Hairy Potter?

Yesterday I woke up at 7:13am and arrived at school by 7:28am. Pretty gangster, if I don't say so myself. Especially if you consider the fact that I peed, brushed my teeth, took a complete shower (shampoo/conditioner/bodywash/facewash) and put on lotion and eyeliner. Not to mention everything else in coming to school (getting dressed etc).

I'm pretty speedy.

I have a special secret though. On days where I'm running late, I wear a dress.

Consider:

Putting on pants (pulling them up, hopping on one leg while rushing, zipping, buckling, on occasion belting) and a shirt (matching, pulling on, or buttoning, getting a (matching) cami to wear under if necessary) = thought!

Throwing on a dress = no thought!

Unfortunately, a dress is a cause for bare legs. It's not immodesty I'm worried about (since my dress goes past the knees for all you legalists), but rather... well, it's been a while since Miss Kim has shaved her legs. I don't do it often actually; the hairs are pretty fine and light colored so you don't notice them ... BUT if you're in your office and you're bored and you begin to stare intensely at your legs.. you notice that they are now about half a centimeter long!

I suppose this is another time to be thankful for Taiwan.

In Taiwan, NOBODY shaves their legs.

HOORAY! Retire the razor for this season of life!!!!!

And for all you people who know how anal I am about armpit hair I'd like to share with you by newfound pre-bedtime obsession: plucking!!!!! (the great alternative for people who dislike armpit hair, enjoy little bits of pain, and the satisfaction that you're pulling out the problem by the roots! no stubble at all!)

Metro gone yay

it's not even a question of metro ... it's literally.. CROSS DRESSING and it's NOT attractive.

recurring dreams

recurring dream themes

- flying (usually in my middle school; or above some huge landscape)

- mazes (usually harry potter-ish bush landscapes, or random pixelated landscapes.  i frequently die and come back ... sort of like a game)

- running away from tsunamis

- shark in a pool

i had another huge watery tsunami dream 2 nights ago.  basically a huuuuge wave was coming and i was running; i knew if i looked back it would be too late and i'd be overtaken by the waves.  i'd jump a wall only to have to scramble up higher as the water rushed over..  it was not waves really, just one big... wave... you know when a wave breaks but the water still whooshes?  yeah it was that.

finally i ended up at the huge peak.. probably as high as morro rock.  and then the water was just.. filled!  

i was with my family and 2 girls from eastbay ( don't remember who) and we walked across the wall and into the top floor of a hotel where they had their 360 overlooking the bay type of restaurant. we walked in and i felt embarrassed because i was in a nice restaurant but i was muddy and dirty (you know, from having escaped the tsunami).  Then the group and i took the elevator down so we could leave.  we tried to buy food and we got them in take out boxes.  it was awkward being drippy in a nice well lit glass elevator.

i don't remember the rest.

but yeah; those dreams of running away, i'm afraid, but i'm not super afraid.  i'm just.. running!  

i like dreams. i really wonder how dreams relate to reality.  it's fascinating stuff, really.  too bad crazy people have messed with it to the point where any talk of dreams point to coocoo talk.

Oops

So, I eat with the middle school lunch, 6th - 8th graders.  A lively bunch.  The eighth graders are constantly screaming, the seventh graders are pretty quiet except for the token three (D,G,T) who are always wandering around and getting lost, and the quieter but loud sixth graders (also right now there's been some ongoing feud amongst the girls in the sixth grade so one girl eats with the boys now and ignores the other girls.. and vice versa. LOL)

Anyway, yesterday we had a fall festival field day type of deal called the "Amazing Grace Race" and we were trying to hurry the kids in finishing and cleaning up so we could go.  However, the sixth grade boys were all bunched around this one boy chanting, "Shoot, shoot, shoot!"  I quickly walked over and upon closer inspection, I saw that another boy had the boy's head in his firm grasp; the former displayed a green bean clenched between his front teeth while the latter held his cheeks ready to "shoot."  

By now, being a much wiser middle school teacher, there was no middle ground "hmm, what are they doing?" but I sized up the situation right away, "Stop!  We are not going to shoot anything in here!"  I turned to the boy.  "Michael, swallow the bean!"  Some boys were still chanting shoot while Michael looked up at me and says (with the green bean still in his teeth), "but, .. but.."  I was firmly resolved.  "No, swallow.  Now."  Michael shrugged, chewed and swallowed.

