The End of an Era

Music Bank is no longer one of my students. He graduated from Seed 1 into Seed 2, but unfortunately isn't in my class (I only have one Seed 2 class). He has come a long way since the time he used his glue stick like ChapStick to earning 'Best Creativity' for his level this term. So proud.

Anyways, so far I'm enjoying my new classes and I have a lot of the same students again. A lot of the students I had when I first got here during winter term so it has been about six months since they were in my class. It's amazing how much they have matured and how much their English skills have improved.

In other news, there's a typhoon heading straight towards Korea within the next few days.

Peace.

Point Party!

As a reward system for the kids, throughout the term, we give them points for good behavior, high test scores, homework, etc. At the end of the term, the students come to a points party and can spend their points on food, games, and various items in the store. This past Saturday was the point party, we had a good turn out and it was a big success. I wanted to take pictures of my classes before the term ended, but I forgot, so here are a few pictures I captured at the point party.

This is Sean. He was a super smart boy in my Seed 2 class. It looks like he's strategically thinking about what stick to pull while playing, Tumblin' Monkeys.

I didn't have any of these students this term, but I've had them in the past. There's Michael, Jina, and Jane.

A few of my students waiting in line for the store. There's Samuel (used to be SM7, a car brand), Sophia, and Jenny.

This is Fire Dragon! He looks so serious, but he was more concerned about playing his DS rather than smiling for the camera.

This is Peter and his blue tongue.

Two of my Sapling 2 students, Sally and Barbie. They both leveled up into Junior Master which is the highest level at April.

Spel Chek

Growing up, my dear friend, Whitney, always wore a headband with her name puffy painted on it. She was so proud of her craft, wore it practically everyday, and loved showing it off. Obviously, school pictures were a big deal. I mean they are printed in yearbooks that last forever and are framed on fireplace mantels until the following year.

Well, Whitney wore her favorite headband in her school picture that year, but it wasn't until she got her pictures back that she realized her name was spelled wrong. Unfortunately, she forgot the 't' so instead of 'Whitney', in big, puffy painted letters (hopefully, neon and glittery) it said, 'Whiney'. I think she was more upset that NO ONE told her that her name was spelled wrong on her headband, not even her mom when they (obviously) laid out her outfit the night before school pictures. I have yet to see the picture, but I practically cry from laughing every time I hear the story.

Whitney's story reminded me of one of my students the other day. This little boy, Kevin came to class wearing a bright, orange baseball hat. He was so proud of his new hat and was showing it off to everyone (that's a little exaggerated), but I noticed he had his name stitched on the side of it in white letters. Unfortunately, there was an extra 'e' in his name so instead of 'Kevin' it was spelled 'Kevien'. I didn't have the heart to tell him. I just hope he doesn't wear it in his school pictures this year.

La Tee Dah

I forgot to mention that my Seed 1 class changed their names (again). There was about two weeks left of the term and I went to take attendance and noticed their new names...

Ice Dragon (Tommy)

Fire Dragon (Lion)

Music Bank (Hedgehog)

Yes. Music Bank. I guess it's a singing show on TV. It's like me changing my name to American Idol, no big deal. I'm sad I only have one more class with them, but hopefully they'll be in one of my classes next term. I also just found out that Fire Dragon received the 'Best Student' award and Music Bank got 'Best Creativity' for their level this term. So proud.

Anyways, funny story. Today as I was heading back to my classroom after getting some water, I saw Ice Dragon standing outside of my classroom. As I walked closer, I noticed he was flicking me off! His middle finger was pointing straight up. Before I could say anything, I realized he wasn't actually giving me the middle finger, but he had a cut on it and needed a bandaid.

Food for Thought

My brother had his annual beach bash this past weekend and luckily, I was able to catch him and Liz, some of his friends, and baby Adam on Skype. I guess he brewed some new beers and of course, they had a delicious menu planned for the weekend. I'm proud of myself for lasting this long, but I'm getting so sick of Korean food. The thought of all of the food that was at Camp C this past weekend made me so jealous. I feel like Korea lacks variety in terms of food and the same spicy, red sauce is on everything. P.S. I just watched a preview of a new cake decorating show on Oxygen and those shows always make me want to become a cake decorator ha. Oh, P.P.S. Perez posted a picture of Miley Cyrus at Benihana's in Troy which just happens to be the restaurant I always went to on my birthday! Anyways, here are some examples of typical Korean food.

When in doubt, get mandu. You can get them steamed or fried and it's a dumpling filled with meat, vegetables, kimchi, or seafood. I also love dumpling soup.

Kimbop looks like sushi, but it doesn't taste like it. It's vegetables rolled up in rice and seaweed and you can get tuna, beef, or cheese in them.

Kimchi is served at every meal. Many students claim it's their favorite food. It's a pickled cabbage with a spicy, red sauce on top of it.

Dak galbi is grilled chicken, cabbage, and rice cakes cooked right in front of you with a spicy, red sauce on top.

Here's an example of Korean rice cakes with the (same) spicy, red sauce on top. They're really chewy and sometimes filled with cheese. Korean rice cakes are often made into decorative desserts.

Bipimbop is Korea's version of a salad. It comes with a variety of vegetables and egg over rice with the (same) spicy, red sauce underneath.

Bulgogi is a sweet beef served with rice.

Did you notice a trend with the spicy, red sauce on everything?! Luckily, I don't mind it, but if you aren't a fan of spicy food, good luck. Currently craving: Leo's greek salad, extra feta, olives, and banana peppers with light Greek dressing and a steamed pita... sigh.

I Swear I'm 20 Something

G insisted that I got this pink, dolphin headband at the COEX Aquarium.

Boring Post

Sorry, I've been slacking on blogging this month. There's only one more week of summer term and it's hard to believe it's almost over. Since we only have a few days left of the term, I had to write 75+ student report cards last week. I'm glad that's over and tomorrow is my last day of intensives. I'm anxious to see my new schedule and I've been told I'm teaching seedbed which is the lowest level. It will be a challenge, but I'm looking forward to it. This weekend was the first weekend I actually stayed in Daejeon and didn't have any plans. It was nice to relax and catch up with friends. I finally saw "Inception" last night which was mind boggling. If you haven't seen it, I'd recommend it. I feel like no matter how many times I see it, it will never make complete sense, and I really want to find out more about how they made it. Anyways, it has been super hot here, so thank goodness for AC, or air-con as they say it here. That's about it. Peace.