Whirlwind

That's my word for the week. Whirlwind! It's been a crazy week, but a good one.

Dried Squid Anyone?
I tried dried squid this week. I should have taken a picture! The baseball coach gave each teacher a bag of dried squid. One of the dear teachers that sits near me warmed it up for me and tore it up in strips so that I could taste it and eagerly watched me taste it (as she informed me that most Americans don't like it). Dried squid falls in the category of foods that I would never ever try on my own unless it was offered to me by a Korean... It is also one of the foods that I never plan on trying again! The smell is terrible (even the Koreans admit it). The consistency is kind of like chewing gum... except it is REALLY tough. I think I chewed a small piece for nearly 2 whole minutes before it was gone! Thankfully, the teacher (Moon Sangsaenim) only smiled when I gave her the rest of my dried squid. I figured I might as well give it to someone who will enjoy it... because otherwise it definitely would have gone to waste!

Health is on the Mend...
I'm feeling healthier! Thanks for your prayers. I still have a little bit of nasal congestion, but I feel like I can function much better! Special thanks goes to Miss Sara Nelson for coming to take care of me on Tuesday night! She brought me medicine, green tea, and REESES (a rare commodity around these parts)... along with a sweet card. What a good friend! :)

Unfortunately, my computer got a virus this week (both of us were sick together, I guess). I think one of the computers at school must have a virus on it because I think it got transferred from my jump drive. Norton Antivirus and I are becoming better friends (unfortunately Norton is someone you have to pay to be your friend). I think everything should be okay soon, though.

Mail!!!
This was my first week getting mail! I can't tell you how excited I was to see my room # on the white board! Two incredibly encouraging cards and a package from my Grandma - full of food! I celebrated with one of the macaroni & cheese packets that she sent. :)

Grocery Shopping Successfully Completed
Last night, my new friend Brianne (lives in my building) and I went to E-Mart together. It was a 4 hr. adventure! We made it to E-Mart just fine and had a great dinner together. Shopping went pretty well too. We did a lot of exploring because we wanted to have a general idea of what's available. I found bagels, wheat bread, yogurt, cheese (though it's kind of expensive), veggies, salt & pepper, cinnamon and some small household items. I was elated! The real adventure began on our way back... Somehow we managed to get on the train instead of the subway (both were above ground at this particular stop). After getting on & off several different railways, we finally made it back to Dongdaemun. We were both so glad to be together! It was definitely a good bonding experience. :) I'm really excited that Brianne lives in my building - she's super-sweet. I'm hoping we'll be able to share a lot of memories together this year!

Chuseok Lessons
Apparently the teachers really liked my lesson plans on Chuseok this week! I made a PowerPoint about a young Korean girl named Eun Hae and used it to introduce English vocabulary while explaining Chuseok traditions. I think the teachers liked it... and they asked me for a copy of it, which was encouraging to me. On Wednesday, I was so nervous about giving my lesson because I was basically teaching the Korean students about their own culture! It worked out well, though. We taught the students some vocab to hopefully equip them to explain Chuseok in English. Unfortunatley, 45 min. goes so quickly! So, we didn't get around to the dialogue for most of the classes. So, this next week, we'll review the dialogue. I'm hoping it doesn't take too much time to do the dialogue because I'm really excited about my lesson plans for this week! I'll share more about them later on... but I'm going to be incorporating some music from The King & I and The Sound of Music. Definitely excited.

I'm definitely learning to think on my feet! This morning during first period, I had some incredibly sleepy, uninterested teenagers. As I asked them to repeat vocabulary words, I barely saw their mouths moving and heads were bobbing. I couldn't help but laugh at their comatose state. It was killing me at the same time, though. I was pretty sure they weren't learning a thing. So, I finally stopped the ppt. (abruptly) and made them all stand up. I numbered them off in groups of 4 and made them stand the rest of the class. (I have to confess, as I was numbering them off, I wasn't exactly sure what I was going to do with the groups). However, we ended up playing a game with their vocab worksheets. Each team got 1 pt. for each team member that repeated the vocab word loud enough for me to hear. They received an additional 5 pts. for matching the vocab term with the correct definition. It was good for the teacher inside me to see them engaged. Hopefully they'll be more awake next time...

I really am loving teaching and I LOVE my school! I promise I'll try to share more about it!!! (thanks for reminding me Jana...)

Random Questions...
Is it weird that I am really excited about getting to recycle waterbottles, cardboard, etc.?
Is it wrong that I was slightly disappointed that we only had 3 days of school this week?
Does it mean I'm old if I give myself a 10:30 p.m. bedtime (at least on school nights... and maybe sometimes on the weekends...)?

Maybe yes... but I think I'm okay with it. I'm loving life!