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Subject: my plant!
Date: Sat, 28 Jul 2007 15:01:44 +0000
dear mom and dad,

someone is overwatering my plant, im sure of it! everyday i get to work and the soil is moist. maybe the staff is watering it in the mornings? which is piss poor timing, dammit! all those other poor plants that died; finally i get myself a "take care of oneself" plant, NOW they want to water it? i'll have to get to the bottom of this. my plant will NOT die. im on the j-o.

otherwise, work is going well. these "summer intensive" classes are going ok. they're 3 times a week, so coming in to do class 9am to noon, and then again from 4pm-10pm is proving to be rather draining. thank goodness one week is over already, im tired! well, it does make the weekends off much much more appreciated. i have having a lot of fun with the morning class, the kids are really smart and fun, but still i really wont mind when class is over.

things are going fine at work otherwise. i have one elementary student, his name is greg, and he speaks just about fluent english. it's his first time at cdi, and he spent a year or more in the filipines i think, so he speaks with a pinoy accent, it's the cutest thing ever. he makes me think of my cousin... or whoever that little girl is, when we went to visit Lolo Manny in LA? and that little girl asked her mom why, even tho she was born and is being raised in the states, why she still has a filipino accent? how many relatives did i meet that day? 50? and that was just the garcias, huh?

i got the essence magazines last week, thanks so much. i havent had nearly the time i did before to read now with these morning classes, but i'll get back to it. dad, sorry that at&t has been so sucky, are you switching back to cox? i think i told you that i cut my internet back home for a while, b/c cox pissed me off so much? talk about crappy customer service. they have us by the jugular! the internet is a drug! ... of which i myself am a pathetic addict. maybe this is secretly why i havent made efforts to get a home computer.

hey im thinking kanisha may have my jill scott cd, so no sweat if you cant find it. or actually, i think i dont have it on cd, i think it's in my hardrive on the computer at home. i'll get nisha to burn it, and maybe she or teddy can drop it off to you on the next visit. they're still recycling, arent they?

dad, i really thought Medium was one of the shows you watched. well, b/c it was so crappy, i figured it just HAD to be one of YOUR shows. oh, ok, you know what, i was thinking of "The Ghost Whisperer" maybe. which, incidentally, ive seen reruns of here in korea too, and hey whaddyaknow, it's a crappy show! ~daughter.

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Subject: RE: Bounced Back
Date: Mon, 23 Jul 2007 06:38:09 +0000
dear mom and dad,

hi! we all have plants in our classrooms, and after two weeks they die. i guess the school keeps replacing them? it was so depressing to see this slowing dying plant everyday, so i went out and found a "cow's tongue" plant and replaced whatever it was in the pot before. now my desk looks so bright and alive! them cow tongue thingys are the bomb! no sunlight, no water, and yet so green and pretty. online, it was called "mother-in-law's tongue," also "snakeskin plant" and "snake plant." dad you said it was called "cow." well, i like cow better.

school is going good. it's summer vacation for the kids right now, so our school is offering "Summer Intensives" which are classes that meet 3x a week for 4 weeks... just enough time to suck up the kids' vacation! ha! so many of my coworkers and are are teaching these summer classes in the morning, and then our regular classes in the late afternoon.

i have to admit was a little put off with having to teach these extra classes, but today was my first morning and i had a ball. the kids are cute and smart and i take back all my ill feelings; things are good. and according to my coworkers, it'll be a nice chunk of change on the paycheck as well. cant say that im not looking forward to that!~daughter

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Subject: hi
Date: Wed, 18 Jul 2007 06:08:45 +0000
dear mom and dad,

i got the jet magazines and the voice and viewpoint yesterday, Thanks so much! i love getting mail! uhm... can i ask you to throw in my jill scott cd next time you send sumthing? :)

im going through books and magazines like water here. trying to watch less tv. there is a really great english book store close by (its called "what the book"), i just finished "uncle tom's cabin." ive come to the conclusion that the contemporary interpretation of an "uncle tom" being a black person that is willfully submissive to white people is not quite accurate; not like the character in the book. not so much about loving white people as it is an extreme devotion to Christianity... tho uncle tom still made me mad a time or two while reading. but can i really say.. never really; who knows how we'd react or who we'd be if we had to endure the struggles of the slave... makes me thankful. anyway, im reading ellison's "invisible man" right now.

hey speaking of tv, dad, they show "Medium" on tv here a lot, that show you like, with Patricia Arquette? ive watched it a couple of times, its just as crappy as i thought it would be. they need to be playing reruns of Buffy up in here! now THAT'S television entertainment!

things at work are good, not as many meetings and such as last term, which im thankful for. i saw one of my former students the other day. she told me she hates her new teacher and wishes she was in my class. i told her that "hate" is a very strong word, and best to say "dont like" or "not care for." i was flopping around not knowing WHAT i was doing last term, im sure she loved my class b/c i didnt really teach the kids much of anything :)

one of my coworkers is leaving korea soon, his name is jeremy, one of the first people i met at work. im sad! he's so sweet and nice and a great teacher, but he hasnt been home (i think home is virginia? or alabama?) for more than 2 years, and he's glad to be going home. he's finishing his masters degree... not sure in what, something having to do with business or trade or commerce... hell i dont know. Needless to say, once he finishes school, he'll be looking for work that's closer to his studies. im happy for him.

