Feliz Navidad!

FELIZ NAVIDAD hasta el otro lado del mundo!!!! I hope that everyone had a spectacular Christmas! (In reference to the photo, this is how Korea celebrates Christmas).

A Season Sprinkled with Cheer

I hope I am finding everyone in good spirits amidst this holiday season :) I'm sure the malls and storefronts are decked out to the max. However, I hope that the "Heck, I don't care what I get him/her, I just need something in a box and with a bow!" vision that dances in our heads (yes...like sugar plums) has been postponed, until about the 24th.

Although I did toy with the notion of returning to the states to gather my gifts with haste beneath our fake pine (pre-lit, of course) in little Wooster, reality kicked in. I have only eleven days off of work and do not want to spend $2,000. Nonetheless, I have a hair appointment made on the 26th and think that is the perfect way to my spend Boxing Day (Canada). I plan to lay like a sloth in my bed and watch Yuletide movies while wearing my pajama pants made of a fleece fabric covered in presents. Last night, I snuggled up and watched The Polar Express, it almost made me believe in Santa Clause again...even though I made the naughty list when I fought my sister for the dvd and yanked it from her white-knuckled, kung-fu grip while packing my bags (sorry Rach).

Just about a week ago, my friend, Darcie and I spent a Sunday afternoon in making Christmas cards for fellow teachers and family at home. Through the duration of Love Actually and Elf and a corn and cheese pizza (odd and Korean, yet delicious), we knocked out our Christmas correspondence!

The new teacher from Toronto, Greg, and I took an adventure to the ritzy area of Seoul last weekend, Apgujeong. In this blog entry are several photos of stores and interesting sightings in the area. Due to my bulging salary and the exchange rate that gets worse by the day, I was able to pace myself in my purchases.

I have had a few holiday surprises already this season. First of which, one of my new students is a frequent pee-er. As I helped dear Sally change out of her urine-soaked knickers, I reconsidered all of the twists and turns in my life and wondered 'Why me?' A second surprise was that my newly ordered light pink, fitted sheet for my new bed blew off of my roof top clothes line as it was drying. The floor of our roof is scum, hence my new sheet was stained for life and so I had to toss it. The third holiday surprise must be my favorite, just wait. As I was laying like an infant and asleep by at about 9 p.m., my obnoxious Korean cell phone awoke me at 11:30 p.m. If only I had my retainer in that night, I would not have answered. Jehan, who I dated over the summer, had called me from Karachi, Pakistan. He is from Pakistan and is spending Eid with his mother and working on business accounts for a couple of weeks. He called to tell me that his mother had taken him to meet a potential bride and he thinks he's going to be engaged in a couple of days, and married in a couple of months, obviously. He requested my best wishes, as I was groggy and still half-asleep. I wished Jehanzeb the best, thought a little more about if my parents ever were to pick out my mate for life, craved some 'nog, and then passed out again (in my present pants).

I hope everyone is having a wonderful holiday season (packed with joyous surprises like mine!)

Banana Bucks are For the Weak

Season's Greetings! Since it is now December and I have not blogged in about two weeks, it is now Yuletide! I hope that everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving, particularly my family who hopped south to Florida this year. Heck, I now have high hopes for a beach vacation next year. Veracruz, Mexico perhaps?

The fellow teachers and I spent Thanksgiving together and indeed did get our hands on a turkey and stuffing, provided by U.S. military personnel. It was a great time to see all of the teachers. My mother sent an excessive amount of cheese a little over a month ago and it was certainly polished off at this gathering.

I have now spent five full days with Armadillo class. I have nine students and each of them are ridiculous in their individual ways. My Armadillo running crew consists of Rex, Sunny, Denis (the Koreans omitted the second n...I think I'll use his name on Rhyming Day), Teddy, Amy, Jina, Sally, Sarah and Eugene. Rex is a hellion and is deterred from heinous actions via bribery. Our kindergarten utilizes the falsified currency of Banana Bucks. The students save their banana bucks to purchase items such as Hello Kitty pencils and erasers at the end of each month. I remember this method from when I was young...of course I never cared whether I was showered in the currency of a given school, for it was not recognized by the United States government and I already had all of the Lisa Frank school paraphernalia I could weasel my mother into buying for me each school year. Alas, I have found Rex's weakness.

Denis is the tiniest little child I have ever seen in my life. These students are six years old in Korean age, but that means they are about five years old, western age (don't ask, but Korean age is about a year older then the age system most of you are familiar with). Denis looks like a new born. No joke. On his first day of school, he did not have an English name. By default, the power was bestowed upon myself to name him and I picked Simon, naming him after the movie Simon Birch. Apparently the name "Simon" did not tickle his fancy as much as my own and he came to school the next day as "Denis." Yes, Molly Rutledge, I said D-enis. Like I said, I eagerly await Rhyming Day. He speaks neither English or Korean and makes awkward cartoon sounds.

Teddy is my favorite little boy and his photo is at the top of this entry(aside from Huey from Hippo class-- please see video). He is so caring and plays with all of the students at play time, regardless of their popularity standing in the class. Ah Teddy is precious. He also speaks the most English out of the pack of Armadillos, so maybe that's why we seem to have hit it off.

The girls in the class are still identifying their personalities, but when they surface, I will certainly update everyone! Thus far, we have covered Aa, Bb, and Cc. I dream of apple, book, cat. I must say that I am desperate for conversation at an adult level and cannot do this for more than a year! If you are familiar with the movie Billy Madison, well, if given enough time, I will turn into Ms. Lippy, just wait.

Enough of my job. Seriously, I really miss the adult world. Mer1 left for Wooster, Ohio yesterday and I already miss her so much! We went out for a final hoorah on Saturday evening and it was joyous. Her replacement, Greg, came out with us as well. The nice lad from Toronto has altered the female dominated workplace a bit, but it will definitely be for the best. It is Wednesday night and I am over the "hump" of the week, thank goodness. I hope everyone is doing well this holiday season and I send my love from Korea!