job idea!

I've never exactly known what I want to do with my life. The test we were forced to take in 8th grade did not have a "marry rich" option on the scantron, so I feel like I've been left in state of "wellllllll?" ever since then. My plan the past couple years has been as follows-get by, see stuff. And I give myself an A+ for that, aside from the getting by part while in France. I still have a few loans to pay off, haha. BUT, I know that one cannot live that life forever, so the term "real job??? " has been bouncing around my head too much lately. Please notice the question markS. What kind of real job do I want? What kind of real job can I get it? I want enough money to pay for my cats' food, minimal stress, and the more bonuses, in the form of freebies, and discounts, the better. After realizing yesterday afternoon that my credit card number had been stolen, I have decided the amazon.com fraud department is the place to be, because clearly they spend their days having office wide Minesweeper competitions rather than doing any actual work. And I am sure they get a pretty sweet amazon discount. To apply, candidates must send in their best Minesweeper times for all three levels.

Story! Yesterday afternoon I noticed that my Amazon Chase credit card had been used for 20 purchases on amazon.com since September 8. Since 2006, on Amazon.com, the card has only ever been used for purchases sent to people with the last name of Morris, living within 120 miles of the Princeton address registered with the card. And it's maybe been used for 5 purchases a year. Currently, there is a travel notice taken out on the card, but I guess that is more for Chase, not Amazon, BUT STILL, amazon won't let my use the same password twice, and still recommends Joe Bonamassa CD's every time I log on because one time, like 3 years ago I bought one of his CD's as a gift for my madre. And they send me 3 form emails a week, chocked full of "recommendations" I don't care about. So Amazon, why? Why? WHY in your vast database of everything I've done on amazon, ever, do you not have on that saves credit card numbers? And THEN, send me a quick form email alerting me that someone has in fact opened an account with my card in Washington state. Perhaps it's a good idea to have the card owner verify this, before your employees think "yep, seems legit" and clicks approve. It was used more times in the past 10 days than it's been used in the past 3 years combined to an address I've never used. Good work Amazon!

I pointed all of this out to them yesterday in the email I sent them, when I referred to their fraud department as a joke. This is part of the email I got back from them "We discovered that an account was opened with a card used by you on another account. For your reference the card in question is a VISA which ends 2762"

NO NO NO NOOOOO AMAZON! NO! You discovered nothing. I discovered that. The only thing Amazon discovered was the email I sent them. Then did ol' "ahem...ummm....yeah...ahem we see here that..." NO AMAZON! I was the one who spent an entire phone card getting it taken care of. Don't give yourself credit for my work.

What a great job to have! But I'm not sure my life is ready for that level of futility yet, so perhaps another year of being an ESL teacher is order. Besides, I can't leave Asia without visiting the country that is so wicked cool that they can call their money the Dong.

partying partying yeah! Fun fun fun fun!

Get down, Kim Jong Il style.

This is the latest video making the rounds. I don't know why, but I think it's hilarious/genius.

Why is my font like this?

Hello, Fall

I would write about the changing seasons once again, but I can't. I'm too busy welcoming the new season with an apple crisp dinner. I need to get baking. And since I am lacking a good knife to cut apples with, the cutting/peeling peeling process takes me way longer than it should.

Today I agreed to work 2 extra days next week. I should have double checked to make sure I was getting paid before I said yes. They are undeserving of charity.

As a going away present, my school scheduled an open class for my last week of work. Couldn't I get a tea set or a hanbok like the other schools in Korea?

Holiday! Celebrate!

It's Saturday, day 1 of a 4 day weekend for the Chuseok holiday. Chuseok is Korean for Thanksgiving. Its roots date back to the 17th century, when pilgrims from China celebrated their first successful harvest by having a giant feast with the native Koreans, who helped the Chinese adapt to their new land and survive the harsh Korean winter. Today, the holiday is spent with family, watching football games and the Lotte Chuseok Day Parade before enjoying a delicious meal of turkey and pumpkin pie.

I may have embellished that a bit. But, it IS a 4 day weekend for the Chuseok holiday, and Korean winters really do suck.

To celebrate all the kids wore their hanboks (or humbok, as some people call them) and we made songpyeon with the kids. It was the same thing we did last year, only this year I was smart enough to not eat any songpyeon, despite the vivid inviting colors. In order to think that is good/food, you have to grow up eating it. I had a stomachache for two days after eating it last year. The kids sure think it's a big treat though. Here are some pictures of my kinderhearts in their hanboks.

Earth class boys!

Earth class with the director of the school

Su Hyeok

Sun Woo

Seung Hoon

Hyun Seo

Ji Min

This is Min Seo. She is a cute kid. It's impossible for kids in glasses to not be cute. This is not the best picture of her, however I just like Sun Woo in the background, getting ready to punch Jun Woo. She is always the charmer!

