New Faces

In the past few weeks, many changes have happened here in good ole Korea. The biggest downfall to being an expat is constantly having to say goodbye to people. And unfortunately this ranges from children to coworkers to loved ones to friends.

With the start of the new school year, I lost nearly all of my 7's I was teaching. They graduated Kindergarten and moved to first grade. The good news is, I still see about 5 of my kids I had last year at our elementary in the evenings. The bad news is, the rest of them are gone. It's quite sad. The other good news, however, is that I have a whole lot of new 7 year olds, and boy are they cute (some of the time).

Another change that occurred at our school is the classes in which we teach. Originally I was teaching 4 35 minute classes with 30 kids, a 60 minute class with 7 kids, and then my elementary second graders with 5 kids. NOW I'm teaching 2 7's classes of 30 kids for 30 minutes, a class of 30 5 year olds (which in korea are actually 3 years old) for 30 minutes (that starts on Monday, I'll let ya know how that goes), a class of 21 kids for 80 minutes and then 3rd grade with my same kids (YAY!) plus 2 more, one of which was my old student back in october and november. So to say the least, our style in which we are teaching, as well as curriculum and time periods, have changed very dramatically. Today is only day 4 of teaching this way, so it's still taking a lot of getting used to and we STILL don't even have all of our classes yet.

All that aside, we got 2 new coworkers, who are simply fantastic...one from good ole "Seattle" (actually Lynnwood for those who are counting...but I tell people I'm from Seattle as well because that gets me closer to home than even saying Washington because people assume D.C), the other is from Cali. Both speak Korean so that's kind of nice to have around in our lives :)

However I also lost Anushca and Steve...people who were in my life for such a brief amount of time (although they'll prooooobably still be around even though they're not in Korea, and in fact ARE in communication with me even though they aren't in Korea)..but they had such a huge impact on me because they're super awesome people, and I'm sad they're gone :(

Let's see...other changes, I just joined a gym this week. Workout day 3 completed today. Personal trainer surprised an extra thing in my set and then an extra set overall. But I'm excited about it and its going well. Although on a side note, Ellen and I were watching soccer while doing our cardio, and Korean soccer drives me crazy. They're all really big babies and get ouchies too easily. Jeez laweez. So not necessary.

Ah and if you're in the states and reading this, I'm sure you're quite concerned for my safety with North Korea and a ripped up armistice and nuclear bombs and whatnot. The funny thing about Koreans is they are completely unphased. Not to mention, they don't like to talk about it. Essentially, North Korea give this threat like every  year and nothing ever happens. Sure, sure there is a new ruler now, but they are still not worried. My take on the matter...if they're gunna nuke this country, there's not a whole lot I can do about it as a civilian. Reminds me of World War whatever when people were practicing hiding under their desks if we got nuked.

If you get nuked, your desk isn't gunna save ya. In my opinion, it's kind of in the hands of the governments and militaries of all countries,  and since I'm involved with neither, I take what's coming my way. Living life to the fullest, having no regrets, and telling my loved ones I love them as often as I can (hey loved ones, I love you!) So take a deep breath. I'm doing fine and dandy over here, and really, whatshisface in North Korea probably hates America more than South Korea so maybe you have more to worried about than I do? I'm worried about YOU in the states, so don't you worry about ME in South Korea :)

Love to all!