3 things

3 things made my day extraordinary today:

1) One of my 5th grade students dropped by my classroom after lunch and gave me a small packet full of a powdery substance. She told me it was for my voice (I sort of lost my voice yesterday, you know, screaming at all the children) and so I thought it was one of those vitamin C powder packets that my students have given me before (they're all about the gifts in Korea). I opened it, dumped it in my mouth, and suddenly I felt a strange sensation on my tongue and loud popping noises erupted from my mouth.

Yes - it was Vitamin C Pop Rocks.

For the record, I find this to be the best invention since the wheel. If it were up to me, I would personally award the Nobel Peace Prize to the inventor of such a monumental asset to society. They should make all vitamins in Pop Rocks form; I mean, how healthy would our kids be?!? Moving on...

2) I purchased a drink out of a vending machine at the subway station as I was heading home from Bible Study, as is customary for me. I studied the vending machine, trying to make out just what exactly it contained. There were the regulars - cans of coffee, Chilsung Cider (think Sprite, but better), Coke, assorted juices, aloe vera juice (GROSS), something called "Nostalgia Juice" (which I can only imagine tastes like warm, fuzzy memories of chestnuts roasting on an open fire) - and then I spotted a bottle with a peach picture on it. Now, peach juice sounded really good at the time, so I put my coins in and retrieved the beverage. I took a sip and suddenly realized -

There were chunks in it. Now, when you crack open a bottle of juice, I don't care what kind of juice, you may expect pulp, you may expect a thick, fresh fruity consistency, but my friend, you do not expect chunks. These chunks were righteously-sized too, and I was thankful I hadn't choked on them before I knew what hit me. They were just chunks of peaches, and actually the drink turned out to be quite refreshing, after the initial shock wore off, of course. And finally...

3) As some of you know, ever since I took listening tests in Spanish I in middle school, it has been my lifelong dream to be the voice of narration on foreign language audio tapes. Now, this may seem like a strange dream to have, but you wouldn't believe how many times I was told that I'd be perfect for this job. And today, I got my chance.

Hyun asked me if I would help her make a listening test for the 3rd graders ("I like apples. Do you like apples? No, I like grapes."). So we made an entire unit review test for them, and just as I had imagined for so many years, I rocked. I mean, the tone, the inflection, the rhythm - it was all there, flowing in an intricate pattern of nouns and verbs so poetic that Lord Byron himself wept from beyond the grave.

Okay, that's it. Quite a notable day, wouldn't you say? :)

Jess