Five Little Ducks

This is why I teach.

Alex

I'd like to work out a few issues I have rolling in my head concerning Alex. I'm actually quite concerned about him. He's smart, very smart, but...he doesn't seem to be dealing well with things at home. I know his father is in Seoul and worried he doesn't spend enough time with his son. He's an only child and badly wants a little brother. He lies and says he does, or once he told Bianca that his plastic dinosaur was his brother. He also told her once that he wanted to stay little, which Bianca thought was odd coming from a child. Peter Pan complex, I guess. But I think it has more to do with wanting to be little and have his mother, or a mother figure, take care of him. I wish I sympathized with him on a day to day basis, but I just get so...annoyed...at him all the time. I can't help it.

New Kid

Showed up to work today and found a new girl in my kindergarten Earth class (advanced, 7 years). Her English is quite fluid, better, I think, than the other kids. The only problem is she can't read...and the reading materials are not easy in that class. I have a feeling she's going to need extra help.

Two days later...

Well. Earth class is utterly miserable to be around. Alex (a quite brilliant child, but a pain in the ass) has turned into a little baby, wrapping himself around me, wanting me to hold his hand all the time, sobbing. The girls fight with Henna (yes, her name actually is Henna) over whiteboard erasers. Bianca, my coworker, is fed up with them as well. I don't know what I'm expected to do with her really. Make math class "fun," meanwhile I'm still supposed to be teaching the other kids so their parents don't complain, and Henna can't write her numbers. I'm going to end up disappointing SOME parent. And of course that's my fault.

Ugh.

World Cup Again

We needed a win tonight. Two draws. After the initial "win" against England, we were all pumped up for an actual win. A real win. Vince and I both desperately wanted us to go through to the next round.

But the game! Ugh! Slow, painful....by the end we all just looked, to quote a favorite actress of mine, like "scared rabbits." The whole bar. So did the fans on the screen. Even Bill Clinton, who they showed several times. Just dead serious. As if every American, at home and abroad, was holding their breath. We don't care about soccer. But we do like to win.

And in the LAST four minutes! The last four! Overtime. We scored a goal, and I swear to God, the entire bar jumped straight into the air, laughing, cheering, out of relief and joy and I jumped up and hugged several people swinging my legs in the air. It was fantastic.

Am SO glad I stayed for that.

World Cup

Along with my fellow Americans, I possess slight interest (read none) in soccer (football?). And yet, somehow, the urge to get one over the British in a sport more favored in their land then ours, unites me with my other Americans who have a half-assed interest in the sport sparked by the fact we have a game against England. Well, Vince. My soccer partner in crime. :) Hehehehehehehehehe.

So, despite the fact that we couldn't...quite...recall the name of the star guy on our team...Findley?...or name a single other player on our team, we both cheered our way through the first Korea game (we won!) and valiantly threw darts till 3:30 rolled around, proceeded to make our way to a chicken place, where we ordered a plate of fried chicken and a pitcher of beer and tensely sat as the game took off (so to speak, rather a slow sport as a matter of fact.)

And we did it! Well, it was a draw. But you know what, that's as good as a victory. We took it like that. Vince and I. So did the national media back home. Some asshole "ajoshi" sat in the back jeering America, despite what South Korea owes to the US.

It was near 7 in the morning, but we weren't quite ready to go home, so we got a couple of beers at the Family Mart and walked to Vince's apartment where his girlfriend was sleeping (early work morning) to get some more beers. I tried to say hi, she's a friend of mine, too, but I think she was too conked to notice.

We walked down to the beach and chatted for about an hour, until Bill called. We stayed out another half hour, and I came back just as Bill was in the shower getting ready for work.

And then I passed out.

Birthday Party

Today was a birthday party. For the kindergarten. I hosted. Bianca dreaded it, so I volunteered (as I was to learn later, Bianca, my fellow teacher, despises public speaking). It was pretty easy, just joke around with the kids, "Are all those presents for ME????" and introduce each one, and ask them a couple of questions, and help the kids present the birthday kids with their presents. Takes forever, though.

Somehow, though, it was a letdown. They got the kids all excited...and then no games. What kind of birthday party doesn't have games? Of course, they let 'em run around like mad animals afterward, in the English Village, which is this big room with different building facades, hospital, police station, fast food joint, beauty parlor, grocery store. Which meant I got to deal with ten hyperactive, overindulged seven-year olds. Fun.

My latest addiction

I have recently, within the last five months, picked up playing darts as my new poison. Not as addictive as MMOs, but nonetheless, fairly addictive, though this may be mostly due to my personality. I seem to have something of a natural talent for it; while my rating is much lower than my boyfriend's (who is slightly below a lot of our mutual friends), I make 'em work for their wins, and pick up a few myself along the way. I kick patootie in closing out '01. And I have a particular fondness for triple 19s (and, oddly enough in one game, triple 10s). I am pretty decent in aiming and hitting 16s, 17, 19s, and 15s (15s being one of the weaker). I can't hit 18s and 20s at all, but I make up for that in triple 19s and 17s. In a game with several people, I'm easily ignorned and manage to scrape third or second..and I'm really not a bad player overall. I have times where I'm beating everyone else; though that rarely lasts through an entire game. And I'm a definite asset when we partner up.

Last night I got my first Three in a Bed (in 3s, but who cares?). And a seven mark round in Cricket (the highest of the game, I remember for sure, probably the highest of the night, unless I missed something). My rating went up from 2.5 to 2.6. My PPD lowered slightly, but my MPR went up from 1.26 to 1.31. Plus, Bill bought Vince's old case, since it was just what I was looking for. It was so sweet of him to think of me like that. I'd been wanting a case for a long time, but the only one they sold at the bar was too big. This one had been passed through a couple of owners, which I like, since it gave it some history. And it was JUST the right size.

Think I might try to play a few more nights during the week...