Groovin' on a Thursday Afternoon

I wanted to explore Deokso tonight (because I didn't go last Thursday), and I have a Skype appointment that I need to keep, but I'm feeling tired and unadventurous. I know I need a walk, and I want to ensure that the cat cafe hasn't folded, and see N'Seoul Tower lit green for St. Patrick's Day, but reading and writing are appealing to me right now. Normally, I look forward to Skype conversations, but tonight, I'd rather grab one of the countless books and magazines lying neglected around me and forget what time it is.

I finished Orhan Pamuk's Istanbul yesterday. It was a slog, though judging from the multiple pages of radiant praise (and the Nobel Prize for Literature), I'm the only one who thought so. It wasn't uninteresting--I've gained insight into this city I hope to visit next year, and the author seems like someone I might get along with--but the lengthy, loving descriptions were better suited to someone who's seen the place, and the same goes for the dense, nostalgia-laden historical litanies. I've now switched gears completely, having brought "Little House in the Big Woods" back with me from NY. The inscription reads "Christmas 1980, To Melissa with love, the start to your personal collection. Mommy and Daddy." I know I was seldom without one of these books in the early '80s, but I don't remember revisiting them since. It's interesting and informative (in just 2 chapters, I've learned details on butchering, smoking meat, and making butter), and made richer by the dual experience of vividly recalling pictures and passages, and appreciating the story through a vastly different lens. This is the first of 9 books I've collected to read this semester--it doesn't sound like much, but I'm not sure I'll make it. The others are: Bill Bryson's The Mother Tongue (a re-read), Wuthering Heights, The Ugly American, The Secret Life of Bees, Little House on the Prairie, Travels with Charley, Rats, and Gulliver's Travels.

Today was a remarkable day, with many diversions and simple pleasures. Lessons and planning continue to go well. If I get around to it, I'll post separately on that--there's certainly enough material for it. While I saw the last class for the first time today, and taught a low-level class a lesson that I'd mentally composed just for them on yesterday's walk home, I've seen most of the 3rd-graders twice now, and the honeymoon is in its waning moments. Still, teaching in my own classroom has numerous benefits, one of which is that I think the kids behave better. But again, I'll address that on its own (or say I will, anyway). Classes today were all 35 minutes, and the dreaded extra period we have on Thursdays was cancelled...only later did I find out why. I was told that parents could come to school today to observe their children. Sure, fine. I was not prepared for the pack that gathered outside my classroom door 6th period. Maybe I should have bowed to them or something when they came in, but I was trying hard to pretend they weren't there, jealously guarding my newfound confidence. Fortunately, this was an advanced class, and they behaved like church mice (or maybe unfortunately--they probably would have been pretty good anyway and I could have used the parent influence on my delinquents), but since they were a "high" class, I not only wanted to get through what's usually 45 minutes of material; I felt they were capable of doing it that fast. I don't know how good the parents' English is, but we FLEW through getting-to-know-you and St. Patrick's Day. After class, the parents lingered while I shut down the computer, erased the board, pushed in the chairs. And then Ms. Kim returned and I discovered what they were waiting for--evaluations. SO glad I didn't know that was part of the deal. Nobody told me what they wrote, but at least the lesson was coherent, somewhat interesting, and used PowerPoint, and the kids made me look good.

Ok, so that was more "diversion" than "simple pleasure". The short classes meant we had a long afternoon to while away, and I found two fascinating websites with the potential for long-term enjoyment (a good thing, since the Africa Overlanders I've been following one country a day since December are now 3 days from finished): fedupwithschoollunch.blogspot.com, an Illinois teacher who's eating what the kids eat for a year and has sparked an incredible conversation about something I hope to crusade on in the future, and the Prelinger Archives, where old ('40s-'60s ish...or were they 40-60 years old?) commercials and 'education' films are viewable. I watched a sales pitch on careers in sales, a travelogue for Freedomland amusement park in the Bronx (sounded pretty cool!), an exhortation for kids to share, "Pornography for Profit" (see the world's first powerpoint, and learn how homosexuality causes communism in this gem), and a neat system for families to enjoy more free time. Also found "Leave it to Beaver" on YouTube (Beaver: "That's my shrunken head." June:"Why, so it is"). Good times!

On the way home, my co-teacher, June, took me to a jewelry shop, where I got the 13-months-dead battery in my given-up-for-lost watch replaced in two shakes of a lamb's tail for $4. A few paces down the sidewalk, we came upon a vendor hawking fresh strawberries (they're in season in Korea, somehow). For $2, I've got a carton all my own! I asked June why prices ranged from $2-$5 (the rough won equivalent) for what appeared to be the same size cartons. She said it was the size of the strawberries. So while it may be important to someone to pay more than double for the mutant ones, I got the succulent ones (which aren't all that small) for a song. I had some for dessert, after my tortellini (from home) with fresh tomato, garlic, basil, and olive oil. :D

Shorter posts. Yup.