Money and a Phone

What else do you need? Well, there's internet. And clothes. And don't forget about food and a roof. And a bathroom would be nice.

Good thing I've got all of those! Well, not much money yet, but some is better than none!

Yesterday I walked downtown and opened a bank account in South Korea. It was very uneventful and only took about 15 minutes. It actually took longer to walk there than it did to open the account. And it only took that long because I needed my manager, Michelle, to translate what they were saying.

On the walk back to school with Michelle, we went a way I hadn't gone before and the street had all these cute little shops on it. One even had an antique bicycle outside! And one looked strangely Italian - the roof line was shorter than normal (it was part of a bigger building, but the outside was made to look shorter), the front was mainly of white with red, blue, green and yellow color accents. The window was very picturesque and 'wide screened' in nature, the shutters were red, and there was an adult, yet kid-sized, green table outside with blue and yellow chairs at it. It was very un-South Korean. And very cool. I might take a picture of it when I walk by again.

Then I had a GREAT day at school yesterday. It was amazing. My first class with Sara and Freddy went well. Freddy doesn't like to write (he's 4) so when he started to get frustrated, we sang a song and high-fived a lot. They LOVE high fives. All the kids here do. My next class was an hour after the first one ended, and it was with another Sara. Instead of standing at the head of the class, I always sit down across from her. It's just me and her anyway, so why not? One-on-one attention is great. She's about 6. And is always so sleepy in class that it's SO hard to get her to perk up and have some energy. But yesterday, on a tip from what Brandi did with her the day before, I sat NEXT to her. And it was a COMPLETELY different class. And a completely different student. I actually had fun. It went from being one of my least favorite classes to one of my favorites, in a split second.

Next, I had 2 boys about 8 years old, and they had a test. We reviewed for about 15 minutes and then they took the test. They're very studious and I could see it in their faces when they were taking the test. They got so concerned when they didn't know how to do section three. And it was almost as if Nicky was waiting for Michael before he went onto the next section. He would stop after every one and sort of pause until I heard Michael turn the page and start writing again. and they were sitting on opposite ends of the classroom. Do all kids do this? Oh... and I finally get not caring about who finishes the test first in school. For me, as soon as the first person finished and took it to the teacher, I would get anxious, like I had to hurry up and finish. That's probably why I never was a really great test taker. But these kids did really well. One only missed one, and the other missed 4. All in all, they did very well. And I think taught them the entire lesson (with the exception of the computer room stuff.)

Then I had my hour and a half class, the one with the really bright boy, Brad Pitt, and the girl who struggles because she's in a level that's too high for her, but it's the only time both of them can come to the school so they're both in it together. And I had the most fun I think I've ever had in that class - and it's one of my favorites. The lesson was on "How much is the eraser? The eraser is $2." Brad Pitt (he's probably 11) got it even before class started, but Victoria (about the same age) struggled through several before she really got it. And she REALLY got it. She wasn't pretending. So after the break I was beginning to sweat because I only had one short page left that would take 5 minutes - but I had 30 minutes left to go. So I threw them an example of something costing $2.99. And then I went to $45.62. And then I went to $390.01. And then I went to 1,483,596.00. And they laughed. And Brad Pitt threw out one million, 4 hundred and 83 thousand, 5 hundred and 96 dollars and zero cents. SO PROUD. And then I gave them a billion. And THEN I gave them a trillion. And I wrote it out on the board and made them ta-ra-ha-say-o (repeat) and they were so shocked that numbers could even go that high. And I taught them something their Korean teachers haven't yet. SO PROUD of them! And then I went right back to the original question and used $5 and Victoria picked right back up and got it right.

Then we turned the page and it was on items you would see at a bake sale. They were rattling off items like cake, pie, cupcake, juice, and then Victoria spit out 'Ice Cream' and Brad Pitt was like, "No!!! There's no ice cream at bake sales." And I came back with, "Have you guys ever heard of a Baked Alaska?" And I explained to them what that was and they thought it was cool. Then I tried to get them to expand on what kind of cakes they would see. (Mom knows what I'm getting at.) Chocolate cake, vanilla cake, strawberry cake, no, strawberry short cake, and then I threw out bundt cake. :) Unfortunately, it didn't go as planned, and Brad Pitt actually knew what a bundt cake was, but I had fun. And then I gave them some homework and sent them on their ways.

I had a great day teaching yesterday.

And then I got a phone! I got a smart phone, too! And it was free with a 2 year contract! And only $35/month! In case you're wondering, the model is IM-690L and its made by Sky, which is kind of like LG or Samsung, I guess. It's really cool. Today I have to go back to the store and get it activated, because we walked in yesterday right as they were closing. Headquarters was already closed so they couldn't do it on the server or however they do it. (The whole transaction was conducted in Korean between Yong Suk and the sales guy, and Brandi and I just kind of looked at each other like, "Ok." I picked my plan after some explanation and then picked my phone, and then I signed my life away to something I couldn't even read. It's only about $35/month, and it's my only bill, so I think I'll be fine. (Don't worry - if those do happen to be 'famous last words', I'll be sure and blog about it to warn someone else.)

Then we went out last night to a really good restaurant and had Dok-Gol-Bi, which is a meat cooked on the grill on your table, just like Som Gyup Sol, but Dol Gol Bi is beef and probably pork minced up with dok, which is kind of lik rice-flour made pasta (it's that white round thing that's on the chicken from Chicken on a Stick man, I found out). And its all minced up together and formed mind of like meat loaf, and then sliced. And you grill those slices on your grill at the table to your liking and then enjoy. And last night's 'grill' wasn't a metal grill like the other places. Instead, it was a slab of quartz over a flame. It was cool. (I think I prefer the metal grill because of the searing effect it gives the meat.) And the kimchi was amazing, and the cabbage salad in the sweet soy sauce was muy delicioso.

Yesterday was a great day.