The moto ride...

If you have ever visited Cambodia or if you've ever had nightmares about the world's scariest roads, then you know how the roads are in Cambodia. Scary pretty much sums it up. Red lights are only suggestions and it doesn't matter that a car/tuk tuk/moto is coming, they will turn anyways. People drive on the wrong side of the road, people don't check mirrors. To anyone who didn't grow up there, it's just chaos! Scary chaos. They can fit a family of 5, or 3 grown men, on a moto. Kinda like this:


Pretty standard to see sleeping babies too and these moto drivers drive like they are not afraid of death! I always said I was way too much of a wuss (or I liked living too much) to ride on the back of a moto. Funny enough, on this particular day, I was even thinking how scared I would be to ride on one through this certain market that we had to take to get back to the home. It was so crowded and people came out of nowhere, which didn't seem to matter to any driver on the road as they kept up their normal speed.

After spending a few hours at a hotel to swim, Vong came to pick me up. He is Remember Nhu's tuk tuk driver. I can't really explain the feeling of panic that swept through me as he motioned to his moto bike that his baby daughter was crawling all over and said, "Sorry, no tuk tuk!" I considered telling him I just wasn't capable of hopping on for this 20-30 minute ride to the end of my life! There wasn't really another option though, and I thought if I could do this, I could do ANYTHING! A little dramatic? Sure, but you have to keep in mind I was about to be dead!

I usually throw the word "terrifying" around lightly, but this was very legitimately TERRIFYING! To be fair, I didn't feel as unstable as I expected and I knew Vong was a good driver. I just didn't trust the other drivers. Then the unthinkable happened...his daughter fell asleep. Of course, neither the little girl nor I had helmets either. I had been holding on pretty tightly to the bar behind me with both hands but now that the child (maybe a year old?) between me and the driver was SLEEPING, someone was gonna have to hold her on!! Here I am, holding a sleeping girl with one hand and gripping the bar behind me with my other hand so tightly thinking, 'Surely this is how I'm going out.' One lady side saddling a passing moto looked at the girl, looked at me, at the girl and back up at me. I gave her a smile that said, "Yeah, isn't my daughter pretty!"

I was trying to look relaxed and natural, like I had done this for years, but I kept imagining how my hand behind me must have looked! I was literally holding on for dear life! It was such a long ride and somehow that girl slept the whole time.

I'll never forget how proud of myself for being alive I was when we rode through the gate at the home. The girls greeted me cheerfully and I handed Vong his still sleeping/still living baby girl.

The moral of the story is...
Apparently, you can trust me with your kids in ANY situation.

Cambodia: the details blog!

Welcome back! This may not be that exciting for all of you and you do not have to read this! I want to tell these stories in detail to my family and Karen and people who were really interested in my trip. Please visit www.remembernhu.org to find out a little more about where these girls came from. Won't be posting any pictures of them here. I will have a lot of pictures in a private album on my facebook. If you are lucky enough to not be blocked, congratulations! haha

If you know anything at all, you know I just went back to Cambodia to visit the most precious little girls. After two years of promising to return and telling everyone around me how much I love them/Cambodia and that I would go back soon, I was finally doing it. I was told the girls did not know I was coming and I was so excited to see their reactions! Turns out they knew, but that didn't make it any less exciting :-)

My final flight that would take me to them was delayed about 2 hours which was a super bummer. I knew everyone would be sleeping and I could only hope the tuk tuk driver Laurie had lined up for me would still be waiting! Thankfully, he was and he was really nice about it. He brought along his son and nephew who were pretty cute. I was WAY beyond excited on the way to the new home. It was raining and I was cold. Weird. I had to keep looking around me to make sure I was actually in Cambodia!

We rolled up to a gate and he called the housemother. I was so impressed with the beautiful new home! The housemother's really nice daughter led me up to the rooms upstairs where everyone was sleeping and I could not believe I was actually there. I was even more happy when she started going up to all the beds looking for Kieu and calling her name! Some of the girls started waking up and one girl looked at me and said, "Erica?" I started to feel terrible...I didn't recognize her! I knew ALL my girls! How could I not remember one?! Then I saw that she was new and had been expecting me. Ah, they all knew I was coming! No problem! Where's my daughter?! They all pointed us to a side room and as I walked in, a very sleepy, very TALL Kieu gave me the hug I had been aching for! I definitely teared up:-) "Mom, I miss you!" she kept saying. I settled in a bit and we talked as I handed a few of the suitcase of gifts I had brought! Then some of the other girls woke up and came to say hello. Nhung, with even better English if that's possible! So tall! I couldn't believe it! The new girl came to hang out. I liked her immediately. I started asking if all the girls were still here. Siphat? Pha Ta? Yep, yep, most of them are still here, they told me. *Phew* . Then Siphat walks in and was just as beautiful as ever! I really wished Karen was with me then (Siphat is Karen's daughter, for those who don't know!). Abby and Yao came in a bit later and I was so impressed with Yao's English! She came to the Haven of Hope only 5 days before we left last time. The girls were so much fun and we stayed up a while. Then they asked, "You go to church tomorrow?" "What time?" "7." Oh my gosh. It was already probably 3am or later and going to a church where I don't understand anything they're saying is hard enough! I did end up having to leave early! We went at 8 and they kept telling me it would be over around 11 or maybe later. I was just way too exhausted and a couple of the girls and I walked home so I could nap.

Ah, don't worry! I won't tell every detail of the week! Here are a few thoughts/stories.

There were a lot of new girls. The home is now a mix of Vietnamese and Cambodian which is kind of a breakthrough because of the new Cambodian housemother. Kieu was super proud to introduce her mom! Some of the older girls who were only around me when Kieu was around kept calling me mom. I'm pretty sure they thought that was my name haha

I was really stupid and did not bring any bug repellent with me. The mosquitoes REALLY enjoyed eating me alive. It became painful and I finally went to the shop close to the house to get the only small package of Off that they had. Later, Kieu and a few other girls went and bought a bunch of the little packets for me somewhere else! They didn't really understand that it was to keep them away, they thought it was more to soothe the itching so they kept just applying the Off for me but I didn't complain!

On Monday, I went to the salon to see those girls. I was pretty sad to hear there were only 4 girls working there now. When it opened, there were 9. When I got there I found 2 of the 4 working there now were not even of the 9 original girls! I was happy to see them though cause I thought they just weren't at the home anymore. The salon also changed locations and some of Nhu's family helps out. I was just glad to see Nhu, big Kieu, Lynn and Chia (who I thought was one of the old girls, Nun, for the longest time! Couldn't believe Chia could be so grown up!). A bunch of the girls came with me and hung out/fell asleep at the salon! It was pretty cute. Pha Ta was all curled up in one of the chairs sleeping away. We went about 9 or 10 and Nhu had to leave for a bit to run some errands or something. I had Chia do my nails while I waited. Told her to surprise me and I ended up with all different color nails! They're pretty great though:-) I told Nhu I wanted her to cut and dye my hair so we sent most of the little girls home since it was gonna take a long (very long) time. I ate lunch with Nhu and a friend of hers and unfortunately that's the most time I was able to spend with Nhu! I pretty much let them pick out my hair color and style and was a little shocked how short Nhu cut it, but I like it! Lynn did most of the work dying my hair. She gave awesome head and shoulder massages too. We all watched part of a hilarious Cambodian zombie movie while waiting for Vong, the faithful tuk tuk driver, to pick us up. Everyone in the home had been looking forward to tonight...I was taking them all out for ice cream:-)
We all enjoyed our time, wreaking havoc on Swensons! I pulled out my visa card to pay and what do they tell me? "We don't take visa." Who doesn't take visa?! I've used this very card in Cambodia before so it's not the whole country. Why wouldn't you take visa? It would have been really funny but I was freakin out thinking I took all these people out and am NOT gonna be able to pay!! Ha! (If Tiff, Lori or Saritha is reading, this may remind you of a time in New York...hahaha) It all worked out fine though.

