July 2013
The first days of July saw The Mouse bitten by her friends at the Cat Cafe and trying out something new: Yoga. Yoga was a lot of fun, but was somewhat short-lived because The Mouse and The Mouse Fiance felt slightly uncomfortable being the only foreigners in the class, along with The Mouse Fiance being the only male aside from Sung. Things got awkward really quickly when Sung tried to get us to teach English to some of the ladies or their children, but we'll talk more about that in a post all its own.
She had a rare easy week at work, since middle school students had been taking, or finished, their exams. So The Mouse either only had half of her classes, or was allowed to be lax and play around with her students.
However, she did end up joking around about the possibility of putting malware and hilarious desktop images on Jack's computer, and felt thankful that she only had four months left on her contract, simply because he threatened to make the teachers pay for any further classroom computer repairs that were needed, when most of the problems with the computers were caused by the computers' age and quality, rather than malicious software. That said, she never actually messed with Jack's computer before she left. She feels like maybe it was a missed opportunity, but also that she wouldn't have stooped so low just to get back at someone she'll hopefully never have to see again. The drama never really ended at Easy English, but just like Sung, more about that later.
Anyway, that week was followed by kitty cats, Yoga and 회식 (Korean for "dining together," what businesses call company dinners, which usually include barbeque and a LOT of alcohol) on Monday, and password protecting the computer in The Mouse Classroom. From then on, she refused to allow anyone (including Jack and Sung) to touch the computer without her direct supervision. Because that's how The Mouse deals with problems.
I bought a watermelon for the first time in Korea. Because watermelon in Korea is somehow even more amazing than watermelon in the states. We'd had watermelon at the start of summer at Easy English, and The Mouse bought one for her and The Mouse Fiance to have at home. It took up so much space in the refrigerator, but was SO worth it.
She also discussed the lack of "choice" in Korean food and other things, which wasn't so much culture shock as something interesting to note. As The Mouse is not a particularly picky eater and doesn't have any allergies, it wasn't a big deal for her from the start, but she can understand how some people might have a problem with the lack of customization here. More on that in a separate post to come later.
노미캣 (Norie Cat) became The Mouse's Sunday routine, if she hasn't said so already. She still goes back to visit sometimes, because the cats there will always have a special place in her heart.
The Mouse was also introduced (sort of) to honey bread. She had heard of it before, she'd tried it once or twice, but had never actually had a whole lot of it, because it didn't seem that spectacular. After having tried it (in the sense that it was given to her and one other person to share O.o ), she can say that it was good, strange, and neither over- nor underwhelming. It's basically a toasted half-loaf of bread covered in chocolate and caramel sauce, honey, butter, and a ridiculous amount of whipped cream:
The Mouse also discovered more joys of the language barrier (a whole post on things like "lend" versus "borrow," "admiration" versus "appreciation," "I forgot how to English," and strange English phrases on Korean clothing to come, I'm sure...) and the wonders of working at a school that places students solely based on their grade level, rather than their actual English proficiency.
August 2013
The beginning of August saw The Mouse's first true "vacation" in Korea - that is, the first time she spent more than one day outside of Cheonan, and it was to visit Japan - more specifically, Tokyo.
And it was AWESOME. The Mouse figured out the Tokyo subway very easily with the help of a very kind Japanese lady who spoke a bit of English, and it was off to Asakusa, only a block away from Bandai headquarters. The Mouse and The Mouse Fiance got to see awesome things like Tokyo Skytree, old temples that still exist in the center of Tokyo, the Prime Minister's official residence, Akihabara and its maid cafes, and Tokyo nightlife at a bar called Planet Boy in Asakusa.
We also had awesome food, from traditional sushi to proper Japanese curry, to interesting and nommy convenience store snacks. It was a great time overall, and even though The Mouse Fiance had gotten pickpocketted his first day in Tokyo(!), we made a lot of the money back when an executive from Bandai put a bunch of bets on bar games and then insisted on paying our insane tab at the end of the night. It was a truly awe-inspiring experience.
