A whole week you say

So it's been seven days and you've heard nothing from me. Nothing really interesting has happened. Well a few things, I guess but I'll just give the major points and then probably go into small details because that's just what I do. I didn't end up doing anything last Saturday. I know I said I would do something and then I never did. I also said I would tell you about other things but I didn't and I'm not going to now mostly because I don't remember what it was. Weird how that's the part you remember. I'll remember later and write something probably. Right now, I'll just tell you about this past week. On Sunday, I stayed home and cleaned mostly. My apartment was so clean. I even bought a giant 50L garbage bag and threw all kinds of things away. No more Pizza Ann Joy boxes laying about the place. It's kind of a funny name for a pizza company especially because it has a little chinese man on the box. I'd say Korean but you know that little man is always Chinese. Well, he's never Japanese at least. Yes, so I had a clean apartment for a day. Actually, I still need to clean 2 things. I haven't been able to bring myself to clean the fridge. I cleaned out the inside of the toilet with a scrubpad and my bare hands. That's pretty gross I must admit. Toilet water was actually one of my myths. I think I had 3 of them and I don't know where they came from but they were just things that I thought. One was that wealth brought you unhappiness. Fame made you lonely. And toilet water was actually the cleanest of waters. So the last one doesn't make that much sense. The water inside the toilet always looked cleaned to me, pre-use of course or post-flush until I had my own toilet that is. Now it never seems to look like the cleanest water. I think it was because everyone always said toilet water was so dirty but never looked that dirty so I thought it was just a myth. The dogs were really drinking the cleaner water. I never drank from the toilet. I did drink rain water once and I almost drowned in a rain barrel but those are different stories. I wonder why we even had a rain barrel. Oh, that summer of 84.

Moving on, the other unclean thing is my glass door frame but that's not that gross.

New thing entirely, Monday was normal and then Tuesday I started getting sick again. I hope I don't get sick every month. I have some vitamins now. I'm sure it's diet related or sleep related. I think you can get by without one but not both. I don't sleep or eat enough. I wish I had an oven and a wide range of easy oven-related meals. Ranges require so much more attention. So I was pretty sick for about 3 days. Maybe it started Monday. Anyways, it was cold like. It was strange though because I'd feel much healthier while I was teaching and during my breaks I'd feel awful. Sometimes it was like nothing was wrong. Then I'd start to walk home and get so tired. I even wanted to walk the long way home so I would be bathed in light the whole way. I don't know why but that's how I wanted it. Then I'd get home and collapse on my bed and hardly move for hours. Have the tv on and barely pay attention while I thought about how I should eat something but wasn't hungry. I also had stressful repetetive dreams about work. I woke up thinking Paul, Paul, Paul. I like Paul now. He's actually funny. I kept waking up but got much more sleep than usual. I actually went to bed before 11 instead of after 1 or more reecently 2-230. It's such a waste. Too bad you don't remember a full nights worth of dream. Otherwise I would love sleeping. I only like sleeping in or sleeeping when I need to wake up. Between snoozes feels so good. Weekday sleep though. The night of blackness. I only remember my dreams of the weekend or between snoozes. Back to being sick. I was probably more subdued in some classes. Especially my 402class. The one I've hated recently. May was so good on Wednesday. I had them write a sentence with 'bigger than' on the board. She cheated and used her book but that should help her anyway. Maybe the book is too hard but my melons could probably make a sentence faster than they could. Comparisons aren't that hard are they? That they just don't care is also part of it. I was worried all day about that class because I thought I would be dead and have no patience. It actually made me more patient though. I was less stressed. I went to bed early that night too. My body is a little strange I think. Days where I woke up feeling better I would feel the worst by the end and then Thursday morning I probably felt the worst and felt the best at the end.

My parents came on Thursday. I met them at the hotel. Hotel Amigo. I don't know why the Korean hotel has a Spanish either. I worked on Friday sort of. Well, watched them draw, color and play games. It wasbetter that actually teaching. Today I actually had to work. Saturday at work. It was ok in the morning, we learned new boardgames so we played them a bit. Unsatisfying though since we didn't finish a single one. Then the foreign teachers (ie me and matt and renee) gave model lessons for the open class. It wasn't that bad actually. It's fun to treat grown-ups like children. 'What's your favourite colour? Oh, you lilke blue? What's something blue?" It just ran too long. I've been leaving my parents to run around town by themselves. They;ve seen quite a bit. More than me, I'm afraid. Yesterday, we had burgers and they came to see my apartment. Tonight we went out to eat and then saw Star Wars. It was actually a really good movie. Really that's all I've done with my parents. We've walked downtown and that's really the only other thing. I should probably go to sleep though since I actually have the whole day with my parents tomorrow. Hopefully, we'll get to leave the city tomorrow.

PS I have a new keyboard now and I'm not that used to it so sometimes I leave my fingers on the keys for a bit too long and letters are doubled or spaces missed somehow. I think caught most of them but if my writing looks a bit more dutch that's probably why.

Living it up on Saturday night

Well not exactly. I'm not really doing anything tonight. My social life isn't as active as I would like it to be. I'm hoping to be able to meet some people in July. That probably sounds strange doesn't it. The YMCA has Korean classes on Saturday and the next session starts the first Saturday of July. I would join mid-session but there was no point with my parents coming. They'll be here on Thursday and basically occupy my next 2 weekends. After that, I have 2 more weekends. Maybe I'll go somewhere cool. I hear Pohang is cool but who knows. I'll probably go to some nearby city that I didn't go to with my parents. Busan maybe. I really hope I meet some people in the Korean class though. I'm sure a lot of people do it for exactly the same reason. Maybe I should go do some post-dusk exploring. I feel like showing up at Matt and Renee's. If only I had their phone number. I'd feel like I was being obtrusive if I just showed up out of the blue. They tried to call me last Saturday but I was walking home from downtown. I should really do something though. I'll get back to this later. I actually had more interesting stuff to tell you today.

No reason

I'm writing for no reason today. I wrote just yesterday and really, not that much has happened. It was my long day. 9 classes. I have to go off the page for my daily report since there's only room for 8. It wasn't really that bad. My melons which I used to like teaching the least since they were such a handful are actually becoming one of my preferred classes. My einstein class is also completely different now. There used to be 5 and now there are only 3. Laura is taking a break, I guess. Julie, my teaching partner for that class, doesn't think she'll come back. I don't think I'll miss Laura all that much.Three is actually nice but with me not having to do as much classroom managing the work goes by faster. I guess that's good but the last five minutes I've been having to just come up with things. They usually involve stupid questions that I'm sure the children hate.

Karen told me a funny story today. It wasn't funny to me until much later in the day when I understood what she had been saying. Kids are funny. Her story was 'Today morning father bathroom DONG.' The other kids all understood and thought it was hilarious. I thought maybe he fell or something broke. It turns out that her father had farted. That was her reason for being happy. At first she told me angry and then I guess she suddenly remembered this morning. They're starting to like me a lot more. I think it might be because Julie, the other class we share, is more strict with them. There even behaving better. Even Paul! Tomorrow we're having a field trip so maybe there'll be pictures of Paul if he's there.

What else happened today? Matt did a mock presentation of a class for all the teachers. We had to pretend to be students. It was kind of fun. It ate up my lunch break though. I was assigned the next presentation. I have to do it from the All Aboard book. Matt did Phonics. You can do a lot more with the Phonics book. The All Aboard book is very structured. I like it better to teach since it requires less effort or creativity to prepare but is hard to impress anyone with. I have a month to do that. It only has to be 20 minutes. Some kids hate All Aboard. Alex who I've told you about before always tells me he hates All Aboard. One day All Aboard made him cry. I do it with them 3 times a week usually.

I was having a pretty good day today and even thought for a moment that I liked my job. My stupid ELE 402 class though. They have such low level english. I don't know how long they've studied but they are maybe 11 and their English is about the same as the 8 year olds. Actually it's probably between 7-8. Maybe I just expect it to be better so when they make mistakes I'm more likely to think they are stupid than that they just don't know. I talked to May on the phone yesterday and asked her what she ate for breakfast. To her it was like I'd just asked her the hardest question in the history of the world. She really should know this. We went over it in class or rather I went over it in class and none of them listened to me. They are my least favourite class and my last one too so I get to look forward to it all day and then leave work depressed. Lauren and May read comics all class. May at least pretended to be reading the textbook. Lauren practically flaunted it. I took it away and put it on the shelf. Then while I was helping someone, well actually forcing them to do their work, she went and took it back. David and Aidan fought and I really don't know what Bin was doing, he was fighting for a bit. Bin is such a good name for him. He's such a Bin. I think it's his Korean name. Technically his English name is supposed to be Robert I think. It's funny that he the only one in any of the classes that uses his actual name, myself included. Matt and Renee go back and forth between Shawn, oops sorry and Tyler. I wonder if I'll have trouble responding to my real name again. I still don't respond to Shawn all that well. It's more like a 'hey you' than anything like a name. Maybe that's all a name is. I don't identify with it is all I'm saying. It's not who I am.

Well this started without a point and it's ending without one. I'm going to get something to eat.

Teacher's pet and other stuff

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Originally uploaded by blueshoewhotwo.

It turns out my last night at the gym is tonight but I don't feel much like going. I'll be a bum for a few hours instead. I haven't done that since....Sunday.

Anyways, I've decided that I have a favourite student. Actually, I have a couple. There are a few I really don't like but unlike in real life, well maybe that's not true exactly, you have to pretend to like them and have to have pleasant conversations with them. I talked to one yesterday about George Michael. His favourite George Michael song was something whispers. I don't really know his music that well. He also sang 'Like a pridguh obah turahbeled wadah' telling me how much he liked the Beatles. He's alright though. Smart and listens, just annoying at times. Mostly because of how he likes to hold my arms and grab me. It's not all that cute at age 13. That actually seems old to me now. There are others I don't like because they are slow, and never listen. The comma's there because I was going to write something else but it wouldn't have been nice.

