Beer..er English.. er Fitness-Pong

Since they took my middle school away from me, I decided to spend the last day just having fun with my students.  

Taught them a few fitness words:  Push-ups, Sit-ups, Jumping Jacks, Hula Hoop... etc.

I used the American, frat house favorite, Beer-Pong as a template for my game!

Over The Hill

Just this week I hit my 6 month mark here.

On this wild little journey I call Korea, I'm standing at the apex of the hill. Half the journey ahead of me, half of it already behind.

The first 6 months were tough. Getting up the hill is always harder than going down.

Now I have friends, now I know my co-teachers, I know how to get around without having to think about it, my taste buds have finally been singed to the point where I don't break a sweat with every bite of kimchi!!

It's going too fast!!!

I want it all to slow down! I realized when I was back in America just how much I am going to miss this wacky little land. Now I'm starting to get sentimental at the little things and all the things I'll never see again.

I'll never see Buddha's birthday again, or the cherry blossoms, or the yellow dust, or strawberries, the grapes will be gone soon too, and Oh god... summer is almost over, there will never been a green Korea for me again!!!

And I'm definitely not ready to start saying goodbye to people in 6 months! I'm just starting to get to know them all.... and to rub salt in my wounds, today was my first day back at middle school. They informed me that schedules had changed and I won't be coming back to them anymore. I'll just stay all week at my elementary school.

I literally had to fight back tears! That school keeps me sane!! I can't stand having to say goodbye to these kids, they make me so happy. I'm going to miss my boys. They light up my days and we have so much fun. I had finally figured out my rhythm and had so many fun things planned. I was going to be a much better teacher this semester. Now it ended before it began.

I had freedom at this school. Just me and my boys, no co-teachers. No curriculum. No books. Just whatever I threw at them. My elementary school is the polar opposite. Strict curriculum, always going word for word by the book, constantly being scrutinized by co-teachers in class who sometimes let me do little more than be a human tape recorder.

This sucks!!!

Eh, you know the saying: When life hands you lemons... get out the friggin' salt and tequila, it's time for some shots!!!

Uhg, on second thought, after last weekends buckets-o-tequila.... I think I'm done for a while.

"Happiness Is A Warm Puppy"

On Sunday evening I was on the subway in Seoul and a man was peddling cell phones accessories. I noticed the bag he was carrying and, in English, it said, "Happiness is a warm puppy."

This immediately got me thinking.

Let's do a little math, shall we?

If: Happiness is a warm puppy
Then: A = B

And according to Mallory's co-worker, Mr. Yoon, "Eating time is happy time" where Eating time is C

If: we assume Happy Time is equivalent to Happiness

Then: Eating time is Happiness
So: C = A

then....

we apply the Transitive Property of Equality ( if A=B and B=C then A=C)

and since we already established that B = C and inversely C = B

then: Eating time is a warm puppy

now...

factor in the given: Korean people eat dog meat

then: C = B (Eating time is a warm puppy) could very well be a true statement!!!

now...

factor in the variable that many Koreans believe dog meat increases male virility and stamina

then: Eating time is bow chicka wow wow ????

In conlusion: I shouldn't think so hard after a 20+ hour flight!!!!!!

Home Sweet Home

A brief synopsis of my vacation in the States:

• Birthday burgers with the Bucklew clan, all 15 of us
• making Vietnamese food with my best bud and sis
• shopping shopping shopping, since I only brought one pair of pants and one shirt home
• Ben's 30th birthday
• running around Raleigh trying to see all my friends and not getting enough time with any of them
• Getting to meet and rub on my favorite baby bump in the world!
• Teaching old church ladies about getting lei'd
• 20 hour kamikaze drive to WV with my sis for only a few hours of visiting
• Showing Jen and Bec the kind of 'shit' Korean kids learn
• Buying G'ma slutty hot pants
• Stealing a kiss from an old friend
• Meeting the newest and bluest (eyed) member of the Franzese clan
• Meeting the mini-Mercer man
• Wally world to buy all the swag for my Korean peeps
• and Food. Glorious, vast, copious amounts of fattening, delicious, tear inducing, gut gorging fooooooood!!!!