Helen in Korea

Cycling, cyling and more cycling!

2009-09-28T21:07:00.002+09:00

My weekend was spent in Chuncheon (1hr east of seoul on a bus) mostly sat on the saddle of my little bicycle. A friend from climbing got himself a road bike last week and as we are off climbing at Seoraksan National park at the end of this week, we decided that we would do a cycle to from where he lives in Chuncheon to the park. It is an estimated 120km so we thought it would be a good idea to see how the bike felt!

Chuncheon is a smallish town set by a lake and surrounded by lots of mountains. The roads are very good and quiet too, so it is perfect for a long ride. As usual, pictures to come! We set off on a loop around the lake, up and over the mountain cycling through some stunning scenery, stopped off to see a temple and made it back after 86km. There was one MEGA hill where I thought it would never end, however when I did make it the top, it was a satisfying feeling! On the way we took a ferry to cross one section of the river and encountered a snake which had been run over but was still alive (we put it out its misery) - we stopped for this half way up the hill for this... always a good excuse to have a rest!

Managed to get some wakeboarding in on Sunday. It was very different to wakeboarding at Cheongpyeong as there is NO traffic on the lake.... So smooth!! I had a bit of a suprise when I got back in and then realised the driver was just a little bit tiddly lol!! Good ol' Korea for you :)

Back to Seoul and off to the Drum Festival. This was fantastic. There were performers from Korea, Peru and Mexico and I now want to learn how to play the drums! :) Thoroughly enjoyed it.

Some good news about the teaching teachers - I am not teaching them how to teach at all!! All the teachers don't teach English, they just want to learn more English :) So, it is just like my parents class and there are only 12 people in the class. I was relieved when I figured that one out! ! We've had some good classes so far. There are three of us teaching: a girl I am working with temporarily and a bloke (who neither me and and the other girl particularly like...) I teach the middle group, my friend the lower group and the bloke the higher group. I think we'll have a fun few weeks with them!

This coming weekend is Chuseok - Korea's thanksgiving holiday. So, we have Thursday to Monday off work. Much needed!! We were given a present from school today to celebrate this holiday - a lovely gift package with different types of oils, spices and honey. I had the sesame seed oil mixed with soy sauce with dinner tonight - lovely. Because it is such an important holiday, everyone goes home to their families. Which means that the roads are blocked with traffic and a journey that usually takes 3hrs can take up to 9hrs. This is one reason I am relying on my bike for transport!! Apparently Seroaksan is fairly quiet hence why we've decided to go there for the break. There will be about 20 of us going to get some climbing in. Seoraksan is supposed to be one of the most beautiful places to see in Korea, and with autumn coming, the colours will hopefully be turning.

I am lucky enough to only be teaching today and tomorrow - Wednesday is lesson planning day this week. Off to Chuncheon Wednesday night and on my saddle Thursday morning to hopefully arrive at Seoraksan early afternoon.. Wish me luck!

Some photos...

2009-09-12T11:45:00.010+09:00

View to street from my window on a rainy night:

A flower at school after the rain:

Some entertaining work done by the kids :)

This is the way to shift flowers around :) Motorbikes here are fully ladened with anything and everything. This one doens't have much on it - I will have to take a picture of one which looks like it shouldn't be able to stay vertical.

The eclipse:

Drying chillies:

Me and my boss Jenny shopping for blankets in my first week in Seoul.! I think I got the only blanket not covered in 'pretty' flowers :)

Back to the PCbang!

2009-09-12T10:29:00.014+09:00

It's Saturday morning, it's raining outside and it smells of the rain at home! The weather is changing and the mornings and evenings are now quite chilly, but the sun has been shining most days. It's still flip flop and shorts weather :) I think this is the longest time i've been able to leave the house not even thinking about a whether or not I need a jumper, an umbrella etc since I left Kenya. It's been nearly 4 months! Brilliant! I could get used to this ;) (the winter is supposed to be unbelievably cold though... apparently if you go hiking, you aren't allowed through the gates if you don't have crampons!)

The last month has been a busy one. I've had to write tests for all my kids, then get all the marking done and write reports on them too. The reports was the hardest bit because I don't really know the kids well enough - i'd only taught one lesson to some of them at the time so I ended up just writing reports for the kids i'd had more teaching time with.

It's now the new term, lots of new students in. We had James' leaving do last night (hence why I am sat here now rather than doing anything too active! Ha ha!). Shame he is going but luckily he is only leaving the school after his year contract and not Korea. He has a one month old baby - beautiful girl! - so is taking some time out to spend with the family. We did have a new teacher supposed to be arriving next week but he wrote us an email two days ago to say he wasn't coming.... Arggghgh! I now have to cover all of James' lessons including his extra ones and start teaching new material from Monday onwards - makes for a fun weekend preparing! And some longer days too... My boss will be taking over some of my lessons and we'll just have to split the workload until we get someone new... Hey ho.

I've been asked to take a training course - when I say take it, I mean teach it. There will be about 200 local and foreign (I still hate that word!) elementary teachers taking a teachers training course over a 13week period. Eeeek! I'm a new teacher and some people on the course will have been teaching for a lot longer than me... They are all teachers in the area who will come in for 2hour long lessons. I think it is 3 times a week that I have to do it. Luckily a friend of mine does the same thing as a full time job at a university so he's going to give me hand with everything... I am being paid extra to do this so that's definitely a bonus!

hmmmm, think it'll be a long couple of weeks to Christmas! Or, it'll fly because it is so busy. Who knows?!

I've joined a cricket team called Pacific Storm. There is a league with 10 teams - each team is generally made up of people from the same country e.g. Australia, Korea, Pakistan, New Zealand, India, England.. Our team is however a good ol' mix :) We have Koreans, Americans, Canadians, Australians, Pakistanis and Indians. We also have the only girls in the league :) Me, and a Korean woman who is completely new to cricket! It has been great fun so far :) We beat the Pakistani team who were runner's up last year and have a cricket's 6s tournament coming up in 2 weeks to look forward to.

The pitch at SKK University:

Pacific Storm with some players from the Pakistani team taken after the match.

Went on a really good climbing trip last weekend. Absolutely fantastic!! It was my first real climb on rocks and I was really chuffed with my climbs :) I even managed a small overhang! On these weekends there are usually about 10 people who go, but for some reason, more and more people kept arriving! It was a few people's birthdays, and there was nearly 40 of us celebrating at the campsite on Saturday night! The place we went to is called Ganhyun and it's about 1.5hrs east of Seoul. Beautiful place. The rockface is just by the river and the river is so clear you can see straight to the bottom of it. We had a few swims inbetween climbs to cool off. There was also sand on the river shore so that was the tents went up :) Here are some piccies!

The view from the tent:

The first climb:

The view from the top of my second climb:

Third and last climb - coming up to the overhang:

Navigating the overhang...

Whoop!! I did it! near the top!

The train ride back:

Am still managing the hikes and rides before work in the morning. I have also found a POOL!! Extremely happy about the find, however... it is extremely busy. And its a half an hour away which isn't great.... But, I can still get there and back before 9am and it's just good to get in the water again.

Only a few more chances to go to the lake to wakeboard before it gets too cold. My good mate Victoria is coming up from Gunsan tonight and we are heading out there tomorrow. One of the blokes from climbing lives very close to the lake so he is going to join us too.

And that is me for now! Will put up some random pictures in a minute. Then, i'm off to cricket training :)

Bye for now!

New city, new school, new home and some travel!