So this picture is of Karen. Let me tell you about Karen. Puppies are her favourite animal and she likes the colour yellow, but sometimes it's pink. She has a sister and her dad is the smallest in her family and wears sunglasses. I wonder what that means psychologically. I don't imagine it says much for her father. It was a drawing of her family. Karen also likes to spell and do math. She likes to ask me how to spell random words and then writes them down. 'Teacher, how to spell apple?' which is much better than 'Teacher, apple spelling is what?' I hate the word what with a korean accent. It's awful. Karen also likes to tell others when they are misbehaving and gives them warnings. I guess the Korean teachers have talked to them. She tells Paul when he's doing something bad:'Paul, Julie teacher be angry.' Today Karen even gave me a present. I came into school and her and the boss' daughter were at the front desk. Karen comes to school so much earlier than all the other kids. I'm not sure why. I think she has connections. Once, Jupiter gave her his coat to wear when it was cold. He did nothing for the other 20 kids on the field trip. That's where I took this picture. Anyways, she opens this box. I have no idea what it is and am not sure whether to take it or not. I don't and just tell her that it's nice. I also ask if she works at the school now. She doesn't understand so I ask if she sits at the front all day now. She giggles. So smart. It turns out they were vitamin C supplements and they were all mine. I think you mix it in with your drink.

I didn't think I would like Karen at first. She was such a suck-up when I saw her being taught by Amy. Well not really a suck-up but just smart and maybe a blind follower. Someone who would definitely do well in a totalitarian society. I don't think that anymore. Maybe it's because it's my totalitarian society now except I'm not really tyranical enough. Karen would be my second in command though. Kate would be my archnemesis who I would probably have killed. She's not that bad, she just tries to wrestle power from me. Today she stole Catherine's guitar because hers wasn't perfect. It was their science experiment to make a guitar from a box. For some reason, it is really hard for them to understand that I can only help one person at a time. I always have at least 2 people shoving something at me while I'm helping someone else. Kate takes it harder than others when I tell her I'm helping someone else. She has a little tantrum and yells 'teeeeeeechhhhaaaaahhhh.' She's better than she was especially with my sticker policy. If she's bad she loses a sticker. It's hard with non-classes like science and phys ed though which is what we do on Tuesdays. They all got 5 today even though they didn't deserve it. I only gave Paul 4. He never takes the stickers and isn't sad to lose them when he's bad. I put them on his page though. It's a reward sticker page. After you fill all the squares with stickers you get some awesome prize. I'm not sure what but the kids want stickers...except Paul. Very non-materialistic. He's an artist type. A 5 year-old eccentric. Anyways, I just stuck 4 stickers on his page. I'm a little worried about him and the open house.

One month from now, well the 13th of June. The parents are coming in, well have the opportunity to come in and watch classes for the day. Luckily I only have one 1 hour class that day. Matt and Renee are observed for 3 hours. I'm glad I don't have 2 kindergarten classes. The Melons aren't the best class. Paul and Kate make the difference I think. Paul just doesn't answer which gets kind of annoying when you try to ask one question five different ways and he doesn't even look at you. Or else he'll look right at you and say 'Nothing.'
Paul, how are you? Nothing.

Paul how are you doing today? Nooothiiing.

Paaaauuuuulllll.

Paul, how are you?


Paaaauullllll.....
Nothing

Ok Paul

Everyday. So exhausting.
I wonder how he'll be with his mother there. I don't think it's a happy day when you realise your kid isn't the smartest in the class. I'm supposed to prepare a lesson plan by the end of the week. So early. Karen's parents will be happy I think.

We had a teacher's meeting last night. I didn't get to leave work until 9:30. That really isn't the worst part though. The worst part is that it started at 8 and maybe 10 minutes total was spent talking in English. The rest was pretty much just Korean. I could've left at 8:15. They also print off a schedule of the meeting and they basically just read the English part. There's no point to being there. It gives Matt and Renee and I a chance to get to know each other though. I finished my phone teaching tonight, which seems unrelated, except that yesterday they told us to finish it by that night. A little impossible seeing as how I was at work until 930. Oh well.

I feel like they are also dropping subtle hints my direction. At the meeting, they brought up classroom management stuff mentionning stuff that I let the kids get away sometimes and how bad those things were. I suppose they're right and it is less uncomfortable than a face to face meeting about the issue but uncomfortable all the same. Some of my kids have also been spoken too. Today during phys ed (I can't bring myself to call it PE) they were supposed to do jump rope or skipping as I would call it. The ropes were too long for them to do it alone and with two people holding the rope they were too scared to jump in. I tried to get them to listen to me. I even tried different things with the rope but the kids weren't having it. I tried to get them to put other toys away but they did it slowly. After class, Amy talked with them. I wasn't there. I think she peeked it when I was trying to lead them in an activity. I heard some kids say, Amy teacher angry. I didn't see her though. I guess she understands it was more a kids being bad issue than a teacher just letting them do whatever. It still makes me feel a bit incompetent though, not that I'm not.

She left another class today to come tell my class that they should never leave the classroom. I let them go to the bathroom or for water too much. They get annoying so it's nice to have a short break from them. She was talking to the students but I could tell it was directed in large part to me. I really do appreciate the non-direct approach though. Less embarassing. It bothered me a little today though just because I let the kid go to the front because he had some kind of cut or something so he went to get a bandaid. That was Alex. Another one of my favourites. Not the smartest but cute. He has such a small voice and even when he's really angry he's cute.

I got a ride home from work today. Tuesdays aren't my favourite days. I'm the only one teaching from 630-800. It's so strange teaching only 3 students when the whole school is empty. I let them listen to a song today which I did last week. It is their listening class. Usually they just listen to boring English dialogue spoken slowly. It doesn't take them very long. I thought it would be fun since they like to sing in class. I just give them the lyrics and remove a few words that they have to fill in. Not my favourite music (today was I Drove All Night by Celine Dion, it's on my Juno's (Canadian grammy's) cd) mind you but I thought it would be good. Jupiter came by and seemed concerned. I explained what I was doing to him. He didn't seem impressed but he seemed okay with it. I asked him after class and the girls had left. He wouldn't have said anything I think but I asked so he said he'd prefer I not do it. Fine with me really, since that was the only non-textbook material I ever prepared. I don't mind but it makes me wonder what else I'm doing that he doesn't like but wouldn't tell me. Anyways, as I was leaving he offered to drive me home. I was a bit worried since I thought maybe he wanted to talk about my teaching and what a bad teacher I was. Actually, I think I'm mediocre. I could be better but I could also be a lot worse. I think he just wanted to know details about my parents trip. I also think that there might have been something he wanted to bring up but didn't have the courage too. I brought up the open house, in case there was something, a lead-in if you will to anything he might want to discuss. Nothing. Koreans can be so hard to read.

That's really all I have on my mind at the moment. Actually there was one more thing. We're having a teacher's workshop on May 28th. One of my maybe 4-5 Saturday commitments throughout the year. My parents are going to be here that weekend. I wonder if I can get out of parts of it. The want to discuss the books and the curriculum in general. I don't think 6 weeks really gives me much time to evaluate the textbooks. It's all day long to. From 1000 to 1700. So long. I'd completely forgotten about it too. My parents don't even know. That'll be disappointing I think since that really only leaves a total of 4 days that they'll get to see me. June 6th is a national holiday. Getting off work at 8 doesn't leave much time for anything. I guess I could see them at lunch which is around a time that's perfect for screwing up daily activities. Daegu doesn't have much for tourists and my 2-330 break wouldn't let them leave the city. I wonder if I should tell them to reschedule their flight. They'll probably still be jetlagged that day. Maybe it's not the worst thing. If only it weren't until 5. So that's what I've been thinking about this past few hours.

No wait, one more quick thing. Someone knocked at my door earlier. There was a Korean woman there. She looked in my apartment said something in Korean and left. I think she was lost but what if she wasn't? A little strange.

Long strange day, well not that strange

My blogging is very sporadic. No post for 2 weeks and then 2 days in a row.

I actually made it to the YMCA and took my Korean class. It went alright. I was able to follow most of it. My pure Korean numbers need some work. I don't understand why they need 2 different sets of numbers. Korean numbers only go up to 99. The other set is Sino-Korean which is Chinese. I'm much better with Sino-Korean. il, i, sam, sa, o, yuk, chil, pak, ku, ship. All the way to 10. Impressive, right? I could count higher but I don't feel like it. It seems that practically all the foreign teachers in Korea are Canadian. Strange that I'm spending more time with my people here, on the other side of the world, than I have since 2000. I decided against signing up for the classes though. There are 6 classes left in the session and I'd have to skip 2 most likely. I'll just wait. Afterwards, I decided I'd go buy some clothes. I have such unprofessional looking clothes. My pant rotation is very short. I need to do some laundry.

Everything went fine, I guess. I managed to buy a shirt and a pair of pants. The pants were so cheap. $17 US or something. I was expecting to pay $50 or something. No price tag. I only got one handsome boy there. Actually they were two separate stores but the same company. I also decided to go the bookstore and see if I could find a decent book to learn Korean. I would have to purchase a book to the take the YMCA class. I met some guy there. He was hanging out in the English section. Waiting I think. He offered to give me Korean lessons. He said for free but I don't think that's what he meant. Maybe he did and just figured he would improve his English. I really didn't want to at first but then imagined myself becoming some Korean all-star. I wouldn't even mind paying, well not some ridiculous amount. His name was Chong-Ju. I don't know why or how it happened but we ended up making dinner plans. Maybe I've become desperately lonely. Actually that's only part of it. It could be an interesting story. That guy at the gym even offered to take me to a restaurant with his family sometime and I seriously considered it. I don't think I'll be going to the gym for awhile though. With my parents coming for about 2 weeks, I know I won't be going during that time and what's the point paying for a full month to only use half. Anyways, I ended up missing him where we decided to meet. I was 10 minutes late. I don't know what the Korean take on tardiness is. Maybe it's unheard of or maybe Chong Ju has been stood up before by people he meets while pretending to look at Korean language for foreigners material. I have his number and email though. I should at least apologize. Who knows?

