Wednesday, September 4, 2013

Changes

So, because I'm still listening to Simon and Garfunkel (they are so good for changing seasons I feel, just the right amount of wistful) here's my current favorite of their: April Come She Will.

Guys...I decided to skip the hike and the NARPI field trip. It's just going to take too long, and I will always be writing really old news if I try to catch up with it. The pictures really say it all, anyway. So, let's just have a post about the recent happenings here.

A few days ago, Anna left for the U.S.A...the last of 2012-2013 Three Musketeers. I can really feel the spot she left. Anna, if you're reading, you are missed! She was a mover and shaker and a great friend too.

Now, except for Sarah ( thank goodness she is here!) I am the teacher that has been here the longest. a.k.a, I am someone who (supposedly) has some of the most knowledge about how do this teaching thing, and so someone to maybe go to for advice. That is scarier than teaching, I think. I feel like I'm getting a feel for what I need to do for my own classes, but I really know nothing outside of them, so I feel like I don't have a lot of theoretical knowledge.

That's kind of a change for me, actually. I love to read, so I feel that usually it's the other way around: I have a lot of theoretical knowledge and not very much experiential knowledge. Strange that I always feel confident to tell people about what I've read, but not about what I've experienced. I guess because I don't have to own it if I read it....

Tonight was a great night. We came home and all cooked a great big mess of fried rice with peppers and zucchini and onions and carrots and eggs, and it was so delicious! It was so nice to do a little work other than teaching, without too much pressure. Cooking day at the office can be fun too, but sometimes you feel a little burdened to please everyone's palates.

After dinner we went to the Paldang Dam(mit...joke time with Yoonseo) and had some beer and talked about funny things and also serious things. Take away word of wisdom from Yoonseo: we are wounded healers. Need to think about that one some more...it's good stuff.

Then came home and tried to unpack a bit. I moved into the Connexus house on Sunday, which was awkward sauce city because my host family somehow missed me telling them I was leaving on that day. So, basically it seemed like I was trying to sneak out without really saying goodbye, when really, I was kind of wondering why my family seemed so chill on Sunday. My host father was like "Oh, so that's why you got up for breakfast on a Sunday...I thought it was strange." SO AWKWARD. But actually, it turned out ok because of mediator extraordinaire Yoonseo. He deserved a trophy for his interpersonal skills.

I found out today also that the card I wrote in Korean for my host family might not have been as meaningful as I would have liked either...I addressed it to my 사랑하는 민박 가족, which I thought meant, according to endic.naver.com, "Beloved/My dear host family." Turns out 민박 가족 translates to mean something closer to "innkeeper family." So yeah, I'm sure they really appreciated that nuance. "Thanks for letting me freeload at your inn...err house, beloved innkeeper family!" Epic fail. Oh well, it was actually pretty funny. Minji almost peed her pants when I told her that the ice cream in the freezer was from my 민박 가족.

Well, it is time to shuffle off to buffalo. Goodnight!
Thanks for reading!
-Abby

4 comments:

  1. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  2. 1. I am SO happy you're finally here, Abby!
    2. You do an amazing job and hold much theoretical AND experiential knowledge of our work and purpose here!
    3. I'm now sad I missed all those dam jokes tonight...

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  3. "After dinner we went to the Paldang Dam...and had some beer..." Look at you! :D

    Also, I died laughing at that last paragraph. Oh language learning.

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  4. OF COURSE I'm reading! How else will I keep track of all-things-Connexus?! Miss you guys so much... I keep feeling like I'm on vacay and that soon I'll be back with ya'll. Anyway, keep it real. I'll be reading...

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