2009-08-05T00:21:00.002+09:00

It has been a while! Unfortunately I cannot access my blog from my work computer and as my laptop has died on me, I cannot access it from home either! Am currently sat in a PCbang - internet cafe- down the road from my NEW HOME!

Since last time....

I have finally moved to Seoul and got a new job! And it is fantastic!! Seoul has all the things I was missing not having in Gunsan - the music, culture etc. BUT, I am lucky enough to live in a quiet area of the city and have Mt Bukhansan a 15min cycle away from my doorstep! And I am now only an hour away from my beloved Lake Cheongpyeong too!! Getting out of the city is extremely easy and I managed to make it right down to the south of the country on a direct bus in under 4hrs.

School couldn't be better. I work with some lovely people, the whole system is far better organised and the kids are great. It is more work than where I was before and it feels great to actually have to plan lessons and be productive during the day. We are now on holiday at the moment so all has been a bit quiet, and this week in particular we have been allowed to take a week off.

My new flat is brilliant! It is so good to have my own space and not be surrounded by kids ALL the time. It is just round the corner from work which is handy too - especially in the winter when (i've been told) it gets extremely chilly.

Apart from the new start :) Well, i've had lots of visitors already, mostly from Gunsan, and have taken them out on the town in Seoul. I think I had 6 people round on my first weekend! :) A mini housewarming! I've been doing a lot of hiking and cycling too and have just got back from Japan.

I went over to Kyoto and stayed with a friend I used to work with in London. Met up with another friend too - the three of us used to work in the same building! It was a lovely 5 days. I took my bike over with me and spent my days cycling around Kyoto sight-seeing. It is the definitely the best way to get around. Kyoto has a well laid out bike system and I have NEVER seen so many bikes in my life!! EVERYONE owns a bicycle!! Managed to get around lots of temples and shrines including Kinkakuji temple - beautiful. Next time i'm over it will be to climb Mt Fuji :)

Now, to relax at the lake tomorrow and get some more wakeboarding in, then head down South to do some cycling before going climbing this weekend.

Then.... to the start of my year long contract at my new school :)

Pictures to come when I can figure out how to put them up!

Mud glorious mud!

2009-07-13T00:58:00.003+09:00

It is strange to be leaving Gunsan after such a short time, however it feels like I have been here for months on end and I know that I will keep in touch with everyone. Had a get together on Friday night to see everyone for one more night out here. We had a few drinks in a bar then moved on to where we always end up - the noraebang (karaoke for those who don't know)!! It's always a good laugh and after singing for about 3hours, we called it a night ready for the fun packed weekend ahead.

MUD FESTIVAL!! Yes, this is where we spent the weekend :) Covered in MUD. And it was brilliant! The first thing you have to do, is put ALL your belongings in a locker before you get thrown in a mud bath with them, the next thing is to go to the 'self-massage' area and pour mud all over yourself and third thing is to have lots of fun doing it!! Managed to swim in the Yellow sea too which was amazing. It was the first time I have been fully submerged in water in nearly 3 months - great feeling. I also had my first jinjibang experience - this is a public showers type affair where you can have a hot shower, bath, sauna, body scrub etc for the price of about 2 quid and they are all over the place. A lot of people go once a week as it is so relaxing. It all gets very close and personal as it is all communal so for those who aren't too keen to strutt your stuff naked in public and have random women scrub your back for you, this may not be the thing for you! And if you are a man with hairy arms or legs, be prepared for the Korean men to pull them while they are sitting next to you starkers as it's not something they see very often!

So, Victoria, Tara and I had our showers, got all the mud off us, then got some food. We had clams and beef bulgogi (hard to describe but it is beef cooked as if in a stew but without all the liquid. It's very tasty). A drumming and singing performance was layed on followed by fireworks, after which we made our way to a club to cut some shapes on the dance floor. Was great to be able to dance whenever you want to rather than having the dance floor manned by the dj. The beers in there were \10000 (about 5 quid each) so we were cheap and didn't drink! I guess that most business down there make most of their revenue over this one week period. It's a very quiet town on a normal day.

Breakfast was a very non-Korean breakfast. The first in a long time! Toast with jam then pancakes with lemon and sugar! Tasty! Stayed with a friend at her mate's house and there were about 10 of us there having brekkie together - most South Africans. I was going to head back to the festival but it was tipping it down (the sort of rain you get soaked through in after 5 secs in it) so decided to come back to Gunsan.

All packed and ready to go for my new start in Seoul. Looking forward to it!

Photos to come tomorrow.

A week on a bus and a job to go to!

2009-07-10T16:10:00.011+09:00

So this week I have spent every single day on a bus..... Monday I was on the bus from 9:30am - 5pm.. Gunsan - Gimhae - Gyeongju. Because the school I was visiting had nowhere to put me up, I ended up getting on another bus to stay with a friend of a friends in Daegu. Lovely lovely girl called Hannah - she climbs with a friend of mine in Gunsan and is from near Bristol in the UK. It's always nice to chat to someone with a British accent rather than an American/Canadian accent - there aren't many around in Korea.

On the way to Gimhae:

In gimhae:

Bus stop in Gimhae:

Gimhae:

Leaving Gimhae:

Got back to Gunsan on Tuesday via Jeonju in time for Matthew's birthday dinner in lovely Italian restaurant. Had ricotta and spinach ravioli - yummy!!

Between Daegu and Jeonju:

Matty's birthday dinner:

Set off to Seoul for my interview on Wednesday. Was a good day. Unlike Monday where they thought I was going there to work straightaway, I had a proper interview and also had to teach 2 x 80min classes with no preparation so they could see how I teach. So, I got the job! Woohoo!! I am very happy about this :) The school is a public elementary school in Bomun - dong, Seoul. This means that I am technically employed by the government and so shouldn't have any of the problems I had at my last job. I also have my own apartment (finally!) which is in walking distance from the school. I move in to it in a week and it is nice a spacious for me on my own. There is one other foreign teacher called James. He is from High Wickham and he seems like a nice guy. He is quite well settled in Korea (been here neraly 2 yrs I think and has a Korean girlfriend) and I get the distinct impression he does not want to have to baby sit me. So, will try my best to not get in his way!!

Met the headteacher and he is very keen on his sport - have been asked if I would be willing to help out with sports stuff and I my reaction was "yes, yes, yes"!!!! Apparently there are volleyball tournaments between teachers at different schools so will getting involved in that :) There is a music room next to the English centre so maybe I can also get time to practice my violin and piano.. I hope.

My new coteacher is interesting.... I'm not allowed to go to Itaewon (lots of US air force guys there) because I will become a drug and alcohol addict. I am not allowed to meet with foreigners because again, I will become an alcoholic and I will also catch swine flu. Do I have a boyfriend? How much do you drink? And it went on and on.... CRAZY!!!!! She then proceeded to tell me that I have to be able to drink because the head teachers likes to go out with the teachers once in a while... Hmmm, I think I will have to avoid telling her about what I do in my spare time!! Or just say I stay at home reading books day in day out...

Got back to Gunsan yesterday and met up with Victoria, Jamie and Josh. It was like going on a double date! Very good fun as we played that line up the whole night - played doubles in pool and had little "domestics" between us as if we had been going out for years. All good fun and yes, childish!

It's my last day in Gunsan and haven't actually done very much... Need to get my documents together for Monday and get stuff packed for the week. Meeting up with a few friends later on. will be sad to be leaving here....

Tomorrow is MUDFEST!! Cannot wait! It's a festival on Boryeong beach (about an hour north of Gunsan). Click here to find out a bit more about it. It looks like good fun and anyone I know who has been says it is not one to be missed.

