I haven't done this in a long time

So, it's been a while, like four or five months, but who's counting? Some stuff has happened since I last wrote. You could even say it was important stuff. I got engaged, went to a Rufus Wainwright concert, got married in Seoul, turned 30, Samuel got his visa to go to Canada, we went to Canada and got married, we came back to Korea, and I signed a new contract to keep working in Korea. Wow, that was quite the list. Thinking about it though, I got engaged before I wrote the last posts, I just didn't blog about it. Well, I suppose I will now.

Let's call this story "Robin's Really Bossy".

Samuel and I had talked about getting married many times. In fact, we had only been dating about a month the first time he asked me to marry him. That time I told him he wasn't allowed to ask me yet. He waited about one more month before he asked again. I changed the subject. The next time he asked I told him I couldn't marry someone my family had never met. After that there was the understanding that we would get married sometime, but we would figure out when later. Then I went to Canada and he couldn't, which made it really hard for him to meet my family. Once I came back to Korea the conversation about getting married continued. I was still pretty determined that I couldn't marry him until he met my family, even though Joyce and Jackie had given me permission. Samuel was pretty sure we should just go do the paper work so we could be married on paper and really get married later. I seem to recall that the week before we got engaged Samuel brought it up again and I cried because it wasn't just paper work to me; it was actually getting married. The next week I was sitting at home by myself, thinking about Samuel, and I thought about what was holding me back from marrying him. I wanted to marry him. I was going to marry him, we just hadn't figured out when. I knew that we were going to Canada for Christmas, as long as Samuel's visa worked out, and then he could meet everyone. Okay, then I could marry him. But when? The next time I could be in Canada would be the next summer. I didn't want to wait that long to get married when I knew that I wanted to marry him. I decided that we were going to get married at Christmas. So then I decided that I would have to prepare my family for that, so I emailed my parents and siblings to tell them that Samuel and I were engaged. Then I called Samuel and told him that I just told my family that we were engaged. He was thrilled. No, really, he was. About a month later we went to Seoul to sign all the paper work. I will save that for the next blog post though. Stay tuned.

Why do we do complain?

Okay, one more. Why stop at two posts when there can be three?

I was thinking today. I know, dangerous situation. Why do we complain so much? Is there any reason for it? Does it actually make us feel better? I'm getting really tired of hearing complaints. The most common things to complain about are the weather and work. The weather is never good enough. If it's hot out we want it to be cooler. If it's cool we want it to be hotter. If it's warm we complain because in a few weeks it's going to snow and then it will be cold. It's never good enough. I frequently complain about the weather here. It's really humid and I hate it. It's often so humid the air feels thick and it's hard to breathe. I really could do without that humidity. I do know that the humidity will end, and I will get through it. For now I will spend a lot of time in my apartment where I have air conditioning.

People complain about work a lot. We got our schedules for the new semester a few days ago. People have complained nonstop since we got them. They don't like the classes they are going to teach, or they don't like when their breaks are, or something. They don't like our boss or the way he decides things. I'll admit it. I have complained about my job. Who wouldn't after teaching for ten hours with no breaks? But, you know what? I realized that I actually like my job, and I like my boss. When people complain about the job or the boss it makes me feel like I shouldn't like my job or my boss. I like my new schedule. I have a break every day. I get to teach interesting classes. Yes, I have to teach a few classes that I don't like, but sometimes you have to do things that you don't really like. I think I can teach a few classes that aren't that interesting. I have a job. I live in a cool place. I have air conditioning. What is there to complain about?

My view

Okay, I wrote that last post and then decided that I should show you the view from my apartment. I don't think the pictures do it justice. The is really nice, both during the day and at night. Across the street out one window there are many, many apartment buildings. Out the other window there is a mountain. I like the view. It makes my tiny apartment really nice.

