Yesterday at work, I did some research for my upcoming Europe trip. I've actually been doing a lot of that recently. Despite my distractions, I am very far ahead in work. In fact, I am so nice and benevolent I've even made lesson plans for all of October for the new girl. Lucky duck...
Anyway, I am getting more and more excited about Europe by the day! I think I'll have to do a separate post about all the possible plans that are in the works right now... there's just too many to put in this blog!
My classes were alright, still really enjoying my 2SAP being down to 5 of the best kids. My youngest, newest English speakers are still really infuriating me with their constant chatter and energy. Every day I leave that class, I thank my lucky stars that I did not get stuck teaching preschool! Yikes! I can't handle it....
In several of my other classes, I managed to get a lot of photos taken of my kids. I am almost done, actually! Now, I've got to start the editing process. Mostly it will just be trying to arrange the photos by class, etc. But, it will still be a process.
In my last class, Leap High, Jasmine made my day. She told me, and I quote... "You are the best teacher of all the teachers I've ever had! You are so kind!" I suspected that she wanted something from me, but after some interrogation, I have determined that she was being sincere. And it made me so happy! I've been getting a lot of warm fuzzies from my kids lately. I think all of them have shown genuine disappointment when I mention that they will be getting a new teacher in October. It's really sweet, and it makes me both happy to have known them and impacted them, and very sad to leave them. If the school was different, I would stay and be honored to keep teaching (most) of these kiddos. However, I can't handle SLP much longer....
After work, Ryan (the new teacher who took Sean's place) and I decided to go to dinner in Itaewon. Courtney and Davi (morning teachers) came with us. We went to Bonny's Pizza in Noksapyeong. When we got there, we were lucky enough to get a table. Ryan and I both ordered 2 slices of pizza, but when we tried to tell them what kind of pizza, we were told, "well, we are making pepperoni, so that's what's available." Em, okay? So we aren't allowed to order what we want? I was okay with it, but Ryan seemed a little peeved. Anyway, when the pizza came, it was absolutely delicious. Probably rivaled CostCo for best Korea-pizza. YUMMMM
When we were leaving, the waitress came running after us with a bag in her hand, and gave it to us. Apparently, the group sitting at the adjoining table had left some sandwiches on the table and the waitress thought they were ours. Since the other people had already left about 30 minutes before, we shrugged and took them. They smelled delicious!
After that, we walked to Itaewon and got some drinks at both Sam Ryan's and a cute place called La Blanc(a?). At Sam Ryan's, I had an off-menu drink recommended by the waitress which I understand to be chocolate vodka with cranberry juice. I was skeptical, but tried it. It was very sweet but I started to love it, just in time to finish it off. At La Blanc, Courtney and I both had Long Island Ice Teas which were perfect (not tooooo strong, but just right!)
We left Itaewon a little after 1am.
The next morning (this morning), I woke up at 8am to get ready for a tour of the Changdeokgung Palace and the Secret Gardens. I had already toured the palace with my dad when he visited, but I wanted to see the Secret Gardens. Ryan came along and we took the 10:30 tour of the palace and 11:30 tour of the Gardens. The gardens were really nice and beautiful, especially for being in the middle of Seoul. But, with it being Saturday, the tour was really too large. I would estimate around 100 people were in the group. Thankfully the guide wore a mic and speaker.
After the tour, we headed back to Jangandong for lunch at the kimbap place. After that, I intended to take a nap but got sidetracked on the phone with Romeo (who is in Jeju for a couple weeks). After we caught up, I headed to Yongsan to meet with Heather and Ed. We went to the post's version of Oktoberfest. It was cute, and I had a pretzel and beer. The pretzel was underwhelming and the beer was Korean, but I still enjoyed spending some time with them and the kids.
After visiting for a little while, I headed back to my apartment in a zombie-like state. I guess I really needed that nap I skipped! When I got back to the apartment, however, I had a second wind and started to clean out my closet. I threw everything I wasn't planning to wear between now and Europe, or in Europe, into some bags to send home. I should probably sort through it all and just get rid of some of it, but I really don't want to... I guess I will see how heavy it is before I go to the post office to decide if I really want to send everything home!
Now, I've got a MUCH cleaner and simpler closet, a clean bed, and I am ready to relax and watch a movie and enjoy my Saturday night. It feels great to make progress on the apartment in some small way. Now, I'm facing the overwhelming task of choosing a severely limited wardrobe for Europe as well as choosing shoes, which is what I am nervous about! Yikes! Anyway, that's getting into another post...
Only 12 more days of work to go.... :D
Will miss your posts; they are the best EVER. Thanks Chelsea for being so faithful keeping us fans entertained and educated. Will you be in Europe for a while. Have fun. YOLO
ReplyDeleteYou will never forget your experiences in Korea.