Reasonably Well-Dressed Korea Guy (and other tales)

Does everyone recall Mysterious Stranger???

  It was maybe October last year that I first spotted a Mysterious Stranger. I won't go into too much detail, but basically it was an attractive foreign guy who had no business being in Songtan. I say this, because he clearly wasn't military, and I try and make it my business to know all the teachers in my immediate area. And he was off my radar. Stealth mode. Mysterious. 

  I would give daily reports whenever I saw him (always headed towards the station in the morning, I never saw him any other time), things like what he was wearing and what level of interaction we had. He vanished from my life after winter, maybe when it started to get warm again. I remember this because he had gone back to wearing the black trench coat rather than his thick snow jacket. So I am guessing it was maybe March he disappeared, never to be seen again. 

  I pass many people in the mornings, they have become fixtures in my daily life. I give some of them weird back stories, and personalities and all that, but I never really thought anyone was quite as interesting as MS. And I still think this. But as the weather gets colder, I feel the need to add more excitement into my morning ritual of people spotting/watching. I need to start blog-stalking again. I need to write about a person in the morning. And the person I have chosen in Reasonably well-dressed Korean Guy. 

  Let me tell you a bit about our new, unlikely hero. He is approx. 5'5, and had more of a heavy build (which is a bit different from the skinny Korean norm) but I wouldn't exactly describe him as fat. I would put his age at around 30, but you can never tell with Asians. He could easily be just in uni and only 21. He has short hair and small eyes. I would not say he was especially attractive, more just general looking... In fact you wouldn't give him a second glance except the fact he is generally pretty well dressed. For a slightly chunkier guy he wears pretty cool threads. 

  For example, this morning he was wearing a tan blazer over a woolen jumper (sweater for our North American readers), black pants and brown shoes. I know, black pants with brown!!! Most would say its a faux par, but he pulled it off nicely. He looked suave. And here in lies his interest factor - he makes weird fashion choices that work. 

  And so, from here forward, I will keep you all updated as to what RKG is wearing.

Changes to this blog

  I have been doing some reading of other peoples blogs, and just stalking of people in general and I can kinda see a trend... The blogs that are popular and get many hits have more structure, or at least more structured content. You know if you hit up "Jimmy's" blog its a travel blog... Or "Sally's" blog is a cooking blog. I know I have mentioned that mine if more of a random life blog but still, I will try and give it a bit more of a frame by adding in sections. This hopefully will increase traffic to my blog and make more people like me... My life in an endless struggle to get people to like me. I acknowledge this and reaslise this is not what life is about. 

The first step to recovery is admitting you have a problem. And I have one. 

  So I will put different content under School, Life and Thoughts. Hopefully I can still keep a running theme but if not oh well. Shit happens. 

  I have had some questions coming in lately about life in Korea from people reading all over the place. Please, keep them coming to either my email or in the comments section. I am more than happy to help out where I can, and give you my honest opinion. I love getting comments and emails (unless they are mean, keep it to yourself then) its like getting a hug from afar. 

  Some feedback that I have received (regarding content) that I will start adding into the blog is overwhelming regarding my sex life and dating in Korea. I thought about it for a long while and decided that yes, I will share some things with you... Not gonna name any names, and if the story involves someone I know directly don't worry I will ask you first. But I have some mega funny stories that can only happen in another country and at just wouldn't be right to keep these gems locked up for myself. 

- Mum, and the rest of my family, please consider this fair warning. 

 

 

 I also plan on adding more information about places I visit. I have seen some amazing places while I have been here, but you wouldn't know because I never finish what I start. I noticed the other day I never even finished telling the story of when Mum visited and we went to Busan, and I hardly even mentioned Gyeongju the weekend before last. Korea has a rich and colourful history that I talk nothing about, so I want to enlighten you. 

  So I hope you enjoy the future posts, the snow has started here in Korea so photos are on their way! Here is a summary of things I got internet shopping last week to keep you entertained until then:

• hooded short coat (in a lovely blue colour) - Gmarket
• Adidas hoodie for Milky (to match my coat, but it's too small so I will bring it home for Peach) - Gmarket
• black long jacket - Gmarket
• black leggings with fluff on the inside for added warmth - Gmarket
• brown long warm coat - from the recycle group on stalkbook... 35,000 won bargain!
• curry - iHerb
• weight loss pills - iHerb (and useless... took them for like 3 days and didn't get skinny at all)

xoxoxox

  

Deliciously Dangerous

Who doesn't like a slab of meat?

Unless of course, you are a vegetarian :s

In that case you are NOT gonna appreciate this post.

  One doesn't have to go far in a Google search to find out about the etiquette and occurrences for school dinners with your co workers. There are sooo many ESL blogs out there with people's stories of their dinners, what they ate, the shenanigans that they all got up to, instagramed pics of their food etc. In fact, I think I might have even posted one myself. My most memorial school dinner to date was my first one (you always remember your first time, right??) where we went to some fishing village and ate freshly caught prawns. Me, who doesn't eat seafood, was force fed prawns by the head teacher who was drunk on soju. Since then I have come to see that this is entirely normal behavior and I just kinda "go with it" now. 

  Last night was another one of these dinners. It was a little spur of the moment, all the schools in out local area have been participating in volleyball competitions for the teachers and it just so happened that this weeks game was being hosted at our school. So teachers from schools around out immediate area came and played volleyball. It was actually kinda fun to watch, they were so competitive!  

  Anyway, afterwards the participating teachers and some extras (like myself) went out for dinner. We went pretty local, to a samgyeopsal place (삼겹살 - barbecued fat pork slabs) and gobbled it down... I parked myself with 2 of the young girl teachers who are super nice and cute. So it was kinda the three of us and then the rest of the group.All the male teachers got drunk, which is standard, and then around 6:00 the principal called it a night and we all headed home. I quite like that these school dinners don't go late - you get a free meal and get home reasonably early. Usually. 

  There are 4 of us teachers that live literally around the corner from each other - myself, one of the young girls and 2 young guy teachers. We are all under 30, I actually think I am the oldest out of us at the ripe old age of 27. Im just gonna acronym names for ease, and for privacy... PSN is kinda religious, she doesn't drink and she usually heads off to church a few times a week around 6pm. So she doesn't tend to get a cab back to our area. But the 2 boys, who were already well into their beer and soju, are always keen for round 2 after a dinner. So the three of us headed off for fried chicken and more booze. Funny how they are sooo much more chatty and able to speak English when they are inebriated. Regardless, it always ends up making the night for me. They are hilarious, and both speak pretty good English but not to the point where they don't make hilarious slip ups. And the topics of conversation always floor me. Things like - 

- which teacher is prettier, A or B?

- who is more handsome, me or him? (pointing to each other)

- Bonnie why don't you invite us out anywhere? We want to meet foreign girls... (particularly KDA, who has told me that he isn't so concerned on what said foreign girl looks like, but he wants a curvy girl with big breasts)

- Bonnie you haven't had a boyfriend in over 3 years, we have plenty of special Korean words for girls like you

- Do you want to be set up with my friend? 

- Don't you think KYJ has funny eyes?? Like a clock?

