1 분 vs. 1 초

Someone put their hands on my head for the first time in over a month today, and then 3 more people did the same thing with varying degrees of firmness.

Then I cried (a little, a lot), the first time I've let anyone see me cry since I got to Korea 7 1/2 months ago.

Here are the reasons I can think of for needing (wanting?) to cry in front of U Young-Hee and I So-Yeon (gg#2) so urgently:

1. after school classes making me feel worthless as a teacher again, how can I manage this new environment?

2. guilt seeping in when you tell me you miss me, sometimes I wonder if I am a bad person for finding it so easy to leave Michigan and the U.S. and you, sometimes I wish I was the kind of person who found it difficult to leave things behind

3. I've been feeling a little fragile lately, as though I've perpetually just eaten tongue (@warmandbarky)

4. it's been a long time since I cried in front of someone, maybe it was time and maybe I knew that U Young-Hee and I So-Yeon were safe people to cry in front of and also that no one would think it strange if I felt many deep emotions while their hands were on my head

goddamnit,

I just agreed to climb Suri-san (the 4-peaked beast I blogged about in January) again this Sunday. At least it won't be frigid this time. Maybe there will even be flowers.

The downside is that when I climbed it before I didn't have to teach the next week, so my aching body was allowed to recuperate in the comfort of my apartment. But next week, I have to teach. I also have to climb a LOT of stairs.

Here's hoping I don't get as stiff this time around. Here's hoping I eat another pupa.

not such a big money

Sometimes, these days, I find myself craving green tea instead of coffee. Even black coffee, nevermind the instant stuff that suddenly makes me want to vomit. That's weird.

I've started a new system with my 1st graders, in which I give them miniature laminated U.S. dollars when they volunteer in class or win a game, and they have to bring the dollar to me after class or during lunchtime to exchange it for candy.

It works ridiculously well. You should have seen their faces light up the first time I brought the dollars out of my bag and gave them to the winning team. There are a few dollars that I haven't gotten back, and I don't know if it's because the students lost the dollar, are too shy to approach me after class, or simply would rather have the fake dollar instead of the offered candy. I know for a fact that one of my students likes to keep his dollars tucked away in his wallet for a few days before exchanging them for candy. I find this unbelievably adorable, and I refuse to threaten the students into returning the dollars like my co-teachers suggest.

This week, I have those gold coin chocolates, and my students get really confused when they give me a dollar and I give them two gold coins in return. They think they've exchanged fake money for more fake money, and I have to explain that it's chocolate. Noobs. All of my 3rd graders know full well by now what those gold coins are.

WHAT ABOUT THE PUPA.

but Loretta used sugar cookie dough and hers was the best in all the land

I don't expect I'll be blogging much from Buenos Aires.