GIFTS!

Tis the season to give gifts! So I was finally able to bring my teachers' gifts to school (after holding myself back from bringing them too early...I tend to do this because I get so excited about the surprise). Giving Christmas gifts is not very common among teachers, or even in many families, so the teachers were very shocked and literally speechless when they saw that I had brought them a present.

I found these cute x-mas/holiday cloth gift bags that I put each of the gifts in. All my co-teachers, principal and vice-principal all received different things, such as a cute animal beanbag cell phone holder, mittens, or x-mas decorations for their houses/school. My vice-principal actually put the wreath I got him on his desk hanging on one of his computer speakers. haha All the teachers stopped by and were smiling and giving me the thumbs up:) I also included a picture frame & picture of me and the co-teachers...which they all have on their desks. Cute! Of course, I made my special home-made x-mas cards that I make each year, for the teachers, and added the hot chocolate/ snowman poop joke with the marshmallows. I think they understood the joke...but I guess I'll never know!

It was interesting seeing the Korean teachers all try the puppy chow I made and to try and figure out the meaning of the name..."Puppy chow", which I wrote on a sign by the treats. After explaining what "chow" means, one male korean teacher actually backed a lil away from the treats, and looked at me as if hoping it wasn't really puppy food. hehe
For the most part, Koreans do not like sweet treats and they think it is for the kids. However, by the empty bowl of puppy chow that I brought home at the end of the day, I'm pretty sure they all enjoyed the sweets.

I felt like Santa all week because today I brought the puppy chow, yesterday I gave all the x-mas gifts to the teachers, and yesterday I also pulled 10 students names for their lottery. The students who won all came down to the my office and were allowed to choose one prize (first come, first serve) from my bag of mystery gifts. I had lots of fun things....a baseball, frisbees, the puzzle dice that you have to match up all the colors...can't remember the name of it, a small English dictionary, Simpsons' notebooks and pens, an ornament, a few US dollar bills (these were the first to go/ very popular!), cute Korean socks with names of their favorite music bands on them, etc.

So I'm officially done with teaching for the semester!! I feel so accomplished to have gone through so many changes successfully...first real teaching job, first apartment shared with my boyfriend, first time living in a foreign country (and I must say I am very proud of the fact that I came with only three suitcases and no hairdryer/straightener!! :), first time away from family and friends from back at home, and first time paying for all the bills and being an adult! Plus now I am used to the students and staff that I will again be working with in the spring semester, and have so many lessons prepared, creative activity and game ideas, plus am in better control of classroom rules, management, discipline and how to modify lessons according to ability and grade level.

To continue talking about gifts, Keith had four of his co-teachers over for dinner last Friday. It was delicious...we ate this incredible bruschetta that Keith made on his own...he used fresh and cooked tomatoes, onions, garlic, a teenie tiny bit of bq sauce, plus this powerful cheese on top. In addition, he served three types of cheese (that he got from a specialty cheese store in ShinJeju) with crackers as an appetizer. For the main course, we had an olive oil base pasta with tons of vegetables (mushrooms, brocolli, garlic, peppers, onions) and grilled chicken, with garlic bread on the side. He was going to make this otagi pancake for dessert (pancakes that have cinnamon baked and melted on the inside), but of course, we were all so full so he's going to postpone that to a breakfast for the teachers at school one day this week. The whole night was fun and his co-teachers were funny and interesting people! All very young with a great sense of humor, and we all had a lot to talk about. It was nice that they could see our new floor table setup, as well as all the x-mas decorations our wonderful family sent us from home. Well, since Koreans love to give gifts whenever you do something nice, and because it's a tradition to bring a gift when you visit a home for the first time, Keith's co-teachers brought us a huge, warm, soft comforter for our bed, as well as a huge box of cookies! The funny thing is that I felt like that was the one thing we still needed for our apartment since it's getting colder and to make our bed more comfortable. It was like they read my mind! So with our new heating pad and new soft, warm comforter, it's very very difficult to get up out of bed and out into the cold wind to go to school in the morning!

Keith also had gotten a gift for his kickboxing instructor. He got him hallabong, which is a type of tangerine/ grapefruit. It's huge, very very delicious and also very expensive. The very next day, his instructor gave him a gift in return...a Muay Thai kickboxing shirt that he had received in Thailand during a match. What a cool gift to get! Such kind people here. Another funny thing I have noticed is that I feel like every single time I am doing something nice for someone, I randomly see a kind gesture in return from someone else. For example, when I was buying the lottery gifts for my students at a toy/arts/school supply store, the owner gave me a big discount. And when I bought a treat for one of my co-teachers one day at a Family Mart, the owner gave me a Christmas pin. Also, not sure if I already mentioned this in an earlier blog, but when I was buying all the food for when I was having my co-teachers over, I was going to take a cab back to our apartment, but instead a random generous lady (also a teacher) who spotted me in the grocery store (and who had sometime seen me before at our apartment area) insisted on waiting for me to finish my shopping and then drive me back to our apartment. I haven't seen her since, but maybe she's seen me?? lol

Another lovely gift is those randomly given on some cereal boxes. We have gotten everything from lil fleece blankets (yes blankets!), bowls, spoons, mugs and tea cups, lil garbage bags, plates, pancake flattener, to dish soap and tissue paper! It is so funny and we laugh every time because these large items are just stuck onto one side of the box. So sometimes we have to decide whether we are choosing the cereal we prefer or the gift that's on the cereal box! I wish we had known about these gifts before stocking our shelves with kitchenware!

Also want to mention some winter activities we have found while we have this cold weather....sledding, snowball fights, making snowmen and snowangels; an indoor fitness center near our apartment that has swimming pools, a basketball court, an indoor gym with treadmills, bikes, weight machines, free weights and a room to do abs, yoga, etc.; a new invented sport by our neighbor Paul, called Purling (a cross between curling and putting. You buy green putting turf (very inexpensive, maybe 10,000 won/ $10, a putter, and about 18 golf balls and color half of them different colors to make two teams. The closest ball to the hole gets a point, as well as the other two that are closest to the hole, and a match is when you reach 5 points on your team, which means your team wins the game. Multiple games are played with nine shots hit for each game by each player until one reaches 5, and 2 matches won out of 3 means you are the winner. This will most likely be a new indoor game that we'll play at each other's apartments until we can play outside again on the beach! :)



I was just informed as we speak that today is officially a red bean day. This means that Koreans will eat red bean soup, and other food/treats that have red bean cooked into it. It is a special day that happens each December 22nd to scare the bad spirits away. Very interesting. I wonder if Mrs. Hyun is saying this to encourage me to go each the red bean soup for lunch. Unfortunately, I have been having less and less of an appetite to eat Korean-style food. So for the last few days of lunch, I have either brought some food or snacks or go to lunch but nibble on everything. I am hoping this is just a phase. Some other EPIK teachers have gone through this at different times of the semester also...trying to get used to the food or taking a break and eating more western food. Luckily, Keith has not had a problem with his appetite. hehe He's always hungry for more pork and spicy food!

Good news, just had lunch and ate a delicious bowl of Indian curry (chicken with vegetables and rice)= probably my favorite lunch we have here! Hooray, it's another good day. Happy red bean day!