  And I always get good gossip out of them too, like who is arguing with who in the staff room and what teachers hang out etc. The more we all drink, the more the conversation flows... Next thing you know we are teaching each other new swear words and using them in practice sentences. The owner of the fried chicken shop was laughing along with us... But my favorite part of hanging out with the boys?? Its a MASSIVE ego boost for me... The more drunk they get, the more they tell me how beautiful I am, how I am the perfect woman, how they can't believe I am not in a relationship, I have a perfect "S" line etc etc. I always walk away feeling awesome. Not gonna lie, I was a little hung over this morning but totally worth it to hear compliments. 

  So, boys reading, if you take anything away from this read, don't think about school dinners and delicious meat. Say something nice to a girl you know, complement anything. Even something like "wow, that is a nice shirt you are wearing today". It will help cheer her all day. I mean, don't be drunk and go overboard so you come across like a creep, but just a kind word here and there can really brighten someones day^^

Sorry kids classes are cancelled today - WE MUST PLAY VOLLEYBALL

xoxox

It's a trap!

I know I have mentioned this before, but I want to expand on something...

Coffee

  I was told that the coffee in Korea wasn't great, and at the time I honestly didn't really give a shit as I wasn't much of a coffee drinker. For starters, I think the coffee is pretty good. For someone who arrived in Korea as a non-coffee drinker, I now have at least 2 cups a day. The coffee in Korea has lead me into a trap. 

I also drink various teas, but that is another tale.

  I have 2 different types of coffee that I keep in my house. One is just the normal, run-of-the-mill instant coffee from Emart or something. The other is a box of coffee sticks. My previous brand of choice was French Cafe, but actually they are a little sweet so the next box I buy will be Maxim sticks. These coffee sticks are hardly any coffee, all sugar and instant milk. They must be SO bad for me but I can't help but love how convenient they are. 

  Basically, you rip the end off the stick and tip the contents into a cup and add hot water. Amaze. And they also have an iced coffee stick for the warmer days... These are also the type of thing they have at school in the tea room, which is where I first discovered their sugary goodness. I used to LOVE the sugar, because I wasn't a massive fan of coffee but drank it to be social. Now, however, I tend to make my coffee at home with less than half what has got to be in these things. Still, they are tasty and easy. AND MAKING ME FAT I HATE YOU.

  The other coffee, the best coffee, is what they make at the cafe's. You can get any flavour you can think of, from lattes to caramel macchiattos, to sweet potato lattes. Whatever you want! My fave is just a regular vanilla latte, and I will have one pretty much every time I go out to meet people. Which is almost every day :s so that leads me to realise I am also spending a fair bit of money on coffee. 

  Your average cup of coffee in Korea will cost between 2400 - 5000 won depending on how fancy you wanna go. You can get to go coffee at all cafes.

  Another stupid phenomena that is the norm here is drinking your coffee (or whatever hot drink you are sipping) out of the stirring straw. If you look at this pic here, you can see the stupid stirring straw is sticking out of the drinking part. Yes, that is what I sip my boiling hot coffee through. and often I forget that the liquid is hot, and I will suck on the freaking thing and send a stream of scalding coffee down my throat and giving my tongue third degree burns. I do it every time, and yet I still get the stirring straw and use it to drink. Why? Because thats what everyone else does and we know I am all about conforming (awkward...).

  There are coffee shops absolutely everywhere near me, and only once you get into more rural areas do they start to drop off. In Seoul you can hardly walk 10 steps without finding another one (or a Paris Baguette which also have coffee), and each is about as good as the next. They have all the big brand coffee places, so if you are craving your soy milk skinny frappe from Starbucks then you can find it here too. I have seen Tom and Toms, Gloria Jean's and The Coffee Bean just to name a few. Dunkin' Donuts is huge here also, and they actually have pretty good coffee and its cheap. And they sell hash browns for like, $1.50 for 6. 

  My big beef with the non-chain coffee stores, therefore basically all of them near my place, is that they don't open until around 10am. So if you are a morning coffee person you would like to hope that there is a Starbucks around, or a McDonalds or something. Even some of the name chains don't open until a bit later, so wanting to stop and grab a coffee on your way to school is out of the question. 

  Another thing that is kinda annoying is that the coffee places usually have a pretty shit food selection. They don't really do sandwiches here, and the cakes are, well, Korean. So don't expect awesome snacks with your coffee. 

  This is all just my opinion, so if you find or know of something that goes against this please tell me! I am always excited to hear of a decent place to find coffee :) So you can see how I fell into the coffee trap, huh?

Till next time, citizens

xoxoxo

Camp Again

I realise that I do most of my blogging during camp time, but it's because there is not all that much else to do.

I wish I was more on top of blogging and keeping everyone up to date, because I have done so much lately but it feels weird to go back in time and write about it. So here is what I did today -

Summer Camp

  I am super lucky this year to have only 5 days of camp, from 9-12 and its with the grade 3 and 4's. I had a grand total of 9 kids sign up and yesterday 8 came and today 7. Numbers are dropping but its cool I don't mind. 

  Yesterday's big activity was making cute paper craft puppet things, which we then used to do small skits. The girls had their introduce themselves, the boys decided their puppets were all ninjas. Whatever.

  Then today we had a fun day throwing eggs out of a window... They were supposed to be parachutes but none of them really worked. Kids didn't care much because they were allowed to throw something from the 3rd floor. Thats all they needed for entertainment.

Tomorrow I am planning on making sandwiches and thats about it, and then Thurs will be good because I am making Flubber and we can watch the movie. So tomorrow's plan will be trying to download subtitles. So annoying.

And then next week the fun really starts. Japan. With Jess and Nay, who I haven't seen since I went through to the International Departures Terminal in Melbourne nearly 1 year ago. I cannot believe how fast this time has gone... And here I am planning on staying another year. WTF who does that??? Oh, nearly everyone. This next year though, I am setting myself some goals. And I think they are all achievable.

Goals for 2013-2014 in Korea

1. Learn WAY more Korean.

  I cannot believe how slack I have been with this. I used to go to Korean class twice a week. What happened to that motivation? I want to find it again for sure. When the classes start up again I will join. Problem is, I don't even know what level I am. I know I am not a beginner any more but I don't know if I am intermediate either. I know such random phrases, like "i'm busy" or "I have a crush on you" or "can you charge my phone"... Practical things. But I still need a lot of help with sentence structure and all that.

2. Try and get my credit card debt down.

  This one is tougher than you think it would be. If I want to save money (which is number 3) then I cannot pay this off. I am now fully aware of this and it hurts but its my own fault for spending so much money. 

3. Save more money.

  I need to make sure that I have a stash at the end of the year to get the dog back to Australia. And so that I have something to live off when I go home. 

4. Actually go home at the end of my next contract.

  My family will be devastated of I stay another year on top of these 2. I need to think of them as well. It is just so easy and fun to stay here, I am already dreading going home and the second year hasn't even started yet!

And the standard I WILL LOSE 10 KILOS. That one is always there.

Plans for the rest of this year???

  Yes, I have a few. Apart from Japan and Busan, I will go to Malaysia with mum over Chuseok, and then I will be back in Aus for Christmas and New Year. 

  In there somewhere is Halloween, which I want to make a complete mess of. I already have my outfit picked out, and I am very much looking forward to the night.

  I am also trying to get my hair pink but so far its not working. Watch this space.

