I haven't had much motivation to blog lately... I don't know what changed but it was starting to feel like an effort and the drive left me. Yet, I have been doing stuff so I feel I should put something down.
I have been a bit sick too, I can't seem to get rid of whatever s going on in my throat, and still don't have a voice. And strangely I keep getting nose bleeds... Too much information???
Sissy's second visit to Korea
Georgia came back for a quick trip before heading to Thailand for a family wedding. The weather was soooo much better for her this time around. We didn't do anything too different and interesting, but we did go into Gangnam on the Friday night with some lovely ladies for drinks and a dance. We went to Bling Stone first, a fab little bar near Gangnam station exit 6 I think (?) for some drinks. It was 15,000 won and you could drink as much as you wanted from a set cocktail list. So we got pre drunk and then went to Club Oz, supposedly the best new club around. It was all electronic music which is great if thats what you are into, but for me I need a bit of variation. We then headed off to a spot and got more drinks and food. We girls stayed at the Ja Guesthouse in Gangnam and it was really reasonable. The link for their Facebook page is here, and I would recommend it. Price was reasonable for the area and they had free breakfast. Always a winner in my books.
The next day we went into Seocho for H&M and Forever 21and had a bit of a shop up. It's a really beautiful area there, I would totally live there. Very green and European looking. If you get a chance check it out.
That night we got shit-faced in Songtan and then Sissy was in bed all the next day with a soju hangover. And that was her week done. I missed her the second she left. Now I am lonely at home again. Thank God I have my doggie, and great friends.
Gangnam
Gangnam
Milky (of course)
Buddah's Birthday long weekend
Last weekend was a long weekend, and a group of us went to an island off the coast of Incheon to celebrate in style. We started the long weekend on Thursday night in Hongdae, drank soju and ate at Monster Pizza (best pizza EVER). We spent the night at Seoul Base Camp, a great hostel near Hapjeong station and walking distance to the heart of Hongdae. It was my first time staying there but the others have stayed a few times so the fact that they are repeat customers says it all I spose. Check out their FB here.
We were up bright and early (5am) to head into Incheon to catch the ferry to Deokjeok Do. We were actually going with a tour type thing, a big group of teachers and foreigners - I think there was about 150 people all up. We just paid some money to the organisers and they fixed the ferry and the pension (kinda apartment) where we slept. Ferry took over an hour to get there and I was feeling emo and hungover (if there is anything that will make me feel emo its boys, and that ALWAYS leads to feeling hungover) so the ferry was a little rough. I was feeling gross when we got to the island but it was so beautiful and sunny I soon forgot I was feeling sick and got onto the beach and enjoyed the day with friends. I got mega sunburnt, the entire weekend was a massive booze fest... Friday was really the only day of good weather but we enjoyed each others company anyway. The group of us wanna go again, either to the same island or a closer one and camp out and have a merry time.
On the ferry
Looking the part (and carrying my bag)
On the pier
LUNCH
Beach was great - sand was nice and plenty of room!
We were the only people on the beach (the big group I mean) so we had the place to purselves. I felt pretty bad for the Koreans that live there cos as usual the foreigners ran amok.
Anyhoo I will try not to leave it as long between blogs. And I will endeavour to cheer up.
Mine would be something dangerous and life threatening happening to one of my students. My SECOND worst nightmare is the class losing their minds and me having no control whatsoever and achieving nothing. It happened today with all but my last class... There was something dodgy in their milk this morning I swear.
Grade 4
First up this morning was grade 4. I go into the room at the normal time and set everything up and wait for Co. And wait. And wait. In the meantime the kids have arrived and are asking me where he is, and I am just saying I have no idea. So they start slowly working up to a volume similar to that of a Metallica concert. I have no way to calm them down, I have tried yelling and everything but nothing is working so I quickly scan YouTube and put a Pixar Short on (these save my bacon, i'm fucked when I run out of Pixar Shorts). They are quiet for long enough to get their attention to the text and to start the lesson. The peace lasts approx 5 minutes before they are wild again. I am over it and I sit down at the desk. They all just fool around for a bit then I snap. I do my best "YA" and they all freak out and stop - and I start pulling boys up the front of the class and making them sit and face the wall. It works, we finish the lesson in relative quiet.
