BEST DAY EVER! Spent the last 2 classes playing outside in the snow instead of teaching. Got into my first snowball fight, and it was SO MUCH FUN. The kids ganged up and got snow all over me....But I didn't care because I haven't seen snow before, so it was really cool! And it feels so fulfilling to make a snowball and pummel a kid right in the back or the leg bahaha. I guess it's worth getting chilblains after all!
Snowing! View from my classroom
SNOWBALL FIGHT!
The snow is still falling. It's neat to see the little flurries get swept up in the wind or just flutter down to the ground. Rain never does that because it's so dense. So cool!
It's snowing today! Last time there were just flurries, but this time it is actually piling up on the ground and on top of cars. I woke up to the sound of many sirens, one right after the other. That's what you get when you confront Korean drivers with snow.
View from my street
View from the bus stop
Up the path to Daebul
It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas
Got bored and made some no-bake treats from corn flakes and marshmallow fluff. Then drizzled some chocolate and multicolored sprinkles on top. They taste like rice krispy treats. I'm thinking about making a batch for the teachers next week and maybe for my 5th graders because they were perfect during my Open Class.
Made some individual "cookies"
Also made a tray, but when I tried to cut it, the knife went *chink*
It's too hard to cut, so I have to snap it into pieces.
Food Network fantasies
My laptop is back in the hands of the Dell Service Center in Mokpo. I was still getting blue screens and blank screens, so the same technician came back and picked it up. I should be getting it back next week.
I have diagnosed myself with a seasonal disability. It is called chilblains. According to Wikipedia, chilblains are a medical condition that cause swollen, itchy ulcers when extremities are exposed to cold and humidity. Two of my toes look and feel like they were bitten by mosquitoes, but that is impossible because I wear socks 98% of the time. Cold weather sucks.
Witnessed snow fall for the first time in my life. All I can say is wow. I was seeing double rainbows for sure. The snowfall is heavier up north and just a temporary flurry in these parts....for now.
It's 1°C outside, or 34°F. The weather forecast on my phone changed to a picture of a cloud with grey circles falling from it. The caption says, "Flurries." The wind shook my windows, and I almost had a heart attack. Everyone says that tomorrow is supposed to snow. Dun dun dun.
My computer is finally fixed! The Dell technician came back for the 3rd time today. He replaced the hard drive, the mother board, the graphic card system, and the Operating System. Dell kept my old hard drive, which contained ALL of my unrecoverable documents and pictures. Luckily, I backed up those files on my external hard drive up until late October. Now all I need is a copy of Microsoft Office.
I found out today that if I DON'T go on the 2-day trip to Seoul with the teachers, then they will subtract 2 of my 14 vacation days. By contract, I am supposed to teach on the 22nd/23rd, but going on the trip will make up for those 6 hours (and the 15 hours that they are giving me off during the last week of December). It's really confusing how I am supposed to clock 60 hours per month, but some of those 60 hours conflict with annual holidays ... and yet we still have to fulfill the terms of the contract. Who cares? My incentive for not using the 2 vacations days would be for if I could tack them onto a later vacation period and go to Japan. Man this trip is going to be so boring, awkward, and cold. No. One. Speaks. Fluent. English. I'll probably just import 2 days worth of music onto my phone and tune everyone out.
I may have offended the principal today. No big deal. Here is our conversation from lunch:
Principal: When....visit.....you?
My face: *confused*
My thoughts: He wants to visit my apartment?
Me: What?
Principal: When....visit....you....home?
My face: *confused*
My thoughts: Maybe he wants to know if I am going home for the holidays....
Me: Huh?
Vice Principal: Principal want visit you home.....when?
Me: For what?
-Principal & Vice Principal don't understand what I just said-
Me: Why?
-They look at each other-
Principal: Home, no welcome?
Me: But there's nothing at my apartment ... Why?
Vice Principal: No welcome?
Me: My apartment is boring .... there is nothing to do ....
Principal: Welcome, no?
Me: ... But why?
I think we have an awkward understanding that I don't want visitors. But really. My apartment is cold. My television is sitting on the floor. There's nothing to do here. We obviously can't communicate. It's not happening. I got up to leave, but they made me stay until the principal finished eating for the first time ever. One teacher told me that the principal thinks of me like a daughter. Good luck with that.
I ate a McFlurry for the first time yesterday. If you like oreos, the Oreo McFlurry hits the spot. Speaking of flurries, it might snow on Friday. I've never seen snow fall before, so this week is quickly becoming the week of firsts. Yesterday I also tried dog food for the first time. Don't act you've never been curious. I took a nibble of a bone-shaped Purina kibble. The food has a really crunchy and grity texture and tastes like how it smells. Maybe a bit salty and leaves an oily aftertaste. I ate some Special K flakes to wash the taste out of my mouth. Today I tried a dog treat made of vegetables. It was also shaped like a bone, but shared the consistency of those children's animal crackers. It would have went well with ice-cream, maybe even the Oreo McFlurry.
In case you are wondering, a friend who is a 6th gen and our POE coordinator lives across the street, and she has a small dog.
