Thursday October 14th 2010

This morning was definitely eventful and I am glad I decided to go into the school a bit early! I wanted to get some photocopying done before most of the other teachers arrived so I could get out of their way and set up for class - turned out we had a whole school staff meeting from 8:30 am where I was to be introduced to all the other teachers - and give a short speech. For some reason standing in front of 40 kids per class is not a problem, but standing up in front of 40 teachers made me nervous as anything! I did manage to get my photocopying done before I was collected by some of the other teachers! My little speech was very, very, short - I just said my name, where I was from, that I was happy to be here - and I thanked them all for welcoming me into their school.

Short and to the point because Yun had to translate for me - and there was the nervousness - even though they couldn't understand me! The other thing that happened this morning that really surprised me was that the school cleaning lady, who I say hello to every day, came up to me and gave me a gift! I was so touched - she was talking to me in Korean (which I didnt understand even though the hand gestures made a bit of sense!) and she gave me a little thing to hang off my phone and a pen that is wrapped in ribbon and has a flower and feathers at the top - if I can get the pictures in I will! When she left one of the other English teachers explained to me that he didnt know what the gift was for but that she just liked me!

I was so surprised! I have had no real interaction with her other than that every time I walk past I smile and say hello in Korean. So sweet! At lunch time I went down to the bank to see what I needed to do about withdrawing money from my Australian bank card after I had been so cruelly rejected the afternoon before! (I might add here that I was rejected by an ATM not a human - the people here are far too nice to do that!) Turns out it really was just me being a moron because right next to the ATM that rejected me was the ATM that had a sign on it saying "Global Services"... very slow sometimes... Can I claim that the bright lights and all the pretty writing distracted me?? I do have to say that I really love Korean money... I took out 200,000 won which is about $180 Australian and the machine spits it out in 10,000 won notes, then there are also 5,000 won notes, 1,000 won notes and a bunch of coins - but it makes me feel rich! That and everything is really cheap - like it's 80 cents Australian for a 600ml bottle of coke!

 So after getting back to the school, feeling like I had a really fat wallet, I went down with the other teachers for lunch, and had another selection of food items I had never seen before! The teachers cafeteria is really big and just like at schools in Australia the departments seem to sit together. Makes it handy that the school prepares all the food as well, one less thing to think about when getting ready for work in the morning. Oooh - the other thing I had been trying to remember to mention was the sound of the school bell - it's not like any school bell I have heard before - its like a tune that could have been a ringtone on a phone back when the bricks (e.g. Nokia 5210) were popular! Everytime I hear it I start to smile!

 Had another two classes in the afternoon, one was reasonably tame, and then the last class of the day was a little crazy! The students were so full of energy and love to interact - they are one of Yun's groups which makes it even more fun because she is such a pleasure to teach with. The students in this class either had really advanced English skills compared to the rest of the students at the school or they are just a lost less shy about giving it a go! Either way they were a really positive way to end the day! Then it was just more work to get me through till home time at 4:30 - Ive been rethinking a few of my idea's since I read the last teachers letter - and since I am almost through the first week of teaching - I feel like I know the students abilities a bit better now so it will be easier to plan.

I have also noticed that I am speaking a lot more slowly and really thinking about the way I phrase things and which words I use - I had a class today where the English teacher with me didnt really say anything - so there was no translation - so I found I was explaining a lot of things more carefully and using some of the words and gestures that Yun used to reinforce my lessons. While I was sitting there working away (in the classroom) a few of my students came in to ask if they could use the room - one of them I can already tell will be a favourite - he was one of the boys that met me at the gate on my first day, and he is so polite and willing to help, and genuinely working at using his English.

The school carnival is next week - and from what I could figure out from watching them out of the corner of my eye the kids are preparing some kind of performance that involves a fight with what looks like samurai swords. These kids are like little Ju Jitsu / Tae Kwon Do trained killers! What I mean to say is that the flips they do through the air etc. are really impressive... quite ninja! One of the teachers I have been working with for a different performance for the carnival next week, stopped in to see me ad we chatted for about half an hour about all sorts of things, I think I am going to end up spending a fair bit of time with her - she's so lovely!

 I called through the E-mart on the way home, since I had cash again, and E-mart is the biggest convenience store / supermarket chain in Korea - there are four floors and the place is massive! Picked up a few things, some more soy sauce, some lollies for a bit of an experimentation session, and then I asked one of the ladys about seafood dumplings (Yun had written it in Korean on a slip of paper for me) she told me that they didnt have any, and then handed me a bag of something that I think she said had a bit of seafood in it - its really hard to tell when they only speak to you in Korean! I think I mentioned how many things they put together as part of a special - well this had two bags of whatever these things were and then another packet strapped to the front with some kind of pancake thing in it - all frozen, which generally means its easy to cook! I bought those too - feeling a bit adventurous - and I got a bath mat which I was ridiculously excited about. The small things that please me now! Packed all the stuff into my bag - thinking how glad I was I had bought the big handbag - they dont give you shopping bags here, you have to have your own - and lugged it the 5 mins to my apartment. The only downside is that I live on the fourth floor and there is no elevator...I am going to get so fit!

 Once I had put everything away I turned to cooking dinner - more of a challenge than you may think given the instructions are in Korean too. The pancake things had a picture of a frying pan and the flat dumpling thingy's had a picture of a pot with a steamer in it so I thought I'd just give it a go! I still have no idea what was in them, but they tasted pretty good! I think the pancake may have had some kind of octopus in it, and the flat dumpling things had the taste of seafood...but who knows?! So, I had dinner, some quality time with my skype, and then decided I needed to rearrange the furiture in my apartment - make it feel a litt more like it was mine.

The cupboard, desk, and fridge are the heavy things to move... and I should have measured the cupboard first - as it was i had to move it twice because I didnt realise that it wouldnt fit under the air conditioner. There was a fair amount of sweating and a few breaks taken... and a little swearing, and then it was all done. I rearanged all the insides of the cupboards and then found some more creative ways to store my jewelery - I really need to get a litte shelf to put just outside the bathroom - that might be the mission for this weekend! There were also some little computer speakers in the apartment already - and with my new set-up I can hook these up to the laptop...surround sound! But after such an eventful day I am now exhausted...and going to get some sleep! Goodnight!