Sunday, March 3, 2024

Another sweet graduate..

 

Just saw one of my sweet girls who graduated three years ago. She was squealing with excitement at seeing me at the bus stop. Her joy made me happy and reminded me of the impact I have had on these children during my years in Korea.

Yes, her English was super low but she oulled out her phone and used the translator to tell me how much she misses me and how her and her friends still do the "please be quiet, please PLEASE be quiet" motion that I used to do to get the students' attention.

I am grateful for the little reminders of the joy that I shared and leave with my students.❤

Isn't she BEAUTIFUL? 😚




Profiting from Black pain...again

 

I saw this on Korean tv yesterday and it disgusted me.

There are many crimes of passion in Korea. The citizens are not allowed to carry guns so most crimes involve knives. There are also many s@xual assaults of women and children.

Soooooooo, as much crime that already happens here in Korea, you showed crimes committed by and against Black Americans. So you're not happy with copying 90's Black culture (read as KPop) now you want to profit off crimes against us. 

Tell me, Korea, what else do you want to leech off us for profit?



Oh, just park any where

 


In the southern part of Korea, you can damn near park any 🤔 where you want.

It is so rare to see a tow truck reinforcing correct parking. This driver was parked with no concern.

Itaewon braids vs the other city

 

Please, PLEASE don't laugh at the empty parking lot on top of my head.😅😅😅😅

I am about to give up getting my hair braided in Korea. The braider in Itaewon was decent and didn't put ten packs of hair on my head...but damn, lady!

Why leave that parking lot on top of my head???

😅😅😅😅😅😅😅😅😅😅😅😅😅

That ain't right. Ha ha

But next time I will show her this picture and tell her to put lots of cars in my parking lot, please!😅


The only time my hair is braided beautifully is either in Ghana or the USA 




Versus the other city







Last time buying Indian food in Korea.

 


After craving new food for a few weeks, I took another chance on an Indian restaurant in Suncheon. After paying $60 for 2 dishes and one flat bread, I looked in the food bag...in shock.

😅😅😅😅😅😅😅😅😅😅😅😅

They GOT ME, again!! Ha ha

These two little sauce bowls of tomato paste with itty bitty chicken chunks cost...(wait for it) $14 dollars each!! The greasy flat bread was $2.50 , and the Korean owner discounted the bread by fifty cents. Ha ha!

Because this restaurant was three hours from Busan, I expected more food for my money.

WRONG!😅 I got GOT, again.😅😅


Whew!! 

I give up!! 

Back to eating twigs and leaves.


Help!

The struggles of an expat.

I would rather eat my own country's food but settled for ANY foreign...and was given two spoonfuls of food for thirty dollars. 😅





Thursday, February 1, 2024

Quick summary of the Busan business trip





 I am mentally drained from the trip...went to bed early because I decided to do the teacher's physical check~up today, Friday  instead of Monday ..


So I have to get up early and go to the hospital for 3 to 4 hours on an empty stomach, to show I am healthy enough to teach Englisheeeeeeee....😅😅

My quick summary of the Busan trip~ gorgeous pics to follow in other posts🥰😅

The trip was the LAST trip I will choose to take with the education office.😅

I was the oldest,  next to my guy friend,  who was having a prolonged anxiety attack for 97% of the entire trip.

He looks sick in the body and his face has aged because of the excessive and fast weight loss. 

His extreme behavior alarmed me and I told him. He pretended to be asleep once on the bus in avoidance behavior.  Too much to unload so I avoided him after observing his heightened anxious behavior.

The young children~like teachers behaved their ages. 😅


The selected meals on Wednesday were horrific and I even walked out on Wednesday's lunch and went  to buy a sandwich from a convenience store.


The walk and short evening stay at the beach was fun.


The ai information was valuable. The free trip was fun but exhausting.  Being around 21 foreigners plus 35 korean teachers, who rode separate buses for 99% of the trip, was exhausting. 


I had a decent roommate for 2 nights but having a roommate was annoying.


The social energy was extremely high even though I read my kindle during all the bus travel.


They will pay us $7.50 each, for 2 meals the 1st day.


The educational info was valuable and I enjoyed visiting Busan again, 2 most valuable take~a~ways.


Oh, and , after 2 tries,  I was able to find new , size 11, sneakers for the new semester. Yay!


Also, the Ramada Encore was gorgeous and the buffet breakfast was delicious. The convenience of the bus to Busan station was great.


Suggestions ~ Select more generally accepted meals like Korean bbq or the galbi soup instead of the blowfish, etc. This way more attendees will enjoy the required meals.


More free time so teachers can explore the city independently within smaller groups. More beach time. Allow for possible traffic delays in the daily schedule. 


Maybe a team bonding/building exercise with Korean and foreign teachers to create a harmonious connection, maybe a joint karaoke event to allow strangers to bond over music, snacks and alcohol. Understandably, this is a conference but it can be an opportunity to bridge understanding and reduce the cultural gap between Korean and foreign educators.