Why I think Texas is right on... Regardless of how I feel about their actions.

In case you've been living under a rock (and yes, you MUST have been living under a rock, since even in KOREA I know what's happening), let me catch you up on what's been happening in the good old US of A this week. I'm going to quote the Washington Post, since I think they introduce it quite succinctly and well:

From states across the country, Americans have filed petitions on the White House Web site seeking to secede from the union and form new state governments.

While most of the petitions come from states that supported Mitt Romney in last week’s election, a few swing states and even the deep blue Northeast are represented.


Petitions have been filed for Alabama, Arkansas, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oregon, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Texas.

“We petition the Obama Administration to peacefully grant the State of Alabama to withdraw from the United States of America and create its own new government,” reads the Alabama petition. The following text is the same in most of the 20 filed so far:

As the founding fathers of the United States of America made clear in the Declaration of Independence in 1776:

“When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.”
“…Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, that whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or abolish it, and institute new Government…”

Now, I don't normally like to talk politics, because I think that the American people are almost always too uneducated on any one political subject to talk about it at all, but I'm making an exception this one time, because, having been educated in the deep South (or a city that thought it was in the deep South), States' Rights is a topic I feel pretty competent on. And I think I can probably still leave you guessing on my political bents on this one. You know how women like to be mysterious.

Okay, so there are a lot of rumors going around on this topic: Secession is unconstitutional... secession is fine... blah blah blah. Here's the thing: It's neither. Way, way, WAY back in the day under the Articles of Confederation (Go ahead, click on them and do your research, no one will know if you do, so no one will mock you. Oh, and here's the Wikipedia Article, just in case you want to only pretend like you know what they say.), states were unable to secede from the nation. However, the United States Constitution nullified the Articles of Confederation, and the Constitution doesn't speak on the topic at all. (I'm just going to trust you know what the Constitution is.) So, that leaves us in an interesting fix.

So why does the world seem to be focused on Texas out of all the states (count them... it's almost half of the nation) involved in this hissy fit (for lack of a less biased word)? Well, Texas has a long, grand history of secession, seeming to jump on that band-wagon whenever possible. It seceded from Mexico in 1836 asn was quite happy to do so again during the American Civil War in 1861. But in 1869, this issue came into dispute in the Supreme Court ruling of the case Texas vs. White. Chief Justice Salmon P. Chase had a LOT to say on the topic, including this:

The Union of the States never was a purely artificial and arbitrary relation. It began among the Colonies, and grew out of common origin, mutual sympathies, kindred principles, similar interests, and geographical relations. It was confirmed and strengthened by the necessities of war, and received definite form and character and sanction from the Articles of Confederation. By these, the Union was solemnly declared to 'be perpetual.' And when these Articles were found to be inadequate to the exigencies of the country, the Constitution was ordained 'to form a more perfect Union.' It is difficult to convey the idea of indissoluble unity more clearly than by these words. What can be indissoluble if a perpetual Union, made more perfect, is not?

And this:

When, therefore, Texas became one of the United States, she entered into an indissoluble relation. All the obligations of perpetual union, and all the guaranties of republican government in the Union, attached at once to the State. The act which consummated her admission into the Union was something more than a compact; it was the incorporation of a new member into the political body. And it was final. The union between Texas and the other States was as complete, as perpetual, and as indissoluble as the union between the original States. There was no place for reconsideration or revocation, except through revolution or through consent of the States.

Unfortunately for Chief Justice Chase, he seemed to be leaning a little too much on the Articles of Confederation, because in 1870, President Grant signed an act, readmitting Texas to the nation, which seems to be an action nullifying the opinion of Chief Justice Chase. Or does it?

Chief Justice Chase also specifically mentions a scenario in which secession is appropriate, which brings us to where we are today:

The United States Supreme Court ruled in Texas v. White, 74 U.S. 700 (1869) that unilateral secession was unconstitutional while commenting that revolution or consent of the states could lead to a successful secession.

So... what now? Well, no one really knows, honestly. I predict that this all is mostly likely going to be dropped almost unilaterally. The only state that I'm curious about is Texas which are the only state with the financial stability and enough motivation to follow through on this - they had a range of reported number of signatures on their petition, all of which are over the necessary 25,000 to receive direct attention from the White House (although there are a number of other states financially able to, if they wanted).