Oh, and guess what I found in Gunsan last night!! A little Kenyan coffee shop! I was so shocked!!

I'm sure there will be lots of pictures from the weekend to come!!

Jeonju and July 4th celebrations

2009-07-06T19:37:00.006+09:00

On Friday I ventured off to Jeonju with the lads. Jeonju is about an hour away from Gunsan so is very easy to get too. We had the most amazing dinner ever!! Lots and lots of meat and garlic :)

Me, Dan, Josh and Josh

After this we found the 'foreigner' bar and where we discovered the poker set. Played a good round, had a few beers and then went clubbing - the most interesting clubbing experience I have ever had!!! Going for a dance in a club is not as easy as it sounds.... You are only allowed to go to the dance floor when the dj allocates 'dancing time' because inbetween 'dancing times' you have to have 'social time' - this is where the dancefloor disperses and everyone heads back to their tables for forced 'social time'!! You then have to wait for the next time the dj thinks you are able to dance again. Toooo funny!!

All in all it was a good night, we had some really good fried chicken before we headed back to Gunsan on the first morning bus.

A few of us were invited to the US air base to celebrated July 4th. Was really good fun!! A great bunch of people, some good chat and a nice early night to top it off with!

Edwin, Laura, Jocelyn and me on base.

'Shotgunning' the beer!

I am currently sat in Gyeongju where I thought I had an interview for a job - in fact, they thought that I had already taken the job and was coming here today permanently!! The language barrier can definitely cause a few mix ups over here!! It's a lovely city and is very well known for its history and outdoor activities. It is a little out the way though and more difficult to travel within Korea in comparision to where I currently am in Gunsan. I head to Daegu to stay with someone there tonight and then back to Gunsan tomorrow. Off to Seoul on Wednesday for my other interview and then it is decision making time!!

A move in Korea

2009-07-03T15:35:00.002+09:00

So, unfortunately all things ended at my current schools, however due to the circumstances, my employer has been extremely helpful and is writing me references and actively helping find a new job. Glad it's ended on up between us. Have already had 3 jobs suggested and the good thing is I can go and meet the directors, see the school and the set up before I sign any papers. So, next week will be spent at interviews and then when i've decided where to work, I will go on a short holiday outside of Korea and then come back to a new start. A long and difficult week but it has ended well.

Not much else has happened this week. I have been doing 20+km cycles every morning and seeing new parts of the city. Some beautiful places. Especially down by the sea.

We celebrated Canada day on Wednesay night - all dressed up in red and white with lots of balloons and flyers. Good fun :) Tomorrow, a few of us have been invited to the US air base to celebrate July 4th with them. It will be the first time i've actually been on base - looking forward to the bbqs, swimming and fireworks. Sunday is supposed to be my cycle with the man from the bike shop - I have to meet him at 6am to start so will have to keep it low key on Saturday! I hope I have got the date right and it is not next weekend! Wish me luck - its over 100km!! Eeeek!

Till next time...

Sun, sleep and snakes

2009-06-24T22:56:00.014+09:00

Monday was a difficult day to get through. After getting almost no sleep because of the kids, I finished work, rushed home, had a shower, got into my pjs, made dinner and hid out in my bedroom. Managed to have myself locked in my room from 8:15pm with a "do not disturb" sign on my door (in Korean). What an evening of peace and quiet!!

Have been getting on my bike lots already. This morning I went for a cycle to investigate a different part of the city that I have never been in. Well, more like the outskirts of the city. It was beautiful. A lovely day - sunny and blue skies - and had plenty of time before work. I stopped to take a picture, turned around to walk back a little and what did I find?!! A snake!!! I jumped out of my skin!! It's the first snake I have seen and people here don't mention them so wasn't expecting to see it! Me being me (after a few pokes to make sure it was actually dead) thought I would take a photo and went to get a stick for no particular reason. And guess what?! Yes, I found ANOTHER snake!!

Eventually found my way to where I was planning to go - a little place which looked like it would have some good views on to the river. It was gorgeous. And so quiet too. One thing Gunsan seems to have is some sort of noise going at any time of the day or night. So, complete silence is extremely rare.

Jo came round earlier to pick me up - we were going to help Jocelyn get her phone - and she looked at the sign on the door (the do not disturb sign) only to tell me that I had put it on upside down!! ha ha! Classic!

Tomorrow night, we are going to say our final goodbyes to Ryan who heads back to SA on Saturday then get ready for what I hope will be an immense weekend!

Anywho, here are the pictures :)

The rain is on its way

2009-06-22T15:18:00.003+09:00

It is very very muggy in Gunsan at the moment. We had a torrential downpour on Saturday, a clear and very hot yesterday and it's now cooler and threatening to rain today. It's supposed to be 2 months of heat, humidity and rain.

Had my first weekend in Gunsan. Didn't get up to much apart from meeting up with people and going out. There isn't much more to do in the town itself. A lot better and cheaper to see somewhere new!

The children in the flat were being overly in my face on the weekend. Woken up both Saturday and Sunday morning by them for a start. Saturday I forgot to lock my door so they just walked in and woke me up. Sunday, I locked my door but the cheeky brats weren't having any of that so actually broke the lock from the outside to get into my room. Then found it funny to repeatedly slam open the door and run away. So, actually spent the weekend avoiding the flat including having to have to go to a friend's yesterday morning to just brush my teeth as I couldn't even get into my bathroom. Started off a little tender this morning!

Did go for a cycle though on my new bike. It is lovely. And so good to be able to cycle everywhere instead of having to get a taxi. The triathlon trainig begins!

Not much on this week. Will be having a quiet one and looking forward to my birthday weekend. Wakeboarding at Cheongpyeonh lake and a night away in the hills with a bunch of friends. Cannot wait.

Ginger beer, West African food and great company

2009-06-19T03:04:00.003+09:00

So, I'm wondering where I will be able to find all of the above in Korea?! Seoul?! I doubt it. Back to London?! Mr H - any ideas? And if you found it all with some sea and sand, send it this way. Missing it immensely!

One of the blokes finishes his contract next week and is back to S. Africa. He's very sad about the whole thing but is looking forward to going home, and to other familiar surroundings. He can't believe it's been a year. Am sure time will fly!!!

Up bright and early in the morning to Daejeon in search of a bicycle. Have signed up to a triathlon so really need to start some training! Wish me luck! Missing out on a brilliant cycle in London tomorrow with Lucy so fingers crossed she finds a perfect outfit and takes some good photos. I think three of us might replicate the cycle here in Gunsan. Dressing up, bicycles and good humour!

Need to get higher for the view!

2009-06-17T05:05:00.005+09:00

At the top of Mt Seonunsan (not Seoraksan as I mentioned!)

A weekend of celebrations and hiking

2009-06-16T15:20:00.002+09:00

Again, another brilliant weeked after an ok week.

Finally feel like i'm getting through to the kids and it is a fantastic feeling. Great to have the support for new ideas from some teachers although others want to stick strictly to the set book... A bit dull for the kids in my eyes but I can teach my classes how I want to so I'm not complaining :)

It was two of the girls' birthday on the weekend so about 15 of us went up to Mt Seonunsan Provincial Park. Absolutely beautiful. It was so good to be out in the open in the mountains, no sound of cars, screaming kids or music etc. Just long walks, fresh air and some great views.