  Another important one for me personally is getting my YouTube channel more updated. I had so many projects planned for last year and didn't do any of them so thats going to be a big driver for this year. Time to get creative!

xoxoxo

Not like me

  I just did something interesting that I feel bad about. I judged someone on Facebook. Now, I know that some things that people write belong on Failbook and other such sites, but I don't like to make a habit of judging what people write. I mean, I judge them secretly of course, but I would never actually comment or write something negative. What happened was this -

  I saw a pic on a friends page that I immediately found offensive. So I wrote some passive-aggressive status update about whether or not I should delete people who offend me. Then people were asking what happened, what was the pic/link... And I feel now that it was the wrong thing to do. I mean that I shouldn't have posted the status in the first place. It's not my place to comment on other people's opinions.

Social Media

  This is the thing with social media... My opinion is that it is a way for people to be able to express themselves openly and without being openly ridiculed. Obviously people will form their own opinions about what you have written/posted etc, but I don't agree that they should be trashed online... I mean, providing a counter argument is totally fine, or giving back something constructive is also ok (to me). But not bashing someones opinion.

  The obvious example is this:
Some people are homophobic. They don't support gay marriage and gay rights etc. They think it is unnatural and gross and they do not believe that homosexual couples should be allowed to have kids.
I absolutely disagree with this 100%. But that does not give me the right to go bagging the shit out of someone's opinion. Just because it doesn't match with mine doesn't make it right or wrong, because it is an OPINION people, not facts or lies.

  There was a post I "liked" and "shared" on Tumblr this morning, it was about spreading love around the Tumblr community. There has been a heap of negativity floating around, and I actually think this is true of many social media sites. Actually, sites in general. I know internet memes are becoming super popular and more mainstream (which is cool, I find them hilarious) but it seems that many of them are now being used at the expense of people. This isn't cool. I am not a big fan of people trolling others, I see it as kinda a form of bullying which I am usually very vocal about. This is another reason I feel so bad being all mean and stuff on FB. I like to think of myself as a fairly friendly, open person, and now I have come across and whiney and judgmental  Not that this blog should really be about me, I am actually trying to make a point about the bigger issue.

Online bullying

  I have never been a victim of this, and I would hate to think that I have caused someone else to be bullied. I feel like this issue is more of a middle school/high school issue, but you do see it on an adult's status/page sometimes. I hate it. The internet is a strange, strange place full of plenty or awful things. I like to think that social media sites are used for good not evil. 

  Anyway I am going to try and make it my new personal project to try and spread happiness and goodwill across all my media forms - and in real life. 

My fame grows!

  Also, just to blow my own bugle so to speak, I am now a featured blogger for Say Kimchi Recruiting and will be writing for them and their online blog about why Korea is cool and you should work here. My stuff will be featured on Thursdays, so if you would like a PG version of my stories, or just general opinionated advice on Korea then check it out. I believe they are also a pretty successful recruiting company so if you are looking for work have a look. I personally went through Korvia (as you all know) and prob will again, but there are plenty of legit recruiters out there and I believe Say Kimchi are one of them. 

The link to the blog section is here, so have a look if you have a minute and are interested in the life of a teacher in Korea. 

Laters, and Happy Thursday

xoxoxoxox

Friday wrap up

What a week!

Involving some highs and lows. In all, I would say that is was sucessful. Here are a few reasons why:

I have a better understanding of why I am here

  I came to Korea for reasons known and unknown, but 1 reason was to teach. And I didn't really get a chance to do this last year. This was for the most part due to a control freak of a Co teacher. But I also recognise that if I had put my foot down from the start then this might not have happened. He obviously didn't see any initiative from me and took this as lack of confidence (which is also true) and therefore did not give me the opportunity to learn or try. 

  This year however it seems that all my whinging and whining last year has come back to bite me on the ass - I am now teaching all classes alone. By alone, I actually have a Korean teacher in the class with me (the homeroom teacher of whatever class it is) but I am the lead teacher and the lesson plans are mine. It is both thrilling and terrifying! I have been able to ease into it this week, as Monday and Tuesday had no classes, and the rest of the week was kinda 50/50 as to which would show. I am yet to take grade 6, but I feel ok about it as I know all the students from last year, and I feel like I got along pretty well with the grade 5 class. 

  With the right co-teacher, I love teaching. I love talking with the kids, and I love the look on their faces when comprehension strikes. I loved that I asked them questions about Wednesday, and they remembered it today. I LOVE my 5-2 class - their homeroom teacher is a new teacher and she is young and nice and speaks pretty good English. And the class is full of my fave kids from last year's gr 4 class. The best part of my entire day was at the end of the class when a heap of the girls came up for a hug at the end of the class. And one of the boys too.

Side note - 

I was told when applying for jobs that you cannot build a proper relationship with students when you teach at a public school (due to the size of the class, co teacher presence etc) this is FALSE. 

  As a bit of a passive aggressive attack on my co teacher I have allowed the kids to use their Korean names in class, provided they can write it in English. I mean, come on, I would be pretty shitty if some foreigner came in and told me to change my name. And their names are nice, and I should learn them more. So I gave them the choice... Some have chosen English names, and others have decided to use their own names. I am so cool with that, and it was actually a really good exercise teaching them to write their names in English. I was blown away by how many kids couldn't do that... One of the first things I learnt to write in Korean was my name. 

  Regardless of what happens for the rest of the year, I really want to remember this week, because it made me happy to be at work. I have decided I love teaching kids.

I am coming to terms with being an outcast at school

  I have been totally ditched by my asshat co teacher. He didn't bother to tell me about the school dinner and therefore I didn't show up. I am sure it was discussed at length, and I don't doubt for a second that he told everyone that yes I was told. Whatever. 

  I don't eat with the teachers or students. As I have been having my retarded Herbalife sake, I really don't want everyone staring at me while I don't eat the school lunch/ Maybe down the track I will start eating with them again but right now I don't want to. I do however make more of an effort to go down to the staffroom and say hello to everyone. What can I do? I now know (thanks to them being in class with me) that many of the teachers speak more English than they let on, so they have chosen to not speak to me all last year. I also understand that I have not tried to speak Korean with them - I am about as shy with my Korean as they are with their English. So I see that I am also to blame. I will continue with my game plan of being friendly and bringing snacks into school. As long as they simply think I am weird and quirky but still nice that is ok. If they think I am a rude bitch, then thats not ok. So I will keep smiling and bowing. And hopefully my presence in the classroom will start to have a positive impact as well. I see this time away from my Co as a blessing in disguise.

I still don't know which battles to pick

  I can't decide if I want to have it out with my Co or not. I think next time we are in the same room I might just ask him if I have offended him in some way. I mean, I don't know how I could have, unless he has been secretly following my blog, but then he should be sorry for making me feel so outcasted. But if he IS following then I don't mean any of this to offend you, but I just find you really unapproachable and kinda scary. And you are not helpful. And I welcome any feedback you have of me too. 

