holiday cheer

It's the holiday season, but there have been almost zero reminders of it here.  It scarcely seems like Christmas is a month away.  The only sign of it I have seen so far, is one small holiday display in the store I shop at.  Otherwise--nothing.  Although I think American consumerism takes Christmas to the extreme, completely missing the point of the holiday, with commercials and decorations starting well before Halloween, I found myself somewhat sad today and missing the holiday cheer.  Underneath the crowds & the chaos and the pressure to spend gobs of money you don't have, there is a certain hopefulness to the Christmas season that is just not there any other time of year.  There is this magic that the lights, the smells, and the music have on you that can transport you back to the same exact feeling you had when you were a child.  Today I was walking past a starbucks and noticed their red holiday cups and a few stenciled holiday decorations on the window, so I decided to go in and have a warm cup of something to see if I could capture just a bit of the holiday.  I sat down at one of the tables, drank a few sips of my latte, and to my happiness, once I was able to block out the dull hum of the voices speaking a foreign language, I heard Christmas music playing--in English.  What a little piece of magic it was.  I have made a conscience effort to try and avoid the machine that is starbucks, instead trying to support the local coffee houses without fabricated character, served to you in McDonald's fashion.....  However, today, I was most grateful that I could count on Starbuck's to give me exactly what I needed at that exact moment in time.  Holiday Cheer.  Maybe there is something to their branding after all.

 After this summer, being sticky-humid hot, it was difficult to imagine it ever being cold again.  Well, the cold is officially upon us, and it is nothing short of miserable.  I grew up in cold weather, so I am somewhat surprised at my sissy-la-la reaction to korea style cold.  This is one seriously cold country!  It is that humid cold, from the misery known as the East Sea, seeping into every last part of your body.  What is worse about the cold, is that my schools seem very against using their fully-functional heating system.  It's terrible.  I am teaching class in my over sized sweater, down vest and wool socks.  It's just not comfortable and I can't imagine being a kid and actively learning in that environment, when you can't escape the focus on the miserable cold you feel.  When I am not teaching and at my computer, I hardly get any work done, because I have to take breaks to sit on my hands or get up and move around to regain feeling in my limbs.  

When one thinks, "school supplies", normally pencils, paper and the like come to mind.  Well, today I am going on a mission for school supplies, which include:  wool slippers, over sized sweatshirts,  fleece shirts/pants, fingerless gloves (so I can type) and more socks.  I hate to put this kind of money into this, but the next 3 months are the coldest of the year, and I just don't want to suffer any more. 

I know I have mentioned before that I am always laughed at.  And, well, nothing has changed in the slightest.  I am still laughed at.  All the time.  I only teach 5th and 6th grade at my main school, so the only time I have interactions with the younger kids is in the morning or on lunch/recess break.  Last week I was standing at the water fountain filling up my bottle, when I noticed around the corner a few kids peeping at me.  They were each pushing the other towards me, in a manner that can only be described as "daring".  I imagine their conversation went something like, "there she is--you do it--I dare you to go say hello--see what she'll say.." with a response of, "I'm not doing it, youuuuuuuu do it".  One of the kids, the boldest of three, marches over to me, showing off a bit for both mine and her friend's benefit and says, "Hello!"  I then say, "hello".  She then says, "Hi!"  I repeat it back to her.  She then looks over her shoulder for reassurance from her friends, and once satisfied asked, "How are you?"  I said, "I am fine" and then they lost it completely and busted up in this full-on deep, belly laughter, like I had just said the funniest thing known to man.  The girl runs back to her friends and they could hardly get control of themselves and just kept pointing their fingers at me and then ran away, in fits of hysterical laughter echoing in the halls, repeating the conversation and mimicking my voice.  I would like to say they were laughing "with" me, because, yes, I was laughing too, but I know better---I was not included in the joke, I was the butt of the joke, as usually is the case with elementary students.  Oh well, I am happy to be non-stop entertainment for these kids!  I imagine later in life, they will remember bits and pieces of these interactions with the foriegn English teachers and it will likely bring a smile to their faces.

About a month ago on the bus, I ended up sitting next to someone from another country as well and we struck up conversation about why were were here, how long we've been here etc (the usual conversation when you run into any other foriegner).  We chatted up until our connecting bus and then parted ways.  Today, I was in a store on the opposite end of town and saw him there.  We both did that awkward double take, of "hey I know you and I don't know why or how I know you".  Anyway, we established how we knew each other and I said, "small world".  And he got VERY serious, like I had just kicked his puppy and in an almost condescending tone of voice said, "Um, not really, there are actually 7 billion people in the world.  I don't think that constitutes as "small", as you say".      Me:  Shuffling feet, somewhat awkward---"Yeah..okay, good to see you again, byeeeee".      And that's how you end a conversation you no longer want to be in.  :)