As well as bidding adieu to my Conversation Partner, Inyoung, I had to also say goodbye to the children at the YMCA. The only thing is I didn't actually say goodbye... I had planned on going the Friday before Dead Week, however plans did not go my way and I couldn't go on Friday and serve my last day and say goodbye, but it's okay because I'll be coming back next Spring, or at least that is my plan. I probably won't go as often as I did this semester, maybe once a week or once every other week, depending on my schedule, but I love those children. Being with those kids makes me put everything into perspective and helps me reground myself. I joke around a lot and have developed a habit of calling myself a "fat old lady" but these children.. they will not accept that. Whenever I say "Don't hassle me, I'm just an old, fat lady." The children look at me like I'm stupid and start declaring that I am so wrong. "Nooooo," and "You're not fat!" "You're not old! Ms Beth is oooold." It is hilarious, and at the same time reassuring, because no one is without body issues, and these children are so honest in their opinions that there is no way you can doubt what they are saying and it makes me feel better about my body and everything.
Children are adorable and I can't understand people who mistreat such wonderful blessings. A few of the kids are little demons, but honestly I love them still. Even the soulless ginger one. I feel bad I could not say goodbye to them for the summer and fall, but I am at the same time curious if any of them will still be there when I return, and if any of them will remember me. While I doubt it, children are amazing little beings and are smarter than we give them credit for. I can't wait to see them all again.
And with that, this is my final blog. Until we meet again, my friends.
Saturday, April 28, 2012
Goodbye my Conversation Partner~*
Last week was my last time with my conversation partner, Inyoung. It has been a great semester with her and I am going to miss her. She left for Korea this past friday and she will be back this coming semester (her husband is getting his PhD here). She said she would like to meet up again when I get back from France, which I am kind of looking forward to. I have great conversations with her, and she makes me think a lot when we are talking. She always has questions to ask me. She asks things like "What do Americans think on Gay Marriage?" or "How do you celebrate Holidays?" Some are easy questions, but others are either very out in left field, things I don't normally think about or am not informed on.
You see, my primary source of news and information is Comedy Central's "Daily Show with Jon Stewart" and "The Colbert Report." So a lot of the things she asks me are things that either Jon and Stephen do not talk about in their program or things that don't pertain to me just yet, like retirement or child care. So unfortunately for a lot of her questions I had to give her general answers or give her my opinion on what I thought the world thought, but I felt bad for being unable to say, "Most americans believe..." I feel like I left her with holes in her political knowledge, but I like to think I made up for it in college or practical and general knowledge!
I will miss her greatly though, and I hope the next time we meet I can see her little baby, well he won't be too little anymore, I suppose.
You see, my primary source of news and information is Comedy Central's "Daily Show with Jon Stewart" and "The Colbert Report." So a lot of the things she asks me are things that either Jon and Stephen do not talk about in their program or things that don't pertain to me just yet, like retirement or child care. So unfortunately for a lot of her questions I had to give her general answers or give her my opinion on what I thought the world thought, but I felt bad for being unable to say, "Most americans believe..." I feel like I left her with holes in her political knowledge, but I like to think I made up for it in college or practical and general knowledge!
I will miss her greatly though, and I hope the next time we meet I can see her little baby, well he won't be too little anymore, I suppose.
Saturday, April 14, 2012
The Children Case Study.
The Title is a lie, I just liked the way it alliterated and it sounded smart.
Yesterday I went to the YMCA yet again, and it was a blast, again!
I love working with the children, and find their intelligence amazing sometimes.
Example number one, I have only been to this YMCA three times previous to this one, if my memory is correct, and while I was there for three hours, these children are bound to have lives full of interesting activities and tons of other people, yet a lot of the children remember who I am. When I went in friday one little girl looked up (there were only a handful of children at the time) and started screeching "POLLYPOLLYPOLLYPOLLY" as she ran over to tackle me. I was really surprised to be remembered by these 5 and 6 year olds, and to be remembered so fondly too. Other children, alerted by the first girl's cry, came over, and some of the children coming down the stairs gave me passing hugs as they went to put their stuff away. Honestly that is one of the reasons I really love children, because they are so open with their affection.
