I'm ridiculously happy today.

I don't think most people can understand just how happy I am:
First, I got to talk to most of my closest friends from NY today on Aol Instant Messenger. I logged on to wish Vivian a happy birthday and I was talking to best friend Debbie about her coming out in 5 days!!! Then Kristin and Mario said hello and I was talking to 4 of my best friends! Then my sister Angela said hello and we never get to talk. So I was having a bunch of conversations until we all joined a chat room! You have no idea how great it was to talk to everyone today, I need to go on IM more often. If only Tina and Dwight were there. :O) It woulda been a party.
So then I did telephone interviews tonight. Usually, staying late at work is not something to be happy about. But... the kids had me rollin on the floor as usual. One kid (Alfred) is SUCH a character and though he's cute as a boy possibly can be, he annoys the hell out of me. I spend at least 20 minutes a day yelling at him. Tonight was my 1st phone interview w/him and he was suprisingly very good. Until I asked him to make a sentence using the word "hat". He said,
" I hat my baby sister." (she's cute too! a younger student, maybe 7 years old?)
Then I asked HANS what he had for dinner. In the most confident voice, he said, "Octopus and rice and kimchi and soup and nothing." He's too much. Then he couldn't tell me what a rainbow was but when asked what the sun was he explained that it was a ball of fire. I asked if he was talking to someone b/c he sounded distracted and he said, "No, computer game." BOYS! Both Alfred and Hans are in the group photo from my birthday blog.
Then I called Alice..... the girl who gave me strawberries..... from my cell phone on my walk home. She specifically asked me to call her last so we could "talk". She started every sentence with "TEACHER, ...." and kept me on the phone for 49 minutes! I love it! She told me how she made the perfumes she gave me today, using water and flowers and about her dad's pig meat restaurant and about the designs of the wall paper at her house. She LOVES talking now. She even put her mother on the phone towards the end of the conversation who said "Gaum-sa-ham-ni-da" (the most polite, respectful way to say thank you) and Alice told me her mother is so happy she's getting to learn English because SHE can't. Then she asked me if it's true that kids in America really get to sleep and play after school. That breaks my heart.

Anyway, most of the kids did very well for their telephone interviews. Sara (the girl next to me in photo) is moving in April. "My mom and dad say change the house." We've exchanged emails and all necessary information, but we're both very sad about this. However, I told her we could have a snack party and play JENGA on Friday. So she's very happy!

oh yeah, let's not forget Paul from my first class. He's about 8 or 9 years old, very clever.
We teach the kids to say, "May I get some water please?" OR "May I go to the bathroom please?"



Paul: "May I get some bathroom?"
Nicole Teacher: "No."
Paul: "May I get some bathroom pleeease?"
Nicole Teacher: "No."
Paul: "Ah, may I get some RESTROOM, please?"
Nicole Teacher: "No."
Paul: "Why?"
Nicole Teacher: "I don't have a bathroom to give you."
Paul: "I want to get some restroom."
Nicole Teacher: "really?"
Paul: "Yes. Maybe I want to EAT a restroom... is that ok?"