Goodbye Jong Il, though I never knew you at all

MAYBE ELTON JOHN WILL SING "CANDLE IN THE WIND" FOR KIMMIE

A gasp from one of my coworkers behind me this morning sent me swiveling around in my chair to see her computer screen. "Kim Jong-Il DIED," she said disbelievingly. It was a small line on the Yahoo email page so it didn't seem like I had to take it seriously. With all I've read about this man, it wouldn't have surprised me if this was just a ploy of some kind. He's quite a character. So I responded with, "I'll bet tomorrow, he reappears just to say 'Ha. Got you!'" But it seems real enough.

I really like when important things happen in the country I am in. I was in England when Prime Minister changed from Tony Blair to Gordon Brown, and I bought three copies of the newspaper with the headline: "You Say Goodbye. I Say Hello."


SETTLING IN

I keep wanting to buy big things here, like a sewing machine and a laptop. I've been sewing since I was young. My grandmother (Mawmaw) taught me and I love it. And I just naturally love making things on my own, so it's my inclination that if I want a new skirt, I make it. And I, sadly, couldn't bring my machine over with me because it probably would have been the weight of one suitcase by itself. I thought I'd be fine for a while without it but lately I've really wanted one! I haven't even been able to find a store that sells fabric yet. And it seems that no one understands what I mean by "fabric" when I ask around as to where I can find it. However, I had the bright idea just to search around on Korea blogs because surely there has been another foreigner like me who wanted to sew here, and sure enough, there was. So I have located a fabric-selling area in Seoul! Now for a free day to go there... And then maybe I can get a sewing machine after a while? Oh, the possibilities.

I started writing again yesterday and it was glorious. Not what I produced, necessarily, but the feeling of it and the inspiration that comes from actually getting something on paper. So about wanting a new laptop. Now that I'm here, the "small" laptop that I have is proving to be quite the burden when it comes to writing days. (And let me just say to all of you naysayers of computer-written poetry who will ask "Why don't you just write with paper and pen?" - I just don't want to and it's a free country! Oh, wait, I'm not in America anymore... Can I still use that argument?) One, the ol' Toshiba gets heavy after a while, and since I'm always going by public transportation or walking quite a ways, if I go anywhere before or after the coffee shop, I'm hauling the laptop around. Two, my battery only lasts 15 minutes, so I have to charge it while I'm writing. Since I'm in Korea, I also need a converter to charge it. See why I need one of those tiny computers that I never saw the use for until now?


APPLE ON THE DESK, PLEASE

I'm starting to feel like a real teacher. I'm learning to be really silly at times, when I'm explaining a difficult concept or when they just need some livenin' up, and the kids respond pretty well to it. Rules are being established in my classroom and the kids are learning them: No whining, no fighting, and no tattling in Heather Teacher's class. It feels so good when they repeat that to me and it actually works to stop those things, which are essentially so I'm not annoyed. I'm learning what to dangle in front of each class' noses in order for them to behave and do their work. For little kids, it's as simple as a sticker or a star drawn on the board by their name, but for the older kids, it's more of a struggle. However, I had a breakthrough that I hope lasts with my 9 and 10 year olds who recently decided they were not going to do any work at all. I forgot what it was like to be a 9 year old... what they really want is to be able to read the dialogue in the book the way they want to instead of using the correct words. So we did this today: they each read the conversation about ordering food the way it should have been read and then they were allowed to do it silly one time each, and each kid's was some variation of this:

"What would you like to order?"
"I would like a poo burger and a poo drink!"
"For on your face or to go on your head?"
"No, on YOUR face, please!"

And this is seriously the best thing in the entire world for them. Hey, whatever it takes. However, some of my other older classes are still alluding me with what will make them behave. Please let me know if you have any magic potions for 12-15 year old girls with an attitude.

I'm falling in love with these two little boys, Tony and Daniel. Daniel's the kid who, once I established what I wanted from the kids (sit nicely, raise your hand, etc), has never sat so tall and raised his hand so high before. Every time class is over, he says, "Teacher, I sat nicely! I was good?" So I give him a high five, tousle his hair, and he smiles and is SO freakin' adorable. And Tony's just precious. No other words. I know this post should be followed by pictures, but I haven't taken my camera to school yet. Soon. Very soon. You need to experience some of these kids :)


HANGUKMAL

I started language exchange tonight with a Korean girl I met a few weeks ago named Jin Ju, or Pearl, whose English is quite a bit above my Korean but still not quite conversational. I've tutored countless people, taught English and learned languages from people, but I've never done such an even exchange of language. It was so neat. She would piece together a thought or a question, and I would tell her how to say it in English and then she'd tell me how to say it in Korean and then we would answer each other in the same language if possible, and on and on. I learned so much! Learning from someone who doesn't speak much English is a huge help because it forces me to recall every word I've ever heard in Korean if it will help get my point across when English won't. We're going to start meeting once a week.


MOTHER HEAVEN

Tonight, while waiting for Pearl, I was approached by two Korean girls who were excited that I was a foreigner. They were theology students and, since I was standing there waiting with nowhere to go, they had me watch a video about the Heavenly Mother. I had never heard of this before, so I was intrigued. But I still really have no idea what it was about an their English wasn't up to the task of explaining.



And that - is how Heather "C"s it.

God, I miss Glee.