I took myself to the doctor and it was amazing

  I started feeling sick Mondayish... I think I already blogged about it but pretty much by Wednesday I was a a big gooey mess, watery eyes, my head was pounding and I was FREEZING. I had already decided to go to the doctor, so I got some good advice from my wonderful friend Dominique (please don't leave me!) and her co-teacher and prepared to head off. My last experience was not great, Co spoke for me and took me there and everything, and I ended up getting a needle in my arse. Not fun. This time I walked in, they took my insurance number down and I went in to the doctor. He spoke very good English, checked me out, write me a script and sent me on my way. It was 3,500won. I went across the street to the pharmacy and got the script filled - 4000won. Easy. I was in bed asleep around 7:30pm, woke up once or twice but pretty much had the best nights sleep all week. In the morning I felt a million times better. So, not only was the doctor and drugs a million times cheaper here than in Australia, but the DRUGS WORKED OVERNIGHT. Amazing. I was so excited. So next time I won't wait until I am dying I will just go to the doctor. Lesson learnt. 

  So now it is the weekend and I am really excited. Mainly to sleep in, but also because Milky is getting a haircut tomorrow and he will be so cute I might die. Also, I am getting out and about - it seems that as the weather is finally starting to be awesome a few of us will go to Cheonan and climb a mountain and have a picnic. Also excited for that. And then Sunday I will be meeting a new friend, and getting some new plates and stuff for the house (not new-new, but from a friend who is leaving. All I need is a desk lamp and I am set for life). So all up an exciting weekend. 

The biggest downside to this week? 

We missed out on tickets to G Dragon. I am shattered I want to curl up in a ball and cry for days. But, life goes on, and it turns out more tix are being released next weekend. 

Just in case you are unsure of who this amazing guy is here is a pic (or 2):

And yes, he is a boy... Androgyny is live and well on the South Korean pop scene. 

Also for your viewing pleasure, here is an adorable video of Milky being, well, adorable.

Remember guys, adopting a dog/puppy from a shelter is not only doing them a favour, but also yourself. Besides my blender, Milky is the bestest thing I have acquired since coming to Korea and the experience would def not be the same without him. Apologies if its grainy, I havent checked the quality. 

Anyway, i'm gonna jump in the shower and prepare for my evening... Its another friends goodbye night (sadface) and I refuse to miss it. Laterz peeps

xoxoxoxox

New Semester, New Attitiude

Life is funny, huh?

By this I mean just when you think you know what is gonna happen, BAM something changes. Last year all I did was whine about how my Co won't let me teach and this year the karma came to get me. For the next 3 or so weeks I am on my own. But, I am treating this as an amazing opportunity to show my teaching prowess to the rest of the school. I think I am in for a surprising year.

Grade 3

Next week I am required to start teaching grade 3, which I have never taught before. I am guessing it will just be a heap of vocab and sounds - good basic stuff. 

"Why don't you check the book, Bonnie? You can see what you are actually teaching?"

Well, the thing is, I have a feeling that they are using a different text this year. It just happened to me with gr 5. But I will get to that.

For grade 3 I am planning on lots of activities, songs, and getting out of their seats. Learning should be tactile! And fun! Especially for the really annoying basic stuff like vocab and numbers and all that. I know I hate learning that type of stuff in Korean. Its easier to learn things in context I think so I will try and do that for the kids.

Grade 4

Grade 4 was my fave last year, and I think it will be again this year. I have 2 classes of grade 4, one run by a middle aged bloke who seemed pretty happy to follow my lead but also contributed nicely to the class. In fact, after what I have had, he was the perfect co teacher. He also had reasonable English. And he is a new teacher, I have never seen him before (except for this morning when he greeted me in English. It was nice.) The class went well and I got my groove on. I was all geared up ready for another successful gr 4 class when they came in - with Co. Who, of course, took over the lesson. As predicted. I made a bit of a stand and spoke to the class more. If he wants me to take these classes without a designated co teacher then shouldn't we do it my way??? Nope. Oh well. So I basically just stood there while all the new little faces stared at me. Its ok though. There were still some cute kids, and in his class are Harry and Du Won from English camp so I think they were pretty happy to see me. Especially Harry, which I was surprised about... He pretty much screamed hello at me. Strange boy. 

Grade 6

Was supposed to be the next class but they never turned up. Oh well.

Grade 5

My lovely little grade 4's from last year are growing up. But when I walked into the room there was a massive chorus of "Hello Teacher Bonnie!" which made me remember why I love my job (sometimes*... always put a disclaimer in haha)

Another new teacher. Young, female, seemed really nice and friendly. And another perfect co! She let me lead, and then asked me before translating... Which I was totally cool with becasue I have no idea what to say lol. She was super easy to get along with, and at the end of the class she even apologised for not being better prepared. Then I stopped. I was the one who was not prepared. The CD from last year is not the same as the books the students have - THEY CHANGED THE BOOKS AND NO ONE TOLD ME! Now, this was obviously something that Co was supposed to deal with, so all my prepping from Monday and Tuesday is out the window. In a way its lucky I only found out the news of my class control at the last minute cos I would be seriously pissed off if I had planned a whole semester of lessons only to find out it was a different book. So I asked her to speak to Co - he is technically the English teacher, and if I see him I will also ask him. But all in all I was happy with the day and how it went. The kids seemed to enjoy the classes.

Co workers

My mission for making friends is going well still. I went down to get a hot drink and was greeted by a few people, one of them being the 6th grade teacher from last year who is super nice (and prob feels sorry for me) she queried as to why I didn't eat with the teachers. I told her I was still on a diet and she felt sorry for me (having to diet, being a big foreign fatty haha) and finished with e "FIGHTING BONNIE!", which brought the VP over to see what we were talking about. I greeted him in Korea which he nearly fell over from. Obviously my pronunciation is getting better... I told him I had been studying so he the (naturally) threw a heap of Korean at me that I didn't know. I apologies ed and said I only know a small amount  He was still suitable impressed and went on to say how beautiful I was looking this year. Creepy, but better than the alternative. 

I then proceeded into the tea room, where I was greeted by one of the admin girls (she said hi first, I think she likes me!!!) and also said hello to a friendly new teacher (female). So all in all, things are looking up this year. 

So yes, so far so good. Now if I could just get over my terrible head cold...

Mysterious Stranger update

So, I left my place a little earlier as per my plan, to get a better idea as to where he was walking from. Pretty much there is a road that runs next to the station, then a parallel one that runs along, then ANOTHER parallel one that my school is on. He was walking down the middle on. So, I cant really follow him down that road because it is clearly the wrong way to the school. Well, kinda, but if I went down it then it would totally be weird (more weird*). So, next stage of the plan is this - take Milky out on the weekends and just do laps of the area until I see where he comes from. He must live in the near the apartment block near the school, cos otherwise there is only residential houses. Unless he is actually living in a house, which would imply he is living with a Korean family... Either way me and Milky will get to the bottom of it. No one can withstand his doggy friendliness, so I am sure we can win him over. And find out his story. 

xoxoxox

Trying New Things

Before the weekend is completely over, and the events turn into a hazy, drunken mess, I thought I should jot some things down. Considering I did some new and amazing things, and very Korean things too!

Nightclub/booking club

A few weeks ago while on the subway, Heejin and I had agreed to go to a nightclub. I know I kinda described to you in a previous post what it was so I won't go too overboard, but lets just say I went on Friday night to one in Songtan and I want to tell you what it was like.

