Our First Snow!

Jennifer Teacher: How's the weather?

Fifth Graders: It's snowy!

To the left: The view from my office window.

Up above: The view from the lunch room.

Middle: A snowball I was given after a student was told he couldn't attack the
Canadian teacher with it... in the classroom.

Third graders making a snowman out front!

Above: The of the school's side yard.  Such a pretty ice tree!

Volunteering

Six days a week, for the past eleven years, there is a pastor just outside of Incheon, South Korea who serves the homeless with soup and (now that winter is fast approaching) a mitten and coat distribution.

Jeff caught wind of a volunteer opportunity to come pitch in, so we went this past Sunday to try and lend a helping hand.

The pastor, a bunch of members from his congregation, and this handful of foreigners all helped set up, tear down, serve, and distribute.  Amazingly, it only ran for an hour total before the whole shebang was cleaned up and packed away again.

It was a calm night of trying to figure out where my help was best needed... nothing ground-breaking or earth-shattering, but it felt good to get out and be a part of a nonprofit again. 

A Hike and a Bike Ride

In an attempt to catch up on the ridiculous amount of stories I didn't blog about my first year here, I would like to share a little tale of a heroic, noble adventure I went on all by my lonesome when I had a day off a few months back.

Well... maybe it wasn't that heroic or noble... maybe it was a bit humbling and ridiculous. But either way, here is my story.

So, I wanted to take advantage of having a day off of work, and decided to climb a small mountain near my apartment that always taunted me.  It looked so majestic and I couldn't justify why I hadn't climbed it yet, given the convenience of its location.  

Some would say it doesn't deserve the title of mountain... small hill might be more accurate, but to it's credit, there is a really cool looking oriental gazebo on top that I just had to check out. 

Once I made it up top, via a small trail and a lot of stairs, I found the cobwebby gazebo, where I ate lunch and enjoyed a look around.  While enjoying my view, I was struck with inspiration to find the waterfront within view when I got back to the bottom.  I could tell the general direction I need to go in, so when I got back down to my bike, I was on my way!

About twenty minutes into my ride, I got completely trapped in a massive, maze-like industrial complex.  It's safe to say that it shaved about three years off of my life from sheer inhalation of toxic chemicals and stress.

I've actually been told that about seven years ago, Ansan experienced pink snow due to the air pollution from a local hair dye plant.

Yeah.

As I said, this little adventure took place a few months back, so I can safely say that I haven't grown any extra limbs or gone blind as a result of the air pollution.  I cannot, however, say that I ever successfully made it to the waterfront.

Trainer Man

I was concerned about how the trainer man and I would recover our awkward misunderstanding, but it turns out, all was fine.  He handled it well and greeted me with a goofy smile and the normal questions about if I would actually commit to anaerobic exercise, or if I would just be there for a run.

Late last week, however, I think he finally gave up on me.  You see, the week before, I had been pretty busy so I mostly came in the mornings, to get my run in.  When I finally showed up during his evening shift on the following Monday, he greeted me with a, "Long time no see!"  I agreed and explained about the mornings.  He wasn't having it, though.  "I want to see you every day!"  Well, alright.  Good trainer that he is.  So I mapped out my plan to be there both the next day and the day after, when we could do a legit workout instead of just my run.

As life goes, however, things popped up, and I, once again, could only hit the gym in the mornings.  When I waltzed in on Thursday evening he shook his head as he said a sorrowful, "Nice to meet you."

He no longer offered to help me find CNN (fortunately for my equilibrium), and refrained from making his usual, "You superwoman!" comments as I ran.

It was a sad day.

My New Gym

I'm about a month into my new gym membership.  As the weather started getting colder, I decided my runs would be far more enjoyable indoors.  So I snagged a good deal at a gym on my block, and am quite happy with it!

When I first showed up, the trainer man (English name - Robby) did a full body scan for me on some strange contraption.  He then sat me down and drew pictures to try to explain that I needed to gain a lot of muscle.  A lot.  According to him, something to the tune of 16 pounds of muscle.  Right.

Anyway, that night, he brought me through an ab workout, and it felt... like death.  I was sore for days.  Apparently having a health regiment of running and yoga for a year doesn't do much for your core body strength.  Who would have thought?!

I took a day off after that, and came back the next day for just a run.  He wasn't too happy about that.  He told me that running was good, but I do it too much.  Need to focus on my anaerobic!

Now, I know what he's saying.  But that's just not what I'm going for.  The only reason for this membership was so I could have a place to run in the evenings.  Nonetheless, he continues to try to get me to do some strength training - one fun evening I agreed to do some partner exercises with him.  It was a riot.  But, honestly, not something I have the time or motivation to keep up.

About two weeks ago he decided to make my runs a little more enjoyable and moved me to a treadmill with a tv.  He then found the CNN Travel channel, completely in English -  and you know what?!  That run flew by!

When I was walking home, however, I realized that bouncing around while staring at a small screen a few inches from my face doesn't do good things for my equilibrium.

The best part, however, was not that I unfocused my eyes and made myself dizzy... no.  The best part was on my way out, when I tried to ask what channel he had set the tv to.  Trying to match the broken English he would understand, I said, "Thank you.  TV.  CNN.  What number?"

He heard, "Thank you for your help.  Can I please get your number."

So... he said, "My phone number?"  (With a twinkle in his eye.)

I looked around a bit, and realized that it was better to let things be awkward now than to let the situation snowball.  So I explained that it wasn't his phone number I wanted, but the number of the CNN channel.

The poor guy just smiled, blushed a little, and said, "Oh, my shameful.  My shameful."  Bid me farewell and hid his face as I waited for the incredibly slow elevator to reach my floor.

Personality Test

I decided to teach four of my girl students how to play MASH the other day.  It went over so well, that I decided to try another higher level, conceptual idea.  The pictures below are the drawings they made as I prompted them through a personality test.  Traditionally, this personality test isn't drawn out, but due to limited English skills, I figured this was the best way to do it.

The first step is to have them draw a box. I don't provide any prompting, but ask them to draw their box as specifically as they can.  (This represents how they view themselves... big, small, shiny and polished or old and worn down.)

Next, they draw a ladder. Once again, there's no prompting them beyond reminding them that it can be any size, color, etc. (This represents their friendships, tall and plentiful, strong or weak.)

The third item is to draw a flower/flowers.  (This is their future - colorful and plentiful, specific, or rich.)

Fourth is a horse. (This is their significant other - current or future.)

And last is a storm.(The problems in their life - looming and scary, or off in the distance and exciting.)

Apparently she will date someone with spiky hair and short legs. ;)