What’s this Bell on a Pole Doing in Your Text Book?!

Let me tell you about Ann.
She’s quite possibly the sweetest, smartest, cutest, nicest, most adorable-est 9-year-old Korean girl I’ve ever met.  Braided pigtails, big dimples, lovely smile, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed…  She’s one of my hagwon students here at Yellow Ribbon.
Let me tell you what Ann did.
For one of her in-class assignments, she had [...]

One Wacked Day

Taekwando went real well last night.  We began learning the punching/ kicking/ blocking routine you always see on martial arts films, so it was a bit intense and way too much memorization for one evening.  Afterward, the 5 of us went to Heather’s apartment complex for the monthly parking lot carnival they set up.  We [...]

3 Pups and a Pond

Meet the newest member of our Yellow Ribbon family.  We call him Ajee, short for gangajee, which means “puppy” in Korean. 

Although we’re not sure how old the new guy is either, I’m pretty certain this one IS indeed a puppy.  I’ve been taking him on 2-hour walks down around town lately- mainly because I’m [...]

Update

Sorry my posts have been kinda worthless lately.  I’ve just gotten so busy with my afternoon hagwon classes and tonight, Jaydon and I signed on for tutoring two nights a week- Tuesdays and Thursdays.  We start next week.  I can happily say that at least all the extra work is helping me sleep better at [...]

Just a Spoonful of Soju

It’s 11:30 pm and I’m a little Soju-d up on a school night.  Pretty ironic for me, considering I remember mumbling, “I wish this were vodka” earlier while sipping my water bottle during one of my hagwon classes.
Don’t get me wrong- I love my students.  Yes, all of them.  And yes, really.
But I’d be lying [...]

Gardens & Trampolines, Oh My!

Aaaahhhh…. a sigh of relief.
I can finally plop down at my desk with a steaming hot cup of jasmine tea, curl up in my favorite, comfy, lounging pants that read “LOVE” down the left leg, and write to you about my day, while the Avett Brothers sing about a pretty girl from Chile in the [...]

Everyone and their Mom

You thought it was bad in the States. All those little kids running around with their faces glued to their game systems and iPods.
Here in Korea, you know who has a cell phone?
Everyone and their mom, that’s who.  Including our 8-year old students!
Today, I’m sitting in on the afternoon classes here at the [...]

Organic Life

I keep meaning to show you how cute our kindergarten uniforms are! The students actually have two sets of uniforms. These are the formal uniforms worn on Mon/Wed/Fri. There are also non-formal uniforms worn on Tue/Thur.
The landscapers came today and finished planting the grass and flowers. You probably can’t read it [...]

Home Sweet Hagwon

I’m done with my first week of teaching and I’m feeling pretty good about it.
After only four days, the children are getting along great with Teacher Kaley and I’m learning all their names much faster than I thought I would. (I guess it’s kind of easy when 2 out of my 30 students are [...]