The next grade 4 class comes in. Still no Co, but at least I am prepared this time. They all ask where he is, and the noise level starts to increase as they all catch on that I am teaching along. But I am ready. I stand in front of them all and say "GAME" at the top of my lungs. They all cheer! And then get quiet while I try and explain what to do. They all line up as asked, but are so feral that it takes nearly 5 minutes for the boys and girls to form separate lines. And I am asking them in Korean and they still aren't doing it. I crack it for the second time today.
"YA"
They all stop. I say:
"You ruined the game, everyone sit"
And as they sit, chaos ensures. They start swearing in both English and Korean. I start pulling kids up the front again, even a girl this time. They are reasonably quiet while we do some "Listen and Repeat" before one of the boys at the front is poking the kid next to him. I send him outside the classroom, and the rest of the class is cheering - I don't know if they cheer for me or for him. And this is what happens for the rest of the lesson. At the end of the class there are 4 boys outside fooling around and 6 kids sitting up the front. This strategy is no longer feasible... But that's the last grade 4 class for the day. Grade 3 will be better, right?
Grade 3
When they came in my throat was already aw from freaking grade 4, and I had resigned myself to the fact that Co wasn't coming. I was certainly wondering why he didn't tell me he wasn't coming in but had no time to worry. I played some retarded "Days of the Week" song and they all sang which was nice. Then got into the lesson just fine, and then it got to the game time... The text book games are always lame but this one could have been fun... could have been fun...
They just wouldn't line up properly. My little helper (a girl with decent English - her mother is Russian) tried to help but she also got frustrated. She cried. Another gild was upset becuase her pencil case broke and her pencils went everywhere. There was no control. Quick - put on the Pixar Short (for everyone who is interested, today's saving video was Partly Cloudy) and the lesson was over.
The next class was worse. I witnessed the worst bullying I have seen since arriving in Korea. This little girl is a bit strange, she clearly has autism or something, and it forever grinning to herself and making a ruccous. My Co says its ADHD, but I think its def a form of Autism.
Side note -
Many teachers in Korea throw ADHD around a lot - any kid with a behavior problem is said to have ADD. My Co is not one of these people... He thinks that most kids these days simply need a good smack on the head or the back of the leg - and I think in some cases he might be right (I DO NOT condone hitting kids... What I mean is that dicipline starts in the home and parents need to spend a bit more time with their kids). Anyway, for him to say that a kid has ADD then I would be inclined to agree with him. Not in this girls case.
Anyway, the other kids were awful to her. They wouldn't let her be in any of their teams, and pushed her around. They punched her, and one boy spat on her. By this stage I was beside myself... In the end I had her come and sit on the floor in front of me, mainly to keep the other kids off her. They were like a wild mob - of 3rd grade kids. It was so awful. I had another bout of screaming at them all in English, so they had no idea what I was saying but they knew I was mad. And they knew I was seriously unimpressed with how they were treating the little girl, but they didn't understand why.
"But she is crazy, Bonnie" one other girl told me.
"That is no reason to hit her" I replied, but they had no idea what I was saying.
And the boy who spat? I will admit it. I grabbed him by the arm and led him out the classroom. He stayed outside. That silenced everyone pretty damn quickly. I was furious but I had lost control of the class and they were all just being ultra rowdy So back came the video... I was angry at myself too, because its like I have rewarded them for their bad behavior Thank God the bell went and they went to lunch and I was left to lick my wounds.
After lunch I had the final grade 3 class. I was ready. Co was not there, so I was not going to teach the book. They needed something a bit different I had found a cute video called Getting Round, and had decided that we would do shapes and colours. I didn't give a shit if they already knew it - it could be a revision lesson.
They sang their normal annoying song and then we watched the video. We talked briefly about shapes and colours then watched it again. Then we all drew our own "shape worlds" and added a "problem" to it (for example, in the square world, the wheels on the car were also square - it was a "problem"). We compared each others pictures and laughed at the "problems". At the end I showed them the same movie all the others had seen, but this time it was a reward not a distraction. And at the end of the class they all got up nicely and thanked me and left. It was perfect.
So what is the moral of this story???
To be prepared for your classes. I was practically assaulted by kids today - they completely owned me all morning, and I already know now it is gonna be difficult for me to get the control back. They took advantage of the fact that I don't speak Korean and that Co was not there. I was simply not prepared for class. I knew what lessons they were up to, but knowing my own limitations I should have had back up activities ready just in case things went pear shaped. They had too much energy and not enough to do.
