As of Saturday, I am officially unemployed. Wow. Crazy! Can you believe it's been a year? I know I can't.
I am done touring (sad, I know) and I am spending my last few days getting everything packed up, thrown away, given away, etc. It's a fun process. I'll be hauling my matress up to one of the new teachers on Tuesday morning before I leave for the airport.
My last "touristy" thing I did was a TRUE final visit to Namdaemun and Myung Dong to get the very last bit of souvenirs. My luggage is AT THE LIMIT now!
I was out all day on Tuesday shopping and I got a little hungry so I decided to grab a bit to eat.
I passed on the pigs feet. They look... I don't know. Just, not an adventure I want.
Instead, I finally waited in line at this bun place that always looks super popular. It was totally good. I had a bun stuffed with cooked cabbage, carrots, and other veggies mixed with pork. Um, it was uber tasty. It was so tasty that I forgot to take a picture for you (sorry) so here is a picture of the fresh grapefruit-ade I got at Dunkin Donuts. I like the little cup holder. :)
Like I said, I'm now unemployed. This was my last week of teaching at CDI. Sad day. Wednesday was my last day with my lower level elementary kids. They are such a crazy bunch... they drive me nuts! I love them dearly, but I am happy to pass them on to another teacher.
Take for example, dear little Ricky.
Ricky is such a sweet heart. He is nice to other students, a smart kid, and an all around nice kid. HOWEVER! This guy CANNOT SIT DOWN! AH! He is up and down, all over the place and talking, talking, talking. I can't fault him for that, though. He's just hyper. I mean, wouldn't you be hyper after a full day of school and then three more hours at a hagwon? And when he talks it's always in English so I don't get too mad. I just joke with him and tell him to sit down. Turns out he appreciates my patience because he gave me flowers on my last day of class!
The wrapper says, "Ricky Thank you Olson teacher."
Aawww... how CUTE!!
But, really, Ricky, you gotta go work with your group now and stop bugging Erica.
I had a competition between my two lower level classes and the winners would get a snack party during break with treats provided by me. Well, my elementary kids lost (sorry, guys) so they decided to make their OWN snack party. All on their own. One kid brought four boxes of little strawberry snack things to share.
Another bought a liter of cider to share. They were going to use the little envelopes from the water cooler, but I told them to hold on a minute and I went and got us some teacher cups (dixi cups). It was pretty snazzy.
After our little snack party, they worked on their final projects to present to the class. Here's little Eric and his partner in crime Erica.
An example of a pencil case. Every student has a pencil case. Most have super cute designs. I personally am in love with Erica's new Cookie Monster case.
Peter has really gotten ten times better this term. At the beginning of the term he was a total punk: making fun of other students, not doing his work, refusing to speak any English during class. It was a struggle. Suddenly, in the last 5 weeks he decided it was cool to be an awesome student. He's still a little pill, but no more so than any other 5th grade boy.
Jennifer and Olivia are hard at work making a super fancy poster for their presentation. Want a good way to keep elementary kids entertained? Get them glue, construction paper, and silk flowers. Seriously. These kids went to town on their posters.
It's hard to read but it days "hit the chicken." It's become kind of a classroom joke because in Korean 닥쳐 (dahk chyu) means "shut up" as well as "hit the chicken." Why? I don't know. So when they would get really chatty while I'm trying to start class I would make a joke about frying chicken or killing a chicken and they would laugh and get focused again. They thought it was hilarious so who was I to roll my eyes?
Friday was probably my saddest day because they were seriously my favorite group of students. Honestly, I have never had a better class. They were low level middle school which is normally a really tough crowd, but they were just amazing. I hope they stay that way. :)
From left to right Tony, Taehyun, and Clara.
Left to right Jimin and Julia.
On Saturday I met up with my friend Katelyn for a last lunch date. She took me to a freaking AMAZING restaurant called Mad for Garlic. And they weren't kidding when they say mad for garlic. The place is decked out with garlic cloves and every dish uses copious amounts of garlic.
We started out with cheese fondue. Yes, that is two whole bulbs of roasted garlic you see in a tiny dish of melted cheese. It was SO GOOD. I cannot get over how delicious this place was.
The lovely Katelyn enjoying her fondue.
After my final day of teaching (yay!), I met up with her again for noraebang!! I have only gone the one time because I didn't want to ruin my voice for school. I was super sad that I hadn't been able to go as much as I wanted so we went. AND IT WAS AWESOME! We need noraebangs in the States. Why? Because it's so much fun to sing until you can't anymore in your own private room with a big screen tv and tambourines! Why do we not have these in the States!?
Also, my throat hurts today. IT WAS WORTH IT!! And I want to go again before I leave but I don't know if I'll be able to sing anymore! XD
Tomorrow is my last full day in the country (crazy!) and I'll be doing chores like take care of last minute bills with Mr. Han (who doesn't speak English... it will be fun!) and transferring money home. Then it's homeward bound, folks!
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