I decided I wanted to spend a few hours just by myself at a pool to read and relax on Tuesday. Now, I love these girls with my whole heart but I had not had a single second by myself since I arrived! Even when I showered, they would stand outside the door and sing or just wait! So I got a cheap hotel room for a few hours and slept/read by the pool. Stupid move #264986 by Erica Jane: I didn't bring/buy/wear any sunscreen. I knew exactly what would happen...lobster redness! Didn't matter though, I didn't wanna wear 50 spf and risk still being white after the day:-) I only stayed by the pool for 2 hours (even borrowing some sunscreen when I felt my skin starting to boil!) then ate an slept for the rest of the time. I was bright red. I knew this would be the most painful sunburn because of how much the girls hang all over me and would be accidentally/purposely rubbing and scratching the burns! Everybody kept asking if I liked being so red cause I had explained that a lot of westerners like to be tan and that's why I was going. Haha definitely NOT beautiful. **Please refer to next blog post for moto ride story which happened at this point in the week:-)**

Pha Ta was attached (literally attached) to me the whole time. I was relieved, because by the time I left last time she wasn't really that interested! Karen, she still has that attitude!!

Went to the market and bought a TON of rambutan, longon and mangosteen which I had missed almost as much as I missed the girls! haha It was all just as delicious as I remembered and I only wish I would have eaten more mangosteen! Actually, after my very first meal at the home, the sweet cook lady brought out a huge bowl of rambutan. Oh man. It was like she knew...

I mostly just played and hung out. It wasn't nearly as hot as it was last time and I think it's just because there was no yard at the old home so we were inside the whole time and it was so stuffy! This place has a yard and little patio so we were outside with the breeze and the flies...oh so many flies.

I wanted to get the salon girls to come over my last night so I could see them and say goodbye to everyone at the same time! Nhung, Kieu and I went to the internet cafe to charge my camera and iphone (and skyped my mom because Kieu wanted to meet "grandmother" :-), then a ran a few errands and finally went to the bakery to get a cake and some treats for us. When we got back to the house, Yao was doing all the girls' makeup! It was hilarious to see the real little ones with all their makeup. I decided to let them do mine which I realized halfway through was a BAD idea. This was my last night and I knew it was gonna end in tears and now would also end with black running down everyone's face! Could be nice to have some comic relief though!

Sure enough, the tears started to pour and when Kieu looked up at me I couldn't help but laugh! We watched some Korean TV show dubbed into Khmer then went upstairs to say goodbye/cry/try and sleep! I walked into the room to see Kieu cryin her little eyes out and Thao taking pictures of her hahaha. So mean but kinda funny. I thought she was mad at them for it until she told me later, "Mom, Thao take picture me cry. You show grandmother." haha!

Some of them wanted me to wake them up at 5 before I left and some wouldn't let me sleep for a while! We spent some more quality time together and girls kept coming in with random gifts for me. They are all so sweet and have generous, loving hearts. Leaving them is always so hard.
4am came way too fast and I took the coldest shower of my life ha. I couldn't believe how many times I had been cold this week...in Cambodia! Not supposed to happen! Woke some girls up and we waited together downstairs. I just could not believe the week had flown by so quickly. I was glad so many people were awake to see me off though! We ate some ramen together and my heart dropped when my tuk tuk arrived. Laurie told/reminded me before I came that it's better to cry after you leave. The last time was a disaster! Siphat even threw up from crying so hard!! I had never ever cried that much in my life. I mean, everyone was just wailing. It was bad. So I wanted it to be better this time. Kieu was crying pretty hard and I couldn't help but cry a little with her! I hopped in my sweet ride and told them once again that I would see them again, a promise!

As soon as the last girl was out of site, I lost it. I was glad Sopath didn't have mirrors so I could weep in peace! Of course, then I cried again in the airport at a coffee place haha.

Traveled for about 30 hours total (with many adventures during that time!) only to arrive at work for my 8 hour day. I was tired, not feeling great and not stoked to have to work. I was early and the Korean teachers were having a meeting and laughed at my sunburn and how tired I was/looked!

But then the best little voice, "ERIIICAA TEACHER!" And Paul ran right up for the biggest hug ever.

I was sad to leave Cambodia but so glad this is what I came back to:-)

You won't like me when I'm angry...

I am so terribly sorry for ruining all your thousands, nay, MILLIONS of lives by not posting in ages. I have so many stories I want to share and have no excuse for not writing them here! There is one story that I just cannot let you live without any longer. I must tell it and will later blog about all the other fun/frustrating/sad/awesome/great/awful things (I know, I know, I'm always promising!).

You may remember the class I used to refer to as my "evil class." I used to dread the arrival of 2:40 when I would walk in and hate life for 40 minutes. Things changed after Eddie's mom took him out for a few days. Not sure exactly what happened (she said she talked to him about needing to be good...), but anything was better than me tossing him out a window. Since the change, I absolutely ADORE this class. They can still be a little naughty but I now look forward to the sweet, cuddly hugs and kisses and little voices shouting, "I LUB you Erica Teacher!" Do you remember Ryan?

He's always been a great student and truly adorable. When I taught him during the promo classes, I saw the first bits of the Power Ranger in him. The kids here love Power Rangers and I love when they become them! Well, one day during class, Ryan was angry. I had no idea what his problem was, but he kept yelling at the other kids when they would answer in English and telling them (in Korean) NOT to speak English! I could not figure out what the issue was but thought it was kind of funny.

Then it happened...

The transformation began with a wrinkle in his tiny nose.

He wrinkled his nose as much as a nose so small could wrinkle and then I heard a low growl.

He was looking right at one of the other students who had just used English!

I gave up teaching because watching a kindergartner turn into a power ranger is way more entertaining.

The next thing I knew, Ryan jumped out of his chair saying something about Power Rangers and BAM, he was in a pose quite similar to this one (actually you can just pick one, as he was in each pose at some point during his fighting scene):

It was just about the most amazing thing I've ever seen! I have NO idea why he was so angry about everyone speaking English during English class but it got better...

As he slowly turned back into Ryan the student, he walked back to his chair to TRY and sit down and...

FAILED! Fell right in the floor and I could not hold back the laughter any longer.

Teaching adorable children really has it's perks: SOMETIMES they morph into angry power rangers.

It is test It is good

A few weeks ago, I was lazy after a test and still had class time left. The weather was nice so I told the girls (Sara, Sally, Sunny, Sue) to write a few sentences about what they like to do in the warm weather. I'm gonna go ahead and post all the girls' responses but I will save the BEST for last...these are the things that make me like teaching:

By Sunny (Star is her sister)

I want Play in the Playground.
Star an me is Play a seasaw.
and Play a slide.
and Play jumprope.
and go to home.

That one was pretty good!
This is by Sue

I want to play in playground at Spring weather.
I want to go picnic at Spring weather.
I want to go to shop at Spring weather.

Haha I like that one for some reason!
Sara's cracks me up. Here goes

I like winter
I like summer
I like warm
I like diving
I like seasaw
I like cerry [cherry]

But the very best of all is Sally's and this is why [it takes up the whole page and it written very dark]:

It is warm it is swim
It is warm it is slide
It is warm it is seesaw
It is warm it is diving
It is warm it is nintendo
It is warm it is student
It is warm it is playground

Haha I just love this so much. This class is fun because they speak enough English to be able to have a conversation and since they are all girls, we do have plenty of girl talk! We started talking about a boy Sunny liked and they all started opening up about who they like but were nervous that people would tell their secret. I explained that "girl talk" is ALWAYS a secret and is basically sacred, so don't worry! Sara was going on and on about how she liked Fred and I was so excited cause I love Fred, ya know! He would always come in and mess with the girls after my class because I taught him next so he would come and fetch me. Well, as soon as class was over the girls all rushed into Fred's classroom and Sunny looked like she was going to tell on Sara! I was trying to get her to be quiet but she was just telling him my "secret" and so Sara walks into the classroom, throws her arms out and declares, "I LIKE FRED!!" I was laughing so hard. Classic! Unfortunately for Sara, Fred spent all of our class going, "Sara, bluuueegh (vomit sounds)!" and acting like he was so grossed out that he would just pass out. haha BOYS!! What can ya do? Now she chases him around between classes. Just like a girl, desperately chasing after the boy who doesn't want her!

