email: haircut

Subject: haircuts
Date: Sun, 15 Apr 2007 10:29:54 +0000
dear mom and dad,

225 today! yeah! i attribute it to the v8 and coke zero. classes are going well. the students are great. they've actually become really comfortable with asking me for money all the time. i guess the other teachers sometimes buy their kids candy and other such treats. i tell my students that im concerned for their dental hygiene and cannot in good conscious buy them candy. when they persist, i use the good old cur------ trick of, "Ok, Wait right there." :)

im learning new things here everyday... peter, a friend of mine who's been here 3 years and in need of a haircut schooled me on barber shops here. the standard red/white/blue spinning poles is where you can pretty much only get the standard korea haircut: hair parted to the side, snip snip short. if you want more of a stylist, then you need to look for the spinning barber shop poles with pictures of women on them. now the interesting thing: if you see dual spinning barber shop poles spinning side by side, then it means you can get a haircut as well as a sensual massage. peter told me he learned this... uhm.. .the hard way. he went in for a haircut and when finished, the guy asked peter if he wanted a massage for 30,000 won. not wanting to pass up a good deal, he says yes. he's directed into a smaller room where the woman tells him to take all his clothes off and lies down. being that peter had only been in korea about a month at the time, he figured it was just a "korean thing."

"so she starts massaging me..." peter says, "and then she gets closer and closer to the danger zone!"
"oh my gosh, what did you do?"
"nothing, i wanted her to go on with what she was doing!"

he told me that at that point the woman asked for an additional 70,000 won, when peter realized that this woman was business, not some lovely korean woman hot for the white foreigner. when he told his friends about it later, they explained to him what a rip off it is, b/c the woman never actually fellates the penis, just strokes it and puts her mouth on it to make it LOOK like a bj.

"they block your view with their hair," he explained.

uhm, ok, good to know! ~sha

email: forks

Subject: forks
Date: Fri, 13 Apr 2007 09:24:37 +0000
Dear mom and dad,

Yeah, cleaning is not one of my strong points. Although I do better than teddy! When we first got married, he scrubbed everything everyday. A month later, I’d complain about dust for several days before he’d do something about it. Well, I could’ve just done something myself, but hey I agreed to marry him! That was part of the deal!

And lucky me, I met felix here in korea. The toilet is sparkling, it’s so clean!!! Sorry mom, but he offered to do it for me! I had to let him!

Classes are going really well. yesterday I learned that the number 4 is bad luck here in korea. My students told me. They asked if I noticed how buildings never have the 4th floor, instead it’s titled F floor; it was b/c of back luck. Another korea mystery solved!

I learn a lot of cool things from the kids. We were discussing something about height earlier this week and I told them I was 5 ft 3inches tall. They asked what that was in centimeters, and I told them that I didn’t know the metric system and they were dumbfounded. It’s always a shock when “Teacher” doesn’t know something. in another class I told them that we don’t use chopsticks in America, and all their eyes widened so much I thought maybe eyeballs would be rolling out of sockets! “But how do you eat noodles?” they asked. One kids yelled out, “Oh, I know, they use a fork, I saw it on tv!” too too cute

email: clean house

Subject: clean apartment
Date: Thu, 12 Apr 2007 07:08:36
dear mom and dad,

oh i had a GREAT old time shopping the other day!!! ok parents, before you go on thinking that i wasted all my money, i want to let you know that i only bought things that i needed. and i've already saved a whole lot of money thanks to teresa. i ought to call her, take her to dinner.

anyway, i live right by e-mart (like wal-mart) and went shopping there. man, it is tough to find second hand stores around here. i'd rather not buy new if i didnt have to, b/c you know the environment and all, but meh. i've talked to my colleagues and some of them buy things off the teachers leaving korea, but that can be tiresome: searching, calling, arranging to meet, etc, when everyone schedule is so odd. the 2nd hand shops that i have seen around here are clothes only. there is a website that a few coworkers used to buy their furniture at pretty good prices, but it's all in korean and had a korean friend help them. i didnt need the website anyway, i only needed a few things...

