Since my teaching contract is over exactly 3 weeks from today, I thought maybe I should update my blog again. I can't believe I'm in my last month here! This year has gone by so fast. Being near the end has really made me think of all the things I'll miss here, so i thought I would name a few on here (most of them have to do with my 3-4 year old homeroom kids!).
Things I'll Miss:
- being given tons of hugs by my munchkins when I arrive to work every morning and them saying "I love you Whit-ti-ney Teacher"!
- one of the little 4 year old boys grabbed my hand yesterday when I walked in the classroom and said "You are beautiful today!" (basically they are self confidence boosters, saying things like that. Also lots of my students pet my hair if I bend down and say "ohhh, golden hair, preeeetty" which is weird but they mean it as a compliment!)
- My students get excited about EVERYTHING, if I draw an angry face on a weather cloud or do an alligator clap they are rolling around on the ground laughing and saying "do it again!" So most of my day is spent smiling, laughing, and entertaining, which is a pretty good way to spend a day at work!
- Public Transportation is insanely cheap here and at the same time it's nice, clean, and safe! I will definitely miss that while I'm putting gas in my truck in a few weeks! Taxis are also really inexpensive, a trip across town will only cost you about $3.50, and taxis are everywhere!
- being able to walk anywhere I need to! I love being within walking distance of everything I would ever need, from the grocery store to my bank, my work and a doctor's office, it's all within a reasonable walking distance from my apartment.
- Korean Barbecue! There's one restaurant in my neighborhood that I frequent a lot because I love it sooo much! I plan on looking for one back in Texas but I'm sure it won't quite be the same
- Being able to bring coolers and any food I want into Major League Baseball games here! I love that I don't have to go through metal detectors (no hassle!) and I can bring in a cooler full of beer! Makes for a cheap and fun weekend outing!
- All the friends I have made here! It's hard to say goodbye when you're not sure you'll ever see them again in this lifetime since people here are from all over the world! At least I have plans this Fall to meet up with a few friends I made here at Oktoberfest in Germany! Looking forward to that reunion already!
Alright there are many more things I'll miss but I'll go to things I WON'T miss now:
- The first thing has a story attached. Today I took my 3-4 year olds to the computer lab so they could play and practice computer skills on their own. Towards the end of the period, one of the little girls shouts out "Whit-ti-ney Teacher, pee-pee!" I look over and tell her "Say, may I go to the bathroom please?" (trying to get her to use the correct english of course) She shouts "pee-pee!" again, I give up, stand up, and open the door for her. But before she even gets out of her chair, she yells "pee-pee now!" and stands up and lets the flood gates open all over herself and the floor (nothing I can do to stop it now so I just have to let it happen from the other side of the room until it's over). All I can think is "I hope there's no electrical plugs over there" because she obviously held that in for a very long time! They never want to go to the bathroom during the fun classes like computer, so this is what happens. I then took her upstairs so she could change, and then I got to clean up after her in the computer lab! Ah man. Basically, I WILL NOT MISS KIDS PEEING THEMSELVES and me having to clean it up! And boogers.
- I will not miss everyone saying my name wrong! No matter how many times I tell them the correct pronunciation, I have been "Whit-ti-ney Teacher" to everyone for the past year! Reminds me of my sister Chelsea calling me "Winny" when we were growing up because she couldn't quite say my name either
- I will not miss being stared at wherever I go. Koreans are pretty subtle at it most of the time, but some of them just blatantly stare at you. I'm used to it by now, but it will be so nice to just blend in again! And not have everyone look in my shopping basket at the grocery store. Some Koreans will stretch their necks out just to check out what the foreigner is buying at the grocery store, strange but now seemingly normal to me.
Ok that's all I've got for now, reading over this has made me realize a good number of things have changed in a year. For one thing I liked kids well enough when I came here, as long as they kept their distance. But now I love their little hugs everyday and how excited they are about everything, from the color of their shoes to the bug they saw in their window last night. Who am I?
One more thing, Monsoon Season in Korea has begun!!! July and August are the rainy months here, so starting last Friday it has been raining or dark and overcast since. And I mean torrential rain with really strong wind! Looking at the forecast right now it reads like this: Rain, Thunderstorms, Mostly Cloudy, Showers, Partly Cloudy, Rain, Cloudy. And I feel like I can move around the air with my hands it's so humid! The good thing about this weather is it has cooled down a bit and without the Sun my apartment feels a lot better. I don't need the air con on, which is a very good thing because it is insanely expensive to run it! Last summer I turned it on at night for a few hours and the bill was a little over $300 for one month. For a small apartment too! Anyways, I have a picture one of my friends took last Friday when we went out to dinner (Korean Barbecue!) of the monsoon arriving:
You can't see how hard the rain was falling, but needless to say an umbrella did no good whatsoever!
That's all I have time for tonight, I will try to update again before I leave, but I have a feeling the next few weeks will be crazy! I will do my best though!