Here's how it breaks down in my head:

A lot of the highest tax bracket lives in Texas. Like it or not, Texas is the land of oil and ranching, and those are two things Americans cannot get enough of. People are filthy rich there - mind you, not all people, but there are enough. These people are getting slammed with tax increases left and right, and if there's one thing Texans don't like, it's big government telling them what to do. They (and I use the general "they" here, not the all-encompassing) of the opinion the government is being tyrannical, so they're implementing the right that our Founding Fathers gave us: To stand up to the federal government and tell them to shove it. (Or, as the Declaration of Independence so much more eloquently puts it: “When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.”)

Now, does it hurt me to think of a divided United States (an oxymoron if I ever heard one)? Yes. Absolutely. Unwavering. Am I as proud as they come of Texas for standing up for what they believe? Heck yes. Don't just bow down when you feel your rights slipping away; they don't come back.

As for the other states... I'm just going to roll my eyes at them and suggest they take a bit of a time out as cure to this hissy fit of theirs.



For more information on secession and how it happens, click here.

Feel free to leave your incensed comments below, although I will filter out any offensive language and/or trolling.

Until next time!

추석 Traveling: Правец & Ботевград (Pravets & Botevgrad)

Sunday morning brought with it the prospect of traveling a ways away for church.  Luckily, the service was later, so I had the opportunity to attempt to catch up on sleep.  I've never been one to get hit hard by jet-lag my first day back in a place.  I usually feel it at night, anyway, but I mostly attribute that to my preference for late night flights, meaning that I don't get very much sleep.  For some reason, I'd rather get only one or two hours of sleep than have to wake up even an hour early.  Maybe that will change in time.  Any way that you look at it, though, my bleary mind was quite content to attempt to sleep all day.  Thankfully, Alex was of the mind to not even entertain that idea, and I wasn't going to ask it of her, since I knew I would regret it if I didn't get out and see the country I was visiting.

Zhana, Alex's boss, stopped by in the morning to warn us against going to church.  Apparently, there was a sinus-infection-inducing cold and the flu going around in the community, and, since my defenses were down (being in a new country, jet-lagged, and all), her doctor had recommended that I didn't go to church.  I was touched.  This woman had talked to her doctor about me!  She didn't know me from Eve, yet she had prepared in advance to make sure that I would be able to stay healthy, rather than just advising me to "be careful for my health," as to which I've grown accustomed here. (Don't get me wrong, I appreciate that the people in Korea warn me against situations that I might not have thought to take precaution, but it's amazing to have someone actually help with it.)  So, instead of church, Alex and I wandered around Правец and its neighboring town Ботевград.

Ботевград was pretty, and reminded me a lot of most college towns that I've seen.  It's the kind of place that feels somewhat large, but you also get the sense that everyone knows everyone.  Meanwhile, the whole area is shrouded in a type of 1960's communistic architecture.  Since Правец is still locally communistic, this rather makes sense.  (Mind-blowing, I know.)  However, my photography doesn't really reflect this feeling, because I like to take photos of pretty things, and I didn't find most of the architecture all that pretty... So, take my representation with a grain of salt.

Ботевград town square 

I was fascinated with the straight-metal swings, rather than chained ones.  Plus, the children on them made the place look so homey.

Alex needed an ATM, and I liked how the signs didn't clash with nature too much.

I'm not normally one for roses, but the obscure coloring more than makes up for it.

Waiting at the bus stop.

Our late-night wanderings through Правец ran us into a man who remembered Правец before it was Правец.  He was out on a stroll with his cow, Gala.  Immediately, I took a liking to this man.  Really?  On a walk with your cow, you say?  Yes, I can tell that I'll like you already.  As Alex and her friend Yony admired, Gala, I came up next to the man and said, in my rather sarcastic way, "Nice cow," assuming he couldn't understand me and would ignore me, like I'm used to here in Korea.  Not so much, though.  He started talking to me in German, which I understood some of, but, eventually, Yony stepped in and translated.  She was incredibly uncomfortable, but I was in Seventh Heaven.  His history lesson was fascinating, although I don't remember much of it.  He did say, however, that he though Bulgarian men would me more likely to marry if the women looked more like Alex and myself. Scarlet faced, we thanked him and wrapped the conversation up.  Yony really didn't like translating such comments for us.

