I feel brave today!

When I got here on Saturday there was a weird smell in my apartment and I could not put my finger on where it was coming from. When Mr. Kim showed me aound the apartment he also noticed the smell (I am sure that is why he went straight for the Febreeze and the hippopotamus air freshener when we went to the supermarket). I later realized that it was coming from the fridge... gross! The second time I went to the store I picked up some cleaner, when I got home I doused the freezer with it and quickly closed it... it was awful! So I left it.

Yesterday, Sunday was quite uneventful. I spent the entire day in my apartment unpacking and emailing - I also downloaded Skype, everyone should get it. I was exhausted so I went to bed early and slept for almost 12 hours. I had really weird dreams about being back in Winnipeg, in one of them Meagan and I were shot but we survived it was so strange.

Today I woke up fairly early and convinced myself that I would get out and explore my new neighbourhood. I got ready and went out, I felt brave. Right away I tried to locate a landmark that I would recognize from far away to help me find my way back. I soon realized that there was no way that I could see it, there is just too much surrounding me. But I made it without getting lost. I walked for almost an hour then it started to rain so I went to the store and picked up a few things on my way home.

It was good that I headed home when I did because when I got back there were people looking for my keys so they could get in and wallpaper the joint (woohoo) and Mr. Kim wanted to take ne to get a cellphone. This was somewhat overwhelming I had no idea what was going on but I bought a nice Korean phone for $4o.oo. When I got it it was all in Korean but I figured out how to change it to English all by myslef!

At 1:30 all the teachers were supposed to meet to discuss the students before they arrive at 2:30. Today we met but were busy cleaning the school as there were a lot of renovations that had just been done. I was pretty much just thrown into the mix with no direction, it was pretty overwhelming at first. For the first few hours I went back and forth from the Tiger class to the Lion class, I was expected to teach whatever I wanted... I had no idea what to do, the kids yelled "GAME!" The first group was really young and spoke very little English, the first thing that came to mind was Stella Stella Ola - which was probably not the best choice since it doesn't really contain any English words but it was fun and they loved it. The classes are very small, no more than 8 students which is nice. The next four classes were pretty much the same deal only they were a little older so instead of Stella Stella we played Hangman and I showed them postcards of images of Winnipeg "WOW!" they all screamed. It was precious! At 6:30 I was told that I was on my own, I had a class of three girls who were about 13, they speak fairly good English so together we decided that they would each create a children's story book over the next little while. Hopefully that is ok with the Kim's - I have no idea what I can/can't/should/shouldn't be doing. So I figure I will do like I did at MSP and do what I want until I am told not to. The next class was good, mostly students I had met in the Tiger and Lion classes - they asked me questions and I answered then I went around the room asking them questions. My last class was the toughest, there were 5 boys and 4 girls they sat on opposite sides of the room and made fun of eachother the whole time - this 50 minutes seemed to drag on forever. We didn't do too much but I did end up making a couple of the boys change spots because they would not stop punching eachother, sometimes it's so hard to keep a straight face. After school while talking to another teacher I learn that I was supposed to bring books and resources with me, I had no idea. Mrs. Kim says we will go pick out books on Saturday, for now just talk with the children.

When I was done i was exhausted! I came upstairs and my apartment had been wallpapered it looks way better! I am excited to unpack! I did have to clean the floor though because it was full of small pieces of wallpaper, wallpaper glue and a few blades from the knives they used - and I am not supposed to wear my shoes inside - good grief! I was also happy to see that I now have internet in my bedroom, so no more sitting on the floor! Some of the things on my computer are different than I had them and I can't change them back - not a big enough deal to try and explain though.

I was tired but I tied a bandana around my nose and mouth and tackled the fridge. It was so bad - I pulled all of the shelves out of it and layed them on my bathroom floor/in the shower and hosed them off and doused them with cleaner. I took a rag and cleaner and went scrubbed the entire thing - I have cleaned up so bad things in my day (shout out to IPDA!) but this was bad I would not wish this on anyone. It does not smell so bad now and I have left it open to air out until tomorrow when I think I will plug it in. I feel brave today!

Then I wiped down my shelves and put my living room back together, at this point I am sweaty and feeling gross and there is a knock at my door. Mr. Kim's sister and her husband (I will learn their names soon) are here to check out the wallpaper - they speak no English but I can tell that they love it! I show them my burnt out lights, they understand and I am sure they will be fixed tomorrow - I am so well taken care of here. They leave, ten minutes later another knock at the door - she is back only with Mrs. Kim, Chau and her brother, they all want to see. They look around my apartment and really like all my labels - they are impressed that I wrote them all when really I just copied them out of a dictionary. I show them my cell phone and Chau asks for my number, her brother wants it too - I give it even though I really don't want a call from either of them, I can't be mean they are too kind! Mrs. Kim notices that the bedroom is not wallpapered and she is not impressed she says she will get it done tomorrow and asks for my list of things that I need she will get them tomorrow too. I feel lucky to have her!