just a note...

...or what i entitled in my journal as "october the fifth, two thousand nine: a short treatise on the day in which I worked fifteen hours, started and ended my career as a professional "recording artist", and became someone's adopted daughter"...

[yes, i know this is from last monday, but as you'll find out in my next, i haven't had much time for blogging. so this is a little catch up...]

Teacher's Day number two, on a sunny and calm October day after a major holiday weekend.

It began like any other day, clocking in exactly six minutes before I was required to arrive at the school building (okay, this isn't true at all. most days, more like half an hour before). As per unusual, I got right to work planning my lessons for the following week. I spent the hours from 9-5 making said plans, creating fun and interesting ! activities for my geography class, trading in World Studies (hallelujah! no more ESL-B class - don't get me wrong, i love the kids, but i can't teach them well) for a Pre-Calculus class (gulp, is it worth it? i haven't taken any math since high school...), and yawning through American Government, peaking my interest in a side road through dictatorships.

Sigur Rós, John van Deusen, and assorted electronic and instrumental muezicks were the predominant aural pleasures of the afternoon and the isolation of my noise-reducing headphones was enough to keep out distractions, yet let in useful information, although I seemed to have missed the part where our lovely VP volunteered me for a recording task...

Later that afternoon, besides getting a bank card at "Human & Nature" (hippie?!?) Bank, I worked upstairs in my homeroom, braving the chemical smell from the concurrent floor waxing in nearby rooms, in order to mount my delicately created wall posters for my lovely class (okay, my FAVORITE class!).

I worked through dinner, sustaining on two lovely rolls of 1,000 won kimbap (that's right, a two-dolla dinnah), that Dustin generously delivered to me, along with the giant Asian pear sitting on my desk.

<------- cheap dinner. but delicious.

I told Sunny Ko (our VP) I had a lot to do (true story - I still hadn't read the Pre-Calc book at midnight), and I almost got off the hook for recording, until 8 pm rolled around. Dustin had already been "volunteered" as well, being the two youngest staff members, and Pastor Kim wanted my voice (which Mrs. Ko called "attractive" - now that's one I have never heard before...)

and that is how i became a recording artist.

dustin and i each read and recorded the 900 sentences of the "KICS Basic English Sentences".
the idea behind this book is for these native Koreans to better learn conversational English, so they have this book with sentences they have to memorize. 900 Basic English Sentences.

Such As:
"I already have a phonograph, but I do not have a radio yet."
"I was born on November first, nineteen thirty five."

So, obviously, important things to know how to say in English.

two hours.

no breaks.

around 300 sentences, the recording started becoming more and more ridiculous. the intonation in our voices became more dramatic and we also spent most of our time trying to make the one reading laugh by acting out the sentence. we definitely broke into laughter more than once and NOT ONCE did Pastor Lee or Sunny stop the recording or make us redo it. this tape is supposed to help kids learn the pronunciations.

I was able to maintain composure for most of it. My downfall: "Let me give you some fatherly advice."

later in the office, probably around 11 pm, Mr. Park (the Mr. Park in the hula hoop picture), Sunny Ko's husband, was talking to me and mentioned that he always wanted a daughter. Somewhere in that conversation (by the way, he speaks English, but not very well), he said I could be his adopted daughter. Then he played "Yesterday", yes, by the Beatles, on his pan flute.

8:54-midnight. longest workday yet. well, until thursday night. which went from 7:30 am -11:30 pm.

never a dull moment.