things about april

I was challenged to write down 25 things about myself. It was indeed a challenge! It took me longer than I'd like to admit. So here, I thought I'd share the list with you.


1. Last October I ate dog soup and my friend told me that my own pets would never forgive me.

2. I was going to be a radio broadcaster and even had a job at a radio station but I got bored with "Organizational Communication" classes in college and switched my emphasis to Philosophy and Religion. The decision was dramatic and life changing.

3. My first job was working at Six Flags Great America and I hated it so much that I walked out and told my boss to "bite me". Because of this, I am on the rehire black list at Six Flags.

4. I was a baton twirler for 11 years.

5. I played the drums for quite a while.

6. When we were young, my sister and I had 4 pet rabbits. We secretly mated them and ended up with 13!

7. I speak Spanish pretty well in my head, but not with my mouth. I'm working on it though.

8. When I was little I got in trouble at school for showing all my friends my really cool underwear!

9. I had to repeat Kindergarten.

10. My mom told me that the REASON I had to repeat Kindergarten was that Mrs. McLaughlin needed a helper. And I believed it.

11. I love step aerobics classes.

12. I currently LOVE my job.

13. I am a TERRIBLE liar. It took me a long time to accept that, but my life has been a lot easier since.

14. It is really hard for me to be mean and stern. After yelling at or disciplining my students I often cry.

15. I sing all the time. I also like to dance. I'm terrible at both.

16. My favorite nicknames are Heypril and Shmaypril.

17. I have the coolest family on the planet. (I can't say "coolest in the universe" because according to one of my students, the people on Mars are really amazing. Who knew??!!)

18. My dad taught me how to break pointless rules with passion. He also taught me how to change a tire on my car. I'm good at doing both of those things.

19. One of my favorite hobbies is writing letters to all my friends around the world. As a result, I receive lots of letters from all over the world.

20. I hate doing laundry. Sometimes I buy new underwear just so I can postpone doing the laundry.

21. When I was in Italy I was forcefully kissed by a very ugly and hairy man named Luigi.

22. I love cooking with lentils.

23. I over-think everything and sometimes even spend time thinking about why I might be over-thinking everything.

24. People fascinate me. Even people who annoy me are fascinating to me.

25. I believe that love can change the world.

drawing

We're reading "A Midsummer Night's Dream" in class this term. It's the kid's version of course. But it's a great story and I've been doing lots of drawing to illustrate the story.
I'm impressed with myself, but my students...not so much.
This picture actually made me laugh so hard that I was crying. The guys at the top are supposed to be fairies :-) Haha, I'm telling you, I'm an artist!

feeling the love

I've been subbing for a coworker this past week.
It was actually a great joy because the majority of the students were in a previous class of mine, and they were my favorite kids!
They are fun kids, really clever, and most of them are smart and quite driven.
They work hard without threats, and they are making such great progress in their English.

But anyway, I posted these pictures for a better reason than to tell you how smart they are. They actually gave me a really hard time this week and said some of the funniest things.

"Teacher, if evil was a 10, I think you are 11."


"I think if you make me read today, you will be die."
(I always laugh when they say "you will be die")


"Teacher you have the face of an angel,
but you have the mind of a devil."
"Oh, and you're ugly."


"Teacher, I think you look like a hot dog today!"


"Teacher, I'm going to say words that are opposite of you: nice, kind, pretty, funny..."

And my favorite:
It's test time, and in the focused silence, a student bursts out with a loud chuckle.
I said "What's so funny?"
And she says "Haha, teacher, I think it's funny that you wear a black shirt with brown pants."


So I know that these are all really mean words but to me they are actually very endearing. These kids work really hard for me. They love me. They bring me presents, they hang on me during breaks, they tell me funny stories, and some of them even tell me about their problems. This week they were teaching me a bit of Korean language. These are the kids who have brought Korea into my heart. These are the kids who make me want to never leave this country. These are the kids who make me think that I've found a life-long career.

I wish you could meet them.

202 Days

Dear Blog Readers,

I'm so tired right now. I'm sitting in a coffee shop, staring at a turtle mocha--a turtle mocha that I'd really like to drink but that would require arm movement and coordination with my hands and mouth and that takes so much effort. If only you could have just watched me try nearly a dozen times to spell "turtle mocha", it's a wonder I'm teacher of English!

I'm teaching double-time this month. This isn't something to complain about, but it certainly takes a toll on my energy. And while I'm trying my best to keep my enthusiasm while I teach, and to keep my lectures animated, my students told me on Friday "April Teacher, you're very...very...umm... not funny this week" (which is their way of saying "You're crabby!")

So it's Saturday evening and I'm dangerously comfortable in this big leather chair. I've been sitting here for 45 minutes trying to write something worth your time, but I'm sorry...I've got nothing. So here's a picture of me, right now, here... barely.
I'm here. And I'm doing well, and I'm still in love with my God, and I'm still enjoying every single breathtaking, invigorating, inspiring, chaotic, overwhelming, challenging, and exhausting moment of being here.