We had dinner and pre-drinks at Heejin's place and waited for her friend Kyeon (dunno the English spelling, only Hangul and I don't have a keyboard for that on the mac) to join us and get ready. Heejin's apartment is super awesome, she lives with her little sis who is adorable, and they have a super cute tiny dog too. The 3 of us girls all got dressed up and then headed out to a bar in Songtan near city hall where we drank delish strawberry soju in a very Korean bar. These bars are a little different from bars at home - you sit in a booth or at a table and you stay with your group. People don't mingle around, and you have to order food. We ordered some fruit and sat and drank and gossipped. Very fun.

Strawberry Soju at the bar

We then jumped in a taxi and headed to the nightclub. Turns out the place is literally around the corner from my house, making it a blessing and a curse. We walked in and were taken to a table. The DJ made an announcement at out arrival and we hardly had time to sit before a waiter came over and escorted us upstairs to a private room where 4 blokes were sitting around. We sat with them for a bit then got back up and went back downstairs. Where we were then grabbed and taken to another table. And so the night progressed. No sooner had we sat down that we were taken to a different table. It was a very strange but super fun experience. I think guys liked the novelty of a foreigner sitting at their table but not many people were comfortable with their English so it was a little hard for me. And my Korean os terrible so Lucky I always had one of the girls with me for translating haha. Heejin was (as usual) Miss Popularity and everyone wanted her at their table. She got a few numbers but neither me nor Kyeon got any haha. 

At around 4 or 5 am we went to McDonalds (of course) and unfortunately were stuck with the breakfast menu. As you can already tell this was a bad weekend for my diet. Ughhh...

Some of the guys from the club came and met us there and we went upstairs to Jammers for more drinks. Amazingly we saw some friends for Ptaek still out so they stayed and drank with us too. 

The girls wanted to head home at I have no idea what time, but I was naturally having too much fun chatting with everyone from the bar, and some of the girls form Click had finished work and had come across to have some fun. I was on home turf now and just running around chatting to everyone. Heejin and Kyeon left (those girls are the best I love them) and the guys from the club went too so I stayed and hung out with Ginny and Lexi for a while. Then it was def time to go home, I said goodbye to the girls and went to walk home but Ginny was having none of it. She said it wasn't safe and that her friend would give us a lift...

So us 2 girls jumped on the back of her friends motorbike and he drove me home. It was amazing. And yes, the sun was well and truly up. I went straight to sleep... Lucky I had thought to set my alarm the night before!!!

Jimjilbang

During the week Heather had messaged me and asked if I wanted to go with her for her first jimjilbang experience. I was yet to try it out too so we agreed to Saturday. Now, let me explain his one...

A jimjilbang is a big public bath and spa, which is seperated into male and female areas. There is the spa/bath area, and then there is another area for sleeping and eating and whatever - a big social area. Now, in the spa area everyone is NAKED. But in the other area you wear these pyjama thingies and there are guys and girls together. In this particular one we were at there were separate sleeping rooms for guys and girls. I am guessing they are all like that...

Now, I jumped on the subway and met Heather at a little after 1 (hungover but not drunk this time haha poor Heather she must be so sick of making plans with me only to have me show up drunk or hungover) and we went to the spa. It was right next to the station and very close to her house. We went up and frightened to poor guy behind the counter with out foreigness but it was ok because an older lady who worked there could see that we had no idea what we were doing and shoed us the ropes. We dropped our shoes in one locker then took our bags and clothes to another. When we walked through we both stopped dead - all around us were naked girls of all ages - babies, kids, teens, adults, mothers, grandmothers etc. All naked. And yes, we stared for a minute before we got ourselves together. We found our lockers and then faced each other. It was time to get nude and we were having minor freakouts. 

We counted to 3 and stripped off to nothing, and scuttled into the spar room holding ourselves with out tiny towels. 

The idea is that you shower before jumping into the pools so we did that first and then found a spa that was 44 degrees and jumped in. And then we went to a different pool. And then another. And something strange happened. I mean, you never forget you are nude, but it stopped mattering. We got some initial stares, but no more than you get when you walk into a shop or bar - people were a bit curious but it was because we were white not because we were naked. And, it was crazy the amount of different body types that were there. You assume that all asian women must look the same naked - they all seem to have the same shape while clithed. Not true. Its as different as us whities. So yeah, we did a fair bit of staring ourselves... But it was totally fine. By the end of it I was totally comfortable being butt naked with my friend in front of a shit load of other naked women. Best experience ever. I can honestly say it is one of the best things I have done in my life. 

The thing that I did notice was this - Korean women are not really "well groomed", and no one had any tattoos. Oh, one girl walking in had one on her back but we only noticed her as we were leaving. Now, I have a few dotted around my body, and both Heather and myself have stategice tatts placed below the hip and above the thigh so they got noticed too, but in general no one cared that we were there anymore than they cared that others were there. 

It was a great experince and the actual spa was fun. The water was super hot or cold, depending on the pool and I loved this weird steamy raining room. Next time I will be better prepared with a bath kit. Yes, there will totally be a next time. 

If you are in Korea I 100% recommend you give it a try!

Last night I was so tired and wiped out I just went to bed. And this morning Milky woke me up early and wanted to go out, so here I am before 10am on a Sunday blogging instead of sleeping. But I feel well rested and ready to start the week. 

In other news...

The kids are back at school starting Monday. I have no idea what the new timetable is, what the expectations of me are for this year, or what is going on in general. But what's new? I never know what is going on. 

I have nothing really planned for this week other than get back on my diet. Jess's wedding is creeping up really fast and I want to go at some point into the city to find a new dress. 

I have actually not spent as much money this month so thats another interesting thing. Maybe I am finally getting into a groove in terms of spending my money. So maybe now I can start saving hahahahahahahahaha as if. 

At home, Louise got married. Shattered I missed the wedding but I have already seen some pics and she looks beautiful and Ty looks very dashing. I wish them an amazing long happy life together. If anyone deserves it then its Lou. We have been friends since the start of high school and I love her to bits.

I uploaded another vlog to my channel, so have a look. You can check out the whole channel here.

Anyway thats about it for now. I have no idea what I am going to do with my day, but it won't be busy I can tell you that! 

Till next time

xoxoxox

Desk warming Conclusion

At the end...

I am coming to the end of my desk warming experience, and I want to try and sum it up in one word but I don't think I can. So I will sum it up in a few paragraphs instead. To give you a bit of a time frame, I have basically done nothing since I came back from leave after new year (except for camp which was a complete joke) - I have not worked all through January and February.

Classroom

I had heat pretty much every day. There were a few days after camp where the heater wasn't switched from the English classroom to the office but actually I blame Co for that one, as he was here and knew I wanted heat but 'forgot' to switch it. Every other day I have had the heater on and I have been reasonably toasty. One day I had no internet so I played with my DS instead and it was still an ok day. I have a refrigerator in my office so I can keep my Herbalife shake and yoghurt in there, and I also bring my thermos so I can have a hot drink and all that. I have also been making an effort to go downstairs a little more often. Which leads me to the next point.