We arrived at about 3pm on Saturday afternoon and three of us went for a hike. Took 4hours and we headed up to to one of the peaks via some Buddist temples and other cultural landmarks. Met everyone later for some bbqd eel (I did taste it!!), beer and soju then we went to a park and had a mini firework display. Set off for another hike on Sunday with one of the girls - was going to be a short walk but we ended up going for nearly 6 hours! Fascinating though and after my comment earlier on in the day of "the scenery is similar throughout this park", we found ourselves walking through thick green forest and rivers - huge contrast to the wide open rocky scenery and dry sparse trees. Did lots of small climbs and am slowly overcoming my fear of heights! Some very steep drops but managed not to freeeze :)

Made it back to Gunsan on the last bus after a tasty pizza. Ready for the next weekend!

Gochang

2009-06-15T15:23:00.019+09:00

The are where Mt Seonunsan Provincial Park is situated.

Water skiing photos!

2009-06-15T14:10:00.017+09:00

Photos of water skiing with Louise on the manmade Cheongpyeong Lake

Seongbuk Station, Seoul:

A busy train:

Gapyeong Station:

Cheongpyeong Lake:

Learning how to water ski!

First time on the water:

I learn how to stand up!

Korean trains:

Hwaseong Fortress - Suwon

2009-06-15T13:11:00.014+09:00

Some photos of Hwaseong Fortress in Suwon. It is a UNESCO world cultural heritage site.

Looking over Suwon:

This man is a "captain". The colour the captains wear signify North (black), South (white), East (red) and West (blue). The flags dotted around the fortress also have these colours.

North:

A round up!

2009-06-09T23:37:00.003+09:00

Although so much has happened since my last blog, I will have to keep this short - the action has left me exhausted!!

Water skiing on Saturday - absolutely fantastic!!!!!!!! What a day!! Took a few falls, but could stand up in the end :) It was so good that the plan for my birthday weekend is to go back up there but with a group of about 10 of us and stay in a cottage there overnight. This time, will be trying wakeboarding instead :)

Met up with another English teacher in Suwon and on Sunday we went to Hwaseong Fortress (UNESCO world cultural heritage site). Beautiful place. Gary and I had a good walk (it's just over 5kms long), had a go at the archery and then I got back to Gunsan late on Sunday night.

Friday: told my director what I thought about her comment (not wanting me to tell the kids that i'm from Kenya). Very straightforward from my side - if she has a problem, I leave. VERY simple for me. Turns out she made the mistake of not reading my CV and telling the parents that I was from the UK (which is in part true), so they think she lied to them when their kids go home and say i'm from Kenya. The parents have this image in their mind of my English being terrible because i'm from Kenya (absolute b*llocks but neither I or her can change that). So, she wants me to lie to the kids, go back and tell them I am only from the UK in order to clear her name. Unfortunately for her, I won't lie to the kids. Having made that clear she know that I will continue to be honest with the children and it is her problem to sort out.

Today - no problems with the above at all. But still no schedule. 3 weeks in. Again, I made a fuss. Nothing happens here unless you make a big deal out of it. Really frustrating to have to make a fuss but it's the only way! Hey presto! Instead of my schedule waiting till next week (what she told me last week and also what she said to me before I made a fuss) the schedule has been done within minutes.

Back there again tomorrow so will see if the schedule is actually right.

Had a look in a bike shop today to see what I could find - saw a road bike and was over the moon!!!! Until I found out the it is the owners and every single other bike in there is a mountain bike. Bummer. Had a really good chat with the owner and he does lots of races. Told him was doing a triathlon in August which is why I need a bike and he offered to lend me his! lol! Said I need one to train with but thanks for the offer anyway :) He was quite impressed - cycling doesn't seem to a sport for women here.

Went to badminton tonight. There was a child who was probably only 2yrs old there. As soon as he saw me he just burst into tears!! EVERY time he looked at me!! Was hilarious! don't think he's ever seen a non-Korean before and was really scared. His dad came over holding him later to show I wasn't harmful and again, he wailed!! After about 45mins, watching me play badminton, and a push from his dad, he finally was able to look at me in awe without crying! :) He managed to wave at me but wouldn't take my hand - one step at a time! #

Hmmm, a bit longer than I thought it would be ;)

Photos to come in the morning

oooh, the nerve..

2009-06-04T20:04:00.002+09:00

So, the director at the school i'm having problems with had the NERVE to ask my other director to ask Jo, to tell me not to mention anything to do with being from Kenya. Cheeky f**k. (Excuse the language parents). That has COMPLETELY rubbed me down the wrong way. If she has a problem with it, I will move. And to put Jo in that position too?!?! She will get a shock from me at work tomorrow.

Arrgh.

Off to badminton. Poor shuttlecock it going to get it :)

An official Alien

2009-06-03T23:59:00.009+09:00

Whoop whoop! So, I am now an official Alien in South Korea! It took 2.5 weeks but I now have it!

Work has been frustrating. To cut a long story short, my hours still aren't sorted and one school is taking teachers off their current classes in order for me to teach. No-one knows what's going on so i've been sitting to the side and letting the current teachers get on with their jobs until the directors have got their acts together, sorted out the business side of things and sorted out what i'm supposed to be doing. I've told them that i will happily look for a job elsewhere (which would be a pain but probaby worth it) if they don't get their acts together ASAP. It would really leave them with problems so hope they do.

Thanks to mum (good name!) - I introduce Clive the cactus:

Badminton went well tonight. I "little excel"! - some pictures of me and Mrs Chae (the woman I live with) and the man who is coaching me (the club captain - very cool guy):

My new cactus

2009-06-03T01:23:00.002+09:00

I got myself a cactus today. It's lovely but I haven't found a name for it. I have decided it is male.... Yup, that's as far as I got. It's in a little orange pot and sits on my desk.

Schedule changed yet again.... Getting there slowly but surely :)

Immigration tomorrow and fingers crossed an Alien card and my passport ready for me.

Seoul

2009-06-01T11:51:00.026+09:00

At 9am on Saturday morning, I hopped on a bus bound for Seoul. It's only a 2.5hr journey and the bus takes you directly into the town so very easy. The subway system in Seoul is similar to that of London's so didn't have any problems finding my way around. The subway (I keep wanting to say tube!) map has prices on the lines from the centre so you know how much your fare is going to be each time. And instead of the ridiculous prices of £4 you'd pay in London for a single journey, it is only 1000won - 50p. Brilliant. They also have an oyster card system too, which saves you about 200won a journey. Not much when you put it into pence (10p!) but it saves having to keep bits of paper which are about 5cm x 2cm and you can also keep topping it up.

I had a list of things I wanted to do during the day and decided to start off with the Namsangol Hanok Village. Hopped on the subway to Chungmuro where the sightseeing began.

Cheonugak Plaza:

Queen Sunjeonghyo Yun's House:

Palaquin:

Me in the doorway looking touristy :)

Aristocracy:

After this I got on a bus to Namsan mountain where the N Seoul Tower is. After a strenuous 5min walk up a beast of a hill, I went up the tower to the observatory, took some piccies and then had a wander around. There was a great family atmosphere with lots of children running about and couples have a drink overlooking Seoul on their Sunday afternoon out. Around the edge of the seating area, is a barrier where there are THOUSANDS of locks locked onto it. An interesting idea and it looks quite cool!

