Teaching and Gue Young Kim

So yesterday I taught Misha (I thought her name was Mishca but she corrected me by yelling "NO! thats not my name!"). I was late to her house because I took went the wrong direction on the bus but I called Danny and he explained which one I needed to take. As for teaching we read "The Lion King" I would read a page then she would read a page and I would ask questions for comprehension. After Simba and Nala were heading off to save their home Misha became bored and got up and grabbed a game called Diamonds (Known to me as Chinese Checkers) we went into the other room so her 1 year old brother wouldn't eat the game and played a couple rounds. Misha's parents told Danny they just want me to come play with Misha and speak English because right now she is very stressed out with lots of different subjects and they want her to enjoy English. So spending time with Misha is more of a play date. After a couple games she wanted to look at my sketchbook where I had written out some stories. We looked at that for a while and she decided she wanted her own book so she went and told her mom she needed money to buy a sketchbook. Misha walked me to a neighborhood shop similar to "the Frog Pound" and bought some candy that she said was "very delicious" then we walked to a bathroom and she used it. This was the first squatting toilet I have seen..... It didn't look too fun... but I suppose its probably good for strengthening your legs. After the bathroom break we headed off in search of a sketchbook. We walked around talking about her day and what she did this weekend. She asked me if I was very happy today and I said yes and she asked if it was because she bought me some delicious candy and I said yes and because I was playing with Misha and she laughed. We found a book and she bought it then we headed back home when we got home it was time for me to leave because her next tutor was there so Misha yelled "Bye Teacher" and ran into the bedroom. The mom explained in broken English that I would come back again next week at "4 hours" meaning 4pm and I nodded and said bye and headed home.

As a side note while I was taking the subway to the bus stop to Misha's house a young man turned around and saw me and said hello so I said Hi back. He gave me candy rice cake thing and we talked for a while. He asked me what I was doing, how old I was how tall I was and then if I had a boyfriend. I said yes and he made a big disappointing "UGH!" while he rolled his head back. He asked me if my boyfriend was handsome and I said yes then he asked if he was a Korean man and I said yes again. He was disappointed but kept talking to me in his broken English as we rode the subway together. His name was Gue Young Kim, he was about 5 foot 5 and after he asked how tall I said "and you?" and he said "I am very short tall". He mostly asked questions and I answered them. He told me I was very tall and beautiful and that he liked to talk with me. We talked about Korean food and about his job and he said he was heading off to an interview. He asked for my number and I gave it to him (since we are all trying to make friends). He said he would call me "tomorrow" and I got off at my stop. Thirteen minutes later I got my first text message (called SMS over here) with 23 that would follow. He didn't understand my name so the first one said " Hey Beach? Very Well Going?" then "can you dinner with me today?" I said no I was working so he said "tomorrow?" I didn't respond because at this point I was teaching then he sent one that said "interview very good" then he sent one that said "where?" with hearts then "Mocdong" which means McDonalds and I still didn't respond so he wrote "leaving ones off ice?" which I didn't understand. A few minutes later he wrote "What are you doing now Beah? (heart) I was examination job interview" I still didn't respond so he called me and I answered and told him I was teaching so I was busy and I'd talk to him later. Around 10pm I started to get more SMS from him saying "I fall in love first see" "Do you have dinner with me?" I said no I was working then he asked if had time in the morning I said I needed to go to bed he asked what I was doing I said watching TV with my boyfriend. He asked if I wanted to go out this weekend. I didn't respond so about 2 minutes later he asked if I was asleep then he asked again then he told me that today is ten ten day 10th month 10th day. Then he wrote "I am going to bed take a good dream" then I said thanks you too. Then he wrote "lovely Beah" with a picture of a boy with hearts in his eyes. Then a couple minutes later he wrote "I am PC room doing game" and I said I really needed to sleep so he wrote "sorry goodnight see you later (hearts)" which was the last of his messages. I am not worried in the least bit because he is a very innocent seeming little Korean guy but it was funny how many times he messaged me and how forward he was being. I told Eddie about the whole thing and he thought it was hilarious. For now its like 9:30am and I haven't received any new SMS so we'll see how the day plays out.

I work tonight at 7pm so I will leave for the subway around 5:30. Its interesting how much time traveling takes up. Yesterday I spent about 4 hours traveling around town for a 90 minute lesson! I've noticed whenever I go out I get a pretty strong headache so I've been bringing Advil with me. I think it may be with many smells and dusts floating in the air but overall its very intrusive. I think in time I may become used to it but for now I have some difficulty. I've also noticed people really don't conserve energy very much here! Everywhere I go people leave their cars running or mopeds on with exhaust spitting out into the air when they are making a quick stop or going into a small store. There is never a shortage of running unattended vehicles. Another thing I have noticed is the amount of trust everyone has for everyone else. At the TV store there are multiple boxes of flat screen TV's just sitting in front of the shop and they are left there overnight every day and no one steals them. I am very impressed. This is the same with most merchandise it is just left out on the street and the buyer is expected to go find the seller sometimes they are watching TV in the back or playing games with other sellers in the alley but there really is a lot of trust. This is all based off the Confucius theories and Karma. It is very refreshing!