"HOMEY DON'T PLAY DAT!"

Korean moms. Wow. Sumaschedshee!!!!!
So, I had my parent-teacher conferences last week; they seemed to go swimmingly. During one of the meetings, one parent pondered (in her broken English) why there were mistakes in her daughter's writing; her daughter is 5 years old. I explained to her that although I guide them in their writing and give them some verbal ideas (ooo I had to stop writing for a bit b/c I got so angry!... grrrr... ok...), they will make mistakes... they are children and they often learn through their mistakes. I then went on to tell her that usually after they write their first draft, I correct it while giving them a new paper for them to finalize their "composition." I then added, “Since every child has different strengths and needs, there’s going to be more mistakes in some than others…” I finished up by saying since there’s only a limited time for our writing class, I don’t want to neglect other areas and subjects by staying on one too long. At this she gave many nods and an awkward smile. She then noticed another paper which had the term, "gonna." I told her that sometimes kids will use that word because they hear it from others and they’re probably writing it phonetically, but stated that I do not teach that word... obviously. She then said, "Yes, please teach the proper English." to which I said, "Oh, I do!" nodding many times for reassurance. She then went on and said, "...because I no want her learn those words... so please, please teach the proper English and not that one..." I again insisted that I do. Two minutes later while speaking about her family's recent trip, I heard, "... we gonna go to..." I ALMOST STOPPED her and said, "Excuse me, you just said 'gonna'. Do you see? Kids hear others say it and pick it up." SUMASCHEDSHEE RODITALEE!

Anyway, that was just the beginning. The next day, my supervisor comes in and says that they've received many complaints about my PTCs. I was absolutely shocked. After 10 minutes, I found out that it was mainly from the mommy above. BTW, these supervisors and administration don't back you up worth &*$#! They will always bow down to their little mommies wishes... literally too I'm sure. They run the school…err… business. The supervisor informed me that this little mommy was concerned about my teaching methods and how there were mistakes in her daughter's writing. BTW I ADORE her daughter, can't say that about the mom however... I have some other words in mind... maybe I could use this moment to teach this mommy about antonyms for the word "love." Eh? I was infuriated that this mommy, again, demeaned my intelligence, concerning English and teaching. Remember: Worsmitum? Just a smidge? Fib? –same mommy. It's one thing to be involved, but it's another thing to be intrusive. I'm leaving out many stupid, angry parts of the story, but I don't have time. After calming down, I vented to my fellow teacher and told her I was going to speak with this mommy. After talking with her a couple times and writing down my thoughts so I would be as polite and professional as possible... the mom walks in to pick up her daughter. As I step out into the hall to greet her, I say, “May I have a word?”

TO BE CONTINUED...

Beijing!

This could be a little long-winded...

So a few days before our voyage to Beijing, we found out that our ferry to China had some mechanical problems, and there was a 90% chance our reservations on said ferry would be canceled; thus, we made other arrangements on a new ferry. Turns out it was canceled, but everything worked out. On Saturday afternoon, we (Jonathan, Kristie, Foster, and I) departed Seoul on our ferry.

After leaving port and sailing off, we all engaged in numerous activities, one including a game of Phase 10. During this game of TOTAL Brandon Domination, Kristie had cleverly slipped out of the room to devise a secret and treacherous plan, well, perhaps it wasn't treacherous, but I like saying that word. When I heard a knock on the door, I opened it to find Kristie holding a plate full of 초코파이 (Chocolate Pies... equivalent to American Twinkies in their natural and organic state :P). I was crossing the Yellow Sea on my birthday; therefore, according to my previous statement and various scholars, I reverted back a year and turned 23 years of age. I guess I did not technically turn 2_ until reaching China, due to those so-called "timezones."