I ended up having a few hours to kill between the meeting and the next meeting. I continued my shopping. I'd only bought the shirt by this point. I forgot to mention my stupidity. I had to take out some money and ended up taking way more than I meant to. I took out 700,000 won or about $700 US, $850 CDN. I just saw 70 and wondered why there was nothing bigger than 70,000. Turns out it was 70x10,000. So I know have this huge wad of case. 65 bills. During this time, I ended up walking around a lot and going into a few stores. It's so weird shopping here. I felt like each customer service person is assigned to you as soon as you walk into the store. One someone just followed me around the store. That wasn't so bad but I was so embarrassed at this other store. Everything was normal at first. There was one girl helping me. She didn't speak much English. Then there were 2 people helping me and all of the sudden there were like 5. They all called me handsome boy . I felt so trapped being in the store with 5 people surrounding me showing me stuff that I didn't really want. I was glad to get out of there.

I spent some time in the park and read from my Teach Yourself Korean book. I saw a few nice things. I saw the giant bell in the park. That was a nice park. I should go back there sometime. I felt very foreign there. There's something about the chaos of the street that makes you blend in but walking through a park while everyone is just relaxing on benches makes you much more visible. After spending 3 hours walking around downtown I decided to go home and drop off my bags. That's why I was late meeting that guy. Maybe it wasn't meant to be. I never really respect people who believe it signs and think it's stupid if they pay to much attention to them. Of course, the universe sends me messages because I'm that special and hypocritical.

Someone left a comment yesterday. Unless someone leaves some comment I just imagine that no one is reading this. I wonder how many other people I don't know read this. I can't imagine it's very exciting to read.

I went to the meeting place at the bookstore but no one was there. Some girls in their early teens asked for my help choosing a book. I thought they meant it was for them. All of the books they were looking at were way too advanced for them. Catcher in the Rye didn't have that complex a vocabulary so I got that for them. It's interesting right? The only word they were using. Afterwards, I realise that it was a gift for their English teacher. Oh well.

I didn't want to hop right back on the subway so I decided to walk part way home. I ended up walking all the way back home. It took me over 2 hours. I saw a few interesting things though and now I know what the world above the subway line looks like. I saw a giant temple, or pretend temple, with giant lit animals and a park with some rock supposedly shaped like a man with a hat. It was too dark and I was too close to see that though. I bought some meat on a stick and heard handsome boy again. Then while walking two early teenage girls asked me my name and I heard it again. For some reason whenever I tell anyone my name they think I've said Tiger. I figure there's no point correcting strangers since I'm not going to see them again and hardly anyone I see ever calls me by my real name. That just makes the whole experience a bit more surreal. I'm kind of proud of myself for doing it though. I got lost a few times by not turning at major intersections but I made it. I bought some chicken and came back home.

I went to the convenience store downstairs and was going to buy water. The only water they had has a really bad name. It's called 'Pocari Sweat.' That's such a bad name for water. I decided to actually buy it. It's an Ion Supply Drink so it's probably a drink for when you sweat. It's still a bad name though. There's a store downtown called Skin Food. I think it's food for your skin but that it the first thing I think of. My washing machine is called Big Wash: Human Fuzzy Washing Machine. I have no idea what that was supposed to mean. Renee has seen underwear called Big Yank. If only they'd put the e's in there would be no sexual connotation. Some kid on Friday after saying skunk just said skanky. I know he wouldn't have any idea what that meant. Language is a funny thing.

It's about time, I think

Let's see. I haven't posted in almost 2 weeks. I've done a few things since I last posted but not all that much.

My water thing is all solved now. It has a slow drip if I leave the faucet open. Not too bad but I keep it closed. Not that interesting though. I saw my neighbour when I came home from work a few days ago. He came up to me and shook my hand.

I've been out twice now and within the span of 3 days. I need to meet some more local people. On Wednesday, the first week in May whatever day it was, I went out with Matt and Renee. We went to a hamburger place that actually made pretty good hamburgers. I managed to work out no onions but it still came with a bunch of other stuff but luckily it was pretty easy to scrape off. We wondered around to find a place to drink. I don't think Matt and Renee go out all that much. I think they go downtown maybe once or twice a month. They've only been to Seoul once since they came about 5 months ago. Mind you I've been here once month and haven't left Daegu at all. I should go somewhere this weekend. Seoul or maybe Busan. Eunice said Busan is the San Francisco of Korea. That's probably true but I'm not sure what it really means. I just have to figure out how to find the bus or train station. Maybe I should look in my Lonely Planet. Novel idea.

Anyways, we found a place. We got off on the wrong floor and ended up at a place called Club M2. It was a little strange. They told us Koreans only. We didn't mind because we didn't want to go there but it was just weird because they were certainly weren't acting like it was a Korean only club, meaning that all of the signs were in English and I didn't see any Hangul anywhere. All the businesses in that building were in Hangul except the 4th floor where it just said Club. We got back in the elevator and got off at the right floor. We had quite a bit of soju (korean vodka, which is made from yams I think instead of potatoes or maybe it's the other way around, I don't know much about how alcohol is made). Korea has these little drinking places that aren't really like bars at all. They are more like restaurants that just specialise in side dishes that go well with alcohol. A really respectable way to get drunk. Classier at least. I should probably mention that the Thursday was a holiday. I really like to sleep in the next day. We were there for a couple hours. We came out around 12:30 or 1 I think. It felt pretty dead when we left. We managed to find a happening street and another place to drink. More to drink and more pleasant conversation. By the time we left I was so gone. Renee's mother is French-Canadian (not Quebec though) so we ended up speaking French on the taxi ride back. We were going to make it our secret language at work but have yet to speak French at work. Matt doesn't speak much French but he was more gone than I was.

I meant to do something the next day but pretty much just spent it home. I did go downstairs though to replenish my drinking water. Have a mentionned that you can't drink the water here. Instant noodles really aren't all that instant when you have to boil the water 20 minutes before hand. It was pretty much a wasted day. It was rainy out so it was a good day to stay home with a small hangover. We really should've just stuck to either soju or beer.

I went back for work on Friday and then it was the weekend. Too bad Friday hadn't been a holiday. I think I have about one holiday a month but not many are on a Friday or Monday. Oh well. It's probably better for my bank account. As of now, I only have a single entry visa so I have to upgrade before I can go anywhere. I can pay a single reentry fee at the airport but I'd rather have it in my passport.

Next was Saturday. I slept in later than planned and went to some get together downtown with people I'd never met before. It was from some online forum for ESL teachers in Korea. I needed to meet some new people though. It's hard hanging out with couples. I met a few interesting people. I felt so young. There were a few people in their mid twenties and about 2/3 of the group was over 30. Not a bad thing but not was I expecting. We all went to some Japanese restaurant. I had some pork wrapped in cheese and fried. It was good but I really thought I'd be eating healthier food here. I'm really not though. A lot of fried foods and pizzas. There were a lot of Canadians there. Only 3 Americans I think in a group of 14 I think. One Aussie and a Brit. Everyone else was Canadian. Even another from Edmonton. He must've been at least 40. It was an okay evening I guess. A lot of them had been in Korea for quite awhile. There was a lot of gossip about different people who posted on the forum. I was pretty lost during those conversations. We headed to a bar afterwards. It was a western bar and it was so weird seeing all those white faces. I gotten used to seeing only Asian faces I guess. I stayed there for a couple hours and then caught a cab home with someone else who kind of lives in the same area. I don't think it's that close though.

I got the lowdown on some Korean classes though. I'll probably end up going tomorrow. They start at 11 though and I live 30 minutes away so that's a bit earlier than I would like but they are the only Korean classes that I know of and that's the only downside. I've also decided to work on my Korean during my lunch breaks. I figure an hour everyday just put Korean above Danish or Spanish before I leave. Not that it would be hard to top those ones. I've hardly spoken Danish since I left Denmark and my Spanish is still pretty beginner. I can manage to scrape a poorly worded sentence together though. I should definitely go tomorrow. The only problem is they are right in the middle of a session. It would be pro-rated but my parents are coming down in 2 weeks or so so I'd probably miss two of the remaining 8 classes. I get one free class to observe. It's probably worth it though. I don't know how Matt and Renee have managed so long without learning Korean. It really bothers me that I can communicate. Plus I think languages are fun. They aren't too expensive either. They're at the YMCA.

Aside from that there's not much to say. I didn't do much last weekend either. When your days are so packed it's nice to spend the weekend at home doing absolutely nothing. I'm definitely much busier than I thought I would be. I have about 3 hours free during the day but it isn't all together so it's really not worth doing anything. I did come home twice this week to take a nap during the day. It was nice. I need to start going to bed earlier though. 5 minutes later every night really adds up. I can't even tell you what I'm doing. I just end up watching Korean commercials. It's the same as Denmark. The program is pretty much uninterrupted with a huge block of commercials before and after. Actually they introduce the show and then it's about 10-15 minutes of commercials until it starts. For some unexplained reason Oprah comes on here at 1 in the morning and I end up watching the intro and then the commercials and decide to go to bed. I never have much of an intention to watch Oprah so who knows why I wait for the intro and then the program to start. Really kind of pathetic. That's such a waste of 25 minutes. I'm only half watching because I don't even understand the commercials so I don't actually know what I'm even doing during that time. I know I do complex math problems relating to the current time and the time I plan to wake up. Maybe not all that complex. I'm beginning to not like the snooze feature. I woke up before my alarm today but decided to sleep the 15 minutes until my alarm went off. My alarm goes off and I feel more tired. The next time it goes off I'm fine and could get up but I decide I can push once more. Then I wake up more tired than all the other times. More pathos.