I have my computer back so there will be more posts and lots of pictures and videos very soon!

Teacher of girl talk,
Erica Jane

What blog?

Oh my how I wish I could update every week! I've got such great pictures and stories to share but without my computer it's been tough! I don't want to sit on the computer at work for hours at a time....ah wait I already do that. My mom has shipped the new power cord so don't you worry, faithful readers! You will be getting updates soon and very soon. There have been GREAT times had by all (mostly) in the last couple weeks and I can't wait to write about them!!

Non-Blogger,
Erica Jane O'Rourke

If you can't beat them, give them stickers

Welcome back! To those of you joining us for the first time, welcome! To those of you who refuse to read and have never visited my blog, you're really missing out, aren't you? You don't even know I'm talking about you right now. Joke's on you!

This week was pretty nice, actually. The whole extra class at the kindergarten next door thing wasn't too bad, since I only teach over there Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. It's 25 minutes and I just teach the same lesson to 3 classes once a week. Did that make sense? The part that sucks is that I am handed the book when I actually walk into the class I'm supposed to be teaching! There are a lot more kids in these classes and the kids in my "evil" class are there. I don't particularly like doing it, but it's not a big deal and not worth complaining about! Also, I love the kindergarten teachers so it's fun to be in their classes for a little bit.
*update! I hate teaching over there haha

I believe I have a couple funny class stories.
I asked my class (Sunny, Sally, Sue, Sara, no more Subin) if they had done their homework. I hear one little voice, "You say no homework" and then one after the other they each pipe up, "You say no homework!" I giggled to myself and just for my own amusement asked, "What did I say?" And they answered IN unison, "YOU SAY NO HOMEWORK!" I don't know why they each felt the need to say it but it made me laugh.
I have some other stories from this class but they are inappropriate to post here..ah! Too bad!

That same day, I was waiting outside the classroom where I teach Fred and Aidan. Aidan opened the door for me and said, "Come on in, baby!" WHAT?! I doubled over with laughter and was so tickled by it, I had to interrupt Sophie in her class to tell her the story! You have to understand, Aidan speaks hardly any English. Where does he learn these things?!

I had a few of the foreign teachers over Tuesday night for games and even though I don't actually own any games, it worked. Turns out, Phase 10 is JUST too hard for some guys. I'm pretty sure most females would catch on but what's wrong with these men? :-) It was a really fun night and another one is already being planned for this week! Maybe it will be a weekly thing. I hope so!

Charlie and Monica (my directors) have just moved to Jangyu. They had all the teachers over to their new (and VERY nice) apartment on Thursday night. Everybody from the Korean kindergarten and our academy was there so it was a pretty full house! Wow, there was so much delicious food and of course plenty of Soju. This is Korea, after all. I sat with my co-teachers while I ate but soon moved over to be with my old friends from the kindergarten! If you've read old posts, you know about them! There were games led by our gym teachers (one drives the van that says, "Dreaming Event" and has starts and hearts on it haha) and it was great to just be silly with people you work with AND for! Our English Academy crew is not half as fun as the Korean kindergarten crew and they skipped out early. Everybody was a lot of fun and Monica gave Joey and me boxes to take home food. Since it was Thursday, I was planning on meeting the foreigners (sounds like a cult!) out at Wa Bar. As Joey and I were in the elevator with the two gym teachers, I asked if they knew about Wa to see if they wanted to join us. THEN, when we got outside we ran into all the other teachers and the guys invited them too! We rolled in with all these people to join the several foreign teachers and it was really fun/funny and all that. Good times all around!!

Friday turned out to be birthday party day for all the kids who had birthdays during the month, I guess. It was real funny how seriously the moms must take this. The girls were dressed in their MOST princessy ball gowns, tiaras included. They had makeup on and their hair done. It was pretty amazing. We were pulled out of our classes to join the photo shoots. The birthday kids from each class would get a picture in front of their cakes first, then their class would give them presents (after presenting the presents, the class would offer a big "congratulations" for living another year) and then the whole class stood behind the table full of cakes and that's where we foreign teachers were able/forced to jump in. It was just silly but it got me out of two classes. Awesome. Then snack time came around and we got to eat the yummy cake!

I woke up Saturday with a very sore throat. I've been sick the last week or so but I was determined to get better for Saturday night! For weeks I've been hearing about this particular norebong (singing room/karaoke room) that has costumes. I already LOVE norebongs without wigs and santa costumes and I just knew it would be amazing! **IT WAS WAY AMAZING check facebook for pictures**
saturday-trying to get better for dinner and norebong! amazing costumes
sunday-lazy day then dinner, dvd bang, dinner
being "saved by the bell"


AAAND that's all you get:-) I'm surprised that much of it saved and since my computer is down (power cord died and I'll have to wait a few weeks for the new one) I'll have to go ahead and get this one posted, without pictures:-( I had some really great pics and videos for this post too!! Well, enjoy what you can I guess!

~Computerless Teacher,
Erica Jane~

"Do you want an X?! No? Sit down."

Hello world, I'm feeling good today!
WHAT no get that song out of my head!!
Anyways, so this post comes right after I finished writing my post from 2 weeks ago....woops. I was able to get into the routine this week and things were a bit better. I learned that kids are absolutely terrified of getting an "X" on the board next to their name. This means I am now back in power in my classrooms. It works SO well in my evil class that all I have to is make the slightest movement towards the board and they run back to their seats and stay there. One day, I had such a great morning with the kindergarten classes and decided I WAS going to have a good afternoon. Instead of only punishing for bad behavior, I was going to reward any good behavior. As soon as I got into the evil class, I wrote all their names on the board like I always do, but this time, I put checks beside each name. I was in such a great mood and just so determined to love this class. I held up a flashcard and EDDIE said what color the animal was. I quickly began acting like I had won a million dollars and dove over the table to give him a high-five, a sticker AND another check mark on the board. Well this was just too much for them. All of a sudden, every kid was really into answering "A YELLOW DUCK, A GREEN FROG, A BLUE HORSE" and by the end there were stickers all over their faces, hands and even one on my face. When they misbehaved, I just erased a check instead of wrote an X. This worked just as well. I was so pleased with the class and the day! I did the same thing with Aidan, Alex and Fred. I just said 3 checks equaled a sticker. Stickers are seriously like crack to these kids. It's amazing. I think it was the next day in my other afternoon kindergarten class when I was trying to teach a song to the kids. They were all putting their heads on the desks or talking to each other. There was only one girl who was doing the motions along with me. Boom, she got a sticker and of course I made a huge deal about it like no one in the world had this blue smiley face sticker. All of a sudden the kids were wide awake and eagerly motioning, "What did you see? I saw a red bird looking at me." It was just too funny!

Now, I'm not bragging about my "teaching skills" or anything of the sort! I just think it's hilarious!

One day while using the X's, Ryan and Daniel were fighting. Ryan is the smartest/cutest/sweetest kid but he bit Daniel and was kinda acting up. I put an X by his name and pointed it out to him when he released Daniel from his jaws. You would think this kid has NEVER seen an X so close to his name. He looked up at it, threw his head back and burst into tears. What?! I had never gotten this reaction! I hugged him and he just sobbed on my shoulder for a good 3 1/2 minutes. I was sad to have to make such a cutie cry. He was ok after a while though.