At lunch I was invited to join all of the teachers on a tour of Seoul on December 22-23. They might be going to Seoul Tower and an ancient palace. Been there, done that. I said that I had no plans and that I could go ... but I'm trying to figure a way out of it since I've already been there. Plus it will be super awkward spending 48 hours with everyone when I can't even stand a 48 minute volleyball game.
Spent all three of today's classes listening to Christmas music and working on holiday arts & crafts with the kids. We colored ornaments for a "Christmas tree" display of the kids' work located on the back wall. I taught them how to make paper snowflakes, which are now dangling from the ceiling. I also started to make a chain out of red and green construction paper to outline the tree. Next week I have my semesterly open class, so I want the room to look fun & festive for the kids and guests.
The Dell technician came back with my laptop, still unrepaired. I think he was under the impression that it was fixed, but when he powered it up, the computer seemed unresponsive and made strange noises. We awkwardly communicated through Google Translate on his phone. When that wasn't enough, I called Joanne to translate over the phone. He will be back again tomorrow. Same time, same place.
Today I received a call from the Dell Service Center in Korea.
Guy: Dell Service Center 입니다 (This is the Dell Service Center)
Me: Dell Service Center?
Guy: Ye.
Me: Hello.
Guy: *KoreanKoreanKorean*
Me: 한국말 안되요 (hanguk mal an daeyo: "Korean language not working" -- yeah, my Korean isn't that great)
Guy: *KoreanKorean* address *Korean*
Me: Oh, uhhh, Dae-Myeong Officetel 2....
Guy: Sang-dong....
Me: Ne...Jeollanam-do, Mokpo
Guy: *KoreanKorean* Fix computer 11 o'clock
Me: Uhhh... 11 o'clock 옵서여 (not here)
Guy: Ohh....
Me: Uhhh...
Guy: Ummm...
Me: Errr....
Me: After 5:30pm? 5:30 in the evening?
Guy: 5:30?
Me: Ne.
Guy: *KoreanKoreanKoreanKoreanKorean*
Me: I don't know what you just said.
Guy: *KoreanKoreanKoreanKoreanKorean*
Me: Can I call you back?
Guy: *KoreanKoreanKoreanKoreanKorean*
Me: Uhhhh....
Guy: I call back.
Me: Ok.
Guy: Ne.
Someone else who spoke English called back, and we arranged for the technician to come at 6pm today. Once I get all the parts, all I will need are the Windows Vista and Microsoft Office installation disks to have a fully functioning computer.
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During lunch, I was told to go to the teachers' room at 12:30pm. I went in at 12:23pm right after lunch, and an administrator spoke to me about Open Classes. (Every semester we are required to hold one Open Class for teachers, parents, staff, etc to come in and observe.) Then I went up to my class to prepare for Kindergarten. At 12:34pm, I got a call telling me to go into the teachers' room. I guess that conversation I had with the administrator wasn't why I was called in there. The Vice Principal was hosting a meeting with 5-6 other teachers. It was all in Korean. I sat there for 10 minutes, then showed another teacher the time on my phone to indicate that I had class at 12:45pm. She said, "Open class....you understand?" and I said, "Ne, I understand." Yeah, I understand that I have open class, but I don't understand why I had to sit through that meeting if it was all in Korean!
The kindergarten kids were already seated in my English class when I arrived. Some of the kids were absent. The remaining half of them were coughing in every direction. Some of them looked like they were dying. One girl looked like she was either on her last breath or she was quickly falling into a coma. The boy next to her was slapping her in the forehead. I was like, "oh no! You're all sick!" I made a coughing gesture at the girls in the front row, and they nodded their heads in mid-cough. I decided that we would NOT be holding hands during the sing-a-long. Hells to the no.
Organic tofu with sliced mushrooms & kale
stir fried in organic chopped garlic & olive oil.
Mexican Style Rice A Roni
More of the same veggies. Different kind of rice.
I found this gem in my cafeteria soup yesterday. I don't care what people say -- clams, oysters, whatever! I swear it is a snail. There were 2 of them in my soup. Ahhhhh, it was so gross. Usually there are small clams floating between the seaweed, but these things were huge! I cautiously covered them with the seaweed so that I wouldn't have to look at them. Ughhhhh.
I have been in contact with the Dell International Queue and the Korea Support Center for Dell computers. I ran a diagnostic test on my laptop, and the Error Codes indicate that I need a new mother board and a new hard drive. Under my warranty, I qualify to have a service technician come to my apartment and fix my computer at no charge. Thank goodness. They should be sending someone to dear old Mokpo in 1-2 weeks.
I received a phone call and an e-mail today notifying me that hard drives may not be in stock because of the recent floods in Bangkok, Thailand. Just two weeks ago I was watching the news about the floods and the impact it had on electronics in America. Now how did I get swept into this? Ay caramba!
I am also in need of installation disks for Windows Vista and Microsoft Word. Holla at me if you have one -- or know someone who knows someone ...
"All I Want for Christmas is You" performed by Justin Bieber feat. Mariah Carey
Yesterday a teacher walked in on me watching this video before class started. When he walked in, I paused it on the part where Mariah Carey is up against the wall in her short Santa skirt. Awkward. He asked me, "Christmas?" I said, "Ne." He asked if I ate lunch. I said, "Ne." I resumed the video after he left.
I like the original Mariah Carey version better. No offense, Justin Bieber.
