Happy Halloween!

Monday is Halloween. That means that Tuesday is November. That means that my scheduled departure date in 4 months away. Psych! I've been asked to stay until May. I probably will. I have a meeting with my boss tomorrow to discuss it. We had our Halloween party on Friday. It was pretty fun. The kids were pretty cute. Pictures to follow. We had staff beers after work. That was fun. The Korean ladies are hilarious with a little beer in them. Saturday I played screen golf with some giant boys. I did not win. Unless high score wins, in which case I destroyed them. Three things that I hate about Korea are 1. No Reeses Cups. 2. No tampons. 3. Squat toilets. That's all. I hope you're doing well. Since I'm probably staying until May, you have that much more time to plan your visit to see me!!
Strike that. I seem to have lost the pictures. Lame. But I promise, they were all super cute. I was wearing a gold cape. That was fun for me.

Breaking my heart

Today was Peter's birthday. I was explaining to Robot Class that we were going to sing to him. Mark starts yelling ANGRY BIRTHDAY TO YOU! ANGRY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!  Etc... As I'm talking to him about this (cracking up and trying to be serious), he stops me and the following conversation happens::

MARKMAN: Teacher, when you go to America?
Me: In four months.
MM: Teacher, how old am I when you go to America?
Me: (Keep in mind that he will turn 7 in January, but will not move to King Class until March-when the new school year begins) Mark, I will go to America when you go to King Class.
MM: TEACHER! NO!! PLEASE DON'T GO TO AMERICA!
And Giant hug. The hug was weird because Mark does not like to to be touched, nor does initiate hugs with us that often.

Broke my heart.

Annoying

Imagine this. It's almost quiet in the class. The kids are working hard(ish) on their worksheets. Suddenly, they remember that they're babies who have no coordination whatsoever. And the ball drops. Except its not a ball. Its pencils. I think on average, each student drops their pencil seventy five thousand times a day. The thing is, its not just the sound thats annoying. Its the result of the drop. There are three scenarios following a pencil drop. The least likely is the student picks up the pencil and continues to work. The next option is I hear "Teacher, me pencil no" coupled with a shrug and getting up to get a new pencil. However, the most common effect of a pencil drop is "Teacher! Me pencil is broken. Helpuh me please." Why do they need help? Because Korean pencil sharpeners are stupid. I'm going to try to explain. There is a plate with a hole in it and two levers at the top. In order to sharpen the pencil, you pull the plate forward until it locks. Then you move the levers to open the pencil hole. You insert the pencil, sharpen it, move the levers to release the pencil, and you're set. Here's the thing. Most of the babies are unable to complete this task by themselves. The kids who can actually move the plate and insert the pencil either rotate the sharpener the wrong way, or it takes them about eighty five minutes to sharpen the pencil. IF they are successful, there is then a fifty percent chance of them immediately dropping the pencil again.

October is well on its way. Its fall here. I have some potentially fun and very Korean-oriented weekends lined up, but I'll wait til they are completed to share that.

We had Sports Day Wednesday. The kids had a great time. I had a lot of fun. Pictures to follow.

Robot Class continues to get smarter and smarter and rowdier and rowdier. They're entirely too smart for their own good. It never ceases to amaze me: So much personality in such little people. I love my one on one time and conversations I have with Robots and Puppies, but the classes make me a little crazy.

Still no new plans for the future. Still no facebook. Still very happy here. I'm trying to make the most of my time. I think I am. I'm currently planning(ish) for the following events. Christmas. March-May. June-August/September. September-Retirement. Always open to suggestions.

Super happy Tom. Ring toss.

Little Babies. Big Ball

Throwing balls to the other side. Whoever has less, wins.

All the babies. Stretching to start the day.

Jason (King Class) reaching during Ring Toss.

MarkMan. Ring Toss.

Sally. Ring Toss.

Danimal. Ring Toss. (Daniel. I call him Danimal when his temper gets the best of him and I really really need him to stop ninjaing people and smile.)

Amy. Ring Toss.

Rachel (King Class) Ring Toss. Her mom told her to write neater. So she erases EVERY SINGLE LETTER at least once and re-writes it. The result? Shes about four thousand pages behind her classmates.

Happy fall! Trick-or-Treat.