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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.

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Subject: it's snowing!
Date: Sun, 25 Nov 2007 10:06:55
dear mom and dad,

we had our first snow here last week. it's so strange, i KNOW it's snow, but i still only see ash. i look at the piles of snow on the ground, and i see piles of cotton. my mind just will not accept that there's a world outside of san diego where it gets super cold.

this week is the end of my 3rd term with my job. one more term and my contract will be finished. time flies! we'll have a few new teachers coming to the staff, and many leaving.

my friend mayma (the sister from new zealand) is leaving the school, her contract is finished and she's moving on. the other day she and i were having lunch. we were eating chicken, and she scoffed at me for leaving so much meat on the bones. :) mom, i remember you'd get mad at me about that! felix scoffed too, when i had lunch with him weeks before. in fact, i remember on my second trip to ghana, my friend lomotey and i were eating chicken, and he scoffed too! people always say im wasting so much meat! i dont know why, i just never picked up the habit of cleaning/eating the bones. not like i dont get enough to eat, tho! ha! still using the treadmill daily. workin' it.

so i'll have all new classes/students come monday, i'm excited, but i miss a lot of my former students already. i didnt even get to see Greg (w/the pinoy accent) b/c he didn't come on the last day of class. well, hopefully i'll see him around next term. not that he needs to keep coming, his english is great. maybe just a voice coach to help with the accent... :)

sometimes i'll ask the kids to try harder to pronounce things w/out their korean accent. they are very young and if they try, the CAN pronounce words more clearly, this "konglish" (korean + english) seems more of a habit rather than not being able pronounce things.

they constantly say "A-pull" instead of A+, tho none seem to have a problem w/saying "s." Again, it's b/c it's so common for them. same with saying "Yes." instead, they say "Yes-uh." the sound "Uh" is at the end of nearly every word.

i was talking to one class about the importance of trying to not speak with the accent if they can, b/c they'll get stuck in the habit otherwise and maybe have trouble communicating, or have trouble being understood.

"But teacher," little Lina says, "I feel like 'Yes' is too short, so i have to add to it when i say it."

just like when the brothas and sistas say "conversate" instead of converse, or "axe" instead of ask, or the Joes saying "tow out" instead of thaw out (for the longest time, i thought mom was saying it right and the rest of the world was wrong). ah well, so long as the kids keep the proper pronunciation in mind, and perhaps be multilingual in korean, english AND konglish.

with the new term beginning, i'll finally be able to take the korean classes, i start next week, im really excited. every once in a while, the kids will be asking me something in class, and they slip and say a word in korean. I'll repeat it and say, "What is XXX?" and they laugh like crazy b/c it's so fun to hear teacher try and say something in korean b/c she says it soooo wrong.

on the last day of classes, many students begged,

"teacher, say something in korean!"
"NO! you guys just like to laugh and make fun of me!"and then they laugh some more hahahahaaha!
keep on laughing, kiddies. will it still be funny when i give you a C- for your attention and participation grades today? HA-HA-HA!!!

day banners

Subject: RE: Pizza Teacher
Date: Wed, 14 Nov 2007 06:26
dear mom and dad,

dad, how dare you talk to me about it being 60 degrees and almost needing a jacket in san diego. youre mean and cruel!

well, i dont have anything really to talk about, its just that i finally got around to taking and loading some pictures. here is where i live.

i dont know what all the banners were for that day, there was some sort of celebration. on my way to work the next day, there was a stage set up outside and a band, (nothing traditional korean, tho), but alas i couldnt stick around to check it out b/c i was on the way to work.

im working on the x-mas letter, maybe i'll even have it emailed to you later today. things are good, im cold, love you all, sha.

email

Subject: hi, finally
Date: Thu, 8 Nov 2007
dear mom and dad,
hi! oh the cold weather is here already, already!!!! *sigh* i dont leave the house without my coat, scarf, and gloves. im ridiculous.

so we're at the tail end of the term with only a couple of weeks left. i will really miss a lot of my kids: joanne who i have to keep punishing for using her cell phone in class, alex who recently changed his english name to "Tony Hawk," and little Greg who speaks english with a philipino accent :)

one of my middle school classes begged me for a pizza party on the last day, which of course im not allowed to do. i lovingly told them that their test/quiz scores were too low to deserve any kind of party. that day they got me to agree that if everyone scored 7 out of 7 on that days quiz, i would buy them pizza.

As we started to correct the quizzes, holy cow i got nervous! they'd get question 1 right, and the class yells "YEAHHH!!" question 2 right, "YEAHHH!!!" question 3 "YEAHHHA!!" i started sweating by question 5! but alas, tho many of my little geniuses scored perfect 7s, most got a score of 6. *phew!* it was a great motivator, i wish i could buy them pizza. i think im allowed to give gift certificates. maybe we'll have a "note-taking" contest on the last day, and reward whoever finds the most major and minor details in the day's lecture.

so for the rest of that day, every question i asked of the class was answered with "Pizza." they held up signs "Pizza! pizza!" and when i got back from our 5 min break in class, i came back to my desk full of little drawings of mini pizzas. they're so creative! :)

one of the favorite snacks of kids here is ramen raw, like straight out of the package with the flavor packet sprinkled on top, did i tell you all this already? they always get the spiciest one they can find, and then beg me to taste it. i told the kids im not crazy about spicy food, and they went nuts, telling me that here is korea, spicy=delicious.

there's another thing they eat called "dokpokki" it's like super thick pasta noodles cut up into one inch strips and smothered in a hot sauce. the kids buy it during the break and then 5 min after class starts again, they beg me to let them out to get a drink of water. i tell them no, and then they say im so mean b/c i cant help but laugh to see them all at their desks with their mouths open, panting like puppies. hahahahahahaha!!! ~sha