ANOTHER DAY, ANOTHER WON

I rarely get a cold and I hate it. It's tougher than heart surgery. I woke up this morning after a lousy sleep and shortly thereafter I was napping. I really didn't feel like going to work but I did. I hope I didn't pass it along to anyone. I said to Kelly, "I hope that none of the kids catch my cold", and she said, "It's not important". You have to love compassion.

I took out the picture Bingo game for the kindergarten kids to try today. It was reasonable. I just used it to play and not as a teaching tool which it should be used as. I didn't have the energy. And I didn't really care. I just wanted peace and quiet.

I think (or hope) that because I feel so lousy that I decided I hate this job. But I think it might just be the cold. The schedule changed today (again) and now I work until 10:10 twice a week. I wasn't happy with that and told Kelly so. She said that I was still working within the number of hours that I agreed to (30 a week) and she was taking the kindergarten kids away. Actually not really taking them away, but I'll be in there from now on with someone else who will keep them quiet. I could have said no I won't do it and she would have accepted that. I think that as a foreign teacher you have power. I don't want to abuse it though.

The extra class is named, "Intensive Course". It's just some upper middle school and high school students. I was told they were among the elite students in the city. Their English basically sucks. I think that if you pass grammar and memorize words you're among the elite. Personally, I think you should be able to string a sentence or two together. The high school kid in that class goes to high school from 7:45AM to 9PM. I still am shocked when I hear that. One of the middle school girls finishes school at 4 but then goes to another school. I asked what school and what did she take. Another student told me it was "genius school" because she's a genius.

Oh yes, my lunch with Kelly today. Oops, didn't happen. Tomorrow. Yup, I'm sure.

When Kelly asked me if I have a cold and I said yes, she said that maybe it's because I'm lonely and need a woman. I said sure. She said, "what's wrong with me". I said, "you're married". She said, "but you know I want a divorce". I said, "Call me when you're divorced". Funny lady.

My adult student woman told me tonight she wants to speak English like me. I thought that was cute. I told her to catch a cold first. She laughed. There is hope for them when they understand the bad jokes. She's taking her English test for certification on Sunday. You can take it as often as you need because I think you need about a 90% mark on it to pass. But it is critical for getting the good jobs. I hope she does well. If she does pass, she'll probably stop taking the grammar class at the school but she'll need to stay in conversation in order to speak like me.

They don't have checks here as me know them. You don't write a check to someone. What they call checks are what we consider money orders. Weird. I have a bunch of them since payday has passed and I don't have a bank account yet for direct deposit. To be paid in bills only would be too much. The largest note is 10,000 Won and my monthly salary is 2,000,000 Won. Sounds like a lot. It's not. It's a pretty good salary for here, especially with no rent.

I had a half hour between my class that ends at 9 and the start of my new "Intensive" class. I went into Kelly's office on the computer and one of my students (Miss Moon's daughter) was still there. I asked her if she wanted to see a picture of my daughter. She said yes. I went to Leah's website and showed her. She thought you were beautiful. It sounded like she gasped. I wanted to show her my other beautiful daughter but you don't have a real picture on your site Elana. Although I love the pictures of your upcoming vacation.

This past weekend when I was talking with my new pal Robert and told him there was an Outback in Suncheon I wanted to go to but had no one to go with, he said I could go with my adult student. I said that wouldn't be right but he said you'd just be going for conversation. I've been thinking about it and there would be nothing wrong with it. But I'm not going to do it. Just too weird.

Just 11 weeks and 2 days until I make my visit to Texas. Good thing I'm not counting the days but I do wonder sometimes what those stick marks on the wall are.