From this I have learnt that I need to prepare better. I can't always rely on Co to show up - this is the downside of him trusting me to teach. He simply doesn't turn up. I never know if he will be there or not. So, I need to prepare different random lessons for different grades on the off chance that he isnt there. I need to have spare worksheets to fill time at the end of classes. I need to find more funny/interesting/cure shorts for them to watch. And I need to be more assertive from the start. I am their teacher, so they should listen even if they have no idea what I am saying. I WILL DO BETTER NEXT TIME!
In other news...
I have uploaded another video to YouTube, please check it out if you have a minute. I know I really need to spend a bit more time on the channel, and I really enjoy working on it so stay tuned for more in the future.
I was at Rach and Changsu's wedding on Sunday and it was awesome. The bride looked amazing and the groom very handsome. The food was good and the best part - it was in Pyeongtaek. So hardly any travel! I actually really love Korean weddings, I think I might just have to marry a Korean guy myself so I can have a cool cheesy wedding (and lovely hybrid babies) .
I never found my stuff. I mean, I never actually went back to Hongdae to look for it but I am convinced its gone. Now I just need to get to immigration and get a new ARC... SO ANNOYING. I totally learnt that lesson too...
It has clearly been a big few weeks for personal growth.
Sissy arrives in less than a month so excited!!! And, in case you haven't noticed, I have not talked about North Korea. It's because there is nothing to talk about. We are all fine here (still) so again, please do not be concerned. Stop buying the newspapers and stop watching the news... Every time a new story comes out all it does is scare people living OVERSEAS (not us here) and fuels Mr. Kim's ego. So stahp plz ppl!
Ok, so I am not sure exactly how much of my weekend I should put into this blog post, but I need to let people know how annoying it is to lose stuff.
I was out in Hongdae on Friday night for Benji's birthday, and we all naturally got pretty messed up. I ended up being out the entire night, and lost all my stuff. By all, I mean my wallet, phone, cash cards, ARC, a new dress I JUST GOT THAT NIGHT and a fair bit of dignity... I put the bags down and thats it. Wandered/danced away from it all. So, as a result of my crazy night I now cannot access any cash and I cannot make any phone calls. Luckily I have fab friends who have offered me use of my phone and also cash to get myself through until I can order a new card. So once I got home on Saturday, this was the chain of events:
Took Milky out.
Checked FB and posted that I was alive but lost everything.
Had a shower.
Cried for about 20 minutes.
Mathilda came over.
Called Citibank and cancelled my card (after a stupid run around - the Citibank English service isn't fantastic after hours)
Ate some food.
Spoke to a few people on FB.
Went to bed.
Got up Sunday morning.
Cried again.
Blair came over and we got pizza for lunch.
Tried calling various clubs I went to on Friday night to see if my stuff had been handed in.
Hung out on FB some more.
Ate more food.
Cried again.
Watched tv.
Went to bed.
I cannot even begin to tell you how much I hated being without a phone. I think you may recall a blog I posted a few weeks ago about things that I cannot do without. I can't remember if I included a smartphone but I feel I should have... And I would also like to add access to funds to that list. I had 8000 won sitting on my bedside table and that was it.
Monday I went to the bank... I left school at about 3:40 to get there in time and went up to get my new card. The lady sorted out the internet password card just fine, but the bank card... Well, lets just say its a cash card not a check card. So I can't use it at shops... So WTF is the point of it? At least I can withdraw money now.
Then I went and saw my fave phone man 온기, who got me sorted with a new Samsung Galaxy III. So I was mobile again... And my depression lifted.
Originally my plan was to go back to Hongdae on Saturday and look for my stuff, but it is apparently going to rain, plus I am practically out of money. And if someone had found my stuff there are millions of ways they could have contacted me but chose not to. So I am taking this as a sign that it has gone... And I do know that I should go and check but it is such a hike (subway, train, subway, walk, then repeat int he opposite direction). So I will just resign myself to the fct that I need to get a new dress for Rachel's wedding and be done with it. Chapter closed, lesson learnt.
My advise to people is this - Do not get blackout drunk. Not only is it really dangerous but it is also expensive. You WILL lose things, you WILL say inappropriate things, and you WILL make decisions that a sober version of yourself wouldn't make. I was lucky this time, I was with friends and it was really just a massive inconvenience But I know that if I had been in Melbourne then it might have been a very different story... It is not safe for drunk women to be wandering around there... Anyway I didn't want to get all doom and gloom on you but I really felt the need to issue this public warning. And with the drinking culture in Korea standing as such, it is often difficult to drag yourself out of the bar, and turn down the last tequila shot, and know your limits... The limits here are all made to be tested. Don't fall for it - be safe everyone.