Here's a strange story I haven't shared on here yet. A few weeks ago I went to E-Mart like I always do. I saw some man pointing at me and at first I thought maybe the little girls he was with were my students or something but then I realised he was just pointing me out as a curiosity. "Look girls, a Caucasian!" The girls didn't really care. They were maybe 2 and 4 or something. I don't think I've ever felt like such a freak. I didn't feel humiliated or anything just really strange. It makes me appreciate what it would be like for an Indian-Australian travelling in South America though I never felt odd travelling with one. Everything felt perfectly normal to me. Sometimes I like that I look different and then there are times when I wish I looked like everyone else. I'm sure I'll feel a lot less self-conscious when I go back. If I go back. I'm sure I won't stay here but you never know. Some come for a 6 months and stay 15 years. As of this moment, I can't imagine staying another year. It has crossed my mind though. It would have to be a lot better schedule though.

I got back on Tuesday. I haven't checked my account but this slip I signed said I made over 1.1 million won. Lots of deductions for insurance, taxes, and other deposits. Plus I didn't work a full month. For some reason if you want something for the year, like internet, you make a huge initial deposit and then the monthly fee is much smaller. Strange system but I suppose it all averages out the same. I think the first payment is equal to one half of the total. Something like that. I'm glad I don't have to take more money from my Canadian bank account. I somehow need to deposit $1000 CDN into my account by the end of June to avoid a monthly fee. I think it's $8.95 a month. It seemed like a good idea at the time. I had the minimum balance a few months ago. Then there's my Wells Fargo account that I can't access at the moment. I lost my card and will have to call and ask for a new one. I don't know my card number either so that might be a problem. Everything is so much harder when 1-800 numbers are technically no longer free. I called my parents a week after I got here and a 45 minute conversation managed to end up costing $85. It's a good thing I didn't manage to get a hold of anyone on my drunken night in Korea. I'm still amazed at how I manage to do difficult things like dialing maybe 20 numbers in the right sequence while barely being able to stand.

There are a few things about school I could tell you about. My bad classes are getting a little bit better and my good classes are getting a bit worse. Then some of my bad classes are getting worse too. That's all I really care to say about that.

I suppose I should be heading to bed now. Hopefully I'll make it to Korean class tomorrow for my free sit-in.

Some photos

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Originally uploaded by blueshoewhotwo.

I decided it was time to post a few pictures. I don't know how to do it all in one go so they are all seperate. Anyways, here's my building, the way I see it on my way back from school.

Another view

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Originally uploaded by blueshoewhotwo.

Here's my building coming from the subway. I'm on the middle floor on the right side.

Out my window

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Originally uploaded by blueshoewhotwo.

Here's the view from my window. The station is right behind this FineBank. Yes, that is a church.

Kitchen corner

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Originally uploaded by blueshoewhotwo.

Here's the corner in my kitchen. Can you spot the missing faucet? The picture is a bit too religious for me but it's in the corner and I won't see it much. That white box is usually hidden by the fridge.

Close up of the missing tap

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Originally uploaded by blueshoewhotwo.

I thought that I might feel like writing but it took me forever to get my camera connected. I have a new faucet now and I figured out how the hose was connected. It was a very avoidable accident, let's take off very to make myself feel better. They had to cut through the cement to get to work and I can't use the water until tomorrow, which is unfortunate because I need to do some laundry. Also, they didn't come at nine. They said nine and they meant nine. (Nine fingers). Came at eight though. A new guy. I wonder who will come tomorrow or when. I don't know what they need to do. Test it maybe. They patched up my wall, maybe they're going to paint it. I don't even know if I'll be getting billed. So confusing.

And the day began so uneventfully...

My day today just kep getting more and more exciting. I woke up at maybe 11. I barely moved for a few hours and finally left the house around 3. I went downtown and just walked around to try and find a poster shop. I walked around and got lost. I ended up walking by city hall and found the river. I'm glad I found the river. Sometimes the streets all just look the same. Well, there are only a few different types of streets and those of the same type are virtually indistinguishable sometimes. Somehow I managed to find my way back.

I bought a poster at the only place I knew that I'd been to 2 weeks ago. I had a giant selection of about 25 posters. Some weren't too bad. Then I decided I'd get artsy. I bought 2 canvasses and a little jar of paint. I painted one blue and left the other one blank. I thought I could hang my poster with some tacks so I got some of those. I tried to push it into the wall but now I'm pretty sure my walls are just wallpapered concrete walls. I bought some double-sided tape and then hung them all up. It's funny how a place feels much more lived in when there's something hanging on the wall. I've already had some 'guests' come look at them. More on that later.

There was an old poster in the couple. It's not really my style but I decided I'd throw it up in the kitchen. It's some peasant couple praying with a potato. Well being thankful for potatoes or something. They're in a field. Anyways, after I hung it up I decided I would clean underneath the fridge and washing machine. Everything was going fine until I had this 'great' idea. The washer is connected to a faucet in the wall with this hose right. There's a drain in the floor where the hose from the washer goes. I'd been filling up this container and throwing water on the ground so get rid of all this crap on the floor. I'd washed and scrubbed it was just little particles and dirty water. I thought I could take the hose and better direct the water. I'd already taken the hose off and turned the water off so I could move the washer. I had to put the hose back in though. I put it back and opened the tap. The hose wasn't completely back on so I tried to push it back on. I don't know how I even got it off to begin with since there was really no rotating involved. Anyways, I ended up pusing just a bit too hard and the entire faucet ripped off the wall. Literally, fell right off the wall. Now there's just this hole in the wall with water streaming out of it. So much water.

There's no off switch or any kind of valve. It must be behind the concrete somewhere. It was maybe 10pm. I have no idea what to do. There's no way I could wait until the next day let alone Monday. I don't even think I have my bosses number. I have some number but I don't know what it is exactly. I don't even know where I put it. I've never met any one who works at the building. I've never met anyone in my building. So, I decide I'll knock on my neighbour's door. Eventually he opened the door and I brought him to my apartment. He tries to tell me something. My Korean is non-existent. I catch one word. Isseoyo. Do I have? Do I have what? He leaves. Comes back with some stuff. I had tried to put the faucet back on. I don't know what I was doing. I just managed to get water everywhere. We tried different things but nothing worked. He leaves and comes back. He makes a telephone motion. Either I have to call someone or he has already done so. He has. He gets a plastic bag over the hole so that I don't have this jet coming out of the wall. Just a lot of water falling out of the bag. His wife/girlfriend comes. This is the party couple.

They've called someone. She's on her cellphone. Eventually the water stopped. She speaks some English. 9 o'clock tomorrow they'll turn my water back on. I feels so strange just standing in your apartment after you've done something stupid. (Actually, my idea was fine and would've worked if not for that stupid hose and faucet. Ok a lot of it is my fault). Especially when you can't even speak to each other. I felt so bad. He got all wet trying to help me. He tried to ask a few questions. I actually understood one. Well, actually he repeated a word a few times and I looked it up in my dictionary. Place of work. Ahh. My place is so messy too. I have clothes and all this garbage everywhere. My fridge and washer are also not where they're meant to be. My mop is in a sink full of black water. Pizza boxes and plastic bottles all over. They have these strict garbage rules and I don't know them or even where to take my garbage. My makeshift garbage bag (you need official ones) is getting pretty full. Good thing it was a huge bag. How embarassing! I decide I'm wipe down the back of the washer. Suddenly the water starts again. What is going on? What happened to 9am? I decide I'll wait a few minutes before I go to my neighbours. I don't know whether he yelled something but all the sudden I see my neighbour out the window making these motions. I make a motion that water is coming out of wall again. He goes away. Comes back. Makes an X with his arms. The water has stopped. I make an X with my arms. Sometimes it really is incredible what you can communicate without words. They come back to my place and make sleep motions. Ok, the morning. I was going to make some pasta for tonight but I don't have water anymore. God I hope my pizza place is still open. I go to leave my apartment. I meet someone in the hall. She says 'Excuse me,' and then knocks on my neighbour's door. This is all about me. Someone else is with her. So these 4 Koreans are all talking in the hallway and I know what the subject is. I haven't been so embarrassed in such a long time. They come into my apartment and go to the source of the problem. More Korean, I thought this woman spoke English (Excuse Me Lady). Why isn't she telling me anything? Eventually they go out into the hall and continue the conversation. They didn't close the door all the way so I don't know if they are coming back. I'm so confused.

My door opens. I sitting on the bed watching TV while I wait for more movement or something. The second man looks at me and closes the door. He comes back in a few minutes and tells me in better English than I am used to tells me he will come back in the morning. Okay, I can relax until tomorrow. I go to the pizza place. It's after 11. God I hope they are open. Hmm, my shirt is on backwards. It's just a plain white shirt. I didn't want to go meet my neighbour in a soaking wet shirt. They are open. They're happy to see me. The pizza couple are some of best friends. They are nice. Don't speak English but we have good rapport. Last time I went, which sadly was 2 days ago. I eat too much pizza. Of course, tonight wasn't planned. (Those were some half-thoughts and a fragment sentence, ready for the main clause?). I learned some words just for the occasion. They put onions or mushrooms with my pepperoni. I'm going to tell them pepperoni only tonight. I learn the word for onion and mushroom and only. That was so helpful. I didn't even have to tell them anything. I go in. They know I want pepperoni and all the sudden I hear the word for onions. Aniyo yangpa. Pepperoni-man. Yes, just pepperoni. They even brought me a coke. I like my pizza man. No coke tonight but I was so glad they were open. They have a little dog that likes to bark at me. It must think I'm a funny looking person since I'm not Asian. Oh well.

I get home and wait for my pizza. The bell rings. My pizza is here. Nope, it's my neighbours. They have a beer for me. Koreans are so nice. I break something in my apartment, bother them and they are giving me a beer. They tell me it was nice to meet me and that they'll see me around. They ask me my age. He's 35. I don't know their names though. Strange.

