Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas from Korea! I'd try to write that phonetically in Korean, but since I don't have a Korean keyboard... I will have to Google it. -----> 즐거운 크리쓰마쓰


My brother left me a message and asked if I had seen Santa Claus yet... Actually, I did. Too bad I didn't have a camera out. We got a Santa suit at work on Thursday. They were asking if James (the other American teacher) wanted to wear it.  That's a joke. Neither one of us fits into Korean clothing. So, our manager Jeff put on the costume and handed out mittens to the kids. It was so funny when he walked around. I cried out, "look, it's Santa!" but those kids insisted on calling him Teacher! I asked later if they had seen Santa, and they said, "no, Teacher Jeff." I think Jeff had some problems getting the beard on because it was covering most of his face. Maybe it was intentional. Either way, the kids loved it and so did I.


So the other American teacher is James. He has been here about two months. I can't post his picture because he doesn't like to be in pictures, though he apparently used to be something of a professional photographer. Anyway, James and I have been having fun being cold Americans here. He is from Ohio, so he is much more used to it than I am, but the WIND is frigid. We were kidding about how our faces were going to break and fall off from the cold. I really enjoy walking to and from the bus stop (though we've only made the bus once and usually just take a cab) because we laugh the whole way. I think we will be good friends.


The teachers I have gotten to know the best at my school are Luka, Elin, Jennifer, and Jeff (aka Santa Claus). I can't pin down what it is about Luka that I like, but she reminds me of Alexandra and Angel, who are two of my closest friends and who share a similar sense of humor. When I had been here only a week, she told me she really liked me. What a compliment from such a lovely person! We had Japanese the next evening for dinner, which is when I was telling her how much Americans like meat and when she asked me if we eat meat with every meal. In my case, I eat cereal for breakfast!  


Elin and Jennifer are the two teachers I share a class with. And by this, I mean we teach the same students right after each other. Jennifer and I have the same students daily. I teach them for 2:40hrs a week and she teaches them for 3:10hrs a week. I think James and I must both teach part of Elin's class. I have them for 20 minutes MWF, and I suspect he has them 50 minutes TTh. Anyway, Jennifer and Elin are both sweet and funny. Jennifer is laid back and has beautiful hair. Elin is just lovely and has a great personality. 


Jeff is our manager, but also teaches. This guy is awesome. He has a sense of humor, which I appreciate. He teases me about my toboggans that I wear, something about how I will NEVER freeze while wearing them, so I keep asking if he wants one. lol  The other night, we all went out for dinner since it was Jay B's last day. Everyone was talking in Korean around us, so to entertain myself I pretended to be thoroughly engaged in the discussion and started nodding. Out of the corner of my eye, I see that I got Jeff laughing and I think Luka too. Everyone seems to think I'm funny and I love an audience. I really need to tone that down. haha... anyway, the point is I appreciate Jeff's sense of humor. He seems to like to catch me off guard. When I had my medical check, he and Luka and I had lunch together. We had octopus soup... which I tried, but grimaced when I did.. haha. It was actually okay. So then Jeff tells me, "you know, sometimes we eat this..... RAW!" I can't explain it, but the comedic timing was perfect. I'm still laughing about it.


As for me, I'm going to Daegu today to see Steve and Melissa. I'm spending Christmas weekend with them. I have to shower and be out of here pretty soon, so I can't write much more. However, my next update will include my food adventures, and probably how I'm tackling the language. In the meantime, merry Christmas! I hope you have a white Christmas. I'll post pictures on here when I figure out how to do so. In the meantime, check them out on facebook along with a couple of videos!


Ka-hap-sam-ni-da for reading,


Ann-ay-i-gah-say-yo (goodbye!)


Christie