how is senor gonzales? do give him my greetings.~sha

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Subject:
Date: Sun, 15 Jul 2007 09:45:03 +000
dear mom and dad,

the days just fly by, i dont even realize it. we're already officially in the middle of my second term at work! crazy. sorry i havent written in so long, but as you know, i try not to use the computer at work, and the internet cafes have been bothering me b/c of the smoking. well, there's that, and the love i have for my apartment, i dont even want to leave home, i love the solitude so much. i ought to get a computer of my own, but im cheap. maybe one will come my way one of these days.

i DID get an email from ninong cooper, but every time i try to email him, his mailbox is full, so i just sort of stopped trying. i'll drop him an email today. same with mary, but i actually DID get a response not too long ago, i'll drop her a line too.

the humid weather is sumthin. on my day off, i lay on my couch with the fan on and sleep like a lazy mutha, i love it.~sha

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Date: Tue, 10 Jul 2007 13:33:54 +0000
dear mom and dad,

while watching tv the other day, ive discovered there are i think two channels here that are entirely devoted to video games. i cant understand anything that's going on b/c of the language problem, but i dont understand "Gaming" either, so i think it's all pretty boring. it looks like they show people competing against each other? lots of yelling. let brother know that ive been thinking of him. :) tell him too that ive been watching I,Videogame on the discovery channel here. very interesting! tell him ive been learning about machinima, he'll laugh at me for it. ive been to a local arcade here (300W a play, about 30 cents), but i just played tetris.

i hit the movie theatre again, and saw some korean movie, i forget what it was called, it was really boring, i left early. the theatres here are really nice, tho ive only been to two so i cant really say. it's all stadium seating, and when you buy your ticket, you can actually pick which seat you want. along side the standard snacks of popcorn and nachos, dried squid is a popular movie snack. yummmm...

work is going great, we're about halfway through the term, crazy how time goes by so fast. my naughty student i told you about is no longer in my class. im bummed, i didnt want him out. i asked my coworker what happened, he said it happens often, and probably he was just transferred to another class. ah well. maybe he was too much for me to handle anyway.

some students from my last term come by and say hi to me in my classroom during the day, and i love it. i miss a lot of them, but love all my new students too. ive received the magazines, and the cards, and the blouses, and thanks so much for the mail, i love coming home to see i have stuff in my mailbox :)

the weather here is on and off with the rain, more off than on and im glad for that, and it seems finally the mosquitoes have had their fill of me. thank god. ~daughter.

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Subject: most quitoes ever
Date: Fri, 6 Jul 2007 06:45:39 +0000
dear mom and dad,

with all this rain, the mosquitoes are having fun with me. *sigh* stupid mosquitoes. the rain has subsided for a while, but no sun. boo. hey for sure get the penguin movie for mom, she will love it.

poor me woke up with a neck ache a few days ago. mom, remember when i used to get those neck aches in college? you took me to the clinic once b/c i couldnt even turn my neck to drive? the other day wasnt anywhere near as bad, but anyway, the stiff neck still comes back every so often. actually, i remember one time, brother dave came up behind me with:

"your neck still hurt?"
me:"yeah."
him:"here, let me help you."

and he jerked my head to the right so hard! and had the nerve to smile like he just really did something great! i was on codeine and muscle relaxers for days after that! when i asked him why on earth he did it, he said he'd seen it done on tv before.... that's YOUR son, by the way.

anyway, i say all this to say that im fine now, b/c i followed tips in the "healthcare tips" book i'd bought at kaiser. very much worth the room it took up in my suitcase, it lists what to do for just about everything: blisters, aches, burns, etc., and what to look out for and when to go to the hospital. i did the neck exercises and took walks like the book said, and now im straight.

i got the business cards, the blouse, and the CD, thank you so much for the CD i am loving listening to it.~daughter

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Subject: RE: Daughter
Date: Tue, 3 Jul 2007 12:00:35 +0000
dear mom and dad,

the sun don' gone and left me! rain rain rain rain! we are upon the rainy season, so i've been told. it just poured BUCKETS this weekend. i took a cab to meet a friend, and the driver was so excited to flaunt the little bit of english and idioms that he knew. he smiles and says "It's rain cats-ah dogs-ah!" it sure was :)

so anyway, i miss the heat. my apt is surprisingly cooler than some of my colleagues. i think b/c my apt window faces the hallway on one end, and the inner courtyard on the other. i hardly use the air conditioning, actually, b/c the fan is enough. it's been nice.

work is fine, the air conditioning is usually on and it's freezing! i turn it down sometimes, but mostly just keep it cold, otherwise the kids get sleepy... from them working so hard, im sure, not that my class is boring.

i went to the movies with mayma last weekend, she said she'll never watch another horror movie with me again b/c i kept screaming. but heck, it was a HORROR movie! it was scary! what else could i do but scream? it was an american movie, 444, really crappy, dont bother looking for it.

hey, did you guys buy "Happy Feet" about the penguin? Mom, you would LOVE that movie, b/c the penguins sing all your favorite songs. i think you guys should watch the documentary "march of the penguins" first, and then happy feet, b/c then you'll know what the penguins are doing. anyway, momma, i saw the movie and was thinking about you the whole time, and a little glad i was watching it by myself and not with you, b/c with you i bet i wouldn't have been able to hear a thing; you would sing along the whole time, interjected with you telling me how you sang all those songs in the 70's. ~daughter.