Past & Future Voyages!

Alrighty then, let's get to it...

So last week the boys (and girl) and I went to the Mud Festival, apparently the largest festival in South Korea - who'd've thunk it? It was a good ol' time. So basically they ship in tons of mud/clay to this town, which gets undoubtedly 90% of its income from 2 Saturdays in July, so foreigners and natives can bathe in its splendor and walk around dirty like it's no big thing. There are super slides, a jailhouse, vanities, mud pools and super-sized tubs where you can get as little or as much mud on your person as you desire! There's also the ocean "one small step, one giant leap..." away, thank you Armstrong, to rinse away your troubles. It was a pretty sweet, gunky time. I've never seen ocean waves that big before - I was excited.
After getting cleaned up at our hotel, we went to eat seafood, what else? We had clams, oysters, and some bulgogi (steak)... don't forget the kimchi! We then wandered off and bought some WAY MANLY *~sparklers~*~!!!! Ending our legendary night, we pursued the treacherous games of the carny. After being hornswoggled to and fro, up we go... we thanked them kindly and went on our merry way.

*Some names, times and events have been altered to protect the innocent, including, but not limited to, bumblebee bats and arachnids.

Okay, so we're leaving for China tomorrow afernoon! We're traveling south through SKorea and hopping on a ferry to take us to China. So I might be in international waters on my bday! This means, according to various scholars, that I won't turn a year older, but consequently, revert back a year. It's a new law of physics... and space travel, don't question it.

I shall return 1 week from Saturday! Good luck to all... I hope I run into some Russians!

reDirection

AIE

Philippians 3:13-14 "Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, 14I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus."

1 Corinthians 9: 24-27 "24Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. 25Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. 26Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air. 27No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.

As The Fixx would say, "One thing leads to another"...

environment
intake
desire
passion (motivation)
patience (endurance)
discipline (dedication)
strength
transformation
new creation (devotion)

Man in the Mirror

Man that was crazy about Michael Jackson dying.... was a loyal fan in the 90's! Still think he was awesome!

So a couple weeks ago we had our OPEN HOUSE at my school. We've been preparing for this for about a month now. Open House in Korea is nothing like OH back in the States.
Back there, it's at the beginning of the year and the parents and students meet their prospective teachers and see the classroom and perhaps a brochure is provided concerning the class.. idk. At my school... it's a show, filled with songs, dances, interactive learning, skits, costumes, and whatever else you can think of. I was a little nervous. The kids worked really hard; however, I knew their excitement would throw off their game... it did for a select few. But anyway -- it was a pretty good experience-- now that's it's over of course.

The other day, a parent had a concern that was brought to my supervisor's attention and then forwarded to me. The concern was my English skills basically (This coming from a mommy who is in the beginning stages of the English language). The concern popped up from something she heard during Open House. Okay, back to the story... my supervisor said that a mommy told her I was using "slang" words such as: "worsmithum." Yes, hahaha that made me laugh, too. I told her that was not a word and some of my fellow proficient English teachers backed me up and laughed. My supervisor then relayed the message from the mommy that I used particular words that “only a lower-class white person from the west” would use. HA… Yes, believe it. I got a wee-bit on the defensive side and communicated my stance of such an outlandish statement. Unfortunately, the majority of Koreans don’t know the concept of sarcasm or the meaning of tact. I was pretty upset that a mommy who spoke very little English was questioning the authority of a native English speaker. The statement that the mommy finally remembered the kids saying was “just a smidge.” The mommy said her husband ‘went to a very good school in America and… blah, blah, blah… that is slang…’ I told the supervisor that this was indeed not slang and that the word “smidge” is used in telling someone ‘how much’ – like a tiny amount of something, etc… It’s a freaking synonym. I went on about teaching synonyms, and frankly in retrospect, I shouldn’t have had to explain myself. I finally informed my supervisor that she “hired me because I have a degree in Early Childhood Education and am a native English speaker. That mom questioning me is like me saying, ‘Oh Ms. ____ your Korean is getting a little sloppy, you could work on that pronunciation…’ …This is nonsense and is a waste of my time. This incident should have never come to my attention. It would be nice if you supported me and had given me, THE NATIVE ENGLISH SPEAKER & teacher, the benefit of the doubt and informed the mommy that you’re sure the teacher knows what he’s doing and will monitor the situation.” --- I went on for a little bit longer… I left some stuff out about how the supervisor was telling me how much money this family had and they expect high-quality, 1^st class English, and I was teaching my supervisor/mommy about formal written English and conversation English… and some other ridiculous things the mommy had to say. Oh, another crazy day at GATE school. It’s run like a business… the mommies get what they want; unfortunately, Mr. Brandon stands up to mommies with money… Homey don’t play dat.

Haha on to new business. This 4^th of July weekend, we celebrated Independence Day… well first with my Korean lesson… and then Jo’m, Kristie, Foster and I went to Everland, a good-sized theme park. The big rollercoaster was the best! We ate way too much food and then watched the fireworks; many of which were red, white and blue!

Welp, I'm actually off to my Capoeira class and then perhaps a Norebang (Korean Karaoke) or seeing Transformers!