In other news
I really want to rave about my new phone (yes, something good DID come from losing my stuff). People who know me know that I am a Sumsung fan anyway - the lost phone was a Galaxy II and I pushed my sis into getting the Note and I know a heap of people who are slowly being converted. But I love this phone because its white, and has less buttons to press. It just suits me nicely. I am not tech savvy so there is no point in me going into some sort of review about it so I wont, but let me say that it is adorable and I heart it.
This morning while out with the kids and their skipping ropes, Co broke his foot. Well, potentially broke his foot (its too swollen, the x-rays didn't reveal much). So I was able to teach gr 5 alone for the most part. I loved it, I think they did too... I am going to start planning emergency fun lessons for when he is not here and I get to take control. If I change schools next year I know I will look forward having more to do with the students.
It is nearly lunchtime here and I am hungry. Yesterday school lunch was really good, we got some sort of curry. And Monday was yummy chicken! What is going on??? So fingers crossed for good food today. I am back on my diet shakes in an attempt to lose some flab before Sissy arrives in May. Not real reason other than it gives me a goal. But I do find it difficult to keep motivated. I fell off the bandwagon the other week so I need to get back on. Milky and myself are both loving the warmer weather so we have been going for longer walks in the afternoon. As soon as it isn't icy in the morning I plan on getting up earlier and walking before school as well as after. Good for both me and the dog!
I have another wedding this weekend - Rach and Changsu. So excited, I love weddings! This time I will try and remember my camcorder and hopefully film some stuff. I am hoping to get something up tonight on my channel from some of my eating excursions.
That's about it for now guys! Don't forget that I am writing stuff for SayKimchi, and this week I went on and on about things I packed before Korea. So check it out if that sort of thing interests you.
AND
If for any reason you want to comment or question anything I write here, or get more info on anything I say please feel free to email or comment. I love feedback so lets hear it!
For me nothing beats the weekend, except holidays. There is nothing more relaxing that being able to wake up naturally without an alarm. I mean, I love a hot bath or a massage as much as the next person, but I find I am most truly relaxed when I have no where to be at a set time. I am a big fan of dinner or lunch plans, but mornings? Get faaarked...
And its not even that I sleep in for a stupid amount of time - today I woke up at 7:30 and still felt the same level of relaxation. It's the stress associated with having to be somewhere in the morning that ruins it for me. Although Milky annoyed me a bit, he wanted to get up before I did, I ended up taking him downstairs to pee then went back to bed for a while. And I was cool with that.
It has been a beautiful day here today, a top temperate of about 8 degrees Celsius but sunny and happy. I have discovered that my mood is directly correlated with the weather, in the sense that a rainy, cold day makes me grumpy whereas a sunny day makes me happy. This has been proved time and time again in different studies, read more about that here.
Beautiful autumn day in Songtan
I had a great night last night in Itaewon with Cheng, Mathilda, Carolina and Michael. Cheng found a great place for us to eat called Braai Republic, which was a South African resteraunt. Itaewon is known for its foreign resteraunts and for foreigners in general. The food was amaze-face, between myself, Cheng and Mathilda we got a meat platter which had a selection of meat plus some sides like garlic potato which was TO DIE FOR. I really just ate my lamb-chop, I don't really like sausage that much (insert dirty joke here) but it was probably the best lamp chop I have ever eaten. Although that might be more because I have not had all that many decent feeds since I arrived. either way, the dinner was great and the company was even better.
I caught the train back home, I wanted to assess what damage Milky had infliceted on my house, but the girls and Michael stayed out later. I believe Cheng and Mathilda pulled an all nighter, I am waiting to hear how the night went :) I hope they have some sordid stories for me!!!
