Looking for Shoes here is like Hunting for Pheasant...

Most of the time you can never find any, and the few times you do, they're hens.... or in the case of shoes, they don't fit! But, every now and then... you get one... or you find some (shoes) that work just perfectly! I found some shoes today... red and blue Nike's....

ANYWAY!

I had an interesting week. Nothing extraordinary... but I found myself grumpier than normal all week long. The reason... I hate surface relationships! What a cause for someone to be grumpy; I mean, at least I have friends, right? What more could you ask for in a country where you can't even communicate with 90% of the population!

But, I find myself longing for depth to my friendships with my co-workers. I think this is frustrating for everyone involved.... they don't speak perfect English... it's work for them to communicate with me.... I don't speak ANY Korean... it's work for me to communicate with them! I can sense that we like each other; that we're curious about each other and that we care... but there are no words. We're reduced to beating on our chests in frustration.... I'm not even kidding!

Last week, some of my colleagues and I were talking about different things. One teacher has MOUNDS of work to do and no time to do it. Another has family problems that are difficult for her to deal with. One said things along the lines of; "I am so busy. I have no time for anything but work. I'm so tired, but I have to work. But, it's ok." the other said something like; "My son is sick again. I worry about him so much. I don't know what to do. Sometimes I am so tired of having to take care of him all the time. I am stretched too thin. But, it's ok." We all noticed how, even though our lives are difficult and things are hard, everything is still "ok!" We know it's not "ok", we know that it's hard. But, we don't want to put pressure on anyone else to have to do anything for us... so it's ok.... when really... it's not! It's not ok! I wish there was more I could do to encourage my co-workers, to help them out. But, I don't know what to do other than pray. I don't know.

On a lighter note... I almost died on Friday. Ok, that doesn't sound like a lighter note, but it was really funny! Jess and I went shopping together on Friday. I was looking for shoes and ended up with a hat and a scarf, but anyway.... on our way home, we both bought a beverage from a vending machine in the subway. I got some juice and Jess got some.... chewy juice (her juice had chunks of fruit in it... it's quite good really!). We were talking and.. honestly I don't remember at all what she said, but right after I had just taken a big gulp of my juice she made me laugh.

Now, I was faced with two choices. I could either spit up all of the juice that was in my mouth onto the subway floor in front of a ton of people... or I could choke down, and nearly die from, the ENORMOUS amount of juice in my mouth and hope for the best. Looking back, I think it would have been more sensible to have just spit the juice out... but I didn't. I managed, somehow, to keep it all inside of me and suck it all down my lungs.

Now, you have to understand that I had a BIG mouthful of juice. It was like a... my cheeks are bulging with juice, huge mouthful, half the can, sort of gulp!

I had to lean against the wall. I was wheezing! I had snot coming out of my nose... I can tears coming out of my eyes... I was drooling all over the place! I couldn't stop coughing! Every time I breathed in, you could hear all the fluid in my lungs.. all the juice bubbling in them! There were a few moments there when I honestly though... "I'm going to drown! I can't breath! I'm going to die from choking on juice!" What made it even worse was I couldn't stop laughing and neither could Jess! I was laughing and crying and coughing and choking all at the same time!

Honestly, who does this? I mean... who chokes on juice in the middle of a crowded subway? I've always wanted to be one of those kinds of people who never lose their dignity. One of those kinds of people who are always graceful and composed... I'm always a dork! Boo for being a dork! I blame my father!

Well... I think that's all for this time! More later, and hopefully more pictures of my co-workers. One of these days I'll get all of my co-teachers to sit for a picture together! They're so hard to track down!

Please pray that I'll continue to have a better attitude at work and a positive mind set towards my students. I miss you all and think about you constantly!

Love you!

Hil

P.S. Did you know that many of you have Korean twins???? Last week I met a Korean version of Aunt Holly... she's a teacher too, which makes it even better!

Ok, peace out, for real!