I think when I grow up, I'd like a pet cow to take for walks, so I'd have an excuse to make young people incredibly uncomfortable with my ramblings.

I hope my lack of words doesn't belittle my conviction of how important this event was for my trip.  I think it put me in the right frame of mind for the rest of the days that followed - simple; beautiful; and, overall, loving.

I start middle school today.

I dream last night that I showed up to school in my PJs and forgot where my office was. Half of that is true. Ahhhh!!! I'm getting more nervous by the minute. Prayers, please.

Edit:
My dream in detail:
I woke up to go to school, and I realized that I'd left all of my stuff in my other apartment, which happened to be in my old school.  My blanket was there (so I woke up cold), my clothes were there, my school supplies were there... So I knew I needed to go get them.  I decided to swing by my new school first to tell them why I was going to be late.  So I went in my PJs (sweat pants and a sports bra), but I couldn't find my office.  I spent several hours wandering the halls in said PJs, not finding it before I woke.  There's a good first impression.

It's 1:48am, and I JUST finished tomorrow's Captain Bob.

So make sure you read it tomorrow.  I'm pretty proud of this one.

It's interesting to me how now that I'm leaving my elementary school, I finally feel like I'm making a difference there.  It feels like people - students and teachers alike - are finally listening to me and finally expressing/seeing that I do a good job (new teacher status bringing allowances, of course).  I have a feeling that some of it is just cultural bull, but one thing happened on Friday that cannot be explained away.

My fifth-graders have just been playing review games since their finals (read: midterm).  I can understand why it's happening (who's really going to listen after you've already taken the final?), but it also means that I usually have to yell myself hoarse just so the kids can hear what the question is.  Finally, empowered by the fact that I'm already leaving, so they can't very well threaten me with that, I took discipline into my own hands.  Every time a team got too loud, they got additive points taken off their score.  First offense = -1pt., second = -2pts., and so forth.  Unfortunately, the all-boys team got so far behind that they no longer cared, so, instead of taking off the 6 points they had added up to, I had them all stand up and hold their arms above their heads (a quite mild punishment for Korea, mind you). One boy, however, refused.

"I wasn't talking!" He said (in Korean, of course).  "I shouldn't have to be in trouble!"  We (yes, we - my Co-teacher joined me at this point) tried waiting, we tried pressuring him, we tried reasoning with him - nothing.  Finally, we let the rest of the class go, and took him to his homeroom teacher.  She informed us that he was just stubborn, and she would not be talking to him, because it was a waste of her time.  This upset me, and I informed my Co-teacher of it.  We decided to take the student down to the teachers' lounge and talk to him some more, there.  At first, I just let my Co-teacher handle it, but they were both just getting more and more angry, so I joined in, asking her to translate very calmly what I wanted to say to him. 


"I know you're upset," I said, "and I know that this doesn't feel fair, but I want you to think about this:  If you had answered every question wrong, but your team still won, you would want candy, too, right? Well, this goes with that.  When we do something as a team, it is like we are one person.  What happens to one person on the team happens to everyone."  He calmed down a bit while I was talking, so we had him go back to his homeroom.  


Meanwhile, my Co-teacher informed me of every "rude" comment he made:  "He told me, 'I could be doing much worse.'  I couldn't believe it!  He was so rude!"  This confused me a bit, since I remember telling my mom the exact same thing in high school, and I agreed with him.  He could have been doing a lot worse, but respecting his teachers is going to be a vital lesson to have learned when he graduates to middle school, so I wasn't about to let it go.  (Because my personal stubbornness has nothing to do with it... Sure.)


I figured that was the end of it.


But I was wrong.


After school, the boy came back to the teacher's lounge and handed us a letter.  My Co-teacher read it to me, while he stood, waiting.  Basically, he wrote the following (paraphrased) note:

Dear [Co-teacher] and Native English Teacher {Yes, that was how he addressed me...},

       I am very sorry for losing my temper in class.  That was wrong of me.  Even if I think something is not fair, I should still listen to and respect my teachers.  Also, I am sorry because we were doing a team activity, and I was acting as an individual.  This was wrong of me.  I am sorry.

