Is that bad?

Sometimes, I think I’m a bad person. Like when I have an overwhelming urge to draw/write on a child while they’re writing their homework, or go through their pencil case looking at all their stuff. Sometimes, I feel bad. But often the thought alone is enough to amuse me.

OMG!

How is it possible that Bernadette Peters is 62?

Happy birthday Mattie!

Happy 11th birthday to my little brother, Matt. Getting cooler every year. Hope he never gets too cool for me. :)

Igok Rose Garden and Old Men Playing Games

There's a lovely little rose garden near my house. It's usually busy with people at most times of day or night. Unfortunately, it always seems to be raining when I pass that way, so I've not gotten the chance to sit awhile and enjoy it.






There's a trail up the hill one block from the garden, where hikers sometimes go. It's fairly short for most of these hiking pros, though.


Old men frequently gather at the pagoda on the corner to play board games or chat. They find it fascinating when I look in at them. I guess we're both curious. :)

World Cup: 대한민국!!!!

대한민국!!!!

*Sounds like Day-hahn-mee-gook! or Go Korea!

Gen. McDelicious

When I read about Gen. McChrystal, I immediately think of a small square sandwich in a Happy Meal, ala McDonald's + Krystal Burger. Am I the only one?

Stupid BoE Meeting...

Gonna try to sleep (ha.) so I can go to a stupid meeting for the stupid BoE on a Saturday stupid morning for 3 stupid hours. Boo. If I can't get rid of this head and shoulder ache, I'm staying in bed.

Quotes

“In fine print on the last page of the Guinness Book of World Records it notes that all world records are held by Chuck Norris, and those listed in the book are simply the closest anyone else has ever gotten.”

Thanks to the anonymous person I stole this from.

Insomnia

I should really just be proactive and take that sleeping pill now, instead of waiting 4 hours to see if I'll be able to fall asleep...

World Cup and Hanging Out

Really need to sleep early tonight, but, as the game starts at 330am, not likely. Again.

Good chat with Dad. Good short time on the roof with Katie's girls. Couldn't get good phone pics in the dark, but will get some soon during the day. Great view!

Mondays suck.

Made it thru my day somehow. Not a Monday fan. (Or a working fan either, for that matter.)

Missing Boo...

One year ago today I lost my baby Bailey to cancer. I miss him bunches. Hayes-y and I are thinking of him lots today. Love you Boo. ♥♥♥♥♥

RIP SpongeBob Square Pants

R.I.P. Spongebob, Beloved Friend and Sponge, who died because of the Great Gulf Oil Spill. F.U., B.P.!

Bourne Identity? Sadly, no.

Does anyone else find it annoying that the new Flashpoint commercial is using the Bourne Identity music? I got really excited that B.I. would be on, then looked up. Luckily, I also like Flashpoint.

Thunder vs. the Bomb

During class tonight when the thunder struck, for a minute my kids and I all thought it was a bomb, missile, or something else unwanted. It was awful. I reassured them, and we discussed why NK is angry with SK. Not exactly the lesson plan, but warranted and requested.

My First Experience with MK Report Cards

Report cards are finally done. 30 mins my ass. First time, and I actually care that the comment fits...I think I'm making this too hard...

Rambo 4

I never watched the old Rambo movies. Never liked Sly either. So why did I just stay up an extra hour to watch the end of R4 for the 2nd time? Damn you, 3 English channels!

Seoul Pride Trip, Pt. 2: the Park

I'm not sure where I was or what the name of this park is. It was wet, but lovely.


























This pagoda dates back to 1467, and it now protected.

Seoul Pride Trip, Pt. 1

My trip to see Seoul's version of Pride was mostly rained out. I was basically soggy for two days, and it wasn't pleasant. So few people showed up that it was actually just depressing.










At least the shopping was entertaining. These are decorative bags.


Hooker wear. Lovely.


Why not? But way too cute.




The cutest donut display ever.


I love her shoes.


"YOU.SHALL NOT.PASS!"


The street to my hostel.


Inside my single room.






The plaza outside of Seoul Station.

Second Day in Seoul

Better day today, not raining. Met a friend for lunch, got for shopping done (too much), and got to ride home on the train with a friend I haven't seen in 6 weeks. Need a shower and rest!

Seoul Pride Trip

Another *beautiful* day in Seoul... (groan) I've been poured on for hours.... been soggy all day.......... And Pride was just depressing... (sigh)

Pride was essentially rained out. There were like 35 people there, 2 teenage gay boys dancing onstage in the rain to Madonna, and I couldn't find the parade. And the few foreigners I saw were all there with their significant others. Boo.

Posting by an old friend on Facebook

(Written on my Facebook page by Ben Prohl)

OK, so I am sitting around the house running through a Star Wars marathon and reading old papers such as autograph pages from HS year books. Someone chose to write a line or two on each page and make a message spread the ENTIRE booklet, well low and behold whose name is signed to the entire bogarting of the booklet.....one miss Lauren Strasser class of '96. LOL

Me: Rock on. I’m funny. :)

A Lesson in Metric for my Family and American Friends

Over the years, living in America, I’ve often wondered why we are the only country using measurements like pounds, inches, feet, and miles, while the rest of the world uses metric. But then again, we also use millimeters and centimeters, which just confuses the issue. Now that I’m in “the rest of the world”, I’m finding it even more annoying, as I must convert everything my friends and news outlets say into measurements that mean something to me.