As soon as he swallowed all the boys changed their chanting of "shoot" to a delighted, "But Miss Kim, it was dirty!  It was from floor!"  I hurled around in dismay as Michael sat grinning, "You make me eat green bean from floor! So disgusting!"  I was horrified.  Another boy, Allen walked by, and he's no saint himself and yet he shakes his head and says, "Miss Kim, you so bad, you make Michael eat from floor!"  The boys gaily gathered up the rest of their lunch belongings and headed off to homeroom while giggling and sending me disapproving statements of "You so bad, how you let him eat dirty bean?"  

Much to learn.

exercise #2: Jogging

So last night i set the alarm for 5:55am to go swimming.

But alas, the alarm was OFF, but I caught Kathy on her way out to go jogging... in my soporific state, i made the split second decision....

"Kathy?  where are you going?"

"Jogging"

"what time is it?

"6?"

"... ... give me five minutes, i'll go with you"

I brushed my teeth, put on a long tee and bball shorts and tried to tie my hair, found a headband and left with her.

we jogged.  i was really pumped from having watched Anapolis last night... but.. i quickly failed and while Kathy proceeded to run another lap, I walked home.  it was.. maybe 20+ minutes total.  Eh, better than nothing.

Being in Taiwan, you're allowed to do weird things you'd never do in America.. I took full advantage of my liberty and swung my arms wildly, tried pounding my stomach for a bit to see if that would make it go in, and did some random lunge-like things on my walk home.  No taichi for me yet.

Anyway, by the time I got home, I took a semi-cold shower (the warm water probably got used up) and was at school, wired and ready!  I was wired for the morning up until mid-Chapel.

Then, I was fighting the fatigue.

When I taught grammar, I felt like the back of my eyes were puffy.  I felt like I should be asleep.

During lunch, I just chewed, and ate.

Then as I was walking up to teach my last two classes I was thinking in my head "I can't believe this......"  

I seriously felt like I was teaching in my sleep, or falling asleep while I was teaching.

The sun was streaming into the room and kids were melting... in the middle of class I told everyone to sit up straight.

I was pleasantly surprised to hear certain people reading when they previously didn't.

By the time 8th grade reading came around, it was definitely a winged "review session" and by the end, I went up to my office, attempted to finish writing a test, and just decided to take a nap.

My nap lasted an hour.

I was out! head on my desk, semi-self-unconsciously watching out for drool..

During my nap, I dreamt that Jeffrey, a boy who NEVER talks in class, who doesn't do homework and doesn't respond, and who (I have a sneaking suspicion) doesn't really respect me, was saying "yes" and filling out his homework and just talking and reading and demonstrating that he really did understand!

I woke up, and realized it was just a dream.  

Then about an hour later, I laughed because I thought about that dream and how it was really a dream (ie: not real), and how it was ACTUALLY a dream (ie: my hope)... and it was only a dream (ie: it would never happen)... and then I thought it was funny that I would dream about that.

What doesn't kill you...

Is Mighty Delicious!

Last night I meandered around my school looking for a quick place to grab dinner.

I saw a woman in front of a lone stand and it said "shao cong bing" .. but it looked different.

The old lady making it only spoke Taiyu, so I was sort of in trouble.

Anyway, she grabbed the previous woman's money, put it away, then grabbed a lump of white

, green-onion specked dough and dipped it into the pan of old oil.

Then she began to use some random rod looking thing and rolled it out into a thin pancake.

then she lit the grill, and sifted out chunks of old fried dough and threw my pancake into the pan.

She added an egg and a buuunch of fresh green onions.

Then I requested she added spicy stuff, and she folded it, cut it and put it into a greasy bag for me.

I knew in my head, "this is either gonna be realllly good, or it's going to make me reaallly sick."

It was reallllly good!

(time will tell if i'll also get realllly sick)

All resolutions to only "eat food for which you know every ingredient"* and to "eat breakfast alone, eat lunch with friends, and give dinner to your enemy"* flew out the window.  i finished this dinner with a yummy egg tart.  Whee~!

*from http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2009/10/11/magazine/20091011-foodrules.html

Sample of Actual Emails I receive as a teacher

I don't know; maybe it's this new generation or the Taiwan culture, but whatever happened to coming to school on time or simple cutting and accepting your fate as a truant?

Nowadays the parents call in and say things like "my child needs a rest today."  How is that an excuse?  Now because your kid is "sleeping in" or "coming later," I have to take my precious time to e-mail your kid their homework and hope they complete it on time?

I'm required to accept late homework and "show grace?"

What gives?!

*shrug*

At least that's how I'd feel if those kids were in my class.  Thank goodness for later classes and relatively on-time/non-class-missing 7th and 8th graders.

(btw: actual date: 10/26/09 at 10:13am.  time difference)