sexy pencil

now that i've gotten your attention....

had a disturbing discovery the other day: some of my students watch "adult" videos! i know this shouldn't really be that surprising, they are high school girls after all, but still! i guess it's just because i see them as so young and innocent who blush when i ask them about cute boybands.

and now some of my students think i'm dirty-minded because one student's story was titled "sexy pencil's romantic journey" and i asked her why she included "sexy." and then she was trying to explain something about how the pencil is like a body. and c'mon, what would you think if you saw a pencil that someone was relating to the human body? wouldn't you think about the male body? and so i thought this is what my student was saying (she is one of the students who's admitted to watching adult videos) to me. then they were all like "noooo teacher! so dirty teacher!"

sigh.

i do wonder why they feel so comfortable talking about this stuff with me. trust that i did NOT bring this topic up or anything close to it in class. maybe it's because the stereotype that americans are more sexual? i don't know. i really don't know.

in other news, i can't believe i only have a little over a month left here. even though i'll be in korea for another year, it will be completely different: new shcool, new city, my own apartment. i'll really miss my adorable students who make me laugh and smile, and my wonderful homestay family who were so kind to me. i won't, however, miss my school. they're actually the reason i'm leaving. i can't deal with them another year, especially my utterly clueless co-teacher.

a fresh start is always good, right?

Road Trip

I'm going away for the weekend--to Busan. I'm pretty excited as I haven't been down there before. Also, weather permitting (fingers crossed!) the beaches I hear are quite nice. Anyway, I know I've been lagging behind in updates. I'll try to best to get back on track next week. Maybe.

Of Cliques and Hipsters

Check it:

Look at this F***** Hipster via Gawker

Hilarious blog. It's not that I actually hate hipsters. I just find their fake irony and pretension irritating. I also feel like they all try way, way too hard. The way they dress especially fascinates me. Hipster boys who wear too-tight jeans (dude I don't need nor want to see your package) and the hipster girls wearing well, crap like the crap you see above. It's either granny gear or purposefully mismatched clothes that also ends up looking like... crap. Oh and why do all those hipster boys proudly display their chest hair? (Actually not just hipsters do that). Trust me when I say no one wants to see that mess. And while I like my indie music as much as a hipster (did I really just say that?) there's some just god-awful music out there that's supposed to be all "artsy" and "intellectual" or whatever but just sounds like CRAP. If you have to struggle through a song in order to "get" it, it's probably not a good song.

Also, I used to be kind of a music snob like a lot of hipsters are, but now I'm like "who cares?" My iTunes is chock full of music I should probably be embarrassed about (Britney Spears, Fergie, Lady Gaga, The friggin' Pussycat Dolls--I can't help it, "Buttons" is a good dance song) but I could care less what people think about my taste in music. I like what I like. I guess I also just don't get the whole clique thing. Like dressing a certain way, listening to the same music, whatever superficial "rules" one must observe in order to belong to a clique--I don't get it.

It's not that I think cliques are bad, I just never felt like I could ever conform to the rigid rules one must observe in order to belong to them. Maybe I shunned them in part because I could never truly belong to one--there was always something that prevented me from fully belonging. That's not to say that I live a solitary existence, I have plenty of friends but I'd call us a group, not a clique. We're all different people with different tastes and styles. I'm not sure what our identifying marker would be--that we're all basically good people? Which sounds arrogant perhaps, but I grew up with the most moral parents ever who instilled in me a strong moral fiber. The older I get, the more impatient I become with people who turn out to not be as "good" as I thought they were. And by "good," all I mean is decent people who usually observe the Golden Rule. People who are honest and trustworthy.

And the older I get the more I realize that my naive assumption that most people are good people is really, really wrong. I'm not looking to befriend saints (aren't we all sinners?) because I'm definitely not perfect myself, but I consider myself a person who treats others well. I may not like you, but I won't backstab you, try to screw you over, or spread fake rumors about you.

On the other hand, I've met some of the kindest people in Korea. Random strangers who will give you thier umbrella when it's pouring rain because you don't have one. Seated grandmothers on the bus who offer to hold your bag for you while you stand. My host mom offering to sneak me into the hospital using her daughter's insurance card when I was sick (I declined the offer) so I wouldn't have to pay as much. I've found that, for the most part, when you ask a Korean for help or for directions, they'll give you much more than you bargained for. But in a good way--they'll tell you exactly the best route to get there, or the best place to go to or whatever you're seeking.

I'm not sure how I started with hipsters and ended up here, but in short, I dislike hipsters, have lost most of my faith in humanity but do appreciate the lengths Koreans will go to in order to help you.

Does this mean I've become more cynical or less?

Hot Seat

Had some extra time for the second half of my sophomore class so I decided to play a game with them. Instead of the usual Hangman which I'm frankly sick of (how can the students not be?) I decided to try this game I found online "Hot Seat." Basically you divide the class into 2 teams, each team sends one player to the front. They sit with their backs facing the rest of the class. I write a word down and show the rest of the class who have to give clues to their teammate. I knew the girls were competitive but I didn't know how much-they were screaming like crazy. My ears are still ringing. And actually it was amazing how they were able to get even the difficult words like "economy" and "justice." Overall though, really great class. This was actually my favorite class out of all the sophomores so I'm sad that today was our last class.