How to make people like you

A while a go my dad gave me an audio book called How to make people like you in 90 seconds or less. Lately, i have been listening to this audio book when on my way to seoul, when moving around the city, etc. I found that it is a much better use of my time to listen to this audio book than to just listen to music that is not contributing to my personal growth whatsoever. Anyways... so i have listened to the book about 5-6 times i think, and everytime i pick out something new. It's kinda really helpful listening to it over and over again.

Now, i am i think, starting to become a lot more alert as to how people build rapport, to their body language, and to the expressions that they use in their speech/ determining whether they are a kinesthetic, visual or audio type of person. This is kinda cool. I wanna keep listening to the book and practicing the skills mentioned it it so that i may better communicate and build rapport with others. Gracias por haberme dado este libro. Creo me sera de gran ayuda.

Melanconia

So i was kinda happy today because it is finally friday. These past two weeks went really slow. I think mainly because I really didnt have very many classes- so the days went slowly. But it is finally friday, which means tomorrow is Saturday and then Sunday!

I have been looking forward to sunday because ivano is coming and I will no longer be alone. For some reason today I was just feeling SO down. I just.... i dunno, .... i got this really nice letter from one of my friends back home saying how much she misses me and things she is doing back home at school it just got me thinking about how much I miss my friends and my family....and my place....Though I have met some really great people here in Korea I have no real close friends (no friends like i do back home) and i miss being able to just meet up with Ruthie or Eric or Hope and to talk about life, about problems, about stressful situations we are going through, all over a nice cup of warm coffee or a delectable glass of white whine a cafe apropos. Some days I think to myself "wow, only 5 more months and then i will be home... that went by fast" toher ays I jsut think to myself "shit.... STILL 5 more MONTHS>!>>!" How will i ever survive.

why does life have to be so confusing at times? why cant life be easier? Thinking back to my days of Networking marketing at Yor, Jim Rohn said "don't wish it was easier, wish you were better" "dont wish for less problems, wish more skill to help you find solutions" I always try to keep these words in mind.... but man.... sometimes it is hard. anyways.... this was just a piece of random thoughts that were just going through my head. One of the things i like about typing in the computer is that i can do it much faster than handwriting and so when i get writing my ideas/thoughts can just flow at of me a lot easier. Somtimes i feel that i am making complete sense and then when i go back and read what i wrote, i make no sense. But that's ok. I guess our thoughts dont always have to make sense. you know what i mean/?? like... does it every happen to you that you just start having all sorts of random thoughts? and its just a turmoil of lots of things at nothing?

on another note- today was a bit of a stressful day just cuz i spent most of the time i was not teaching applying to jobs back home. I dont wanna go back to the real world. I like being in my little protective bubble. But i guess sooner or later one has to face the realities of life. Because whether we are prepared or not, life happens.

un video salsero

Un video mas Salsero

Disculpen que los videos estan un poco oscuros. Ah, y no habia mucha gente en estos porque ese dia llegue muy temprano y todavia no empezaba a llegar mas gente!

Los estudiantes jugando Jenga

Picture time!

Since I havent put pics up, here are some more!

My students doing a lesson on Who, What, When, Where, Why while playing Jenga


My English classroom (the smart board is across from the map-cant see it here)


The traditonal part of the korean wedding that I went to. The couple holds that thing in the middle and the parents throw these nut like things on it to symbolize that they will have many children (this is only one small part of the whole ceremony)


My friends that keep me company when my babbo is not here

New and old computer

New computer- this one is actually lighter than the other one and a little bit smaller

thats about it for pics- havent taken many lately

Ivano is visiting!

So Ivano told me that he's coming to visit. We were chatting Sunday night and he said "have you checked you email?" and I said yes, but I didnt get anything from you. So then he resent the email I guess, and when i opened it i saw that it was his confirmation flight to Korea and that he arrives on Sunday! So excited that I get to see him again. :-)

Amo, non vedo l'ora di verderti! Sono contentissima che vieni. Ti voglio tanto tanto tanto tanto bene amore mio bellisimo del alma. <3

