Korean kids are ruthless.

I was teaching class the other day and one of the kids farted. It was pretty bad. The entire class spent an entire two minutes blaming each other. They even blamed me, at which point I said that all of them farted and it doesn't really matter cause they all stink anyway. Well, after the two minutes of heated debate, the class decided that it must have been Chris, one of my students, that actually farted. At this point, Chris starts crying. Not bawling in the middle of class, but the minimal tear, head down on the desk crying. Of course, I'm trying to get the class back on task and reading, but of course, one of the kids has to point out the fact that Chris is crying, so all of the other kids have to try and get a better look to see if he is actually crying. I guess it's a lesson learned. Next time this happens, I'll just blame it on the air conditioner or something.

I've decided to take the TOPIK.

The TOPIK is the Test of Proficiency in Korean. I always say that I'm going to start studying Korean more, but it has been difficult. I have been wading through my books and trying to study for the past year. To be honest, I feel like that I have learned some stuff, but at the same time, I probably don't know as much as I could. My studies have been unguided and lack structure. For the most part, I've only been studying things that I thought were useful or things that I think are really funny. As a result, I don't know much vocabulary and I can say some pretty dumb sentences. Studying for the TOPIK should structure my studies more and give me direction. Now only if I could somehow give the rest of my life some structure and direction.

Noona cares for me.

I had dinner with my 누나 last night. Technically, she's my old co-teacher from last year, but I refer to her fondly by the Korean title for older sister. We went out to celebrate me getting back to Korea and getting my first paycheck. It was nice and all that. However, the thing that struck me the most though, was that after dinner, she took me to Home Plus and bought me a bunch of strawberries and some food to eat because she was worried that all I eat is instant ramen and pizza. I told her that I didn't need it, but she insisted anyway. It's so once knowing that someone cares.

Sometimes I feel bad about it.

I have been the most unproductive person on the face of the planet this week. I manage to stay in bed until 1:00PM everyday doing nothing. My room is slowly getting messier and messier. I am enjoying myself, but I really feel bad about it sometimes. The weekend is here though, so it's not like I'll manage to anything productive in the next three days, but on Monday, I swear I'll wake up early and get something accomplished.

What I learned in Korean today:

Hangul/Romanization

• 핸드폰 번호 주세요/haen-du-pon beon-ho joo-sae-yo.

Translation

• Lemme get those digits.

I'm actually surprised I didn't already know this.

My apartment is still coming together.

It has been a slow but sure process. It really is starting to look like a place where someone lives. When I first got here, the only thing in the place was a mattress, a pillow, and some sheets. I held up on buying some stuff since I didn't have too much money. I just got paid on Monday though, and now I'm spending money like I don't give a fuck. I haven't done much in terms of furniture, but I managed to buy a lot of other stuff. I bought some cooking supplies, dishes, and a dish rack last night. I'm considering buying a bigger bed off craigslist, but that will have to wait for now.

Things I learned at a Korean casino:

• It's probably not the best idea to arrive at 4:00AM on a Saturday.
• How to play 3-Card Poker
• You can lose a lot of money really fast playing 3-Card Poker
• That 100,000 won in 500 won coins is pretty heavy.
• There are a lot of different Asians in Korea and they all like to gamble.
• It's easier to get drinks at Korean casino than it is in Vegas.
• I probably shouldn't gamble for a while.

It's been a good week.

I finally got reimbursed for my flight to Korea, so now I don't have to worry about money [at least for a little while].  On top of that, I picked up a cell phone today.  It's great since I don't have to make the ten minute walk to the closest pay phone.  The only thing between me and the weekend are the two classes I have today and the two that I have tomorrow.  If I can get through these classes without a problem, I'll be able to enjoy my weekend in peace.

Is this serendipity?

I've decided that I'm in love with the girl that works at the Baskin Robbins by my apartment.  There's no real reason, but that's just how it is.  Anyway, I took an umbrella from my classroom the other day and since it's raining today, I took my first real look at it.  It's pink and it is designed with a lot of desserts, but I just realized today that it's actually an umbrella from Baskin Robbins.  It's almost as if this girl is protecting me from the radioactive rain that's falling from the sky.

It's nice to be loved unconditionally.

I dropped by my old school over the weekend to drop by and see my old co-workers.  I arrived right before classes ended and while I was walking through the halls, classes pointed out their windows and started screaming my name.  It was refreshing to see that the students remembered me and everything.  One of the students even asked me if I liked chicken (which I someone used to ask me once a week when I worked at Yeonhak) and I almost teared up.  All in all, I'm pretty glad that I've affected their lives somehow and that I'll be remembered by a few hundred Korean kids.

I started watching Korean dramas again.

I finally have some free time, so I decided to start watching dramas again. Currently, I'm watching Dream High [드림 하이]. It was one of the highest ranking ones so I just decided that I would watch it. It might be the fact that IU is in it, or that there's so much song and dance, but I find it to be pretty enjoyable. I finished episodes 1-8 over the weekend and I'm hoping to finish by the end of next week. I don't have a TV, or anything else to do with all my free time, so I'll probably watch a few more dramas in the coming months.