Co-workers

For the most part I am totally ignored at school, and this pisses me off. I am a friendly nice person so it's weird for me not to have anyone to talk to. Jeong was basically my only friend at school and she is not coming back this year and I am sad. So I decided that I needed to try and make more of an effort with them because its obvious they won't make it with me. I started by bringing in snacks to share, and as I said earlier I make more of an effort to go visit the office. I make a point to go and say hello to all the office girls rather than just poking my head in and saying hi. I make an effort to greet everyone. And I think my efforts are now starting to pay off, I have been greeted every morning this week by the girls downstairs and was even given juice. And I had a good laugh with one of the girls over how bad my school photo was. So its going well. I mean, I am sure when Co comes back it was will vanish into smoke cos he is such a gloom bag about me being social with other staff but whatevs. I will keep trying anyway and if he has an issue I will just explain to him I am sick of feeling like a loner at school and I want to be friends with the others. 

Students

Aside from camp (which I am sure you are all sick to death of hearing about) I have had no classes. Oh, wait... we had classes for 1 week but it was only grade 4's and so only for the Monday and Tuesday. And then nothing. There were students here for the week and a half, for gr 6 Graduation and all that but because of Lunar New Year there were a heap of holidays so it hardly counts. 

So yeah. No students for 2 months. 

Day to day stuff

I get to school at normal time, being 8:30ish and go visit the office ladies, make my tea, then go to my classroom/office. I then sit on the internet all day and chat with other teachers who are desk warming, skype people if they are online and watch kdramas. I have my lunch at 12, then repeat for the afternoon. I pack up my stuff at 4:20 and run home. I have spent 2 weeks this way...

Conclusion

In conclusion I love desk warming. I don't understand why people complain about it. I mean, yes, it can get a little boring, and I can understand that if teachers don't have a heater then they would be freezing but for me I am loving it. I wish I could sit here all year... This job is one of those once in a life time jobs that may not pay amazingly (if you are looking at teaching in Korea and your recruiter is telling you that you will save a heap of money then they are lying) but is not really that much work. And to me the desk warming is a perk. I like just chilling out. I like playing on the internet. I like using the schools downloads. I like chatting to my friends via fb. So for me desk warming is a win, and another tick in the public school box. But again, I stress that my situation might not be the same as everyone else, so I guess it depends on where you are. 

In other news...

Friday is a public holiday (I know it seems like there is one every weekend lately, its brilliant) so I can go out Thurs night and then sleep in which is one of my favourite things ever. On Friday night it seems I will be having a new experience - going to a nightclub. Nightclubs here are not really the same as home, it seems that its more of a set people up type arrangement, where girls sit at one table and guys at another, and the waiters and waitresses take the girls to different tables to hang with boys. I am terrified but it should be fun at the same time. And Saturday me and Heather might try out a jimjilbang which is just a big public spa. I have avoided them so far, mainly because I am scared of nudity and germs but you can't come to Korea and not give it a go (or so I have been told) plus Jess raves about them.

And Sunday can be sleep in day and cleaning day.

I have started the Herbalife shakes and I think there is already an improvement. I swear my jeans feel less tight... 

So basically I have my fruit smoothie for breakfast (bananas and strawberries with milk and iceblocks) and then I have my shake for lunch, some yoghurt for a snack and then the shake for dinner. I also drink too many cups of tea but whatever. And I do a fair bit of walking anyway because of to and from school but I have been taking Milky on longer walks lately too. So I am aiming to lose at least 5 likos before Jessie's wedding and get a new dress, and then another 5 for when Sissy comes back at the end of May. So that's 3 months to lose the goal amount of 10 kilos... Let's see how I last. I am a notoriously bad dieter so its a challenge. Plus I drink too much on the weekends but hopefully my diet will help with my cutting down on drinking too. And save money! So all up its a good thing. I will keep you posted...

One of my best pals here is finishing her contract soon and shipping off to Japan. I am super sad, but happy for her at the same time. There are negatives and positives from this - the obvious negative is that i will miss my friend. But the positives are that I will have someone to visit in Japan, and also she needs to off load a heap of stuff that I need, such as a wall clock, cutlery, other bits and pieces and COATHANGERS. I need to sort out my closet sooo badly! 

I remember blogging a little while ago about how I am feeling very mixed about my friends here. I love them, and I am feeling sad already knowing that many of them will be leaving. This is the nature of the beast here... people come and go all year. I am sitting here contemplating a second year, while others are literally chaffing at the bit to get back home and continue their lives. 

When I think about going home, I am happy, but sad. Happy to see friends and family, but sad because home is not where I want to be... 

Argh, thats too much for my pea-brain to think about right now, I will save it for a late night drunken post I think.

Ooo, its 10:00am and I want to watch City Hunter - do a google image search of Lee MinHo and thank me later ;)

xoxoxoxox

Australianisms

It has recently been brought to my attention that some of the terms that i use are only really known to other Australians. Some things I say are not immediately understood but can be inferred from context or just make sense when the entire statement has been made or question has been asled. But some things my friends will stop me and ask "what the fuck did you just say?"

Let me help you...

Words and Phrases

Pash - Kiss. e.g "Did you pash him?" translates to "Did you kiss him"

Pashing therefore is kissing. e.g "She is over there pashing that Airforce guy" (when asked where a friend is)

Vegemite - a delicious condement that one generally has on toast with plenty of butter or margarine. I know of people who use Vegemite in cooking (Kirsty makes a fab pasta sauce with Vegemite) but I personally like to have mine on toast with a bit of honey. It's salty and a good source of vitamin B.

Use of the word "fag"

Now, this one may be a little controversial but here we go...

Fag can be a cigarette, someone who is gay or I guess the traditional firewood log. Australians also use it as verb* (is it a verb??? #englishteacherfail) in the same way you would use "bothered"

e.g

"I can't be fagged going out tonight" translates to "I can't be bothered going out tonight"

"Nah I didn't meet up with them I couldn't be fagged"

"I took a taxi cos I couldn't be fagged walking"

We use the word "fuck" or "fucked" for basically anything. It can be used to describe something, doing something, describing a person, an action itself etc etc. A very useful word. 

"This is a fucking joke" (note this is sarcastic. It probably wasn't an actual joke)

"Are you fucking serious?"

"He is fucking sexy"

"Did you fuck him?"

"No, because he is a dumb fuck"

"That's fucked" aka not good, broken etc.

"Rug up" 

This is a favorite of Sam's, so I will put in it. 

To "rug up" means to put plenty of layers on before you go out in the cold. 

e.g. "Better rug up, it's snowing outside"

Jumper. Its the same as sweater. Watch Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Ginny uses tis word in perfect context.

"Mum have you seen my jumper?"

"Yes dear, it's on the cat"

Thongs. Nope, not a g-string, just flip flops. I had no idea that New Zealander's said flip flops too... I thought they were one of us. Just another disappointment from NZ I guess. 

Fortnight.

Apparently they don't use the term "fortnight" in America... 

A fortnight is a period of 2 weeks. 

e.g "I get paid fortnightly"

And for all you people who don't know it, Australia is just as racist as Korea. Its embarrassing to admit but reading some of the fb groups and watching the news makes me so embarrassed to be Australian sometimes. We are the most racist society in the world which is rubbish considering how multicultural we are. 

Anyway there are probably heaps more that I can't think of right now, so I will add them as I hear/see them. Or as they are pointed out to me. 

So far today...

I have done basically nothing. I am planning on going to my first cat cafe in Korea later on this arvo (ooo, here is another one - arvo = afternoon) and then getting a skin treatment with Jessie. And then dins with some single ladies :) Happy Valentines Day to us! So it will be a busy afternoon, which is why I am taking it easy for now. 