My apartment

This was what you used to see when you came into my apartment. Yep, that's pretty much it. I have a little apartment. About ten steps from the door to the window. The only furniture by job supplied was a bed, so that's all I had. You walked in and you could see my bed and my laundry. I didn't have anywhere to sit except my bed or the floor. There was no place to go in the apartment where you couldn't see my laundry or my dishes. Not all that cozy. The upside is that I like in a corner apartment on the 11th floor, and I have 15ft ceilings. I have two walls of windows. So there was nothing to see in the apartment, but outside was great. Another great thing about my apartment, it is only two blocks from work.

Then I bought a sofa. It took almost six months to choose one, but I finally found one that I liked. Some teachers who were leaving gave me the mirror. Now I have somewhere to sit, but I sit on the floor. It's easier to type that way.

I moved the bed to the other corner, and bought a set of drawers. It's actually a television stand, but I don't have a television. And really, it's drawers. Now, when I sit on the bed, I can't see my dishes. The book shelf makes a wall. Now I have two rooms in my apartment.

This is the book shelf. It is a very good book shelf, and a very good wall. It looks empty in this picture, but now there are a few more things on it, and it looks wonderful.


Now this is what you see when you come into my apartment. There are still only about ten steps from the front door to the window, but now it looks so much cosier and homey. I really like my apartment. I will probably only live here for another few months though. My boss said that after I get married he will find me a bigger apartment. It won't be two blocks from work, but I am willing to take the bus to work if it means that I will get to live with my husband.

Awww

Awww. Aren't we cute? And isn't he incredibly good looking? I sure think so.

I like living in Korea. I get to see Samuel every weekend. I like that. It's like the year and a half in Canada never happened. It feels like we were never apart.

We are planning to go to Jeju Island at the end of July with some friends for a few days. We're going fishing on the ocean! I'm super excited. No one else seems to think this is nearly as exciting as I do. They are all from places that are close to the ocean. Samuel's family lives right next to the beach. I am from Saskatchewan okay. I think fishing on the ocean is pretty exciting. I will have to show you all the fish I catch.

We are starting to get the paper work together so Samuel can come visit at Christmas. I hope you all can meet him then. Your prayers would be greatly appreciated.

New shoes

Samuel went shoe shopping with me yesterday. He told me to take my time and he suggested other stores to look at. He even helped me pick out shoes. Then he carried the bag.

More kids

This is Amy. She is the newest addition to my class. She came about three weeks ago. She is very smart and she can sound out some words already. She is always the first to finish her work. The nice part of that is she will sit quietly when she is finished instead of bothering the kids around her like the other students will do.

This is Rex. He is usually very serious, except during art time when he gets very silly and turns everything we are doing into monsters. Last week I handed out pictures of teddy bears to colour and cut out. He cut off the arms and legs and drew on more eyes to make his a monster. When they were drawing pictures of their classmates he drew a monster. He is very concerned with getting things right. He very much wants to be the leader of the class, but so does Eric, so they don't get along very well at all.

This is Sienna. She is quiet and very sweet. She is always watching the other kids so she can help when they need help. She is always worried about the others' feelings.

Wyatt is a funny kid. He says hi to everyone he sees all day. "Hi Robin Teacher! Hi" Seriously. All day. At least 20 times. It's pretty funny. Last week he was sick and missed two days. It was really quiet. We all missed him.

Cathy is the newest addition to the class. The day she came she pretended that she didn't want to come. She wouldn't go into the classroom without her father and she cried when he left. The next day she had absolutely no problem coming to class. She talks a lot and likes to tease the other kids. She is probably the smartest kid in class.

Jamie is so painfully shy. When I started teaching her she wouldn't ever make eye contact with anyone and you couldn't hear what she said, if she said anything at all. Now she plays with some of the other students and she is much louder. If she is answering a question about phonics or the story she is loud enough to hear from a few people away. If the question is about her or what she wants, then you still have to be right beside her to hear her answer. She won't ask to go to the bathroom. I have to tell her to go. She does the "need to pee" dance, so I can tell when she needs to go, but it would be so much easier if she just asked. She has gotten much braver in the last few months. I'm interested to see what changes the next few months bring.