Old friend visiting

On another note, i am super excited becuase i got a facebook message from my friend Maggie today. Maggie was in the Transatlantic Program with me (when we went to work in germany) Anyways... maggie has now been in China for the past months,(its been quite a while i think) because i guess she was also learning chinese so she's been out there stuyding. At any rate... so we met in Germany, but she is now in china and then she sent me a facebook message that she is coming to Korea to visit a friend and wants to get together for dinner. So of course, im super happy that i will get to see her and hang out a bit.

i think it is super cool when you meet someone in one country and meet up with them later in another. Like when we met boki in Italy but then i went to see her in Germany, or meeting Vicky in the USA and going to Germany to see her, or Ula in Germany and then having her visit me in the US... anyways.... i just think its cool thats all.

till next time

The sad truth

So, kinda linking this post a little to my last one. On the last blog I mention how Bri has no problem being/living alone or whatever. Well, i think i fall in the other category. In the category of people that have a need for company. Why???

well, let me tell you about my day. I usually go leave for school between 6:30 and 7:00am, and i stay in school until 7:45 after which i go to the gym from 8pm-10pm and then i go home, go online for a bit to talk to Ivano, and go to bed. This is more or less my usual routine. Well, lately i cannot talk to ivano because my computer cable is not working and so i cannot charge my battery (i had it check out yesterday and i was told i need to contact Dell Korea) anyways.... so that's a bit sad, but that is not the point of my story... becuase i have not been able to talk to ivano (who is really my company- even if virtually), this got me thinking....

so the other day i was thinking about how sometimes teachers ask me "you aren't leaving yet?. what time are you leaving? why did you stay so late"? now i must make note, that many teachers leave at 4:30 (when the day is offically over) and most leave by 5:oo or 5:30. But after 5:30 there is usually little people left. Only a couple crazy ones that stay to do more work. So i am always the last one in the building since i stay until 7:45. And so while i was thinking about that i thought... you know... i mean, i do have lots of work to get done and i do need the time at school to finish my work, but i also think that a huge part of why i like staying in school that late and then go to the gym and all is becuase i really dont wanna go home. I dont wanna go home just to find out that I am alone. and THAT my friends, is the sad truth!. The sad truth that i dont like being home by myself, especially when i have nothing to do (since my computer is dead) i mean... if you are home and at least you have the TV, or internet, or you can watch a movie or something that's cool. I mean... i guess i could technically read a book or something but when i get home from a long day of work really the last thing i wanna do is read. So there you have it.
i just need my babbo to come visit so i will not be alone anymore.

Bri

So i wrote a blog i think a couple blogs back about Bri and how much I admired her and all. And so the other day my mother asked me a)who she was and b)what it was about her that I admired so much.... because most likely these are insecurities that I have in myself (since i was trying to become like her in a way). Whether this is true or not, i dont know. Maybe, maybe not. It could be insecurities or also... sometimes people say we are attracted to people that are much like themselves and that the very qualities that we like in other people are those qualities that we ourselves posses. so you be the judge. As per my mother's request, here is what i admire about Bri

• she finished her phD at age 29 and became a professor
• how her past life has informed her immediate reality (like the time she realized she never again wanted to be in conflict with her parental figure-not gonna go into detail with the story)
• her long list of great accomplishments (if you read her CV, you'd see what im talking about)
• knows what she wants, knows what she doesnt want (and this is non-negociable)
• is fine living alone- with and by herself
• (many people have the need to be in the company of someone else, whether a person, a pet, whatever may be. But has no problem coming home to be with herself)
• speaks 10 languages (i have much catching up to do!)
• is completely independent (doesnt depend on anyone to get stuff done- if people can help her get stuff done thats cool, but she takes charge)
• go-getter
• determined, nothing will stop her once she makes up her mind to do/get something
• isnt afraid to make a fool of herself
• doesnt care about people's opinion about her,- she's Bri,-you take it or leave it (its not that she is arrogant or anything it is just that she is not gonna compromise who she is or change the way she is just based on what she thinks people think of her) it's kinda like saying "what you see is what you get"
• her great heart
• cares for her students and likes to get to know them
• (like when she came to our german401 party and hung out despite her busy schedule-usually, you invite professors to come celebrate the end of classes with you, but rarely do they come, as they are ueber busy or just have no interest in hanging out with their students outside of the classroom setting)
• her endless energy
• (she just goes goes goes goes.... seems to be on a constant caffeine high. From the way she teaches to the speed at which she walks, to the way she does work without being able to sit still- well-usually she's beating whatever choice of music she's listening to)
• cares about her health and is disciplined in her exercise and diet (she bikes or walks practically everywhere and maintains a constant healthy diet)
• her simply amazing mind/way of thinking and processing information
• good sense of style (and the fact that she refuses to purchase clothing from stores that she knows use child labor)
• The peculiar yet cool way in which she sees the world

i think that about wraps it up!

