My Kids are Rich

So...as of last update, I've been doing some research.

I already knew that my kids came from somewhat wealthy families. I mean, Sue's parents are both dentists, and another one of my kids' parent is a doctor of some sort...so there's money flying around. However, it was today that I found out that Calvert School is actually a real school in the States.

Calvert School is located in MD, and according to their website have been in business for over a century. Kudos to them. However, all schools list their tuition prices on the website for prospective parents. And after looking at it...well...these kids are loaded.

For the American school, the tuition is as follows:

$9,500 for kindergarten

$17,900 for 6-10 year olds

$19,000 for 5th-8th grade

Now...I know that I went to private school, and it wasn't cheap...however..... This is ridiculous. I mean...I think it was maybe around $1,000 total, per year, for me to go to grade school (and that's just me thinking about 5th grade and up). And by the time I left HS it was roughly $10,000. But..almost $20,000 for one kid in the 5th grade? And that's the amount paid every year until the little bastard graduates? Geeze. I know, I know...this school is meant for the rich and famous or what have you.

But think about it. The kids I teach, honestly, remind me of all the other kids I've ever seen. Well, minus some of the designer clothes. But, if what I'm thinking is correct...then the Korean parents are paying just as much if not more. I say more just because Koreans like to swindle eachother out of money

Oh, and not to mention that at the American version of my school, the middle-schoolers have to buy laptops. Really? Do they honestly need one? No. Well, at least I don't think so. No kid should have 'advanced' technology. And yes, advanced technology means a laptop and cellphone. I didn't have one. Didn't need one. They can have a pager. That's what I had and it worked. Hell, I didn't even get a cell phone until senior year of HS, and that was only because my sister left the country for the first time

But as I was saying...

8 and 9 year old kids do not, and I repeat myself, do not need laptops. They have a hard enough time concentrating in class as is, no need for something else to keep their minds wandering off in space. I know how they work. I was one....still am at some points in my life. And hell...I teach them. Korean or not, kids are kids and they're all the same.

At least my kids don't have laptops. If they did, I would confiscate them....maybe keep one or two depending on how nice it is........

HAHAHAHA

Sorry, I know that was random. I was reading the website for the American school, and was going over the guidelines for the uniform appearence of the students. So, after reading to see if their uniform was the same as ours or not (it's not...our's are cooler) I get to this line

Hats may not be worn indoors
Tennis shoes must have shoestrings or Velcro closures (no zippers)
No body piercing or visible tattoos
Underclothing may not be visible under school uniforms or physical education dress.
Shirts MUST be tucked in at all times
Logos of any kind are not permitted on shirts.
Rain/snow boots may not be worn in class.
All socks must be 6-inch crew socks, not tennis or golf socks
Flip-flop, clogs, or sandals are not permitted
Dyed, colored, bleached, or streaked hair is not permitted
Extreme hairstyles are not persmitted (as judged by the administration)

Take notice to posted item number 3. Okay, yes, girls have pierced ears and I'm sure that's ok, but...read on...that's right. Visible tattoos. Now, I'm not sure what sane parent would let their precious little kid get inked...but...this makes me wonder...have they had kids with tattoos?

Right.

I'm kinda happy I'm teaching where I am, because I get to wear jeans and what have you to work everyday. I have a sneaking suspicion that at the actual school, if I were working there...I would have to actually look...'professional'.

Bah to that.

That's all. I have more posts involving my kids writing the greatest things, but I'll leave that for another time. As it is...I'm gonna go and watch more Criminal Minds online.

Bye now.

Mc Sparkly....and....My Kids Write the Greatest Things Revisited

So...I just got done watching the Twilight movie. *sigh* Not as good as the books. Of course, not many movies are. But...I was satisfied none the less. I've been dying to see the movie, seeing that I left the States just before it came out. Let me just say...Robert Pattinson (Cedric Diggary from Harry Potter) as Edward Cullen was nice. I wasn't too pleased with who they casted for the other Cullens though. Alice is totally supposed to be shorter than Bella. But the girl who played Alice wasn't. Oh well, guess they can't get everything right. But...now that I know how the whole Korean movie thing works, I can go to the movies again. Hell it's even a bit cheaper here than back home. Tickets cost about 7000 won, which is roughly $5-6 and even their combos are much cheaper. Like $2 for a pop...where at AMC it's almost $5. So not half bad at all.

