Odd

This week has been weird.  Everyone has been anxiously awaiting our 9 day vacation.  Chuseok is next week and I for one am really excited to get out and explore a little bit.  All of the Reggio staff is counting down the minutes till 5:30 on Friday, when everyone will be free to go off on their mini adventures.  It seems everyone is having some difficulty focusing, or caring rather, and the students are absolutely taking advantage.  My student, Ryan, aka the poster child for ADHD has been especially hyperactive and defiant these past few days - flailing all over the place.  Two students have peed their pants this week and the overall air of Cat Class is one of indifference...myself included.  This break will give everyone the time they need to recuperate a bit. I for one will get as far away from children as i can, therefore making it possible for me to deal with the new crop of issues my students will surely develop with in the next month or so. This week's situation has been surprising, to say the least.

Over the last 5 days my students decided that we've known each other long enough and it's alright for them to grab my boobs, grab my butt and to look up my skirt.  I was not expecting this from kindergarteners - middle schoolers definitely, elementary school kids maybe, but kindergarteners?! Really?! I keep hearing that this is pretty normal behavior, but it's so off putting when you're trying to read a story and a 3 year old walks over and manhandles your boobies.  Normal or not, the timeout chair has been a popular hang out for all members of Cat Class this week-boys and girls.  I nearly tripped over one the girls in my class when I went to take a step back and there she was, on hands and knees staring up my dress.  Safe to say i've decided to hang the skirts up for a while and keep to a pants only dress code until this phase passes.

Strangely, the start of the NFL season has given me my first real case of homesickness.  Which is weird for a lot of reasons, but mostly because i'm not a huge football fan.  I think it's the Sunday afternoon activities that I miss.  This Tuesday a group of us went to a Canadian bar called Rocky Mountain Tavern in the foreigner district to watch the Monday night football games.  One of my co-workers is a football enthusiast and an avid Bear's fan.  All day Tuesday she steered clear of sports websites and social media to avoid learning the outcomes of the games prematurely. This wasn't the first time i've felt severely removed from everything back home, but it's the first time that i've actually cared.  Maybe it's the fact that the only thing I have on my TV are Korean period pieces depicting bloody battles between Korean warriors and foreign invaders and CSI...Miami...not even normal CSI.   I highly doubt that hearing Mike Ditka's commentary about the Steeler's defense or the Cardinal's offensive line will continue to be the catalyst for my homesickness, but it was this week.

Overall I can't wait for this vacation.  I think getting out of Seoul will be a good change of pace and although i'm nowhere close to sick of it yet, I am excited for some new scenery.  Here's to hoping that my students move out of their current phase quickly, if I had to choose i'd honestly say i'd rather have them stealing and using toy stegosauruses as weapons, but it's become very clear that I don't call the shots in Cat Class, so until this is over...jeans it is.