i bought a trash can, a wall clock, toilet brush, toothpaste, rice cooker, rice, broom & dustpan, laundry detergent, lotion, spray cleaner for my counter tops, tea kettle, q-tips, toilet paper, v8 and coke zero galore! man i missed my v8. i remember when i first tried it i thought it was so gross, but not having had it in a while, i was feenin for it. i drank one this morning and i felt all the vegetables strengthening my immune system.

my friend felix (the guy that was so shocked that i dont cook at home for myself) helped me carry my bags from shopping and when he got to my place he teased about how dirty and dusty everything was. all the dirt started to upset him so much that he actually cleaned the apartment for me. seriously. i hardly did a thing. everything i started to do, he came over and let me know i was doing it wrong and then would finished cleaning whatever it was for me. he swept and dusted and beat the couch cushions and took out my trash, it was friggin awesome! the whole time i was watching tv thinking that if mom were there with me right now, she'd be yelling at me for being so lazy :)

i've found out that half my classes will be cancelled for next week and the week after b/c the middle school kids will be taking exams. im glad for the time off, but it does affect my paycheck. i was all excited to have all this money after getting paid, but now i know i best spend with caution b/c im not sure what the next check will look like. it's still plenty, but best to prepare, yeah dad? i knew you'd understand. so, i'll be sending you some money for that little old credit card bill next month... *blush* but i know this is how you'd want it!

just got paid! (s'not friday night)

today is my first payday. wow, and i got here like feb 10?

shit, yo, whoever said money cant buy happiness is so wrong, b/c right now i got a lot of money and I'm a whole lot of happy.

my pops and a couple male friends cautioned me to be careful with my money, blah blah blah. why do men think women don't know how to do things? jeez. and i just got here to Korea, i mean damn y'all can i buy a broom?! please?! b/c i want to sweep the floors! fuckers.

so today i bought trash cans, a wall clock, toilet brush, toothpaste, rice cooker, rice, broom & dustpan, laundry detergent, lotion, spray cleaner for my counter tops, tea kettle, q-tips, toilet paper, v8 and coke zero galore! extravagant? dude fuck you then. i still have plenty of money to pay the rent, to live off for the month, and still send half a G home, more if i wanted to. it's nice here in korea, folks, really think about doing it!

email: coke zero

Subject: coke zero
Date: Thur, 5 Apr 2007 06:03:09 +0000
dear mom and dad,

my voice is almost all the way back. my second class yesterday (very small class, only 4 students, all teenage boys), delighted in telling me over and over how husky my voice was. when practicing the skit, they made efforts to have half the characters speak with a husky voice in homage of me. gotta love them! for extra s&g's during this class, i also had a student throw up. it's becoming a pattern with me?! different class than last time. the boys begged for the last of my coke zero (b/c you knwo i have my other bottle where i mix it with water). and this begging was AFTER they told me that i shouldnt drink coke b/c it'll turn my teeth into powder.

there was maybe a little under half a liter left of the straight coke when i gave it to them. how excited they all got, it was too cute. so they're passing the coke around, joking and all, and the other three made the fourth boy charles laugh so hard that the coke went up and out his nose and then he promptly threw up. i did not hold it together nearly as well as i did last time when the elementary aged girl threw up. maybe boy vomit is more gross? one of the korean staff cleaned up the room... thank goodness... it was way WAY more vomit than the little girl from last time.

while walking around class today checking students work, one of my elementary aged boys asked me if my wedding ring was real. i smiled and said, "that is not a class related question." he smiled. on the first day of class, one of class rules (along with no cell phones in class, no food, etc), was "Teacher answers class related questions only." every once in a while a student will pop out with a question "sister sha, did you change your hair? sister sha, what is that tattoo on your arm? sister sha, is that ring real?" my standard answer, "that is not a class related question," makes them smile and then drop it.

so hey i found where get dvd player! on tuesday, my day off, i took the subway and ventured off to Youngson Electronic Market: everything technologically related that you can think of. i thought of brother dave, and what'd he might advise if i go back there for a laptop computer later. i friggin love the subway here, you can go anywhere and when you get to where youre going, there's a sign or two in english somewhere to help you out. things in korea is all good for me. ~sha.