Well, that's pretty much been my day. I cleaned up a little for my 9 am appointment. I probably should a bit more. I need to try and show that my place is livable. I hate feeling like I represent the living style of a whole nation of people, maybe even a race of people. Edmonton is the only place where I don't feel I represent anyone. It can be stressful sometimes. Is that a Canadian thing or just a Tyler thing? In Edmonton, they know the answer. I wonder if I should set my alarm for tomorrow.

I guess that means that's all for now. I write again tomorrow because Friday was an interesting day too and I can finally post pictures. I now have internet at home. So nice.

I had some free time right now so I decided to write a few things. Not much has really happened in the past 2 days but oh well.

Today was activity day at the school. It was Happy Easter Day. Not that close to Easter but only a month off. Well 6 weeks maybe. Well let's start the day. I keep waking up later and later. I'm about 5 minutes later for work every second day. I wish I had more discipline. Then everything was normal except once I got to the crosswalk. I feel the need to complain about crosswalks here. The traffic light system is retarded as far as I'm concerned. Well actually the one I was at at the time is fine but it's the majority of the others that I'm going to talk about. Okay, your standard four way intersection has four sets of light right? One for each direction, I guess, I'll say. Well normally at least 2 of the them are green so it's hard to turn right in traffic (or left for you lone Australian) but in Korea they've taken care of that. Only one of them is lit at a time so you can always turn right (or left) when you have a green light. I don't know what it's like to drive but to be a pedestrian you have to time it just right. So there are four crosswalks right. Well you can only walk across one of them at any point. So if you miss your chance you have to wait for the lights to change 3 other times. No one really jaywalks here either. If they did I wouldn't care but sometimes you just stand there forever waiting. The first time I thought that maybe I just wasn't paying attention and the walk had come and gone. I looked around though. Same people were there.

Well anyways, I was standing at the crosswalk. This one is pretty much familiar, only because 2 lanes can't turn right at all. Well, I sneezed and then my nose started to bleed. I rushed to the school, it wasn't that far, pretending to be fascinated by some tree leaves, signs, sky, whatever. Then I went to the bathroom and was there for 20 minutes, well it felt like that long. In reality it was maybe 15 minutes. My nose would not stop bleeding. I'm worried that maybe I have an iron deficiency or something. I've been having chicken though. Fried chicken, mind you, because I can't find anything else chicken related...unless I bought it at the market but I feel like I get ripped off there. I paid about $2 for 6 bananas. Maybe bananas are just expensive. I didn't try to haggle though. I really don't have the patience. There's supposed to be a Costco in the city somewhere with good deals and western food. I've heard some of the vendors buy all their stuff at Costco and then raise the price. If only it were closeby. Eventually my nose stopped bleeding though so the iron deficiency scare went out of my head. I had visions of me bleeding all day though. I was scared mostly because I was later than usual and no one saw me disappear into the bathroom.

So I had a normal 30 minute class and then an hour break. I'm glad I had that hour. They talked about Easter and painted eggs and did other stuff. Afterwards, we played games. I was in charge of the egg rolling game with one other teacher, though she kept leaving. The other kindergarten classes were so good. The classes rotated games. Then my Melons came to play. I thought all the kindergarten kids were a little misbehaved. Compared to mine they were angels. That Kate is so pushy and has mood swings. Yesterday her little puzzle wasn't perfect and she asked for another one. I didn't have one of course. She keeps bringing me hers. I try to help her and she gets frustrated tears it up and comes back again. I like her Tarzan talk though. Me Kate angry. Paul has quit paying attention completely.

On the plus side, this week has gone by really quickly. I realise that it's not quite over but compared to last week it's just flown by. I should also be getting internet at home soon. Within a few days probably. It'll be so nice to have something to do besides watching my TV. I'll probably venture downtown this weekend. I should be almost fully recovered by then. Maybe, I'll swing by those Korean classes.

I kind of got in trouble yesterday. Amy got ready to do some review over 2 units and found that some students hadn't done their work. It was last Wednesday and I was just starting to get sick so I was a bit rundown. These 4 boys weren't listening that day and wouldn't do their work. I didn't have the energy to do anything about it except repeat 'do your work.' Then they lied and said it was finished. I knew it wasn't but again no energy. So anyways, Amy gave me lecture about making sure their work is done and to assign it as homework if they don't finish. That was before my new rules too so I gave myself some leeway as I knew I wasn't doing my best work. I bet those of you with some degree in education, psychology, or child-based things probably think I'm a horrible teacher. I prefer to say I'm mediocre at the moment.

It's my lunchbreak now. I have to start teaching again in about 43 minutes. Luckily it's my early day so I get to leave at 7 and don't have to be back until 11 tomorrow. That's pretty much all I had to say for the moment.

The past 11 days

It's been a while since I've written anything. I'm not sure why that is. I guess it has something to do with lack of time and or desire. So this is probably the frequency that I'll be posting. Well, actually it could go either way. It turns out that I can get internet hooked up within one day...except that I need a bank account and I won't be opening a bank account probably until I get paid. Actually, my boss is supposed to open an account for me at some point. I should be getting paid on the 10th but I don't know how much it will be. It's definitely going to be my smallest paycheque. First of all, I didn't work a whole month so it's won't be my full 1.9 million won. Then I decided just to get the insurance they offered me at the school. The other teachers took it too. It seems alright but for some reason your first payment is practically equal to all the other installments combined. Actually, I don't know about that but it was a lot more than the monthly payment. There was also accident insurance so more stuff is coming out of my paycheque. I guess I'll find out when I get paid. If I were a better teacher I'd probably ask more questions but once again, I don't want to make it seem like I'm entitled to anything because sometimes I feel like an awful teacher. Someone told me today that there were having a bad day because they had to see me. It was partly a joke (I hope). Older kids hold more grudges. I think she's probably 12 or 13. Yesterday, which overall was probably my best day so far, I was called 'very bad teacher' and had tongue blown at me complete with flying saliva. He was better today. That class has a problem with anger management. Those Nobels! Well all of them but Brian but Brian is absent quite a bit. He just sits a draws.

So let's start back on last Saturday. I was woken up around 8 by the phone. Eunice called to confirm our plans. So early though. Then I got a few more calls to change times and other details. Matt and Renee decided to come and then decided not to. Anyways, I got to the station and Eunice was just getting there too. Perfect timing really. I bought my ticket and Eunice tells me to sit down. I told her that Matt and Renee weren't coming but I guess she didn't hear me though. I wonder why we're sitting and then 10 minutes pass. She makes a comment about Matt and Renee. Oh, I think, I guess she hadn't heard me tell her they weren't coming. I tell her 2 or 3 times in different ways that they aren't coming. I don't know what she thinks I'm saying but anyways she doesn't get and I give up and don't want to embarass her. She knows I was saying something about Matt and Renee but didn't understand just what it was. She pretends to of course. Eventually, we agree that they aren't coming. We get on the subway and head downtown. We end up just walking around for a few hours and making small talk. She shows me a few places where foreigners hang out. I saw a few of them.

It's so weird seeing white people here. I feel like I can just go up and talk to them like we have some kind of automatic connection. I guess there is but the immediate urge to start a conversation is strange. I haven't done it yet though. There's always some kind of hello though and it feels like a common, 'I know what you're going through' is exchanged. Probably more on my part. Anyways, not that important. Downtown, there are more foreigners. There's some military base near downtown. I don't know where but there are military people about. Every foreigner is either connected with the military or is an English teacher. Not many tourists. Maybe there are. What do I know, honestly?

Then Eunice invited me to go to Busan with her and some friends. She calls me at 8 and tells me she'll call me again. She doesn't. On Monday, she tells me her friend's boyfriend doesn't speak English and would've been uncomfortable. I still don't understand why there wasn't a phone call though. So on Sunday, I cleaned and my parents called. Anything else? Nope, don't think so.

Monday to Wednesday was pretty much the same as usual. Eunice called me almost every night to talk about nothing really. She's nice and everything but her interaction with me is almost definitely only educational. I feel like an language whore sometimes. People just feel like they can come up to you and talk to you. I went to the gym yesterday. Oh yeah, last Saturday I got a gym membership. Anyways, this guy, Chen, just comes up to an starts having this full blown conversation. That would never happen anywhere. Anyways, he leaves but I run into him again and we have a conversation by the water cooler for 20 minutes or so. I always feel so awkward having conversations with strangers and leaving conversations too. They also like to drop names in conversation to see if you know the person. He knows Naomi and Simon, both from Canada. He didn't ask if I knew them but it was obvious from the pause after their names that he was checking. Kids too just like to yell out hello and laugh to their friends. It doesn't happen often though and isn't too annoying. There was a kid on the subway with his mother. He didn't notice me at first but then he saw me. I was 3 feet from him. I guess I can blend as long as you don't look right at me. Then he asked if I liked computer games. His mother seemed a little embarassed. I told him they were alright. I didn't want to start anything. He told me goodbye later. There have been a few people that stare. Not many but it still makes you uncomfortable. You can just feel their eyes or look across at a reflection and see them doing it. It's not too bad. Definitely not as bad as I imagined. Most people don't give me a second look. Well sometimes a second but never a third.

