I almost forgot to blog about this day! It's the last day of school for the 6th graders. I have a favorite class that I sure will miss once they're gone. They are the loudest class but they are so much fun. It is as well Valentine's day as we know it. Korean's celebrate it differently. Here the girls are supposed to give guys chocolates. On White day which is March 14 boys give girls candy. One of the perks about being a teacher is that u get Chocolates anyway...yummy! lol.. I also got a beautiful surprise. Nem managed to get flowers delivered to my house, but the delivery guy came after I'd left so he called me and ended up delivering it to my school.
The ceremony was boring. During the ceremony, awards are given out. The kids get their certificate of achievement when they return to their homerooms where their parents are there waiting. My teachers tried to warn me about how boring the ceremony was but I wanted to at least experience it. I find the ceremonies here very interesting. Whether it be a wedding, graduation, or opening of a library, it's like people don't realize that they should be quiet. Everybody was talking while the principal was making his speech. Mind you his speech was very long and drawn out. It got so boring that I decided to stand up and take pictures. But the moment I stood up he said in the middle of his sentence Mimi blah blah blah (in Korean). I sat down immediately and everybody around me sort of giggled. Apparently he had just mentioned how I was the new Native English teacher. Very embarrassing.
When it was finally over I made my way back to the English room and tried to enjoy my time there while the halls were crowded with ppl. Some of the parents came in and asked to take a picture of me, which strikes me as funny because I look like them. I had to take pictures with the kids holding their flowers, without their flowers, in the games room, sitting on the teachers desk. LOL.. felt like a model. After the inital awkwardness it got kind of fun. I felt very well received as parents came up to me to tell me how their kids really enjoyed my classes. I had to write my email on the board because several students asked for it so that they could keep in touch with me. I admit my eyes got a bit moist...
Thank god I had chocolates to make me feel better.
Thursday, February 22, 2007
Some of my friends here
I was going to write about my Lunar New year but then I ended up writing about some of the friends I've met out here that are not a part of the Canadian Connection group, which I feel has sort of been my family out here.
I believe I mentioned that I've become friends with some guys that are part of the Men's volleyball team.
One of which is Xupa (to be pronounced Shupa. Xupa's real name is Adilson Zambom, he's the assistant coach of the Korean Air (Jumbos) Men's volleyball team. We've became friends and now that he's moved out of Bob's place (Bob plays on that team) and lives in the Inha University dormitory where hes got this sick place. He's got maid service so his place is spotless and he never has to do dishes. He's got a huge kitchen which is what I would love.. or at least just some counter space. He also doesn't have to pay for this place. The company pays for all his shit including his groceries! He also lives very close to me now. He lives with his translator Alex. Alex, Xupa, and Bob (and Gina his wife) are from Brazil. They've been contracted out here to play volleyball with the exception of Alex, hes a translator. Alex is Korean but speaks Portuguese fluently and is trying to learn english so that he can become a pilot, apparently pilots in Korea need to be fluent in 3 languages.
I've been going over to their house fairly often, just to have dinner and relax in front of the tv. I hate the smoke but... I enjoy their company. It's interesting because Xupa's english isn't that great (alex is a little better) but we still manage to communicate. I think I would love to visit Brazil some day soon. I hear that its a very multicultural country and that's one of the main things I miss about Toronto since being here. I miss the diversity. The variety of meals and all the colors of the rainbow. I don't quite how old they are, I'm sure they've told me but I've forgotten because it feels like we're all young at heart. I think that's one of the biggest perks about travelling abroad here. You get to meet ppl from other places in the world. If I could have any job in the world I think I would love to do what Xupa does. He's got one of the most amazing jobs I think. He gets to travel around as a coach and he gets a lot of perks as well. One of the best perks he's gotten so far is 25 round trip tickets to ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD!! How cool is that?! and not to mention all the other perks such as free HUGE apartment with a maid service!!!
I love going over cause Xupa makes brazilian food.. YUMMY..and Alex makes good Korean food double yummy!! I have to make a meal for them one day.. lol.. I'm not sure what I want to make. I've been thinking about some variation of Pho. Wish me Luck!!
