Last Saturday, we had the graduation festival at my school. It was time to say goodbye to my seven year olds (well, I guess they're considered 8 now) that I've taught since I started last May. They all followed me to this school after my last school closed, and it was sad to say goodbye on Saturday. There were a lot of hugs, a lot of flowers, a lot of nodding and smiling at parents who tried to say "thank you for teaching my kid" in about 12 different ways...it was nice.
It was also nice to get the festival over with. We've done nothing but practice for this 2-hour long performance for the past month, and I was glad to have it over with already. I have to say, there were hilarious and adorable moments as my 7 year olds put on Cinderella--the best being the fire drill that set off right between scene 4 and 5, and also as my 6 year olds put on The Gingerbread Man after having never even practiced on the stage. I think Cinderella was the hit of the night, and I'm pretty proud to have pulled it off considering we have 10 boys and 4 girls in the class--have you realized how many boy parts there are NOT in Cinderella? To compensate, we had a step sister and step brother (had to change a few of the lines--for example "shine my shoes" instead of "fix my dress" and "Ooooh, I hope the Prince will want to be my friend!" instead of "Ooooooh, I hope the Prince falls in love with me!" -- I didn't really think a gay step brother would go down so well with the Korean parents...), two fairy godfathers, two princes, a male cat and 2 male mice. It was a very testosterone-filled version of Cinderella. (That is, as much testosterone 7 year old little boys can muster.)
After the festival, Ali and I headed to Hongdae for mexican and margaritas with Sarah Jane and Reuben, and then to Club Ta to watch our friend Simon play. It was a really nice night. I felt really happy as I looked around and found myself surrounded with really wonderful people and really wonderful friends. I've been pulling out of my winter blues lately, I think, as the weather gets a little warmer, and I have more motivation to be out and about. Sunday, we ate the worst Indian food EVER with Joy and Rob for Joy's birthday, but didn't let it spoil the night as we bowled and ate dessert from one of my favorite dessert places in Seoul.
The best part of life right now is that I'm on vacation! Yesterday was a national holiday, and today and tomorrow my school gave me off b/c I worked 3 Saturdays this month. I am not wasting my days off--tomorrow morning, I'm heading to...get ready...H&M!!!!!!! It opened in Seoul! Apparently, there was a line 2 blocks long last Saturday (opening day) just to get IN to the store. So, I'm getting there right as it opens tomorrow morning to be the crowds. How many people could be there on a Wednesday morning???
Ali and I nearly wasted our day off yesterday as we encountered what was probably one of the worst movie experiences of my life. We headed all the way into the city to see a movie at the Apugjeong Theatre called "Into Great Silence.' It's a documentary about the Carthusian monks who live high in a remote corner of the French Alps. They live a hermit lifestyle of solitude, and we thought it'd be a really interesting documentary to see. And it got 89% on Rotten Tomatoes...what could go wrong? I'll tell you what could go wrong: nearly 3 hours of NO talking! The entire documentary was pretty much void of any speaking whatsover. And it was sooooo....LOOOOONG! We literally just watched the monks do the same thing, over and over and over again. Praying. Ringing the bell. Chanting. Praying. Ringing the bell. Chanting. Praying. Ok, obviously I know that this was the point: to experience the solitude and very remote lives of the monks. And ok, it was beautiful and all. But 3 hours of sitting in a theater where absolutely NOTHING happened. I knew it was bad when the nun sitting next to us in the theater fell asleep. I thought she was praying until her head started nodding off. Ali and I finally walked out after being there over 2 and a half hours and marched directly the nearest place that sold beer so we could, as soon as possible, feel part of the real world again. There's something about those monks that made me feel a desperate need to be very, very, VERY part of society.
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