Picture of Milky, just cos he is adorable

I have hurt my left wrist... I am thinking it might be an injury from the weekend but it's really sore, so lucky I am right handed. 

I am being better with my diet this week (my week started yesterday HAHA) but I am hungry. So it better work. It's another stupid one that won't work so don't anyone bother telling me I am doing it wrong cos I know I am. So I won't bother to tell anyone what I am or not eating. But let's just say I am hungry. Summer will be here soon and I want to look sexxxy. But I have increased my activeness by doing leg lifts and squats as well as taking the dog for longer walks (I wasn't able to take him for long walks until the heartworm cleared up - which I assume it has :/) so we shall see. I don't own scales so I will just judge for myself. 

Anyway I'm gonna go waste time on something else for a while. I love Korea!

xoxo

Honey Soy Chicken Salad

Today has been a funny sort of day for a few different reasons. One of them is the fact that I am posting  2 entries in one day.
Why?
Because citizens, I have started cooking.
I know, to most of you this doesn't seem like a big deal but in Australia I pretty much never cook. My signature dish is spaghetti with Rosella Tomato Sauce (ketchup, mi-guk sarams) and grated cheese. But I have decided to branch out. I think I will make my Lunar New Year resolution to be try to cook more.
Now, I am limited to a stove top and a rice cooker (and a microwave) so I don't know how adventurous I will get, but here we go.

Disclaimer - I am not suggesting anyone try this. It is probably horrible. But I want to prove I am cooking things and trying to feed myself something other than rice. If you don't like the recipe fine I don't give a shit. Enjoy :)

Honey Soy Chicken Salad

This marinade is actually Mum's, but I have added mustard. I make all my meals for 1 *sobbing* so this won't feed many people but any leftovers are fine for another salad or in a sandwich or whatever.

Ingredients

• x1 chicken breast sliced up how ever you like it
• 1 tsp seeded mustard - any will do I suppose, the one I am using is one I got from E-Mart in the internation food section. It's actually dijon, Reine Dijon in the European section
• a decent squirt of honey - again I guess any is fine, mine is the cheapest one I could find
• a decent squirt of soy sauce - I use the low sodium low fat soy because sometimes I feel health concious. Hence the salad
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• half onion
• lettuce
• tomato
• capsicum (or peppers, for the mi-guk sarams)
• mushrooms
• etc etc - whatever salad you have in the fridge.

NB

Honey is ridiculously expensive in Korea. I paid 12,000won for a honey that might have been $6 at home. The Capilano honey in E-Mart made me trip over - nearly 30,000won for 600g of honey. 

Ingredients

My chicken in the marinade

Method

Preheat your pan and put a little bit of oil in. I use sesame oil because I don't have anything else. Place your bits of chicken on the pan and cook the chicken until its all white on the inside. Thats how you know chicken is cooked apparently.

DO NOT have your heat up too high. My stove top os electric so you need to keep your eye on how hot it gets. I have burned my marinade before which is ok is you like a bit of charcoal. Unless you are Korean then it means you will get cancer because you ate the burnt bit. 

While your chicken is cooking chop up your salad. Put it all in a bowl or onto a plate. Once the chicken is cooked drizzle the remaining marinade into the pan and get it nice and hot. Add the mushrooms and onion to the chicken and marinade mix.

Tip the whole lot over your delicious salad.

Yep I ate it out of the plastic bowl

Enjoy ;)

I hope no one gets food poisoning :|

xoxoxoxo

Back to School

After Lunar New Year, it's back to school

As if you would call what i do working. So I am not saying 'back to work' just simply back to school. 

I accendently published this before I wrote anything, so sorry!

Anyway today was grade 6 graduation, and I wasn't expected to do anything except sit back and enjoy the show. 

There were a heap of awards handed out, and some of my fave kids got a prize so that was nice. Some scholarships were also handed out, and as I was lucky enough to be seated next to Mrs. Lee she was able to explain to me a little about some of the awards. She was super pleased when this particular girl got a scholarship - apparently the girl was very bright but had no parents and lived with her Grandmother. It was sad, I always thought she was a quiet girl and I am glad she got the award. 

One of the highlights of the ceremony was the old Principal who came back today for this ceremony and also his retirement ceremony which followed (more about that later).

I swear to God he was dressed in his dress robes*. He looked like a full on wizards bar the hat. The photos are not up yet but when I see them I will upload some to show you. I didn't take any, I only had my phone and it was nearly out of battery. As per usual I had no idea any of this was happening today until I got to school. Ugh. 

Minor side note - 

After pashing a Korean boy the other week I keep having flashbacks and nightmares that he is in high school (you CANNOT tell how old some of these guys are ok? It's not just me everyone says they look super young) and that i will see him around Songtan in his uniform with his mum or something. 

I swear to you he was at the ceremony today. Its someones older brother I know it. He was on the other side of the gym and maybe didn't notice me (what a fucking joke as if he didn't I am the only foreigner I stick out like a sore thumb) and at the end of it all I bailed out the other entrance and went straight up to the conference room. Who knows maybe it wasn't the same guy - but I am not taking any chances. I thought he looked smug when I said where I worked... Ugh.

ANYWAY back to the main story.

After that there was a little bit of time before the Principal's goodbye ceremony. So I took that opportunity to pee and to find a hot pack. Hot packs are the best things in the world, they really should get these in Australia. For winter, you just put them in your pocket and they keep warm all day. And they only cost 500won. 

This ceremony took forever and I had no idea what was going on. The Principal appeared to be having an ok time and he gave the longest speech in history. He pretty much told his entire life story but there were pictures too so at least I had some idea what he was saying. Pics of his military service, wedding, births of his children, their weddings, birth of grandchildren, different schools he has taught at... I think the guy is mid 60's but I could be wrong. 

We then had a super awesome lunch, it was some sort of beef stew and was really tasty, I copied the other teachers and tipped my rice into the bowl and it was goooood. And we got fruit too. I think I have now gone over my calorie intake for the day cos of the rice so I don't know what i will have for dinner now :( chicken and salad I spose.

So now I am sitting here at my desk, with Co beside me and I am blogging and playing fb scrabble with Mathil, Jess and Sara. Anyone else wanna play just hit me up. 

Lunar New Year

I scored big time and ended up with a 5 day weekend. I had the Friday, Monday and Tuesday off, but the only problem was I was told at the last minute. I think I may have complained about that last week. Anyway, Mathil and I ended up having a big night on Thurs as she was also off on the Friday, and I was drunk until pretty much Sunday. It was such a great weekend, hanging with old friends, meeting new friends and learning some pick-up lines in Korea (thanks HeeJin!!!). I wish every weekend was as fun, and I also wish that I can know earlier next time so I can plan to get out of the province. 

OMG update! I was just told I can have tomorrow and Friday off too!!! I love Korea!!! 사랑해!!!!

And again. I wish I had known sooner so I could have planned to get out of the province. So I have a 4 day weekend now and I will be hanging around here again... Boo...

Actually, I think I might take myself into the city tomorrow and go to a museum or something. I know it will be a little lonely but I am a big girl I am sure I can manage! I will let you know where I go and how I get along :)

Anyway, now I am so excited about my days off I can't even type. I think Friday I will go hunting for foreign food ingredients and do some cool cooking! And I want to try making the cool Korean noodle dish I love so much.