Sincerely,

[Student]

We were both floored.  Not only did the kid apologize, he apparently listened to every word we said.


I feel like I'm finally making a difference, and I couldn't be happier.   I love these kids so much, and I apparently have to be fearless - respectful, but fearless of repercussion - to translate that into the best action possible.

Pray that G-d will continue to guide me and keep me in check.

<3,
Anne Nicole Royster
로행복

My school had some excitement today.

I'm sure I'll be over this soon.
Will I live it down... ever?
Unlikely.

Additionally, you're bad at following directions.

Right here for your very much wish-fulfillment.

Way back in my freshman year of college, I was in Covenant Choir, which took a trip to Orlando, Florida.  My friend Kara and I ended up being rooming partners, and we stayed with an absolutely amazing family (Andy, Lorri, Sydney, and Carter); I still think about them sometimes, actually.  We had so much fun.

For example, I think this is one of the most adorable dogs ever.

Well, the amazing family came with their crazy dog, Ziggy, who just felt too much of a need to exert his dominance.  After watching him chase Kara's legs around the house for a half hour or so, I, half jokingly, half seriously, said I wanted a similarly awkward dog when I got older.  (Actually I want a more awkward dog, because not only do I want a dog that exerts his dominance, I want him to be so ugly it's cute.  It's okay.  You can go ahead and call the people with the jackets that help you hug yourself.  I won't hold it against you.)

For some reason, I feel like the more awkward a dog is, the more endearing it is.  I can't explain it.  Maybe I shouldn't think that absolutely awkward things are cute.  Maybe that will lead to uncomfortable situations.  Or... maybe it will make for excellent stories later.  I guess it just depends on how you see the glass.

So, yes, I challenged G-d and/or life to give me a dog with a need to exert its dominance. May I just throw it out there that you shouldn't put those kind of challenges out there without expecting them to happen.

Kara and Ziggy

Tonight, I had my friends Thomas and Bethany over for a long over-due dinner/hang-out time.  The food was delicious, thanks to The Awkward Chef.  (I made her veggie burgers again, and I finally got them all to turn out correctly!  It was a momentous occasion.)  Manila was out and running around when they came in.  (To be technical, she was the only one here to greet them; I had to run to the store for a second.)  They hit it off to begin with, but Manila must have felt threatened by Thomas' masculinity, because, by halfway through the evening, she had felt the need to mark a corner as her own.

Manila, trying to figure out her species

But that wasn't enough; she had to move on to his arm, and she didn't just chin it or something.  No, she had to go and exert her dominance.  But she wasn't too good at it, though, because he couldn't figure out what was going on.  It was pretty amusing, but I put her away anyway.  Poor, over-stimulated bunny.  We'll try again anyway.

Be careful what you wish for, I guess.

In spite of the weirdness of having a rabbit that thinks she's anything but a rabbit, we had a great night (and it's been good to see her acting fully healthy again - she's even eating her pellets... occasionally).  We had veggie burgers (yum).  We had watermelon (yum yum).  We had Oreos and peanut butter (yum yum yum!).  We found the faces of Mary, Jesus, and Satan in the peanut butter.  We played Fluxx until we were laughing so hard it hurt.  I don't think anyone can deny the quality of the night, and I can't wait to have Bethany and Thomas over again.  :)


PS. Identify the quote from the title of this post.  Why?  Because life it more fun when you realize how much of what I say is actually quoting something.

Blimey Cow photo-a-day 22. Your favorite superhero (AKA Batman).
Lucky for Blimey Cow, my favorite superhero generally is Batman, although he is occasionally challenged by Wolverine.  

16. Inspiration

I was in the middle of writing an entirely different blog post to you, when, suddenly, I got up, changed into jeans and just left my apartment.  I had no intention of doing it; it jut happened.  I started by stopping by the kitten area from yesterday's photo.  I hadn't seen a mom with them, so, as per my friend Nick's request, I went to see if they had someone/something caring for them.  I'm pretty sure I saw a momma cat today.  But, instead of coming back home, I started wandering around aimlessly.  I'm pretty sure I saw the Korean version of the mob, but I kept on moving.  I didn't stay around long enough to confirm it for you.