Now...on to my kids writing the greatest things.

So, every Monday and Wednesday, I have Bad Kids 1. For homework, I assign them like 7 words to write at least 3 times and then put them in a sentence. Tony...no matter how hard I try always write...'I like...' and what ever the word is. Sure, this can work for some of them, but not all. Which means, he isn't even trying to figure out what the word really means. So...I've been trying to come up with more creative words to ... encourage him to write better sentences.

However...Willy...he writes the greatest things. I'm not sure if he gets help from his parents, or pulls the sentences from the dictionary....but what ever it is, it makes me laugh everytime. I'm fairly certain the kids think that I'm crazy...cause whenever I check his homework...I start laughing. I'll give you a few examples:

-Band: The band dressed up in drag. (Not sure where he got this one from..)

-Sneak: Sneak a smoke (makes me wonder...)

-Cement: Time is the cement of friendship. (I think dictionary...or he's one...philosphical kid)

-Donkey: The man belabored his poor donkey. (dictionary definately)

-Cute: A cute little bugger.

-Alphabet: The alphabet of logic.

When I read these, I knew that I had to share them. They are absolutely great. Sometimes they make teaching just a smidge better. However, then I remember I have to deal with those kids....and everything goes down hill.

In other news...

I think I've caught some sort of child-disease. I don't know what it is. I've been feeling like crap lately, going to bed really early and waking up all tired and what not...and last night...well rather this morning...I woke up with a really sore throat and stuffy nose. Of course, I first wondered how I could have gotten sick. My apt is pretty warm for the most part, and the weather's been alright here.

But then I remembered...I'm surrounded all day by coughing, sneezing, nose-picking little kids. Not to mention that June has some sort of nasty nasal infection that he periodically picks at and wipes on this sleeve, then goes and starts touching my things. And being who I am...I completely forget about it like 3 seconds later, and touch my face and eyes and what not. The portals to illness.

I'm hoping....more like praying...that it's just a late set of allergies. Cause I'm not coughing or wheezing or anything. Yet. However, I can't get sick and miss work. Cause I found out that they dock you....roughly $20 and hour that you're gone, $10 if you have a doctor's note. But here's the best part...they don't dock you for the day you missed. Oh no. They make sure that they can save the most amount of money when cutting your pay...so they dock you for the longest period you work that's on your sched. For me....that's about....7 or so hours. So..if I were to get really sick and miss work...I would be docked...$140, even if I missed a day that I work only 4 hours (today).

Bastards.

So...no getting sick for Katy.

Oh...and I just might be venturing out tomorrow night. Might go hit up the bar that everyone goes to. I figure...I'm gonna be stuck here for a year, might as well socialize. Though I did meet some girls tonight after the movie. They were from...America...somewhere. Maybe Canada....but it was nice to be able to talk about the movie with someone. Of course, I guess that neither of them have completely read the entire series. Which...I had to hold back. Cause one girl was only 100 pages into the second book, which meant neither myself or her friend could explain why we were so depressed while reading it.

But finally! Other Americans besides my co-workers.

Oh...and it's official.

Sue has claimed Jason as her, and they're a couple. Well...as of Tuesday they were. Not too sure now...but onto the Days of My Life....Korea. I told you about last week, how Sue got all territorial over Jason and wouldn't let Kerri near him at all while we were cooking. Well..on Tuesday, they were really friendly. Like...they wouldn't stop touching eachother friendly. And that's a big no-no in the school. You aren't allowed to touch your friends while there....I think they're trying to enforce that whole...keep your hands to yourself rule, but failing miserably at it.

Anyways...

