Day 301

Wednesday October 14

I've been here 43 weeks so far. 19 left. It still seems so far away. I feel like the time is passing too slowly!

My mom sent me a package last wednesday and it isn't here yet. She sent it by international express mail which is expensive but is suppose to be really fast and has a guaranteed date. Its supposed to take 3-5 days. Its been 5 business days not including the day it was sent off. I'm hoping it gets here soon. I don't know why my mail is being delayed recently. I think something funny is going on in the mail system. I'm paying about $15 dollars extra just to get it here faster. If they can't deliver it on time then they shouldn't promise a certian date. If its past the 'guaranteed date' I'm going to apply for a refund.

My first class was good. We were doing the online newspaper class. I wish all of my classes were as good as that class. She listens and she reads out loud repeating after me.

My 2nd class was good. We did a few pages in our writing book. It was basically a review of what we've covered so far in writing. One of the students asked if we could have a halloween party on the day before halloween. I told her maybe. They want to wear costumes and have a party. My students asked me if I liked our school. I just said yes to make them happy. I can't tell my students that I don't really like it. (this class is actually one of my best classes. I never have any problems). They asked me if I liked teaching. (they were trying to figure out if I was going to continue teaching after I left)I told them "not really". I was honest. It's not something I plan to continue after I leave.

My 3rd class was okay. Its always hard to get them to focus on the classwork. They want to do other things like talk about poo poo. They like to play with the board erasers and pretend like they are smoking when they hit the erasers together. They also like to run their fingers down the chalkboard which is one of the worst sounds to me. Today we were throwing erasers around the room. One student wanted to borrow my eraser. He wanted me to throw it to him. Then they are so amused when I can catch the eraser that they throw from a short distance. Today we only had to do one lesson so I didn't mind their interruptions. We talked about questions and sentences about places. We finished early and they had free time. They all wanted to write on the board during that time.

Conversation class was okay. I had one new student which brings the total to 7 students. They were pretty good today. Sometimes they don't like to do the conversations the right way. They pretend to be practicing the conversations. 4 of the boys changed their name. (it happens every class). Their new names were: Lincoln, Obama, George Washington, and Lee Myung Bak. All Presidents. The girls never change their names. At times I can't get the boys to pay attention. They like to talk and not do their work. Today we were talking about comparatives and superlatives.

My last class was a nightmare but thats not unusual. I have to beg them to only have the online newspaper site open, to close their cellphones, and turn off their music. I don't think they read the articles.They finish too fast. Maybe I need to make a worksheet with 20 questions instead of 10 to keep them busy. But the articles are so simple and short. I don't know if I can come up with 20 questions!! 2 of the girls were doing their phonics homework in my class. I told them that wasn't part of my class and to close it. I have to keep yelling all class. I asked them why they were so mean to me. They didn't give me an answer. They don't even care how I feel. Even if I am getting angry they don't care. They do what they want to do. I've decided that if they can't behave I'm taking away their study time. They don't utilize it anyway. When we come in the class I'm giving the test right away. I was being nice to give them study time, but they can't behave so I'm taking it away. I think I might make them write the words ten times each as a punishment. Last class I made them write each word (15 words) 5 times each instead of the normal 3 times each. One of my students in that class no longer comes to the hagwon. The students were all telling me about it today. One student would tell me. Then as if I didn't understand 2 more students would explain it to me. I understood when the first student told me.

I skipped the gym again because I just didnt feel like going. I think my motivation is dwindling!

I really need to lose weight but I just can't stop eating fast food. I also eat when I'm stressed. I can't recall a time when I haven't been stressed out in South Korea. Its definatly not the experience I was hoping to have. Its really hard living in a country where all I like is the fast food that I know. I don't like Korean food. They dont have any options like lean cusine. They don't have healthy options on their fast food menu. I might just need to start taking a 30 min ride to subway a few times a week and bring back enough subs to last a few days.i wonder if it would stay fresh. I just hate that its so far away. Its not really worth the 1 hr plus round trip journey just to get healthy food. I hate the way I feel and look!!