I Don't Want To, Okay

Okay, I know that haven't posted on my blog in a long time.  I just don't want to.  Most of what I want to say is grumpiness, and you don't really want to hear that.  So I'm not saying anything for now.  I am very ready to take a vacation and go home.  Maybe I will want to talk more after that.

Halloween

I suppose I can write about my kids now.  It has been long enough.  Because it was Halloween on Monday, we had a party and all the kids dressed up.  In my classroom there were only two costume choices; princess or superhero.  Does Buzz Lightyear count as a superhero?  I suppose he does to little kids.  Anyway, there was Buzz, Batman, Superman, 6 princesses, and two Spidermans.  Should that be Spidermen?  Hmmm.  Two dressed up as Spiderman.  There was a little more variety for the school as a whole.  For the girls there were a few witches, a gorgeous Monarch butterfly, one homemade owl, which was really cool but she cried because she thought she looked stupdid, one leprechaun, and a bunch of princesses.  for the boys there were a bunch of superheroes.  One of the costumes even said Superhero on it.  The rest of the costume looked like Superman, but said superhero where the s goes.  There were also several Transformers, one Musketeer, a Woody, and one boy was Jack Sparrow.  That was a really cool costume.The teachers also dressed up.  Most of the Korean teachers don't really get the whole idea of costumes, and just wear something that they think is Halloweeny, like black and orange, or jack-o-lantern antennae.  I didn't go all out. I just wore a big rainbow clown wig.  It is pretty cool.  One teacher was Snow White.  She matched several of the children.  There was also a witch, a butterfly, a monster mask, devil horns, a mad scientist, and Batman.    The kids had a really good time at the party.  We did face painting and watched a movie.  There was a really bad magician.  He was entertaining, but not very good.  I could hear two little girls say "I saw how he did that!"  They seemed to enjoy watching to see him mess up, which he did a few times.  I felt sorry for his pigeon.  He did a few tricks with it, but really should have skipped those ones.  After that we got to go trick-or-treating around the school.  All the kids had a wonderful time, and were really excited about all of the candy they got.  I don't really like Halloween, okay, I think the whole thing is stupid, but the costumes were cute. 

Thoughts from a teacher

Sometimes I read parenting blogs. I teach five-year-olds. They're not mine, but I am parenting them. I'm sure I see some of them more than their parents do. I like to get parenting information from time to time to see if it helps with my students. Sometimes it does. Sometimes the advice is stupid. The other day I came across one that talked about how to talk to your kids. It said something like we often talk to our kids in ways that we would never talk to our friends, and we would never allow someone to talk to us like that. I thought, "That is so true. I'm going to try to talk to my students how I would like to be talked to." That lasted for about 10 minutes. Then one kid climbs on the table. One pulls another's hair. Two start fighting. One is using her spit to draw pictures on the table. The rest are all running to look out the window because someone saw a really cool car. It's very true, I would never speak to my husband the way I speak to my students. I never speak to my friends or family the way I speak to my students. You know why? They are adults. They don't paint on the table with their saliva. They leave their clothes on in public, usually. They don't start wrestling in the middle of a lesson. They don't start crying because someone is copying everything they say. They don't say poo every other word. I never raise my voice to adults because I don't have to. They know how to behave.

Kindergarten teachers are very special people. There are frequently days when I think that I am not special enough to be one. Okay, really, teachers are special people. All you with kids, go show your kids' teachers some appreciation. They put up with a lot. And, yes, some of it is from your kid.

Did I mention that I went to Tanzania?

Happy Thanksgiving

Today is Thanksgiving. I'm at work. For some reason Canadian holidays are not observed in Korea. Weird. My coworkers and I decided that we had to do something, so we made Thanksgiving dinner at my house. There were nine people (two were American, and one British, but we let them in anyway) in my little, tiny apartment, way too much food, and two gigantic pumpkin pies. We didn't have turkey, but apparently we can buy them here now, so we are planning for Christmas. We had roast chicken, cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes, gravy, and vegetables. To make it Korean we had a Korean chicken stew and a bowl of glass noodles. The pies were from Costco. What a wonderful place. I also made brownies with peanut butter glaze. They were wonderful. I like Thanksgiving. I hope all of you enjoy your Thanksgiving and your turkey and football. Go Riders!

