Whitney Loves the Little Children... It's Just not Mutual

Hello readers from many locales.

I am blogging to recap my past week. I am really starting to like Korea. This past weekend I went exploring near my neighborhood in Suwon, by Hwaseo Station. I found a small river, maybe it is more of a large creek, that has a trail on both sides that is very close to the train station. I went running on Sunday on the trails and it was fun to see all of the people out and about on their day of leisure.  There was finally some sun (hallelujah). It made my little jaunt very picturesque. Dang, I didn't have a camera. It was fun to watch the kids playing in the river near some really bizarre workout "equipment" that is found in all of the parks that I have seen thus far and is utilized by the scary Korean grandmas who like to run the young'uns like myself off the road with their little rolling shopping carriers. They have got places to be people!

Anyway, besides the river, I found a school resplendent with a dirt soccer pitch not far from my abode. I also spotted some weird compound that had two baseball diamonds and more grassy areas very near to where I live. I didn't think this was very common for Korea. I mean most of the land is allotted for something. For instance, next to Hwaseo station there is a small garden patch that an old man tends that is maybe three feet wide but much longer. And this sizing is being generous. I mean in the USA nothing would be there. It truly amazes me.

When I went to get groceries at Lotte Mart I looked around the surrounding area as well. I found a lot of different boutique type stores (or think a small Nike store because American brands have thrown up all over Korea), and a 24 hour MacDonalds (American pride?) and the ubiquitous Dunkin Donuts. Oh and yes I stopped in and devoured a simply delicious glazed donut. What a treat.

All of my food excitement has worn off (where as all the good cheese gone?). Especially since my captors, now I have officially become Jenny's problem, worry constantly about my eating habits. It is not my fault that I am not crazy about tofu. Leave me alone! Good grief.  These people are health nuts in a very judgmental way. I mean, yes, I judge morbidly obese people when they decide to supersize everything in quadruple servings, but I just want to eat some ice cream or eat a peanut butter and honey sandwich in piece thank you. I am a satisfactory size. And just a side note, air conditioners do not kill people when set below 75 degrees. The students even want it cooler. So there!

Okay, meandering rant done. School has gotten better in some ways and worse in others. First, I finally decided to talk to Jenny about the problems I have been experiencing with some of the students. Such as Ha Na won't look at me because she is ashamed that she doesn't understand english or because she hates me. I can't decide. Or, another example is a class of three boys who do not want to study english and who are completely obnoxious. She completely understood my frustration and we worked somethings out, basically she will be in the room with me. Yay!  I just hope everything gets fixed satisfactorily. I apparently committed a sin when I took tests away from students who were cheating and threw them in the garbage. Apparently, that was sacrilege of the worst kind in the eyes of Educator Jenny. Oh well. You win some and you loose some.

The biggest joy of my week comes from the smallest bodies. My youngest classes are the most fun to teach. Especially the children who have just started english. They are freaking adorable. I want to take them home with me. Especially one seven year old boy. He is so precocious and crazy. I love it. There is also the sweetest little girl in the same class. She paints her nails, read her mom paints her nails, and she wears pigtails and I just think about wanting to talk to her in Korean to hear the crazy things she says in Korean first hand. My heart screams out "You want one" and then I realize... jam hands. Ewww gross.  Scratch having a cute Asian five year old off the bucket list.  Hopefully my other classes eventually will bring me as much happiness as the adorable one.

That was super long and I appreciate if you actually read this far.  Have a wonderful week!