N Seoul Tower:

Smoggy Seoul from the tower:

Keys:

Outside at N Seoul tower:

After having some candy floss and walking back down the hill (just as hard as walking up it!) I got back on the bus and then onto the subway towards Jogno-go to the Jongmyo Royal Shrine:

Just outside the Shrine (it is completely walled in) under the trees were hundreds of men sitting on strips of cardboard with make shift boards playing Chang-gi (the Korean equivalent of chess). They were all very serious and I don't think it's a place for women!! Definitely a man's game here :)

Next on my list was to go to Myeong Dong - this was in search of a bicycle shop but after walking around for nearly an hour and not finding it, I sat down to the most AMAZING meal - it was a meat restaurant. Mmmmmmmm, I am salivating at the thought of it!! Was given an apron to wear and a table that sits 4 people was covered in food for ME :)

Myeong Dong is a very popular shopping area and every shop is a high street name - Adidas, Mango, Ralph Lauren, Nike etc. On the outside edge of this area is City Hall where they had the ceremony for Mr Roh on Friday. Hundreds of riot police where about on Saturday as some troubles were still expected. All sat in straight lines like school children and not much action for them. Although there was a bit of running around:

Riot police:

Met up with some friends from Gunsan, Steve, Lindsey and Mark and we joined two others friends Josh and Jamie in Itaewon. We went to an Italian restaurant and the main reason for that choice was that it serves TEA! Proper English tea. Which was absolute heaven. They also had Guinness which put another smile on my face. I didn't eat after the monster of a meal I had already eaten, but food looked good :) We asked for bruschetta and were given melon, but everything else was right!

Then on to a bar which serves Kilkenny by the jug!! Another smile on my face!!!! Guinness and ale all in one evening!!! It was the final of the super 14s rugby and we went to a sports type pub for it. I could not believe my eyes when I walked in. Every single person in the bar was a foreigner. And it was packed full. Many were South African there for the match, but as we were with a New Zealander, we supported them in the final. They lost. Whoops!

The night went on and we got the bus back to Gunsan at 8:15. I had a relaxing afternoon and had a quick nap and then met up with 9 others at one the bloke's house on his roof. For some salsa lessons! Yes, salsa on the roof! It was great! We were separated into two - boys and girls - and learnt a few of the basic steps. Next lot of lessons next week :)

Eels, seaweed and a long week for the Koreans

2009-05-30T01:41:00.003+09:00

Sitting in Praha Bar last night, I looked across the road and found myself staring at a tank full or eels. And next to them, was a tank full of fish. And next to them, was another tank full of a different type of fish. On the side of the road with a large green net resting on top of the tanks, and the fish eagerly awaiting their next journey.... to a plate. Hmmmm. Fresh.

The funeral of the ex-president of South Korea, Mr Roh, took place today. He was moved from his home town near Busan (in the south) up to Seoul where there was a ceremony and then his cremation. The whole thing was shown live, including his coffin going into the furnace. All very detailed and i'm suprised they showed everything. Everyone was very sad today and even a few tears shed. Many not convinced that is was suicide. I was told that he is the first president of South Korea to have been cremated and it seems to be a pretty big thing that he was not buried. Something to do with the fact that he was now just a working man, not a president.

On a lighter note, watched Terminator Salvation tonight - action packed!! Took me a while to get into, but when I did... Oooh it was good. Although did notice 2 things - the 1st was the spelling of the word "judgement" in the opening lines. Checked that out as it was spelt "judgment" and of course, that is the 'American English' spelling of the word. The second, was on bit where "Connor's" boot gets taken off in a fight with a machine before he gets to a helicopter. They then show him on the other side of the helicopter with both boots on a few seconds later. Now how on earth did he manage to secretly pop across, pick up his shoe, put it on again and nobody notice it?!

M and Jo passing time before the movie tonight!

Had my first mosquito bit last night. And have spotted a few more flying about. Killed two, had one bite so it's 1-o to Helen!

LBT at the gym tonight and everyone (only 5 in class today) was in fits laughing when we were doing the stretching. We were paired up and had to sit opposite one another with toes touching. And grab each others hands. This made for great entertainment when all the Koreans can touch their toes plus a bit more, and leggy Helen can barely get down past her knees!!! Then having to push against each others feet facing one another and puts legs up in the air - again, handy if you've got similar length legs to push off one another, so I had to move back far enough so that our feet touched! Instead of forming a 45 degree angle it was more like a 90degree angle with one side much longer that the other :) So, all giggling because it was little and large :) It was funny at the time ;)

2 kids were extremely naughty today. So had to give them a MAJOR telling off. One of them cried 3 times. Oh well, hopefully he'll learn but I reckon he'll have forgotten the whole thing by Monday.

Off to Seoul in the morning. Whoop whoop! And Jo has lent me her camera so will be able to take some piccies :)

Interesting bits and bobs

2009-05-26T23:25:00.003+09:00

Am sure I will keep updating this!

U-turns in the middle of the road are legal
Blacked out windows in most cars
Washing hung out to dry on the sidewalk
Women covering their faces completely and wearing huge hats to all you can vaguely see is their eyes
Mobiles ringing all the time and picked up mid conversation or in a meeting
Sat navs turned on in cars as soon as the engine is turned on

These bikes are made for foreigners!

2009-05-26T23:13:00.002+09:00

Ha ha! Ok, so Jo and I went to a spinning class this evening. They've just got some new bikes in so this was the first time they had been used. We spent quite a while adjusting the seat, handlebars etc... and then got going. I've always been a bit wary about spinning due to silly pains in my knees, but they were fine throughout! The flashing lights were going, dance music pumping and the instructor really going for it! He got us all shouting "huuh" at different parts of the music :) We might as well have been in a disco!!

So again, there was a lot of giggling going on in the class and before we started it was a mixture of giggling and commenting. I found out why later! All the seats on the bikes are TOO TALL for the Korean women lol!!! They said that the bikes were made for foreigners as they couldn't reach the pedals properly, even at the lowest height!! ha ha! So there I am putting the bike seat up proving their point! The instructor said that they are going to saw all the seats tomorrow so that they are the right height for the class. How funny is that?!

This morning I picked up my health check stuff from the hospital - all good and she apologised for messing up. Went to immigration and it will now take a week to get my Alien card.. Another week to wait to get my own phone, bank account etc but nothing can be done about that.

Was told that my classes for the day were cancelled (these are the classes in the different province at the school I don't particularly like) so that made my day. Found out later on when Mr Park explained to Jo, that the director of that school is going to close it down as there aren't enough students... So, no classes there from now on. Puts a smile on my face but I wonder if it has anything to do with the fact I won't work there on Saturdays, and that is when they get more students in... Hmmmm.

I was asked to help out at another class today so did end up working. Not a bad afternoon at all.

Monday is the day from hell.

2009-05-25T22:59:00.002+09:00

Monday is officially the day from hell. Morning classes with the 3-6yr olds who have a concentration span as short as a goldfish's memory, and 2 classes who are fired up with who knows what and possibly all have a rocket up their asses which has exploded. Bloody hell, who knew a 7yr old could scream so loudly, ball their eyes out and 2 seconds later sulk and physically not move. And then go back to screaming again. We couldn't get her on the bus, she had her head down, sobbing so one of the teachers had to give her a talking too as the soft touch got none of us anywhere.. And two boys... Oh, I won't get started on them.