I hate computers

Okay, I know you're all thinking, "What? This is the first Saturday, and no blog post. Robin promised that she would update every Saturday. Where's the post Robin?" Well, I did write one. I really did. I wrote it and then I pushed the publish button, and nothing happened. I pushed it again. Nothing happened. I pushed the save button. That worked. I pushed the publish button again. Nothing. I yelled and screamed and said mean things to my computer about how it's worthless. Just because it's four years old does not mean that it's ready for retirement. I pushed the publish button. Nothing. I asked nicely. Nothing. I gave up on my stupid computer and went to Samuel's. I pushed the publish button. Nothing. So, no post on Saturday. Now it's Monday morning at work. I will push the publish button at work.



Here is the post I wrote on Saturday:

My Class

I got a new class of 6 year-olds way back in March. Last year by this time I had posted about my class twice. This year I haven't posted about my class at all. Not even once. You want to know why I didn't? Of course you do. You are dying to know. It's because I didn't like them. Not even a little bit. They drove my up the wall. I didn't like them at all. They were loud. They didn't listen. They couldn't stand in line, or sit in their chairs. They were terrible. I would go home and cry and tell Samuel that we were never having kids because the kids in my classes didn't listen to me. I couldn't write about them. Six months later, I don't cry anymore, but I still don't really like them. Sometimes I think that they're cute, but mostly I think that they are loud and don't know how to listen. They listen a lot better than they did at the start of the year, but I still don't like them. They are so bad. And it's not just me. They other teachers all have trouble with my class. I think I would like my kids if I weren't their teacher. I have one student who, no matter what I say we are going to do, says, "I don't want to." To absolutely everything. She is adorable, but I don't think she's adorable when she's being a brat, which is a lot of the time. I don't know how kindergarten teachers at home do it. I have 12 students in my class, and I think I'm going to go crazy. I can't imagine having more than that. Kindergarten teachers are very special people. I am not cut out to be a kindergarten teacher. Bring on the high school math. I'll teach calculus. That's easier than 6 year-olds. And I wouldn't have to wipe anybody's nose.

Okay, I'm not good at this

So I haven't blogged in a long time, did anyone notice? I did, but didn't care too much. Sometimes it's hard to think of things to write about, and sometimes I have things to write about but can't find the time to write, or just don't want to. It's mostly that I don't want to. I work a lot. When I get home I just want to sit and watch television, I don't want to have to think anymore. But, I realize that I have been very bad at communicating with people from home. It has been a long time since I have talked to most of you. I feel very disconnected from everyone. I need to fix that. I will try to blog more often. My goal is every Saturday. I may blog more often, but I won't promise that. Expect Saturdays. You have permission to nag me if I don't post something. Feel free to comment the rest of the time too. I would appreciate that. You could also email, or facebook, or write letters. Those methods of communication would also be appreciated.

I Ate Bacon

So? What's the big deal about that? Well, here's the thing; about 6 weeks ago, maybe a little longer, I decided to become vegetarian. Mostly for the heck of it. Why not? I have been enjoying researching new recipes and then cooking them. One good thing about being vegetarian in Korea is that tofu is easy to find. I can get it at the 7-11 downstairs. I found a really good sweet and sour tofu recipe. I really like that one. I have cooked lentils and chick peas and barley soup and other yummy stuff. I have the best recipe for brocolli that is so good no one cares about the rest of the meal. It really is that good. It's even better than brocolli with cheese sauce. Samuel doesn't appreciate being vegetarian so much. He's not home for dinner very often though, so I cook whatever I want. Yesterday it was tacos with refried beans, corn and black bean salad, and fresh salsa.

So where does the bacon come into the picture? Well, since I am vegetarian for the heck of it, and because I live in the land of galbi, and because my husband likes to eat a lot of meat, I will eat meat occasionally. Like, on weekends sometimes. Last week I had a pizza pretzel. It had pepperoni on it. Anyway, back to the bacon. After church on Sunday my friend and I decided that we should have breakfast for lunch. I ordered an omlette. It came with bacon, so I ate it. And you know what? It wasn't even that good. I could have skipped it. My omlette was delicious though. I really have to learn how to make omlettes. Whenever I try I end up with scrambled eggs.