Frustation

Yesterday I was SO Frustrated! Bueno, esta la voy a contar en espanol. Entonces pon tu que todo empezo como un dia tal y cual.... yo estaba super contenta porque solo tenia una clase (ya que mis otras clases se cancelaron porque los chicos tenian que repasar para los examenes) y pues todo iba bien.... hasta que:

Jacky me dijo..."no me tenias que dar tu lesson plan de la leccion siguiente"
anais: "como de que no. porque?"
jacky: "que no sabes que despues de los examenes ya no voy a ser tu co-teacher"
anais: "no, porque?"
jacky: "porque tendras un nuevo horario de clases"
anais: "ah, a mi nadie me dijo.... yo no sabia nada"
jacky: "de seguro Nam teacher de lo dijo y no lo recuerdas"
anais:"nope. estoy segura que no me menciono nada"

en fin.... yo por supuesto super frustrada por las siguientes cosas
1. a mi me facina ensenar con jacky y de repente me dicen que ahora ya no voy a estar con ella sino con otro maestro
2. la estupida esta se suponde me debio haber informado de todo pero no me dijo nada
3. ahora tengo que reorganizar todos mis lesson plans para ver a que clases tengo que ensenar que cosa, y para cuales necesito nuevos lesson plans
4. de haber sabido que ayer seria mi ultima clase con los chicos hubiera hecho algo divertido, pero como no tenia la mas minima idea.... pues yo hice una clase normal.

osea, como que, Nam teacher.... gracias por arruninarme el dia. Ah, y como si no fuera suficiente (por supuesto hice esto "nicely") cojo y le digo a Nam teacher
anais "oye, me estaba comentando jacky que tendre nuevas clases despues de los examenes?"
nam "de veras!???!"
anais "y me estaba diciendo que creo tu me debes dar mi nuevo horario"
nam "ah si?"

osea.... imaginen mi frustracion!!!!! yo como que : DIOS MIO ! ESTE ES TU P-CHE TRABAJO!!!!!! COMO ES POSSIBLE QUE NO TENGAS IDEA DE LO QUE ESTA SUCEDIENDO. OSEA, HELLO???!?!? hay.... tu juro que tomo todo mi "self-power" para no enloquecer y manter mi calma. Pero ganas no me faltaban de gritar en desesperacion.

Silence

i was just walking though the school hallways to drop off some papers in my english classroom and it was so nice! why???? because today is the first day of midterms and so kids are taking exams so as a result, everything is in dead silence. It is seriously really nice to have peace and quiet for once and not hear yelling teachers, students screaming all over the place etc etc etc.

Ulita

Letzte Woche habe ich an meine Chiquita ganz fest gedacht. Ich habe mich an die gute Zeiten gedacht, die wir in Deutschland und den USA verbracht haben. Ich kann kaum glauben, dass sie jetzt ein Baby hat und, dass das Baby schon so gross geworden ist. Unglaublich wie schnell die Zeit vergeht. Ich moechte sie so gerne noch mal sehen.... als auch Miguelin.... aber leider ist das momentan nicht moeglich. Wenn nun die Welt etwas kleiner waere! Dann Verwandten und Freunden besuchen waere nicht so schwer. na ja..... so ist das leben.

il mio babbo

babbo babbucho babbino.... mi manchi tanto tanto tanto. Non vedo l'ora de vederti. Spero ci vedremmo fra poco. Saro' la ragazza piu felice di questo mondo quando ti veda.