I believe I mentioned that I've become friends with some guys that are part of the Men's volleyball team.
One of which is Xupa (to be pronounced Shupa. Xupa's real name is Adilson Zambom, he's the assistant coach of the Korean Air (Jumbos) Men's volleyball team. We've became friends and now that he's moved out of Bob's place (Bob plays on that team) and lives in the Inha University dormitory where hes got this sick place. He's got maid service so his place is spotless and he never has to do dishes. He's got a huge kitchen which is what I would love.. or at least just some counter space. He also doesn't have to pay for this place. The company pays for all his shit including his groceries! He also lives very close to me now. He lives with his translator Alex. Alex, Xupa, and Bob (and Gina his wife) are from Brazil. They've been contracted out here to play volleyball with the exception of Alex, hes a translator. Alex is Korean but speaks Portuguese fluently and is trying to learn english so that he can become a pilot, apparently pilots in Korea need to be fluent in 3 languages.
I've been going over to their house fairly often, just to have dinner and relax in front of the tv. I hate the smoke but... I enjoy their company. It's interesting because Xupa's english isn't that great (alex is a little better) but we still manage to communicate. I think I would love to visit Brazil some day soon. I hear that its a very multicultural country and that's one of the main things I miss about Toronto since being here. I miss the diversity. The variety of meals and all the colors of the rainbow. I don't quite how old they are, I'm sure they've told me but I've forgotten because it feels like we're all young at heart. I think that's one of the biggest perks about travelling abroad here. You get to meet ppl from other places in the world. If I could have any job in the world I think I would love to do what Xupa does. He's got one of the most amazing jobs I think. He gets to travel around as a coach and he gets a lot of perks as well. One of the best perks he's gotten so far is 25 round trip tickets to ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD!! How cool is that?! and not to mention all the other perks such as free HUGE apartment with a maid service!!!
I love going over cause Xupa makes brazilian food.. YUMMY..and Alex makes good Korean food double yummy!! I have to make a meal for them one day.. lol.. I'm not sure what I want to make. I've been thinking about some variation of Pho. Wish me Luck!!
Sean Law
hey I have a few more blogs saved up on my laptop about thailand but since I'm at work, I'm going to just write about a good friend of mine. Sean Law is an incredible dude! He's saved my ass a number of times and as soon as I post up the blogs about thailand I'm going to post some pictures up as well... I gotta say that if it wasn't for him I'd have lost all my pictures from Thailand. As I was importing the pictures from my camera onto Picasa, picasa froze just as I had clicked safe delete and import. so... all the pictures were lost from the camera and weren't saved onto picasa. Sean being the hero that he is, found a software for me to recover my images... thank god! I was close to tears.. we're talking about 540 pictures and since I was the one that had the camera most of the time someone would've had to pay. Thanks to Sean everybody gets to live and I have my memories safe and intact. This wasn't the only time Sean has helped. He's definitely an admirable kid.
THANKS SEAN!!
THANKS SEAN!!
Thursday, January 25, 2007
Thailand -Koh Phi Phi
I apologize for not blogging for the longest time. I've just been incredibly lazy. I've been back from my trip to Thailand for 2 weeks now. All in all the trip was awesome.
So after we finally got from Bangkok to Krabi. We were in a bit of a jam. The last boat that leaves for Phi Phi Island had already left. We were late for the boat because of the 2 hr long delay. Air Asia our chartered flight that was supposed to leave from Bangkok at 1 ended up leaving at 3pm.. which was when the last boat left the dock at Krabi. The cab driver took us to this nice tour agency and so our option was to take a longtail boat to Phi phi island or the speedboat.. the difference in price was astounding.. altho the price was moderate in comparison to back home, it was way out of our budget. We opted for the longtail boat which meant that it was going to take us an hour. That hour felt LIKE FOREVER. Both Linds and I managed to doze while sitting on planks of wood freezing our asses off. Despite the warm weather in Thailand, when you're on the waters, and going pretty fast without any wind shelter, you freeze. I was tired enough to sleep sitting up. I'm pretty impressed with myself.