As I was walking out to go teach Kangaroo class, Jason had his arms around Sue and gave her a huge kiss on the neck! Now...even that is like totally taboo in Korea. I've never seen PDA here, aside from holding hands or arm over a shoulder. But...those are normal things that everyone does. I guess if you're two guys who are good friends, it's perfectly acceptable to hold hands while walking down the street...

Yes, crazy I know...

But, Jason totally laid one on her. This, sadly, made me a little giddy, as the going-ons in my classes are the only form of entertainment that I can get. However, on Wednesday...I don't know what happened. Sue was super depressed for most of the day. And Kerri...well she was pleased. Kerri and Jason were being all buddy-buddy while Sue was left all by her lonesome.

Jason...though only 6, is a player in the making. He has the girls strung after him. Not to mention, he seems like he'll be the love 'em leave 'em type, as he moved onto Kerri after maybe...a total of 5 days with Sue.

Of course, Sue does have her pickings of the boys if she wants. I guess that everyone in Dolphin class (all boys taught by Juliene) are madly in love with Sue. Especially Min, June's younger brother. So, if Sue wanted to...she could just move on. Oh well, I'll have to see how this developes. Hopefully once I get cable/internet...I'll stop paying such vivid attention to the romance between 6 year-olds.

I think that's it. It's been an official month since I've been gone *sadness*. Only 11 more to go, then I come back home and try to find a job.

That's it for now.

My Kids write the greatest things....

......I hate IE.


I had the greatest post typed up....

And....

then it was gone.

And I don't feel like re-writing it at the moment...

So now...

You all have to wait.

Blame IE.

I am Forbidden to Speak Korean....

While listening to Harry Potter and complaining about my kids to other teachers...I came up with a brilliant idea. As some of you may know...(if you've read the 5th HP book) Umbridge makes Harry write lines in order to get a message across. And Kate said that she used to make her kids write lines whenever they were bad. So...I decided to come up with a nice little sentence for my kids to write whenever I hear Korean. It is as follows:

I am forbidden to speak Korean while attending ETS and am participating in Katy-Teacher's class.

Now, they have to write that 5 times. Which...may not seem like a lot. But it is a lengthy sentence and much more than they have to write on a daily basis. As it is, I'm fairly certain that Bad Kids 1 hate me. They're the ones that have to write it the most. Today, I even made Tony write it 10 times just cause he started to complain in Korean while he was doing it.

However, I am a little leniant. I try to warn them at least twice before I make them write it. But....that doesn't work. The poor kids. I might give them tendonitis by the time they're done with me. Of course, Esther does want us to be more strict with them. Plus, while they're writing...I get a few blissful moments of silence. It's wonderful.

Oh, and by the by...the flabotomist did puncture my vein. I have a nice bruise growing to prove it. I guess that I wasn't the only one to have this happen to. Juliene said that they did it to her. I guess Koreans can't really see giant American veins. Or something. All I know is that I'm not too happy about the new bruise. Cause there are alot more on my knees and shins. I'm not too sure where they came from. I know that I haven't smacked my legs on anything recently...or at least I don't think I have.

Oh..and little bit about snow. Well it's over. It's now nice and warm. Currently it's 52...and tomorrow it'll be 62! Oh happy days! I'm sorry to all of you still in MI where it's cold and snowy. Wish you were here...where it's warm. XD

Seriously though...don't mean to rub it in. At least on Friday and Saturday...it was about the same as Michigan weather. I didn't like it. I actually had to turn on my floor heater (cause Koreans don't believe in using vent heating) and leave it on for a while before I was happy.

Though, I can say that I'm not missing American food as much as I thought I was going to. I'm happily content on eating ramen, rice, and kimchi. Though...I do miss packaged veggies. Most of the stuff here is normally bought fresh...not frozen. I like the convenience of frozen veggies. I don't have to keep buying them every-other day. But oh well. It doesn't matter anyways, as I haven't bought veggies yet. I'm holding out til my paycheck (on Monday next week) before I do any shopping. Though...I may hold out even longer....cause I think I might just buy a laptop with this paycheck. Not sure though. May even see if I can get some money from family so that I can get one...this way I'll have internet and can stop spending my money on the PC Cafe.