Example number two, one of the girls that came to me earlier came back after attendance.
"You know Japanese, right?"
I crouch down to her level, "Yeah, some, why?"
She then starts an adorable rendition of Heads, Shoulders, Knees and Toes in Japanese, messing up Knees and Toes. She then asks me what the face ones are and so I go through it, now to a group of about 7. After I finish they ask me what all the parts mean, so I go "Mei...that's eyes, Mimi, that's ears...Hana, that's nose...Kuchi, that's mouth..."
"My friend's name is Hannah!" One girl interrupts. I laughed. I don't think it means nose, though. I thought as I motioned the group back to their respective tables.
Children are amazing, and while they can be annoying, I can't wait to have my own...when the time is right.
Yesterday I went to the YMCA yet again, and it was a blast, again!
I love working with the children, and find their intelligence amazing sometimes.
Example number one, I have only been to this YMCA three times previous to this one, if my memory is correct, and while I was there for three hours, these children are bound to have lives full of interesting activities and tons of other people, yet a lot of the children remember who I am. When I went in friday one little girl looked up (there were only a handful of children at the time) and started screeching "POLLYPOLLYPOLLYPOLLY" as she ran over to tackle me. I was really surprised to be remembered by these 5 and 6 year olds, and to be remembered so fondly too. Other children, alerted by the first girl's cry, came over, and some of the children coming down the stairs gave me passing hugs as they went to put their stuff away. Honestly that is one of the reasons I really love children, because they are so open with their affection.
Example number two, one of the girls that came to me earlier came back after attendance.
"You know Japanese, right?"
I crouch down to her level, "Yeah, some, why?"
She then starts an adorable rendition of Heads, Shoulders, Knees and Toes in Japanese, messing up Knees and Toes. She then asks me what the face ones are and so I go through it, now to a group of about 7. After I finish they ask me what all the parts mean, so I go "Mei...that's eyes, Mimi, that's ears...Hana, that's nose...Kuchi, that's mouth..."
"My friend's name is Hannah!" One girl interrupts. I laughed. I don't think it means nose, though. I thought as I motioned the group back to their respective tables.
Children are amazing, and while they can be annoying, I can't wait to have my own...when the time is right.
Who actually reads titles anyway?
The last time I met with my conversation partner, Inyoung, we had a ball. We went from talking about her baby who has turned 4 months old to her parents in Korea and about Humans vs Zombies and my school life. Her baby has started to become more subdued and quiet and she has been able to get a little more sleep, however she is still very tired and can't wait to visit Korea in May so her mother can watch the baby for a night while she gets a good nights sleep. I feel bad for her, but she loves her child and is doing her best for him! And her husband is studying for his PhD, so she can't really bother him...
But she's been getting out and chatting with friends. For their baby's 100th day they took him up to Chicago to get the traditional rice cakes and some other Korean food. He was decent in the card ride there, which is always a blessing! Hearing about her raise her child only serves to remind me that I will not sleep with a man until I'm ready to commit to raising another little being and I have a place for that little person to stay, comfortable and happy!
She is very proud of her baby, though -as any mother would be. She's shown me so many videos of the little baby. The funniest thing I've seen in a while was her little child dressed in a suit with a little bow tie and all! It was adorable, but I couldn't help feeling bad for the baby. Men complain all the time about wearing suits...imagine being a baby!
But I really like chatting with Inyoung, I will be sad when we must part...which I think is this week! Oh no, how time flies! :(
But she's been getting out and chatting with friends. For their baby's 100th day they took him up to Chicago to get the traditional rice cakes and some other Korean food. He was decent in the card ride there, which is always a blessing! Hearing about her raise her child only serves to remind me that I will not sleep with a man until I'm ready to commit to raising another little being and I have a place for that little person to stay, comfortable and happy!
She is very proud of her baby, though -as any mother would be. She's shown me so many videos of the little baby. The funniest thing I've seen in a while was her little child dressed in a suit with a little bow tie and all! It was adorable, but I couldn't help feeling bad for the baby. Men complain all the time about wearing suits...imagine being a baby!
