Down by the Bay ...

It's getting harder to update nowadays because I've gotten a little bit busier. But here are some of the highlights:

I don't want to jinx it, but this week was the first one so far where I felt like my kids and I actually got along. It was only a slight change; they listened a little better and smiled a little more. Somehow, though, those tiny changes made a huge difference in the week. Also, I've had this problem child (she kind of bullies the other students) from the start. But I've punished her enough that she doesn't even argue with me anymore. For instance, when a child does something wrong, I make them put their head down. She used to moan and stare at me until I literally put my hand on her head. Now if I say, "Head down!" she does it and will wait until I say she can put her head up. This is a big accomplishment, silly though it may sound.

We also need to decorate our rooms by the end of August. The girl who taught before me didn't really do anything, so I'm stuck with pretty much an entire room that's bare. So far, I've put up a calendar, the days of the week, weather, seasons, the alphabet, numbers, and colors. I made a tree using cutouts of the children's hands, and I designated a section of wall for their art. There's still so much to fill, so if anyone has any bright ideas, please let me know. Oh, and here's something I'm kind of proud of: we sing Down by the Bay in class, and for their new nametags, I put different animals from that song next to their names. For instance, I made a whale with a polka dot tail. I think it's cute, but it took a long time, so I hope the mothers don't object for some reason.

Also, I went back to Hungdae during the day. My coworker, D, and I had mexican food and gelato. I also discovered that I like Hungdae quite a bit in the daytime. It's cute; it doesn't look like the rest of Seoul. They have all sorts of restaurants and such, and it's relatively close to where we live, so I have a feeling I'll be there during the day more often.

We also went to Hongik Univ. area. Apparently, that's a women's university. You can kind of tell, because the place is full of little stores. There were scads of boutiques, some western, some Korean, and streets full of the outdoor vendors. I really wanted to buy a pair of shoes (only 5000 won, aka $4) while we were there, but being that I had 4000 won to my name, it was mostly window shopping. I did end up buying this key ring for my phone. It has a picture of Gu Joon Pyo from Boys Over Flowers on it.

Boys Over Flowers is a Korean drama that isn't on anymore, but is still wildly popular. It's hilariously bad, so it naturally sucks you in. There are four main guys and one female lead. As a result, you can find all sorts of things with the guy's pictures pasted on them (Dunkin Donuts ads, makeup bags, cans of Coke ... ). In case you're wondering, Gu Joon Pyo is far and away the most attractive. There are a lot of really beautiful Korean men out there. It's enough to make a western girl feel like the elephant man. But Gu Joon Pyo is the most gorgeous. Plus, he has curly hair, which is kind of unusual for a Korean (I'm thinking perm). Anyway, given that I'm already regressing to middle school mentality, I may as well have a picture of a tv star attached to my phone.

I don't know if I mentioned this, but apparently women in Korea always have keychains on their cell phones. There's actually a special spot on the phone so that you can attach a chain there. The key is to find the biggest, ugliest, brightest thing possible. I may have gone in the other direction, but I think I get points for picking a Korean tv star.