My Pupils

The past five months I have been teaching English to Korean students and loving it. This is just one more crazy thing that I never thought I would do in life. Lately I have been teaching five days a week for 1-3 hours a day. My most challenging and yet very rewarding class is my little ones. I have four little Korean students aged 6, 7, 7, & 8. They are absolute fireballs, but a real joy to work with...most days.

In Korea they count their age as one year in the womb and the days on earth. Therefore, when I asked them the first time how old they were they said here in India or in Korea. They are 7 in Korea, but 6 in India. I was so confused I had a chat with their moms after class and sure enough even though they only spend 9 months in the womb they celebrate their first birthday at birth. Anyways, here are pictures of me teaching the little ones. In addition to this class three times a week I also work with several teenage girls and one 40 something man who is a VP of a Korean company. The question is what will I do next?

Delhi Forecast: SMOKE

A normal weather forecast would read sunny, partly cloudy, rain, snow, chance of rain, or freezing rain. In Delhi the forecast for the last month has been reading "SMOKE." I literally laughed out loud the first day I noticed this on the Marriot Hotel weather board, but as I spoke with a few others I quickly realized that this is reality and not a joke. The forecast is Smoke.

Adventure Day

Tuesday I organized "Adventure Day" through our local Gurgaon expat group in an effort to introduce people to the freedom of riding the metro. We met up at 10 AM and road the metro for one hour into the heart of downtown Delhi where we then visited several local shopping markets, had lunch at McDonald's, and rode back. It ended up being an all woman's group of shoppers who really had a fun day. Everyone was impressed with the Metro train and we are planning future adventure trips in February and March. Yet another thing that I never thought I would do in life...be a tour guide through downtown Delhi, India. I'm adding this one to my resume!

Our Heat Source

Today I am sitting and reflecting back on last December. We had been in India for 3 months and were not expecting it to get so cold in our apartment. When we packed our one bag in September we didn't think about winter gear as that takes up space and more importantly weight in a 23 kg suitcase. I remember sitting in our old apartment on the top floor in 2-3 layers of clothing with my small gloves on while trying to type and study German. I would turn our toaster oven on for a heat source and only shower during the heat of the day. I was trying to be a strong South Dakotan and not complain about the chill in the air to my husband. There were already enough other things to complain about just being new to India.
We left for Christmas and then I went back to the U.S. to get a new visa during which Ben finally broke down and bought "our only heat source." The DeLonghi 2000W from Italy, which costs over $50 is now our little life safer. This year we pulled it out early and use it mostly in the mornings in the bathroom and in the evenings once the sun goes down. It heats our one bedroom apartment quite quickly, but is turned off while we are sleeping. Therefore, I still sleep in 2-3 layers at night underneath a sheet, comforter, blanket, and top cover. It is brisk here in the evenings. I'm quite embarrassed to say that the daytime temperature is 23 degrees C=73 degrees F however I still walk around in a polar fleece as that is cool after the summer being 117. Germany is currently around -2 C=28 F. It is unusually cool for them at the moment and we are hoping it warms up a bit before we arrive, otherwise I will be in front of the wood burning stove for a month. It is amazing how quickly a person turns into a complete pansey!