Sometimes I think teaching has literally made me insane. Or perhaps I was simply insane to decide to teach in the first place. Sometimes my students are great. Everyone comes on time with their books in order and their pencils sharpened, having gone to the bathroom and drunk a satisfactory amount of water. Whatever candy or […]
My friend asked me this morning if I was cool with calling two Uber motorbikes to take us to our tourist destination. “Sure, yeah!” I said. “I rode on the back of a motorbike in Thailand, and it was so fun!” This is true. But that ride was about five minutes long down a mostly deserted […]
Today, like every day, I asked my students, “How are you?” Although yesterday was Christmas, no one said a word about that. They gave their usual answers: “Happy,” “Hungry,” “Tired and happy,” “Very, very, very, very happy,” and “Angry.” Except one boy. One rambunctious eleven-year-old who occasionally has streaks of uncontrollable laughter that turn his […]
I have been melting the past few weeks. It is SO HOT this summer! It’s like the world has turned into one giant sauna! Anyway, we all know that not only does heat make everyone grumpy and tired, but some of us are champion sweat producers. And that’s not a skill we really want to show off. So here are some tips for beating the heat in Korea. Feel free to adapt them to your locale…
My roommate has been gone for over a month now and isn’t coming back for a few more days. That is SOOO long! Despite being an introvert and prizing my alone time, I can’t wait for her to come back! In the meantime, here are some tips I’ve picked up in the past month for thriving amidst solo […]
Today is Day 4 living without running water. (Why? It froze. In some pipes under a bunch of cement.) Needless to say, it’s been interesting. I have never appreciated water so much. While flushing the toilet manually has been fun and all, the most interesting experience by far has been going to the public bathhouse down the street to shower. Here […]
My roommate and I can literally see our breath while standing in our living room. It’s become somewhat of an evening pastime, watching each other blow streams of steam from our mouths. We each have space heaters in our rooms, but why heat the living room when it will cost us an arm and a […]
This winter I seem to constantly be wrestling with some level of sickness or other, and I’ve come to the logical conclusion that winter is meant for hibernation. We’re simply not designed to have to leave our houses in winter. We’re supposed to stay snuggled in our beds, conserving energy and resting our bodies until spring. I’m […]