Last may 3,2008,my daughter joined the Jeonbuk Provincial drawing contest,she was personally chosen by her adviser..me,my daughter and her brother went to the jeonju baseball stadium to join/compete in the contest….

wow! other kids’ drawing were so amazing i thought.my daughter’s is so simple…the topic is NATURE/ENVIRONMENT…..at first i was wondering what was she drawing,…she could just draw one picture but what she did was she divided her drawing paper into 20 equal boxes,and drew one by one in each box what she wanted to express….she made a story out of it…..i wasnt expecting she would get the best/highest award…but that was what happened,she told me about it yesterday when she came from her taekwondo class..at first she asked me to close my eyes tightly as she had a surprise for me, i followed her,and she got her award and showed it to me……and because i am not that good in korean,i had to look for the meaning of her award in the dictionary……i am so proud of her.yes it might not be academic excellence but how many kids would get that award? in the whole province.she’s the only one, in her school,she is the only one …how many kids can draw as well as her? how many kids could think how to protect the environment the way she did…..am simply proud of my kids…and my kids are always proud of having me as their mom…they are proud of being half-filipino….my students who came today for our class at home,told me that their school announced that shin seol-yeon got the best award…well,she is my daughter….OUR DAUGHTER..

I still vividly remember…those times…..times when we lived with our cousins who like us were studying in manila, first,we lived in san juan,metro manila in an old apartment,life was exciting, eventhough we lived with a housekeeper,we had our duties in the house,we used to go to san juan public market which is so scary( if i think of it now) and dirty, my cousins from romblon and me and my siblings exprienced going to the market in the middle of heavy rains.wading in the flood waters…we experienced going to divisoria market at dawn just to catch the cheap prices of goods..,

we hail from the little barrio Calima in Pola,oriental mindoro,while my paternal cousins are from romblon, my mom would bring us a lot of vegetables whenever she came to manila for a day or two visit…she would always have fresh presents..bananas ,and other vegetables…my aunts also would visit my cousins once in a while….

when my cousins moved to roxas district, my younger brother rey and i were left alone in the apt.it was scary,only two of us in the second floor,the lobby going up and down was dark as if somebody would grab us ….few months later, rey and i moved to my eldest brother’s house, it was a relief,at least may kasama na kami ulit na dalawa..nakakatakot kasi at nakakapaiyak sa hapon pag kami lang dalawa.and it was fun living with our niece claudine,

my sister worked as a flight attendant for SAUDI airlines, it was my utmost dream to be a successful surgeon, but i failed to be one,and i blame no one , maybe it was destined ..my sister then was sending me to school,i took a pre-med course because i wanted to be a doctor, among my circle of friends of six,i am the only one who passed the NMAT(National Medical Admission Test),i was so happy, i passed the university entrance test,had an interview in one of the medical schools and on that day i was encouraged to join a fraternity.hehehe…..but when my sister stopped working as a flight stewardess,my dream collapsed…until now it’s still my biggest frustration..but then i know there is a reason why i didnt become a doctor, because i am not meant to be one…there’s something better….

when we moved to roxas district in 1991,we lived close to our cousins again,we would play pictionary,scrabble and other board games, it was really amazing how well we did, very funny and exciting…i know a lot of words but i can’t put them in paper,that’s one thing i am very poor of…drawing….i also miss playing chess, but here in korea,i have no one to play chess with,ah.there was one person i could play with during our college days but he never won against me…

few months later we had to move into a bigger place,a compound with other foreign nationals..it was there when i heard of monkey bananas..because our neighbors asked us about "saba"..there are lots of varieties of bananas in our farm…it was then when i started teaching koreans…i have been with koreans since 1992…grabe…16years ko na pala sila kasalamuha….at kaututang dila.

i met my husband in 1996, .through a good friend Fham who also got married with a korean she used to teach english in QC,we’ve been here in korea since 1997,but i havent met them in person since then…ako lang kasi among our circle of tutors ang napunta dito sa jeonbuk,most of them are in kyeongsangdo….

my husband was a pre-law student,and i was a pre-med student,we met and we couldnt pursue our dreams but he told me that the reason why we couldnt fulfill our dreams was because we were going to meet and have a family, and he is right..had i become a doctor,i wouldnt have kids,had he become a lawyer,we couldnt have met each other.and we would never be husband and wife..

