saying goodbye is harder than leaving

so my last day at work ended.

i didn't turn into the blubbering mess i expected to, but it was tough saying goodbye to the younger kids and a couple of other classes with kids who speak english very well. the day was filled with tests so there wasn't much chance to talk to the kids much.

and it was also a little frustrating. a few kids i don't like wouldn't be quiet during a test and i yelled so loud one of the girls nearly fell out of her seat. i apologised at the end of the test, but that didn't stop me from feeling bad about it. not the note i wanted to leave on, but that's the note that particular class ended on for us all.

i wanted to take a few pics too, but the guys were all either hunched over test papers or recovering from hunching over test papers or staring into space like zombies. not how i wanted to remember them. Alex, one of the cleverer kids in my teenagers conversation classes told me i'm a baby in a mans body. didn't try to deny it.

and it was the end of a contract fulfilled. something completed. it feels great. i was smiling like a gimp while i cleaned out my desk. there's much i regret, but i'm very happy i did this, and happy with my choice of school. i wouldn't work in this particular town again, but happy i lived here. i met some orsum people and had some interesting times. saying goodbye is harder than leaving. unsure what that means about me.

and what next? ADVENTURE!

huh?

Arizona School Suspends 13-Year-Old Boy for Drawing Gun

MESA, Arizona — Officials at an Arizona school suspended a 13-year-old boy for sketching what looked like a gun, saying the action posed a threat to his classmates.

The boy's parents said the drawing was a harmless doodle and school officials overreacted.

"The school made him feel like he committed a crime. They are doing more damage than good," said the boy's mother,Paula Mosteller.

The drawing did not show blood, bullets, injuries or target any human, the parents said. And the East Valley Tribune reported that the boy said he did not intend for the picture to be a threat.

Administrators of Payne Junior High in nearby Chandler suspended the boy on Monday for five days but later reduced it to three days.

The boy's father, Ben Mosteller, said that when he went to the school to discuss his son's punishment, school officials mentioned the seriousness of the issue and talked about the 1999 massacre at Colorado's Columbine High School, where two teenagers shot and killed 12 students, a teacher and themselves. Mosteller said he was offended by the reference.

Chandler district spokesman Terry Locke said the crude sketch was "absolutely considered a threat," and that threatening words or pictures are punishable.

disgusted

someone is stealing the 'N's from the classroom doors at school.

all the classes are named after countries so Japan is now Japa and England will soon be E gla d. unfortunate as those sound, I am now from a country called Ew Zealand.

Doctor Fish

H, J, L, P, T and I went to Sillin in southern Seoul to visit the fish doctors. having waited for around an hour in the cafe, we were shown to this little rectangular pool with a few dozen inch-long fish swimming around in. shoes and socks off and in went our feet. the next were 15 minutes of pain and torture and fits of absolute laughter while the fish ate the dead skin from our feet. a few of us being rather ticklish, the whole experience was weird and hilarious. my feet felt great for the next couple of days.

i don't have any pics at the moment, but hoping Leyla can get a few from her phone onto the net.

afterwards, Heidi went for a swim in a river with a bunch of kids playing in the water. then the heavens opened up and the monsoon just kept on coming. seems neverending. it's rained practically every day since late June. nuts.

monsoon girls

maybe
- amado: Korean for possible/maybe/not certain but somewhere between could happen and should happen.
for some reason, i've picked up a habit of saying 'maybe', even when i mean yes. are you going for a beer? think yes, say maybe. it's gonna happen, but i just say maybe. why? why?

i've heard lots of Koreans use the word maybe when they mean yes. did i do something wrong? maybe. is this going to be expensive? maybe. are we in trouble with the law? maybe. should i run? maybe. can you help? maybe not.

i'm not surprised i've picked up the habit, it's just frustrating that i was frustrated by the common use of the word 'maybe', yet still, i've started doing it myself. DOH!

dancing girls
- seems that every time someone opens a bar, restaurant, bookshop or playcentre, an archway of colourful balloons and a couple of scantily clad girls are hired. according to sources who are paying attention to the girls dance moves, apparently they're never good dancers. but who cares?

what is funny to me is the weather they're standing around in. in winter, it snowed one week, the next it was -10, and two days later, the girls were out, dancing in front of a new fried chicken place (great chicken, does home delivery, yum). now it's monsoon season and, while a few of the boys were out for a drink on the strip, a couple of young ladies were out dancing under the balloons for whatever new was opening (either a bar or an internet cafe).

so it's pouring down with rain that'd wash a newborn calf into the sewers, and the girls are toughing it out, high heels and all. must get into that internet cafe, now that i think about it. whatever sells sells, ay?

better than a rooster
- there seems to be a dragonfly nesting outside my bedroom window. every morning, around 630am, it cranks up a noise so startlingly loud, it has scared me out of bed on 2 occasions. couldn't believe the first morning, a sunday. i thought a predator had crawled thru my window.

news and olds

new apartment. new roomies. new bed. rah.

moved into Jeanine and Heidi's place a little over a week ago and it's been all good. i'm living with two wonderful ladies, so i can't be a sloth-like pig for the next few weeks, which is sad, but true. good news is we all get on really well. Jeanine is fun, and modest too.

work is quite busy now that Brian and Andy have gone. Paul, from NZ, has arrived, and another new teacher will be arriving soon, so in the meantime, we're covering the classes. it's not all bad, as the kids are cool and i'm enjoying most of it. means for a long day at work though. we're in the middle of a summer intensive period, so we're at work at 9am and leaving at around 930pm.

only a few weeks left for me on my contract. i'm counting, but i'm not counting that much. to be honest, the time's flying, which is great and not so great. not completely certain what i'll do after, which is the not so great part. the great part is that i'm completing something for the first time in ages. apart from backpacking, i felt like i hadn't completed anything since university, and even there, i pissed about and underachieved. now is a little different. feel confident of myself committing to work/pets/plants/people fully.

and in news with my old room mate, i'm still pissed off with him. Paul pointed out that i was holding a grudge for a reason. on friday, the guy yelled at a workmate and when i found out about it, Paul saw a flash in my eye. like i wanted an excuse to do something. violent or verbal, i want to attack him quite a lot. won't deny it. hopefully admitting it to myself will help me get over it. can't say it has yet.