Explaining Divorce to Korean 6th Graders

We all have favorite and least favorite classes at work.

This class is my all time favorite- 6 girls 2 boys- all 6th graders- pretty good speakers- They are make me laugh and laugh at me when I try to be funny. They are hard workers and we have a great time in every class. They also ask questions and are interested in the material- if only every class was as good as this one.

The other day we were talking about Mother’s day- and I explained to my students that I have a mom and a step-mom.

They gave me that look.

They were clueless.

It took 20 mins for them to get it. At first they thought I was saying my Dad had 2 wives. They asked me if I had meet “Peggy Mom”, they asked me if my parents were married when I was born... oh what a mess

I eventually drew a time line- showing the years my parents were born, when they were married, when my brothers and I were born, when my parents said “I do not want to be married anymore” ( they started to understand a little here). I wrote the year that my Dad married my step-mom and showed them that I had 2 step-brothers too.

They asked so many questions about divorce. They said 3% of Koreans are divorced. I explained that 50% of American families are divorced- they were shocked.

It is a shocking stat- I’m just relieved I finally was able to explain fully and they understood that my Dad does not have two wives ;)

Two Stepping in Seoul

Last week we heard a rumor that there was a country bar near one of the US airbases.

If you know anything about me you probably I’m obsessed with all things country. I especially love line dancing. I went at least once a week in college.

So I brought my cowboy boots with me to Korea. They are really heavy so I wore them on the plane. I never thought in a thousand years that we would actually get to line dance…but I was so wrong.

Saturday night Jamie and I headed to Iteawon to find this bar. We met my neighbor Sarah and her coworker. We walked up the hill and there it was in all its American Glory-

Grand Ole Opery

My heart skipped a beat.

I was so excited.

The bar was covered in all American everything. There was even a rebel flag on the wall. We enjoyed some Budweiser and finally go up the courage to dance. The floor was really small compared to everywhere I’m use to- but it was a wood floor and we were gonna dance!

Jamie and I were the first to get up and dance. It was so fun! Line dancing gives me this kind of high and at that moment my heart was so happy.

The rest of the bar started dancing shortly there after. I got to two step with a really good dancer and then I taught a marine how to two step. We line danced the night away- I felt like I was dreaming.

PS- there were ONLY Americans in this bar- pretty much all military. And they only played country music. I really but forgot that I was in Korea for a little bit.

And the best part- every night at midnight they play “Proud to be an American” and every stands and sings it at the Flag. It’s not my favorite song- but it was still fun.

For course we went to New Harvest today for church- fab as always. And small groups started! My group seems really nice and we are doing a study on John Piper’s Book Desiring God. It should be really good. Most people in my group are English teachers. There is also a married couple and some moms and dads. I’ve never been in a small group with people who are older than me- it will for sure be different than my small groups in the past- but I’m excited for this group. Maybe if I become good enough friends with the moms and dads in my SG I can get a home cooked meal one day ;)

Thanksgiving. Korean Spa. Hiking.

We had a long 4 day weekend because of Korean Thanksgiving on Monday. It was really nice to have 4 days to relax and not work. Jamie and I originally planned on going to a nearby island with some of my coworkers, but we heard the weather was going to be awful- so we decided against going. The weather turned out to be great all weekend and we spent most of our time in Seoul.

Saturday we revisited some areas we had been to. We meet up with some of my neighbor Sarah’s friends. They are all teachers all over South Korea. Two of the girls live in Busan right by the beach- I think we will be taking a weekend trip to visit them one day. We wandered around and Jamie and I eventually ended up in Itaewon. This part of town is very westernized because there is a US airbase there. It freaked me out to see so many American men. So strange- I was not sure what country I was in for a few moments.

PS- we also found out there is a line dancing bar in Itaewon- we did not find it that night- but Jamie and I will be there soon and show Korea how to line dance like Florida girls =).

I have only been here for 4 weeks, but some very important Sunday traditions have been formed. We went to our Mexican Restaurant for lunch as always. Then church at New Harvest. And Costco after. I love Costco more and more every week. It’s a little slice of heaven here in Seoul.

Monday was Thanksgiving here. And just like in the US everything is closed- except convenience stores- and the spas- so Jamie and I decided to try out a Korean Spa.

Here the spas are very traditional- and well more so bath houses- and well how do you put this- you have to be naked...

haha- yeah right- not happening. when hell freezes over.

or so I thought...

We found out that you can go in the saunas clothed- but all the pools, baths, and hot tubs are nude. There are separate floors for Men and Women by the way.

We decided to just go in the saunas- where you stay clothed.

We walked up- payed payed the 12,000 won (12 bucks) to enter. They gave us gym shorts and a t-shirt to wear, 2 towels (TINY towels- more like wash cloths- covering up with them is not an option). and a locker key.

Then we got on the women’s elevator- up we went- and the door opened-

oh hey naked people!

Well- We found our lockers- and made a decision- when in Rome...

So we went to the pools Korean style. It was not nearly as mortifying as I imagined. It was really relaxing. There were so many different pools- some salt water, some with ginseng, some warm, some cold, some HOT, some were more like hot tubs and had jets. I still can’t believe we actually did it.

After a while we decided to go to the sauna part. This floor is co-ed and clothing required. They gave us little outfits when we arrived- think high school gym uniforms. We wandered around the co-ed areas for the rest of the day. There was a rooftop garden, an outdoor co-ed swimming pool (don't worry bathing suits required here), we took naps in the sleeping room, tried many different saunas (both could and hot), ate dinner at their restaurant, and even checked out the movie room where they were showing Avatar.

It is the perfect place to go and just veg out for a day. I felt so relaxed after.