When we got to the dock at Phi Phi, we found out that our resort was AT THE VERY END OF THE BEACH! We lugged our suitcases all the way there and finally managed to crash.
I got my second wind of the night right about then. After we all showered we went into town to grab a bite and found this wicked place. It was called carpe diem. With the outdoorsie feel and Bob Marley in the background, this place made you feel like you were sitting atop a tree with absolutely no worries in the world.
After dinner we toured a bit of the stands outside. The merchandise (especially clothing wise) was so diverse in comparison to what's sold in Korea. The stores unfortunately closed around 10 and we headed back to our place feeling completely re-energized with nothing to do. LOL.. Always a bad combo with the us ladies. We ended up taking a dozen silly pictures that I cannot post. The night ended with numerous giggling fits.
Our next day was supposed to be our only FULL day on the island and unfortunately the weather was not the greatest. It was raining and ruined our plans of a day out on the beach oxidizing our melanin. Instead we settled for a daylight tour of the village and submitted ourselves to the mercy of the local Thai masseuse. Sigh... just the thought of it now is enough to make my knees weak. It was soo good. and the women there were soo friendly.
That evenning, we spent another night at Carpe Diem, soaking in the mellow ambience. This time we allowed ourselves a cocktail while watching firedancers do their magic. It seemed as if all the locals knew how to play with fire. I left the ladies to their flirting with the guys atop (one of whom had given Tash a rose made of a drinking straw) and headed closer to the fire dancers. I don't know if it was the alcohol or just the setting, but I felt so mesmerized by the fire and the music. Soon after Linds and Tash joined me Tash had to use the bathroom. She came back almost immediately and wanted to use the bathroom back in the hotel instead. As I was feeling quite drunk and tired (I was still sick) I opted to head back with them. Once there however, I was too relaxed to head back out.
The day we were supposed to leave the island was of course.. GORGEOUS.. the sun was out and it was INCREDIBLE. Our check out time was noon so after we had breakfast then packed. We left our luggage with the concierge and headed straight for the water. It was INCREDIBLE.. I love swimming in the ocean and had never swam in the calm waters of the ocean. There weren't many waves like Costa Rica and as I swam I could feel the sun coloring in my skin. I love the feel of salt water because the salt increases the buoyancy and so it feels like you have to do very little work to stay afloat. After a period of time out there just drifting away, I started to notice sporadic pinches here and there. We had by this time, chatted up a few lawyers from England. The dude was so cute cause he had lathered on the sunblock but probably didn't wait for it to settle into his skin before hitting the water. At first we couldn't figure out what the pinches were and where they were coming from. I figured that they were jelly fish stings, though I couldn't be certain at the time.
At around 1 we headed out of the water and gathered our stuff. We went for thai pancake for lunch which is ABSOLUTELY DELICOUS and CHEAP! As we waited for our pancakes we met up with the dudes from Carpe diem that Linds and Tash had partied it up with the night before. They were still as stoned as they were the night before and we sat down with them while eating our brunch. They really were a cute bunch (tho not physically). There was one dude that had his heart set on Tash. Their boat was leaving the island earlier than ours. So after lunch we headed back to pick up our luggage and it was there that we discovered that we didn't have to trek back all the way thru the village to get to the Pier. The hotel had a longtail boat shuttle service that took us there. We arrived to find the Local boy that was in love with Tash. He treated us to water at some cafe near the pier and even helped us with our luggage as we boarded the ship. As I left the Island I promised myself that I had to return again.
So after we finally got from Bangkok to Krabi. We were in a bit of a jam. The last boat that leaves for Phi Phi Island had already left. We were late for the boat because of the 2 hr long delay. Air Asia our chartered flight that was supposed to leave from Bangkok at 1 ended up leaving at 3pm.. which was when the last boat left the dock at Krabi. The cab driver took us to this nice tour agency and so our option was to take a longtail boat to Phi phi island or the speedboat.. the difference in price was astounding.. altho the price was moderate in comparison to back home, it was way out of our budget. We opted for the longtail boat which meant that it was going to take us an hour. That hour felt LIKE FOREVER. Both Linds and I managed to doze while sitting on planks of wood freezing our asses off. Despite the warm weather in Thailand, when you're on the waters, and going pretty fast without any wind shelter, you freeze. I was tired enough to sleep sitting up. I'm pretty impressed with myself.