Back to my week. I had a hard time waking up on Thursday. I was so tired. It was also a field trip day. We went to the football stadium. Korea hosted the World Cup in 2002 I think. It looked a little imposing. The front was a mix between Soviet Russia and Startrek. Big pointy things over the entrance. Otherwise it was a normal stadium. We went to a sports a museum. Everything in Korean so I didn't learn anything but I guess we don't go on field trips so that I can learn. It was with my kindergarten class. Paul wasn't there luckily. He's a strange little guy. Lately, he calls me Shawn teacher, then Matas teacher, and finally I'm Julie teacher, or elephant teacher. He thinks it's hilarious. He doesn't like to listen either. Today we made 3D glasses. Did he put the red and blue plastic over the eyes. No he cut out weird little shapes and glued them to the side. There's must be some line between genius and (it'll sound harsh but I don't know what other word to use) retardation. I don't know on which side he is. I saw a bit of the city on the bus ride. We also had a little picnic in the park. Sometimes Koreans are super hygienic. There was some other word I thought of at the time but it escapes me know. Sanitised maybe. Anyways, for some reason they can't sit on the grass. They all brought these little maps and seemed concerned that part of me was sitting on the grass. The kids all brush their teeth at lunch and some teachers and then they have their little surgical masks. But then you see them sometimes and they're chewing with their mouths open or not covering their mouths or even turning away when they sneeze. Maybe that's how I got sick. Glenn always sneezes right on his paper no matter how close to it my hands are. Maybe that's just a kid thing. Then again, nobody cares where they spit either. Somethings are just confusing.

So that was the field trip and then back to teach my 6 afternoon classes. No one else has that many I swear. From 630 today I swear I was the only one teaching. I taught until 8. Just 2 girls too. I was so run down by then and my throat was pretty sore. One class was a bit of a disaster. It was a science experiment. I didn't have the directions in English but they were there in Korean so I decided I'd let the kids tell me what to do. I've never so many outside materials before. Usually everything is in this little package but this one required all this water and all these kids are telling me different things. Kids tell me hot water. Only one place for that but it's coffee/tea hot water. It deforms their plastic containers. Turns out it said hot water. My boss came in and helped. I haven't been that grateful or embarassed in a long time. Anyways, I managed to survive. Then Renee's parents are in town so Jupiter town us all out for Korean barbeque. It was alright. Duck was on my 'Do not eat' list but I really didn't have much of a choice. You don't get to order individually. I didn't want to starve. There was that and salad basically. Renee is a picky eater too. She doesn't like Korean food. It's nice to know that she hasn't starved to death. I actually had some salad too. It wasn't a bad meal but I would've preferred it if it had been chicken or something on my acceptable animals to eat list. I also hard some hardboiled duck eggs. Like chicken but harder shells. I was a bit sick too so I might not have picked up on other differences. It was a nice meal.

Jupiter took me home and reluctantly brought up some stuff he'd noticed while I taught. It was stuff I basically knew but it's always embarassing to have someone tell you. I made a resolution to change things though by introducing new rules.

Friday was such a long day. I didn't feel well. I was tired and kids don't care at all. My Einstein class was actually very well behaved. That was a nice surprise. Julie had yelled at them. I'm glad I have them first. Julie has them second so if their names go up on the board, there'll be trouble when Julie comes in. Friday night I ordered a pizza and watched the end of Survivor and the Apprentice. I tried to go to bed early but I couldn't. Too much caffeine and too much light. There's maybe 6 feet between my window and another window. The buildings are the same and when this neighbour of mine has his light on my room is so bright I don't need any kind of light. I really need some curtains. I figure one of those eye mask things would be cheaper. I'd feel a bit girly having one maybe but if it helps me sleep. I couldn't get to sleep last night either. That light is so bright.

Then on Saturday I was still sick. It was some kind of cold. Is some kind of cold. Just sore throat and stuffy nose. Not much of a cough. Anyways, I didn't do much on Saturday. I decided to leave my house around 330 or 4. I decided to just walk up the street to the next subway stop. It turns out there's a big department store not far from my house. Well the next subway stop which was maybe 10 minutes by foot. I didn't go in and ended up walking to the 3rd stop and then just rode it back home. I went to E-mart and bought a few things. No mask though. I cleaned some more. Had left over pizza. I watched SNL and some other stuff that I don't remember. SNL is strange. They show it on Saturday nights but because of the difference by the time the show airs it's Sunday afternoon here so basically the show is already a week old. Kill Bill Vol. 1 came on so I watched that. They have decent movies sometimes. My viewing is rather limited by the fact that I don't know Korean. It really is true. Shows that I didn't care about before will probably become my favourite shows. Sex in the City comes on daily, even at like 8am. I still don't know know if it's 'and the city' or 'in the city.' I imagine they translate it differently though so it isn't too racy. What do I really know though? Maybe they translate dildo into whatever it is in Korean. There's a town called Dildo in Newfoundland. I've actually driven through it.I also found out today that the name Jill translates into vagina in Korean. Too bad I don't know anyone named Jill.

Sunday was pretty boring. I stayed home. Cleaned a bit. Actually, while the new pope was being 'sworn in' for a lack of a better word, I was cleaning my bathroom thinking there was nothing else that makes you feel quite so unimportant. Meanwhile the new Pope was basically the most important person at that point in time. I didn't even leave my house on Sunday, I think.

Monday morning I was feeling better and had one of my successful days teaching, well of all 12 days. One was definitely my best class ever. I was so on top of things. It didn't even feel like that long a day. I also finished practically everything I needed to have finished. I just have to write about how great someone in my class is tonight. I nominated him for student of the month. I have to write a whole page. Then I'll have to take a photo with him and they'll hang it up. They choose 3 students from different classes to be student of the month. I've seen the old students of the month. I already told you about other stuff that happened yesterday and today.

My last thought is that I need to meet some new people. I thought that Matt and Renee would introduce me to some other people around the neighbourhood but they haven't. I don't want to spend every weekend at home cleaning my apartment. There's just my kitchen left. It is pretty filthy though. We the fridge is and the washer. The coutertops are immaculate though. It's just the floor really. So I have at least one day worth of work. I don't know how to meet people though. There are bars but I'd feel so strange going to a bar alone. Matt and Renee are nice but I can't just be friends with them, especially since they're a couple. Her parents are still in town too and I was sick so we couldn't do anything last weekend. I hope we do something together on the weekend. It really is more of their responsibility to invite me places since I'm the new person though, right? Maybe I will have to go to a bar alone at some point. Then there are Korean language classes at the YMCA on Saturdays at 11am but they're on Saturdays....at 11am. I also don't really want to hang out in Daegu every weekend though either. Maybe I'll go this Saturday.

Well, I think that makes me all caught up. Time to go home and write wonderful, wonderful things about Richard. It's 12 minutes past the time I wanted to leave too. Until the next.

First Full Week

Well after a not-that-exciting weekend, I was back at the school. It turns out that nearly all the books that the kids use have teachers' guides. They completely ay out the lesson and I think that really they're meant to be hour long lesson so I can skip stuff in them. The only drawback is that I can never find them on the shelves. I think I know where they all are now. I feel a bit like a teacher in the Simpsons though. Well, in the episode where Lisa takes all the teachers manuals and then the teachers know nothing. I'm currently very incompetent. Maybe in a few weeks, I'll have a handle of what I'm doing or at least be able to pretend I do. Apparently, I've come at a very strange time. I guess they really only test the kids every few months, well with a battery of tests. They're doing it this week though. I've had to administer a few tests which is fine but the problem is that the tests are short and there's nothing else planned for the lesson so the kids make all kinds of noise and talk to each other in Korean. I have no control at all. They talk to each other during the tests too. I don't think they take me seriously. I also don't know how much I'm supposed to help them so sometimes I practically spell out the answers. Some of them have really bad English. They have a hard time using the past tense. They love the present tense. I feel like I could imitate them though. Yesterday I go to grandmother house. That's actually pretty good but it's the general pattern. They all go to grandmother house.

I like a few of my kids. The ones I thought would be trouble are quite troublesome. Kate is so bossy and stubborn. Today I made her cry. I'm still not sure why. I don't think she wanted to play the game. She always telling me what I should be doing. She's kind of like Tarzan. She says a few key words and bounces her fist off her chest to emphasize herself. Sometimes I have no clue what she means. Today, Erica said she had to go to the bathroom. I'm not supposed to let them go because it's probably a lie but it encourages them to do their work. Anyway, Erica went to the front desk and told them I wanted tape. Sometimes the kids just run out of the classroom. I'm going to have to find my inner iron fist. Anyway, Jupiter tries to confirm with me that I wanted tape and I tell him 'No, I don't need tape.' The tape was practically in her hands. They always want some strange item for who knows what and get depressed and mad when I tell them no. After words, everyone was calling Erica Pinocchio. They know Pinocchio but not liar. They also like to hide under the desk Karen who was so good at the beginning of the week has turned bad. She would've never hid on me on Monday. It's all Kate's influence I'm sure. Justin likes to erase my writing on the board. They are fascinated by dry erase boards.

I'm sure all this talk about kids is kind of dull but I really didn't do that much this week. First of all, I have to be at work around 9am 3 days a week. Monday I came at 9 anyways. Friday I don't have to be in until 11. That's not so bad except I have to be there until 8pm 4 days a week. I get to leave early on Thursday. At 7. Wow! No one else works that late all the time. Well Amy I think but she's the boss. Well teaching boss. Jupiter is the business boss. My mornings are easy compared to the others I guess but by 8pm I don't feel like doing anything so I just go home and find one of the 3 stations with something English and watch it. I've decided to quit watching the Tonight Show. That would be annoying to only hear about American pop culture. I'd rather be completely out of the loop and get to feel all superior because I was overseas. The up side is that I never hear the name Paris Hilton and no one cares that Britney Spears is pregnant. I read it opening my hotmail account. Actually Interns is on the American Forces Network or maybe it's one of the Simple Life's.

