My Little Monsters aka My Students

I walk into class yesterday wearing a skirt and one of my students looks at me and the first thing she says is, “Teacher, your skirt is ugly!”

Ahhh…I love the honesty of Koreans…they start at such a young age!

Anyway…here are some pics of my two favorite classes…they are so hyper and restless…and to this day I have at least one student a day fall out of his chair. I had my first girl fall out of her chair today! It's so funny! It never gets old! The look on their faces when they hit the floor! HA! I know...I'm evil! : )

Most of my students have English names…as I’ve mentioned before…there is Mickey Mouse…who now goes by Sponge Bob…and Sammy Poo, remember him? He now goes by Ala. Don’t ask…I have no idea! I started teaching a new class that puts my schedule to 6 days a week…and I may have some future strippers in this new class…have two girls and their names are Cherry and Star!


The kids in these pics are 9-11 Korean years old…which means that they are 7-9 American years old. First of all…when you are born in Korea you start at One (1)…not zero as in most parts of the world. Plus…you turn your next age on New Year’s Day. So...essentially, the whole country celebrates their birthday on the same day!

So, here’s the math…if your actual birthday has passed this year…add 1 year to your current age…if not…add 2 years. So, for instance…my birthday was back in June…so I would only add 1 year…which then makes me 30…and I would turn 31 on New Years. Which is so strange…that I am about to turn 31 here in Korea, but I’m 29 in America!

Everyone here goes by that system. DUDE…I refuse to acknowledge this system…no one is going to deny me of my last months in my 20’s!!! HA!!! I’ve even seen on the application I filled out to open a bank account here with the option of circling lunar or solar years for your age. Not sure what that’s all about!


Anyway…finally went out to my first Korean bar with the other teachers after work and saw many young ladies smoking! One of the other Korean-American teachers told me that yes…it is correct that young ladies should not smoke, but that is only outside...she tells me that as long as there is a roof, or some sort of covering over your head, it is okay for a woman to smoke! Huh? Okay! Strange…so strange…

Drinking here is extremely cheap!!!! We were 7 and drank beer all night and ordered some appetizers (you have to order appetizers if you want to drink at many of the bars here) and our bill ended up being $9 a person!!! NICE!

Well...going flying tomorrow...more eating and drinking!

Till next time…