| July 3rd, 2001 happiness quotient: 9.4 I've been amazed since I arrived how, on the small crowded streets, children are left to wander about as the busy careless traffic buzzes by. I'm always shuddering and looking away as watch on and think one of them is going to bite it. Today, it happenend. I was walking home from school and saw ahead two girls on a bicycle and to my left, coming down a small side street, a delivery man on a motorbike. I gasped and shuddered and BAM! they ran into each other. It was far from serious. I helped the girls up and as I walked away couldn't believe how the man scolded them. If the rules of the road apply (which they don't), he's the one that blew through the stop without looking. What a jerk. The girls didn't look phased and sat silent listening to the man and then peddaled on their way. I was still nerve-wracked. Over the weekend I went to Seoul and had a fantastic time. I met Alison on Saturday and we went to the Korean War Memorial to meet a friend of my cousin Charlie who is stationed with the military. I'm ashamed to say that I've been horrible about going out and seeing the tourist attractions and that it took a meeting to get me to my first landmark in the city. The memorial is huge and has a bunch of really big planes. You can climb up ladders to look inside and it was very neat. The guy didn't show but we didn't care and were glad we went. We went back to another part of the city and I promptly realized that I lost my wallet. There was only 40 bucks and my video rental card in it but it's a favorite possession and I was disapointed. I knew I would never see it again so I didn't let it get me down and Alison and I went out and spent the night meeting people and dancing. Before we knew it, it was 3 a.m. and we decided that the only logical thing to do was to stay until the subway opened again in the morning. It was great fun. We had a look at "hooker hill", the infamous spot to find a prostitute, though it should be noted that prostitutes are available almost anywhere. It was a fun night. I arrived in Suwon on Sunday evening exhausted but very happy with my weekend. Then, I saw my roommate and she informed me that my wallet was found! I couldn't believe it. Because I'm an idiot, I left it at the counter in the subway station by the War Memorial and some very kind-hearted, honest ticket person called my video store. I needed a Korean as a reference to get the card so the video store gave the sweet ticket guy her number. He called her and, after telling her how stupid I am, told her where it could be picked up. Luckily, I have another friend who lives near the station and he went and picked it up for me (another nice gesture). My faith in random acts of kindness is very high this week! Now I'm back in Suwon and plugging through another week in school. Today, there was a huge, gang-like fight in my kindergarten class. It was a mess! I don't think my little kids are learning very much at all but I don't put a lot of blame on myself. I told myself at the beginning I wasn't going to care about that, as long as I didn't cause any long-term mental anguish. That takes work too. Today I was extremely irritated because this little girl refused to give me back the playdough at the end of class and started crying once I tricked it out of her hands. That being said, I like them and usually do a better job of avoiding such things. I hope everyone is enjoying the 4th. I almost forgot about it but now that I remember I'm a bit jealous of all the fun and food that will be had. Light a sparkler for me. |
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