When we got to the dock at Phi Phi, we found out that our resort was AT THE VERY END OF THE BEACH! We lugged our suitcases all the way there and finally managed to crash.
I got my second wind of the night right about then. After we all showered we went into town to grab a bite and found this wicked place. It was called carpe diem. With the outdoorsie feel and Bob Marley in the background, this place made you feel like you were sitting atop a tree with absolutely no worries in the world.
After dinner we toured a bit of the stands outside. The merchandise (especially clothing wise) was so diverse in comparison to what's sold in Korea. The stores unfortunately closed around 10 and we headed back to our place feeling completely re-energized with nothing to do. LOL.. Always a bad combo with the us ladies. We ended up taking a dozen silly pictures that I cannot post. The night ended with numerous giggling fits.
Our next day was supposed to be our only FULL day on the island and unfortunately the weather was not the greatest. It was raining and ruined our plans of a day out on the beach oxidizing our melanin. Instead we settled for a daylight tour of the village and submitted ourselves to the mercy of the local Thai masseuse. Sigh... just the thought of it now is enough to make my knees weak. It was soo good. and the women there were soo friendly.
That evenning, we spent another night at Carpe Diem, soaking in the mellow ambience. This time we allowed ourselves a cocktail while watching firedancers do their magic. It seemed as if all the locals knew how to play with fire. I left the ladies to their flirting with the guys atop (one of whom had given Tash a rose made of a drinking straw) and headed closer to the fire dancers. I don't know if it was the alcohol or just the setting, but I felt so mesmerized by the fire and the music. Soon after Linds and Tash joined me Tash had to use the bathroom. She came back almost immediately and wanted to use the bathroom back in the hotel instead. As I was feeling quite drunk and tired (I was still sick) I opted to head back with them. Once there however, I was too relaxed to head back out.
The day we were supposed to leave the island was of course.. GORGEOUS.. the sun was out and it was INCREDIBLE. Our check out time was noon so after we had breakfast then packed. We left our luggage with the concierge and headed straight for the water. It was INCREDIBLE.. I love swimming in the ocean and had never swam in the calm waters of the ocean. There weren't many waves like Costa Rica and as I swam I could feel the sun coloring in my skin. I love the feel of salt water because the salt increases the buoyancy and so it feels like you have to do very little work to stay afloat. After a period of time out there just drifting away, I started to notice sporadic pinches here and there. We had by this time, chatted up a few lawyers from England. The dude was so cute cause he had lathered on the sunblock but probably didn't wait for it to settle into his skin before hitting the water. At first we couldn't figure out what the pinches were and where they were coming from. I figured that they were jelly fish stings, though I couldn't be certain at the time.
At around 1 we headed out of the water and gathered our stuff. We went for thai pancake for lunch which is ABSOLUTELY DELICOUS and CHEAP! As we waited for our pancakes we met up with the dudes from Carpe diem that Linds and Tash had partied it up with the night before. They were still as stoned as they were the night before and we sat down with them while eating our brunch. They really were a cute bunch (tho not physically). There was one dude that had his heart set on Tash. Their boat was leaving the island earlier than ours. So after lunch we headed back to pick up our luggage and it was there that we discovered that we didn't have to trek back all the way thru the village to get to the Pier. The hotel had a longtail boat shuttle service that took us there. We arrived to find the Local boy that was in love with Tash. He treated us to water at some cafe near the pier and even helped us with our luggage as we boarded the ship. As I left the Island I promised myself that I had to return again.
Sunday, January 14, 2007
My nights as the Terminal woman.
Jan 5
I arrived at the airport around 2:00am. I've got to wait until Lindsay and Natasha arrive at 11pm. I just figured that I'd try to pull an all nighter in the airport.