I haven't really eaten meat in quite a while. I don't miss it at all. I really like lentils. I love eating just fruit for breakfast. There is a vegan restaurant a block from my apartment that has the best food ever. The lady makes a great mushroom salad, and the sauce she puts on her tofu burger is so good I want to lick the plate. She also makes the best caramel nut tart ever. It's a great restaurant. Who needs meat anyway?

Day 30 - A Dream for the Future

Samuel asks me this all the time. He has all kinds of plans and dreams for the future. All I want is to be happy. I don't care where we live. I don't even care about my job. I want to be happy. That's all I want.

Day 29 - Hopes/Dreams for the Next Year

I'm going to start even smaller than that. I hope that in the next week or two I remember how to like my job. I really wish that parents would discipline their children at home. I am so tired of spoiled princesses crying whenever I tell them no.

Samuel and I are planning to go to Tanzania this summer. I hope to see many giraffes and elephants not in a zoo. Real ones.

I hope that Samuel does well in his classes so he can get a good job after his degree is finished. Then we can have some adorable babies. That's my rule. Samuel has to have a job first.

I don't like to make plans. Somehow they never work out as I planned. When I make plans then I am always disappointed. When I don't make plans then I'm not. Well, I am disappointed but not because my plans didn't work. Disappointed in a different way.

I sure hope my Tanzania plan works.

Day 28 - What's in My Purse?

Well, there is my gorgeous wallet. It's orange eel skin. Very soft and pretty. There is also hand lotion, makeup, a pen, my iPod, gum, and chapstick. I think that I may have put some paper so I can write a letter but I may have just thought about it and didn't actually do it. I'm not actually looking in my purse right now. I'm doing this from memory. On Sundays I put my score for Requiem and a bottle of water in my purse. That's it. It's not very exciting.

Day 27 - A Bad Habit of Mine

I agree with Joyce: potato chips. I love potato chips. I eat them for dinner sometimes. Not right now though since I gave them up for Lent. If I have potato chips in my house I will eat them. If I walk past them in the store I will buy them and then I will take them home at eat them. Often I even walk past them on purpose so I will buy them.

I also have a bad habit of mocking people in my head for being stupid. I'm a total bitch in my head. Especially if people make grammar mistakes. Sometimes it escapes. Mostly I try to keep it in. I can't be mean outloud. Okay, sometimes I can. Sometimes I block people on Facebook so I don't have to see their terrible grammar on their status updates.

Day 26 - My Week

Monday; Get up at 7:30. Leave my house at 8:45. Get to work just before 9. Okay, I usually leave my house at 8:52 and get to work just after 9. Bus duty is at 9:30. That's when we get the kids from the bus and into the elevators to get up to the school. Classes start at 9:50. Classes are over at 7:30. Go home. Eat dinner. Sit. Go to bed.

Tuesday-Friday; exactly the same thing.

We usually go out after work on Friday. Last week we went to a new buffet restaurant. The food was okay. The best part of the restaurant was that the buffet included all the wine you wanted to drink.

I sleep in on Saturday. Then I sit around in my pajamas and knit or watch tv. Go hang out with people in the evening. I generally stay up way too late.

I sleep in a little on Sunday too. Not usually for as long as I do on Saturday though. I sit around in my pajamas for a bit and then I get ready for choir. Choir practice is in Seoul and it takes almost an hour and a half to get there. Choir is from 3 to 7. Then I eat dinner and head home. I try to go to bed early so I'm not tired for work on Monday.

That's my week. There's a lot of working in there.

Day 25 - My Day in Detail

Well, it's only Monday morning here, so I will tell you about yesterday.

I woke up when Joyce called me at 8:30. That call didn't work. I tried to call Joyce but she wasn't at home. I woke up again when Joyce called me about 15 minutes later. That call didn't work either. I woke up again when Joyce called me. That one worked. I talked to Joyce for an hour or so. I got out of bed and showered. Then I dried my hair and did my makeup. I watched an episode of NCIS while doing my makeup. Then I knit while watching another episode. I washed the dishes. I decided that I should leave my apartment so I took my computer and went to a coffee shop. My goal of the day was to make brownies so after the coffee shop I went shopping for all of the stuff I needed to make the brownies. I went home and made yummy soup and then brownies. Samuel came home and we ate dinner. Then it was bed time. It was a good day.

