday.  I did only have one Denmark class because during my Denmark time, it was their pool on the roof time.  What is pool on the roof? A small swimming pool on the roof.  We got all of the Australia kids and Denmark kids in it and gym teacher.  All of the teachers were invited to bring clothes to swim too. Only 2 did. Me (of course) and Niamh. Both of us were with Australia and Denmark.  Ronnie was happy. As I have said before,  photos are very important. Photos of the kids first, and then picture of the kids with the teachers (especially the foreign ones). We are a selling point and something they can market. They market the whole experience, so teachers being out there is good. On the album cover on the webpage, it is a picture of me and Niamh in with our kids.

The swimming culture is definitely interesting here. It was still almost like the public swimming pools. 99% of the kids had swimming caps, shower caps, or some sort of headgear on. Most of the boys wore almost wet suits. Skin tight bathing suits that covered almost their arms and went down to their knees. Some girls wore those, others wore bathing suits with a bathing long sleeve shirt, but there were a few that wore more of a western traditional bathing suit. They all also put on globs of sunscreen. I know the reason for most of them wearing the long sleeve stuff is cultural... light skin is (or traditionally was) looked at as higher class than darker skin.  The shower caps... well that still confuses the heck out of me.

My afternoon classes were okay. The firstgraders had to take a placement test... so I pretty much sat in my chair and doodled the whole time. I drew a picture and at the end of class, everyone wanted it....

Korea class was okay. It was a vocabulary day, so we struggled through that. I gave them a copy of the word list in English and Korean... Hopefully that helps them out with that.

Today was Robs Birthday. So we celebrated it at night. First, we met Karen, Callum, and Eva and had dinner at an American BBQ Restaurant. It was not cheap. The beef was imported from the US. I had 1/2 order of short ribs, pulled pork sandwich, baked beans, corn bread. Delicious! on the wall of the restaurant there was a Brooklyn Beer sign. I figured it was just decoration.... then I asked for a beer menu. Low and behold, they had Brooklyn Lager. it was 10000 (10 dollars) for a bottle. Oh well. I had not had a good beer in a long time... and I love all of Brooklyn Brewery beers.  Needless to say.... the food was expensive, but so freaking delicious. A good beer and good food... man... I know it was Robs Birthday, but I feel like I got the present (except until, you know, the bill arrived). 

We then went to Joons. A group of people were having a going away party, so we piggy tailed on that. It was a black light party. Awesome. I was incredibly responsible with my alcohol intake. Others... well lets just say some of them were not going to be feeling 100%.

 Rob and I

 People

 I am wearing the glowing yellow in the back... yes, I know how to black light.

Friday August 9th.

I woke up with a lot of energy, despite being up late. 

School started okay... then Sharon got cold... She is small and frail. Other kids were still hot. So I told her I would fix it after we were done with the what we were doing at the time... She said she was cold again and started to tear up and cry... So I have kids that are hot, one kid that is cold, and others that think it feels okay. The temperature was set at 21 degrees (about 70). So I turn the temperature to almost 80 and open the door (the hallways are warm) and I tell the entire class that nobody is allowed to talk.  I wish the school had like cardigans that we could give the kids. There are always the small little super skinny kids that get cold real easy... then there are the bigger kids that do not, and then the teachers that never do... Or maybe it would be better if some kids (Sharon) didn't cry at the slightest thing. Juliet used to... but ever since her birthday last month, she has really not been a crier anymore. Her birthday meant she changed from 5 to 6 years old (even though in Korea she has been 7 the whole time).

We did some work in Australia class... but not too much. They are really far ahead of Denmark class. So I let Australia play a little. Denmark class. The kids are great... not the smartest... and they love to talk and have fun... They are easily distracted... I think thought that they have a better class bond that Australia... But that bond can make teaching much more difficult. I have talked to Christina about that. She agrees. Ideally we could have them a 2 levels (we could move a  few students around to have a fast class and a slow class). Australia could be chapters ahead of Denmark... but we have to keep them at the same level... It is a little frustrating. I cant get too frustrated at the kids... still to me, and this is one of my fatal flaws, is that I think that these kids should be allowed to be kids a little bit. Denmark is like that. They are happy. The draw pictures on my hands, on the board, they fold up pieces of paper and give them to me, the whisper in my ear, they laugh, the giggle, they doodle... Australia class is not at all like that... there are a few that do slight doodles, but that is is. Denmark kids act more like what I picture 5 and 6 year olds to act like. Australia is more of what I picture 7 and 8 year olds to act like... a little more mature. While they are the same age... the levels are not the same.... I just wish we could treat them like it.

First graders had speakers corner... it was another time when they had to write, and none of them like it. My 3rd graders were good today. We got through all of the work pretty quickly. We then played with paper for the last 10 minutes of class.