Bri coming back into my immediate reality

This past Sunday I really did not have plans or anything since my privates got cancelled because of midterms and all, so i called up Val to see if he wanted to hang out. So we went to Outback for lunch (i was majorly craving it) and then went for some coffee and walked around to digest the ginormous amounts of food that we ate. At any rate.... so we were at the coffee shop and he wanted to get a little stirring stick for his coffee, so i pointed out where the stirring thingies were and so we went and got some. But he really didnt get the stirring thingies, but instead, got straws.

now why is this important. back in my college days oh so long ago, i got into the habit of always drinking my coffee with a straw. My daily routine was to stop by the starbucks and get a venti extra hot non-fat caramel macchiato. (sometimes i would get 2; one for me and one for Bri) I'd stick a straw in it and i was on my way to class. I think i started this habit just around the time that i met Bri. I always admired her so much,.... i really wanted to be like her. Now i recognize that in my admiration towards her, I started to become like her and copying her i guess in many ways.... from what she drank (venti extra hot non-fat caramel macchiato), to how she dressed (ben sherman/nothing involving child labor/-she doesnt do old navy), where she bought her clothes from, how she walked (with purpose and fast speed), to her unique facial expressions (there's this weird thing she does with her chin when she is thinking). I think i had such admiration for her that i was willing to do anything to become more and more like her. - thus MY trying to synchronize with her in every possible way.

Siempre hay que vestir bien!!!!

Si papa. lo se. Usually when i get finished with my workout and leave the gym i sometimes put on the clothes that i had before on top of my workout clothes , but if i am too sweaty i just keep my workout clothes on, as i only have a 20 minute walk home and then i can shower. Yesterday i was not really sweaty but for some reason i just didnt think to put on my regular pants on top of my workout pants. Now i must mention that my workout pants that i used yesterday come only the the bottom part of my knee, so that when i left the gym on my workout clothes and my regular street shoes i looked really funny. And then.....

yes, you got it... i took the elevator on the 5th floor which is where the gym is and when the door opened on the 4th floor you know who i saw....4 of my students. Yes, i ran into 4 of my students.... oh and at the last moment 2 more came into the elevator. I told them "dont mind me.... i know i must look so sexy right now!" they just laughed. As if that wasnt enough, i satarted on my walk home and then 5 minutes later when crossing the street i ran into one of my ex-students who is now in highschool!. I was like... omg! could i be running into any more people today. Then of course i thought of my father's words. "Siempre hay que vestir bien... nunca sabes a quien te vas a encontrar." and i guess i should have learned from his experience fromt that one time he was about to go to the gym and went to Panera Bread or something in his gym clothes and then ran into the CEO. hihihi.... but i guess is didnt. had to learn the hard way!!! :-) as always... such is life.

Smartboard

Not sure if i ever mentioned to you that my english classroom has a smartboard (you can google it if you are not sure what it is) anyways... it is super cool and has some awesome functions. All of last semester i pretty much used it as a regular projector and the only thing was that i used the electronic pens to write directly on the powerpoints to point stuff out and things like that. But I never used any of the functions, as i had no idea how to.

well, yesterday the technicians came over because the pens had not been working since the beginning of the semester (turns out the program for them was not on my computer anymore- not sure how that one happened) so they came over to fix that and then they also showed me how some of the appications work. It is SO cool! you can do all sorts of awesome stuff with it. I just gotta practice and play it it now and see in which cool ways i can incoorporate it into my class. I think it would be cool if i can find creative ways to use it in class because it would help keep the student't attention (since they too think it is the coolest thing ever!)

New Hair

So ever since i got to korea i had been debating whether to go to a hair salon to get my haircut or not. I was debating cuz i wasnt sure if i wanted to continue to grow my hair out or to keep it short- as i really do like my short hair. At any rate... so for the longest time, every time i walked home i would walk by at least 3-4 hairshops and would stop for a brief moment to think "what if i just go in there and cut it?" but every time i was too scared to go in there by myself. stupid yes i know.... but something inside me just stopped me. I guess i just let too many things go through my head like....
what if they do it wrong
what if they misunderstand me
what if its just too weird cuz they do not speak english....

Anyways.... so actually the thought of cutting my hair had actually already passed by. But not the thought of getting my hair permed. Last time I had permed it i think it was when i went to mexico. And i really did like having curly hair. It was a bit more funkier of a look. Suited me well i thought. So finally last night I decided,.... im gonna go in there!