At some point I want to go out on the town properly and have a big night in Itaewon, I hear it is a really good night. Lots of foreigners and the bars/clubs are supposed to be really good. But I just can't at the moment - I am too cold!!! Such a lame excuse I know, but thats just how it is. i am a fairly lame person at times... I also haven't been out partying in Hongdae yet (party town in Seoul) for a similar reason. Also, I don't feel like I have anything cool to wear, and the biggest deal breaker is the distance. If the trains ran all night then I wouldn't mind so much, it means I can get home. But there is no way in hell I would get a taxi all the way back from the city, and if I decide to call it a night it means I need to wait for the first train back to Pyeongtaek anyway. It is just a really long night. So i will need to work myself up for it and make sure its a sleep in day the next day!!! In the meantime I will continue to be a hermit. I really need to save some money anyway...
I am not making anywhere near as much money as the TESOL people led me to believe. I mean, it didn't help that i bought a dog, but in general I thought I would be able to send more money home, and be buying all my friends at home gifts all the time. At this stage people will be lucky if they get xmas presents!!! I just really need to get some security money behind me before I start splurging. Not that I have no cash, but I thought I would have more. Lucky my bills are not too extravagant.
School
I am not too happy with how things are going at school. I am not super impressed with how my co teacher teaches, but there is nothing I can do about that. I am not here to change the way he runs his show. But he doesn't give me any opportunity to teach, and there is an open class coming up and I will be expected to take the class to show that it is worth having a foreign teacher here. Now I am super apprehensive about this - having had no practice teaching I don;t know how the kids will react. He doesn't like or use any of the lesson plans I have offered him. Weeks ago he mentioned the open class and asked me to prepare a lesson plan. I did it that same day but he never asked for it, or took it when I offered it to him. So then the other day when he finally asked to see it he asks me why I wanted to cover a topic that had been covered weeks ago. To cut a long story short I am not impressed. I wonder if he is hoping I will do badly to make himself look better...
I hear from a good source that he was not popular at his previous school, and I know he isn't super popular at this one either. But I really hope the relationship will improve because we will be working together for a long time yet, and I hate tension. I tend to just hang back and let him do his thing, but for next year I will try and make some changes. I don't know how I am going to do it yet but I will.
I have often heard the expression the God would not send us certain challenges if He didn't think that we could overcome and learn from them. Now, I am not an overly religious person, so I don't know how I feel about that statement. But if there is a lesson to come from dealing with my Co I hope I learn it soon!
This whole year is challenging me in different ways all the time. And this is why I know it will be so rewarding...
In other news...
Milky ate my shoes last night while I was out. My Sketches. So I need to get a new pair of runners tonight. Gah.
I had a teary this afternoon while watching "How to Train Your Dragon" which makes me cry every time I watch it. I don't know my, something about how much they love each other I suppose, and then at the end when both the boy and the dragon are kinda disables. And the dragon reminds me of Pawpaw too. And now while I am wasting time until dinner I am watching Lord of the Rings - The Two Tower. I love OCN channel, it always has English movies on! Some mornings I put it on while I am getting dressed and watch stupid movies. For some reason they often repeat movies, I have seen King Kong at least 3 times now. And the other morning I was watching Twilight.
At home, Billie is going to her first big show tomorrow. I wish I was going too to help Georgia prepare and to see her do her workout. But I will just have to wait till next year. It's only 41 days now until she (Sissy I mean) arrives here in Korea and I am so excited! Some of my friends here also have friends or family visiting at that time, so New Year should be amazing!!! Plus I am looking forward to relaxing for a week - not having to get up and go to school will be bliss!
I still need to get a warmer jacket. I cannot believe I have left it this long, but the thing is that it will still get colder! The average temperature for the last few days has been around 7-8 degrees C but the mornings are often below 0. So within the next few weeks winter will really set in. Seoul has apparently had its first snow flurries and the resorts all have snow on them and the ski season has opened. I think the opening of many of the resorts was this weekend actually. I fully intend to go to to the snow at some point, but the good resorts are a fair while away and its not cheap, so I might wait until December or even January, Some of the girls have said they would be interested in doing a weekend to the snow so that would be fun if we culled get a group together! Snow makes winter worthwhile :) They are predicting a cold winter too, so fingers crossed for a white Christmas!!!
Christmas this year I will spend with Mia and Tyler - they have already invited me over there for Christmas lunch so thats good. i was worried about what I would do with myself. And Milky can come too which is nice.
Anyway, thats about all for now. I am having dinner tonight with Shanda and then maybe tomorrow going to the zoo... Jess said to me that this isn't a great time of year to go because the animals tend to hide out in their shelters cos of the cold. but I will ask around and if people are still keen to go then I am too. I need to get out and do something this weekend!!!