If you were to ask me for the one word that would describe my experience in the airport. It would be: BRUTAL (that's right. capitalized)
A number of factors made it unbearable.
1. I was still sick
2. It was 2:00 am in the morning
3. I was already so tired from Nem's visit and all the things we had to do i.e. Christmas party, New years party etc etc
I don't know what made me think I could brave it out for the night. Because even if I could have lasted the night. There was the entire DAY the next day as well.
I sat on the airport seats and tried to lie down and get comfortable like I saw how the other people were doing it. The problem was that because it was such a foreign place to me. I couldn't shake off my uneasiness. I had my bags on me and I was afraid to fall asleep then have them stolen from me.
So 3:00 am hits and I caved. I walked up to the hotel reservation kiosk and booked me a room for the night. Took the cab down and the image of the bed was so welcoming, I almost just crashed. but not before looking around for bugs. The idea of bugs crawling on me while I sleep creeps the hell out of me. After my bug check I conked out and woke up at 7 am. I stayed in bed up until around 11 watching TV.. I was not looking forward to going back to the airport. but as I was getting dressed. I looked back towards the bed and started to notice movements. I thought at first it was just the air conditioning blowing dust particles around. I WAS SOO WRONG! Sitting down on the bed I took a closer look and realized that there were at least a dozen tiny ants or some sort of critters crawling around the bed!!! I jumped up and suddenly felt all itchy. It was sooo gross!
I could not have gotten out of the hotel room fast enough.
Made it back to the airport around 12:00pm. the 11 hr wait was brutal. I got to know the airport really well. I discovered the little nooks that I could sit down and eat by myself. I people-watched. It was brutal. For some reason I started to get the idea that I was only waiting until Lindsay and Natasha came. By the time they arrived I realized that I still had to wait until our flight to krabi the NEXT day at 1:00pm. I WANTED TO SCREAM!! We stayed overnight and got some rest tho we kept waking up cause it was FREEZING and UNCOMFORTABLE. I had to pull out layers of clothes and wear them so that I wouldn't freeze to death. For some reason I kept having to pee every 5 minutes. So sleep basically was impossible.
Somehow we managed to pass the time until our flight, which ended up getting delayed for an hour and half.
Thailand trip to be continued...
I arrived at the airport around 2:00am. I've got to wait until Lindsay and Natasha arrive at 11pm. I just figured that I'd try to pull an all nighter in the airport.
If you were to ask me for the one word that would describe my experience in the airport. It would be: BRUTAL (that's right. capitalized)
A number of factors made it unbearable.
1. I was still sick
2. It was 2:00 am in the morning
3. I was already so tired from Nem's visit and all the things we had to do i.e. Christmas party, New years party etc etc
I don't know what made me think I could brave it out for the night. Because even if I could have lasted the night. There was the entire DAY the next day as well.
I sat on the airport seats and tried to lie down and get comfortable like I saw how the other people were doing it. The problem was that because it was such a foreign place to me. I couldn't shake off my uneasiness. I had my bags on me and I was afraid to fall asleep then have them stolen from me.
So 3:00 am hits and I caved. I walked up to the hotel reservation kiosk and booked me a room for the night. Took the cab down and the image of the bed was so welcoming, I almost just crashed. but not before looking around for bugs. The idea of bugs crawling on me while I sleep creeps the hell out of me. After my bug check I conked out and woke up at 7 am. I stayed in bed up until around 11 watching TV.. I was not looking forward to going back to the airport. but as I was getting dressed. I looked back towards the bed and started to notice movements. I thought at first it was just the air conditioning blowing dust particles around. I WAS SOO WRONG! Sitting down on the bed I took a closer look and realized that there were at least a dozen tiny ants or some sort of critters crawling around the bed!!! I jumped up and suddenly felt all itchy. It was sooo gross!
I could not have gotten out of the hotel room fast enough.
