Seoul Searching : The L Word

This past week had many highlights. Work related - this sounds bad - but every day a few students were sick and it was so nice. To go from 9 to 6 or 7 kids was a treat. I was able to have more fun with them, it's just easier. But eventually all those sickies caught up with me and I had a cold on Friday/Saturday but am feeling pretty good now.

On Thursday we went on a field trip to an Art Park which went well. There was bubble show which was in a giant dome with other schools. We sat and watched a man with a cart on stage that had a bunch of bubble instruments and he would point into the sky like a baseball player and wave the giant wand and make bubbles come out. It was about 15 mins too long. Lots of squirmy kids near the end. The best part was when a girl from another school fell into a giant (yet shallow) pool of water at the end. It was a great equalizer - now when I screw up I will remember that every teacher messes up at some point.

Amy is cooler than you, but you already knew that.

Nemo class representin'!

I love Jay. He is so smart, loves numbers, and got a perm

the other day so his hair is kind of curly.

Aaron

Sue - smart, brings me chocolate a lot

Lucy - not on drugs

Kenneth came back on Tuesday late night and we’ve been that annoying couple whose spent as much time as possible together since he’s been back. Normally I need a bit more space, but now that he’s back to work it will all even out. He brought me back 3 dresses he had made for me there in traditional batik. We have to get them altered – so I’ll show you once that’s done. He also brought back some fabric that I can have made into whatever style I want.

I’ve never felt like this before – we are two adults in a relationship. It’s so refreshing to be respected, have my opinions heard and respected, it’s honestly never happened in such a fashion to me before. He wanted to see me on Tuesday when he came back but I told him no, it will be too late for me and I want to have a good sleep before work. I could tell he was upset that I wasn’t more passionate to see him but his response was, “I’ve heard you and respect your opinion.” And that was the end of it. I love maturity!

We are both very committed to this relationship. Here are some ways in which I’m amazed at his communication and commitment to me (everything I’m about to say is probably normal to all of you people in loving relationships but I just can’t stop thinking about how Ace rarely/never did any of these things:

· On a daily basis he asks how my family, friends, and coworkers are doing. In fact he was more concerned about a co-worker’s continuous cold that I was – wanting to make sure she was okay.

· He had to leave his job here because he was going to be away for an indefinite time and employers aren’t too keen on that type of thing. When he came back he had two job offers and called me to ask which one I thought would fit better into our lives. One would mean he has to work most Saturday’s (boo) but the other was extremely physical (which he did when he first got here and he said the wear on his body was too much – he said it’s like what prisoners do) so we agreed he’d take the first one while looking for something that doesn’t include weekends. But just think about that – he wanted to agree on this equally. It’s so refreshing! Kenneth used to be married and is divorced now. I asked him what happened in the breakdown of that relationship and what he learned (I went full Oprah on him) and he has been so honest about it. He said that when they had problems she went outside of the marriage to discuss and get help and it got so bad that he didn't feel like he was in a partnership anymore. I see him consult me on everything, and I value that so much.

· At first I was annoyed, and sometimes still am, by his amount of communication. He texts me in the morning when he wakes up and at night before bed, while also during the day along with at least one video chat. But, then I realized I think this is normal for a modern day relationship. I was so conditioned to expect limited communication that I’m just getting used to normal. I’ve told Kenneth I need consistency. It’s the biggest way to build my trust because it’s always been lacking in previous relationships – and he’s doing it. Even when he was in Africa he would message and call me EVERY DAY. Guys, we’ve been together for 6 weeks. Ace wouldn’t message me at all when he would go away and we were together for over 4 years. I want to stop comparing the two and I will once everything starts feeling so normal. My mind is just constantly blown every day.

· His concern for my well being warms my heart. TMI – I got my period the other day and it was a small disaster. But he handled it so well. We were out at a palace and I was feeling so sick, running to the bathroom a lot and in so much pain even though I kept taking Midol. His concern for me was so loving. He isn’t grossed out by a normal body function. In fact, we had a great discussion led by him about how amazing the female body is. He told me he always knew women were strong since he was a child. He would watch women carry a child until he is 10, feeding and caring for him while he is ill. Meanwhile the father can’t carry the child after a few minutes because he hasn’t carried him his whole life. (I butchered the beautify way in which he said it, but you get the point.

There are so many more examples I could share, and will as time goes on. But for now we are just two people in love. Here are some pics of our weekend adventures together.