I have a lunchbreak that's about 2 hours and another one where we actually eat lunch for 40 minutes. I've been doing my lesson plans though because I'm not as efficient yet and have no clue what I'm doing. It's hardly worth doing them though because sometimes the kids are so bad that we get nothing done or like today I prepared for the new edition (the kids have the old edition). That was with Einstein. They actually say it the German way here. Einshtein. They kind of listened today. We played a game today where they had to sit to be able to answer questions and get points. They have way to much energy. Too bad there's no ritalin here. A lot of these kids would probably be diagnosed but then again it is overdiagnosed and they're completely different with their Korean teachers. I need to instill more fear in them. Paul from my kinder class was practically in tears when I decided I'd had enough and was going to take him to Amy teacher. He was supergood for about 3 minutes and slowly progressed back into badness. Young kids really don't carry grudges. They must be used to not getting their way. That class also likes to tell me they're angry. Their answers are so funny. One kid said that he was perfect, happy, and a little bit angry. Katherine today was fine, great, happy, and sad. Sometimes I think they are just messing with me. Paul was miscounting and giving me wrong answers. Chin was mouth, nose was eyes, until he was almost sent to Amy teacher. He's such an oddball. For an H word he drew helicopter and actually had the patience to write it all out. I was proud of myself. He also drew a helicopter for G though. There was some kind of superhero in that one though and lots of swords.

Korean kids all seem to love anime, comic books, and yo-yo's. Everyone has a yoyo. It's not just boys either. These girls had some comic book of cinderella. I still don't understand why none of the characters look Asian. They're also all very good at drawing Sailor Moon type characters. They also all have this weird fascination with my hairy arms. They rub them, sometimes vigourously, and pull it. Some of them call me monkey teacher. I was warned beforehand about this and it actually doesn't bother me. I thought it would. They don't mean anything by it and I'm sure (I hope at least) that the fascination with fade.

Oh, the only thing that was going on this week was phone-teaching. I have to call up each kids and have a 3-5 minute conversation with them or make them read a book. Something with speaking basically to impress the parents. I actually don't mind it at all except for all the time it takes for each student. I didn't finish them all actually so I'll have to sneak into next week. They sound so cute on the phone and can't misbehave or anything. Especially when they read these lines like 'Don't be silly' with their little voices and Korean accents. I've definitely spent way more time with the under 10 crowd that with adults. A little strange. I need to meet other foreigners not that it would make much of a difference with me working until 8, even on Fridays. It's my first real weekend I guess so there's some hope. I've heard where of some of the places where the other teachers hang out but I'd feel so strange going into a bar alone. Maybe I'll force myself to do it some weekend. This weekend though Eunice and I are going to go downtown. She's another teacher. I've only talked to her for maybe 10 minutes total. She just invited me tonight, maybe 2 hours ago. I just found out my phone number today. I was waiting for someone to give it to me but realized today that that might just never happen. I would've asked yesterday but I felt more that a little incompetent. They have windows to all the classrooms and sometimes they just stop and watch you. It's obvious they are there. I just didn't want to presume that they would want me around for the rest of the contract. I still kind of expect to be sent home. Maybe it's just that it seems hard to believe I'll be here for a year. I'm such an outsider.I don't know how to look at people, ask for things, do I smile at people on the street or not, how do you even communicate when neither of you has a sense of the other language. I've been in this situation before I guess but it wasn't ever long-term and it was a least a semi-tourist area so at least someone spoke English if only scam artists. Here, they'll speak and I have no idea what they are trying to tell me until 2 seconds after it's too late. I really understand why non-english speakers just smile and nod when you know they have no idea what they are trying to say. Anyways, I have a phone number now. It's +82 (53) 643-0511 or something like that. C'mon it's not like you were actually going to call me.

I'll tell you a bit about my neighbours now. I haven't actually seen them but they are called the party couple. Well, named so by the guy who lived there a few months before me. They come home late and wake me up. The first time was Monday night. The girl was yelling in Korean and the guy had his voice raised. It was kind of disturbing actually. It got a little violent and all I know is that someone was hit several times. Probably the woman, well probably both really. I just really didn't know what to do. I'd barely know what to do at home let alone here. I decided it was probably best to do nothing. I haven't even seen them before and I'd hate to be some western moral authority. The next night they came home late again. Thankfully no violence or yelling. I think the apartments are decently insulated for sound but not from the hallway. You can hear everything that goes on in the hallway but not the other apartments.

I ordered a pizza the other day for the second time. They're a nice pizza couple. My best friends in my area are the pizza couple and the woman who works in the shop below my apartment. Once she wasn't that friendly but there were others there. I feel like my bad Korean endears me to people. I say what I think the word is with a big question mark at the end. Just hello, thank you, goodbye. Annyong haseyo, komapsumnida, and annyonghi kyeseyo. Goodbyes are strange though only because the one staying says something different than the one leaving. Something like Go in Peace and Stay in Peace. Sometimes both say go in peace. I don't know what haseyo means. Anyways, the point of that was that they just end up having to repeat what I say so they can reassure me. What else can I say in Korean. Ppang sareo shinae-e kayo (I'm going to the town centre to buy bread), Cho-nun Tyler-ieyo. Pizza chom chuseyo (please give me a pizza). Canada-saram-ieyo (lit. I'm a Canada person, well 'is Canada person,' cho-nun just means 'as for me'). Americans are Miguk. Australia is Hoju so Australians are Hoju-saram. The nice thing about Canada is that it' practically the same in every language. I don't know how Koreans got Hoju out of Australia. I don't know any other country except England. English is Yongmal or Yongukmal. Ok so I forget.

My one odd incident, well outstandingly odd, happened yesterday. Some guy saw me and just came me over to him and says 'Hey' like I knew him. Says some stuff in Korean and eventually he spits out High School so I tell him Hogwon or is it Hagwon/Hakwon/Hokwon. Something like that private english language school. Then he gives me a high five. I'm so uncool and am not good at high fives. He was older too. At least 35 or 40. That was weird.

I'm sure I lost your attention awhile back and it's getting a little late. I really need to get internet at home so I don't have to come to this PC house. Luckily it's not expensive. Time to go home. Maybe I'll actually be able to sleep in tomorrow.

My first weekend in Daegu

My first weekend here wasn't all that exciting. I had to go to the school at 11:30. Of course, I worried that maybe it was 10:30. I showed up at 11:20 or so. I'm pretty sure it was 11:30 though since neither said anything.

Amy talked about the different classes and what textbooks they were using and how old they were. I'm not sure if she was giving me their Korean ages or their actual ages. Korea has this odd age system. As soon as a child is born, they're automatically 1 year old. Then on the New Year everyone is automatically one year older. So some kid born in December can turn 2 in less than a month. It's a little weird so I think you have to subtract at least a year or 2 to get someone's actual age. I guess I would be 24 already if I had been born in Korea. I really don't understand the mass birthday though. Anyways, that went on for over an hour I think. Then we had a break. I didn't really know what to do so I went to the bathroom, walked around, and looked at a map. I was a pretty dull map. Then it was time to start again. More of the same. Then her, Jupiter, and I had lunch. It was Korean food and it actually wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. It was bulgogi. It was fried pieces of beef and slices of onions and other vegetable-like slices. Not the best meal but not nightmare food. There was also rice. We ate in the conference room which has all these pictures of students of the month. They showed me a few of the teachers. Ones they thought were good and why they were good. Subtle advice really. Maybe not so subtle. One guy was from Edmonton but that was a few years ago. They didn't tell me where the others were from. One was from the USA.

Then we went back to the room. We didn't really do anything. No wait I think we went over the rule book. I always have to wear a shirt apparently. That was the only weird rule. I know what they meant but it just sounds strange and what I was wearing was fine they said. I think just no T-shirts. Then Amy and I had a little discussion. She doesn't like Americans, hates Japan, and likes to watch sports but can't find anyone to watch them with. She's 32 or maybe 30 who knows. Oh another strange rule was that I'm to be proud of myself as a Wonderland teacher and of Wonderland.

Afterwards, I go back home and grab my guidebook and Teach Yourself Korean book and hop on the subway to go downtown. I need to buy a towel so I decide to go to towel street. The subway system was a bit strange but I figured it out watching the other maybe 5 people in the station. After you pay you get this weird little plastic token. I walked to entrance but there was nowhere to put it. What do you do with this token then? I wait for someone to go through. There aren't any turnstyles so really I could just walk through but there's someone watching from behind glass. It didn't even occur to me actually because I didn't even notice there weren't any until I walked through. Maybe I just take them granted. Apparently though it's some magnetic disk and you just put it on top and then it beeps and you walk through. I still have the disk though. A little strange.

I wait for the subway to come. There was a tragic accident on the subway in 2001. The train derailed and some people died. I wonder if maybe the subway will kill me. Not seriously, I just contemplate the possibility. I get on the train. It's pretty empty really. It's about 3-4 on a Saturday. I feel a little out of place just because everyone is Asian. It doesn't really feel all that strange except that I stand out I guess. Or feel I do. I don't know if I mentionned this but Jupiter, my boss, said he wanted the colour photo because in the black and white one I sent he thought I looked east asian. I don't know how he could've thought that. I couldn't possibly be such a cultural/ethnic chameleon. So know I've been mistaken for or been told I look Russian, French, Bosnian, Turkish, German, Argentinian, Chilean, English, and East Asian. I can understand most of them except for Turkish and East Asian. In person though he said I didn't look east asian at all. Still strange though.

I'm on the subway for what feels like a long time. I feel like I'm so far from downtown. I'm the third last stop and I think there are 6-7 stations to downtown. I got off and walked around downtown a bit. They have a pedestrian street downtown. An Asian Stroget or Florida St. I'm trying to find Towel street though. My Lonely Planet map isn't helpful at all because the streets on it aren't labeled and I have no idea which way is North or East or anything. I find a park but I don't know which park. Eventually I see ________ (I forget what exactly) written on the side of a building. It's on my map. I eventually make out where I am. I go to the bookstore and buy a Korean phrasebook and dictionary. Then I walk on to Towel St. Lots of towels but they are all little vendors in little stores. I'm intimidated by the language barrier and I figure the towels are probably more expensive then at E-Mart. I'll go to E-Mart. I see this big cathedral and it feels strange because I'm supposed to be in Asia. 25% Of Koreans are Christian. They used to have a very strict hierarchy and the equality in Christianity was popular for some. Oh yeah, I found out when leaving the station that you put the token in as you leave. Still no turnstyles. Also they have a 800 and 900 won fare. I have no idea what the difference is. I bought the 800. I went back home. Ate the rest of my pizza and actually unpacked. I swept the floor and rearranged some furniture. I doubt they'd ever been moved. Underneath one the floor was grey with dust. No white or tiny pink squares to be seen. I swept everywhere except the entryway were all that dust was. It's out of the way...kind of. I decide that I'm wash the floors the next day. Wait, I also went to E-Mart and bought some towels. They have Japan written on them but they're the nicest ones. I'm worried because Koreans hate Japan but not that worried. Those Japanese textbooks are a big deal here and the fight over these barren rocks called Dokdo. Some people have even changed their legal residence to the islands as a sign of support.

