Here are some quick updates from today:

• The apartment manager repaired my kitchen light the same day the school called about it! I am so thankful :)
• It's "impossible" for Jason to eat lunch at school with me, since he's not a student or a staff member.
• I will only be teaching 22 classes/week from now on (because the school has no money to pay me overtime). This leaves my coteacher teaching 2 classes all by herself. I don't think it's fair to her, but hopefully I can help her out by copying papers or creating worksheets, or doing SOMETHING while she is teaching those classes (I still have to be at school, I'm just not allowed to teach... I know, really wierd).
• It's "impossible" for me to use the wedding week after I'm already married (a.k.a. Hawaii is definitely a no-go for me).
• Summer break is July 24 - August 22. I can choose any two weeks as vacation time :)

Lunch was delightful today... we had kim chi fried rice, and I thought it tasted exactly like Spanish rice. Oh, how I miss Mexican food! It was raining and cold today. The weather is so unpredictable...

I will never understand why they do things the way they do here. But, I'm sure everyone thinks I am totally weird and they don't understand me either ;)

I am learning a lot about patience and humility...

My coteacher rarely if ever gives me any work to do. Even being nearly half way through my teaching contract, my role here remains ambiguous.

I am learning to be flexible and prepared...

I'm finally feeling better, after a week-long bout of laryngitis. This was the first time I've really experienced the frustration of having no voice.

I am learning to be thankful I don't have a disability or limitation some people live with every day...

I have a lot to be thankful for.

Hoping to rest this weekend and get fully recovered!

My voice is still gone and I feel SUPER yucky! If I'm not better tomorrow, I'll go back to the doctor after school.

This morning there was SO MUCH NOISE coming from the apartment above me. I was thinking, what are they doing in there, moving the furniture??? Then when I went outside to go to work, I saw a semi truck with a ladder stretched up to the window of that apartment. They moved out.

The kids were so funny today. Since I was gone for the first part of Tuesday, today's kids hadn't seen me using the microphone. "Teacher, what's that?" they all asked.

"Mic-a," I said.

"ahhhh."

So curious and cute :) It sounded pretty pathetic when I'd whisper into the mic. One 3rd grader (English name is Dean, he cracks me up) said, "Danielle, don't talk." Ha!

At lunch, Dean sat next to me. He is one of our stronger English speakers. He kept asking me questions about Korean words, trying to teach me. Hi mother was volunteering in the cafeteria, and she came over and told him to stop bothering me lol. I didn't mind, but I wanted him to obey his mom. He was quiet for about 5 minutes, then turned to me again and was back at it with the Korean teaching. The kids love to hear me try to speak Korean - they get a good laugh at my expense :)

There was another observation class today. All the teachers had to watch the new 3rd grade homeroom teacher do a social studies lesson. I didn't understand what was happening, but laughed much of the time. The kids are so goofy! In that class there are two little boys who make me laugh so hard. At the beginning of the semester I asked them their names. One of them said, "I'm Obama," and the other said, "Michael Jackson." Marrisa didn't think this was too humorous, but I really couldn't control my laughter. They are the class clowns, and whenever they are acting up I have to use every bit of self control I can muster not to say, 'Hey! Obama; Michael... cool it!'

For some reason the kids are just now noticing the diamond ring I've been wearing since I returned here in January. "Couple ring? Namjachingo?" they ask.

"No," I tell them. "Husband." I then point to myself and say, "wife." Usually they still ask the first questions again... so I say, "married."

Blank stares.

"Dun-dun-du-dun, du-dun-du-dun..."

Then comes the freak out moment. Now they understand I am married. Usually it's announced by one of the louder boys to the entire class... All I can hear is "blahblahMARRIEDUHblahblahTANYEUL(my name)blahblah." Can't wait to see their reaction when they actually meet Jason. So cute.

I went to school at 8:30 to tell Marrisa I would be staying home. She gave me the humidifier she has on her desk :) I went back home and tried to sleep/read until lunch time. Then I went back to school. I brought the humidifier with me, and Marrisa was like, "Why you bring back the machine? You just keep." Lol. Then we went to the cafeteria. As soon as I walked in, a bunch of kids were shouting my name and coming up to me to ask if I was okay. I got my food and was walking to the teacher table, and all the kids were like "Danielle, sit here!" So cute. While I was eating one little boy came up to me and just smiled shyly. I knew he was wondering if I was okay... So cute! I was really surprised he just came to me like that. I asked him, "How's the weather today?" and he ran to the window, then came back to me and just said bye-bye. Our 6th grade class was cancelled, because the 6th graders all went ice skating. So, Marrisa and I practiced for our big open lesson that would be at 3:20pm. I could only whisper (due to the laryngitis), so one of the teachers let me borrow her microphone. The kids came in at 3pm and they were all so nervous. The teachers started arriving at about 3:10. Let me explain a little about this "open lesson"... My school is a research school. Everyone does a lot of extra work bc of this, such as teaching a lesson which all the other staff observe and then critique afterwards. And the critique is no joke. There are graphs, video tapes, you name it. Our critique lasted over an hour today (all good reviews). They asked me to stand up and talk about how I thought our lesson went. I was surprised, but just whispered and acted out my words with motions lol. Marrisa translated afterwards.

I have my first case of laryngitis!... I feel like an official teacher now haha.

