Pay day

So, payday finally came. We were barely scraping by for a few days, but now we are millionaires (in won). Since we got paid, we bought a few things that make life a little easier. First we bought a coffee pot. The coffee pot cost about $100! Everybody drinks instant coffee here. Yuck! It’s full of sugar and it has no pep. Now, we can start our day right. It was a good investment. Next, we bought bikes. They too cost about $100 each. Funny how a bike and a coffee maker costs about the same. Since we got the bikes, we have been all over town and we have discovered new stores and restaurants. Finally, we both got a gym membership. We’ll just say expensive, but worth it. There are group exercises, a big work out room, sauna, and bathing room. You check in by your finger print. They give you clothes to work out in and then you work out. Everyone wears the same outfit.

Korea is feeling more and more comfortable. I know very little Korean, so every time we want to do something (buy bikes or gym membership) there is a lot of pointing and sign language. It’s quite entertaining and everything takes a lot longer. Usually people talk to me and ignore Jayson. Someone told us once it’s because he is big and a male. The one guy who did actually talk to Jayson asked him to help him push his cart full of garbage up hill. I wish I had taken a picture. Again there was a lot of sign language, but Jayson understood and helped the guy. Ah, my prince charming:)

Teaching is still going good. We started after school classes, so we have long days, but the week flies by because we are so busy. During after school classes we do not teach with a korean co teacher. So, there is no one to translate, it’s all up to us. This is very difficult for my beginning class. I am teaching them phonics and the alphabet, but they know very little English. I teach like a clown. I act out a lot of things, use a lot of pictures and youtube is my best friend for videos and songs. Thank God for technology. California Schools need to get on it.

The funniest day of my life was when a boy brought a hamster in his pocket to school. I came around the corner to his group and saw him look inside his jacket and I saw a little rodent head pop out. I told my co teacher, “I think that kid has a mouse.” She freaked and said, “A mouse?” She talked to the boy. The rest of the class was playing a game we taught them and had no idea this was going on. My co teacher came back to me and said, “Oh, it’s just a hamster. He said he didn’t know it was in his pocket when he put on his jacket this morning.” I thought No Big Deal?!? I could not stop laughing. I had to turn away from the class, pull myself together and teach the class the next activity.

Like I always say, everyday is adventures!