Market play and such

Hello hello

GUESSSSSS what! I am finished intensives! Today was my last day teaching intensives, and I went out with a bang! We had "Market Play" today. During my intensive month, my classes which were my extra classes I had to give my students these pretend dollar bills when they were good as rewards. Kind of like in the kindergarten class when someone does something that makes me happy I put a heart beside their name on the board. Anyway, we did this all month just for today. Each kid was sent a letter home with a list of things to bring to school... stationary items, fruit, veggies candy, drinks... anways. We made our own market! ANDDD I got to shop! haha Today at work I got paid to help my kids practice their shopping skills in English and I got some sweet treats from it too!! I got a few potatoes, carrots, a peach, a small green Korean pumpkin and some candies... it was awesome. My favourite moment today was when one of my little kids Jimmy (who is a girl, I don't know who named her Jimmy) got me to help her buy some treats. She is VERY shy, but she really wanted a cucumber. Bless her haha.. she is only 10. And that I think is Korean 10.

Another one of my intensive kids Sally had the same sort of thing it seems from her Piano Hogwan. She got some cool things here... pencils, pens, erasers, and she got these plastic rings. She gave me one as a best friend ring. It fit on my pinky ring finger haha. Thomas was really cute today too... of everything at the market today... he was most excited over his bananas!

While I am on the topic of school I will mention that because of intensives, some of my students took the morning class and transferred out of my afternoon class. One of my classes is now down to three students. They are all 8 year old boys. My last class with them I knew it was a class of boys because Bruce looked at me, said excuse me from the table we were sitting at and walked outside... I was shocked he did that in my class, he stood there for a minute then came back in. It was obvious what he did. He went outside to fart. At least he left the room to do so. haha oh kids.

Last weekend I went to Seomyeon with my friend Heather from high school and my friend Sakina after our Korean lesson. Sakina found this group which offers volunteer Korean lessons. These lessons only cost 3 dollar a month! And that is to cover the snacks! Right now I am learning the alphabet! I have some homework to do before I go to sleep from last week actually haha :) I love that I am a student again! This will be great.. I will be able to get around so much more easily and when/ if my family come to visit I will be able to ensure in Korean that there is no shell fish!
Anyways, in Seomyeon we went to a Vietnamese restaurant and then some window shopping, a few book stores, then to a cafe for gelato and Dr. Fish. What is Dr. Fish you ask?
Look at this youtube video Sakina found:
http://kr.youtube.com/watch?v=H6IpcWRlp78
Now that you have seen that you can only imagine how I felt when I took part in that. My feet are extremely ticklish. I can't promise that if you touch my feet I won't kick you in the face... I am that ticklish. Pedicures and iffy. I went and had a bunch of tiny fish eat the dead skin off my feet. It was the weirdest feeling ever. For the most part I only barely had my heels in. I laughed too hard and made a scene.
The cafe which had these fish had a little library, served gelato, and with my gelato I got butter... why butter? They also served free bread for toast, jam and tea/coffee... it was a nice spot!

The following day I went to my beach just minutes away from my house and just read and loved life. The weather was nice, it wasn't as hot as it had been and had a nice breeze to it. My friend Steph met up with Sakina and I later in the afternoon and then we met up with some of the guys we know that work at the jet ski repair shop right by my house. Steph is friends with the owner. He drove over one of his jet skis and his employee took us out on it. It was my first time on a jet ski... and let me tell you... it is my last hahaha. Just imagine me... already nervous because I am not huge on deep sea water getting on a jet ski for the first time and I am nervous with machines that go really fast. The man who took me on the jet ski spoke very little English. Steph gave me a quick prep lesson on what to do to not fall off and we sped off. I held on to his life jacket and felt myself bobbing up and down a little too much. Not knowing what to say, I said... toooooo fast... I think he thought I said faster. My nerves were shot. So I yelled stop! haha He slowed down and I said... home please haha. He asked if I wanted to go again... haha no.

The man who owned the rapair shop and the jet ski also had one of those banana boat things that you would toe from the jet ski or a boat. Well I handed back my life jacket and said thank you for the ride... then he fastened it back on me while I said no that's ok.. and insisted that I try the boat... and he would go slow for me. Steph convinced me to oink (only in Korea)... so I decided to try it again after not liking the one I had been on in Mexico a few years back. She said it would be a great story. So I told him I would if he went slow... yes. I am a baby. He tricked me.. he went slow the first time, but the second time he sped up, then when we were docking he ensured he tipped the boat. You would think I would be mad, but it was great. I am glad that I was forced out of my element.

I started to feel a little homesick the other night so I forced myself to go for a walk. It was lovely to walk along the beach and think of home and feel happy where I was. It really is beautiful here and it helps to keep me focused. I just sat in the breeze for 30 to 40 min just day dreaming. It was wonderful. It was dark out and the bridge has colourful lights on it at night, it is a pretty sight. As I got up to walk home I bumped into my good friend Cheryl. I hadn't seen her in a few weeks since she was gone to Africa to visit a friend. She brought me back a key chain and a post card! :) I love getting post cards!

A friend from Canada moved to Busan yesterday. Her boss told her to tell me that she was at the Haeundae station at exit 4. So I went there. She has no phone yet or Internet access outside of school. I went to where I was told and waited for hour in a half. I didn't want to leave worried that she was lost in Korea... so I waited. While I waited I met this guy named Ian. We became instant friends and found out that he only lives 45 min away from me in Canada. Wild the people you meet across the world! :)
Well I finally get a call from my friend once Ian leaves for his bus and I am left to wait alone. She only has a minute before the phone cuts out since she is on a pay phone with a small coin, so I ask her what she sees. All she can make out before she is cut off was a building that said 2001. I walk up to a bunch of Korean women and ask if anyone speaks English, one of them did!! I told her I needed to find a building in this huge city which could be anywhere that said 2001! hha she knew what I was talking about and even left her group of friends to help me! Koreans are so nice like that! My friends boss had told her the wrong subway stop for some reason and I was two away. I managed to find her and we went and had a great first Korean meal! I even got to laugh at someone who was just learning chopsticks hahaha.. I have gotten a little better, so it was funny to see someone try it for the first time ever... especially where you hardly see forks here.

Also... side note as I end this entry... as I write this I am hearing Celine Dion blaring... hahah My Heart will Go On... I never hear English music really played around my apt, but today Celine is blaring!