Director back from his restaurant opening in Seoul. He asked me how I was finding the living situation. I told him exactly what I thought. I can't buy my own food because the fridge and cupboards are stuffed, whenever I try and cook my own thing and the housekeeper is there, she won't let me. I have to eat when she's ready to eat. I don't appreciate people walking in out of my room whenever they please, especially not first thing in the morning and I am trying to sleep, and don't particularly want to start locking my room in a place i'm supposed to call home for a year. I hate smoking and smoking in a closed space, ESPECIALLY the bathrooom, its pretty gross. There is a balcony - use it. Shower doesn't work and I get woken up by screaming kids every morning. His response.... Ah, but Korean people live with their parents - it's a cultural thing... hence why not a single other person I know is living with a family?!!!! Huh?!! Cigarettes are only smoked because they get headaches (still does not change the fact that there is smoke everywhere!), and I don't have to pay for food.. Fine, but I quite like cooking and choosing what I eat and I really don't mind paying for it!!! Of course it has its ups, but unfortunately the idea of having any privacy just is not understood. Lots of thinking to do about how to get around this.

.....

Hmmmm, I wrote most of that earlier when I was in a really foul mood. But i've just got back from badminton so feeling a LOT better. I went with Mrs Chae (the mother - I found out what her name is!!) and she dropped me off with a friend and the two of us went together. Walked in and had ALL eyes on me. People stopped playing for a bit to eye me out then thankfully carried on! Don't think they are used to foreigners at their club! They are pretty serious about their badminton. Most of them are in their late 30s and 40s and like Mrs Chae, play every day... So, felt a litte nervous about it but got stuck in nonetheless! Had a warm up for about 15mins with the woman I was with and then a bloke (probably late 40s) came and gave me a few pointers on my smash and we rallied for 45mins. I haven't been so out of breath in AGES!!! Lol! It was brilliant! It's all done on half court to fit everyone in (6 courts, 4 people on each) and then more waiting on the side to play. Had a much needed break and had an attempted chit chat with Mrs Chae (she had turned up by then) and her friend. The man I was playing with is the club captain so I felt a lot better about the fact I was exhausted and he looked like he hadn't played for 5mins!! Then played for another half hour before calling it a day.

Mrs Chae had disappeared by the time I had finished but her friend dropped me off at her mother's house. So met the kids grandparents and they are all a really lovely family. Her son is a bit mental though!! Mrs Chae and I really get on which is nice - that is one of the ups about living with her :)

What a weekend

2009-05-24T21:11:00.003+09:00

Saturday

Had a good long lie in on Saturday morning and was eventually forced to get up for the workshop at the gym at 1pm. Went along for that to find that the bit I wanted to go to didn't actually start until 2:30pm, so made my way to the nearest restaurant (which happened to be Chinese) and proceeded to try and order. The menu was of course, all in Korean apart from the headings, so I picked the 2nd one down on the "Chicken" heading, crossed my fingers and hoped it was good!! While waiting for my food the fire alarm went off! Loud! Everyone had a peek round the corner to find out what was going on, decided it was nothing serious so went back to what was more important - FOOD! Mine was really tasty!!! No idea what it was, but at least I know where it is on the menu :)

Didn't go to the workshop and started to walk home. Bumped into two girls I had met on Wednesday (teachers) and went for a drink with them. I was going to go for a juice, and one of them said 'Don't have the tomato juice' it tastes awful.. She said it tasted like you were literally biting into a tomato. I thought, well that doesn't sound too bad! So, I went for it! And oh my, it was disgusting. I think they probably freeze tomatoes, and then blend loads of them up and put it in front of you. Ugh. It was pink and looked like a smoothie - and yes, it tasted as if you were biting into a tomato. Couldn't drink it. So, ordered a cappucino (thought i'd go with a safe option) and it was cold and could have been passed off as anything coffeeish which had been put in the fridge. In the meantime, the tomato juice had started to separate and it was so thick that you physically had to push a straw through it in order for it to touch the bottom. Pretty gross!!

.....

Met up with Jo in the evening and she took me to Eunpha park - it's a lake with a running track round it and long pedestrianised bridge across it. BEAUTIFUL at night - it's all lit up and there is a music/water display on as well - very cool. When I get round to taking some pictures will put them up. Then on to her friend's house where we had a beer, watched CSI and painted each toenail a different colour :) Yellow, pink, green, orange and another pink! All luminous :)

Off to "downtown". This is renowned for being a US military hot spot. Am always a bit wary of places like this and was SHOCKED to see so many black and white people all speaking English in one place. Had a great time - lots of dancing and playing pool, but can see why it's not the most popular place for teachers to go out. All a bit 'showy' but good experience nevertheless.

Sunday

Again, another nice long lie in. Wandered down the road for a BBQ with a bunch of teachers. Stopped off at the butchers to get some meat - I got a kilo instead of the 100g I had asked for, but it was all eaten and very very tasty! We had a quiz too. About 6 teams with 5/6 people per team. There was a lot of rivalry after the quiz they had had 2 weeks ago ;) Unfortunately, my team came last :( But, only by one point!! It was very close throughout apart from the winners who were miles ahead. There's a lot of banter between the South Africans, New Zealanders and the English - very funny! The Americans and Canadians are a bit quieter. I had my cricket ball with me so we went down to a school to play a game (again, the South African, New Zealand and England banter!). A few of us went down early and were expecting the others to bring a bat, but they thought we had a bat so we ended up with none!! We found a football instead and played for 1.5hrs. Brilliant!! Some Korean kids joined us and were amazing. Although, most of us were wearing flip flops and the pitch is made of sand and little stones - feet are VERY sore... One of the kids (who we nicknamed Kaka) gave me a baseball as a present at the end of the game. Not sure why but it will be used! :) Found out the the two New Zealanders only live a 10min walk away. Happy about having people a little closer and they're both a good laugh.

Back home and sat down with the mother (STILL don't know her name) and her friends (there was about 4 other mums, all their kids and one husband) and we ate some food, had a taste of Korean wine, and now.... I am pooped!!

Earlier start at school in the morning, and definitely badminton in the evening.

11pm on a Friday?!

2009-05-23T02:06:00.002+09:00

Started off my day with the usual kimchi and rice and headed off to the hospital to collect the results from my check up. And as can generally be predicted, they weren't ready (the woman had forgotten when she had asked us to come in) so we patiently sat while they were done... Only to find that not only had she forgotten we were coming, 'someone' had forgotten to do one of the main tests that is required for a foreign teacher to teach here. Yup, the drugs test. So, off I go to give them more money (even though THEY c*ocked up) and had the joy of pissing into a cup again. This means that I still cannot sort out a bank account or a permanent phone line (you need an Alien card to get a phone here) until next week. Great.

A good day with the kids today. Snacks, mini party and a movie with one class and icecream with other (Jo's idea for them being so good!). And off to the gym to work it all off :) Had all my body stats done so they can see just how fat/thin I am so can redo it in a few months to see i'm doing. Apparently I need to drink more water, eat more meat and turn some of my fat into muscle - but am in the normal range so that's fine! We did a LBT class then some cardio - i don't think i'll ever stop giggling with the instructor trying to explain directions to me in Korean! Need to learn some more of the language!!

Then off to the cinema (gym, cinema and restaurants all in one building - score!). Was a bit shocked to get a phone call from the director of one of the 4 schools i'm teaching at (the one which is a half hour drive away). A phone call at 11pm on a Friday evening... To 'ask' me about teaching tomorrow at 1pm.... ARGGGGHHH!! The point just does not seem to getting across! Doesn't suprise me with messages being passed between so many people. I said NO, I AM NOT WORKING ON SATURDAYS and then she says i've put her in an uncomfortable position because there are kids coming in expecting me to teach them. Bollocks to that! Do it once and will never see the end of it! She also had the nerve to ask me what I was doing that I couldn't come in tomorrow... Hmph! So, will see what she has to say to Mr Park...