Blimey Cow photo-a-day 16. Inspiration
This is a photo of my receipt from Applebee.

I didn't know where I was headed, but my feet beelined for the most expensive restaurant I know here: Applebee (not to be confused with America's Applebee's).  It's this expensive buffet place that offers some high class food as well.  They're really good, and my pastor is always desperate to take people there.  But, in being there, I broke almost every rule I'd set for myself.  I broke my budget (the meal was roughly $25), I broke my water rule (I couldn't find the water filter at first, but was surprised to find that I didn't like the pop I had at all {as KelliTaylor said would happen} -too sweet!), I broke my unwritten "no eating out alone" rule, and I actually even broke my kosher rule (I'll come back to that).  To tell you the rather embarrassing truth, I didn't even have on socks, makeup, or deodorant.  My brain hadn't intended on going there, but, surprisingly, it was really refreshing and just what I needed.  Go figure, the introvert had an almost extroverted night.  Almost.

The entire staff there went out of their way to help me out.  We played charades for a bit, because Applebee has this not-so-complicated-but-feels-complicated-at-first system of placing plastic coins in the receiving bucket of your choice to order the food item of the corresponding picture above the bucket.  I knew this, but they really wanted to explain it to me, so I let them, first in Korean, then by a guy grabbing me by the hand and leading me across the restaurant to pantomime the whole process not one, but two times.  I later found out that one of the bus boys studying English in the US for 8 months, and, consequently, spent the rest of my meal pondering why they hadn't just grabbed him.  Either way, the directions were given and understood, so I grabbed one of the coins and went to place an order.  My mime, however, came running after me with my other coin, saying "Two!  Two coin!"  As it was the only thing he had worked up the courage to say to me, I figured it must be important to him.  Thus, I read through the Korean names, only recognizing one word: Creme.  I figured that was a pasta dish and ordered it.  Everything else looked to be meat, but I selected one that looked like it had the possibility of not being so.  I was right and wrong at the same time; it was shrimp.  Thinking of what Paul would say if he was there, I ate every last bite of that shrimp, and it was surprisingly delicious.

I was also surprised to find myself writing more of my novel in my head while sitting at my table.  I rather wished I had brought it with me.  For some reason, sitting and people watching gave birth to a new character, who I think will help get everything moving.  Well, I guess it's not really "for some reason."  When you meet her in the story, she'll be exactly where I was, doing exactly what I was doing.  She's just going to have a slightly different motivation.  She's going to be a lot of fun to write.  I

I'm thinking of naming her Charity, but I need a good last name for her.  My gut is saying Cambridge, but I'm thinking that's more of because J.K. Rowling named one of her characters Charity Burbage.  I'm thinking it would be better to not copy her so much, so, if you can think of a sophisticated, older-sounding, somewhat cooly intimidating surname for her, please list them off below.

In fact, how about this?: The person who comes up with the best name will win a giveaway.


Here's how this is going to work:

1. Make sure you leave your name in the comment section.
2. Make sure you leave your surname ideas for Charity.
3. Make sure you pop back in to see if you've won.  I plan to introduce her in the next chapter, so, I should be needing a name by next week.
4. If you win, I will send you something cool and exciting from Korea.  I haven't decided what yet, as I just decided to have this giveaway, but I'll go out soon and browse for the perfect prize.

Looking forward to your names!

Lent: Talking point

***Don't forget to sign the petition (and this one too!) to save refugees from North Korea!***

Blessing #29 - My public school education.

I know, it's not for everyone, but, just like I don't try to shove public school down your throats, I'd appreciate it if you didn't try to shove homeschooling down mine.  The correct answer depends on the child, and, trust me, homeschooling would have been an awful choice for me.  I know because we tried it briefly.

My high school made the news recently.  It's pretty embarrassing, actually, but I'm still grateful for it.  I was exposed to so many things that I wouldn't have been otherwise there.  I got the opportunity to learn how other people and other cultures think and function.  I learned how to question why I (or my parents) believed.  I learned how to stand on my own two feet.  Education-wise, I learned all the key material, but not much more, but that's okay  I still did very well in my class and SATs, so I'm not worried about it.  I'm just very glad my parents made the choices they did.