Usually I have choir practice on Sunday but the director was at a conference in the States so I had the day off. Choir will resume next week.

Day 24- Where I Live

Sorry, you don't get any pictures ofr this post. I will talk about this again later and I will make sure to take pictures to show you.

I can still tell you about where I live though. I live in Dongtan, South Korea. That probably doesn't mean anything to you. Dongtan is a new addition to the city of Hwaseong. It's a brand new city in the greater metrapolitan area of Seoul. I can take a bus from close to my house to Seoul in about 30 minutes. Dongtan is a new city so everything here is brand new. Really, really new. The entire city is only three years old. Before that this area was wilderness. Now there are high-rise apartments everywhere. Not far from my house is the Metapolis aparment complex. Right now it has four towers that are each about 60 stories. There will be one more tower that will have more than 70 stories. I have heard that this is the tallest living structure in the world. I haven't checked on that at all. Feel free to check it out for yourself. Those towers are only apartments. No offices or stores or anything. Just apartments. Next to the giant apartments is a mall. We were all excited when the mall opened. There is an ice rink, several coffee shops, a few hamburger restaurants as well as all of the clothng stores and shoe stores. Krispy Kreme Donuts opened yesterday. It also has a store called Home Plus. It's kind of like Walmart. It's very convenient.

I love this city. Everything is beautiful. The people who planned this city are very smart people. They built the city around a park. Central Park goes through the entire city. There are walking trails all over. I love that I'm so close to Seoul. There is beauty in all of the towers. My home is so different than Saskatchewan and I love it.

Day 23 - A YouTube Video

I teach pre-kindergarten. Some days it feels like this.

Day 22 - A Website

I don't spend a lot of time playing around on the internet. I read my siblings' blogs. I read some friends' blogs if they ever update them. I watch television. I check Facebook once or twice a day. I'm pretty much constantly logged on to my work website.

I have discovered a blog or two that I like to read. One is called notalwaysright.com. It is stories about stupid customers. It is pretty darn hilarious. I also check out peopleofwalmart.com. That is a photo blog of the weird/horrible things you see people wear at Walmart. Sometimes I feel bad for laughing at those people but really, what were they thinking? Do they have any friends? Why would their friends let them out looking like that? You should check it out for a laugh or two.

Day 21 - A Recipe

I was going to tell you a recipe for Korean food, but usually when I eat Korean food I go to a restaurant and say "참치김밥 주ㅅㅒ요," and then someone brings my yummy food.

So, I will tell you my recipe for the best brownies ever.

Mix together 1/2 cup butter, 3/4 cup cocoa, 1/4 cup oil, 2 eggs, 1 tsp vanilla (I never add vanilla but you can if you want to), 3/4 cup flour, 1 1/4 cup sugar, 1/4 tsp salt.

Spread it in a greased 8' pan. Bake for 45 min at 200 C. (I think that's 350 F but my toaster oven is in Celcius and so I know it in Celcius).

Now, what makes these so good is the peanut butter glaze. Melt 2Tbsp smooth peanut butter with 1 Tbsp butter. Stir in 3/4 cup icing sugar and then add 2 Tbsp very hot water. Pour the glaze over cooled brownies. Then lick out the bowl. Don't waste any glaze.

Enjoy.

I want to go make brownies now. I don't have any of the ingredients or a pan to cook them in but I do have the toaster oven. Maybe tomorrow then.

Day 20 - A Hobby of Mine

I like to knit. Right now I'm knitting a baby blanket for friends of mine. It's taking a long time since I don't have a lot of time to work on it, but eventually I will finish it. Probably not before their baby is born. Oh well.

I also like to read. Again, I don't have a lot of time for that. Too bad. Books are fun. I always feel smarter after I read. It's too bad most of what I read doesn't stick.

Day 19 - A Talent of Mine

Um....well...this is a hard one.

Well, I can read Fox and Socks in less than three minutes. That's got to count as a talent.