The New Doogie Howser(s)?

 

My students all dressed and ready to administer check-ups for our hospital project.

Foreign Policy as explained by Star Wars

“If you’re not with me, then you’re my enemy” -Darth Vader/Anakin Skywalker

“Only Siths deal in absolutes!” -Obi Won Kenobi

I’ve finally figured it out… GW Bush was a Sith Lord!!!

(yeah I really need to rein back in that inner nerd and stop watching the ongoing Star Wars marathon)

Vinyl

Oh it’s love. Vinyl, a little stand in Hongdae, Seoul that sells juice bags with an adult twist. Sit inside in the tiny cozy space or enjoy the comfort and freedom that comes with Korea’s open alcohol policies. Lovelovelove Asia.

postcards from home

some visual excerpts of my recent trip to the United States. More to come as I edit them…. These are some of my favorites from my hometown in Michigan

Teaching kindergarten is funny.

I came in from lunch today to find my co-teacher scotch taped to a chair with her hands and feet taped together. It seems as though she allowed the joke to happen for a minute, then found herself incapacitated.

…I had to cut the tape off of her to free her. Moral of the story? We have the best students ever.

Also, managed to dye my hands pink today while trying to dye clay into various colors. Alicia Teacher : 0, Kindergarten : 1.

In other news, the ink is dry on my contract renewal. Korea and I are lined up for one last dance.

Viewing Abroad

I’ve always been funny about tv. I don’t tend to watch too much of it (in fact don’t even know how to work the one I’ve got now) but I do get stuck on a few shows, and I love being able to chill out in my apartment and watch my favorites. It’s a constant source of frustration to me, though, to see the message on the screen “This Video Is Not Available In Your Region”. Gahhh. If there was one thing I’d change about all the lovely new online programming, it’d be that damn message. I want to watch me some good ol’ American television online in Korea! It’s a global world, let’s make that happen!

Anyway, that started as a rant but will end with a rave, because I have discovered online PBS broadcasts that work in Korea. Rejoice! Not only television, but EDUCATIONAL television. Will let you know how many hours I spend in my apartment since this discovery, it’s sure to be a bit pathetic.

I’m currently watching “Jesus in China” about underground Christian churches trying to worship freely without the Communist government telling them how to do it. Pretty interesting I must say.

Anyway, watch and love.    http://www.pbs.org/video

Vacation all I ever wanted: Muui-do

Long weekend due to Children’s Day (May 5, kind of stealing the Cinco de Mayo thunder there, Korean kids!) I headed to Muui-do with some friends, which is an island a stone’s throw from Incheon Airport island. We rented a beach hut, brought an obscene amount of Carlo Rossi, and spent the entire glorious weekend playing frisbee, exploring mud flats, singing to strangers/new friends guitars and generally having a lovely time. I came back to enjoy too much card playing mania at Rocky Mountain Tavern in Itaewon, then an extended Tuesday playdate in Hongdae with my friend Athena. Good times, all around.

And now because pictures are worth a lot more than words…

Lotus Lantern Festival

….more to come. My computer is running out of space for all the darn RAW files, hah!

Konichiwaaa!

I know I promised news of Japan, and photos…. but I’m lazy and I hate the WordPress photo uploader. Here’s the links to my facebook albums, so you can check out the photos! I took a lot… I loved Japan!

Japan 1

Japan 2

Japan 3

Japan 4

The trip was too short, and I must go back as soon as possible! Enjoy the photos

Absentee

Sorry friends, I’m horrible lately at the motivation. But that’s not completely true, because I’ve got all sorts of motivation in other aspects of life, just not writing it all down here! I’ve been writing epic letters, nay, NOVELS to friends at home,  I finally added Skype money to stay in touch, and I started planning the epic vacation that my brother and I will take when he is discharged from the Marines next spring! So many ands… AND! I am tackling the task of learning to create stop motion video using still photos and iMovie. What? My pre-schoolers decided they wanted to learn about animation for their final project, so now I’m making it happen. I’ve been obsessively downloading suitable background music and sound effects and playing with iMovie, which is a program I previously thought wholly pointless and taking up valuable space on my MacBook. If I can figure out how to post the final results here, I will!

In other, completely lovely news, I will be starting to teach a new class come March. My new co-teacher is wonderful and the children we’re getting are ever so cute and almost make up for the fact that I will miss my current students FAR too much. I’ll be teaching the same level as the past 6 months, but it’ll be the first half of the year that I finished, so it’s like reversing the curriculum I’m used to. Should be fun! I’m excited to have a fresh start and be the official “teacher” of a class, instead of feeling like I’m taking over a class and trying to play catch up.

This weekend has been especially fabulous. It was my friend’s going away party, and we spent Saturday night at a theme party where we tried to embody “French Riviera”. I met a lot of great people and look forward to more theme parties! Sadly we also got another taste of the consequences of packing every foreigner in Itaewon, and my friend’s purse was stolen. We have terrible luck at this one particular joint, and I doubt we’ll be going back there anytime soon.

I’ll try to write more often, I won’t post a goal or anything because let’s be real, I’m more motivated when it doesn’t feel like a necessary chore, but a fun retelling and remembrance of life. Until then, I’ll be out living!