As much as I love it here...it's too damn expensive. Especially with how long I tend to spend here. But...I need internet....have e-mails and what not that need responding to. C'est la vie.

So that is it. Debating if I should go home or not....probably won't for a while...just because I'm running out of DVDs to watch and need to make them last. If any thing...I'll just watch them over and over again and learn Korean that way.

Peace out!

Flabotomists that need to be schooled...

Today I had to go to the hospital. Nothing serious. Just had to get a health statement so that I can get my ARC. What was nice about it was that Linda, a Korean working at the school, took me to the hospital and translated what the people were saying to me. I now have a hospital card for whenever I go in. Also, she gave me her spare train card. Now, all I have to do is hold it over the little card reader and board the train. No more tickets for me. And when it runs out of money, I can choose how much I want to put on it.

Super convenient.

Anyways, so we get to the hospital and what not...and I thought the thing was going to take at least 2 hours. It always does in the states. But not. It was only going to take like 10 minutes.

Awesome.

So we get up to the second floor, where everything is, and the nurses there ask if I'm...on that time of the month. Well..Kate warned me about this before hand. I guess the Korean's don't really know how to translate it...and all that comes out is Men...and blood. So once I heard the word 'Men' I shook my head no. So they handed me a paper cup to pee in. They even marked a line on it so I knew where to fill it to. How nice.

But after the pee test, they had to draw blood. That's cool. I don't mind giving blood every now and then. However, this woman....well I don't know what she was....cause it wasn't a flabotomist. The damn woman punctured my vein! And yes...I know she has to in order to get blood...but what I mean is that she went through!

How do I know this you ask? Well I'll tell you. I've had my blood drawn before. It was simple. And afterwards...I don't bleed. But no. Not this time. Either I've developed a blood clotting disorder...which I highly doubt, or this woman pushed straight through my vein. The second part is what I'm leaning towards.

Anyways...after I got my arm stabbed, I went in for a chest x-ray. Now...I know I'm taller than most Koreans...but the place that this man had the template raised to made me feel short. I had to lift myself up a little more to be able to place my chin on the little indent, then take a deep breath and hold it. Not to mention that my arms were at awkward angles....which made the hole that the nurse put in there only moments before....bleed worse.

After that...we had to go into another building that was still part of the hospital and get my height/weight checked, eye sight and blood pressure done. That was it. And guess what...it only cost me $50 for all that. I know that an x-ray back home would cost $200 alone.

After converting my weight (just finished that...) I've magically gained 6 lbs since I've been here. I think their scale is wrong. For one thing...I know that I haven't gained weight. And if I have it's all been muscle. Cause I don't eat much as is. I also blame it on the fact that I was wearing all of my clothes. They add weight. So the scale lies. However, I haven't grown any. Still 5'5". Oh well.

So...now I've been officially checked out. Now all I have to do, is get my ARC and I'll be able to have cable, internet, and a phone. I still plan on shipping my phone back to the States to have my mom unlock it for me, then send it back so that I can at least have that to text with.

However, I haven't eaten since last night...and I think that I should make my way back up the mountain so that I can make me some foods while watching Dae Jang Geum...seeing that it's the only thing that I can watch until I figure out how to hack my DVD player (I bought one...) or get an account at a DVD place here.

That's All!

Teacher Teacher It's SNOWING!

So, there's a funny rumor going around.

It doesn't snow in Pusan.

HA!

When I knew that I was coming to Pusan, the first thought I had was "Good...it doesn't snow there.." And according to all of my students and the other teachers here, it doesn't. Or make that didn't.

As I was walking to work this morning there were little white puffs floating in the air. At first I thought...'Well..it's snowing..' but then, it doesn't snow in Pusan. So..I had to be wrong. As I continued walking down the mountain there were more of those little white puffs. So...the next thought I had was that someone's pillow must have ripped open and it was the stuff from inside.