Made it back to the airport around 12:00pm. the 11 hr wait was brutal. I got to know the airport really well. I discovered the little nooks that I could sit down and eat by myself. I people-watched. It was brutal. For some reason I started to get the idea that I was only waiting until Lindsay and Natasha came. By the time they arrived I realized that I still had to wait until our flight to krabi the NEXT day at 1:00pm. I WANTED TO SCREAM!! We stayed overnight and got some rest tho we kept waking up cause it was FREEZING and UNCOMFORTABLE. I had to pull out layers of clothes and wear them so that I wouldn't freeze to death. For some reason I kept having to pee every 5 minutes. So sleep basically was impossible.
Somehow we managed to pass the time until our flight, which ended up getting delayed for an hour and half.
Thailand trip to be continued...
six weirdest things about me
I'm writing this blog because Jamie tagged me and I'm supposed to tag 6 other people but I only tagged 3. I tagged Steph L, Nemanja (even though he hasn't really written in his blog forever, and Asuka.
1. I love putting my face against someone else's cold bicep. It's the feeling of cold skin that I love and I can do it forever except that my face eventually warms it up.
2. When watching a movie or reading a book. I find that in my mind I become one of the main character. It gets to a point where if the book is sad, I find myself a little depressed. Books and movies have a huge influence on my mood.
3. Whenever I have a bad dream, I find that I would wake up abruptly to end the dream then go back to bed to change the ending of the same dream.
4. I hate doing the dishes so much that sometimes I find myself gagging as I'm doing them. I hate a dirty sink more.
5. I have this little bump on my left ear. When I was younger I used to think it was my psychic intuition antenna. I thought I was psychic cause I had so many deja-vu feelings and I swear I had dreams of the events happening. I still believe it sometimes.
6. Sometimes I get this itch on my nose and I would rub it like a maniac. I've rubbed it until my nose started bleeding before. Nem stops me when he catches me doing it. but its a high-powered rub that's insatiable.
1. I love putting my face against someone else's cold bicep. It's the feeling of cold skin that I love and I can do it forever except that my face eventually warms it up.
2. When watching a movie or reading a book. I find that in my mind I become one of the main character. It gets to a point where if the book is sad, I find myself a little depressed. Books and movies have a huge influence on my mood.
3. Whenever I have a bad dream, I find that I would wake up abruptly to end the dream then go back to bed to change the ending of the same dream.
4. I hate doing the dishes so much that sometimes I find myself gagging as I'm doing them. I hate a dirty sink more.
5. I have this little bump on my left ear. When I was younger I used to think it was my psychic intuition antenna. I thought I was psychic cause I had so many deja-vu feelings and I swear I had dreams of the events happening. I still believe it sometimes.
6. Sometimes I get this itch on my nose and I would rub it like a maniac. I've rubbed it until my nose started bleeding before. Nem stops me when he catches me doing it. but its a high-powered rub that's insatiable.
Monday, December 11, 2006
Dec 11, 2006
I feel bad that I haven't blogged for such a long time and the one time I decide to blog, it's about my crappiest day ever. The epitome of Monday blues in conjunction with a dash of just pure bad luck. Plus I feel like I'm coming down with something since my throats a bit sore.
One of the biggest thing that is so hard to get used to in Korea is the last minute planning. Nothing is absolute until it has come and gone. It requires you to be so flexible and so patient. It wouldn't be such a problem except that you have to be prepared for everything and be prepared that everything is going to change.
For example. My teacher's class. 10 people signed up for each class. Even on the first day only 6 ppl showed up in each class. Only because the vice principal signed up himself so they were told they had to by the principal. Well... to date 6 people show up.. but the class has now merged into one and at times NOBODY SHOWS UP because they have some sort of excursion. Nobody thought to tell me. I've photocopied so much material and printed things that have gone to waste. such as printing out horoscopes. I don't even plan anymore. I will go online and just print whatever is out there to do but I refuse to put the extra effort on nobody showing up WITHOUT warning.
Today was one of those days where it was one change after another. Way too many for me to cope with. My day was essentially composed of a rollercoaster of emotions.