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We landed in Yuntai, and from there we tried to find transportation to Beijing. Now, just to let you know, I don't remember a lot of our transportation plans for 2 big reasons: 1) I'm pretty indecisive. 2) It doesn't really matter to me. I'm pretty lax about almost anything on a vacation trip, that is why I let the others duke it out concerning where to go, when to go, how to get there, etc.. I just sit back and enjoy the ride! (However, there were 2 instances where I voiced my 2 cents: the 10km hike up The Great Wall and getting a massage afterward - I didn't care what any one else did, but I was participating in both of those activities!)
I believe we took a 5-10 hour bus ride (see don't remember specifics) to _____ and then took a VERY exciting train ride to Beijing. I will elaborate more on this train ride.
So, we get down to the platform and finally make our way to our train car. As we slowly make our way up the steps, we notice that there are many people standing around these close quarters. All the seats are taken, but not only that, the floors are SWAMPED and COMPACTED with people sitting and standing up in the aisle! We don't have seats. Hmm, no wonder our train ticket was only equivalent to $14 for a __ hour trip. Oh... how long was the train ride you ask? I'll get to that momentarily. So, I'm in the back of the group (remember, I go with the flow and tag along behind b/c usually the peeps that take charge and make the decisions make a wrong turn - yeah so I'm hoping we got on the wrong train)... yes, so I'm in the back of the group and it looks like we'll be taking our places in the aisle for the duration of our ride. Oh, btw... we departed at 12:30am and arrived 6am in Beijing. Foster, Kristie, and Jonathan were able to sit next to each other on the floor; although, I was only separated by a gentleman laying between the chairs. As I noticed the other 3 in my group sitting "criss-cross applesauce" or those of you who are not teachers, "Indian style," I could only dream of having that much space to expand my legs. I was sitting with my knees touching my chin. Little did I know how lucky I was sitting in this position. As my legs became cramped, I stood up to stretch... the train stopped... the doors opened... more people - came - on - the -train. Are you kidding me?! More people!? Someone took my sitting spot and I had the pleasure of standing up for the next hour. How much space did my two size 12 shoes have you ask? I could almost turn 180 degrees. I loved watching the other 3 sitting on the floor... Jonathan and Kristie leaning against one another for support... Foster, drawing pictures for the sweet children... what luxuries! haha I know it sounds bad, but I went on the train with the mindset: I'm in China on my birthday, who cares if I'm inside a sardine can... this is an experience I'll never forget and a story will blossom! Anywho, this nice Chinese girl lent me her seat for about 30 minutes - so this was extreme bliss. We talked a bit and she wrote the Chinese form for "thank you" in my crossword puzzle book I had with me. Oh yes, thanks Kristyn - I finally started this book you gave me "Christmas 2003!" hahaha. RECAP : We've been on the train for 2 hours. I then stood up for the next 2 hours... yay! I then found a spot open on the floor and attempted to sit and fall asleep for the remaining hour of our trip.

Moving on... we get to Beijing and immediately scrounged for our hostel, Sitting on the City Walls, and fell fast asleep. This was one of the BEST hostels I've ever been to. So, if you're ever in Beijing... book it! After recovering from the train ride, we walked around a nearby park (Jingshan Hill) and then... The Forbidden City! ...Many go in... not everyone comes out, ALIVE! ok jk about that last part. The Forbidden City was cool. It was much larger than I expected, and yes, it did look like The Forbidden City in Mulan, just not as many steps. It's always neat to be standing on or inside something that is hundreds of years old while mentally placing yourself in that time period -it's very groovy.

