Bori taught me an interesting fact last night concerning Koreans – she said that their mouth is getting smaller!
Have you ever noticed how most Asian people’s jaw is always bigger than most Occidental people’s jaw? Well, it’s because Asian food requires more chewing!
But with fast-food becoming more and more popular in Korea, kids chew less so the overall shape of their chin/jaw is getting smaller! Isn’t that fascinating?!
Ok so about work. Got my killer classroom and everything’s just perfect.
I had a great time teaching ABC – the kids are very funny and easy to entertain so I can act like a total child and it makes them laugh. We worked on A, B and C. They don’t know much but one little girl had sparkles in hey eyes as she pointed to her eraser and said “Pigggggggg”!
They only had Korean names so I put a bunch of English names on the board and ended up with a Jennifer, a Sandy and a Harry (yup just 3 students in my class!) I also taught them how to spell their new name, and the alphabet. They had to write within the lines and everything… it sooooo made me realize how I don’t even write correctly!
Then I had a 2 hour-break… much needed because I had been crazed all day and I was tired and hungry.
The break doesn’t suck. As for the 7:30pm class, there are 3 adorable boys.
One of them is really good in English and also quite sensitive. He played some Kenny G on his ipod – which is very surprising for a 10 year-old kid. Kenny G is this great (and romantic) saxophonist whose music is on the soundtrack of “Dying young” (you oughta watch that movie if you haven’t!)
As for my Friday classes, they are good too! They talk a lot, I don’t seem to have any trouble makers and I was lucky enough to get again one class I had last semester – 5 girls, pretty smart and we have a lot of fun together!
So Friday was alright but it’s pretty crowded in the teachers’ room since the teachers from TPC moved to our building.
At night we went for sushi (I know, I know it’s an obsession! But at least it isn’t junk food!!) while waiting for Catherine, the newbie, to be done teaching. Kelly counld't come because her family thinks she's too fat. I'll explain that one later, it's really upsetting. At 10pm we headed to Paganini, the really cool jazz lounge near Hongdae.
Christine is friends with the owner so even if it was Friday night, we got the best table in the place : ) He also gave each of us a Jazz CD, how sweet is that?! I actually do enjoy having friends that have connexions!
For example when we go out dancing, we always get the best table and free drinks all night. Everyone knows us and that’s all thanks to Erin’s boyfriend, who’s a Korean actor (oh yessssss!! ;), and Erika’s friends, who also are in the show business.
Anyway. We had wine and pina coladas and chatted for a while. It’s a nice lounge. Catherine was really quiet but we dragged her to a noraebang (karaoke bar). We had a blast there – especially when Rachelle sang her rendition of Sweet Child of mine!!! Oh man!!! She totally sounded like Guns N Roses!!!
We tried getting Catherine to sing but she wouldn’t. I think she’s more the introverted type and that’s alright. Or… we just really scared her hehe
After that it was getting late and everyone went home. Except me and Chris – we went to Andrew’s going away party. Andrew is an Irish staff member who’s been working at school for a couple of years.
They were in a lousy bar - the occidental guys on one side, and the Korean girls on the other. Not a big deal but it struck me as I walked in. Anyway, everyone was having fun I guess and Andrew was so drunk.
As usual Janie was hilarious and we joked around telling each other “wo ai ni” (I love you) because Andrew is moving to Taiwan and he’s learning Chinese. She kept asking people with her Korean accent “A you bizi?!” (are you busy) whenever she wanted to chink glasses. And she almost fell off her chair "high-fiving” me : ) Come on Sharon!
I had a really intense conversation with Bori about fat people in Korea. This girl is really cool and I realized that we do get to know people better over a beer or two. It’s sad, but true.
As for fat people… they’re doomed. The mentality here is: if you’re fat, you must (so you CAN) lose weight. The society cares a great deal about looks and since their industry is people-oriented, pretty people have better chances of getting hired.
The school’s big shots were also there and it’s always fun to hang out with them. Young A, the new president, is really nice and adorable! In a word, we had a good night and I went to bed at 4am. Just like back in college. Do I really have to grow up?
Got a dentist appointment on Saturday at 11am. I think my old filling let bacteria in and I bet I’ll need a root canal treatment. I can feel it. Grrrrrrrrrr what’s up with my teeth?!