SO i did. I went into the hairshop that is practically around the corner from my house. Then, i asked the lady if they did perms and she said yes. And then i wanted to explain that i did not want a wavy perm but a tight perm, like small curles. As she spoke NO english and had no idea what i was trying to tell her she proceeded to show me a magazine so that i could point to what i wanted. But I couldnt find any pictures.... i think this is because really very few if not, no korean women get their hair permed the way I wanted my permed. I think for the most part they just do the whole wavy kind of deal.

So after looking through the picutres a second time i finally found one picture (the only one) that showed the tighter curls and the woman was like "THIS IS WHAT YOU WANT!" kinda like saying.... are you sure? and i said "yes" so then she got started on me.

It was a bit weird. You know where there is just an awkward silence.... it was kinda like that. I really wanted to converse and ask her questions and talk to her. But she spoke no enligh and my korean was really not sufficient. Usually if someone speas a little english and i a little korean it works out pretty well. But no english and my little korean.... not a good combination. So in the end i think we both gave up on the idea of having a conversation, which is actually kind of a pity, as she seemed like a really nice lady.

Thoroughout the time that i was at the shop gettin my perm thought (which was quite a while) a couple people came in to get their haircuts- which obviously did not take that long. And i realized that people in korea i guess (or at least not in that shop) do not talk while they get their hair done. You know.... in the US you come in, and while you get your hair cut, permed, etc the hairdresser usually starts conversation and you talk about the kids, school, work, troubles, the weather... whatever... but you talk! Here, at least the people that came into the shop, did not realy converse. They came in, they sat down, got their haircut, and left. I mean... they said hello and all ,but i think that was about it. SO yeah, this kinda surprised me a bit.

it was all a bit of an interesting experience i guess you could say. and i now have super cool hair! love my new curls. They look cute. :-) Ivano.... spero ti piacciano i miei capelli.

now i gotta get going. I gotta finish my lesson plan for my advanced class. i started on it last night but was super tired and slept instead. So i didnt finish.

oh, one more thing

i was am super happy cuz next week i practially have no classes cuz the kids have midterm exams and one of the teachers wants to teach during my classtime to help the students prepare for the exams. So i think pretty much altogether i have only 2 classes to teach the whole week! WHICH MEANS.... yes, that i can spend the rest of the time on doing lesson plans and getting ahead of the game. Which will be fantastic so that i will not be stressing out in the following weeks. At least this is what i am hoping for.

bye

Thinking back

The other day while walking back from school I was looking around me and just feeling the air around me and kept thinking how sometimes it feels like home and sometimes it feels like i am a complete stranger in this land.

Then the other day at school, just for no reason at all, i just started to think about my the first day that i went to the school to meet all the teachers and see where i was gonna be working and all. It seemed so strange to think about that. To think that this was all once new territory for me. Anyways.... though I do love Korea, I think i am starting to miss some of my home.

on another note: i have been SO busy these past weeks. I cannot even begin to tell you how busy i have been. I have always thought it is better to be busy than bored but right now I swear i would much rather be bored. For the first time in 3 weeks i actually got decent sleep and got the chance to breathe and relax a little. The good thing is, in like 2 weeks i will get a short break from classes for like 3 days cuz the kids have their midterm exams, so i can use those three days to get caught up with my lesson plan making so that i wont go crazy!

now, just gonna get back to work.

bye

Guess what song they were playing on the bus today

I was on my way to meet up with my korean teacher for dinner ( i later found out she misunderstood me and thought we were having a english/korean lesson--- so i was very hungry) when all of a sudden I start hearing....

"como una promesa, eres tu, eres tu.... como una manana de verano...." si! lo se. increible. Y pues yo super emocionada. En fin.... esa fue la mejor parte de mi dia.

besos

Korean student calendar

This past week I had the students do a lesson on how often they do certain activities. As part of the lesson, i passed them out a blank calendar and they were supposed to write down what they do in any regular month. More or less what their monthly activities are. To my surprise, about 95% of the students had "academy" on every day of the month. Academies are specialized after school private schools.- pretty much everyone goes to academies if they wanna get ahead and go to the better schools. Anyways.... i was like ... wow! . And then one of my korean students called me over and said "look, teacher. this is korean student life" and then he went on to talk about the president and how he stresses education and how important it is and that that is why all students' lives are focused solely on academy and study study study. my goodness!!!