let it burn

I've been having a Performance Assessment Test with my listening class students, using an interview style. When asked what he could do to make his parents want to kill him, one student answered, "If I smoking and drinking beef." I'm quite certain he meant beer, but it was all I could do to keep from laughing. Then I asked them what their personalities are like. One student described himself, and then he said, "And teacher, I think your personality is sensitive and hot-blooded." My, but the young ones can be so intuitive ;o) Another student came in to complain and whine about getting a 19/20 and wanted to know who got perfect scores and why. I do not tolerate that kind of behaviour and told him so. None of this begging, pleading, and arguing. Maybe that's where they see the hot-blooded... ?? Get out of my office if you're going to try to whine yourself into a better score that you didn't earn.

Does anyone remember the song "Nothing At All," by Heart from the 80's? Yes, it just so happens that I've found a new love in Korea that completely subdues and unravels me. Ah, curious ones, I'm sure you're wondering who he is...

I would walk home every evening
Through the pyramids of light
I would feed myself on silence
Wash it down with empty nights

Then your innocent distractions
Hit me so hard
My emotional reaction
Caught me off guard

It was nothing at all
Like anything I had felt before
And it was nothing at all
Like I thought no it's so much more
No one else has ever made
Me feel this way
When I asked you how you did it
You just say
It was nothing at all

Now I walk home every evening
And my feet are quick to move
Cause I know my destination
Is a warm and waiting you
From our first communication
It was clear
Any thought of moderation
Would soon disappear

It happened all at once. The truth is that I've fallen madly in love with green tea ice cream. Just give me a tub of the stuff, preferably Haggen-daas, with a giant spoon, and leave me alone. Have you had it? Ah, again, you've not yet lived...

So yesterday I found a new dojang, and I'm really excited about that! I've been looking for quite some time for the right taekwondo place to train in my neighborhood, so I wouldn't have to travel quite so far as I had been to get to the other place I was working out. I met the master yesterday and he was really sweet and cheerful and wants to train me for my 2nd degree over the next few months, came up with an integrated training plan and everything. So I'll be there every night mon-fri starting tonight. I feel like a little kid in a candy store.. I've been having a really hard time in Korea lately, but I think this is going to be good for my emotions, perhaps to exhaust some of that pent up energy/frustration. Maybe I'll stop waking up at 6:30 and cleaning obsessively. This particular dojang is really friendly, too, mixing kids with adults, reminds me of where I first started in the States and the reason I came to Korea so many years ago. The kids are really playful, and even though their technique can be really sloppy, they are so adorable and full of energy! Seeing little kids kicking and yelling is about the only thing right now that makes me want to think about making babies ;o) There's just a good vibe there from what I can tell. One thing that I've found about Taekwondo in Korea is that most of the masters are really relaxed, like to play soccer, and don't think that they're too cool for school. I think it's just a healthy atmosphere that happens as a result of making a career out of teaching exercise. There is something to be said about a man who makes it his business to know how to use his body. He becomes more balanced in his character. Here I noticed that when the kids do well or are trying really hard, he always says, "Yes, I like, I like.." (in korean) That's another thing. Nobody speaks English at this dojang, so it will be good for stretching my language skills as well as burning my muscles and wearing me out every night before bed. I like. :o)