Upon returning to Korea, The Mouse settled back into routine life as best she could, counting down the months until her contract with Easy English was finished. It wouldn't be long. She enjoyed teaching (most of) her students, but the environment itself often left her feeling overly stressed, annoyed, frustrated, and sometimes downright sick.
June, The Mouse Friend and Former Co-worker, helped his niece choose her English name, and they settled on The Mouse's name, which June's niece LOVED. The Mouse felt incredibly flattered and is happy that somewhere, there is a Korean child running around introducing herself as "Lindsay" because of this.
The Mouse and The Mouse Fiance took a day out one weekend to head to Haeyundae beach in Busan, a nearly 4-hour journey by bullet train. We spend the entire day on the beach and ate at Outback for dinner. It was a lovely stress reliever. The Mouse even found a seashell on the beach that she still carries with her every day.
Again with choice in Korean food, as well. The woman at our normal hot dog place stopped putting pickles on my hot dog, because she noticed I always picked them off. At this point it's fair to say The Mouse was sick of both pickles and kimchi (although she never liked pickles much, anyway), but has since become quite accustomed to them. Anyway, I never asked her not to put the pickles them on there, and she didn't ask if I didn't want them. She just made my hot dog without pickles and said when she gave it to me "No pickle. You don't want, right?" Despite the lack of choice in Korean food in general, I love the way all businesses here, even chains, seem to be like small businesses, in that people seem acutely aware of their repeat customers, and will do everything they can to make you happy.
The Nom Nom Nom song became an ongoing theme in my middle school third grade class, and I met then-newcomers to Korea Robyn and Jerry at Norie Cat.
September 2013
I professed my love for anything with 떡 (rice cake) in its name. I still love rice cakes. They come in all forms, shapes and sizes in Korea, from sweetened rice cakes and stuffed, deep fried ones that are used as desserts, to spicy boiled ones, to ones that come with fish cakes and eggs and hot sauce and fried vegetables. They're my Korean version of comfort food.
Jack pressured me to write a Phonics curriculum for his sons and a few very low-level students, and I seriously considered writing a book on how to teach English Phonetics to native speakers of Korean. I may still do that at some point, but I don't feel pressured to, so that may come in its own time. He loved my curriculum so much that he started having the new Korean teacher teach it (Wait, what?), but at this point I feel like there will be an entire post dedicated to Jack's antics.
The Mouse also got challenged by The Mouse Fiance to make a Facebook album that wasn't allowed to contain cats, because 99.3% of her pictures at that time were of cats. Challenge accepted. There she showed antics with students, her new haircut, delicious food, drawings, and many other random things.
... Then she created another album for more kitty cats.The rest of September saw The Mouse horribly stressed due to exam preparation and miscommunication with Jack, who somehow felt that as a native English speaker she would be able to write 13 exam-prep tests in 30 minutes. She pulled all-nighters nearly every night for two weeks, and then would have to do it all over again in November, simply because he didn't want The Mouse to test students from the book's pool of random questions... which was what they were going to be tested on anyway. Sleepy and stressed at the end of one work night, she was trying to head out of the academy (finally, around midnight, with only half the tests for the next day completed) and missed the last step because the lights had been turned off to conserve power (I mean, like I said, it was midnight). The Mouse fell down the stairs carrying all 8 books she would need to complete the tests, landed on her arm, and badly sprained her elbow. Then had to continue typing up tests with a busted arm. It was NOT a happy few weeks, and the arm took longer than that to heal. The Mouse also got a horrid cold due to the stress and lack of sleep. Thanks a lot, Easy English.
September 19th would have been The Mouse Daddy's 68th birthday. He passed away in December 2011, but somehow the loss felt more profound being so far away from any of The Mouse Family. Rest in peace, Daddy Cat.
October 2013
The Hamster Dance and general antics with students, as well as Indestructable Ajummas, will need to be serious topics of discussion on this blog, but I'll leave it at that for now.
