I am HAH-ppy.

That's what the little Korean kiddos say when you ask, "How are you today?" It's so perfect. I wish kids AND adults in every culture responded literally when asked how they are doing. It would eliminate lots of guesswork and awkwardness. Maybe.

Anyway, I just had to update today because I can't stop thinking about my kids. My first week of teaching was amazing. I had been a bit worried about starting my very first classroom here fresh out of university (I've switched "college" to "university" in order to avoid confusion here), and I'd spent lots of time wondering how I would do as a brand new teacher even if I'd started in CPS at home. It's tricky, because they don't offer anyone very much positive feedback here in general, so I think an important part of my growth in Korea will involve being satisfied with the job I am doing on my own, and for myself and no one else. I am going to work on validating my own efforts and successes in the classroom and feeling content with that.

Friday Play Gym time... I crawled through the tubes as much as they did.

I'm elated to report that all the kids I teach seem to love being in my classroom. We all get along so well, and I have been working really hard to over-prep for the entire month so that I have lots of extra time to do more fun and exciting activities with my kids. I absolutely cannot wait to get further into the year so I can try out a million different things in my classroom.

 Lucy's first Show and Tell... she was so great!

Of course, I've been balancing work with play as well, so time has really been flying already. I cannot believe I've already been here three weeks. That thought makes my head spin. I'm spending both nights this weekend in the "foreigner parts" of Seoul... last night I went to my first Korean club in Hongdae (I was obsessed with the laser lights), and tonight I'm going back to Itaewon to explore and mingle with some other foreigners. That's week 3 for me!

I am HAH-ppy.