9:59...

It turns out that I am definitly a hippo... but not in the way I thought. In fact, I'm not even a "Drinking Hippo" I am a "Thirsty Hippo" as in the Korean Hippo Dehumidifiers. It turns out that there is a really popular advertisement for "Thirsty Hippo" products, specifically dehumifiers that suck the water out of the air. My kids told me all about it today! Ha!

However, it reminds me of all the things I teased my teachers about. All it would take is one misstep and we would crucify the teacher.

Teacher didn't shave this morning? Homeless.
Teacher has messy hair? Crazy.
Teacher stuttered while reading? Retarded.
Teacher smiled too much? High.

Kids are ruthless. It's also funny how much I don't care now that I'm a teacher. I care when they love me. But, don't care when they hate me. What a nice little world I've created!

Nonetheless, I applauded my students for their clever teasing with a few jokes about teachers. And after we all had a bit of laugh at the expense of teachers, I told them that I didn't care if they made jokes, but those jokes can't happen during class, in Korean or disrupt my lessons. They seemed to accept my scolding, and I was reminded that they're kids just being kids.

Onto other news, I've been listening to an old mix CD my friend, Kyle, made for me when I moved to Nebraska. He made one CD titled, "Moving to Nebraska" and a few months later he sent me the sequel, "Surviving the Midwest." I've been listening to "Surviving the Midwest" and now that I am surviving Korea, a lot of the songs re-apply. There is something unique about being in a big, annonymous, foreign city listening to music that someone special picked especially for you. It's a moment of contrast, a personal experience midst an extremely impersonal experience. I like it a lot.

I'm in a very kind mood today. I'm usually in a good mood, and a relativly social mood, but today I am feeling uniquely kind. I just want to help my kids become smarter. I want to have more patience with the trouble makers. I want to share my umbrella with a stranger. This angelic disposition may not last long (I have to wake up very early tomorrow on my day off), but I'll make the most of it while it lasts.

So, I'm still power walking. Going on week three. Look at me go!

This month will mark six months in Korea. My time here is half over. Wow. Time flies. I don't expect this to be the last of my time in Korea, most of you know of my intention to return, but I am soon going to be on the downhill side of my time with this school. It's not that I don't like the school, it's just that I really like change!

Well, it is 9:59pm. I'm out of here!