I'm pissed off. And I shall tell you why.A little over a month ago, I bought a really cool (and expensive) mechanical pencil. It had one of those squishy grips on it, was really svelte-looking. And it was the equivalent of 7 USD. I had it for about 4 days, then when I was teaching a class of 1st-graders, it mysteriously disappeared. I looked everywhere, but I was almost positive I lost it in that particular class. I decided to not believe someone took it, and just chalked it up to my absent-mindedness.Yesterday I bought the same brand of pencil, but an even better color!! It was so cool, and I was enjoyed it for one full class today, before I went to that class of 1st-graders. Something in the back of my mind told me, if you're not careful, one of these kids will nick your pencil. And I was careful too. But I slipped and turned around for a minute to write on the board...You can see where this is going.I even thought in my head, "Crap!! You forgot about your pencil!! Quick, get it!!" But it was too late. The pencil was gone. We looked everywhere. I offered two stickers (a decent price for a 1st-grader, especially when I usually don't give stickers) for its return, but it was no good. Then, at the end of class, I was feeling generous, and I said I'd give 4 stickers if they mysteriously found it at home in their bag. I have them again on Wednesday, and if somebody doesn't give it back, I'm upping the hostage fund. It kind of grates on me to reward a thief, but at this point, I'm positive one of those little buggers has my pimp pencil. Kids these age don't even use mechanical pencils!!! They have regular pencils!!So far I've wasted fourteen bucks, supplying some -expletive deleted- with high-end writing utensils. I know they're still young, but I hope they are discovered soon, and subsequently smote by the fierce and mighty backhand of their ajuma*.On a brighter note, I am now going to teach you the Korean Student way of eating ramen, or as they say in Korean, "ramyeon."1. Go buy a single package of ramen from the corner shop. Extra spicy is nice.2. Don't open the package, but smash it all up. Throw it, step on it, etc. The goal is to break the noodles into very small pieces.3. Open it up, and retrieve the powder package. Open the powder package and pour it in.4. Hold the open end of the bag tightly shut, and shake vigorously, until all the powder is mixed in.5. Eat and enjoy!! If it's extra-spicy, the teacher will let you leave class to get some water.*Ajuma= older Korean woman, usually above 30-40 years old and married. I'm not sure if I'm spelling it right.
The weird times just keep on coming with a new addition to the Boring Middle School Class. Now there are eight, and I have to say, it's a little intimidating. Mostly because they're all my size, all at least 14 years old, and their English levels vary quite a bit, but all of them fall under the category of "Not so good." But the boss says he'll switch the class up soon, maybe next month, because the levels among the students are just too different.So much for nice weather, too. Tonight we expect a low of 39 degrees. Where on earth did that come from, I have to ask. Two weeks ago I was still using my AC. Now for the first time since about March, I am going to venture out with my hat and gloves. I feel a little stupid, but I feel cold more. This does not bode well for the coming winter of South Korea, which I will be here for. It's still October, and already we're getting the hardcore Texan winter. At least we seem to be done with typhoon season.A weird story: last night I was taking a cab home, and every once in a blue moon, you get a driver who speaks decent English. My driver's English was fairly good, and we were making some conversation. He asked me what part of the US I was from, and I said Austin, Texas. Then I said it was about three hours from Dallas, because who outside of the States knows where Austin is....He goes, "Ah!! Texas!! Amber *wordwiththickkoreanaccent*!"I didn't understand the word after Amber, and I was like, what on earth....So I asked him to repeat, and he did, it still sounded the same. I thought maybe he was saying an actress from the show Dallas, which I've never seen at all, so I had no idea. Then he repeats it again, and it's Amber Alert. Ahhhh.....I said, "Yeah yeah, for when your child has been kidnapped." And he agreed heartily. It was lovely that we'd come to a mutual understanding of this aspect of Texas....but weird. Of all the things Koreans know about Texas, this has definitely been the weirdest. And a little creepy, driving in a cab at 2 in the morning, and talking with your driver about a system of recovering kidnapped children...
Woo!! I'm not dead or anything!! It's been a few weeks since I updated, but nothing very exciting has happened, so don't feel too deprived.Last night something very odd occurred. On Mondays and Thursdays I have my oldest class, a few middle-schoolers. It's a listening and dictation class, I know I've mentioned it before, and it's very boring. Boring for me, boring for them. It might be more productive if we engaged in some sort of conversation, but their skills aren't so hot, and they're shy and bored and tired. The main point of this being, it's headwreckingly dull. So...why did I get three new students last night? This class is now up to 7 bored, lower-level students. Whether they'll all stay, I don't know, but I'm scratching my head as to why more would be enrolling.On a more traumatic note, Gidget nearly died last night when she was walking around on my keyboard and accidentally took a header off the computer and chair which my comp was sitting on. That's a long fall for such a little fuzzball like Gidget. Fortunately, I caught her between my fingers. I thought I had squished her, but she seems to be fine.Finally, I should mention that I'm now past my 8-month mark. Less than 4 months to go, and falling fast. The season's changed and the weather is now a lovely cool temperature. Could this be what fall is supposed to feel like? It's just that I've never encountered such a season before in Texas...