As the end of February nears, i feel somewhat sad,somewhat happy and relieved. Sad because i am going to leave my kindergarten i have been working for for 2 years now to go to another kindergarten and start anew.i have become close with the kids,they hug me,kiss me, they are naughty but that’s normal among kids,i should know,i have two kids who are likewise naughty,but behaved.

Happy because i am finally leaving the kindergarten and meet another wonjangnim,and new batch of teachers in the new kindergarten i am going to work for in March..in this new kindergarten, am going to work only till 12noon,and because of that ,i can teach after school classes from 1pm in schools… it will be a tight schedule but i am going to do just fine. the afterschool program is only 3x/week..i hope to be absorbed again by the  elementary school i worked for last year.

i will surely miss my naughty students in my kindergarten..i know how much they like and love me..those little kids.those little angels ,those little rascals…but i have to start a new life,if I continue working there ,then i can’t grab the better opportunities lying ahead of me..because classes in my kindergarten last till around 2pm…i need to sacrifice some for my professional life’s betterment.

Sooner or later we have to leave ,sooner or later we have to start a new one..a better one i should say.and sooner or later we have to say goodbye and goodluck…until we meet again……

Crossing the Line: Inappropriate Relationships 

when was my last post? it was last week i guess, today i am going to post another one…

yesterday we joined the international and local food festival here in jeonju city.we were informed about it when we had our one-night -two days activity in the catholic church..i didn’t want to join .it’s alot of fuss..honestly i avoided the topic,why?because last year,we had also a festival where only few of us joined..i was too tired,i couldn’t do anything,because i was assigned,and as a way to thank our social welfare branch helping us, i accepted the challenge..,it was a fund raising project. i couldnt sleep until almost 4 am….that was last year,and we did it for the filipino community we are in..in the catholic church….me and some of our colleagues joined….maybe 6 of us….i told ate emie that time,i wouldnt want to join again or participate,because it’s only us who experience difficulty ..for the whole community…

this time, we joined again…our leader endorsed us…it’s not easy…she said " just to have participant fromjeonju"..you know it’s a kind of irritating,because nobody supported us….there were only the 3 of us.ate emie,ate gie and me…and of course our social welfare leader mr.park,but he was there only after we brought things into our tent.we prepared suman, i would be posting some pics in my photo section..

but even if it was disappointing that nobdy supported us from the filipno community from jeonju,there was fun too..ate gie and I joined singing.and we won a bag of rice each,then we got some gift certificates,and the cash..that’s the consolation we got from joining,sana next year naman iba naman galing sa grupo namin from jeonju ang mag join….

when i was the leader of our community and there were festivals like that,i was always there,with our priest…..i even took my kids with me when i joined or take care of our booth till night time,kasi nga ako ang leader…..i even went to seoul to the philippine embassy with our priest to borrow some materials to be used for the festival.when there were prayer meetings and bible sharing,i was there.with my kids.of course i was busy but i gave it a time….i gave my time…….unfortunately…most of the people in my communtiy misunderstood me..during my term,it was me who used to prepare snack after the mass,it was only me who cleaned after the mass,almost everyone else would hurriedly go home fast or go to downtown…without thinking i was alone cleaning everyone else’s mess…it was always me and my kids left after the mass….there was some money that time,i used to use to buy food and snack…some of my colleagues thought i used the money.how could i do that…yes. i had a problem before,but i managed to get out of it….we managed to get bakc to where we were before..and all the way.i didn’t ask for anyone’s help,because it was my problem,and i have to solve it….until they misinterpreted me….many still misinterpret me..kasi daw tactless ako…..kasi daw mayabang ako…hindi ako mayabang,i am just honest….

anyway…i agreed to have the leadership changed because i was hearing a lot of bad things about me…some below the belt…most were hurting… and i was hoping too to pass the responsibility to another person…i am always here to support… during the daance performance in kimje,i was there to support,kahit malayo yun…because i want my colleagues to feel my suport,that i am here…always …….as a sister.as a friend…..