But I really like chatting with Inyoung, I will be sad when we must part...which I think is this week! Oh no, how time flies! :(
Sunday, April 1, 2012
A Barefoot Boy with Shoes on Stood Sitting in the Grass
This week I met again with my conversation partner, Inyoung, and she gave me the rice cake she had promised. It has five colored layers and is called "rainbow cake" in korean. I haven't tried it yet but I'm worried if I'll like it or not. ...I should probably eat it before I go to see her tomorrow so I can tell her if I liked it or not.
This past week I participated in the campus wide game of tag, Humans v.s. Zombies. Now it's just tag during the day, but at 8 pm the missions start and you run around with objectives. I am a part of R.A.V.E., which is a walking rave party, and it is a whole bunch of fun, and each night has a theme, and Saturday's theme was 'Whatever' so I decided I would make a shirt that said, "Life" on the front and "Bitch, I'm Fabulous" on the back and carrying around lemonade and dixie cups so I could be "Life giving you lemons, but I was considerate and made it lemonade for you."
Now, the bus I take to the YMCA I volunteer at on Fridays goes to the south side Walmart so I decided after volunteering on Friday I would ride down to Walmart and get my supplies, but as I was waiting for the Walmart bound bus, the Downtown bound bus came by (the one I take home), and after 45 minutes or so of waiting for the next bus (I had no idea of the actual time because my phone had died while working), I gave up waiting. Taking my shoes off (because they weren't comfortable for long walks) I started walking in the general direction of Purdue, past neighborhoods and busy streets, occasionally asking which direction Purdue was in and taking a few wrong turns (I may or may not have walked 20 minutes in the wrong direction...) I eventually made it to the river and was able to catch the Trolley. By now my feet were dying, I had just walked an hour and most of it barefoot, and it was 8:05, I was late for the mission! I made it to the mission and found RAVE around 9p, and I had a blast that night, but my goodness! So much walking! I was able to wake up early the next morning to go to Walmart, at least.
That walk didn't really help either, after the day of volunteering I had... I was there for 3 hours, mostly doing nothing, maybe chatting with a kid or two here or there, but it took a lot of energy. There was a little girl who, starting at 5p, began to cry because her father wasn't there yet and so I spent the next 40 minutes trying to distract her and making up (really bad) stories. Never. again. No matter how much I love children, I can't do that again, I think. It was next to impossible to make her smile...
But next week will be better.
No walking.
This past week I participated in the campus wide game of tag, Humans v.s. Zombies. Now it's just tag during the day, but at 8 pm the missions start and you run around with objectives. I am a part of R.A.V.E., which is a walking rave party, and it is a whole bunch of fun, and each night has a theme, and Saturday's theme was 'Whatever' so I decided I would make a shirt that said, "Life" on the front and "Bitch, I'm Fabulous" on the back and carrying around lemonade and dixie cups so I could be "Life giving you lemons, but I was considerate and made it lemonade for you."
Now, the bus I take to the YMCA I volunteer at on Fridays goes to the south side Walmart so I decided after volunteering on Friday I would ride down to Walmart and get my supplies, but as I was waiting for the Walmart bound bus, the Downtown bound bus came by (the one I take home), and after 45 minutes or so of waiting for the next bus (I had no idea of the actual time because my phone had died while working), I gave up waiting. Taking my shoes off (because they weren't comfortable for long walks) I started walking in the general direction of Purdue, past neighborhoods and busy streets, occasionally asking which direction Purdue was in and taking a few wrong turns (I may or may not have walked 20 minutes in the wrong direction...) I eventually made it to the river and was able to catch the Trolley. By now my feet were dying, I had just walked an hour and most of it barefoot, and it was 8:05, I was late for the mission! I made it to the mission and found RAVE around 9p, and I had a blast that night, but my goodness! So much walking! I was able to wake up early the next morning to go to Walmart, at least.
That walk didn't really help either, after the day of volunteering I had... I was there for 3 hours, mostly doing nothing, maybe chatting with a kid or two here or there, but it took a lot of energy. There was a little girl who, starting at 5p, began to cry because her father wasn't there yet and so I spent the next 40 minutes trying to distract her and making up (really bad) stories. Never. again. No matter how much I love children, I can't do that again, I think. It was next to impossible to make her smile...
But next week will be better.
No walking.
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