my kids are so cute ...

STUDENT (walking into my office and sitting with her head down on the conference table): Teacher, I am tired.
ME: Ohh, you should go to sleep.
STUDENT: Oh no.
ME: Why not?
STUDENT: In class ... sleeping ... no.
ME: Well that's not nice.
STUDENT: I know. Korean school ... very bad. When I get older, I change it.
ME: Oh, good for you. What do you want to be when you are older?
STUDENT: A diplomat!
ME: I think you'd make a great diplomat.
STUDENT: Oh teacher, you tell a white lie. (they learned that word today in my coteacher's class, hahah)

(after lunch, walking back to the classroom)
(different) STUDENT: Oh teacher, face ... very red!
ME: Oh ... thank you, I guess!
STUDENT: Teacher, you ... drinking?
ME: Haha, no. The cafeteria is very hot. No air conditioning. And the kimchi is very hot too.
STUDENT: [gives me a look like she doesn't believe me, and then runs off]

Today the copy machine sounded like a dying dragon. I half expected a curl of grey smoke to come out of the paper load tray.

Had an Office Space moment -- "PC load letter?? What the fuck does that mean?!" Of course for me it's the mysterious Korean words that light up in red, stopping my precious copies for some unknown reason. But I got it sorted out, and now the kids can fill in the blanks in the lyrics of MJ's "Beat It" and Weird Al's "Eat It". ;) Who says teaching English can't be fun ! :D

A flower from the flower festival whose name sounds like "song-sa-hwa" (I'm butchering it, I know. The inner petals curve up when the longer and thinner ones emerge, and the name evokes something in Korean meaning "never meeting", in a kind of lost lovers sort of way. 

The entrance to a "flower festival" in Mokpo with Becky's host family ... I think this picture pretty much my time here -- goofy antics with middle schoolers (Ka-ram and U-ram are the two kids on the steps, Becky's host brothers) ... amidst the beauty of ancient temples and Asian architecture. I think I forget that although they might seem exotic, to them it's just home. My trip to the mainland last weekend (had Friday off as well) took me to a Buddhist tea temple in the mountains ... I'll be writing a much longer entry about that one in the next few days. Just to whet your appetite -- I drank out of tea cups that were over ... three hundred years old! :D 

Becky-si came to visit! chillin on the beach. 

my runs take me past some beautiful views ... 

tangerine trees, right along the streets 

my little fuzzy buddy (AKA the floor pee-er and that annoying lil buddy you'll one minute be stealin your bread and the next be curled up in your lap) -- Jeong 

clouds and sunset during a minor typhoon on Jeju Island 

Had the hot version of Omija (the native Jeju mountain tea), and it tasted a lot different than the iced, I think mainly because the iced was 50% sugar. ;) Still sweeter than most teas that I've had, it was ... very distinctive, with a strange red color that separated out as it sat, like the stuff in miso soup. Not the best tea, and I didn't finish it. The tea-shop though, was Heaven. That was it's name! And it had all sorts of bits and bobs and arty things all over, a great ocean view, and plush couches for seats. Think I'll bring my laptop and do some writing there sometime.

My fellow teachers have been amazing the past few days. On Tuesday I went out for dinner and drinks with all of Daesin Middle School, and then a few teachers and I went ... BOWLING! They couldn't really speak much English, so we communicated with smiles and high fives. And man, are they good. Last night some of the English teachers in other middle schools in Seogwipo City took me out to dinner and tea. :D Every Thursday we have a discussion group where they practice English and talk about whatever subjects are of interest. We were talking philosophy, teaching theory, and even relationships! My coteacher doesn't have a boyfriend so we were trying to set her up with someone at my school, the other guy in the group is getting married in January and still has that starry love-struck look in his eye, and one woman who looks about 25 revealed that she's 38 and has been "learning to tolerate" her husband! Korean culture is so surprising sometimes, they have a word, "hwan-tae-ki", which means the ten year marriage anniversary during which time you usually can't stand your spouse's idiosyncrisies. They have an expression, "I couldn't bear to see even the back of his head." Yikes ! Heheh, so much fun to learn about the way other cultures see the same problems we have. They seem a little more honest than we are sometimes.

Teaching has been going real well, I'm getting a better handle on things as time goes on. The kids are cute as hell, and class is something I look forward to each day. Next week's going to be fun, working in a lesson on the Simpsons and after school activities! Okay well gotta jet for school, hope everyone has a great weekend :) Love, Henry.