Another day, another 10 won. It just doesn't go as far as it used to, I guess .  Today was a good day. I didn't make it to the mountain, but I did do  a little bit of screaming. It helped immensily I highly recommend it to everyone (just don't do it at your boss I hear the results could addd more stress as opposed to taking it away).

 

The kindergarteners were a little obnoxious, but not too much more so than usual. I tried to explain to them we would be going on a field trip tomorrow, something they already know, but they just sort of stared at me with blank expressions. I don't think they were really all there today at all. There was also a little bathroom mishap. One of my students asked to go to the bathroom, and even though there was another student out, I let her go. They both came back 5 minutes or so later. Less than 10 minutes later we were lining up for lunch. Again she asked if she could go to the bathroom. As she had just gone not too long ago, I told her know. Then she and another student started jumping around. This is when it happend she could no longer hold it, so she left a puddle on the floor.

 

One would think that one of us would have gotten a little upset at this. I know I would have thought I would! But this was not the case. I quietly told her it was ok, and that I would take care of it. I told the students to line up outside where they eat lunch (though it was a little early), and took the student to see one of the korean teachers. They provided her with new, dry sweatpants.  She didn't seem extremely upset over it, though she was a little embarrassed. The other students did nothing to tease her or anything like that either.  I was both surprised and delighted over this reaction.

 

Lunch time brought forth wonderful new developements. This is the first day that my 3:00pm class had their Korean teacher, so my lunch lasted until 4:30pm instead of 3:00.  I ate lunch with the other foreign teachers,  finally went to the bank, and then decided to sit outside of X-Mall and  read and enjoy  the beautiful sunshine. While basking in this radiance and pouring over more adventures of Anne, I saw two of my kindergarted students. They seemed happy to see me, which surprised me. I guess they don't hate me too much after all .

 

I also met another person, one I haven't seen since I had a little parent/teacher session with him in December or January. It was the father of one of my former kindergarten students. I was surprised to see Mr. Shin, but even more surprised that he remembered me. It seems that Roy was running late and he had to bring him in. They live on the other side of the city and it takes around 30 minutes.

 

He finished explaining this to me, and then started thanking me for the job I did with Roy. I really didn't  think I did  such an excellent job, but Roy apparently really liked me, and I  still say hi to him in the  hall after  class.   He went on to ask me if I was homesick, and if I had any problems with Korean food. He was glad to hear that I liked the food. He told me I was providing a great service and that Korea was a great nation that needed my help. I thought he was overstating it a bit, so I was a little relieved when he finally left.

 

Much to my surprise, he came back within 20 minutes with a bag full of these small mellons that look like watermellons on the outside, but are dull white on the inside. The seeds are arranged like that of a musckmellon/cantalope, and the taste is similar too. I was told that you just peel it with a knife, cut it up, and eat it. It was very tasty.

 

He also gave me his business card and said that I could call him whenever I want to come over. He works a lot during the week (Computer Engineer and president of his own company with 28 employees), but he has no schedule on the weekend. I will definitely have to take him up on this. The opportunity to spend time with a Korean family in their home is one I do not want to pass up.

 

When I finally went back to work, I discovered I was to have 3 new students. There were only 2 there today, so I am not sure about the 3rd.  The two that were there today seem to be good students. I am not sure if they are the right level or not, but I think they will easily adjust to the class.

 

This is all I have the desire to depart for now. I hope your daily lives are as interesting as mine seems to be. I don't think one needs to travel around the globe to find entertainment, though it definitely aided in the process for me. Happiness begins at home.