A third of the way done. This is amazing.
I guess this is where I'm supposed to eat crow, because my gifts were, for the most part, really well-received. I'm not going to. The best thing I did, I think, was to buy a box set of 12 little bottles of fruit drink and bring in one for each teacher. I even went the extra mile and tied a piece of ribbon around the top of them. I knew I was doing the right thing when I saw another teacher passing out the exact same thing, sans cutesy ribbon. They seemed surprised, and appreciative. I don't mind spending $8 total on the teachers, because I actually interact with them on a semi-regular basis, if only usually with enthusiastic "Good morning!"s. The principal was pleasantly surprised with being given his gift. I'm not sure what he thought when he saw that it was socks, because I didn't wait for him to open it. I just said "Have a nice Chuseok," in Korean, then walked out of the office, because he always overestimates my Korean abilities. Vice principal, who is new and just came to our school a week ago, was also surprised and said thank you. I actually got co-teacher the most expensive thing... a big box of nice cookies from the bakery, because I interact with her and like her the most. So, perplexingly, she went and gave a few cookies to all the other teachers, but not me. Weird that she's giving away my gift, and I didn't get any cookies out of it. wtf, right? Oh, Korea. So I'm glad they appreciated it. And I don't really care that I didn't get any Chuseok presents, because it's better to give than receive. But I don't really get it, and I'm still out $35 before even getting paid once. Thanks a lot, stupid holiday.
I had a relatively okay day. Got a lot of lesson planning done in the morning, taught three out of my four classes, then just zonked. I was getting tired before lunch, then ate a big bowl of rice salad hoping it would give me energy, but actually I just collapsed on a table and slept for almost forty-five minutes. I'm not sure what was wrong with me. I got 7 hours of good sleep last night, but still, I was just wrecked. This morning when I called my Mom I got some bad news... my stepfather, who's living and working in Alabama, had a heart attack, so she was on her way up to see him. He's alive and apparently okay, but I guess it was pretty bad. I felt terrible for my Mom, and it made me wish I wasn't so far away. But there wasn't anything I could really do except say I'd call her back in the morning.
Tonight I tried to take my mind off of things by going to Noraebang (singing room) with Tim, and we had a pretty nice time. I sang 4 Korean songs and an English one (Mariah Carey: "Always Be My Baby"). But that's about all of my news, I think. I'm currently fighting the urge to buy a "Harvest Cake Donut," which sounds suspiciously healthy, but obviously isn't. Wish me luck on that front. Oh, I finished booked #41 and got #42 from Tim, so I'm on my way.
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