<3

Lent: The awkward comment you wish you hadn't said

Blessing #4: Heartache

I know that this seems like the absolute strangest thing I could write here and that it will probably make some people uncomfortable, but I'm grateful that, in spite of everything that's happened, I'm still able to ache over things that broke my heart.

Because that means I'm still able to love.

Which means that I'm still able to trust.

And I'm still able to hope.

And that, my friends, truly is something.

What's that thing that you're grateful for, even though bringing it up makes other people uncomfortable?

Picked up.

I've been picked up again.

My lastest entry in the Diary of the Unrefined just went live.

You've already seen it here, but if you want to see it in print somewhere else, go here.

I'm rather excited, I must say. :)

Wear better clothes.

I'm going to start this post with the conclusion, just so there's no confusion on it: I am absolutely a non-fan of confrontation.  Yes, I like being able to yell my head off and voice my opinions, provided that there are minimal repercussions (i.e. I won't see them again, or they'll yell back, but that'll be the end of it... etc.), but, when that is not an option, I entirely shy away from it.  Just the thought of confronting such a situation gets my heart rate up.  Especially when I realize that my shirt is see-through.

Earlier this evening, I tried my hand shopping at a bigger store than the one I went to when I still lived on KNU's campus.  The mission was a success - I got both my pantry and fridge stocked - but it took three times longer than usual, and I still didn't end up with the fancy trash bags I'm supposed to use.  I may just haul my trash back to KNU and let them handle it... or take my garbage out in the middle of the night.  But, the point of this paragraph is not to debate the morality of ignoring cultural norms when the culture makes it impossible to find the supplies to participate in said norms.  The point of this paragraph is to express how exhausted I was when I finally made it home after my errands.  It was quite a day - TESOL, then a trip to City Hall to turn in my Change of Address, then an attempt at finding a new bus route to school using the 1 Bus (which is a great deal closer to my apartment than the faithful 14) - no dice, btw - , then the E-Mart trip, putting me home around 8:30.  I took care of the rabbit, started some chores, and finally sat down to dinner at (prepare to be horrified) 11:30.  Somewhere in the middle of this, I changed into a pair of pajama shorts and an undershirt that my friend who used to live here, Tori, left me.

It was around the time that I peeked out my front door to investigate the sounds of English coming from the hallway that I realized my shirt was very much see-through.  Great.  Glad I chose to wear a cute bra today.  So, I talked to what turned out to be some other friends of mine for a bit, and then went back to bustling about the apartment, promptly forgetting the encounter.

That is, until I had to run upstairs to Kris' apartment to fix something with our shared internet.  He's not there right now, so I knew that wouldn't be an issue.  What I wasn't expecting was to find Kris' neighbor, sulking in the stairwell, smoking his cigarette.

So, I came flying up the stairs, two at a time, until I saw him.  I stopped, teetering on the edge of the top step.  He stopped, one arm folded across his chest, the cigarette perched against his lip, as if he had been about to take a long drag.  We made eye contact, and, in that second, I thought about the amount of time Kris has spent trying to catch this guy in the act of smoking in the hallway (right underneath the no smoking sign, mind you).  I thought of Kris' determination to drive him out, bleaching the hallway, convinced that the smell would be too intense for him to stay.  I thought of the mad dashes outside in the middle of conversations at just a wiff of smoke.  I thought of all these things, then broke eye contact and ran away, slamming Kris' door behind me.  It would have put some of Carrie Bradshaw's antics to shame.

And, true to form, I left Kris a note, explaining what had happened and apologizing for my lack of filling his shoes.

Confrontational situations: 2
Confrontations: 0

I don't know whether to label this as a win or a fail.  So, I'm also not going to confront that, and label this one a wail... or a fin... or a whale fin.  Yeah, that's it.  A whale fin.

May your day consist of whole creatures and not just their appendages.

<3,
Anne

Harry Potter Camp - Day 4 - Care of Magical Creatures

I had grand, grand plans for this day.  I wanted to grab recycling and have the kids build their own magical creatures.  What ended up happening had a far less chance of EMT-involvement.