This may have been last week, I don't remember but I'm telling it now anyways. Fred was really bein bad one day and would NOT do his work. He gets this way sometimes. Aidan and Alex were doin fine but Fred just would not cooperate. I had already told them, if they got 4 X's they had to stand at the front of the class with their hands up. Fred quickly had 4 X's to my dismay and even worse, he would NOT come to the front of the class. He had a nervous smile at first as I gestured and sternly told him exactly what he needed to do, NOW, but he didn't move. I told him he either needed to stand up here or get out! Alex and Aidan were really into this punishment and I knew I had to follow through with something. I was hating it because I just adore Fred! Then it got worse. Fred was looking down for a while and when he looked up I saw....no....tears!! My heart dropped. They were just welling up in his eyes, no rolling tears, thank goodness. Finally, I explained that if he did the page of work, I would erase one X. I had to help him a lot but he finally finished and I joyfully erased an X! I was basically crying as I finished up and left class!

Ok, another Fred story:-) He's just the best. I almost cried because of him again but this time it was the sweetest thing! Friday was test day. Alex and Aidan were being loud and a little annoying when I first came in, not really listening. My throat was hurting and at one point I tried yelling at them to stop but grabbed my throat. Fred, the darling, saw and asked super worried, "Teacher, are you ok?" A little bit later they all wanted to go get water. They came back and Fred took a sip of his and then...yes...gave it to me!!! He came along before class ended to collect and throw away the cup as well. I gave stickers to them at the end and he sneakily grabbed 3 when the other boys got 2. Aidan was extremely upset about it (he's extremely upset about anything really) and I gave one more to Alex and Aidan. But Fred then gave ME all his stickers! How could you not love Fred?

Now I shall talk about how adorable Paul is.
He makes everything ok. I mean I'll be having a bad day and I'll be eating lunch in the teacher's room dreading my afternoon classes and then I hear a noise at the door, look over, and see him running over to me like this. Every.Single.Day. I don't know what happened but he really loves me so much and I just absolutely love him to death! It's to the point now that if the Korean teachers can't find him when his ride comes, they look for me in the teacher's room cause they know he'll be with me. I get to hang out with him twice a day. Once at lunch for a little bit and then for a little longer after my last class. Sophie and I are totally wrapped around his tiny little finger now! Here are some videos of him:-) He didn't know I was taking a video so he kept posing trying to get me to take the picture already.

** how very irritating. The other very cute video just will not load. I will try again soon!**

Things have been getting better at school and then as we were leaving Friday, Linda comes up and says, "On Monday you'll start teaching a class next door from 1-1:30. The kids don't have books." I was disappointed to hear that my break would be shortened cause that's when I plan afternoon lessons but ok..."Umm ok, so what are we teaching?" "Oh...I don't know. Hannah will tell you!" Ha! Yes, Hannah will tell us on Monday at 12:50 and it won't make any sense. So tomorrow should be very interesting but you just gotta roll with the punches here.


Wednesday was St. Patrick's Day of course and a few of us went to O'Brien's in Changwon. I had the best chicken burrito and chips and salsa ever. Ok, not best ever but when you have been craving it....yumm!! I also found this on a big poster thing with names and crests from Ireland:
In case you didn't know, my last name is O'Rourke. See the two lions? Yes, O'Rourke.
















AAAAND then I forgot to post this gem from the noribang-2 of my favorite guys singing what? Mmmbopp:-) Welcome to the magic of the noribang!! (Hmm just re-watched it on here. It's not this dark on my computer...oh well. You'll live.)


I've got to share this with you as well. I've been introduced to La Roux, who is just amazing. This is my favorite (too bad it's just one of the remixes) but all her stuff is good! Listen to La Roux.
** http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m9E1MWMFym8&feature=related **

Sophie had a really good idea for getting Aidan to settle down. He absolutely CANNOT sit still so she suggested making him jump. Just jump up and down until he doesn't want to be out of his seat! One day he was particularly restless so I pulled him over to a clear space and said, "Jump. 5 minutes." At first he thought it was a game and Alex even wanted to join in (not Fred, he knew they were idiots). Alex tired pretty quickly and sat down and Aidan thought he would do the same. I pointed to the clock, "Noooo, you still have 2 minutes." "WHY teacher?!" "Because you can't sit in your seat!!" It didn't take 5 minutes for him to be exhausted and when I finally let him stop, he sat down and didn't even WANT to get out of his seat for anything the rest of the class. Success. Thanks Sophie:-)

Oh a good Sue story! She's always got silly things to say! We were staring a test on Friday and a very loud noise from above shook us and was making one of the lights vibrate. Sunny said there were workers on the roof but it kept happening and I don't remember what I said about it but Sue tried to be helpful, "I don't think there's an animal up there..." Ha what?! I'm not sure what she heard. But thanks Sue, I don't think there was an animal in the light/on the roof either:-)


I'll end with pictures of Paul being cute.





















Well now that wasn't too long, was it? I won't forget to post again though, because this was annoying for me. Typing 2 posts in one day? It just makes me realize how jumbled the weeks and months become in my mind. Hopefully I can get those videos to load at some point. They're pretty great. Thanks for reading!

Listening to great music,
Erica Jane O'Rourke

Posts that are a week late are still posts that get read...

Another week, another post and no end to the funny stories. I've had kind of a rough two weeks because of a few of the new classes. Unfortunately, I've really let the bad ones overtake my mood and my whole day! I seem to forget about my good and fun classes, or I just bring my frustration into the good ones. I mean, in my defense, a couple of these kids are REALLY bad!! :-0 So I'm trying to change that and work on being better. I'm really thankful for Sophie and the other foreign teachers in the area who I can vent to and hear some of their stories of their own bad students. It's nice to have a community here. We are basically a sub-culture of Korea!

I have to apologize to all you faithful readers as I completely forgot to update last week! I know some of you just couldn't stand the thought of not knowing what my week was like! It's now Sunday again so I'll just do 2 mini posts (HA we'll see how "mini" I can make them:-).

My schedule was changed a bit the beginning of last week (as in 2 weeks ago, now). I was given a new kindergarten class in the afternoon, then switched from one kinder class to another, then had my DEAR older class with Lori taken away to make room for that kinder class! Monday was confusing trying to figure out which kids were supposed to be in which class. They came in this massive group from the kindergarten next door and we attempted to separate them. Well I really just stood around waiting to see which kids were mine. There were a lot of kids in this class but we made it work and I thought it would be ok until one girl just started wailing. First, I tried to comfort her. She didn't stop. Then I tried to ignore her and teach the others. She yelled "OMA (mommy!)" louder and louder until I was just annoyed. So I took her to Jeniffer who was teaching and said, "WHERE do I take the crying ones?" I took her to Hannah downstairs only to see her in my next class! Nooo! She was still crying too. Ohhhh the next class. I see a couple boys in this class that I had before and one kid that I had the week before in the other class (yes confusing I know). I'm thinking, "Great! They're so cute and there are only 6 of them!" 20 minutes later I wanted to throw children out the window. I was on my hands and knees, dragging kids out from under the table. Hannah was even in the classroom copying something and didn't seem to notice the complete disaster! They were just terrible. The smallest one has this evil sparkle in his eye. The, "I dare you" look. So Monday was a horrible day. I dreaded Tuesday and rightfully so. I walked in the room and 2 girls were already just wailing and the boys were running around like wild animals. There were 3 Korean teachers standing around with this expression on their faces that I can only describe as, "this is bull@#*&!" I decided MAYBE if I had them all sit on the floor it would work out better. It worked for a little bit but after a little bit they just weren't gonna do it. Hannah was working on something in the classroom again so I decided to just let them run around and teach the 3 that were really listening. At the end, I gave stickers (aka CRACK to the kids) to the ones that participated and asked Hannah to explain that they would get stickers if they listened. Daniel, one of the worst, started complaining and she then told me, "He wants a sticker" in a voice like she expected me to give him a sticker!! What?! Nope, I did NOT give him one. I'm posting 2 pics, the first so you can see the evil look of Eddie. The other so you can maybe see some cuteness in others.
(Eddie, Daniel, Ryan, CRYING ANNOYING GIRL, no English name and hasn't come in a couple days, Henna (yeah Hannah) and Sera)










I also took a video to show that Ryan is SUPER adorable and Daniel can also be really really cute!



