You can learn many things from children. How much patience you have, for instance.

For those of you who don't know... children are the most amazing and emotionally draining beings on the planet. I can't count the number of times I have said "No running!" "Stop kicking." "Did you bite him?" "Listen!" "Krista Teacher has a personal bubble you can't pop." "No head butting!" However, if I had 1000won for every time I heard "I'm sorry teacher" "Its OK teacher, no angry face." "Teacher you're pretty." "I lobe (love) you teacher." "Me happy because teacher happy." I would be a Korean millionaire! Here are a few pictures of my special kids:

Peach Class

Mike, Alber, Sally - Peach Class

There are two types of schools foreign teachers can teach English at in Korea: a public school or a Hagwon. I am teaching at the latter. A Hagwon is essentially a private school that specializes in a concentration. There are English hagwons, math hagwons, piano hagwons, etc. Elementary students attend public school during the day and hagwons during the afternoon and evening. However, for kindergarten students, hagwons are their primary school.

I am a kindergarten teacher with two classes. Peach Class is made up of ten cute, bright and sassy 7 year olds. Pear class has ten sweet, adorable and freakishly smart 6 year olds. I teach these kids everyday until 2:40. In the afternoon, I teach a few elementary classes, but I don't spend the same amount of time with my elementary students as I do with my kindergartners.

I was hired on in December because they were opening these two new kindergarten classes. So my first day was also my kids' first day. Believe me, we have learned together! It is amazing the progress they have made. They literally didn't know ANY English the first day I met them. They kept talking to me in Korean and were shocked when I couldn't understand them. There were also a few students who were afraid of me because I didn't look or sound like anything they were use to. James in my Pear class cried for three days straight. I would sit him down in his chair and slowly move away. As I got further and further away, he would ever so slowly move out of his chair and when I turned my back to him he would book it out of the room as fast as he could while looking back at me with this look of pure freedom on his face. James is now the happiest and sweetest little boy in class. I am also happy to report that they speak solely English to me and full sentences are becoming more and more prevalent!

It looks like we are torturing every single one of them.

Kelly my co teacher!!

Everyday is a fun adventure! I have so many stories. However, those are for another day and another post. The one thing I have come to realize is that while I try to teach my kids all about life, they teach me what life is all about.

Pear Class- Field Trip to Energy Company

Korea Doesn't Change Everything

So... it has been close to two months since my last post and if I have any faithful followers still out there.... I would like to apologize. Even though my diet, surrounding language and time zone have all changed, my astounding skill of procrastination has stuck with me. Old faithful. That's what twelve years of private education will give you. Thanks Dad.

I have been in Korea for three months and it gets better everyday because everyday is literally an adventure. I have had escapades of all types. Some good, some bad, some funny, some (in retrospect) quite sad, but all memorable. Here is a little taste:

Even back home, I am not a great grocery shopper. There is something about 74 different brands of cereal, 40 flavors of yogurt and the endless aisle of spices that really seems to unnerve me. The problem has only escalated since my arrival here. Now, I can't even read what flavor of yogurt I am buying. I have no idea if the rice I picked up is actually rice or some sort of wheat grain. I just go with what I think rice is supposed to look like and hope for the best. Just as long as it doesn't turn out to be octopus, I can deal. The only time I thought I hit rock bottom was when I was trying to act out sliced deli meat and got something that tasted like old spam. Even if it tasted like fresh spam, I don't think I would have liked it.

I miss being able to freely communicate with waiters, waitresses, check out tellers at the grocery store, sales people and bus drivers. I was almost stuck on a bus because the bus driver didn't open the door at my stop and I didn't know how to say "please open the door" in Korean. So I just ended up making some sort of startling noise until someone noticed and told the bus driver to open the door. A few weeks ago (ok... a month...I KNOW I am behind!)I was grocery shopping with my friends at E-Mart and we were checking out our groceries when my friend Sam pulled out shaving cream she had bought from a different store from her purse in order to grab her wallet. Well... the cashier thought she was trying to shoplift said cream. Ten minutes, fifty hand gestures and one shaving cream receipt later, we limped out of E-Mart.

But this is where I really lucked out. Korean people are some of the most welcoming, kind, friendly and helpful people I have met. They put up with my foreign nonsense everyday. If they speak English they want to talk and find out where you are from and how you like Korea. They go out of their way to make things easier for you. Korean people really are what make Korea special.