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We then made our way to Tiananmen Square and chilled there for a bit. There was not much going on there so we just sat down like everyone else. Being a long day, we took it easy during the evening and went to bed early. Early meaning 11pm.
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On Tuesday, we all visited the Olympic "Bird's Nest" Stadium and Water Cube. In the evening, we booked a ticket to see an acrobatic show at Tandi Theatre. The best part, and most impressive I believe, is when 14 women got on 1 bicycle and pedaled in circles... WHOA! That "whoa!" is in the voice of Joey Lawrence by the way. Ah, this is also the day of the discovery of a unique fashion trend or status-thing that Chinese men do... see for yourself:

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The GREATest day of all was on Wednesday, in which we went to The Great Wall of China!! Instead of going to the more "famous," which I say 'popular', touristy wall (which most people visit), we went to Jinshanling and Simitai Great Walls - which are far less crowded and far less restored and... dare I say it, treacherous! This was the best! It was a grueling, but exhilarating 10 km hike (12km if you didn't take the cable car, which gives one a nice aerial view) - we took the 2km cable car! It was the most captivating feeling, just being there. To say you are on The Great Wall of China is amazing. We also saw some men working to restore some parts of the wall, and darnit, I wanted to help build the wall!... So I did! I gestured to the gentlemen if I could help pour some cement and I did! So, you all can now say that your friend/brother/cousin/son/nephew/grandson what-have-you BUILT The Great Wall of China!!! hahaha
During our long hike, some Chinese ladies were following us, aiding us through the hike. They fanned us off when we stopped for water, held our hands as we made our way up the stairs, etc... of course they wanted something back - they hiked 5km with us! They said they do this everyday, I don't doubt it. When they said this was there stop, we bought a couple Great Wall books, but that did not suffice. They finally persuaded us to buy a fan. They started out at $20 (equivalent) for each... we talked them down to $6 each. We most certainly could have gone lower, but we wanted to go and reach our destination and rendezvous spot on time. Ya know, punctuality is key with the Moores.
We near the end and Jothin and I decide to take a zip-line down to the river. It was pretty sweet.

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After we left and made our way back to Beijing (the wall was a 3 hour bus ride), Jonathan, Kristie and I headed out to find a massage. We found a nice place and Jonathan and I asked for the foot reflexology. It was a little painful, but great all the same. During our massage, we had the luxury to order meals and drinks for free! Not too shabby. The massage was 90 minutes for ~$31. If you come in before 5pm it's only $18! If you want cheap stuff... go to China!

Thursday was shopping day! We went to a place called, Silk Street. This 6 story building has fake or stolen name-brand clothing. I wish I would have brought a video camera to capture the workers there. Sales personnel at the malls working on commission got nothing on these gals. All the workers of these different small shops were all young, sometimes cute Chinese girls. You walk down an aisle and you hear 20 voices calling out to you (sometimes a little inappropriately) to buy their products. I was laughing or smiling every time I walked down an aisle... it was hilarious! I bought some jeans and a few polo shirts. I think it was like $50 altogether. Not too shabby since RL polos are $70-90 a pop.
Anyway, we spent a few hours there and returned to our hostel and packed it up!

So, we managed to catch a train all the way back to Yuntai (destination point of our ferry). The train was packed like last time; however, we had SEATS!! Initially, Kristie and Jonathan were across the aisle from us and Kristie was on the aisle seat. LOL... she was holding her nose because the guy standing beside her stunk really badly.. it was totally from a Seinfeld episode! We convinced the passengers across from us to switch seats so then J & K were across from us. This train ride was a whopping 13 hours! I stayed awake the ENTIRE time, for 2 reasons: #1 we had food, ipods, and sunglasses, etc... out on the table and our backpacks were above us or across the aisle above the seats - so I took watch. #2 I knew that if I fell asleep, it would be an un-restful, uncomfortable one. When we arrived in Yuntai, we hit up a hotel for 7 hours before our ferry departure. We only had to pay $6 each for the room - pretty cheap for a good sleep and a shower.
Well, the ferry was the ferry, so there's not much to say about that.

I think that pretty much sums up our sweet trip to Beijing and back! It was quite the experience. I hope you enjoyed reading it! Two things to recommend if you go: 1) Climb the non-touristy parts of The Great Wall! & 2) stay at Sitting on the City Walls hostel!

Signin' off from Korea...


PS- I'll post the pictures later!