Five 4 Friday – Teachers Day and answered prayer!

Can I get a woo-hoo! It’s Friday!

I’m linking up with Doodle Bugs for the Five for Friday!

This past weekend I went to visit my good friend, Bridget, in Daegu. 

We visited Tumuli Park, a park of ancient tombs from the Shilla Dynasty where the important people were buried. We even went inside one. A little creepy. But really cool.

We also went to the Love Castle. Now let me explain….in Korea, sex is not talked about. At all. Many couples don’t really know what to do when they get married. So there are these sex museums around Korea, which show in various forms (statues, pictures, pottery, etc) how to have sex. I’m not into this kind of thing at all, but I wanted to check it out because it’s a huge part of Korean culture. In fact, the biggest sex museum is on Jeju Island and many couples go there for their honeymoon and go to the sex museum there. I took pictures there, but this picture is about the only one that it suitable to share. 

On Sunday, we went thrift store shopping and walking around Daegu. Bridget found this adorable pink princess headband and just had to have it. Have I told you that the hair accessories over here are awesome? Especially the ones for little girls? Oh my goodness.

After shopping at the end of the day, we went to the subway station so I get on my way home. We met an old Korean dude in the subway. He is really nice at first and asks questions in English. Then he starts speaking Korean to Bridget and tells her that I’m fat (over and over again) but propositions her for sex. Lovely. Not that I wanted to be propositioned, but I certainly didn’t want to be told over and over again that I’m fat! My self-esteem took a hit that day. It really did.

Yesterday was Teachers Day in Korea. In the morning, we all went to the gym for an assembly where the teachers line up at the front and the students give you flowers. Most teachers got one little bouquet. A couple got two bouquets. I got five. I felt very loved. Aren’t they beautiful?

Some classes were cancelled, and others weren’t. For 5th and 6th grade, we met in the gym and played blind volleyball. Now you may be wondering what in the world that is. Well let me show you….I took a video! I’m trying to upload it to YouTube, but it is taking FOREVER! When it is uploaded, I will add it to this blog post. Sorry! It’s been over 3 hours now, and it still says pending. AGH!

To tide you over, here are some pictures I took on instagram. 

There are three seeing players who stand at the back of each team, except when the server is blind. Up near the net, there are three players who hold hands. One seeing person is in the middle with a blind person on each side. If one of them is not blind, they have to wear black-out goggles so they can’t see. The blind players are dragged around trying to block the ball and hit it. It’s similar to regular volleyball except the ball goes under the net instead of over it. It’s pretty fun to watch!

I’ve been feeling a little down lately. Missing friends. People saying snarky things to me, on Facebook and from my co-teacher. If you know me at all, “down” and I don’t mix well. I don’t like that feeling.

So I started looking outside myself if you will and began helping to cheer up a friend of mine. I found this and just HAD to share it with her and now with all of you. I am a HUGE Muppets fan. Like HUGE. I found this a while back and just laughed my butt. Hope it brings you a smile or a chuckle as you countdown these last days of school!

Is there anybody else out there who loves the Muppets?

I LOVE using music in the classroom, especially in the ESL classroom. 

Today we used our musical instruments in Elementary 6 class (about 12 years old) – some of the instruments I bought from Home Plus and some I made myself. In my mind, students who are blind or visually impaired absolutely need music in the classroom because the rhythm helps them learn. We sang Old MacDonald, BINGO, and the ABC song while “banging” with our instruments. They love it! 

When I leave Korea, I will be leaving the musical instruments behind for the teachers to use. They have started incorporating more music into the classroom, and that makes me happy. 🙂

I taught the Hokey Pokey to my middle school students this week. The boys LOVED it and kept spinning and spinning during the “turn yourself around” part. The class consists of 7 students – one blind autistic boy, one blind autistic older woman, and the rest are blind or visually impaired, some with moderate learning disabilities. Now can you imagine doing that on roller skates like I used to do when I was young?

God answered a big prayer for me! 

Daejeon’s budget for the English program has been cut big time, and my school was no longer going to get a guest English teacher (a teacher like me). However, my co-teacher REALLY wanted me to stay and was going to beg them to let me stay (even though I had told her that I was missing home and would probably go home). She kept begging and begging. As I was leaving school today, I went to her desk and told her that I would not be renewing my contract. She then says that they just got the papers today stating that our school would NOT be getting another English teacher and if I were to stay I would have to switch schools. 

So…I will definitely be coming home in August!