Before I continue with the horror stories (yeah there's more!), I'll tell a great one from the other afternoon kindergarten class. Now these kids are much easier and very cute. We have a lot of fun and even though they talk a lot, they're easy to shut up! We were going through some animal flashcards and they would shout the answers and one boy was really into it and was pointing at me/the card whilst yelling his answer. The next card was a horse. They sometimes leave off the "SE" on horse leaving just "HOR." So, here I am standing at the front of the class and I show this card and the boy starts violently pointing at me and yelling, "HOR! HOR! HOR! HOR! HOR!" I was just laughing uncontrollably by the 2nd "hor."

Wednesday was a SNOW DAY!!!! A much needed break and I went hiking. It was so gorgeous and you can please check facebook for the hiking pictures:-)

Now. The day I almost hit a child. I don't remember what day it was, but I walked into the evil class as Hannah was finishing up. She was trying to get Eddie to sit in his seat the right way but of course he wasn't listening. I was really interested to see how she handled discipline in this class. She grabbed his coat from off the table, opened the window, held it OUT the window and started counting....HA!! He started freaking out a little but wouldn't sit. She gestured that she was going to drop it and he sort of made a move to sit down. She closed the window and forced him into his seat. She left and I began. Eddie quickly decided to be the worst child on earth. I mean just TERRIBLE. I tried to get him to stand in the corner with his hands up but he just would not do it. He wouldn't do anything and then he started running around the table with this awful smug grin and I was so mad! Oh I forgot, before this day I was trying to get him to do something and had his hand in mine. He began DIGGING his nail into my thumb. Little jerk. Anyways, I knew I wouldn't catch him and I was totally fed up. I took his jacket and said, "Alright, let's go see Hannah Teacher." He didn't move but he got scared. I walked out of the room and BAM he started crying. Freaking out like I was gonna shred his coat and he would have to walk home in snow!! This kid is only about 3 or 4, by the way. I stood by the stairs and could see him standing at the door of our classroom, crying. I hung his coat on the stairs and walked back, took his hand and tried to walk out. Nope, wasn't gonna happen. I picked the sucker up and he started SCREAMING! It sounded like he had busted his head open. We were on the 3rd floor and as we walked down I passed a couple teachers and just kept saying, "he's not hurt, he's not hurt..." and as we got to the bottom, Joey and Alice were running up from the basement thinking someone was hurt! I handed him off to Hannah who didn't seem at all surprised to see that he was in trouble. The rest of class went SO smoothly after this:-) Even when Hannah brought Eddie back, he was much better.

My lovely girls only class with Sunny, Subin, Sue, Sara and Sally is a lot of fun still. I always sing Super Trooper by Abba whenever I say super and one day they started asking if I knew all these Abba songs! For 10 minutes we just sang all these amazing songs together. Talk about a great class! The next day, I brought my camera to record them singing:-) They didn't all want to, but listen at Sara! She's good! You also get educated about who goes to which Little Campus!

**Bummer. For whatever reason, the video will not load! I'll try again another time. Just imagine it for now.


The weekend was another great weekend. We were supposed to go to Busan for some sort of St. Patrick's Day bash but plans were changed a little and we ended up back at the German beer hall with another huge group of foreign teachers! I didn't know most of them but I had my Jangyu crew and we had a great time! We went to a few different places in Busan and then back to Jangyu for norebang, which I just absolutely love! Again, check facebook for the pictures! Actually, I DO need to post this video from the beer hall. This did not happen the last time we were there and we got there just in time to see the magical performance!

**NO! That one isn't working either. Let me try and explain it...
These 3 guys come out dressed as giant beer bottles. First they are just walking around, fighting each other, doing random things. Then the music starts. These giant beer bottles start dancing to different Kpop songs. NOT just little dancing, boy band style dancing!! It was amazing. I could hardly stand it!! I'm mad the video won't load here. I'll try another time.


Well, how was that for a mini post!! The next will be even shorter because I can hardly remember what happened this week!

Also, I was at Lotte Mart last week and saw the absolute best shirt ever. They had some really funny ones but there was one that I was drawn to:

Yes, those are pink roller skates with yellow laces and it says, "Rolling Star" in yellow. Whaaat?! For those of you who don't know, I worked at Sonic for 5 years as a carhop. Aka, I roller skated like a rock star...excuse me, like a rolling star. You can see the skates a little better here:





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Ok, well that's all for this post! Since this was actually TWO weeks ago it makes sense for it to be short and sweet.

Eat rice, sing constantly, be happy,
Erica Teacher

"You will start teaching in 30 minutes and HERE are your 24 text books. Start planning."

Wow what can I say about this week? I can think of a few words to describe it; BUSY, CRAZY, CHAOTIC, STRESSFUL, RIDICULOUS. Hmm, yeah I think those work! Oh, plus, ADORABLE. March 2nd was the beginning of the new school term here and was also the official opening of MBC OSS. We had so many new students, so many new classes, so many new text books, and so much confusion! We had a meeting with Hannah the weekend before about our new kindergarten classes and she gave us all these new text books and a quick and confusing explanation of what she wanted us to do along with a mini hand held monthly planner that we could use. This thing is tiny. It was a nice thought though:-) Well she said after lunch we would meet about our afternoon classes. I was concerned mostly about those because we've been teaching these for a month and are already at unit 5. So that means we were getting lots of new students who had to start halfway into the book and man. It was just confusing. What was WORSE than that was that we didn't meet until 1:30 pm Tuesday afternoon. Let me give you a little idea of what that looked like:
I saw Jennifer working on the afternoon schedule on the computer and noticed that we each were supposed to teach a class at 2pm. Surprise! Hannah brought us our new afternoon schedule and in about 15 minutes tried to tell us what to teach for the next month. It seemed she didn't even realize that half the students would be 5 units ahead already, even though I had mentioned this so many times the last month!! Right after she handed us the schedule, she then switched Sophie's and my first class. Why couldn't she do that 5 minutes before on the computer? Who.Knows.

Let me take a step back and tell you my Sunday story. I think it deserves a spot here! So I was to meet the church van in front of the Lotteria at 12:20. It's about a 5-10 minute walk and surprisingly I was only a couple minutes late. No problem, because the van wasn't there yet. The lady from church (her English name is Judy) kept calling and asking WHERE I was because there was no way I was in front of Lotteria since there's only one in tiny Jangyu and so WHERE was I blah blah blah. She kept asking what else was around. What was near me? Was I across the street from Paris Baguette? First of all, there's definitely more than one Lotteria in Jangyu and I tried to explain that I knew exactly where SHE was and how to get to me. Second, there is a ton of stuff above and around Lotteria so I stood there trying to read every sign that had English on it! And third, there is a Paris Baguette across the street from everything!! How would that help?! Anyways she finally found me and said she hadn't realized Jangyu was big enough to have more than one Lotteria. Haha. So we get to church right at the starting time and she runs in because I guess she's one of the singers. What I hadn't realized was that this English service meant "we'll try to sing in English but you may not know what we're saying," and it also meant the pastor would translate for himself. For every English sentence he translated it into Korean. This church that I thought was an International church was actually a Korean church with one American. I was really hoping to get away to an International church where everyone was from a different country and people weren't staring at you because you were American, or white, or different. FALSE. I had basically made up my mind that even though they were very nice I was going to find somewhere else. But after the service, I got to talking with the other American and actually just about the entire (small) congregation came by to say an awkward hello. A Korean guy named Willy and 3 giggling Korean highschool girls were hanging out with us. Willy speaks pretty good English and translated a lot for us. I was gonna be waiting in Gimhae all day for friends who were coming later so we all went across the street to a little building the church owns called Fellowship. We sat around and talked and got to know each other a little. Then, they decided to be super gracious and take the Americans ALL around Gimhae to the historical and cultural places! We went to the free museums, walked around parks, played Korean games and just had a good time together. Here's all of us that explored:

