I have officially decided that one of the kids in my class, Steven, is a
former cartoon character accidentally brought to
life. Here is how I think it went down.
His parents (or the two adults who now call themselves his parents) had only one child. This child constantly begged for a sibling, but his parents (for whatever reason) couldn't have any more children. One day, while watching its favorite cartoon, the existing child made a wish that his or her favorite character were his or her brother. And then in some sort of Freaky-Friday style miraculous conversion, Steven jumped out of the television set and into the living room. He has been masquerading as a human child ever since.
It's his laugh, and his facial expressions. It's the undying energy he possesses in excess of a normal child. It's the way all the other children in the class gravitate toward and emulate him. It's his mannerisms. Everything about him screams not-a-real-child. He is a steroetypically Asian child, and yet at the same time he is completely crazy. It might be the best thing I've ever witnessed in my life.
On to things that are actually happening in my life.
On Monday I started Korean lessons. Erica, one of the women from English group, agreed to teach Tonya and I Korean, and Tonya agreed to teach Erica and I French. So on Monday nights, from 7-8 Erica teaches Korean, and then from 8-9 Tonya teaches French. It should be interesting. We went to Starbucks, but it was loud and very full, so we moved to a different coffee shop. The set up at this place is that you buy one coffee or juice or whatever, and then they have free popcorn, bread, and refills. So, essentially, you spend like $4 for all you want of that stuff. Not bad. It had good atmosphere too, and computers around that you could use if you needed the Internet. It was pretty quiet and chilled out. I liked it there.
His parents (or the two adults who now call themselves his parents) had only one child. This child constantly begged for a sibling, but his parents (for whatever reason) couldn't have any more children. One day, while watching its favorite cartoon, the existing child made a wish that his or her favorite character were his or her brother. And then in some sort of Freaky-Friday style miraculous conversion, Steven jumped out of the television set and into the living room. He has been masquerading as a human child ever since.
It's his laugh, and his facial expressions. It's the undying energy he possesses in excess of a normal child. It's the way all the other children in the class gravitate toward and emulate him. It's his mannerisms. Everything about him screams not-a-real-child. He is a steroetypically Asian child, and yet at the same time he is completely crazy. It might be the best thing I've ever witnessed in my life.
On to things that are actually happening in my life.
On Monday I started Korean lessons. Erica, one of the women from English group, agreed to teach Tonya and I Korean, and Tonya agreed to teach Erica and I French. So on Monday nights, from 7-8 Erica teaches Korean, and then from 8-9 Tonya teaches French. It should be interesting. We went to Starbucks, but it was loud and very full, so we moved to a different coffee shop. The set up at this place is that you buy one coffee or juice or whatever, and then they have free popcorn, bread, and refills. So, essentially, you spend like $4 for all you want of that stuff. Not bad. It had good atmosphere too, and computers around that you could use if you needed the Internet. It was pretty quiet and chilled out. I liked it there.
Our first lesson was
really fun. I'm learning the consonants and vowels of Korean, meaning I'm
learning how to read and write Korean. It seems like it's going to be pretty
easy once I memorize the characters. I now know how to say "cookie"
"tofu" "bus" "see-saw" and "meat" in
Korean. All but "meat" are pretty much the same word in Korean as in
English. (Buh-se is bus, coo-key is cookie, too boo is tofu, she-seo is see
saw, and gogi is meat). Then Tonya taught us French, but it was only a few key
phrases, all of which I knew. So that's fine. It seems like most of the French
is going to be Tonya helping Erica pronounce things since French is a bit
difficult and so different from Korean.
Then on Tuesday we had English group, which is always fun. We just hung out and talked about our weekends, introduced ourselves, since Kristen and Tween came, and then played a game. They ordered pizza too. Korean specialty pizza is VERY different from American pizza in most cases. They ordered from pizza hut and one looked like a normal veggies and sausage pizza, but it was just big pieces of pork. And then the other pizza had cheese, pineapple, mayonaise, and barbeque sauce. They were both kind of good, to be honest. Weird, but good.
Last night Shannon, Kristen, Tonya, and I all got together to plan Christmas vacation because we're going to Thailand! We're going to Phuket, Koh Phi Phi, and Koh Samui. Koh Phi Phi has some of the most beautiful beaches in the world. We're planning a zip-line and river rafting day in Phuket, as well as a jungle trek on elephant back. Then we're going to Koh Samui for a combination New Years/ Full Moon party (since they fall on the same night) and some Thai boxing. I am very excited about it. I don't even really know how to describe my excitement. And for all that traveling, the airfare is essentially the only expense. Everything else (hotels included in that generalization) is extremely cheap. So that will be nice. I can't wait for Christmas now.
Then on Tuesday we had English group, which is always fun. We just hung out and talked about our weekends, introduced ourselves, since Kristen and Tween came, and then played a game. They ordered pizza too. Korean specialty pizza is VERY different from American pizza in most cases. They ordered from pizza hut and one looked like a normal veggies and sausage pizza, but it was just big pieces of pork. And then the other pizza had cheese, pineapple, mayonaise, and barbeque sauce. They were both kind of good, to be honest. Weird, but good.
Last night Shannon, Kristen, Tonya, and I all got together to plan Christmas vacation because we're going to Thailand! We're going to Phuket, Koh Phi Phi, and Koh Samui. Koh Phi Phi has some of the most beautiful beaches in the world. We're planning a zip-line and river rafting day in Phuket, as well as a jungle trek on elephant back. Then we're going to Koh Samui for a combination New Years/ Full Moon party (since they fall on the same night) and some Thai boxing. I am very excited about it. I don't even really know how to describe my excitement. And for all that traveling, the airfare is essentially the only expense. Everything else (hotels included in that generalization) is extremely cheap. So that will be nice. I can't wait for Christmas now.
That is one of the main
reasons that I, and probably many of my fellow teachers, came here in the first
place. Traveling is a major reason that
I moved abroad, because the USA isn’t really close to anything but Canada and
Mexico. Korea isn’t that close to things
either, but most places in Asia are $400- $500 less to fly to from here. I like living in Korea and I love teaching,
but the paycheck, which is sizeable, and the travel opportunities were my
primary motivation in making the decision to live and work here.
Now that those
potentialities are becoming realities, I’m becoming more and more secure in the
fact that coming here was the right decision to make, and that the little
day-to-day frustrations and the difficulties I had in first coming here are
being put into perspective. I can deal
with some shady business practices if it means I get to travel to amazing
countries every time my school has a long weekend or a vacation.
In other words, I could
get used to this.
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