Hopefully the title got some sci-fi theme song stuck in your head, but as it says, we are officially aliens now;-) We got our alien registration cards on Wednesday, so now we will be able to get cell phones and we no longer have to carry our passports with us. The Alien Registration cards are our primary form of ID here, which is nice because it is the size of a driver’s license, whereas passports are much larger.
Classes were different this Friday. We had tests. Most of the kids already knew that we were going to have tests so there was no huge drama or trauma. The tests were kind of fun for me, although I did get confused about what I was supposed to do in some cases. For the most part the results of the tests were about what I figured they would be. After a month with these kids I have mostly figured out who really knows their stuff. I should note however, that I know better than to think that I have everything figured out. Far from it : )
We had an interesting adventure one night. We decided that we wanted to make brownies. Well, we do not have an oven, but we do have a toaster oven, so we decided to try. At the store we found a premixed brownie package, but at nearly $10 for a single package of brownies we decided to buy the stuff to make it from scratch. I think that cost us $14, but now we can make MULTIPLE batches of brownies: ) provided, of course, that we could make it work. So armed with our newly acquired supplies, including a new pan to bake it in, we began our new cooking adventure. We successfully managed to find a recipe online, which was necessary since we did not bring cookbooks with us.
We did however read a few websites that said that you should not attempt to bake in a toaster oven, but we decided to ignore those. In all fairness there were other sites where people said that they used their toaster oven to bake all the time. So we mixed up the ingredients and put it in the toaster. Well within the first ten minutes we could smell it cooking, which is not normal for something that is supposed to cook for 45 minutes. In the next three minutes it smelled burnt, so I quickly pulled it out and discovered that the top was burning. The elements are too close to the top of the pan, which caused the top of the mix to burn.
I quickly decided to put a “lid” on the top of it and put it back in. Lid in this case was a cookie sheet-like pan that came with the toaster oven. I also lowered the temperature from “grill” to 200. I think the 200 is Celsius, not Fahrenheit, but I don’t actually know how hot that is. We let it cook for another 30 minutes and I checked it. Definitely not ready, so I put it in for another 15 minutes and it was still not quite ready. After 15 more minutes I thought it was done; until Jenn and I started eating it that is. I put it back in for another 45 minutes before we decided that it really was done.
By the time it was done we were ready for bed, so I left our hard cooked brownies on the stove to cool. The next morning, without thinking twice about them I left for work while they were still sitting on the counter, uncovered. When we got home from work that night we decided to have some brownies after dinner. Well as some of you already know they were pretty hard. In fact, they were so hard I used a knife to cut out the softer center and then had to soak the pan over night to get the outer hard edges to come off. Then after trying to scrub it all off, I had to soak it again! It was like trying to scrub off concrete!!!
Chris
Hi this is Jennifer,
We have had a good week here in Korea. Things are starting to become routine. I was very sad to hear about the 4 officers that were killed in Oakland this week. Officer John Hege was a coach, PE and Drivers Ed teacher during my time at Tennyson High School. I was saddened by his unnecessary death and those of the 3 other officers. This event has reminded me that we need to pray for those around us all the time. It is a reminder for me to pray for my friends, family, co-workers and the students that I teach. I was praying for officer Hege when he was in the hospital dying. But I don’t ever once remember praying for him while I was in his classroom 10 years ago.
Last Wednesday at school we took our kindergarteners to a musical. I was very nervous about being in charge of six 7 year olds in the middle of a town where I don’t speak the language. I was not comfortable until we were safely back at school. My kids were very well behaved and the musical was great. It was the Korean version of “The Ugly Duckling.” It was completely in Korean so I did not understand a word. However, the actors did a great job and I was able to fallow along pretty well.
After getting nice new wall paper last week we decided that we needed to make our apartment look more like a home so we purchased three new plants. I have a bamboo plant, a regular green leaf plant and something that is a light purple because I wanted a little color. They are doing well. All three of them are sprouting.
I have been working really long hours for the last two weeks because my boss said that I needed to write out every one of my lesson plans in great detail. Well I have 6 to 9 classes a day so that is a lot of work. A few days ago when I turned in my lesson plans she said “Jenn, you no longer need to make lesson plans, now you know how to think.” Well I am glad that someone knows that I can think. I wasn’t insulted, I am sure it was a mess up in translation and I am just happy to not have to write out every lesson plan. I did learn a lot from writing them, but I was not enjoying my 12 hour days. So it looks like I will have a little more freedom this week.
I have two kindergarten classes. My first class is doing very well. The second class struggles a lot. For the month of April I will be spending more time with the struggling class. Hopefully this will help them to learn English better. But this class is a lot more stressful. So we will see how things turn out.
The weather is starting to get warmer here. I am looking forward to not having to bundle up every time I go outside. It would be a perfect spring if the wind would go away.
We are still enjoying our church and soon we will be taking Korean lessons there. I am going to look forward to being able to communicate a little better around here. This week I am trying to learn to say “Hello, How are you?” it is pronounced “An nyoung ha sye you?” I have found some small flashcards that are about 2”x3” and attached to a key ring. As I learn new phrases I am going to write them on this and practice them on the way to school.
Well if you have any topics that you would like us to write about please send me an email.
Jenn
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