4th November 2010

So...had the dinner last night with the Principal, Vice Principal and all the head teachers - none of whom spoke English! One of my co-teachers came with me for the dinner but she left rather early and I was dropped home by one of the other younger teachers. We went to this restaurant where we had Galbi for dinner, Korean BBQ with beef, which was really delicious and I have never seen so much food! I was so full but they kept bringing more and more to the table...finishing off with Naengmyeon which is a type of cold noodle. A really delicious meal!

Then the Soju started to flow... and between the soju and the beer, and the fact that while they couldn't speak English they were still telling me I wasn't drinking fast enough, the night started to liven up! Dinner lasted for a few hours and then the teachers were in a happy enough mood from all the soju that they decided it was time to hit the No Rae Bang just down the corridor in the same building...

A No Rae Bang is a private singing room, Karaoke for a group of people who know each other - the first one I went into was really small - but last night we had quite a big group - so the room was huge! The teachers were really into it too, probably helped by the fact that they were so smashed...haha. They started out with a whole lot of oldies - in Korean of course - and there were one or two who had really great voices. The object of the No Rae Bang though seems to be just to have fun, it doesn't matter of you can't sing, you must sing loud! The first time I got up to sing they were so excited, they started clapping before the song had even started, and after that I was part of the group - the second song they asked me to sing a duet - Yesterday by the Beatles... one that they all knew! The last song I did was "I'm Yours" by Jason Mraz - who was a favourite of one of the teachers and I suspect that he may have videoed me singing it - by that point all the teachers were up dancing and clapping - it was so much fun!

I also was asked to dance on a number of occasions - with one of the teachers I had absolutely no idea what he was doing - it wasn't a dance I recognized but there seemed to be steps... And at the end we all stood in a group arm in arm as they passed the microphone around - they are such kind and welcoming people - I really felt like they were making me a part of their circle last night.

We wandered out to the cars and the principal decided we needed group photo's - which I am hoping i an get a copy of - funny thing is I look really short, I assumed I would be the same height as most people here because I am short, but Korean guys are pretty tall and they always make sure I am in the middle of the photo! We car-pooled home - which was interesting again because by this point there were no English speakers - the one English teacher who had accompanied me left before we headed to the No Rae Bang - assuring me that I would be fine! But we made it home in one piece, which is actually more of a challenge than one might think when you consider the way they drive here, its either foot on the brake or foot on the accelerator - so it can be a little bumpy!

By the time I got home I was feeling decidedly happy...too much soju and beer... I am going to have to start going to the gym if I keep drinking beer - I really don't like it but there are some situations where to turn it down might upset people and the teachers seem to be so thrilled all the time that I am loving Korean culture and adapting so well to it. They still seem to be stunned that I can use chopsticks... They mentioned to me last night that they had been really woried I would be homesick and that I wouldn't enjoy myself here... I told them "home is where your stuff is" - which is exactly what I believe!

They do seem impressed that I have managed to find people here that don't mind hanging out with me, e.g. friends, I am wondering if this is because one of the English teachers they had before had trouble with it (they told me she did...) or if it is because I am such a difficult person its a wonder anyone can tolerate me! ;) Needless to say I felt a little... whats the word...terrible!! When I woke up this morning, like elephants had trampled on my head while I was sleeping, but I made it to school early - they had changed the schedule today for some school function thing so my class started 30 mins earlier.

My co-teacher (Miss Yun) bought coffee down for me when she came for class - think she must have known I would need it! Lunch today was fantastic too! Just what I needed to get past this headache! I asked one of the other teachers what it was called, and for the life of me I can't remember what she said, but then when I asked her how to cook it I wished I had taken notes! I think I remember most of it - I hope so anyway because she went over to the E-mart just after lunch and bought me a bag of the ingredients so I would be able to practice making it at home! They are so sweet here! I don't know why I am still constantly surprised by their kindness, they have been like this since I got here, perhaps I just expected it to fade as they got used to me being around?!

 So 2 classes left for the day and then tomorrow is Friday!! I am going out for dinner with the female English teachers tomorrow night which should be fun - they are calling it a girls night because we are leaving Mr Kim behind... hehe. I think we are headed to Songtan, which is right near Osan US airforce base, for some Thai food - the teachers don't like the Thai food in Osan because it is apparently Korean style - and they want the real thing! After that I feel certain I will be headed out somewhere else and I think I may be heading to the Seoul Lantern Festival on Saturday... another busy weekend ahead! I am hoping I will have a bit of time to sleep sometime next month!!