Thanksgiving in Korea

It's already December, and I haven't even told you about our Thanksgiving. I really have no excuse other than the fact that the cold, dark weather has made me lethargic.

Our actual Thanksgiving Day was quite uneventful since we had to go to work. I went to a local bakery and bought a walnut pie, the closest I thought we'd get to a pecan pie. I brought it to school and shared it with our coworkers. They didn't really understand why I was going around handing out pie to everyone, but it still made it feel a little more like Thanksgiving. Since we had to work, we decided we would really celebrate on Saturday with a home-cooked meal and Christmas decorations.

We went to E-mart and bought as many Christmas decorations as we could find. It was so fun to be able to decide how we were going to decorate our little home. I was pleasantly surprised with how much we were able to get, considering I thought there wouldn't be many Christmasy things when we moved to Korea. They don't celebrate it as big as Americans do, but the windows of businesses have lights and trees. Christmas music can be heard from several coffee shops and stores. It definitely helps it feel more at home.

Anyways, Teaven made dinner, while I went back to E-mart to exchange the Christmas lights we had just bought. I was nervous as I approached the counter and tried to explain to them that the lights didn't work. Thankfully, it was much easier than I expected. They didn't even need to see my receipt! To this day I am still amazed at how trusting Koreans are. I think America could learn a thing or two.

The dinner was delicious. Steak, corn and broccoli.

Ashlee's box got here just in time for us to decorate for Christmas! 

A Day in the Life of an ESL Teacher

I can't believe it's December already. I have been wanting to write so many blogs, but I just haven't done it yet. So, today I will start.

I've been wanting to tell you all some things that my students say that make me laugh so hard, so I've been keeping a little post it that I take with me to each class. It says things like "A nightengale's sister is a night club." Or some of the students telling me that Teaven had a friend who was an alien. Or one of my favorites, I came into class, and my students asked me if I knew that Teaven had another wife in America. I could see their little smirks. They were trying so hard not to laugh, so I played along. Apparently, her name is Sally. haha. However, last week, I had an experience that tops everything on that little post it.

My 7 o'clock class is filled with middle school boys who act just like middle school boys. Towards the end of class, one of those boys says, "Teacher, do you and Teaven teacher kiss?"
I replied, "What?" and since I wanted that to end quickly, I said, "Of course, we're married."
Much to my surprise, the next question out of his mouth, "You and Teaven teacher deep kiss?"
So, I tried to avoid answering that question by pretending I didn't know what he was talking about. "What? What's a deep kiss?"
Then, all the other boys entered the conversation by sticking their tongues out and wiggling them around, and I heard many responses like, "You know, when you swallow their tongue." or "When the tongues are fighting."I was laughing very hard, and as they started to persist, I felt that dreaded heat coming into my cheeks. In my head, I begged the heat to stop, but before I knew it, I heard "Teacher, you're red! Your ears are red!" If you have ever blushed before, you should know what happens when someone points it out, it gets even redder. I told them that the only reason I was getting redder is because they were talking about it. We were all laughing, but I think I learned my lesson. Ignore dumb questions and keep with the lesson. lol