Cellllllebrate good times COME ON

So this blog entry is about a week late, but it's happening on the correct day anyway. I went out of town last weekend, and then just never got around to making up the entry during the week, but here I am. I really have stuck to my resolution about doing all my lesson planning at school--I didn't spend a single minute of my time at home this week working on a lesson plan, which was nice, in some ways. It has led to me having far more free time at home than I'm used to. 

And that could have been problematic. If I hadn't been strapped for cash, I might have wasted it on snacks (and thus ruined my diet) or other diversions, but instead... I turned into a housewife. My weekday evenings this week were actually really pleasant. I came home around 4 or 5, went jogging, cooled down, took a shower, got dressed, and then... helped out around the house until host Mom came home to fix dinner. Originally it started on Monday with me moving their laundry so that I could do my own. (We dry on racks, so I had to fold what was on the racks and put what was in the washer onto the racks so that I could do my load.) After that, I decided to tackle the sinkful of dishes, which was pretty unpleasant, let me tell you, with only freezing water. But host mom came home and was utterly thrilled, more enthusiastically thankful than I'd expected, so I felt good. She looked at me doing the dishes and exclaimed: "Oh! Housewife!" Also, in a cute way, host sister (who's suddenly grown to love me unconditionally), helped me with the laundry and dishes sometimes. I'm not sure how efficient two people standing at the sink and washing dishes with only one wash pad and only one faucet is, but I forced myself to view it in a "oh, how cute" way, rather than a "Man, I could get this done a lot faster without your interference, miniature human!" It helped me fill my evening, helped ingratiate me with host family, and made me feel productive and thus kept me from screwing off or snacking. Then we ate dinner and I watched a Korean TV show (with subtitles!) on MySoju (check it out!) and headed off to bed early. Teaching really is exhausting, so I've had no problem falling into bed before eleven all week. 

Speaking of teaching, it's going surprisingly well. Perhaps, because I'm so on top of lesson planning, it just seems less stressful overall. But last week I was complaining about dreading going to Noan because my favorite students, the third graders, had all graduated, and the second graders had mostly terrified and terrorized me last semester. But there must have been some magic in Spring vacation, because they came back well-behaved and (relative to last year) serious students. Really. I couldn't believe it either, but like last year's third graders, they shut up when I tell them to shut up. Sometimes, they even police themselves and pre-emptively tell their classmates to shut up when I start to get an irritated expression on my face. It's the wonderfullest thing ever. The 2nd graders (who used to be the 1st graders) are still really quiet, same as last year. The new 1st graders are really smart and funny, but rowdy, so they'll be the draining class, but that's fine. Because our incoming class was so small, there's only one class of 1st graders this year, which is great. I only teach 9 classes at Noan, which is less than last year, and my schedule's really nice and convenient for me, so I have no complaints. The rest of this semester should be a (relative) breeze. 

At Dongkang the situation is pretty much the same as always. I love the third graders (who last year were the 2nd graders I loved), and they too have become more serious about school. The second and first graders are okay, nothing too special (with a few exceptions), but because my co-teacher's always in the room, I don't have to worry about discipline problems. 

I only really have one thing to worry about this semester, and that's the DEMONSTRATION CLASS I AGREED TO TEACH IN FRONT OF A BAZILLION SUPERVISORS AND TEACHERS. Apparently Naju needed to have a demonstration English class for all the provincial supervisors and teachers to observe, but none of the Naju English teachers volunteered. So... they pressured my co-teacher, because she's the youngest, apparently. And she really really didn't want to do it, but when your boss and the provincial board ask you to do something, I guess you agree. She asked me if I minded, and I guess I don't, really. I mean, it'll make me nervous, and it'll be a little more work (creating a super-elaborate lesson plan), but I'm just going to do my thing. It's highly unlikely that I'll get fired, no matter what happens, and at least it'll be with 3rd grade, who I can count on (guilt into) behaving well for at least one day. I'll be glad when it's over, but whatever. 

Last weekend I went with Tim and Meghan to Daejeon/Nonsan to visit Amy, and it was relatively nice. We watched a movie, Donnie Darko (gross), went to a pizza place (I had the salad bar, and let me tell you, it wasn't remarkable), and drank. Overall, an accomplished weekend. I'm sure there were other funny and quirky things that happened this week, but they obviously weren't too important. 

Oh, one thing. We had a teacher dinner on Thursday, which actually ended up being at a somewhat delicious vegetarian buffet restaurant, so I was able to construct my first salad from raw fresh vegetables that I've had since coming to Korea. But anyway, most of the teachers got drunk, so it was up to my school crush (who recently got married, not sure if I mentioned that) to drive me home. It was a little awkward, as always. I tried to make conversation, he tried to talk about only the Bible, but by the time we got to my house it was going okay. I went upstairs, put on my workout clothes, and headed out to work off the two tiny pieces of gourmet vegetarian pizza I'd eaten. I also had to run to the corner store to pick up a little pair of socks to wear with a dress on Friday. I was still in my workout shorts, so of course, I run into school crush, who lives in my town but who I've never EVER run into in town before in 8 months. Lucky me. I awkwardly said hi, and he awkwardly asked me if I wanted White Day candy. (Remember this? Where the man returns the candy the girl gave him on Valentine's Day?) 

I joked and said "Haha, yes, since I don't have a boyfriend," and then proceeded to the checkout to pay for my socks. But then he was there, at the counter, so I said goodbye. But as I turned to leave, he grabbed my arm and sort of held out this elaborate bouquet of lollipops toward me. I didn't know if he was giving it to me, or wordlessly asking my opinion on it as a White Day gift FOR HIS WIFE, so I just sort of looked helpless until he foisted it on me. I said an embarrassed thank you and fled. Too bad he didn't decide to flirt me so awkwardly and obviously while he was UNMARRIED. (Why does this always happen to me?) Anyway, I got some candies from my students, but it was a little disappointing... I didn't get ANY chocolate. I'd been good on my diet (soooo good) for two straight weeks that I was enthusiastically looking forward to having a little chocolate on White Day, but noooooo, just lollipops and hard candy. Amy and I both lamented this--her boyfriend also gave her huge lollipops--so we agreed to go buy ourselves some chocolate, which I did.  

In the most important news of the week, I'm tentatively declaring SPRING IS HERE!!! For the entire last week I've been jogging while the sun's up... in shorts and a t-shirt, because the weather has been at least 60! And looking at the 5 day forecast is just as promising. 5 suns, everyday over 60, with Wednesday supposedly topping out at a toasty 68! It'll be like Florida, except in the 30s in the morning and at night. :) I'm trying not to get too excited, as Korean people keep warning me about the changey-ability of the weather in Spring, especially in March, but they won't daunt me. Jogging in a t-shirt and shorts is SO much better than sweatsuit, so I'll enjoy it while it lasts (which is hopefully until summer).