Highlights of my Day... Thursday, September 25

1. Rain, and any sign of bad weather, seems to freak out Koreans and so everyone jumps in their cars, ditches the buses for taxis, and clogs up the roads, making my 10 minute ride to school any where from 30-50 minutes. I had given myself exactly 40 minutes to get to school, do my photocopying, trek across campus to my class, and set up. Today it took me 45 minutes to get to work. I ended up having the taxi driver drive me straight to my class. And, I don’t know about you but when I am ticked, a taxi driver trying to act all cute by asking me random questions in English only frustrates me more. Outside of the classroom, I really try to only speak Korean and I am by no means some free English teacher to some taxi driver, after all, he’s not some free taxi driver to me!

2. I put an end to the taxi driver’s annoying questions when he asked me if I was American. “No,” I answered in Korean. “I am a Chinese boy”. He gave me a look, then a double look, followed by a triple look in his rear mirror and then stopped talking. I think I just found the new trick to getting random strangers to leave me alone, use the Chinese boy line… hehehe.

3. Showed up 5 minutes late. I’ve NEVER been late for work at Dankook and so I must have apologized like a zillion times to my students. Bless their little Korean kimchi-eating souls for setting up my computer and sound system while they waited for me!!!

4. Definitely had a first today in class when one of my students asked me out on a date in front of the WHOLE class!!! It started off with him asking me if I was single, where upon I answered “That’s personal” and then the questions lead to him asking me what food I like… then if he could date me. Instantly my face and whole body went beat red. All eyes were on me and even those who didn’t understand the boy’s English, they definitely felt the conversation. I tried to professionally kill the situation by telling him that I was his professor, he is my student, and this type of thinking and questioning is totally inappropriate and uncalled for.

5. After class this same boy stuck around to apologize… and to ask me out AGAIN. He then waited outside the classroom to talk to me. Talk about a persistent little dude!!! I ended up telling him that I was flattered, embarrassed but flattered, that he was so brave and confident to ask me such a question in class. Honestly, I really did think his bravery was quite respectful but I got the impression that he had practiced this before class. He’s never talked in my previous classes, always shows up late, and always wears the same Dankook University t-shirt every week. Today he came early, stayed late and wore a pair of jeans with a white t-shirt and a white blazer…. Gotta love the Koreans for their styles! Blazers are so old skool in Canada but here in Korea, they love them and I love them for loving it… hehehe.

6. I blame today’s strange class event on my “skinny skirt”… yup, that’s right. I have a couple of clothes stashed away that are labelled strangely. Let’s see, there’s my skinny skirt, my naked pants and my naked dress. My skinny skirt is a black pencil skirt but it acquired the name the skinny skirt because it’s a thick material that doesn’t allow for much movement and it has a high waistline that really emphasises the hour glass look. It’s like an extended version of a corset and so you can only wear it on days when you’re feeling particularly skinny and don’t have a lot of walking to do… hehehe.

7. The naked dress is pure money though. It’s a sleeveless gray dress that has a high neckline, stops just below the knees but has slits on both sides that add a bit of sex appeal. It’s all in the cloth though. The cloth is clingy and thin, so it shows off every curve,.. but also shows any lines or flaws, hence why you can’t wear anything underneath and you definitely have to be careful where you wear them. I wore my naked dress to Incheon airport once when I picked up my ex-fiance… never again. I’ve never felt more naked in public than ever and standing in a packed airport is not the place to be feeling naked… hehehe.

8. I’ve had previous students ask me out before, I’ve even had a female student try to hit on me, but they all waited till the end of the semester and usually it comes in the form of an email or a letter on my desk. Oh to be a student again… I don’t think I would have done as good as I did in university had I had attended university in Korea. My interest in Korean people was sparked when I was a university student but I only had Korean culture classes twice a week and so it wasn’t too distracting.

9. By the time I arrived at boxing, I was still feeling a bit uncomfortable about being asked out by a student and so when Junior Mint questioned me about my day, I blurted out that one of my students hit on me. Junior Mint laughed… and laughed some more while I stood there feeling embarrassed all over again. “Was he handsome?” he asked, “Yes.. very!” I responded. A lot of my students are handsome. I remember one of my students from a couple of semesters ago who, upon walking into my classroom and seeing him for the first time, my jaw literally dropped. He was gorgeous. He still is the most handsome student I have ever seen and when you throw in the fact that he likes sports, has a super cool personality, goes to church, travels, has manners that could put the queen to shame, and his English is awesome… ya, God help the girl that scores him cause, well, she better be pretty damn awesome to deserve a guy like that. I still stay in touch with him and, actually, I had lunch with him a couple of weeks ago. I am always telling my students, both guys and girls, that they look so cute, that I love their clothes that day, or whatnot, but dating a student… no thanks. That’s so wrong in so many ways. For the most part, I am about 9 years older than them but I do have some older students who are only 1-2 years younger. Don’t get me wrong though, it’s awesome that I get to teach some very, very beautiful people but I get grossed out at the thought of pursuing anything beyond a teacher-student relationship. Sometimes I see my students around town and so that’s cool. I’ve bought bus tickets for students, movie tickets, and even sent over some drinks to a table full of students, but that’s because I like them. They make my job awesome and so I really appreciate them. Sometimes I feel more like an older sister to many of my students. I am always trying to give them little life lectures, like there was one student I had last semester who let it known to me that she was going on a first date with her crush and so I ended up emailing her the night of her date to ask how it was. This semester I have two awesome boys in my all-boys class who I found smoking one day. Now, I know they’re of age but I hate smoking and so I forewarned them, telling them that if they don’t kick the habit, I’ll kick them… hehehe. (No, I won’t seriously kick them.. relax).

10. As for the rest of my evening, I had designated it to my Korean studies but surprisingly enough, tonight my cell phone was ringing off the hook. I'd say, on average, my phone rings once every two days and many of those times, it's the wrong number. Tonight Special K phoned me to say hi... I love his voice. There's something about how he talks that is just really attractive.

QUESTION OF THE DAY...
Do guys ever give strange names to their clothes or is this a girl thing?

QUOTE OF THE DAY...
Funny that a pair of really nice shoes make us feel good in our heads - at the extreme opposite end of our bodies.
-- Levende Waters