One Tuesday we hiked the mountain that is in my back yard. BOY was that a work out. It was steep the whole way- my heart was pounding harder than it does when I run. It took about 45 mins to reach the top. The view was amazing.

I’m for sure going to be taking some morning hikes up here and just spending some quiet time away from the hustle and bustle .

I could see my home from the top!

where I live my life

Me at the top!

I can’t believe this is where I live my life. I have dreamed of living in the mountains since I was a little girl- and here I am.

I’m loving it here- I’ve been here 1 month and that means I am 1/12 of the way done with my contract- crazy. For some reason I feel like my Korean life might be more than a year long- who knows =)

Mean Teacher

Yep. That’s me. I’m sure I’ve been blacklisted by the kids- let me tell you the story.

So for the most part I have really good classes. But of course there are some trouble-makers.

In my last class of the day on Tuesdays and Thursdays I have a class of 12 6th graders. They are probably my hardest class. There are some really good kids in there- but they are in the awkward shy phase and don’t want to participate in class. And then there are some not so good kids in there with BAD attitudes. Classic bullies, the kind of kids that get away with anything- but that all changed yesterday.

I saw the main bully writing a note- I walked up to her to take the note- she quickly put it in her bag when I reached for it. I decided to have some mercy and give her a second chance. I told her no more notes or I would take it.

Fast forward about 20 mins later. I see the note is back out and about to be passed. I go and grab it as it is passed. It was being passed to once of my “good girls”. I pried it out of her fingers as she begged me to let her rip it up.

I could see fear all over their faces. I opened the note and saw everything was written in Korean with a few English curse words mixed in- think "the big one, the queen-mother of dirty words, the "F-dash-dash-dash" word " (A Christmas Story anyone?) . I knew this not did not say nice things.

Anyways I walked back to the front of class and carried on with class. The bell rang and instead of darting out of class 4 of the girls stayed behind.

They begged me for 5 minutes to not tell their moms and to rip up the note. (by the way- my Korean co-teacher calls their mom every night to let them know how their child was in class- crazy- I know). I listened- tears in their eyes they begged and pleaded telling me their moms would kill them. Then I told them to listen to me.

I said I was tired of being disrespected. I told them I was tired of them speaking in Korean all the time. I told them I know they speak Korean in class because they are saying bad words and bad things about me. I told them they make my job very hard and that I moved here, very far away from my family and friends to be their teacher and I want them to learn. I explained that I care about them and they need to learn a lesson- that you can not act this way in class. I told them they will live- their parents wont kill them and that I have been in their shoes.

They still begged me- I did not give in. I’m tired of bullies- I care about their character more than anything else- and I feel like this could be a moment to shape their character a little bit.

So they left and went home. And I went into the office and gave the note to my Korean co-teacher. I don’t think she is going to tell their moms but she is going to talk to the girls. I’m ok with her not telling their moms. It will kind of be a nice little piece of black mail that I can hold onto to keep them in line for the rest of the semester =)

Good thing I don't have a car here- other wise I'm pretty sure it would have been egged by my students last night ;)

Spice. Hello Kitty Cafe. Costco.

I survived! I made it though my first week of teaching. It was exhausting. I’ve been sleeping 9+ hours and still waking up tired. These kids wear me out, but I do love my job. It is harder than I thought. By the time I see my students they have been in class for 8-10 hours and they are tired and ready to play. It’s hard to get them all quite and working. I hope to improve my classroom management skills soon =)

This weekend Reuel, Jamie, and I went to Myeongdong. We meet up with Arri there. Arri is really good friends with one of my sorority sisters at UCF. We got each other's contact info and meet up. She is just starting her second year of teaching in S. Korea and was really fun to have around. She knew great places to explore and we all hit it off right away.

Myeongdong is an area in central Seoul and has all the good shopping- H&M, Forever 21, Zara ect. The streets were PACKED with people. A bit overwhelming at times- I’m starting to get use to the crowds.

After shopping we went to Hongdae. There is a University in this part of town so that means great coffee shops and restaurants. We decided on Galbi Stew for dinner. It’s SPICY pork with veggies. It cooks on the table in front of you. It’s REALLY spicy.

Did I mention it was spicy? Probably the spiciest food I have ever eaten or will ever eat. Jamie took one bite and could not handle any more. Thankfully they give you a lot of side dishes so she ate on those. My nose ran, I had tears in my eyes, and my face was sweating. It was SO spicy. Reuel (who is Korean American) could not even handle it. Arri and I did pretty well. I actually loved it. It was just REALLY spicy =)

Afterward we needed something to cool our mouths off. We found the Hello Kitty Cafe to be the perfect place to accomplish this.

I can see this being ever little girl’s dream. It was soooo PINK! So girly. Coffee shops often serve fro yo here which I love- nice for when you don’t want a coffee. They also serve “bread”. Which is basically a really thick slice of warm bread with either chocolate or caramel sauce drizzled on it topped with whipped cream- it’s huge- and sooo good!

That’s fat baby- he’s traveling with me for a while. He really liked Hello Kitty Cafe.

Sunday we had our traditional Dos Tacos and Church. Very good as always- small groups start soon. I am very excited about this. I think it will be a great way to meet even more friends and find community.

After church we went to Costco and Jamie and I became members =). We said we were spouses so we could share a membership- they did not ask any questions- haha. Costco always has something American and exciting that you can not get at Lotte Mart (the Korean version of Walmart). This week I bought a Britta filter- my water tastes SOOO much better now.

Korean Thanksgiving is Monday- so we have a long weekend- we might go camping on a nearby island if all goes according to plan =) Rough life- I know ;)