You have so much and others don't!

I am actually upset to the point of tears-although I just managed to hold it all together. My one grade 5 class just made me terribly upset. They are a bad class granted, but today I just couldn't handle it! I gave them the : "You have so much speech!". I feel like it was needed. These kids have it good and they don't realise it. They havewonderful teachers who are well qualified, that care about their lessons and are gems to their students. This school is spotless and equipped with all the necessities and more(chairs, tables, clean toilets, functioning cafeteria) and the best equipment, ranging from flat-screen tvs to laser projectors! The resources are endless: beautiful coloured books, cut-out cards, cool videos, dice, games, practical learning aids!!! It is a perfect system on paper-they got it all! And they don't know it!

And so... I felt it was my duty to tell them what I thought: for all the kids in Africa that would dream of classrooms, teachers and resources like this! PHEW! I had some nodding heads and genuinely concerned looks, but many it just passed them by like a TV commercial.

Gratefulness-what a quality it is to have!

LOST and FOUND

Last weekend, I had the most girls weekend ever with Kirst in Daejeon! We went shopping at Zara and Mango (my fav stores) and spent way too much money-but I am now equipped with a new wardrobe of items mostly in black! Nevertheless the classic black look will never die and so I am rather thrilled! My new jeans are great -I can actually move in them after splitting the other ones rather embarassingly down the bum when I sat down in a restaurant! We also went for Sushi and smoothies and then went to watch the movie "Eat, Pray, Love" which I was intrigued to do with all the controversy surrounding it!



SO my opinion is that it was a poor performance of Julia Roberts and perhaps the wrong actress for the job, some of the places also felt too stereotypical and lost the crude charm those three countries possess and also sometimes the sequence of events in the movie felt too contrived and unrealistic... Although saying that, I was also moved by the movie in small things-such as the interaction she had with the elderly man at the ashram showing how we need be accountable for our actions, hold onto them and them forgive ourselves or let them go. Also, I was moved by the part where the girls eat pizza in Naples and she convinces her friend that she should eat it-just because when men get into a room with you and you start removing your clothing-they dont care how you look and buying new jeans was the just the solution for weight gain-it was such a simple, yet good way of putting it (and perhaps reassuring of my extra 5 kgs I have gained this year)!



But why I enjoyed the movie overall was how she was on this quest to discover things about herself(not find herself)-some might argue most may not have the means to make such a lavish adventure to merely look introspectively and in everyday life-such an experience seems farfetched. I agree to a certain extent that world travel is expensive, but i disagree with this argument as I believe you can find out more about yourself wherever you go and life should be this great experience of self-knowledge. What I also liked about her-was this quest for finding one word that described herself adn she eventually settles on " traversiamo" -to cross over! SO, I began to think about my year and all it has meant to me... And lots has happened I havent had time or energy to capture on my blog as is clearly evident with my minimal poasts in the last 2 months, but know that the clocks have been turning upstairs and I have been thinking about stuff lots.... :)



So, how would I describe my year in a word or a phrase? I have settled on "Lost and Found".

I always love seeing these at airports or train stations-the contradiction of the word makes it somewhat comforting. Some people may find their lost others willl not and others still will help the lost find by bringing in the found. HAHA!



Anyway, I have decided to choose this as my title of my new wave of blog entries as I think it is a good way of descibing what I have lost and found this year.



Particularly in the last 2 months-I have lost many things:

• My camera lens fell and broke (from an adjuma that pushed me-ARGH! in Jeju island)
• My hard-drive I sent home to be fixed was dead and all my uni photos, work and music is fried!
• My current computer I bought only in March has had some huge melt-down and all my photos that have defined my year have been lost( I think if Bryan can't retrieve them-here's to still hoping)
• My backpack got stolen in the Phillipines with all my favourite summer clothes and dresses and presents for everyone back home.
• My cellphone was in my bag.
• My small camera was misplaced on a crazy night in Sokcho

I have been fortunate that all of these things are material things-but still rather upsetting. As my one friend says: Your luck of losing, breaking and melt-downs of things needs to stop soon!

Agreed! But what I have found this year in terms of lessons is invalubale and any silly camera will never replace that. SO I thought, as an effort to get up and going with my blog again I am going to share with you some of those lessons:

I have learnt:

• That there is no place like home, but with a little bit of effort and the right attitude you can create one anywhere in the world.
• Love is wondeful and cruel at te same time and loving somebody means taking the risk that you can lose it all.
• Family is important. Family lifts you up when you are down and smiles with you during the good.
• Passion for anything and everything is a rare quality to have. To be able to have passion about life everyday however seemingly insignificant is a WONDERFUL gift I have learnt.
• Fake it until you make it.
• Sometimes your preferences change: I no longer like Kimchi
• A belly-aching laugh with an old friend is a rare moment in life that should always be cherished
• If you have 5 good friends you are lucky. As the Korean proverb goes: "If you have many friends, you have no friends."
• A note in the post is worth way more than any facebook wallpost.
• Badminton rocks!
• My attitude affects my classes
• Meeting people you connect with instantly is completely refreshing. Meeting Asli and Selma from Turkey was rejuvenating. My birthday was just so much more special!
• If you have friends that will wake you up at 6am spraying cream on your face you are spoilt.
• A good book is never hard to find.
• Bus rides make you appreciate independence!
• You can be lonely on your own or with a million other people around you.
• Humanity is miraculous: Chilean Mine worker rescue-Proof Number 1
• New music, new books and new friends = adventure!
• All experiences define you-good and bad.
• You are who you are and no use fighting it!
• Laughter cures most problems
• Belief in someone can change their world
• You need to know what you want in life-no one will make those decisions for you.
• Make a choice and stick to it, even if it turns out badly in the end. Make a decision with conviction and give it all you got. Thanks dad-that one has stuck with me this year!
• Whatever you do in life, make sure it tests you just a little bit each day! If not, change jobs!
• Complaining never helped anything!
• Cheesecake rocks! Good cheesecake rocks!
• Tea solves all problems! SAY NO TO WAR, SAY YES TO TEA!
• Dance like no one is watching, and if you think they are then close your eyes.
• Diversity is a good thing.
• Experience over Purchase anyday!
• All money should be valued according to the price of a plane ticket
• Try all food -even if just once.
• Small tickets of independence like a rickety scooter can make the world of difference
• Pretending to have a twin birthday with your co-teacher and getting a free glass of wine is fabulous!
• Getting a phone-call from a friend back home in the middle of the night is great!
• Karma will get you. When I miss my bus, I know I haven't been a good teacher.
• The small joys of beautiful sunsets, tweeting birds, cute Korean baby and the underdog team winning a game in class makes life worth it!

SO here is to finding more life lessons and losing less! More blogs posts will be happening, so stay tuned to a computer near you!