It was getting a bit later and time for us to part ways. I had planned to go sit at the Dunkin Donuts and drink coffee/do work while I waited. Willy and the American came along and Willy was so nice to buy us all donuts! I think my friends will know what I got....blueberry:-) It was actually blueberry filled and was delicious!! Anyways, my friends decided not to come but it was NOT a wasted day in Gimhae! It was super nice outside and so it was great to walk all over Gimhae with such nice people. Then it came time for me to go home....on the bus. First I had to get cash out and use an ATM here for the first time. At first I was confused and asked a nice lady for help and she pointed me to the ATM that has an English button. Haha Sweet. Since I was at the Home Plus/Tesco/McDonalds/Dunkin Donuts/KFC that I told you about earlier, I just felt like I needed to get some McDonalds before I left:-) I hadn't eaten all day, besides the healthy donut, and had been walking forever so I felt pretty good about getting a big mac!! It was delicious and tasted JUST like American McDonalds! The fries...mmm...so good! And I got a sprite that came in a plastic cup! Who washes all those cups? But good job for being so green Korea. Well I knew the bus was only 1000 won but the change I got was a 5000 bill. I wondered if this would be a problem on the bus but didn't know what else to do. Even if it's easy to change out a bill here, I wouldn't know how to ask! I figured they would just give me a few 500 coins back anyways so no problem, right? Oh. My Gosh. I was so wrong. Here comes my most embarrassing 45 minutes since I've been here/EVER! All of my bus riding fears came true. So I catch the bus and see that it's packed and I would have to stand/hang on tight. I hate this for several reasons but one is because I KNOW everyone will be staring at me already and any little thing I do, people will see. So I get on, show my 5000 bill and put it in the box. He makes a grunt noise that I think was "DON'T YOU DARE PUT THAT IN THERE!" But it was too late. It was done. Well he didn't give me any change right away and I stood in the very front of the bus right behind/beside his seat in front of the money box. Other people got on and he gave them change. I would reach down to get it and they would snatch it up. All I could think was, great, this bus ride is going to cost me 5000 won! People would come on with 1000 won bills and he kept telling him not to put them in the box but they never listened. I think he was gonna give that to me as change. He asked if I was going to Jangyu and I told him I yes, Palpan. I can only imagine how confused he was since I put so much money in. What a stupid American! Well I can just feel ALL eyes on my back and I'm already feeling awkward and then, he loudly tries to tell me something in Korean. Over, and over, and over, and over again. Everyone on the bus knew what was up but me. I was assuming it was about the money but I had no way to fix it now. Then a man who WISHED he spoke English tried to translate and tell me "coin, pay in coin!" I wasn't sure if this was for the future or if they were suggesting I hadn't paid so I tried to say I paid. People were still staring, the driver was still talking, and I still had no change. I was extremely embarrassed!! On top of that, the driver seemed like he was in a terrible mood!! Every time someone pressed the stop button (tells the driver they need the next stop, ya know) he seemed SO mad that he had to stop! Haha it would have been so funny if I wasn't almost in tears! One time, a car started coming into our lane ahead of us and he just wasn't having ANY of that!! He honked and honked and then started veering into them, just to show them how it feels. Hilarious. Anyways, finally, he decides to get me change. If I had known what would happen next I would have just said, forget it!! He owed me 4000 won. He decides my change should be in 100 won coins. Yes. So the bus is full, everyone is already staring at the foreigner and then it starts, "cling cling cling cling cling cling..." and all the coins wouldn't fit in the little change thing so every time I had to reach down, take all the coins and it started over, "cling cling cling cling cling cling..." over and over!!! Til I had 4000 won worth of 100 won coins. HAHAHAHAHA Seriously dude?!?! You couldn't throw in a few 500 won coins just to help me out a little? I'm sure my face was so red and if I wasn't so tired, I would have gotten out at an early stop and walked home. Then, since I had put the wrong amount of money in, the driver and the man who tried to translate assumed I didn't know anything about the bus or where I should get off. I said over and over, PALPAN! Finally the "translator" said Cabo Mall (or Cabu mall, something) and I know where that is and said YES! I figured once we got there I could just try and explain I had a few more stops! The translator was nice enough to give me his seat when he got off and the driver turned back into a nice person and was trying to be helpful...by telling me to get off at every stop after Cabo Mall. Thankfully, he did this with a helping smile. Otherwise I would have run off crying, thinking I was kicked off the bus!! After the most ridiculous bus experience of my life, I got off at my stop, said thank you and goodbye to the driver and almost RAN home. What a day! But wait, there's more! I was meeting friends out later and since I had walked all day and was tired and still thinking about that bus ride (now able to laugh about it a little) I decided I was gonna get a taxi downtown. It's about a 20 minute walk and I usually just walk it. But the one time I wanted to get a taxi...they would not pick me up! I had just left my house and saw one and as he came up to the corner, I tried to wave him down. Not only did he SEE me, he waved at me, passed me, went just past me and picked up a Korean lady. Ummm, ok. So I was thinking, well maybe she called and was waiting for him? I tried every single taxi that passed me and NONE would pick me up. I was texting one of the guys I was meeting out and he said "Check your skin color!" I think this is quite common for the foreigners here. They see us and think, hmm they could be a problem. So they just don't pick us up. I hated being a foreigner on Sunday!

Monday was a holiday and I used it to sleep, be lazy, and prepare my mind for the chaos!

Whew we are now back the school week! This was my schedule for last week (yep, it's already been changed AGAIN!)
10-10:30 The Cherry class. They are all 5 Korean age with no English. (5 Korean age=3 and 4 western age...aka TINY!!)
10:30-11-Rose Apple-they are 7 Korean age with 2 years of English and a couple naughty ones in that class.
11-11:30-Orange-they are 6 Korean age with 1 year of English and a REALLY bad boy in that class who makes the other boys act out...argh.
11:30-12-Papaya-they are also 6 Korean age with 2 years of English but you wouldn't know it.
Then there's lunch which we now eat at our school instead of next door. We have a short break to plan for our afternoon classes which go like this for me (well, last week anyways):
2-2:40-a kindergarten English class that is FULL!! Lots of little/adorable ones. They are I believe 5 and 6 Korean age with absolutely NO English and no English names.
3:20-4-This is my class with Sunny, Sally, Sue and Subin but we now have 2 more (Charlotte and Sara) and have started a new text book. Still my sweet/crazy girl class!
4-4:40-This is when I have FRED and Aidan and we have one more student, Alex.
5:20-6-This is Lori and Jeffrey's class and we have 4 new students (Peter, Josh, Mary, and Jeffrey2). Unfortunately, I'm losing this class:-( They are giving me another kindergarten class and giving this one to Sophie.

Wow, I know you wanted to know all that! Fred didn't come to class Tuesday or Wednesday and I was so worried that he was only in it for February! I was pretty dang happy to see him Thursday and as usual, he kept me laughing all through class. Aidan has really been acting up lately and it's getting annoying. But it'll be ok. We'll work on it! As long as they're learning.

