Highlights of my Day.. Friday, October 19

1. Rushed into school with five minutes to spare and ran into one of my first period students. He's a super sweet student who is always quick to give me smiles, bring me coffee and after class he lingers around to talk to me. As we rushed off to class, he stopped me in the stairwell to ask me if I had a boyfriend. I laughed off the question by answering, "Yes, Mi Nam" (he knew that was my dog's name) but after I started really thinking about it. Do I have a boyfriend?! I mean, Seo and I broke up but we've been talking lately and well, our conversations haven't exactly been on a mutual friendly level. He's returned to calling me "babi" and tonight I'm going to Busan to see him.

2. Second period class was stress... as it always is. It's English with my dance major students, most of which (80%) wouldn't know the difference if I were speaking English or French to them. Thank God for the 4 dudes in that class though. They seem to be the only ones who care to answer my questions. I tried to do the midterm review with the class but they weren't participating and so I refused to give them the answers. The 4 dudes were eagerly listening but all the girls were giggling, writing notes, or starring at themselves in their mirrors. I'm sure those who also teach in Korea can vouch for the mirrors I'm talking about. They drive me bonkers!!! Nothing is worse that seeing students pull out these handheld mirrors (which aren't so small in many cases) so that they can stare at themselves during class.

3. Stopped the class and took a quick note on who had been giggling through out my midterm review. They asked me why I was counting the number of students laughing and so sarcastically I told them, "cause I doubt those laughing today will be laughing next week... be warned. Many of you will fail my exam!" I knew that was kind of brutal to say but it was so true. There's some girls in this class that have paid attention so little in my class that I doubt they even know my name, and because of this, I am stressed out about such students and the midterm!

4. Two students took up my offer for help and so they came to the office to drill me about the midterm. We went through their textbook and my lecture notes, page by page, circling what they should focus on. It took about an hour to do but you know what, it made me feel so proud to be their teacher. I really hope I was this kind of student to my teachers.

5. I've been working on my abs like an animal lately and so today at boxing Junior Mint wanted to test them out... oh gosh. He motioned at my stomach and then said something that I didn't quite understand but, based on the look on his face and the fact that he braced himself, I knew something was about to happen. That's when he punched me. He punched me right in the abs... yup, it hurt. It wouldn't had hurt so much if it was only one punch but he about five times. By the second punch I had totally flexed but dang, that first punch almost knocked the wind out of me!

6. Tonight Junior Mint and the committee for my boxing club held a dinner party. I met up with Junior Mint around 7pm and so we headed to the restaurant together. Unlike last time though, tonight I couldn't stay long. I had planned to go to Busan and so I was hoping to catch the last KTX train out of Cheonan.

7. There were were, 24 guys and 3 women. Had the guys all been boxers, I would have been loving the ratio but they weren't. Most of the men present were members of the board and so they were all dressed up in suits. I had come wearing a cute new dress but upon seeing that it was two massive tables full of business men, I got so shy. My dress was a tad bit too short to start off with and so having to take my boots off and sit on the floor was quite the challenge. Junior Mint stuck by my side and so that was sweet of him. He's an awesome coach. Sung Min and Hyo Gun (also known as Handsome Boy) showed up and so I was thankful for that.

8. As we all filed out of the restaurant, they all tried to convince me not to leave. I remember the last dinner party though. Dinner led into going to a bar, then a singing room, followed by another bar... and then home around 4am. How these full grown business men can party like rock stars is beyond me. By the time dinner was over, I was already getting tired. The head of the board (who speaks English) told me that he expects to see me at the next dinner party.. great. Apparently they have them every month. Honestly, I don't mind having dinner with them and I know I should be schmoozing with them, after all, these men are responsible for setting up my fights and can really help me out, but staying out till 4am isn't so attractive to me anymore. I think I'm getting too old for this kind of stuff.. hehehe.

9. Myoung June swung by the restaurant just as we were about to leave. He refused to let me take a taxi to the KTX and so he drove me in his pimped-out gangster car. I don't know what was with me though, whether it was something I drank or what, but I was in a really weird mood and so I turned to him and blurted out, "I envy your girlfriend. She has a great man. You tell her to be careful with you." Kind of a strange thing to say and ya, I'm sure he only understood like 40% of what I said but I just felt the urge to say it. A few things to know about Myoung June, he works for LIG Insurance, owns his own bar, boxes, and is quite to help his friends at the drop of a hat. He plans on getting married next year and so that's awesome. He's a really cool guy whom I really respect.

10. After a train ride that seemed to take forever, I showed up in Busan at 12:40am and was greeted by a shy-looking Seo. He came walking right up to me with his head down and a sad look on his face. We went down the escalator, he turned me around and then hugged me right in front of a packed escalator.

QUESTION OF THE DAY...
What's next?

QUOTE OF THE DAY...
Enjoy today because it's a gift. Yesterday was the past, tomorrow is the future but today is a gift, that's why it is called the present.
-- One of my university friends, J.