last day for the old crew

I'm informed as of YESTERDAY, that I will no longer have to move out of my dinky apartment.

THERE IS NO REASONING BEHIND THIS.

Right this minute, everyone who is leaving: Steve, Greg, Zach, Brian, Bryan, and Rebecca are unwrapping their goodbye gifts from Avalon. Ceramic replicas of Korean vases, PRETTY!

We're all changing desks soon, which will make room for the new teachers, Whitney, Jovany, Jeremy, Corry, Adam, and Jason.

I'm going to call for internet this weekend and hook it up in my room, thank GOD i don't have to move that mattress.

I'm feeling a loss for the kids now that the semester is over: I don't really feel like i taught them anything :(

Evan Teacher, aka - Watters Teacher

"Call me either 'Mr. Watters' or 'Evan.'"

"Okay Evan Teacher Watters."

I'm beginning to realize how terrible the idea of teaching is. The kids have no respect for you and you are constantly criticized by the administrators and parents.

This week my partner teacher, Lindsey, told me that one of my students was pulled from school because of the low grade I gave him on his speaking test. I know this is a private school, and the parents are really kind of paying through the nose in order to have their kids taught English. They are considering this as their child's extra curricular activity instead of sports or other character-building activities. So their progress must be assured, therefore, this school is run like a business instead of a school. The customer (parents) are always right, and we have to meet their requirements for what is acceptable.

Also, my kids are brats and curse at me in Korean.

This post took 3 days to write i've been so busy.

BREIF!

I've only got a few minutes before i have to get ready for class so i'll make this brief:

I'm changing schools
I'm changing apartments
I'm changing parts of towns

They are moving me to Wangsimni, which is on the other side of the river, and closer to Guui (where some other mizzou grads are working)

This week i've got to grade over 40 essays before friday (right now, it's thursday).
So i've gotta get going. Caio

almost payday

Not having money in a city is like not having cones at an ice cream stand.

T-minus 2 days til payday and i'm considering writing a list of things i'm going to buy when i get my paycheck. Sad thing is, I don't know how much i'll be getting in this next paycheck, how much i'll have to pay for utilities or whatever, and then how much i'm going to end up throwing towards unforseen finances. I'm certain, however, that the first thing i buy for myself is PIZZA.

I'm entertaining myself with the internet in the coffeshop again, and looking up various videogames i'd enjoy playing IF i had my xbox here. There is no way i'll be able to get it shipped in it's BROKEN condition, but i really need a videogame fix. There are tons of PC games that i haven't been able to play, because of system requirement holdbacks. But this puppy can handle just about anything that's out right now, so i'm eager to give it a whirl.
But that means getting my hands on a copy of windows.
Which means buying windows.
Which means like, $100. I don't know i've never bought windows before.

That's one of the things on this imaginary list of stuff i want to buy.
I can email pictures from my phone to myself, which i can then save, and post here as you can see. This is my JA class. They are very intermediate, ages 10-11. Their english names are
green - Jacob
blue - Chris
red - Sean
yellow - Andrew

They lined their desks up like that for a group activity and were all wearing different colored shirts. It instantly reminded me of Super Smash Bros. players 1, 2, 3, and 4.

Ideally, i'll have a small camera for snapshots soon, maybe soon enough to where Sara Roger won't plot my demise for not having captured everything i've seen already, haha. I really like the idea of a videocamera, though. Moving pictures of this traffic would be enough to scare off most graduates considering teaching here... then again maybe not because i hear layoffs back in the states are getting pretty numerous. Anyone you know? Email me, if you read this blog often, comment often! I love hearing from you guys :D I'm off, hope you all have a good weekend.

Wonderment around every... week or so

It's worn off, the brand newish feel. I'm getting used to walking to work every day at top speed (personal best time: 17 minutes), waiting for the elevator even though i hate it (sometimes i can save time by walking to the 7th floor and catching the 'odd floors only' elevator), and living in a itsy bitsy teenie weenie tiny polka dot apartment. I'm living in Korea, not just visiting. This week we're going back to the 'usual' schedule 3pm-10pm at school and I think it's a better fit for me. I can wake up when the sun rises, casually make my way to the coffeeshop downstairs for some online time before making myself lunch and trekkin' to work. It's nice, and the weather is finally getting nicer. I say that now, but there's likely to be swells of ice or locusts or whatever before spring.

But before spring, i have 2 other seasons to look forward to. I'm told to expect these 'weather conditions' before spring truly arrives, and I have to say i'm a bit excited :D

YELLOW DUST SEASON
Yellow dust flies in from China and coats cars, sidewalks, and the air we breathe. I'm going to need to invest in a surgery mask... i'm thinkin' either Keropi or One Peice.

RAINY SEASON
It rains every day.

As a newbie to this kind of weather, i'm not sure how i'll react to weeks of rain. Maybe i'll roll around in a depression of some kind. Maybe dust season will inflict terrible lung complications and instigate some more of that pneumonia I had last summer *shudder*.

That's the next level, i guess. Right now I'm grinding through stage one of "Broke Pit", where my character has 1 strength, 2 stamina, and NO MONEY. I predict that i'll lose these stats somewhere in the game and have to start at my save point (calling my Korean parents *shame*). But save point or not, I've got enough experience to pass this level... as long as there are no boss fights (e.g. PAY YOUR BILLS). I'm attributing my skills or items to the friends i've made here, and the connections we share, like how Dave fancies himself a smash bros. contender. I've never played against a Canadian, so i can only fathom a likeness to the Wionz's skills at Tekken. Scary.

Speaking of connections, I met a girl this weekend who is from Rolla, MO. I was in a bar with friends and my Violent Femmes song request came on and she yelped in glee. I let her know i picked the song and she told me she saw them live in Rolla for the first time. WOO! Rolla!... a happenin' place to be......if you're a nerd.

So, I live here. I'm pretending to believe that I can make plans for when I get back to Amurrica, but I have never been able to plan ahead, so let's just pretend together. I miss videogames so bad. I want to just watch demos and game videos download onto my xbox. I miss that.