But...no...my little dilusions were ruined once one of those puffs hit my face...and melted. I was greatly disappointed to finally accept that it was snowing. So, I made my way into work, trying my best to ignore the snow falling and jamming out to the CD that I was listening to (which I'm fairly certain that the Koreans now think that I'm insane cause I sing to myself).

By the time I got to work, it seemed like it had stopped. Ah. No more snow and I could go back to my blissful way of thinking that no snow ever falls in Pusan. As I was talking with Mike over trivial matters, I brought up that it was snowing while I walked into work. This confused the poor man. It seems that in the year and some that he's been here, there hasn't been snow. He honestly looked like he didn't believe me.

Quickly thereafter the conversation was forgotten and I went about making photocopies of the papers that I needed to pass the time with. That is...until Mike let out an exclaimation. That little lull in the snowing that I experienced was just the prelude to the blizzard that happened after I got into the building. Looking up and out the window at the end of the hall, there was a white wall of snow blowing past. No more bliss for me.

As I was walking down the hall all I could hear was 'Teacher Teacher! It's snowing! Look! Snow! Snow!' The kids were fairly excited to see something that supposedly never happened in the city. So...once I got to class, I had to make a new weather tag....Snowing. That did not make me happy, but pleased my students. Then...I heard clamoring from the other classes. We were going out to the roof so that that kids could play in the snow. I have pictures of this...it was actually kind of cute. The kids were running around trying to catch snowflakes in their mouth.

However, the fun only lasted so long. After about 10 minutes of this, we had to go back in to actually start lessons. That made the kids mad. They wanted to keep playing. But...we had to be the bad guys. Of course, this didn't stop my students from staring longingly out of the window. It got so bad that I actually had to close the blinds to keep them from staring at the snow and allowing them to concentrate on their work.

So...it snows in Pusan.

BUT!

It'll be back to being nice and warm on Monday, so no worries. 57. I can't wait.

Anyways...

Yesterday was cooking day. And the only thing great about that was 1) I got to have 'pancakes' and 2) Jason looked like he was going to kiss Sue. Now, what I mean about 'pancakes' is that it was pancake batter and everything...but they were made in a waffle maker. So...they were waffle-pancakes. It didn't matter. The kids loved them. I have pics of the kids making them and what not too.

But..onto Jason and Sue. I don't know what it is about the girl, but all the boys in the kindergarten class want her. I guess that Min (June's little bro) has a huuuuge crush on Sue, and so does everyone else. Sue and Jason are both in my kindergarten class. But on Thursday...Jason couldn't keep his hands off her. Like, she went over to sit next to him to help him color his Christmas tree decoration, and he just draped his arm over her and kept leaning in and whispering things in her ear. At one point it looked like he was going to kiss her. He even started petting her hair and everything. I found this extremely cute. It seemed that Sue didn't mind this at all. Hell, even during our cooking time, she sat next to Jason, and everytime Kerri (in my class as well) would try to take her seat, Sue would push her away and say something in Korean. I'm assuming it was a territorial issue. I think that Sue has officially claimed Jason as her's.

Of course, that doesn't seem to be detering Min at all. After cooking, while we were in the gym, Min would hang around Sue, give her things and what not. It's positively cute. More love triangles between the kids I teach! Haha.

It's sad that I get entertained by this. That tells you how...uneventful my life really is. Child romance makes me happy. Of course, it does seem to be causing some problems in my class. I think Kerri likes Jason too.

Hmm...

Oh, and in Kangaroo class, there's a new student! She's from Michigan as well. Her English is superb and even speaks like an American. However...she can't read...but she is only 4. Though, at such a young age...I don't know why she's in a class where everyone's like 7. Oh well.

Oh, and I've lost some students and gained new ones. One of which is Sam. He's in Dolphin kindergarten class. Now he's also in my E class which used to be Elliot and June. Elliot's disappeared. Sam definately has ADD. He couldn't concentrate on anything and would periodically drift off into space. It took Eddie (the headmaster) to come and force the kid to read to get through the class.

Also, I've lost John from Bad Kids 2. Instead...now I have Frodo. At least he's properly placed now. Instead of G2 he's in N1. Which seems to be more his level. Harry is still as bad as ever. I really can't stand the kid.