Sunday I didn't do very much. I walked down some new streets, bought a calling card that doesn't work for overseas calls. Didn't wash the floors because although I have a mop, I have no bucket. I also went to a PC house as they are called here and figured out how to call home using my parents telephone provider. I don't know how much it was but I talked to my mom for 20 minutes or so. My dad was already asleep by the time I'd figured it out. I also bought some raman noodles, bread, and some cookies. I clean a pot and boiled the water for 20 minutes and then added the noodles. I don't have a microwave. I wonder if I should get one. That was the end of my weekend. Well one day weekend since I actually had to go to work on Saturday. Only 4 days behind the present.

I'm a teacher now?

I started writing this earlier but somehow managed to change the keyboard to only write in Korean characters and couldn't get it back. Anyways, here's last Friday:

I don't have to be at school until 11. Or was it 10? I was pretty sure it was 11. I decide to go over to my new apartment and see if I can't take out any money with my bank card. I follow my directions, Glass house, blue house, then my building. I walk inside but it doesn't look familiar. I go back outside to see if there was some other entrance that I'd used. Can't find one. I go back in and find number 305. My key doesn't even pretend to fit in the look. Did Gareth give me the wrong key? Nope, I'm at the wrong building. They look exactly the same. Grey building with red windowpanes and a convenience store underneath. I find my apartment and go inside. I look around a bit but really there was no point to coming here so I leave and go to E-Mart. I heard they had a machine that accepted foreign cards. I find a few banks along the way. 타일르 (my name in Korean...I think)

It's happened again so I'm writing in a new window. Maybe it just happens. Anyways, my card doesn't work at any of the banks. I make my way to E-Mart. It seems farther than the other day. I find a bank machine right at the entrance. It doesn't work. Maybe there's another machine. There is. Nada. I find another one. It actually looks promising. There's a Cirrus logo and everything. Finally I get to see what Korean money looks like. It's kind of boring. Not very colourful and it's all the same. For some reason, the largest denomination in Korea is 10,000 won. Nothing bigger. So I have this huge stack of 20-10,000 won bills. 10,000 won = 10 USD. Small, right? I take it and rush back to Wonderland in case I really was supposed to be there at 10. Nope, it was 11. Lately whenever someone gives me a time, I remember it and then later I question whether it was an hour before. It never has been so I'm beginning to think something is wrong with me. I'll just have to trust my memory a little more.

I get to the school. I have an outline of stuff that I plan to do. All of the sudden the bells goes off and I go to the classroom. My Melon class. Paul isn't there but there's this new boy named Justin. I don't really remember what I did exactly. It didn't go that badly I thought. Erica doesn't really listen to me and Kate only wants to do something else. She likes to be in control. Catherine's a bit crazy but she can be controlled. Karen and Justin are both good. Then I get an hour break while they have lunch and then I have to play a little boardgame with them. Unfortunately there are 5 students and it's a partner game of Rock, Paper, Scissors. Everything is fine except Kate is upset and doesn't want to be my partner. She pouts and walks around the room with this big scowl. I'm not sure if they're following my instructions but they're playing some kind of game. Karen and Catherine finish. Karen doesn't mind being my partner. The kids aren't crazy so that all that really matters to me at this point. Another break and then Einstein. I'm a bit worried......

..with good reason apparently. Einstein is crazy. First of all, everytime I go into the class they are hiding. Only 3 places to hide really so I don't know why they think it's so much fun. Actually, I didn't find Travis. He was hiding behind the door. The smartest place really. Helen wasn't there today. Laura likes to be in control. She seems a year or 2 older than the others. Glenn likes to lie in the middle of the table and to be anywhere but in his chair. Laura and Glenn chase each other. Basically 40 minutes of craziness but all they had to say was Yes, I do or No, I don't. I figure they know so I can let them be a little crazy. They are so crazy.

A lot of the other classes have tests. That's all there is to do for these classes so once they finish it's more craziness. Every class has one totally crazy person and then a semi-crazy person who would be good if not for the crazy person. Maybe some classes have several crazy people. Kepler doesn't listen. Nobel doesn't listen. Nobody listens. My ELE501 class is alright. Only Sammy doesn't listen but he's not loud so it's okay. Then it's my last class. 2 Girls and 3 boys. Only 3 people total today. Lauren, Aidan, and Robert. Robert likes to be called Bin. In that class, the girls seem smart enough and the boys just act dumb and the girls get pissed off at them. It's happened everytime.

It's Friday night. Oh yeah. I slept in that day and Matt and Renee left me their key. I leave after them. On the way back to their place I notice that I still have their key. Turns out they both have keys so no harm done. Jupiter comes and we take my stuff to my place. I feel bad because my bags are heavy and I leave on the 3rd floor. Nothing to be done. Jupiter leaves me. I go get a pizza and write down some stuff that's on my building. I go to the pizza place that Gareth showed me. They don't speak English and I only know how to say Hello, Yes, and Thank You in Korean. They know pepperoni though. I think all the foreigners they've dealt with want pepperoni. I give them my address but they don't know where it is. In Korea, every building has a number but the numbers are in no kind of order so number 47 and number 12 could be beside each other. Very odd system. I get on his motorbike and he drives me to my house. I'm sure it's exactly where he thought it was but the address I have him probably confused him. Oh well.

I go to the convenience store underneath my place. I go to get water but I'm worried it might be flavoured or carbonated. Out of fear, I get Pepsi. I don't really like Pepsi but it's the only thing I recognise with certainty. It's all I bought so far actually. I should go to another store next time maybe. The pizza man arrives with my order. I give him the money I owe him but he wants to tell me something or ask me something. I have no idea. I think it might be about paying at the store but it really seems like he wants something unless it's just for me to understand. He leaves eventually, defeated.

I was going to unpack but basically I do nothing but watch TV. A few English programs. I have CNN Asia, Arirang which is Korean based but in English or with subtitles at least, and the American Forces Network. All the others are Korean though at times they have English programs but with Korean subtitles. The American Forces Network or AFN is a bit strange. Decent shows but no real commercials only public service announcements all about military life or worse, 1980s PSAs. "Oh no I don't want to have sex so I'll tell him I'm not ready to be a mother and ask if he's ready to be a father. Then we'll go back to just watching TV." There are also these really weird commercials about terrorism. Apparently, window seats are best if you're in the middle but aisle seats are better at the front and rear. I have no idea why but it's best to sit in those seats to avoid terrorism. They also tell me where to sit on busses. No wonder people are so scared of terrorists. I go to bed around 1030. I still haven't talked to my parents.

2nd Day of Observation

The second day plays out pretty much like the first except that during the afternoon I watch Renee and some of the Korean teachers. Renee and Matt are from Sudbury, Ontario. Actually, this day is kind of a blur to me now. Maybe I should've done this sooner.

The Melon class (all the Kindergarten classes have fruit names) is pretty much the same as the day before. All the kids are afraid of Amy Teacher. She's the Vice-President and she's the one that disciplines the kids hardest. It's part of her job description I think so that we don't alienate the kids by being overly harsh. I don't know how harsh she can get. I'm told she has a little belt.

Jupiter tells me that I need to give him my passport, my tickets, and 2 passport photos. He needs to register me with the local authorities. I need to get some photos so over the lunch break Matt and Renee take me to a photographers. I also tried to get some money from the ATM. One wouldn't take my card and the other is only in Korean. Luckily red buttons mean cancel everywhere I guess. It's my second day and I have no money and have yet to spend a dime. Matt and Renee have given me food and Matt pays for my photos.

During the afternoon, I watch Renee. She seems like a good teacher. Then I watched some of the same kids with their Korean teacher. I didn't know these kids could behave so well. Apparently, they know that the Korean teacher means business but they think that the foreign teacher (i.e. me) is for fun and games. Glenn doesn't jump on his Korean teacher, Julie, at all. Then I watched one of Renee's classes again. She has one student named Sarah who asks me all kinds of questions and draws a picture and covers it with 'no's' and then draws another. I don't know what that's supposed to mean. Another Korean teacher and another dramatically different class. Actually, the Nobel class is pretty good anyway just a little restless maybe. The afternoon classes are all named after scientists. I have Einstein, Kepler, Newton, and Nobel. The kids are better behaved with the Korean teacher though.

I start to make some lesson plans. Matt and Renee tell me they're pretty much not worth doing and once I don't have to show them I should quit making them. I just look at the assigned pages and make stuff up to do. I feel like I don't know what I'm doing at all. That night I had to stay later than Matt and Renee so I could do my lesson plans for the next day. I have to start teaching tomorrow. I go to Gareth's after school to get my key. I meet him on the way. I can't believe all he has is this backpack. I guess you really don't need that much travelling. Maybe I've brought too much stuff. Anyways, I get the key and say goodbye to Gareth. He goes off to the station to go to Seoul and I go to Matt and Renee's. All my stuff is there and Jupiter is going to give me a ride the next day to take it all to my place the next day.

That night, I eat a chicken kebab, or chicken on a stick and some slices of pizza. I had leftover pizza for breakfast too. I'm not big on breakfast and they'd run out of bread that morning. We watch CSI and then a movie. Equilibrium. Disutopia movies take themselves so seriously. It wasn't bad. Then I go to bed.