Also, working when you're sick. Korean hagwons don't really believe in sick days. If you're sick, you find a substitute (incredibly unlikely, given that just about anyone who can do your job likely also has to work), or you go to work anyway. I really don't know what they do if a teacher like... ends up in hospital, or something.
Anyway, my first entirely good day in two months came when we finally bought a blender and I started making smoothies like nobody's business. I need to start buying frozen fruit again.
Despite trying for a while to come up with a Halloween costume idea, The Mouse stayed up until 4am Halloween morning making a costume out of a disassembled umbrella and makeshift crafting materials because Cheonan does not have much in the way of crafts supplies, aside from school supplies that can be bought from the local Lotte Mart or E-Mart. However, her students loved it, The Mouse got them hooked on the song "This is Halloween," and taught them "Trick or Treat!?" is for ALL of the CANDY!!! They also enjoyed all the Halloween decorations The Mouse did entirely by herself because her boss was against the idea of celebrating a western holiday at an English Academy (what?) 
The Mouse also met her friend Sean for the first time at Norie Cat. She held Simba for most of the day. He slept in her arms because he was sick, and seemed grateful for the warmth and lack of attention from other patrons.
November 2013
On the bright side, The Mouse got to relax the weekend after her Halloween antics, and she spent most of Saturday in bed before finally getting around to cleaning up the massive mess she made making her costume. Then she chillaxed with food and a smoothie while listening to music from Cats, her favorite musical, before spending her usual Sunday at Norie Cat. It was a good few days.Then, Jack sat The Mouse down and explained that the academy was losing money and he couldn't afford to keep paying her salary, so her contract would have to end in December, despite her already having agreed to stay on until February. It was mixed news. The Mouse first went into panic mode, and then felt something she'd only very rarely and fleetingly felt while working there: freedom. She contacted her recruiter and began interviewing with different schools in Korea, and this is where Jack was actually a cool guy in all of this: he got The Mouse in touch with a recruiter who managed to get her an interview at a Seoul public school.
This year was The Mouse's first real exposure to Ppeppero Day, which celebrates the Pocky-like confection known as... you guessed it! Ppeppero. It's celebrated on 11/11, because the 1s look like sticks of Ppeppero.I also got this little "random fact challenge" from a friend that I figured is worth sharing here, because all of it is still true:
1. My "almost-impossible life goal," as I call it, is to learn at least one word from every language in the world, even if it's just "Hello".
2. I'm legally blind in my right eye.
3. I sound like a little girl on the phone. Cute, maybe, but I recently learned that it hurts me in voice-only interviews.
4. My lucky number has always been 22. Why? I don't know.
5. When I'm bored, I write.
6. I'm ambidextrous.
7. I learned how to fly a plane before I learned how to drive a car.
8. I have a semi-secret love for clothes and fashion. The only reason I don't dress like that is true is because I worry what that would do to my wallet.
9. My favorite colors are red, white, gold, and purple.
10. With my English already being influenced by the Koreans around me (even though I speak very little Korean), I have this illegitimate worry that if I go somewhere where I am fluent in the language, I will start to lose my English.
Thanksgiving saw The Mouse Fiance cook a ton of food and bring it to the academy for everyone to enjoy, and The Mouse had a snowball fight with some of her students between classes. She became well aware that despite all the stress at Easy English, she would miss parts of it.
December 2013
December brought so many bittersweet moments in saying goodbye to students and to Cheonan. The Mouse had students thanking her for teaching them, students telling her they loved her and asking her not to go, and one student who even bought her a flower and said he'd miss her.
It was made easier by the fact that The Mouse had several other friends leaving for Seoul at the same time. June had recently moved to Seoul, Sean was moving, and so were a few friends that The Mouse has since sort of fallen out of contact with.December 20th and Christmas were harder away from family than the Christmas before or The Mouse Daddy's birthday had been, but The Mouse also spent a week in Osaka, on very little money but not so bad for all that. It wasn't a particularly relaxing vacation, what with knowing we'd be coming back to the stress of moving and a not-so-nice budget thanks to yet another miscommunication with Jack.