I walked into a room that was completely covered in saw dust, with wood planks all over. My coteacher was completely surprised as well. We had been told that renovation was going to happen before winter holidays. NOBODY TOLD US WHEN. We had to spend that morning running around getting all our essentials out of the room, rearranging our necessary supplies into the staff room which only has one computer that is to be shared by the two of us. I was then told that I had to have my camp plans finished by the middle of this week. I managed to defer it to the end of this week. But given that my coteacher has a lot of work as well and there is ONE computer between the two of us. It is going to be very interesting. I've decided to bring my laptop into school.
Second. I was told that I would only have to do one week children's camp. That I would not have to teach adults. I have come to the conclusion that I don't really enjoy teaching adults as much as i enjoy teaching children. Especially the adults here. They're more stoic and less daring. They've got so much more insecurities and judge so much more than the kids. They're also very uniform in terms of opinions. I tried so many times to open a discussion but each time it didn't last long since almost everybody thought the same. ugh.. My coteacher then tells me today that I would have to do a teacher's class because the headteacher insisted. I went through a slight panic moment since there were 2 choices for days and I had nothing prepared and the deadline to hand the lesson plans in was very short. That got resolved because the principal didn't really want to do any teachers class. Thank god. He said that it was more headache and if it was possible to refuse than I was to refuse.
Third. I had asked my VP about a month back about my vacation and what I would have too. I was told that I wouldn't have to come into the school on the days that I don't have camp. I thought I had struck gold and I was sooooo happy. The contract stipulates that we have to be in the school from 9-5 and teaching 22hrs a week. However no teacher wants to do this either and since my contract says I must be accompanied by a coteacher it would be interesting to see who they ask to accompany me. They don't get paid any extra for missing out on their vacation time. which is stupid if u ask me.. Today I was told that I would have to go in AND on top of that, they wanted me to try to make more classes so that I would at least be close to the 22 hrs. Plus on top of that even if I did have 22 hrs in the time that I don't have class I would still have to stay till the end of my shift... in an empty school freezing to death. I know that on one hand I really shouldn't complain because it was on the contract. but it was the fact that all the news got laid on me today, the last minute changes, the disappointment, the stupidity of everything. I could only see red... and blue of course..
However at this point I've calmed down a lot. I was really pissed off at Anne because when I was telling her what happened she was saying that I was taking it particularly hard and that it WAS in fact laid out in my contract. I just felt that I had the right to be pissed in light of everything. That I wasn't mad that I was now getting what everybody else was getting. I wasn't comparing myself to anybody else. I was just mad at how things changed so suddenly. and the fact that they were going back on what they told me. It was just very disappointing. And the fact that she was telling me this also ticked me off since this was one of the FEW times I complained since being here. I know I had it good but there were things that peeved me but I didn't complain about it. And I felt like she was judging me and telling me I shouldn't complain when in fact I had listen to her complain about how I got extra appliances that wasn't part of the contract. In any case I think she understood it more when I explained it more. I wasn't looking for sympathy.. just needed to vent.
Well that was about all for today. But I feel like I should end this on a good note. So .. despite all the bad thats happened today, I wanted to talk about my cooking. I've discovered that I have a hidden talent. I'm actually not that bad a cook. I've discovered that I actually enjoy cooking more for others than when I have to cook for myself. I've also discovered that I am starting to like cooking. I find myself from time to time thinking about what I want to make for the evenning. I'm actually very proud of myself.
Also, Belinda's here! She's coming over on Thursday evenning and we're gonna hit up Seoul for some late night partying!! Things are looking up already!
Also, Nem's visiting again soon as well and finally the best news of all.... I'M GOING TO THAILAND!! booked my plane ticket and got a pretty solid deal on it... There is a light at the end of the tunnel.
One of the biggest thing that is so hard to get used to in Korea is the last minute planning. Nothing is absolute until it has come and gone. It requires you to be so flexible and so patient. It wouldn't be such a problem except that you have to be prepared for everything and be prepared that everything is going to change.
For example. My teacher's class. 10 people signed up for each class. Even on the first day only 6 ppl showed up in each class. Only because the vice principal signed up himself so they were told they had to by the principal. Well... to date 6 people show up.. but the class has now merged into one and at times NOBODY SHOWS UP because they have some sort of excursion. Nobody thought to tell me. I've photocopied so much material and printed things that have gone to waste. such as printing out horoscopes. I don't even plan anymore. I will go online and just print whatever is out there to do but I refuse to put the extra effort on nobody showing up WITHOUT warning.
