My 1st Japanese friend!

Last weekend, Jess and I went shopping at Nampodong and stopped to eat some kimbap at a local street vendor. While we were there, we met 2 Japanese guys who had been traveling through Korea for a week and it was their last day before they flew back to Japan. One of them took a picture with us and offerred to send it if we gave him our e-mail. I just received it this morning! This is what his e-mail said:

"Hello. How are you? Do you remember me? MY name is RYO MIHARA. It was happy to meet in the stall the other day. It was lucky because that day was a day of the South Korea end. Did you come to Japan? I live in Shimonoseki. Yes, kanpu-ferry terminal in shimonoseki. If you come to Japan, please send E-mail. I will guide you. Season today Japan's cherry blossoms are very beautiful. I want to meet slowly this time in South Korea or Japan and to talk again. See you."

As a side note: This is about as good as it gets when it comes to people speaking English. It's really broken and sometimes very funny, ie: "I want to meet slowly this time." Last night Kevin had to go to the bathroom and Stella said, "There is not a bathroom near here. Can you endure?"

Dinner with my Vice Principal

So, tonight was the big dinner date with my Vice Principal and his family!  We had the most delicious meat, BBQ'd right at our table and then we all walked to a trendy little coffee shop a couple blocks away from the restaurant for some coffee and tea.

"Gyo Gam Sun Seng Neim" means "Vice Principal" in Korean, so everytime I want to get his attention or say hello to him, I have to say his ENTIRE title.   Tonight, he told Kevin and I that we could call him "servant" because he was cooking for us!  His daughter spoke fluent English and told me that she has NEVER seen her dad cook!  She said that we should feel VERY honored that he would do that for us!   :)

Gyo Gam Sun Seng Neim, his daughter, me, Kevin, his wife, and Stella (my co-teacher) outside the restaurant after dinner.

While we were walking to the coffee shop, I spotted this store and pointed it out to Stella!  She was so excited and said, "I have my own store!  I am very rich!"

 

After the coffee shop, Stella, Kevin and I did some shopping in the outdoor market and Kevin spotted this kid who he said was "suited and booted" (very fashionable!) I wish this picture showed his entire outfit, because he had really cool jeans on and black dress shoes.  Minus the scarf, I think any fashionable guy would have worn this kid's outfit!

A gift....

Julie, one of my 4th graders, made me this picture a couple days ago!  She was so proud of herself and so excited to present it to me that I couldn't bare to tell her that "LOVE and Julie" doesn't make any sense!   

Stella's new spiky slippers!

Stella's boyfriend bought her these new "indoor massage slippers" last night, so she brought them to school to wear while she taught. I asked her if I could try them on and she started laughing and said, "They will hurt you!" ... and she was right! It legitimately felt like I had hundreds of needles in the bottom of my foot! She said, "These shoes are good for health!" hhhmmm. I never would have thought that spiky slippers would be good for anything!! (Click on the picture to see the spikes up close.)

It's Tea Time!

Everyday, (at every school in Korea), teachers have "tea time" together after the 1st class of the morning.  I have "tea time" with the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd grade teachers on the 3rd floor of the school. We all take off our slippers and sit on a heated floor mat in the back of the special ed classroom and drink tea, coffee, or hot chocolate!  Stella and I always have hott chocolate together!

Other than 4:40pm, which is when I get to leave school and explore my city, tea time is my favorite time of that day!


From left to right, Barbara, Me, Susan, Stella, Charity, Chloe, Laura, Eddie, and Crystal (these are their "yunguh names" (English names!)

Do you think she has any idea?

Anna is one of my 5th grade students and today she was wearing a PLAYBOY shirt to school and had no idea what her shirt meant! She just liked the bunny.

Her shirt says: "PLAYBOY: a symbol of beautiful, voluptuous, and scantily clad models"