In my office, there are 4 foreign teachers: 1 Canadian, 2 Brits, and me. If we talk about the temperature, they all talk in Celsius/Centigrade. I have to convert to Fahrenheit. And I’m really bad at it. And of course no one who uses Celsius knows the conversion. Why would they? There’s no reason to learn how to convert your measurement so you can talk to one country worth of people, when the other 219 know what you’re talking about.

Miles and kilometers are also a bit annoying for me, but I can figure out more-or-less what it is. Kilometers are something like 30% more of the miles measurement.

Centimeters and millimeters I find obnoxious, because clothing here is in cm, and shoe sizes are mm. If there was a size 10.5 in women’s shoes in the U.S., that would be what I’d wear. Here, that size is a 270, which they don’t make in women’s shoes. Women’s shoes stop at 250, unless you choose from one of ten pairs of 260s at the “Large Feet Store” in Daegu. I must buy men’s shoes, and even then 270 is hard to find. There is one store in Seoul that I found, called “Barbie Shoes” that carries large sizes exclusively, but they are frequently out of 270s, and all the shoes are super girly heels. But I digress.

Inches versus cm I can figure out with some work. There are 2.54 cm in an inch. Not terribly helpful if you’re in a conversation; “Um, yeah, wait a minute…2.54 times 20 is…um…”

I don’t know the difference between a meter and a yard. I think a meter is slightly larger, although my whole childhood I thought the opposite.

Pounds. A kilogram is 2.2 pounds, so I can figure out the conversion with some work. (Remember, I teach English, not math. ) But I always forget the number I see on the electronic scale at the doctor’s office because it doesn’t mean anything to me, and is easily dismissed. If I see a number that is obviously too low, it takes me a minute to realize it’s in kg. (It’s true that drug dealers are the only ones who kept up with their metric learning in school…)

What’s more confusing is talking to Katie, my English coworker and neighbor. The U.S. is messed because we use some measurements that no one else uses. Great Britain uses some metric and some U.S. She does pounds and miles, but buys liters of gas, and measures for clothes in cm. But no matter what you’re discussing, she’ll always assume when you say pounds you mean money, like GBP, before she’ll think you’re talking weights.

I’m looking forward to a time when simple things are also easy things. I hope that someday that time comes.

Daniel

Student today, out on nowhere: "I want to go to Siberia and peel an orange."
I love that Daniel enjoys picking the proverbial fruit off the random tree. ♥

Reflection and Missing Friends and Family

I am taking tomorrow off for reflection and recuperation. I've been thinking a lot about Gen and my friends around the world this week. I miss you all, love you bunches, and can't wait to see you again very soon.

Costco Trip

Costco is the only place where you can always get imported goods in Daegu. Unfortunately, it's very far from my house, requires a membership card, and when I do finally go there, I spend way too much money! But I usually get entertained, too.

I guess when you're tired, you're tired.


Couple shirts, in pink. Wouldn't fly at home, for a few reasons I can think of.


I would have loved to have bought this pool for our roof. But it was entirely too expensive (around $100), and I wasn't even sure the landlord would allow it to be filled and stay up there. If I would have to take it down and refill it every time, I never would have used it. So I kept walking.

Why I am here?

There are some days when I really don't know why I stayed here...

RIP, Genny Miller

Found out today that a very old friend is gone. She had a vivacious spirit, that I thought could never be quelled. Rest in peace, Genny. You will be forever missed.

Turning on the Aircon

This is the remote control to my air conditioner. This should be...easy. Yeah, sure, no problem.

Joke of the Day

(Stolen from a friend's Facebook post)

Overheard:

"Do your milkshakes have dairy in them?"
"No, we use dead unicorns."

Peter: In my day we used lived unicorns. Tasted awful.

Barbie Shoes

My manager has what I call "Barbie shoes". They're plastic, similar to 1980s "Jelly shoes", only made of hard plastic. I think they're fabulous, but don't know that I could pull them off. They only come in flats in my size anyway, and only in Seoul.

Crazy, Unfortunate Dreams

I have been having CRAZY dreams all week. I solved a murder mystery, found out I was pregnant, then went through all the labor and delivery...and several others I've (luckily) forgotten. I need a lot of DREAMLESS sleep...I'm exhausted! Do you know how much energy it takes to have a baby?!

Kim:
LOL!!! Especially a make believe baby!!

Bethany:
How big was he/she? :)

Me:
Too big. And funny-shaped, like a caucasian alien with a triangular head. It was disturbing.

RIP, Rue McClanahan

This is a bad week for the 80s. Another 80s icon is gone. Au revoir, Blanche Devereaux. RIP.

Finish the story...

I laughed so hard I cried today. One of my kids turned a boring "finish the story" assignment into a daring tale of murder, zombies, and headlessness. It was hysterical.

A Day of Punishments and Dismay

I had a terrible day. Spent 20 minutes in one class going through different punishments, only to realize none were working. Then had to explain that I didn't care if they were mad at me. I hate middle schoolers. There comes a point when you have to just laugh through the shock and dismay.