This whole week was just absolute chaos and I can't even blog about it really! Teachers were literally running around not knowing exactly what was going on, TRYING to get to the copier. Let me touch on that for a minute:-)
We have ONE copier/printer in the school. We have ten or eleven teachers that all needed this one copier/printer because none of the kids had textbooks yet. Um...how long have you known these kids would be coming to school on this day? And how long have you known they would need these books? It just doesn't makes sense to me the way they do things here. So each teacher had all these lessons to plan and tons of stuff to copy and it was actually just impossible. On Tuesday, I came to school at 10 like I usually do since no one told me anything different. My schedule said I started teaching at 10:30. Wouldn't you know it, I walk in the door and am handed a schedule that says I start at 10. It's already 10:05! Sophie and I were like, um, Hannah, should we be in class now? She looks and goes, "oh, ok I think so yeah!" SHE made the schedule!! Haha so it's just craziness. Well anyways I stayed late on Wednesday or Thursday to copy a bunch of stuff and then I find out Friday that the kids now have their books. So much for staying late:-D That's just the way it is.

Blahhh it was a CRAZY WEEK!! I had never been so happy for it to be Friday. The kids are terribly adorable but I definitely needed a break and time to plan lessons ahead of time. Not like I did a whole lot of that this weekend, but it was a good time of regrouping my thoughts and putting my brain back together. It was a fun weekend, even though it rained a lot. Actually it was kind of a lazy weekend. Oh and I blew two converters. One by trying to use my rice cooker and the other with my hair dryer. Then my umbrella disappeared at work so I walked home in the drizzle. Thankfully, it magically appeared at school the next day and I was happy! Then my internet has been horrible this weekend, connecting for about 10 minutes at a time then disconnecting for 20 minutes. Argh!!

Ok that was my rant. I'm actually still having a great time, I swear haha I'll put a bunch of different pictures of some cute kids here so you can see the adorableness for yourself.

Woops, one quick story! On Tuesday, Sunny made my day a lot brighter by bringing in 2 boxes of Dunkin Donuts for our class!! She definitely got some brownie points for that sweet move:-)


민지 (Min Ji)


The kid on the left is either Tony or Thomas and that cutie on the right is Paul. He is absolutely FREAKING ADORABLE!! He's tiny and has this great curly hair and is too much fun. I mean...look at him!:-)


Here we have Rika in the multi-colored glasses. She is truly adorable as well. Every morning she yells, "GOOD MORNING TEACHER!!" It's just about all she knows besides the colors! Very cute. Then beside her is either Tony or Thomas haha. These kids are from the Cherry class. They're so little! There's one little boy in there named Ruki and he has to be only 3 years old. He's so tiny and hilarious and even though he's kind of a handful, it's ok because of how little and cute he is. Oh boy, listen at me gush. Obviously, I like these kids a lot!!

I'll definitely take more pictures of each class. They will definitely put smiles on all your hundreds of faces!! (Surely I have hundreds of readers by now...right?)

What the what?! I'm posting on a Wednesday...ugh!

I started off updating my blogs every Saturday. After a few weekends of doing nothing but that and watching movies, I got lazy and updated on Sunday. Well, it's Sunday night and I guarantee I won't finish this post tonight. I have had weekend that consisted of adventures outside of my apartment!! This week I was socially busy. Very busy. This may be a long post....brace yourself:-)

Well wouldn't you know it? It's now TUESDAY evening and I still haven't updated!! How dreadful. I'm really falling behind here. I've got so much to say (I have a full Word page that has just one or two sentences per thought...and you already know how much I write per thought!!) :-)

PS-It's Wednesday evening now...if I don't finish tonight forget about it haha
So I just copied and pasted my little "to remember" list from Word and will fill it in.

Monday-dinner with Korean kinder teachers-new bffs-- Monica and Charlie planned to have us over on Tuesday for Joey's birthday. We were both excited but they told us Monday as we were heading home from work that, because Sophie's itinerary had been changed, she would now be arriving Tuesday night and we would not be able to go to their house for dinner. Instead, we were going to go out to eat with Charlie, Monica, and all the kindergarten teachers as they celebrated the end of the school term. That was about 6 oclock and they were going to pick us up at 7 or 7:30. Sound last minute to you? Welcome to Korea. Anyway, the Korean kindergarten teachers are mostly young and from what I had seen, fun and funny. These are not my coworkers, they are the teachers in the kindergarten next door. Sure enough, the night turned absolutely hilarious and whether or not that had to do with the gallons and gallons of beer and soju that was consumed, I'm not judging!! I was sitting sort of apart from the group laughing along with them being silly (they halfway apologized for a few things and I told Charlie to let them know that I loved it all! They reminded me so much of the way my friends and I act back home) but soon the funniest one called me over to sit next to her. She was, of course, on the loud end of the table so I knew I'd fit right in. We had an absolute wonderful time together and I exchanged numbers with a few of them and promised all of them a trip to a norebong (karaoke room) in the near future!! Seriously it was so much fun and I was so glad to have all these new friends. They're so adorable! I also wanna hit on one event earlier on Monday. As you know, maybe, there was a kindergarten class that once kidnapped me and fed me tons of snacks as I was on my way back to MBC OSS from the kindergarten (after lunch I walked downstairs, passing this classroom). Well I loved the teachers and the kids so much so every single day I would go to them and just spend a little time with them. Generally, they gave me more snacks. I went Monday to say my usual hello and the two teachers wanted to take pictures. We did and then I said that I would bring my camera in the next day for pictures. As soon as I realized this was the last day for the class (through very incorrect English words but correct gestures....vacation? false pointing up? ahhh they are moving up a grade...) I ran and got my camera so I could show everyone how adorable these children are and why I went back every day! I got some great pictures, but an even better video! ("I love you teacher" also, ignore my annoyingly loud "laugh." I was sick and almost in tears too!)

Tuesday-SPRING WEATHER! kindergarten graduation-my class that named me graduating/all the teachers crying and realizing how much they AND Monica love and care for them- sophie’s arrival midnight chat--

Tuesday made me think maybe I had slept through a few months and it was actually mid-April. It was BEAUTIFUL outside!! I could not have asked for better weather OR a better schedule to go along with it. It was kindergarten graduation and since I was not teaching until 3:20, I could enjoy both graduations (1 at 10:30, 1 at 2) and sit outside during the rest of the time. The kids were adorable in their cap and gowns and the parents were obviously proud that their child didn't fail to learn colors, numbers and how to bow as low as possible when greeting people. A couple things stood out to me: as each teacher read a special letter written to her class, they played music that I believe came straight out of the most dramatic soap opera, which made the sobbing into the microphone quite theatrical. Then, after all the kids have stood up and sat down multiple times and each kid's cap has fallen into their eyes at least twice, the head teacher tells all the kids to turn around and wave to their moms and dads, because, what is a graduation without great pictures of the kids waving from their seats? I thought it was just too funny, so I took a video. Also notice the super cute old grandpa hangin out:

Every single one of the teachers cried both times. Teachers whose classes weren't graduating! But I realized, if I had spent as much time with them as any of those teachers had, and they were leaving the school, I would have cried too. I mean it's actually surprising that I didn't! When we went to Gyeongju with the kindergarten, I spent most of the day with one class. They are the ones that named me Min Chi (which I just learned is actually Min Ji!) and they graduated Tuesday. I definitely almost cried, especially when one of the boys saw me standing in the back, turned around, excitedly hit the boys in front of him on the shoulders, presumably told them their favorite person named Erica was watching, and they all turned around with huge grins and waved at me. WOW. It was...wonderful. Every once in a while, one of the kids from that class would turn around and just smile at me. Aww! Seriously made my day! The rest of the day was fantastic and everyone was excited about the new teacher that was coming that night! Ok, I don't know about everybody else, but I was super pumped. She was going to be my neighbor and I had already planned a welcome party for her and the teachers the next night. So....she better be awesome. That was my thought basically haha I went home to clean and wait. I told Charlie to come get me when she got there, no matter how late! Well it wasn't too bad, I think she got in around 11 or so. We had a really great chat after Charlie and Monica left and I knew we were gonna get along! Not only does she have a sweet British accent, she's also into improv. It was fun to hang out with a girl, but also weird because I actually knew a thing or two about Jangyu that someone didn't!! I've only been here a month and a half but I was able to sort of answer a few questions and maybe help out. It was cool to be on the other end.

