To Pee, or Not to Pee

Indeed, that is the question. If you're a kid in my class, the obvious answer is: Yes, Pee, your pants, while sitting in class, and be REALLY quiet about it until the kid next to you notices and everyone freaks out.

So yeah, in one of my classes I have this boy, he's a really sweet kid but I have been informed that he has some kind of mild learning disability / mental handicap. In any event, he is rather far behind in his abilities, and the other kids do make fun of him as well. I like the boy though because despite this he tries SO hard, he does ALL his homework (with obvious help from his mother but so what) and he puts his hand up to read and answer stuff even when he has absolutely no idea what the question was or how to read English. Anyways, the other boys give him a hard time about his problems, they tease him and stuff and I absolutely do not allow any of that in my classroom but I know it happens the moment they walk out the door.

Today, however, he was sitting there, at the end of the table and I noticed he had a strange face on, but I didn't think much of it because it is rather difficult to get any read on his facial expressions in general. In retrospect it was definitely the "I gotta pee bad face but I'm too afraid for some reason to ask the teacher so I'm gonna sit here and hold it and OOPS too late I'm peeing but not gonna say anything about it and hope that it goes away" face. Normally the boy comes up to me and utters something sounding remotely like bathroom and I know he needs to go and I always let him, but today for whatever reason that must have been too much for him. So, the floodgates opened, and I definitely mean floodgates. He was wearing these brown track-pants which are part of his other schools uniform and they were SOAKED both front and back, and he had a pretty decent puddle underneath him. The boy next to him suddenly stood up and was like "Lucas Teacher! XXXXX Woooooooosh" while he made gestures like someone holding themselves and spraying urine all over the place. I came over to investigate and found the mess. The poor boy was just sitting there like he didn't want to move (I don't blame him, it was definitely embarrassing for him and I know he realizes what he's done, he's not THAT mentally challenged) So I eventually get him out of the room (Its hard to do when he won't move on his own and you don't really wanna grab his hand as its covered in pee) and into the bathroom. Of course EVERY child wants to see what the commotion was, so I quickly shepherded them out into the next door classroom which was empty at that time and found help in the form of one of the Korean teachers. Anyhow she took care of the mess (thankfully) and I finished the class in the other room.

So far I've dealt with a kid throwing up in the playroom because he got too worked up running around, and now Pee boy. What an exciting Monday!

Lucas.

The September Post

Well, perhaps this won't be the ONLY September post, but I'm not promising anything. After a full two months in Korea, I've decided that even if it sounds exotic and interesting to be halfway around the world, there really isn't anything terribly different between Korea and Canada. Sure, we're half a day ahead of the rest of you, and we look completely different from any of the local people, but cars still drive on the RIGHT side of the road here, and people eat pizza (though they kinda call it Pee-shah and they put strange things like sweet potato and corn on it) and drink Coca-Cola (Called "Coca-Cola"). In reality, Korea has less to do then many of the other options we could have chosen -- there have been several articles in the English newspaper here regarding the fact that tourism in Korea isn't really all it should be. Yes, there are historic sites to visit, and the culture is dramatically different, but unfortunately Koreans really don't push these places to outsiders the way they should. Trying to find a guide or map of historic sites in English or ANY other language is impossible especially when compared to finding a similar map for their outdoor markets and shopping districts. The sad part is, the shopping here isn't all that special. We have a freakin WALMART down the road from us. You can find some cheaper electronics if you buy Korean brands (LG, and SAMSUNG - which manufactures in Korea) there really isn't anything else all that special to be had.

Work wise, the school days go by relatively fast for us. In fact both Jo and myself often exclaim "Oh my gosh It's Friday already!" which is a nice thing. It must have something to do with the fact that we both really enjoy our job and that alone makes Korea far more tolerable then it could have been.

As October fast approaches we're beginning to think about the fact that we're so far away from home considering the first quasi-major holiday of Thanksgiving is nearly upon us. In Korea they actually have a similar festival called Chusok (Pronounced Chew-Sock) which has something to do with the Japanese occupations in history (there have been several apparently). Anyways, this means that we have the 4th, 5th and 6th off work so we have a 5 day weekend coming up. I suppose we're gonna try to celebrate our own Thanksgiving here in Korea -- I'll have to see what I can do about finding Turkey, maybe Costco will have one -- hrm something to think about.

Well, that's about all I have for an update for you guys. The weather has turned pleasant, clear skies and mid to low 20's, it's absolutely beautiful. We both miss everyone from back home, but there definitely isn't any serious homesickness yet. Payday is coming up which means we've managed to budget ourselves adequately with the ratio of money we keep here and money we send home to pay off school debt which is a bonus. There really isn't much more to say. I hope everyone is having a good back to school (for those of you teaching or still GOING) and for you retired folks I hope you're having a good time snickering at the poor saps who still have to work.

Leave us a comment if you like, or email us, or skype, or give us a call -- We love hearing from back home.