Anyhow! Angels and Demons - thoroughly enjoyed it! Lots of twists and turns... but won't ruin it for anyone else who hasn't seen it yet ;)

Kimchi and yoga = perfect hangover cure

2009-05-22T00:10:00.002+09:00

Last night I met up with about 15 other English teachers in Gunsan - and it was a long one!! A really nice group of people from South Africa, Canada and the UK. Good to have some chit chat but one thing I miss from the UK is the smoking ban. Everyone smokes indoors and it's back the stale clothes and hair smell after a night out. Yuk. I found out why people smoke in the bathroom too - it's not seen to be an appropriate thing (or something like that) to do in public. Hmmm.....

I now know the walk into town takes 45min. So, think a taxi might be the way forward at night and seeing as it only costs about 4,000 won (approx £2) and it's safer than walking, I think it's worth it!

Felt in a sorry state this morning but luckily no teaching until 1pm and a bowl and rice and kimchi sorted me out (well mostly!). Some good classes today but there is one class who both Jo and I seem to have problems with - it's been 4 days and already I dread teaching them! The rest are pretty cool though.

Jo (a girl I work with) and I then went to the gym tonight. Whoop whoop!! Back to doing some exercise!! It's a women's only gym and the facilities are brilliant (no swimming pool though). I have got to get used to strutting my stuff in the changing rooms as there is no hiding anything! Nice to have a decent shower as the one in the flat is awful. It also has a sauna and steam room. I think i'm going to like this!! Started off with an hour of yoga (there was a lot of giggling going on in here from me and Jo - my legs are about double the length of anyone elses!) and then an hour and a half doing some cardio and weights. I feel a lot more like me again already!

So that's it!! Home at 11:15pm and a morning of hospitals, immigration and paperwork to look forward to. Joy.

The longest day so far

2009-05-19T22:21:00.002+09:00

It started with an early start and a good laze about on the balcony in the sunshine listening to what is going on in the world. And then...

Mr Park: ok, first we go to the hospital. (One way to prep me for what I was about to have done). I have NEVER.. EVER had such a thorough check up in my life. Started with the usual form filling (not that I could read it) followed by:

-eye sight test
-blood pressure
-body weight
-height
-hearing test
-urine sample
-blood sample
THEN TO RADIOLOGY?!!!!!
-breast scan
-dentist

hmmmmmmmmmmmmm.... And all of this was done in just over an hour. Not bad I would say! So far so good, now to wait for the final 3 results to come through on Friday.

After this was the trip to immigration (passed a man on his motorbike in a superman outfit!) - to pick up a form for my Alien registration. The sitting about will happen on Friday - whoopie!! Then back to the school to have a discussion with the owner of another school about my teaching hours there. Now I say discussion, but it was the usual me sit in the room while the two of them talk about me and what I will be doing. I on the other hand don't know what is being said and thus have no say. Isn't that fun. This is the 3rd school I will be teaching at... And it is also half an hours drive away. Off I go to teach again! No idea of number of students, age, level or anything.

Had an interesting chat with Carol (the owner of this school) about some teaching stuff. This is when I was told about a child that I would be teaching in the Saturday class. THE SATURDAY CLASS?!!!!! NO WAY!! This is when I put my foot down and say nope, this you will not tell me to do.

Apart from that , I again was asked about my relationship status. More explaining about my being a singleton. So I asked Carol about hers - she is 49yrs old (48 to you and me), never been married and has no children. A few years back she decided to devote herself to God and made a comparison of herself to a nun. She has been on her own since and is very happy with it. I guess being a kindergarten teacher sort of fills in a gap of not having her own kids. And she loves them to bits. She also has polio and that was another reason behind how she discovered herself and why she was meant to devote her life to God.

Anywho, ended up teaching 3 classes at Carol's. Well, not much teaching but we played lots of board games :) If this is what they want me to do then I am certainly not complaining!!! Although one child was totally not wanting to be there and spent the whole lesson expressionless and keeping his mouth shut.

I think I will have a huge problem teaching at Carol's because she translates EVERYTHING for the kids.. And they then tell her what they want to say in Korean and she tells me in English - HOW DOES SHE EXPECT THEM TO LEARN?! I might have to ask her to not be there next week....

Ok, so back to Gunsan for the end of the day... Or maybe not... Off to the FOURTH school I will be teaching at?! Man, too much! Had another "discussion" with the owner there and I will be teaching 5hrs straight for two afternoons a week with no break. Great. The plus with this is it is in the bit of town where most the foreigners live and with all the bars and restaurants so at least it will be easier for me to have a bit of social life seeing as I don't finish work until 7:30pm at the earliest. There is also a martial arts class (not sure which type) upstairs in the building so may be joining that in the near future.

Then, to sort out my phone and off to dinner (Italian! and they had heated toilet seats hee hee hee!) to discuss my schedule. Hmmm, it's not too bad!!! And yes, there are no Saturdays :)

Monday I work from 10am - 8pm. Tues I only work for 3.5 hours, Wed from 2:25 to 7:30, and Thursday is from 2-8ish. So... apart from the ridiculous amount of travelling around, I think I could handle this!!! Mornings free for some phys in the park and still time in the evenings if I fancy a beer :) And I have the option of doing extra lessons for some more money if I fancy it too.

Oh, and apparently there IS lots of scuba diving and I am looking forward to a few drinks with some other English teachers tomorrow night.

Can't wait to get to sleep.

First day at school(s)

2009-05-18T19:48:00.002+09:00

I am home and feeling quite tired after my first day teaching. I was expecting a few suprises, but not this many...

Got ready for work and it was strange to put socks on, but no shoes.... As I live in the same building I work in, there is no need for me to go outside, so no need to put on any shoes! Hee hee!

As I waited to meet the rest of the teaching staff, I stood in the corridor and had little 5 year olds looking at me, screaming and running away giggling to hide before coming back and doing this repeatedly!! :) Then it was the "hello teacher" phrase and the "I am fine thank you" phrase to follow. The rest of the staff are all lovely - all women too. My first class was the 3yr olds followed by 2 4yr old classes then a 5yr and 6yr old classes. Classes are only 20min long but very energetic for that 2omins! Concentration span is extremely short as you can imagine. Remembered a few nursery rhymes like "incy wincy spider", "the wheels on the bus", and "head, shoulders knees and toes" :) Brings back a few memories. Also had kids grabbing my legs and not letting go - so strange to have so much physical contact with children after living with ridiculous barriers between adults and children in the UK. It's good to be able to give a child a hug or pat on the back and it be a common and natural thing to do rather than being some type of abuse.

Then an 1.5hr long break. At this point I was told that I had two more classes in this school before going to another school to teach.. Uh... ANOTHER SCHOOL?! I didn't see this in my contract. But hey, i'll go along with it. This school is only a 5min walk away so no biggy. Classes are 40min long and today I had 3 classes and then we all came back for dinner -this is me thinking that the day ends here (as it says 6pm in the contract). But no, another class till 7pm.. Ok... At the end of this class, I was then told that I will be teaching a girl on her own from 7:10-7:50pm?!!! But not today - from next week. Again.. uh...?!!!! So, 2hrs over the time I was supposed to be working - and this is only day one?!! Apparently I am teaching at another school tomorrow and there is one more which is driving distance away.. And kids range between 3 and 12. Hmmm, will see how this goes.

In general, the teaching will go ok but when I was difficult today when I was expected to teach 4omin lessons to students at different levels of English, without any preparation time or teaching materials. I am not the most imaginative person about so it wasn't easy!!! I should (fingers crossed) get my schedule tomorrow but, I was told i'd get that today so hopes aren't high.

