my first not-so-perfect day

Today is the first day I've not actually felt super-happy and content at the end of the day. Not sure why. I'm really tired, for one. It's 10:42pm. Last night I went to sleep about 11:00, and woke up at 6:00, and it was also the first time I woke up tired. Nonetheless, I forced myself out of bed to go for a jalk (in the rain, no less), which was satisfying. Today's language class was kinda frustrating. The first two hours are grammar and she uses SOME English to explain things to us, but the second half are hardcore conversation lessons immersion-style. For the first two days, I found this really frustrating because we were only learning about four phrases per day. Today I found this frustrating because she attempted to teach us thirty vocabulary words in a day, by showing a picture card and saying the word. I am just a terrible auditory learner, so by the end of the word I've already forgotten it. The only way for me to learn vocabulary is to write it and to sit down and say it over and over again. If I had spent those two hours studying indepedently, I would definitely know all of those words by the end, but instead, I don't. I DO need to hear her say the words to help my pronunciation, but just saying them and looking at cards is not how I learn best. I can't imagine anyone does. Meh. Also, I'm frustrated with myself because I didn't really study tonight or last night.

Let's back-track. Yesterday was... okay, if I remember correctly. Classes were a little frustrating, but the afternoon workshop was amazing! It was our first time talking about actual lesson planning, and it got me REALLY excited thinking about having a class of my own. One of the current ETAs talked about her way of discipline, drawing on soccer and giving yellow and red cards, which sounds awesome. I'm definitely going to do that if I end up teaching all boys. Last night I went to a Key Club (Korean English club) meeting, and it was a lot of fun. We sat in groups and discussed the topic of the day, which happened to be "Superhoeroes and what makes a genuine hero." They were all very nice, shy about speaking English, but cool. Then I came back and I think just went to sleep, or something.

I already mentioned this morning... I brought my digital camera with me on the jog, but the weather was gross, so I didn't take many pictures, and throughout the day I just forgot. But I intend to bring it tomorrow and put together a photo-essay for you. Meals were uneventful, I think. I took a picture of breakfast, so I'll put it in the photo-essay. Class was as I said. Then we had a really bad workshop with some British guy who's supposed to be a hotshot and big name in Korean education, but he bored me to tears. We did, however, get our ETA Teaching Manual, which is cool! I read almost the entire thing during the boring presentation. Ended up going out with another guy, Tim, for dinner-- Mandu (dumplings) and donuts from Dunkin Donuts. It was tasty. He's a gay Women's Studies major, and a cool guy. Then I had to go to Calligraphy. I signed up for it because I wanted to sign up for an extracurricular activity, and I paid the $28, but now I really don't want to go. It was kinda fun, but two hours long, so boring. I spend so much time sitting in class already, that I kinda wish I could use the time to study. Also, the Korean movie nights are Wednesdays, same as calligraphy, which sucks. There's only three more classes, but I don't really want to go back. Oh well.

So yeah. It's now eleven, and I still haven't studied. I think I'm going to start running every other day, so I can use some of the morning time for studying (although it's difficult to do with no place to be alone). That will slow my weight loss, yes, but it's a necessity, and I think running four mornings a week will still be good for me. Yuck, I feel like I'm being bitten by mosquitoes. My roommate complained of it the last two nights, but I hadn't noticed it. I woke up this morning with a couple bumps that might be bites, and now just sitting here I'm really itchy. I could shower, which might make me feel better, and I might put bug spray on before I go to bed.

I need to go shopping tomorrow for sure, because I need to do laundry soon. I also need shampoo and stuff. So yeah, I'm still having a good time. I'm just itchy.