Went to the doctor at Emart. $3 and 5 minutes later, I walked out with a diagnoses and 2 prescriptions. I love the Korean medical system!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Seriously, if they do anything right here it's health care. Really impressive!

While I was there, a woman said, "Excuse me, I'm sorry. I see you walking all the time."

"Oh, really?"

"Yes, and I recognize you because you are always smiling. You always smile at me so kindly, and I wonder do I know her?"

Wow, I was totally surprised! I vaguely recognized her face... I guess a smile can impact people more than I realized :) We talked for a while (her husband, 3 year old son, and 7 year old daughter were with her - such a precious family!), and I found out she's Mongolian and teaches English at the kindergarden where her daughter goes. I told them about the American health care system and they were shocked. Her husband didn't speak English at all, but she translated a little conversation between the three of us... turns out he attended the elementary school I now teach at! So, he's never lived outside this little area of Chuncheon, Korea!.. He said he wants to go to America bc Korea is not good. His dream is to ski in Oregon and eat a Big Mac! Simple pleasures of life :) I really enjoyed talking with this family for a brief time. I'm realizing more and more that my remaining time here is very short! Basically 6 months. I have to take every moment as it comes and make the most of every opportunity!

After buying some freshly baked wheat bread and some chocolate and mini pumpkin pastries to share (as well as dental floss and sponges), I caught a cab to take me home. I show taxi drivers a business card for S-Oil, the big gas station by my apartment complex. That way no one knows where I live and it's easy to get home, too.

Well, he started driving then asked me if I had a phone... he didn't know where the place was. So, when I said I didn't have a phone, he promptly got his out and called the gas station for directions. I thought that was going above and beyond his job as a taxi driver. I was really thankful. He looked super old, but apparently has a 6 year old daughter who attends English kindergarden... so he knew English pretty well. I told him a little bit about America, and he told me about the summer time in Korea. When we were talking it was snowing outside and 7 degrees c. He said in summer it is usually around 26 degrees c and everyone needs air conditioning. He also said he went to Malaysia for the second time... It was very hot, and he was there for weeks relaxing and fishing. I think everyone here is ready for spring time!!! Haha.

Wishing I could speak and understand Korean!... I made cookies tonight, and brought some to the lady who owns the little store on the corner. She made me coffee and we tried to talk for nearly half an hour. What I learned is she has an 18 year old son, who is in high school. He doesn't like to study, but he loves to cook (apparently something with jam and bread that he mashes up...?). Also, she was very young when she had her son - she is now 37 years old. I think her husband is the man who's always at the store. He's at home sleeping right now. I really adore them, and hope when Jason's here we can love on them a lot more, maybe even have them over for dinner sometime? It was a good day today - I went out to lunch with my coteacher Marrisa, and then went back to school and helped her get some work done. Yesterday the yellow dust was horrible, but today was a bright sunny day! Beautiful :)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asian_Dust <<<--- This explains why it looks like a ghost town around here. I first heard about this dust last week... I saw it for the first time yesterday. It's here again today, too. Really creepy!!!

My new co-teacher's name is Ee Geum Hee. She goes by Marrisa.

She is in her mid 30s and is single. She just moved here from another city in Korea about a half hour away.

So far we've done well together. She's a lot more uptight about teaching than my previous co-teacher. Before, we'd just use the textbook curriculum and wing our lessons. But Marrisa puts a lot of extra work into planning for each class. I think she's a good teacher and tries really hard. She has a lot of energy!

My role seems to be extremely small in teaching. I feel like I could easily be taken out or replaced and no one would even notice... seriously. I can't really do much, because the kids will not listen to me, and bad things happen when I try to go beyond my role (which is basically just saying "repeat after me... book/house/car/whatever..." I am basically a living breathing broken record player).

What do I mean by "bad things happen"? Here's just a few examples from the past 2 days: During our 6th grade class one boy pulled out a knife and held it to another kid's throat. I told the boy to put give me the knife and not bring it to school again. He just stared at me with a death scowl on his face, refusing to obey. I wasn't going to wrestle him for it... I was afraid I'd get knifed. I called Marrisa over and the kid immediately handed over the knife to her.

Korea is known as the "Hermit Kingdom," because they are so closed off in their thinking and ways of doing things. These kids don't respect me or take me seriously - because I am a foreigner.

Then today, in the middle of our 4th grade lesson, a boy was punching the girl next to him. I went over and calmly stopped him... when I did, he punched me. Yeah, normal day.

I am seeing that I personally have a lot of problems with the culture here. There are MANY things I do not understand or agree with... but that's just the way it is. A wise person reminded me this is not America... South Korea is a "Second World" country... of course things are going to be a little less civilized; rougher around the edges. That's just the way it is.

I'm a guest who is only here for 7 more months, and I can't try to project my cultural values and standards onto the people here.

All part of the experience... let me just say I am admittedly ethnocentric (think my own culture is superior) - something I'd always criticized other people for, but can't deny in myself. Most things are way easier said than done. I am far from perfect.

Also, with the lesson planning, Marrisa does it all and even when I ask her how I can help she doesn't give me anything to do... so I just find ways to contribute however I can - make extra worksheets, create extra games, etc... try to help with classroom management ideas, too (without being too intrusive with my own cultural standards of classroom behavior- which are a far cry from the expected norm here)...