Today was one of those days where it was one change after another. Way too many for me to cope with. My day was essentially composed of a rollercoaster of emotions.
I walked into a room that was completely covered in saw dust, with wood planks all over. My coteacher was completely surprised as well. We had been told that renovation was going to happen before winter holidays. NOBODY TOLD US WHEN. We had to spend that morning running around getting all our essentials out of the room, rearranging our necessary supplies into the staff room which only has one computer that is to be shared by the two of us. I was then told that I had to have my camp plans finished by the middle of this week. I managed to defer it to the end of this week. But given that my coteacher has a lot of work as well and there is ONE computer between the two of us. It is going to be very interesting. I've decided to bring my laptop into school.
Second. I was told that I would only have to do one week children's camp. That I would not have to teach adults. I have come to the conclusion that I don't really enjoy teaching adults as much as i enjoy teaching children. Especially the adults here. They're more stoic and less daring. They've got so much more insecurities and judge so much more than the kids. They're also very uniform in terms of opinions. I tried so many times to open a discussion but each time it didn't last long since almost everybody thought the same. ugh.. My coteacher then tells me today that I would have to do a teacher's class because the headteacher insisted. I went through a slight panic moment since there were 2 choices for days and I had nothing prepared and the deadline to hand the lesson plans in was very short. That got resolved because the principal didn't really want to do any teachers class. Thank god. He said that it was more headache and if it was possible to refuse than I was to refuse.
Third. I had asked my VP about a month back about my vacation and what I would have too. I was told that I wouldn't have to come into the school on the days that I don't have camp. I thought I had struck gold and I was sooooo happy. The contract stipulates that we have to be in the school from 9-5 and teaching 22hrs a week. However no teacher wants to do this either and since my contract says I must be accompanied by a coteacher it would be interesting to see who they ask to accompany me. They don't get paid any extra for missing out on their vacation time. which is stupid if u ask me.. Today I was told that I would have to go in AND on top of that, they wanted me to try to make more classes so that I would at least be close to the 22 hrs. Plus on top of that even if I did have 22 hrs in the time that I don't have class I would still have to stay till the end of my shift... in an empty school freezing to death. I know that on one hand I really shouldn't complain because it was on the contract. but it was the fact that all the news got laid on me today, the last minute changes, the disappointment, the stupidity of everything. I could only see red... and blue of course..
However at this point I've calmed down a lot. I was really pissed off at Anne because when I was telling her what happened she was saying that I was taking it particularly hard and that it WAS in fact laid out in my contract. I just felt that I had the right to be pissed in light of everything. That I wasn't mad that I was now getting what everybody else was getting. I wasn't comparing myself to anybody else. I was just mad at how things changed so suddenly. and the fact that they were going back on what they told me. It was just very disappointing. And the fact that she was telling me this also ticked me off since this was one of the FEW times I complained since being here. I know I had it good but there were things that peeved me but I didn't complain about it. And I felt like she was judging me and telling me I shouldn't complain when in fact I had listen to her complain about how I got extra appliances that wasn't part of the contract. In any case I think she understood it more when I explained it more. I wasn't looking for sympathy.. just needed to vent.
Well that was about all for today. But I feel like I should end this on a good note. So .. despite all the bad thats happened today, I wanted to talk about my cooking. I've discovered that I have a hidden talent. I'm actually not that bad a cook. I've discovered that I actually enjoy cooking more for others than when I have to cook for myself. I've also discovered that I am starting to like cooking. I find myself from time to time thinking about what I want to make for the evenning. I'm actually very proud of myself.
Also, Belinda's here! She's coming over on Thursday evenning and we're gonna hit up Seoul for some late night partying!! Things are looking up already!
Also, Nem's visiting again soon as well and finally the best news of all.... I'M GOING TO THAILAND!! booked my plane ticket and got a pretty solid deal on it... There is a light at the end of the tunnel.
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