We kicked off the lesson with, as usual, a PowerPoint presentation, this time focusing on body parts.  It was a bit of an adventure, as, 5 minutes before class, I realized I'd only put in half of the Korean words.  As a result, a lot of the lesson turned into "Who can guess what letter Ms. Royster left out of this word?".  (Side note: I'm grateful I got to be Ms. Royster doing this camp.  I know it's the Korean way, but my ear still hasn't gotten used to "Royster Teacher."  Call me Ms. Royster or 선생님, please, but not the bastard love-child of the two.)  Anyway, I threw in a couple goodies, like "wing," "talon," and "claw," but, as it turns out, the word for talon is the same as the word for claw in Korean - 발톱 - so we had a lot of fun trying to differentiate.  It reminded me of my "ser" and "estar" issues while I was studying Spanish.


Next up was an activity that reminded me of my childhood "Make-Your-Own" obsession (kind of like the broke kid's answer to Tamagatchi).  My poor brother got roped into creating profile after profile for these random creatures we would draw.  (Over time, that morphed into how I would decide who I wanted to date: I'd draw up their profile and then have a visual reference to remind me why I did/did not want to date that person.  I've since stopped being quite so creepy.)  Anyway, its a lot easier to just show you the assignment rather than try to describe it, so I'm just going to post up my two favorites:

This one was drawn by one of my Slytherins, the one who was responsible for pointing out to the rest of them how Slytherins are supposed to behave.  His main frustration with camp is that we only focused on the easy stuff.  He wanted to do things from the later books and movies.  My main frustration was that I couldn't afford to buy him the complete set of the books in English.  He has a high enough level and an obsession with the series to rival my own.  We could be best friends outside of school, I guarantee you that.  Luckily, he's a fifth grader, so I will probably see him next semester.

This one didn't hold any special allure with me, until I got to the answer to the last question.  Apparently, Jesus Himself is imbibed into this creature, and will save us all.  Love it.

The less English-y part of class focused on us making our own dragons (origami).  I felt so bad for my kids, because I am HORRIBLE at origami, and, as such was hopelessly lost at the actual dragon instructions, so, I found instructions on how to make an origami crane, retitled it, and had them do that.  Unfortunately, my kids live in Asia, and, as such, can do that in their sleep.  Fortunately, I was quick-witted enough to tell them to follow the English instructions first, and then they could make any other origami they wanted.  One of the kids was done with her "dragon" before I even finished giving the instructions.  Ah well, after a few flashes of the hands, they had produced these elaborate dragons with curled tails, flapping wings, and I'm pretty sure they breathed fire.  Sadly, I didn't think to snap a picture, because I was too busy dodging it's spiked tail, so I will leave you with a picture of a rather free-thinking Gryffindor's dragons:

I'm not going to lie, that moment may have been one of my most proud.  I love it when they break from the norm.

Here, have some "dragon" instructions.  Now you can be just as lame as I am. ;)

Well, I'm off to pester Charlie to see if he can give me any pointers on making these dragons better.  See you at the top of the Astronomy Tower at midnight.  Try not to drop Norbert on the way.  

<3

Who am I? - Sweet third graders being... sweet

Remember when you were little and didn't mind looking ridiculous (in fact, you actually kind of loved it)?  Here, let me jog your memory:

We played the "Who am I?" game to reinforce verb usage.

 Royster Teacher wasn't sneaky enough in her camera usage.

 The kids were preparing for an open house for their parents and wanted to show us their routines.

Yes, the girl in the back is a 3rd grader.  My only guess is that her birthday is in February or something.  (Everyone advances in age on the lunar new year, which is at the end of January.)

 <3

Random thoughts of no specific connection point whatsoever

Isn't it funny how you can think you're being perfectly clear, but no one actually understands you?  You and pantomime, speak slowly, enunciate, try different languages, but, sometimes, you're just not going to be understood.  Life is a strange creature, my friends.  I think I'm going to see if I can dig up some notes from Freshman year for my Interpersonal Communication class (don't expect me to actually know the material, it was an 8am class), because I'm slaughtering some rule somewhere, I just haven't found it yet.

Somewhere in my building today, children were learning "Yellow Submarine,"and, just in case you've managed to avoid hearing that song all these years, I've linked it for you.  I find it interesting that while teachers in America are busily blocking all websites that lead to that song and finding a deity to pray to that their students will not learn that song, the teachers here in Korea readily teach it.  Of course, this same phenomenon also let me get away with using "Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger" (the Daft Punk version of course) as a teaching tool today, so I guess I can't complain too much.