That's about it.

It snowed and I'm not happy about that.

So...until next time!

More news from the land of Korea

So...I left off at moving. Yes. I have. But I've found out that it's terribly boring. I have no entertainment what so ever. No TV, my PS2 won't work (no matter how many converters I try....though I have a new one and will be trying that soon), and no books (I've read everyone that I've brought....and even the one I stole from my sister). So I have to resort to walking into Haeundae to get internet. I've found out, though, how to get cable at my apartment...it's a bit of a hassle.

First...I have to get an ARC (alien registration card). In order to get that...I have to get a doctor's notice. Which means that I have to get myself to a hospital....get checked out by a doctor, pay $50...wait 5 days for the note....then go to Immigrations, do something there...pay them $55, and wait for my card to come in the mail. After that...and only after that...can I have cable. Which means I will be entertainmentless for about a month. Boo. I'm almost tempted, if my PS2 refuses to work, to buy a DVD player. Been searching around for a cheap one. So far $89 is the best that I can do.

Oh...and I'm gonna keep saying it. I hate mosquitoes. They're beasts here. Seriously. They're huge. Monstrous.....abnormal. And resilient. Those things just won't die. No matter what I do. Uhg.

So on to the kids (cause in my life....there's nothing else).

Well so far...they've been good. Of course, now I only have Bad Kids 1 and 2, and CS2. Bad Kids 2 only on Wednesdays...which saves my sanity. Oh, and of course, I have my kindergartners. Who I love. And they love me. Or so they tell me every day. And...I don't know if it's ingrained in the Korean genetics, but I must say, my Panda class loves to give me massages. It's great. All I have to do is sit down and kinda hunch over, and Sue comes running behind me and starts at it. But, because no one can be left out of this....Kerri and Jason must come in a assist. Then Jade, feeling alone, comes along and joins in the fun. I love it! I have my own personal masseuses.

But Bad Kids 1 are getting better. After a few good yellings and threats to write lines, they're pretty good. Plus...I think they've realized that they can't get rid of me. I have them for an hour and a half now. Which means, there's no new teacher to torment after me. And I'm not having any of their bad behavior.

CS2 are always good for me. Though, I did have to make Ryan and Eric write lines today for speaking in Korean. And the only reason why I did this was because we got kinda yelled at today for not punishing our kids for speaking Korean in class. We had a 'teachers meeting' during lunch (which sucked cause I had to miss lunch) and they went over what was going wrong with our classes in general. One was that we didn't punish the kids enough for speaking Korean/forgetting their books and homework. Also, we found out the parents don't think we're being strict enough for them. Esther (the manager that no one really likes) told us how we need to be stricter. It's not America. We can't be slack in yelling at the kids. We need to put a fist down. Well...not literally. Cause then I think the parents wouldn't like that.

So....I don't know where they're getting us not being strict enough from. I know that I personally kill myself yelling at Bad Kids 1 enough. Of course I did so more with 2 and 3 than with 1. But...I guess I'm gonna have to be...more Korean. That's what they want. But....on the other hand, I'll have to be more Korean without actually speaking Korean (we got yelled at about that too.....). Seems like they don't want us to use any Korean in class at all, and a few of us have been caught saying things like baliwa (hurry up), ya (I use this alot...it essentially means you...or hey...), hajima (I think it means come here), yogi (again...me), and I've used some Korean words to yell at the kids with, like shikidah (shut up)...or however you spell it.

Yea...things are starting to settle down now.

Oh, and my new apt...though nice and big with a washing machine....smells funny. I don't know what it is. I've thoroughly cleaned it on Sunday....but the odd smell is persisting. I think it's originating from my bathroom. Not sure though. I'm gonna have to clean it over again and see if that helps out at all or not.

Right....well that's all for now. I need to make the trek back up to my apt, try to force my PS2 to work so that I can be entertained tonight (I'm running out of Harry Potter CDs and batteries), and get some dinner in me.

So...

Fare thee well.