After work, we were surprising Rob with a Birthday party/dinner. We told him we were taking him to Taco Bell... He had never really had a surprise birthday before. Ama and I worked to get it all together. We invited the Korean teachers and 2 came! Karen and Eva came. And all of us BoBo people went. We took him to dinner at Vatos in Itaewon. It is a Mexican Restaurant.  Not cheap. Delicious. I love Mexican food. Everything here was hommade (chips, salsa, cheese sauce (yes, cheese sauce), fries). They too used imported meats. So it was not a cheap dinner. I ordered a burrito and tacos and a Makolita (like a margarita but made with the korean rice wine, Makgeolli), cheese sauce and chips, and Kimchi fries.  I was hungry... very hungry. Kimchi Fries, and fries with Kimchi, Beef, and cheese on them (kinda like a Korean style of chili fries). I ate quickly... then Sarah could not finish her burrito, so I had the other half of that, and Ama couldnt finish his tacos, so I had half of them. I was still hungry, so I ordered Nutella Nachos. It was chips with cinnamon sugar and ice cream covered in nutella. Absolutely delicious.

We then went to a rooftop bar and each had a beer. Needless to say I was incredibly full of good food. We did not stay there for long, cause, well a rooftop bar is not air conditioned, and it was nearly 90 out.  So we then we going to try another bar with a pool table, when we got there, it was closes. So we walked up a hill, which I later was told was the infamous 'hooker hill' in Itaewon. It is a quasi red light district. But at the top, there was a cheap little diver bar. So we went there. It had a pool table, but there were some US Military guys playing pool and acting foolish. So we all just sat down and drank a cocktail. The music selection at the bar was pretty cool. Very eclectic. We left that joint, and rob was feeling like going home. So was I and so was Sarah.  So we left the bar, and started walking down hooker hill. Then we all start singing happy birthday to Rob... we are walking past all of the little red light shops with girls sitting on couches in the windows, and we are blasting off happy birthday. We get to the bottom, and Rob Sarah and I all get a cab. Ama, Taylor, Hudson, Sam, Carrie all want to stay out more... they do. We go home.

Saturday August 10th.

Lazy day for the most part. I wake up and check Craigslist. There is a person selling some cooking tools and other little stuff that I could use for 15 bucks. So I go to Yongsan and buy it. It was a spatula, slotted spoon, spaghetti spoon, egg separator, cooking spoon, pizza slicer, rubbermaid container, a yellow container,a sponge, some candles... just a mishmash. I got home and Skyped with my parents for about 2 hours.  I took a nap after that.

At night we were going to get together with our old co-worker Fiona. So we went to Hongdae. We went to a place called barket. It has a refrigerator with different beers. You just go, grab a bottle and drink it. At the end, you take your empties to the cashier and they charge you for the drinks. It has an okay selection of beer. So it was Sam, Carrie, Fiona, Ama, Rob, Sarah, and Luuk and Naray (still no idea how to spell it... I will look on Facebook sometime to see if its there). We then had dinner. Some of us went to Monster Pizza and others had a hole in the wall Korean restaurant. We were all going to eat the Korean food... but our entire group could not fit. 

We then went to a 노래방 (noraebang), a karoke place. Translates into song room. The one we went to had a lot of potential, but really was not good. I felt soo sorry for the workers, cause nothing seemed to be going right, and they were stressed I could tell. It was a fun time, but or mic batteries kept dying, our A/C barely worked... I know the people I went with said they wont go back... I'd try it again... I'll give businesses a second chance, because I know that Murphy's law often holds true. What can go wrong, will. But singing is always fun.

We were going to go to another bar, one that plays vinyl records, cause ostensibly it is never supposed to be crowded. Well when we got there... it was. So we did not stay for a drink. We just made a pitstop and went back upstairs. It was a unisex bathroom, as a lot of bathrooms in small places are... times like this made me glad that I am a guy, and that I currently did not have to drop a deuce. 

Yup, a squat toilet. They are still around some places, especially in older buildings (even some stalls in modern ones). Once you know how to use it, and build up the right muscles, it is not supposed to be hard. A lot of Koreans squat just normally (not bathroom wise). You will see them squatting on the street, waiting for the subway, waiting for a bus, in the classroom. It is incredible... but they do that and their bodies have actually adapted to do that. Nicknamed the kimchi squat. You will see kids that can barely walk doing it, to people well over 90 doing it. So, keeping squat toilets isnt much of a problem... if you can squat.

We then just went to taco bell. It was really not a night of heavy drinking or partying. Just low key and friendly. A lot of talking, and more just sipping on beers throughout the night.

Sunday August 11th.

Fantastic day in which my accomplishments were almost 0. I washed dishes and did a load of laundry. That is it. That is what I did today. I sat in my room all day. I only left once, and that was at 11:00 at night. I did play on the computer. Actually, Rob and I played a game online. We played to co-op Portal 2 game. We started it today, and we beat it today. So I spent 6 hours playing on the computer, literally playing. When the weekend started I wanted it to be a low key weekend, and it pretty much turned out to be one. I got some good relaxation in, sleep, naps, good food. I spent too much money last week, but I had a blast doing it.

This coming week is going to be a short but busy one. We have a kindy field trip, and it is only a 3 day week. Thursday, Rob Ama and I are going down to Busan. So that is going to be a fun break and vacation.

I am going to iron a shirt for tomorrow, take a shower, and hit the hay early.