Painting

There is a really awesome and kind lady in my church branch, Susan Mortensen, who is also talented at painting. One day I was at her apartment and she was showing me her paintings. I said, "I want to learn how to paint. Will you teach me?" And she quickly replied, "Sure." So now, on Tuesday mornings I go over to her house and paint for a couple of hours. It's fun... and frustrating. Because painting can be frustrating. But I'm really enjoying it. Yesterday I finished my first painting. Here it is:

My artistic rendition.

Here's the picture I painted from. A few things in the painting were changed.

Sometimes I really love my students...

... because they make me laugh. I have a couple of classes that are just a riot. Sometimes it's because they mix words up and what they end up saying is humorous. And sometimes it's because they're genuinely funny.

This was one of my conversations with a boy I've nicknamed Angel -

Me: What did you do this weekend?
Angel: I went to the angel.
Me: The angel? Did you see it in a museum.
Angel: No. Teacher, how do you say 'kyohwae' in English?
Me: Church.
Angel: Yes, I went to the church.

And then there was me laughing with the other student because it was just so cute. And then I said his new nickname was Angel and he was fine with that.

I have this one class that has two boys, Min Seok and Sung Hyun, who are totally hilarious. They are friends and feed off of each other and are basically the only ones that talk in that class. Min Seok is always telling me he's a fashionista and Sung Hyun is always making fun of him. Well, a couple of weeks ago they were both absent which made class kind of painful. I asked the class, "Where is fashionista and the other funny one?" (at that time I couldn't remember their real names...)

So yesterday I come into class and Sung Hyun asks, "Teacher, why am I the other one?" I think he was kind of miffed. I replied, "I said the other funny one. You're funny." Then he said, "But why the OTHER one?" I responded truthfully and said, "I'm sorry, I couldn't remember your name." He was like FINE, marched up to the board and wrote in really big letters, both in Korean and English, Won Sung Hyun. I don't think I'll forget his name now.

Also yesterday, Min Seok was wearing an Adidas jacket that was purple with hot pink stripes down the arm. It really looked like a girls jacket. He was also wearing skinny jeans. I was making the kids ask me questions to practice conversation and Sung Hyun asked, "Teacher, what do you think of Min Seok's fashion today."

Well, Min Seok likes to joke around so I know he can take some teasing. I responded, "Girls jacket, girls jeans." Min Seok rolled his eyes at me and replied, "Skinny jeans are fashionable, and I like pink and purple! Teacher, you don't know about fashion. I'm the fashionista." I laughed and nodded my head in agreement. Then a bit later Min Seok said, "Teacher, I have a new name. I'm the Fashion Bible." That made the whole class bust up. They're really too funny, and honestly you kind of have to be in the moment. But trust me, it's fun.

The good and the bad

The good:
1. I have awesome friends in Korea.
2. My awesome friends like Asian pop culture as much as I do and we can spend many an hour rehashing stories about music and dramas and cute boys.
3. I have tickets to several upcoming Korean pop concerts that I'm totally stoked for.
4. You can totally see the back of my head in a Korean drama because they filmed a concert scene at one of the concerts I went to. My dreams of being a star are that much closer to coming true. It pays to be tall and redheaded in Korea sometimes.
5. My awesome friends also like to shop - which I did with them on Saturday.
6. The Fall here in Korea - the weather was perfect yesterday and not to bad today.
7. The fact that cute boys randomly hold up signs that say "Free Hugs" and you can totally hug them. (I still haven't figured out why they do this - and it's not just boys but girls too. Are they just really nice? Do they really like hugs? Is it a gimmick? Is it a service project? I have no idea)
8. The fact that I own a sweatshirt (bought in Korea of course) that says "Free Hugs" and that I was wearing it yesterday when I saw said cute boy holding his sign. I pointed at his sign then I pointed at my sweatshirt and smiled. We had a "heeeyyy" moment and then we hugged. And he gave a pretty darn good hug.

The bad:
1. That I have to go to Itaewon, aka the foreigner part of town, to find clothes that will actually fit me and then of course they can be expensive.
2. That there are hordes and hordes and hordes of people in Seoul - particularly Myeong Dong where we went after Itaewon. On the plus side there are lots of pretty lights, pretty advertisements, an pretty boys to look at. On the down side there is lots and lots of pushing and shoving.
3. The ahjummas. In Korean ahjumma basically means a married woman - but I tend to refer to ahjummas as the middle aged to over middle aged woman who have no qualms about pushing you aside in the metro or on the sidewalk because they think they're entitled to. I have been shoved by an ahjumma countless times (and yes it happened yesterday), and all I can do is shake my head and mutter in my mind, "AHJUMMA!"

Does the good outweigh the bad here in Korea? Definitely.

FT Island!!!!

I went to another K-Pop concert because I will thoroughly admit to being just a little bit obsessed with K-Pop. This time the concert was FT Island. And it was awesome! We had standing tickets and we were super close to the stage. FT Island is actual band, meaning they play their own instruments. All the members are adorable and can all sing really well. We had a rockin' good time.

Waiting excitedly for the concert to start!

Lee Hong Ki - the lead singer (we were really close, but my camera also has really good zoom :)

Song Seung Hyun - guitar, vocals, rapper.

Lee Jae Jin - bass, vocals and Choi Min Hwan - drums, vocals.

Choi Jong Hun, lead guitar and piano.

At the end of the concert Hong Ki said that his friend was coming out to sing for us. Turns out they were using us, the audience, to film a concert scene for a TV drama. So we might be on Korean TV!

This is Hong Ki with the actor Yoon Sang Hyun. We had to act like we were at an "Oscar" concert and wave our hands back and forth. It was kind of funny.

The guy in the middle is another famous Korean actor Hyun Bin. He's in the drama they were filming for, so that's why he was there as well. The girls screamed so loud when he came in.

FT Island saying they're final goodbye.

Kids are...

I have a wide range of feelings towards these kids that I teach...

Some are funny (but not on purpose) - Me to boy: "Are you jealous?" Boy: "What? Am I jelly?"

Some have big egos - 14-year-old boy: "Teacher, I am the school fashionista. All the girls love me!"

Some are cute - Another 14-year-old boy: "I like Alice teacher." Me: "Why?" Boy: "Because she's pretty, and a good teacher, and pretty, and nice, and pretty."

Some are terrible listeners - Me: "What's your favorite fruit?" Girl: "Yellow!"

Some are complimentary - Super cute boy after I killed a mosquito in class: "Your skill is very good." Same super cute boy: "Teacher, you resemble Kelly Clarkson."

And some are little monsters - 10-year-old girl: "Teacher, are you a boy or a girl?" (really? really?!?); Boy: "Teacher, how old are you? I think you're 45!" (uh, thanks kid); a lot of students: "Teacher, why aren't you married?" (I wish I knew that myself...)

Halloween

For Halloween I went to a small party, where there was a ton of really good homemade food, music, a costume contest, and some games. Sadly I did not win the costume contest - I went as a Newsie but not may people got it. It was the best I could come up with last minute and in Korea. But my team did win at Taboo. It was fun times. Then Amber, Robyn, and I went dancing of course, where we saw more costumes ans stayed out way too late.

Me and Amber at the party.

The singles at the party: Brooke the cat, Robyn the race car driver, me the newsie, and Amber the sexy cat.

The trio outside the club Monkey Beach. Sadly there are no monkeys and no beach, but a lot of fun. This was bittersweet as it was Amber last weekend in Korea :(

P.S. sadly I have not seen the flyer guy again. My days are now emptier.