McKenzie- Tutoring- 6

For tutoring today Abby and I went to the Tallahassee Flea Market. I had never been there and neither had she. She said there used to be many markets like it in Korea, but now there are only big stores like Wal-Mart. We mostly just talked for the full hour while we shopped and I learned a lot about her. I didn’t realize, for example, that she is going to be in Tallahassee for five years! She is from Seoul, but really likes the small town charm of Tallahassee because she says the people here are more friendly. She used to teach Korean back in Korea but has given it up to be a housewife because she and her husband have a two year old son. Her son goes to preschool twice a week, but cries so much because he doesn’t understand English that she has to pick him up early from daycare because the teachers can’t handle him.

She told me she has mostly Korean friends here, and it reminded me of being in Ecuador. I made a lot of Ecuadorian friends, but for the most part I hung out with other volunteers who spoke English. It’s funny how we move abroad only to hang out with people from our native country.

In the end, I bought a baking dish and some fresh sweet potatoes. Abby found a toy fishing set for her son. She was nervous about using coins because she says although she has been here a year, she rarely uses them and hasn’t figured it out yet. I helped her count out fifty cents when she needed to pay $2.50 for the toy. We decided to meet next week at Black Dog Café instead of the library because we both think the library is a little stuffy sometimes and we don’t feel like we can do too many speaking activities without insulting someone nearby.