Min Sol! She is so sweet that one picture is not enough for her.

Jun Woo

And my little Hyun June. He deserves more than one picture as well.

Now here is a video of the kids singing a song. It has nothing to do with Chuseok, but it is an Earth class favorite.

40 days from today I am leaving Seoul. 40 short days. I have 11 days left at work . 11 even shorter days. 11 more circle times. 11 more before school speech times. 11 more walks to school. 11 more kimbap shop lunches where people talk obnoxiously/purposely loud about the restaurants they go to after Korean class-A little louder please! I'm not sure Kim Jong Il heard you up there in Pyongyang.

As much as I don't like crying so hard during Dateline that I have to turn it off, I enjoy (not the right word, I don't enjoy them, but my English is gone. I think I only know about 300 words now, so for lack of anything better, enjoy) all the tributes and specials being done to observe the 10 year anniversary of that day that no American will ever forget. I'm proud of my country and I'm proud of my compatriots. Even though I swear them off every time I go to Itaewon, I really do have nothing but gratitude for those in our military. Once I have my own house with a porch and also once I learn the proper flag etiquette, I fully intend on displaying an American flag with pride. I'm proud to call myself an American. America, I love you and I'll see you soon!

Meet Earth Class, Hyun June edition

This is Hyun June. I know it sounds bad to say that I have favorites. But I do. And I have a big huge giant soft spot in my heart for this little guy. He is the weakest student in my class of mini geniuses, and his classwork is usually the reason I go through so many red markers. In addition to his less than stellar academic performance, his behavior is not the best either. He is a chronic nose picker, and can't seem to stay in his seat no matter how many "good behavior" stickers I promise. He has an ashamed/angry face like none other. BUT, he is one of the sweetest, most affectionate kids I've ever met. His hyper behavior is really just trying to get attention. I think he sees it as a way to get noticed, since most of the other students in the class are so smart. During parent teacher conferences a few months ago, his mom started crying because she was worried about him. She said he desperately wants his dad's approval and praise, but his dad is very hard on him, with nothing he does ever being good enough. I'll wait for a minute, and let that break your heart a bit. The few times I've met his mom, she has asked me to please give Hyun June lots of love and praise. It is hard not to give a student lots of praise when he gives me work like this

marchin

I am cool. The doubters need to look no further than my collection of Dr. Quinn DVDs. I know cool. I'm a cool expert. Fact-there is nothing cooler than a marching band. And I am being 100% serious. I LIVE for marching bands, which is kind of funny given my lack of natural musical talent, as well as my lack of desire to practice. But my best memories of high school were all from marching band. Now, 11 years since I last donned my PHS Marching Tigers uniform, I still geek out hard core when I see a marching band.

The rainy season seems to finally have left us (fingers crossed), and the gray and UUGGHHH have been replaced with impossibly gorgeous blue skies and AHHHH (that's a content sigh, not a scream). The past couple days have been absolutely perfect. The kind of days where you walk outside and feel nothing-not hot, not cold, not humid. Perfection. In an effort to take advantage of this glorious WEEKEND weather, on Saturday I headed out to Han River Park. There were no real plans for the afternoon, aside from enjoying the beautiful weather. We had not been there more then a few minutes when a girl approached us and handed us a flyer for the International Wind Instrument Festival. Oh heck yes! The rest of the afternoon/evening was spent enjoying the free performances given by a variety of groups, as well as a bike ride along the Han River. Saturday success. Here are some pictures.

Waiting to perform! I think they were Chinese. They weren't Korean.

Band uniforms everywhere! I dig it!

Showtime!

I expect nothing less in Korea.

A slightly more traditional Korean drum

Here is a video of their performance. Much like the video I took of the traditional Chinese drummers in Beijing, this does not do it justice. It was ten kinds of awesome.

My favorite performance of the day was the Korean military drill team. Whoa whoa WHOA. I didn't get the good stuff on video because I was too busy watching them. These guys had moves. The South Shore Drill Team has nothing on them. And I am not in any way making fun of them, I think it's a fantastic organization and obviously the Korean military has more money at their disposal, BUT I kind of chuckle at the idea of those kids from the south side getting schooled by a bunch of Asians. Except that I don't think the South Shore Drill Team would ever perform to the theme from the Pirates of the Caribbean.

And, as long as I am on the subject of marching band, here is one from the archives! From fall of 1999.

And as long as I'm in the archives, here is an even older one. This is from the days when my motto was "Who needs to shower when I've got baby powder scented Teen Spirit?" and the only time my hair was ever fixed was after I left the salon.

But I'm getting off track. This past weekend was one of the best I've had in Korea. In addition to Saturday, it also included good food/company enjoyed outside on a picture perfect Friday night, and a trip to Taco Bell and claw machine success on Sunday.

What more could a girl want? Besides this (just a typical advertisement at a subway station)

I love you, Korea.