email: flush

Date: Mon, 2 Apr 2007 22:10:0
dear mom and dad,

i got my voice halfway back today. i attribute it to the massive quantities of water. well, my mix of half water, half coke zero. i went into work today, rather froggy, but my students were absolutely wonderful.

the first class was was actually super DUPER quiet, too quiet! the major goal is not to get everything in the workbook finished, but to get the kids to talk! anyway, their parents did a good job with them, i had no discipline issues at all, they didnt get rowdy and stayed on task the whole time. pretty much the same with my second class. im a lucky lady.

since i couldnt work on saturday, i hung out with a fellow teacher (from a different school) that lives in the building across the street from me. she arrived in korea around two weeks after i did. she works for a public school (cdi is private) so her class sizes are upwards of 30-40 students! she likes the job, but doesnt feel as though she's making a difference, not with so many kids in so many different levels. another reason for me to like my school. anyway, i hung out with my colleague michelle, she has a cat. i spent the day with her and her cat, i about cried. i miss my cats so much!

michelle is really cool, it was nice to hang out with someone who's not so negative and about korea as many of my co-workers are. my friend Leah, as much as i like her and how much she's helped me, she sounds about ready to leave... everyone does. wow, so check in with myself 6 months from now, huh? maybe i will be changing my tune soon enough.

hey here's something i didnt know: youre not supposed to flush the toilet paper in most places! michelle did a teaching gig in thailand before coming to korea, and complained about how her current school here in korea has, just like the one in thailand, the smelliest bathroom due to the overwhelming build of pissy toilet paper in the trash cans. she explained to me that most new places are OK, but older buildings arent equipped to deal with all the paper and instead of flushing, you're supposed to toss it in the trash cans. it was then that it connected in my brain why there are often trashcans in each stall loaded with paper. i just thought people were some trash throwing people or something. well, we can add that to the list of reasons of why i like my job: no pee smelly bathrooms.

email: no voice

Subject: froggy
Date: Sun, 1 Apr 2007 14:23:29 +0000
dear mom and dad,

hi! it's sunday night, i actually did NOT work yesterday. I've done so much excellent teaching that ive lost my voice. i called my boss and talked to him on the phone as best i could. i actually ended up having to send text messages to his phone, my voice was so soft that he couldnt hear me. im much better today, a little bit froggy, but for sure above the whisper i was yesterday.

i remember when i was very young i would periodically lose my voice for a few hours, but i dont know what's happening now. i attribute it to not enough liquids (i havent had coke zero in days!) and lack of activity... counting down the days til payday so i can get that dvd player. im doing just fine tho, i dont feel sick at all. i woke up friday morning with a bit of a sore throat, and then it got progressively hoarse throughout the day, and come saturday morning: gone. edit: i came to find that many people lost their voices around this time. something about the yellow dust, i guess.

i actually was rather disappointed to have to miss class, b/c it would've been a day that i'd get to see my students richard, caitlyn, and of course little johnny! i was a bit nervous too, thinking that my job would be mad or something, and i wasnt even going to bother to call in, i was just going to show up and hope my voice would magically return during my walk to work! but around noon, i called and told them that i feel fine, but the whisper was about the best i could audibly do. i guess around 11:30am it occurred to me that sure, I didnt want to miss class, but maybe THEY wouldnt WANT ME there if i cant talk! my boss was super nice about it and told me to call back on monday. *sigh* i missed richard!

i met up with some coworkers, Mayma and her husband ike. mayma is a sista from new zealand. her husband ike is from nigeria. dinner was cooked by a friend named is Felix, he's from nigeria as well. he cooked rice and some sort of hot soup with vegetables and soup that made my throat feel wonderful. i asked him to teach me how to cook it. he asked me, "Do you eat out for every meal?!" as if my momma didnt do right by me. dont worry mom, i explained to him that My MOM is an excellent cook and did her best to get her daughter to learn too! but i got that Cur------ stubbornness that just wont let me do/learn anything that i dont want to. you know, dad, like refusing to accept my destiny to become a teacher? :) my love to hector! ~sha.