hehehe,what shall i write here? just want to say that sometimes we get sick.like diarrhea…..it hinders me from going to work today…..i called my directress…..and then my husband……and went to the drugstore…..i told the druggist what my problem is,he gave me two sets of medicine( al-yak)….i have to take daw two capsules plus the one pouch of the other kind…well the two capsules are bearable..but the pouch of medicine……when i opened it.it smells like the "samjang"(the bottled korean drink given warm at drugstores)huhuhu…i hate the smell….sobrang nagsuffer ako pag-inom ng gamot na yun….mahigit yatang 20small tablets…..i tried not to breath while taking them..i  vomitted…..and then i took the rest in the pouch with my nose covered so i wouldn’t smell it…..grabe !!!!!ayoko na magka diarrhea!!!!!!!! buti pa sa pilipinas,isang diatabs lang okay na….dito sa korea,when you get sick,and you are an adult….you take at least 4 or 5 tablets/capsules one time x 3…..kakasuka pa naman amoy at lasa…….

well, when did i last write here? can’t remember.i just can’t remember exactly when….but anyways……here i am again….

many things happened since i last posted here..i am still working,a little harder i should say……my kids are growing.i mean our children…Summer vacation is only about 3 weeks away……i can again drive to the beach during my one-week vacation…maybe one saturday when there isn’t any work to do….we will go there to collect shells…..the kids enjoy it….we will take with us our tent where we can take a rest and lie down inside while the kids are playing,but if only the kids and i are going i can’t really rest.my kids love the sea and water so i must take a close look at them especially my boy ,that’s why whenever we go for a drive i dont forget to bring towels and clothes for them,and some water in the jug or plastic container….for them to use for rinsing their body.the running water in the beach is too cold….

the fresh sea shells are very delicious,fresh and newly cooked,we only use toothpick to get the flesh inside….sometimes i would drive to the beaach just to buy shells worth 6,000wons,,,especially when my daughter requests for it.it’s a long drive.about an hour and a half….but i dont care as long as the kids are happy…when we went to pusan.(my family) last year , it took us one whole day to go and come back home…we went to the aquarium there,had some lunch,watched some shows….i didnt enjoy well but i have/we have to bear with the kids…we were once kids too and we should understand…..

i guess i am running out of things to write…..i like to write…but i’d like to write my own ideas not a copied one….goodnight

this morning(sunday dec 17) we had the first heavy snowfall of this winter…as soon as i got up,i took pictures of the heavy snowfall outside….my kids didnt have to go to school. they slept till around 9am..that’s why they like not to go to school.they can sleep as long as they want as much as they want to…as i was downloading the pictures i just had taken , my son approached me and asked what i was doing, he saw the pix.and hurriedly reported to his sister…they changed clothes,looked for their mittens, mufflers and winter hats….they said they wanted to play in the snow but i wouldnt let them go alone…i felt lazy going out..honestly speaking,vene if winter is so beautiful. i dont really like it, having brought up in a tropical country. i really can’t appreciate winter…

my kids sensed that i didnt want to play with them, so they asked me if they could go to the rooftop instead….only two of them played there….they enjoyed making their firs snowman together ever….they now appreciate winter….they made two snowmen….they fell on the floor many times…but they enjoyed anyway…having spent the time together…alone as siblings.as kids….

It’s a blessing to have children…me and my husband are so lucky to have kids like ours….

my daughter last night asked me if she could also go to the military service, when i asked why, she answered like "because my brother is going there and i’m worried about him".i was of course touched by her concern for her little brother.she added that she loves him very much and he’s young and someone might beat him,and she wants to defend her. i guess my kids are well brought up, and i hope they don’t change. my son is super kulit,and noisy opposite of my daughter who is really quiet,and enjoys her hobby alone,..that’s drawing.she wants to be an artist….my son wants to be a policeman,

my daughter would asks me to teah her to cook,because she wants to learn daw the way i cook….masarap daw kasi magluto si mommy, actually when we go someone else’s house, they wouldn’t eat, they would ask me first who cooked the food.and then comes the comparison.

my kids are so sweet, they would volunteer to massage my back or my hands when they see i feel tired.ang sarap talaga ng may anak.