I'm not unemployed anymore - I actually have a very fabulous job as a preschool teacher with the University of Michigan child care centers. But I'm still posting, albeit a little more irregularly, and I don't want to ignore the personal progress I've made since starting this blog by renaming it.

Blog inspiration: I read 48 States in 48 Days by Paul Jury in the summer of 2011. It was fabulous...although he planned way less for his roadtrip than I would have. And at the same time, my lovely Anna was constantly reminding me that our lives were awesome, despite the fact that we didn't have job prospects, new cars, boyfriends/husbands, houses, etc., like so many people we knew. So, in an effort to appreciate my life and the crazy uncertainty that it is, I started writing this blog about the little adventures I have. (And by "writing a blog," I mean "making a list" because I make lists, not narratives.) Even if there isn't a BIG adventure that happens every day, I try to find at least one thing to list :)

Monday, May 7, 2012

What a Phone Call Should Be (May 4)

  • My other appointments at the doctor’s office this week have been close to closing time, so it wasn’t too busy. Today, I had a morning appointment and I got to see a Korean doctor’s office in full swing. Basically, all of the appointments are intertwined. In America, you have a specific time and get everything done at once, while the nurse/doctor is focused on you. In Korea (or, at least, at this office), you move from exam room to exam room, area to area, based on what you need and what is available. I’m not really sure if this slows things down or speeds them up. It did succeed in making me feel like a burden to the office though, which I didn’t like :/ 
  • After the appointment, Winter and I decided coffee was a good idea (of course) and we went to a new coffee shop that she’s been wanting to try. It was adorable (and served good coffee too) and we will definitely be going back :)





Why does her phone take such good pictures???

  • Today was my Skype Project at school. Pretty much everything worked out, with a few minor challenges, and it was so fun. I really loved connecting my students with my friends and it was cool for them to realize things, like what time it was in the US, and to hear them “OOOOH!” at a simple thing like a marching band jacket (that I don’t even think they understand the concept of). And the conversations Su Hyeon and Dae Han (6th graders) had with Julia, PP, my Dad and Uncle David were fantastic. They introduced Julia and Uncle David to KPop (by playing them “Fantastic Baby”), Dae Han tried to convince them all that he was 99 years old, they told Uncle David that he was David Beckham (because everyone named David must be David Beckham) and that he looks like Tony Stark, Su Hyeon was his normal crazy self and Dae HAn said that one of his favorite things to do after school was punch his brother. Overall, it also made me feel like a good English teacher, because I know how to talk to my students, what (and how many) words to use, how slow to speak, etc. It’s not that my friends and family did it wrong, they just spoke like a little fast and with too many words sometimes - things I've only learned by teaching ESL students firsthand. I realized how much my teaching style has changed based on the needs of my students – maybe I’m a little more adaptable than I give myself credit for. Yay! Once again, I want to say thank you to everyone who helped me: Winter (always), Crystal, Allie, Amanda, Alyssa, Henry, Julia, PP, Uncle David and Dad (and Annie, Erin and Marina, even though they didn’t actually get to talk to the kids). I love you all! 
  • After school, I headed to Gyeongju for dinner and a sleepover at Jeanette’s, which was complete with ice cream, lamenting about boys, and watching Sense and Sensibility...pretty much perfect.
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