English with Calvin and Hobbes

I recently put together a book for some classes at our school. The students were supposed to look at a series of pictures and write a corresponding story in English. I got the idea to use wordless comic strips. This kind of thing is awfully difficult for our students. Here is one strip that I used, with sort of an answer key:

hurry (v) dash (v) realize (v) forget (v) back (prep) meanwhile (conj) gone (adj) bus stop (n) leave (v) argue (v) drive (v) sulk (v) furious (adj)

1. Calvin is hurrying to get to school.
2. He dashes out the front door of his house.
3. He realizes that he forgot his lunch, and he runs back to get it.
4. Meanwhile, Calvin’s mom takes Calvin’s lunch to the bus stop.
5. When Calvin gets home, he sees that his lunch is gone.
6. When he sees his mom, the school bus leaves.
7. Calvin and his mom argue with each other.
8. Then, Calvin’s mom drives Calvin to school.
9. They are both sulking in the car.
10. After that, Calvin realizes that he forgot something else.
11. He left his book on a desk at his house.
12. When Calvin’s mom sees the book, she is furious.

As long as I’m connected

I have had free internet at my apartment ever since I got to Korea, apparently thanks to a neighbor who has a wireless network. There have been occasional glitches, but considering it’s free, I don’t mind.

Until just this evening, when I got home from work, and I couldn’t seem to do anything to get on the internet. And I was getting a sinking feeling, wondering if I could get by without the internet at home or if I should pay for my own account, realizing maybe I’ve grown too dependent on the internet, reminding myself I always knew this might happen…

…and then it started working again.

And then, for some reason, I remembered it had been a long time since I posted here, and maybe now would be a good time to do so, as long as the internet was working.

So…

I’m 1/4 of the way through my 1-year contract. Soon after I got here, I found a really good English school for adults that was connected to a Mennonite ministry, and had a job opening for me. I told my boss at my first school that I was leaving and switching jobs. But unfortunately, my visa is not exactly tailored for switching jobs. I discovered (a little too late) that I would have to cancel my current visa, leave the country, and apply for a new one. This put me in the odd position of going back to my original boss and asking him if I could stay after all (I can).

Tomorrow’s the 4th of July. I might go to Songtan, where they’ll actually be doing something for the 4th. Next weekend, I go up to the North Korea border with a church group. That will basically be my first time out of the city since I got here. Then, in a few weeks, I have an entire week off of work. I’m not sure what I’m going to do then.

Now, I’m going to download about 130 online Korean lessons so I will still have them on my computer in case the internet ever stops working again.