Here, watch this video of my fourth graders playing Zoo.  It's guaranteed to make you smile (because it's one minute, ten seconds of kids having unadulterated fun).

 

Oh, and shout out to whoever is reading my blog in Russia and also in Colombia.  I don't know who you are, but I'm excited to have had you check this out.  (Unless you're my friends just using Hotspot shield.  I mean, that's cool too, but not nearly as exciting.)

[Insert several unspoken prayer requests here.]

Perspective

The worship remains
Always, the word is Christ
Christ, healing all believers

Since coming to South Korea, I've been somewhat locked in an epic metaphorical soccer game (probably to the death... well... my death at least).  For those of you who haven't been keeping score, let me catch you up:

My team and I tramped onto the field, jet-lagged and motion sick, immediately after disembarking the plane.  Korea showed no mercy, scoring a point within the first few seconds, as we fell on a moving sidewalk and attempted to keep me from getting sucked under (I'm telling you, if it actually could have happened, it would have happened then, so assure your children that they are safe).  Korea 1, visitors 0.

We took the penalty kick for having grounded one of our players (me), and despite the disheartening first minute of the game, we managed to start working together as a team, scoring a return point before ever making it to Cheonan.  We bonded as a team on the van ride home, which may not sound like much, but has been such a blessing.  Korea 1, visitors 1.

A lot of blows were parried, through battles with doorless showers, overly friendly Korean children, language barriers, and more.  I'd say the number of goals we've managed to block has been pretty successful.  However, Korea scored two goals on Sunday, as we committed a huge cultural foux pas, turning down a tour of certain parts of the city.  (It could have happened to anyone, as we didn't think we were committed to it, but because the other Americans at our church had committed themselves, it, in turn, automatically committed us.)  They took the penalty and scored easily.  The affects of that goal have yet to be seen.  Another easy score was my blood sugar crash on Sunday... I skipped breakfast, since I was singing in church, and lunch ended up being mostly noodles.  They got the goal, but I scored again on the penalty kick, figuring out ways to battle the encroaching loneliness that comes with being unmarried in this particular group of teachers.  I have turned my minority to my advantage, using this time to ask my questions about marriage and really listen to what the couples have to say as answers and free advice.  BAM.  Take that.

Soooo... as it stands now, Korea has 3 points, and the visitor has 2.

My first meeting with my head teacher, Ms. 구 ("Koo")

There are a couple of things that are going to be ongoing battles point-wise, like how my relationship with my head teacher turns out (right now, it's looking promising, especially since she is very willing to call me Anne!  Of course... I had to employ my Hangul skills and tell her that my name is 앤, not 애나, but we got there.), and whether or not I can make Terry smile (it's a 50-50 shot right now).  But, here's the main thing that I've learned as the moral of this story: It's not what does or does not happen, it's how I choose to look at the situation that will make or break me here.  By viewing everything here as an opportunity to block a shot and then return fire, I somehow feel like I have more control of my emotions. I don't have to just let it be a bad day, I can revel in the fact that I'm just preventing things from bringing me down. It's an interesting thought, yes?

Oh, and as a final thought, Jenny (who is a Korean) scored a point for the visiting team by telling the restaurant we were at today that it was Lisa's birthday.  Jenny explained that it was a white lie, and therefore okay, and, well, I've been trained not to argue with Koreans.  Whatever the moral decision on the action, the result was quite fun, and almost had smiles all around (still working on Terry)... which means that Jenny managed to tie the score up: Korea 3, visitors 3.  The jury's still out as to which team she's actually striking for.

Celebrating Lisa's "birthday"

Okay.  I love you all bunches and bunches.  I hope you got what I was trying to say... but just in case you didn't here's my whole post but in man-speak (I've been playing translator here a bit):

Some situations may get you down, but change your perspective to look at the positives of it, and it will not be as bad a situation.

:)  Still waiting to know what more you want to hear.  Talk to you later.



Alex, I haven't forgotten you... I'm just waiting to write about playing my violin until after it's already happened. xoxo