Coulda Woulda Shoulda

Spring has sprung here in the big G and what better way to show it off then by showing off the spring blossoms that have just EXPLODED all of a sudden. I've stolen these from the Documentarist just to have a little more cheery post for the coming weekend...which starts in 4 hours!!!! When you look at it that way, it can't be half bad. We're off to celebrate teacher B's birthday in Korea's 3rd largest city, Daegu. Looking forward to checking out the scene in another city. And it's meant to be a sunny day on Sunday so maybe we can even get a hike or a temple in. Happy weekend everyone...

I'm feeling slightly suffocated at work right now. I don't really think there is any other way to describe it. It's not because I'm battling a cold, although I am so I'm sounding more like a person with their nose plugged and stuffed with cotton balls then my normal teacher self. It's because this place, this job, it just seems to do that to you. I made a decision almost 5 years ago to get away from things that stifle me. That prevent me from doing what I enjoy doing. That prevent me from really embracing all the average 70 years I have on this planet. Because, you never know when the one day will be your last. I'm also not really being that nice of a person. I snapped at a co-worker yesterday. I snapped at D today. I'm not even finding the energy to be all that nice to the kids. Like it's their fault I'm feeling this overwhelming pressure. I'm trying to gain perspective, trying to enjoy what little time I have left here. But the overload of ...

The Documentarist and Back in the Motherland have actually written nice sum ups to my weekend so I'm being lazy and bumping you to them. I have also uploaded more 365 pictures and I'm very pleased to say that I managed to get a pic for each day last week. And I guess I'll leave you with this picture of the view I had for five hours on Sunday. You can see why we didn't make it to the gallery OR the moutain hiking. Thanks for the great weekend....and you all know who you are....

The new bell at our school sound a bit like something right out of an insane asylum. Fitting, I guess since all the teachers continue to 'go crazy' with our new schedule. I did take my own advice and tried the 'quiet voice' in the classrom. PEOPLE - I could not have been more shocked as it worked. IT ACTUALLY WORKED! The little human beings actually lowered their voices to hear me. They had no clue what I was saying, but at least they were having no clue..QUIETLY. The week has progressed to Friday, which I can say I am truly happy about. 'Planning A' has come out again and my weekend is meant to be filled with shopping (G-town-style), culture (art-gallery-sytle) and some hiking (Korean-style). D is off to be a boy and watch the Korea-Uraguay soccer/football match in Seoul and I will be celebrating another waegook's birthday with a curry in Busan. I have managed to find some time this week to read a few of my favorite bloggers and came across this post by t...

Alice the Camel has 5 humps.... (all the way to) Alice the camel has NO humps now Alice is a HORSE! NEIGHHHHHHHHHHH! Every day I end my kindergarten classes with this classic and it goes down like a house on fire. After 7 days of kindergarten, the other thing that is going down quickly is my little voice. YES people who know me MY VOICE IS NOW LITTLE! I can hardly speak anymore and as I write, can actually feel my vocal chords BEGGING me not to say one...more...word. I can just imagine the number of people I know across the planet letting out a huge guffaw and a sigh of relief, to think that FOR ONCE I have no choice but to JUST..SHUT..UP. I suppose I can also take solace in the fact that my fingers aren't broken, as my Uncle D has often accused me of having when I haven't written in awhile and so, I can continue to blather on in writing and simply hope that this will sustain me until my BIG voice comes back. I've been reading some things about kindergarten teaching, as man...

Our new kindergarten schedule this week has put me, boringly, on no other topic that I'M SO F-ING BUSY AT WORK. When I worked in Belfast, I felt like that was all I ever said. "I'm so busy." "Things are so crazy." "I'm at a lost for words". I can't quite honestly think of anything more boring to write about and more importantly more boring to READ about (although I'm guessing the weather is probably up there...) So, if you're wondering why I've been absent it is precisely because I'm am saving you, readers, from the monotony of, "Wow, I'm not sure how I will EVER survive." One of my biggest pet peeves, besides ignorance, arrogance and that slurping noise your mouth makes when you chew with it open, is when people tell you all about how busy they are. Yes yes, everyone gets busy. But not many people are busy enough to actually discuss it at length. President of a country at war? Yes. Head of the United Nations? ...

Well, we did it. We actually hiked up a mountain. And my legs don't feel half as bad as I expected them to. My foot could have done without all the exercise but hey, it's gotta toughen up sometime. I have to admit, we didn't have time to get the matching outfits OR even walking sticks but I was lucky enough to find one right at the bottom of the path - kinda strategically placed for some waegook like me who came unprepared. Aside from the spectacular views, the vigirous excerise and the brilliant fresh air, I think the best part of the day was just being with D. It was nice, just the two of us, taking on the mountain like we try to take on the world. And even though we got a little bit panicked at the top, wondering when we would ever find the trail down because it just kept rolling over the tops of the mountains, we did it. Better still, we managed to find a nice little restaurant which served GLASSES OF WINE and some perfect dinner for those who had just run down the m...

D and I have decided to partake in one of Korea's beloved pasttimes - climbing mountains. It usually involved matching outfits - men and women in 'hiking' gear, which is basically dark black polyester tracksuits with a little bit of colour along the stitching - hiking boots, metal walking sticks and of course, bags of kimpbap. Because no event would be complete in Korea without food. I've also been told there is not much strenuous hiking that actually goes on. More of the rambling, walking, let's-show-off-our-outfits hiking. This sounds a bit more of what I'd be expecting in a hike. If you have been reading for awhile you may recal the story of climbing the Mournes just outside of Belfast. Perhaps THIS is why I haven't been back up a mountain since. But, I think I'm in better shape now. A couple of years of Body Pump at the gym and running on the treadmill have surely strengthend my muscles. And I'm sure NOT WALKING for 6 weeks didn't weaken my ...

I'm sending out these wishes to a woman who is probably as I type enjoying some Carib beer or a nice glass of red wine at a beach bar in sunny Barbados. I'm pretty sure she won't be logging on today to see this entry. We had a mini celebration when the whole family was together for H's wedding for my mom's big day. She has never been one to like much of a fuss and surprises annoy her mostly so it was a low key lunch followed by, a few momento gifts but no cake or singing, because in addition to not enjoying surprises, she also does not like drawing attention to herself in public. (And for the last fact, I think all of us Vint kids should get DNA testing since I'm not quite sure how the loudest, attention seeking people could actually have been spawned from one so publicly timid) Last night, I started to think about my mom and how this is big birthday. They always talk about the big 5-0, middle age, over the hill, time to buy the red sports car and get yourself a...

It has always been a bit surreal to me when something very adult happens to my younger siblings. I can actually hear them all rolling their eyes as I type this but it's true. I can't help it. I still call them 'kiddo' and my brother has only recently been able to order his own drinks from a restaurant (picture it: "Um..yes, he'll have a coke. With two straws. Pink, please because that's his favorite colour). I'm sure my mother will tell you I was born about 25 years old. I can never remember a time I didn't want to be 'older', more 'mature' and 'in charge'. Then, of course, I hit 25 and decided I'd like to just..stay..right..here. And so, as my siblings have progressed - college, marriages, mortgages - I've just kinda stood by, like this proud surrogate mom who kinda feels stuck in this weird surreal world of 'they're all growing up so fast.' What was so facinating about the most recent sister wedding I we...