Wednesday-wine party and giggling teachers-games, teacher son, hilarity--I already blogged about how excited I was for the wine party. Now let me tell you, it was so so so much fun! The cheap wine was actually tasty and Hannah brought wine glasses so we wouldn't have to drink out of the mugs:-) Linda brought a cake and I had a few things for us to snack on as well. And Tina brought her kids. Now I'm going to be honest, her older son comes to our academy after his school to wait for a ride home, or something and I just don't like him. For lack of a better word, he's a brat. Actually that may be the perfect word. So I thought, OH GREAT when I first saw him. But then I met her younger son. I think he was about 2 years old or so and I couldn't tell you his name. What I can tell you, is that we got along swimmingly and played and played and played! Before all the playing, all the teachers enjoyed each other's company and the games were pretty freakin funny. After just half a glass of red wine each, Alice and Linda complained of the room spinning and headaches. Jennifer was funny as always and we were all able to share fun girl inside jokes before Joey got there. I was all raspy voiced but laughing that much made me feel a lot better! All the teachers helped to clean up and Sophie and I hung out a little longer after they left, doing accents and being awesome, basically.

Thursday-Thirsty Thursday at Wa--Every Thursday night is the official foreign teacher night at the local sort of western bar called Wa Bar. Well I don't really know if it's the official blah blah but if you go there on a Thursday night, tons of foreigners will be there. I hadn't gone on a Thursday before since I have to be at school in the morning. I've met several of the other foreign teachers in the area and really like them though. Joey wanted to take Sophie and introduce her to all the peoples and they were both able to "emotionally blackmail" me to come, as Sophie put it. So glad I did. I met a few more foreigners and befriended a few more of the Korean bartenders from across the street. Don't worry, they're all girls! I now introduce myself using both Erica and Min Ji and they all call me Min Ji. I think that's pretty cool ha. Oh, except for Olivia who has called me Hilary since we first met because she thinks I look like Hilary Duff!! Sound familiar?

Friday-exhaustion--I'm not sure exactly what I was reminding myself to write about here, besides being so worn out after work Friday! Sophie and I went to Lotte Mart so she could get some essentials and Lotteria is right on the way. It's a fast food place that has burgers. YUM! I hadn't had one since I got here and I chose a bulgogi burger, which you won't find in America, probably. At least not in most places! It was delicious. I then went home and crashed.

Saturday-Work on a sat and Gimhae-watching people fall on the bus, so much food--Yep, that's exactly what it sounds like. We had to go to school on Saturday morning for the English kindergarten's "entrance ceremony."I always kind of dread anything where we have to stand in front of the parents like this. It's so awkward for me and I just don't understand why they even have to give us the microphone! So this time I decided to say, "Annyeong Haseyo, my name's Erica and I'll be teaching English to your children." In a creepy, but not to bad, kinda way. They're gonna laugh and clap no matter what you say so might as well have a little fun with it. Then the kids went up to their new classrooms and met their teachers and had learned names, etc... Sophie, Joey and I were to pick a class and just chill in there with them. Let's just say, there are some really cute new kids!! Dannah (I've spelled her name like 24 different ways throughout the blog's life...she's the same one) had found a church for me in Gimhae but was knew the bus was a challenge for me. She decided to be awesome and told me that she would take me to Gimhae so we could ride the bus together and I could learn the route. How awesome is that?! The walk to the church was just about as long as the bus ride but we passed a Home Plus/Tesco/KFC (yeah, really!)/Mcdonalds/Dunkin Donuts and she decided we should get a snack. I was still a little full but she bought me some Korean taffy first, a whole bag of it, then some kind of really unhealthy but delicious snack with cheese in the middle. It was really good! So we finally got to the church, met the lady that she had spoken to, and left. Long trip for the 7 minute meeting hehe BUT the lady informed me that they could actually pick me up in their church van FOR FREE. The bus isn't expensive but that meant I wouldn't have to walk forever and I wouldn't have to take the dreaded bus:-) How nice! Then Donna (just for fun...) took me to the famous park and told me all about how beautiful it looks at night. I thought it was nice right then but it's got some crazy fountain/light show in the summer and at night everything lights up. Then she took me to eat and we had SO much food! I was stuffed but she said the funniest thing, "I know in America people eat BIG hamburgers and BIG coke. So, is this enough food?" hahaha It was delicious and PLENTY of food! The bus ride home was during a busy time and so many people were standing up, hanging on for dear life. I got a real kick out of watching veteran bus riders falling into other people, grabbing at people's backs and purses to not fall backwards, and make funny faces as they were jolted to and fro. It really makes me feel good to know that when that happens to me, I won't be the crazy American who hasn't learned to ride a bus yet (well, I AM/WILL BE that, they just won't know), I'll just fit right in.

Ask and you shall receive-dishes from Linda--I received a bag full of nice dishes from Linda teacher because I mentioned I didn't have enough dishes for the wine party. How many times have I given things away so easily after just hearing of a need in passing?

Package from home--THANKS MOM!! I got a great package with all kinds of goodies and really hilarious card for St. Patty's Day. Loved it!!

Kids-having sophie in my classes and feeling so proud of them being able to show off what we’ve learned. Fred and Aidan being so bad when I felt so bad and it was raining so hard! The next day, Fred was terribly wonderful again:-) My little giggle bot.--Sophie didn't have anything to do her first couple days so she spent a lot of time in my classes and I really enjoyed the kids being able to show off for her. I had this proud teacher feeling in the pit of my stomach. I loved watching them prove how much they've learned! Thursday was crazy. It was storming really badly and I wasn't feeling good and Fred and Aidan were both in terrible moods. Neither one did their homework and neither one wanted to do ANYthing. We didn't have a great day and it always worries me that this will be a permanent change for the worse. The next day, I was just hoping to see my smiling Fred again and sure enough, he was almost EXTRA happy and giggly!! Goodness I love that boy!! Aidan was good too and even though it was test day, we all enjoyed each other and class and life. Here's a picture of Fred giggling...hehe

Getting my alien card--

JOY OF A WORKING COFFEE MAKER!!!!--One of my first blog posts mentioned that I couldn't get my Keurig coffee maker aka Christmas present from mom aka delicious coffee to work. Well, GREAT NEWS!! I got a different adapter and IT WORKS!!! I sat there and took so many pictures of the coffee brewing because I was so stoked haha Here's a picture of what I look like when I am extremely happy...

Hoping I got paid--yeah basically what it sounds like. ha Thursday was payday (finally!) but I can't access my internet banking unless I download some Korean font or something. Jennifer's husband said he would help me when he can. Until then, I'm just trusting Charlie and God! I sure hope that paycheck is in my account!!

WHEW. I can breathe. That was.....long. A long post after a long wait. Haha I know you were on the edge of your seat waiting for me to post, so for that I apologize! How could I have let you go so long without a fix? And then to fill you with this lackluster update....I'm terribly sorry. It will just have to do for now! I have a really great story about Sunday but I know YOU are ready to finish reading and I am ready to finish writing!! Enjoy all the pictures and videos! There will soon be more on Facebook. Farewell (for a couple days). I will now go celebrate that I have posted by planning lessons for tomorrow. Fighting!



~Min Ji (apparently)~

I will actually leave you with what may be my favorite class picture because of the obviously awesome time they are having in my class. I present to you, Subin, Sally and Sue Swear They're Sober...