SO MUCH TO PLAN g2g guys.

Hope everyone else is having a fab day! The Year of the Snake is gonna be an awesome one! Haha talk about a 180 turn in my feeling on horoscopes huh. I am so funny I bet you are all dying with laughter right now. 

Enjoy, citizens.

xoxo

Lazy Saturdays

I love the weekend.

  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!!!

Till next time

xoxoxoxo

Milky - butter wouldn't melt in his mouth ~

2 Months

Can you believe it?

Hasn't time just flown?!?!?! Tomorrow is my 2 month anniversary in Korea, and although I keep everyone updated about my general comings and goings, I thought I would do a bit of a reflection of my time here so far. 

  The biggest challenge for me hasn't been the language barrier, or the food, or any of the predictable obstacles, rather it has been living alone. Before I came to Korea, I had always lived at home with mum and sissy so I have always had others around me. Our house in Melbourne is HUGE by Korean standards, and when I first arrived I felt a bit claustrophobic in my 1 room apartment. I mean, I loved it from the moment I walked in, but it is definitely small. And quiet... I have always enjoyed my own company just fine, but I have discovered I am a terribly needy person. I NEED to be connected at all times, and I NEED company during the week. I have made it a priority to keep busy and as a result I actually don't spend many nights at home by myself. I tend to go out for dinner with someone on weeknights, so the only time I really have to myself are the weekends (during the day). And I try to keep Sunday night to myself but that's not a rule. 

  

  I can basically read and write in Korean now. I joined Korean class, which I go to on a Tuesday and a Thursday night, and there has been a big focus on the reading and writing of Hangul (Korean script is very different from ours). I can read signs, and sound them out and can pronounce words much better. The only thing is I have no idea what anything means... So I can read the paper, but I can't understand what I am reading. Kinda stupid, but it's a start! The course runs for 3 months, so it will wrap up around December sometime. Hopefully by then I will have all the basics mastered and then I can wing it from there. The teachers at school are pretty good, one friend in particular is an awesome person and is really helping me learn. I still have my goal of trying to learn as much of the language as possible while I am here.

  I was not a teacher when I left Melbourne, and I won't become one while I am here. But the last 2 months has given me direction for when I come home - I want to do a Dip. Ed and teach early primary/kinder. People have been telling me for years I should have done teaching, but I have always shied away from it... I never saw myself teaching anything, but in saying that when someone says 'teacher' I think of high school. But I really like the kids here, and I am sure they will be just as cute and funny at home. So I will stay clear of high school and stick to the little kids.

  I said as well that i won't become a teacher here...Let me explain this comment. The relationship between my co-teacher and myself is a ridiculous one. I don't teach at school, I basically just stand there while he dictated to the class in Korean. They hardly speak any English, and when they do get the opportunity to practice they are mostly too shy to give it a go. In his defence, Co is always trying to think of new ways to get the kids interested in English. But to me the easiest way to keep them entertained would be to play some games and sing some songs. The kids here (and the adults!) love to sing and dance, but he does not want to deviate from the text book curriculum. So as a result we have 8 classes of bored kids who don't want to speak English. They are sick of the workbook.

So I am not getting any teaching experience, unless he isn't at school for some reason and them I am left to control a heap of ratty children who have no clue what I am saying. 

So school isn't much fun to be honest. Hopefully it will get better, because I still have 10 months of it left. 

  I live for the weekends. Actually, I live for 4:30 on weekdays too. I have been more social since coming here than I have been in my entire life. I have already managed to drunkenly embarrass myself, do all-nighters, meet randoms and become friends with them and much more. The only thing I haven't done is 'hook up' with anyone, much to the disbelief of my friends here and at home. I am having just as much bad luck with boys in Korea as I have with boys in Australia. 

  I have finally figured out the public transport. The system here is amazing and efficient. I have no idea how Melbourne has managed to fuck up Myki so badly, when they use basically the same system here. If it can work for 11 million people in Seoul, I am sure they can figure it out for the 6 million or whatever the number is in Melbourne. Get it together before I come back. Melbourne, you have 10 months. 

The trains/subways are clean and fast, and they arrive on time. Well, sometimes the subway is a little off but thats ok as I am usually a little late. 

  I have said it before, and I will say it again - Korean food is good. Especially the BBQ, I go mental for galbi. In fact we ate it this morning at about 4am after the bar closed... But the lunches at school I am totally over. The smell of the cafeteria makes me want to puke most days. I mean, its ok once you go in but outside it smells gross. 

I have eater food here that I have never eaten before, like the prawns (which I still don't like) and I eat so much meat its not even funny. In saying this, there are a heap of foods I am missing. This afternoon I could have killed someone for a crumpet. Or macaroni. Or decent cheese. Also i am not super impressed by the milk here... I know there is better milk at the Highway Mart, but its easier to grab milk from 7-11, so as a result I drink sub-par milk (firstworldproblems). 

When I first arrived I lost a heap of weight. I think I dropped 3 kilos in the first week or 2, from stereo and being scared to eat anything. Now the kilos are back on plus extra. Don't worry, November is get fit month...I got a skipping rope and everything :)

Kimbap

Mandoo

  Not being able to understand what they are saying has not stopped me from getting into K-Dramas. I love the t.v dramas here, they are so overacted you can pick up whats going on most of the time anyway. Some of them are on really late though, but luckily for me I have a super cool t.v that lets me replay shows whenever! It craps me off though that I need to pay if I want to re-watch episodes on OCN. 

K-Pop has been a guilty pleasure of mine for a while, and here I can listen without fear of judgement! I usually put the music channel on while I get ready for work, so I can watch clips while I get dressed. 

  I surprised myself with how quickly I have settled into life here. I have my little routine, and have been slowly creating myself a nice little nest here. Its easy to live in Korea, provided you are happy to be completely out of the loop. I pretty much never have any idea what is going on, and so far it has worked pretty well for me. Its clean here, and although the wearer is getting cold now, I like the climate. It is actually pretty similar to home. 

I hardly notice people staring at me anymore. Or maybe it just doesn't bother me... I go about my business, they go about theirs. But its funny, because I have taken to staring at foreigners too haha. I see one, and in my head i'm like "ooo a foreigner!" 

  To sum it up, I like it here. I feel like I have been here longer, especially because I am now meeting people who have just arrived. And then I speak with people that have been here for years, and it blows my mind! You just don't notice where the time is going! I hope the rest of my year is as enjoyable as the first 2 months have been :)

Seoul

In other news...

Sissy is coming! I don't think her flights are booked yet, but she will be in Korea in late December/early January to spend New Year with me. i am so excited! We will stay in Seoul for NYE so hopefully there will be a big party somewhere... Which I am sure there will be :) I am really glad she is coming, plus it has given me something good to look forward to. I have been trying not to think too much about having to spend Christmas alone. Well, hopefully by then I will have my dog so it won't be so bad.

I have been on a shopping frenzy the last couple of days, buying nothing in particular. I hardly have anything to show for it! But once I get my phone that will be it for speeding until next pay. One of my goals was to save money while being in Korea, not spend money. I must remember to save save save! 

Thats about it for now. 

Happy 2 months to me :)

xoxoxo