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Subject: RE: Is It Cold?
Date: Sat, 29 Dec 2007 05:06:32 +0000
dear mom and dad,

hi! sorry i didnt drop an email at x-mas. but happy kwanzaa!!!

xmas was aiight here, the sistas got together at my place that afternoon and cooked (b/c you know i dont cook... ha ha) and we shot the shit and ate, it was hella nice. i had to duck out to go to work before we could play dominoes.

my coworkers had a party for xmas & we did a gift exchange, i didnt make it tho b/c i was with the sistas. my coworkers are hella nice, but i needed some soul family time.

when i went to work, the kids whined about having to be there on xmas day. i had full attendance for both classes, not one single student absent! they complained and asked for presents.

xmas isnt a traditional korean thing, so it doesnt get the same reverence here as it does back home, i told them that they should've honored their teacher by bringing ME presents! and really, the only reason i was there on xmas day is b/c THEY were. if they took the day off, i couldve stayed home! really, i was the one who should've been whining! i did give them little hints for the test that day, for their xmas present. "oh teacher, youre so kind!" yeah whatevers, you all hated me 5 minutes ago. >:(

i got the splenda and tampons, thank you SOOO much!!! i think i been drinking twice as much tea now that i got the splenda, i love it. i still havent gotten the bed sheets... they're on the way somewheres im sure.

im working on getting a couple of weeks off in february to come home for a bit, but i guess planning this far ahead aint registering w/my job. everything is last minute here (i get my textbooks two days before im supposed to start teaching, i get a days notice to come to a mandatory meeting, other bs like that, it's friggin standard procedure in korea, fo reals) i got so annoyed that i contemplated leaving after my contract is up, going to work for another school... but then i ran into one of students from my very first term, Kyung-kun, he smiled so wide at seeing me, he's been moving up class levels and is just as cute as the day i met him... i cant leave! i love these kids so much!


it's getting colder, i hate it. one of my coworkers had a student who kept blowing his nose, had a pile of kleenex on his desk by the time class was over. jeez, some parents need to wake up and keep their kid at home when they're sick... anyway, the other kids were teasing him b/c of the pile, to which he responds, "But if i dont blow my nose, then i'd be eating my own snot." i really cant argue there... im always for blowing instead of sniffing it all up.

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Subject:
Date: Wed, 19 Dec 2007 09:49:
dear mom and dad,

hi! today is election day here in seoul, and it's a holiday for everyone else except for us at work. we have a dedication like no other... or so we're told to say. lots of cute doll displays at the museum --->

i went to the kimchi museum at the co-ex mall last week. it was interesting, showing pictures of kimchee from different regions, the history of kimchee, listing the ingredients, and all the ailments that kimchi is said to cure. well, i had been sick last week, maybe the kimchee kimbop i ate burned it out of me.

work is going well, it's already week 4, time is flying. all the students are awesome. i have one little boy, "Jackson," who, every time he gets an answer right, gives a double tap on his chest with his fist and then throws out a peace sign. it's super cute.

the snow really came down last week, like so cold that when i was walking down the street, i just got mad and even cried a little! well, i didnt have my hat, i wont make that mistake again.

i got the magazines and the comic strips, thank you. i really enjoyed the article about black female execs keeping their natural hair. Be the change you want to see in the world, alright! i also got the obit for alvin stanely... uhm, please refresh my memory, who is he? it said that he passed in january 2002. anyway, im cold. love you both. tell david, ketso, and hector i say hello. ~daughter.

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Subject: new glasses

Date: Mon, 10 Dec 2007 03:33:29 +0000

dear mom and dad,

thanks for the sheets! they havent come yet, but thanks for sending them, i got an eye out.

i just got this bed a couple of weeks ago. i had a bed before, but i gave it to one of the new teachers who had nothing to sleep on, and i started sleeping on the couch. every time i was supposed to get another bed, something came up!

so here three months later, i got a bed from one of the teachers who left korea. geez, i didnt realize how lame my couch is; the second night on the bed, i slept for like 12 hours, it was great!

dont worry about the things of "to send me" on my blog, i really dont NEED anything, but hey family will be the first i ask when i DO need something :)

i still havent made it to korean class, my friend said the same thing as you, dad, "there's always going to be a reason to not go." it's so friggin easy to not bother learning korean here, once you get your bearings, getting around isnt so hard. i have, however, been making it to salsa, it's so much fun! we learned "cross body lead" and some sort of turn spin, im really bad at it but still it's fun. a sister i met through a friend is the teacher, she's really good.

i got a new pair of glasses, just because. new frames and new lenses only $50, and that is with me splurging for scratch resistant or something. the guy at the shop remembered me and bowed like crazy when i came in. i see him a lot, actually, b/c i pass the shop on my way to work and he waves and smiles.

while there today, i met an older woman who told me she lived in new jersey for 15 years, and her daughter taught english in korea for a while. she asks me where im from, and when i say, "southern cali," she starts spurting off in spanish! i was embarrassed, b/c despite my years of study, she was talking way too fast for me, plus, hearing spanish with a korea accent is a little difficult for my amateur ear also. anyway, the woman's name is margaret and she asked for my cell phone number and if she could be my friend, the same scenario that happens a lot here.

salud to senior gomez. ~daughter.

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Subject: cold
Date: Fri, 7 Dec 2007 15:45:34 +0000
dear mom and dad,

its getting colder and snowing more, i hate it, but other than that, things here are wonderful.

dad, i DO have a separate web page, it's sistershainseoul.blogspot.com, i thought i told mary about it, well i'll cc this email to her.

ive not heard from sam, ah well, im around so he can get at me whenever.

i STILL havent gone to the korean class, but hopefully this saturday will be the day. things keep coming up! i was supposed to go to the dmz with some friends this weekend, but i've started salsa dance lessons and it would interfere. i'd much rather dance than see the dmz, it'll have to wait for another day, especially since im 99.99% sure i'll be in korea for a while. *sidenote* a really great movie w/dmz here.

well i have nothing else to say, save for more complaints about the weather, but i'll spare you all my awful whining. my greetings to hector gonzales. ~daughter

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Subject:
Date: Sat, 1 Dec 2007 00:22:57 +0000
dear mom and dad,

it's the end of our first week of this new term, things went really well. im teaching the same type of classes, which im thankful for, b/c i feel more that i know what im doing.

our school has moved to a new, bigger building, it's nice b/c now the staff can see each other more, as opposed to being on different floors in the smaller building. i like it most b/c i can see a lot of my former students. it feels really nice to be walking around the hall and hearing a kid call out, 'Hi Sister Sha!" :)

mom, i got the card you sent w/the lion and the sheep, thanks for that, ive got it taped to my door so i can see it when i come and go.

i met with the sistas last week and had lunch, it was so wonderful as always, it really recharges my batteries. we were discussing an asian phenomenon that wasnt too familiar with before: double eye lid surgery. i didnt realize it, but i have occasionally seen on billboards and the subway these advertisements and before/after pictures of eyelids, adding the fold that most koreans lack. wow. there is even Double Eyelid Tape, a friend told me, for a temporary fix giving the illusion of a double eyelid. i saw it in the store and i wanted to buy some, but was afraid the woman at the counter would curse me out in her head if not in person.

hey, can i ask you guys to send me a set of bedsheets? for a single size bed? the sheets here in korea are all like blankets instead of sheets. im pretty sure it can fit in the same envelope you send magazines in, dad.