Did someone say Ola?

So yeah they say that at On the Border restaurant. Which I'm going to next week with my co-teachers in Seoul. Holla!

The 3rd grade students were given the assignment to draw a picture by using any of the alphabet letters. One student named their store "LosMarket." I was like, wow! how did they know spanish? It was quite remarkable. Kids...Korean ones at that.

And a 6th grader today had a red shirt with yellow letters saying "I <3 Dokdo". Pure awesomeness. Again, go Korea.

Predicted thunderstorms all weekend. I booked a KTX to Busan. First time down south to the beach there and it doesn't look pretty.

focus on what you can do

How does one not take things personally when you find out things aren't really what they seem? Like, it seems like if you want an English teacher in Korea...you will pick someone who speaks English and accept them for a position based on their qualifications.

But I keep hearing that my qualifications aren't the problem. Schools would rather have people with lower skills than I based on their age, bilingualism, or the color of one's skin. What job posts really mean about "foreigner only" on the job post is "don't think you can get a job here because the parents will be upset that you're English isn't good enough because you have a Korean face." I quite like my American accent, thank you.

Born of one country only to find out that being accepted by said country is unlikely unless you fit the stereotypes that the homogeneous country has.

And instead of crying about job application rejections and having a pity party I forced myself to run hard for 30 minutes in the blistering heat and humidity. Only to realize that during my walking cool down my knee flared up in pain again.

These battles will only benefit me if I allow it.

overnight for teachers

Friday night the teachers at my school went to an African museum in Korea. Yes, in Korea.

We saw singing, drumming and dancing by a group from le Cote d'Ivoire. And it was awesome. I was chosen with a group of people to dance with them at the end of the show. Fun times. My principal said I was the best. Sweet.

I got some pictures of us singing on the bus...like karaoke style.

And did you know you can have open containers on the bus? It's a tradition to have a boss pour you some alcohol. After you drink it you pour them some, too. It's a fast way to see your boss get intoxicated. I'm not sure how that started. Anyhow, for dinner we did the same thing and singing afterwards. I had plenty of watermelon and I was happy about that! Especially for breakfast this morning. I had hardly eaten any of the Korean food and I went at it when the watermelon came for dessert. I think Korean watermelon is the best.

Yos from the girls room.

Did my co-teachers hair after dinner Friday night.

Today we went to a Korean brewery/museum and sampled what they had. One of the teachers was nice enough to buy everyone a little bottle of alcohol. 13% is all I can read on the label. But don't drink it! It's to wash your face with (???). I wanted to try it today but I couldn't get the top open....

Saw Transformers 2 tonight. Liked it. Talked to my dad on Skype for a while. Have a load of towels spinning. And that's a wrap.

clumsy me

So Friday before playing badminton with some other staff/teachers after lunch I did limbo under the net...landed on my knees and now have two bruises on my right knee.

Sunday when throwing the disc I stepped on something painful that looked like a thorn. Then realized that thorns don't hurt that much and concluded that I took off the stinger from a bee as I saw one flying without a stinger. Then that night when I got home I stepped firmly onto a small hair clip grasper thing right next to my bee sting on the bottom of my left foot. So now I can't decide if I'm itching my slightly allergic feeling bee sting or caressing the deep bruising and knot from my hair clip...or both.

Working on roughly 3 job applications this week...pray for me! =) I wonder what I'll end up doing come September...

So this one time at the Immigration Office...

I saw a grown girl crying...well, it was me. Red tape to get documents worked out.

But the good news is I only need one more document for my F4 visa.

...I enjoy being home alone right now.

it's only 2 cc's

Having 2 cc's of medicine injected into your inflamed bursa...like a piece of cake. Starting 15 minutes after the injection and beyond? One of the worst F*n pains in my life!!! I'm in agony and every once in a while I have a spasm from the pain. Working on thawing out my heating pad in the microwave...I left it in the freezer for a couple weeks...oops.

But the good side: my meniscus healed after 2 weeks of crutches instead of 4. Yay! But I think the bursa was a side effect of my early removal of treatment.

Here's to living life! (Aaaaghh...for now....ooww!!!)

ouch

So like, I fell asleep and then awoke from my head hitting the window on the bus...I usually can sleep with my head upright on my bus ride to and fro Incheon/Seoul.

I had a relaxing weekend for once and it was nice to sleep...a lot. And my friend came from Seoul to visit me. We ate at Outback Steakhouse and chatted till 4:30 am in my room. I'm slowly starting to like some Korean people more...and learning a new word or two a week...ish....hm...maybe?

I have like 9 weeks left to finish my TESL class online...and I need to start applying for jobs in Seoul for September. It's seriously just around the corner. I wonder how my second year will turn out. Hopefully this coming winter I will vacation in Thailand or Boracay. I can't do another solid 5 months or more of cold. =) And maybe I will have a cat for a housemate.