One thing I found REALLY weird, was I was asked to give all the students in one of my classes an "American name" - and this was the first thing I had to do... You never realise how difficult it is to think up names on the spot, and also without having seen on of their personality.. So, did that but I really hope they don't stick because they are extremely boring. Am going to write a list of names down in my book in case I have to go through this exercise again!

Was told again today that I had a small face :o) And that I was very tall!

New word for today is for "Hornet" - don't know how to spell it but it sounds like "maelport". It is described as a horse bee because it looks a little like a horse :)

Not much else really. Had a really good dinner - seaweed with rice and spicy noodles and kimchi. Yummy.

I'm engaged!!!

2009-05-17T20:35:00.002+09:00

What an interesting evening :) The mother (still don't know her name), her friend and her husband, and later a girl who also lives in the flat all sat round the table for dinner. She made me a rice and egg thing slighty different to what everyone else was eating, although can see i'm game to try anything so may not do that next time :) We ate scabber fish and I struggled to separate the fish from the bone with chopsticks so she cut it up for me so I could just pick it up. I'm not a child or an old woman yet and still I need someone to cut up my food for me. Oh dear. Considering I don't particularly like fish, this wasn't too bad - although EXTREMELY salty. With this was of course lots of different types of kimchi - yummy.

After this we had coffee (I would certainly not call it coffee but anyway). The coffee comes in prepared packets with the coffee, milk AND sugar (one way to ruin a good cup) all together. I think I might be in need of some unsugared coffee in the near future.

We also had a beer and the other girl who lives in the flat drinks her beer through a straw. I'm used to seeing that in a boat race but now will become a regular occurance :) And it would get me mega tipsy! With the beer was after dinner snack which consisted of dried squid and what was called mouse fish (the description sounded distinctly like a sting ray but can't find out what it is). I tried it, didn't like it and stopped eating it.

The mother's friend has got twins so we a had a nodding head giggle moment about that when I said I was a twin. After our brief encounter yesterday, I really like the mother :) She's a good laugh and has a great sense of humour. She plays badminton every evening so tomorrow night, I am going to with her and see how my badminton skills fare. I am going to get whipped! She also wants me to give her English lessons - up for doing so and she will also give me a few Korean lessons as well.

I'm getting married!! Ha, well i'm tempted to say so anyway :) (did I scare you there mum?!) hee hee. I have a ring on the 4th finger of my right hand and the automatic reaction is that I am engaged. So, I explain that it's the left hand if you're engaged. And of course the question that follows is, 'so you have a boyfriend?' Uh.. no. And again, more explaining to do there.

- I had no idea that there is such a thing as 'Korean age'. When a child is born, they start the years off at 1. As opposed to being alive for a year and then being 1. So I would be 23 now instead of 22.

- EVERYONE has a fancy mobile phone (including the 7yr old)

- all phones have a Korean-English dictionary. Extremely useful at the moment as when they are trying to explain things to me and can't get the point across with numerous attempts at different words and flailing expressive arms to go with that, it's just typed into the phone and an answer is given. I prefer the flailing arms method myself.

So I learnt a few more words tonight - Kom bei (cheers!), shike (rice juice) and divorce (?!) - the flat mate is divorced. The translation of divorce is to 'resingle'!! I find this hilarious!! I didn't get it at first and they were like resingle resingle (saying it quickly and laughing at the same time) So out came the phone to let me know what they meant.

Now to get an early night in preparation for my first day at school!

I look like a spider!!

2009-05-17T15:01:00.002+09:00

This morning, I was awoken at 7am by two children running about after each other screaming. Not impressed. It's a Sunday!!!!!!!! Go outside!

Ha ha! So I've just been bombarded by 5 children and have finally met (rather than just heard) the two kids who live in the flat. So sweet at 1pm! Was given an icecream to eat and then dragged down the stairs to be shown something. What you may ask? Well, they kept pointing at my hair and saying a word (which I could of course not understand). So they took my to a classroom, picked up a spider, pointed it at my hair giggled away! Funny :)

A few interesting points I have learnt so far.

- When accepting something from a person, whether it is drink, food or any object, it is polite to accept it with 2 hands. Always always always.

- You can open a beer bottle with the back of spoon. TRY IT!!! It works brilliantly :)

- You should pour beer for you elders - but I think maybe you pour for the person sitting next to you rather than pouring for yourself... Might have to investigate further!

- Beauty in the eyes of a Korean is a T shaped face. And, flat cheeks are a necessity. At least according to Jo (a girl I work with). Women will get botox in their cheeks to try and achieve this and Jo isn't happy with her face because it is round! One of the first things that was said to me when I arrived was - you have a small face :o) Ha ha! Unfortunately my cheeks are too big. Oh well, can't change that ;)

- most foreigners live in Naun Dong which is, yup, on the opposite side of the city to me.

I am sat here wating for my bed to arrive... Frustrating as I want to have a walkabout... And now there is a crying child next door...

Wet Wet Wet

2009-05-16T23:33:00.003+09:00

It has not stopped raining since I landed in Korea and it doesn't show any signs of letting up anytime soon! Could not see a thing on the 3.5hr journey from Seoul to Gunsan due to the miserable weather and steamed up windows, so haven't got a clue what it all looks like - apart from a few outlines of one or two hills!

So, caffe latte in a can from a vending machine (kindly offered to me by the lovely man who met me at the station), being checked for swine flue straight off the flight with some funky small machine that does something to the back of your ear (anyone know what that is?!) and LOTS of blacked out car windows. Didn't see animals on the journey which strikes me as a bit strange - no cows, donkeys, sheep etc equivalent at all. Bazaar.

All has gone well so far. Was met at the bus 'terminal' in Gunsan with a beaming smile from the school director, his wife and two of my colleauges Jo and Susie (who are both really really lovely). Susie is married to an American bloke with a beautiful 3yr old girl. I was taken to the school and this is when I got a little bit of a suprise.. My school is actually where I wil be living. And not on my own either, but with a family with 2 sons. One is 7 and the other s 8. Haven't met anyone apart from the mother and she didn't say very much... So, will be interesting.... Might have to see if I can organise something else because I am quite a way out of town too. On the upside, apparently food is cooked so don't have to do much (if any) shopping - well apart from what I specifically want, there is a cleaner who comes in every day who does the washing up, laundry and supposedly cleaning (there is dust EVERYWHERE), and what gets me most excited, is my bicycle!! Now, it doesn't compare to my old beauty but it's good to have one anyway.

The five of us went on a trip to the shop and the Director decided to buy me a new bed, some storage stuff and most importantly, and adapter!! Bed arrives tomorrow and will get my unpacking done.

Trip down to dinner was next and had a FANTASTIC meal and some beer - I think I have already fallen in love with Korean food :) The director is opening up a restaurant near Seoul in a few weeks so he's invited us to go up for the opening :)

And that's day numero uno. Have hiking with Jo to look forward to and the three of us are planning a trip to the cinema next week. Meet the children (ages 4-9) and the other teachers on Monday. Was told today that I am not to do things out of textbooks, but to improvise and make things fun and active for the kids - whoop whop! Oh, and Jo is also on the hunt for a man so have been tasked with making her take me out clubbing, to find her a man lol!

New blog - now to make sure I use it!

2009-05-05T10:47:00.002+09:00

Right, since i'm off for a while, think this will be the easiest way for me to update people on where I am and what I am up to! Well, it's the lazy way - saves all the individual emails (but I will be doing a few of those too am sure) :)

A bit more learning to do - next update soon.