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30 March 2008This week was a big one. All of the 1st graders and 2nd graders went on camp over Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. I went with the 1st graders as I spend most of my teaching hours with them. We took 15 buses, one for each class of about 40 students, with one or two teachers per bus. We went for about 2 hours east of Seoul to "Camp Utopia". There was little for the teachers to do as the camp staff looked after all the students. The teachers were put up in a house, one floor for the men and another for the women. I was with 5 other men, and they had little to no English, and my Korean still sucks. I listened to a lot of lectures on my iPod, watched an AFL game I had there as well, and generally relaxed. We ate 4 meals per day, and did a lot of sleeping. Thursday was a normal teaching day, as was Friday. However, there was also a male teacher's soccer game on Friday, starting a bit after 5:30. This was the first game of soccer I have ever played, and did not do too badly, which is good as nearly all 1800 students were watching. I played back left. Early on one of the younger teachers fooled me and kicked the ball between my legs. However a little later I managed to make him go the wrong way, and got passed him. I then got a little cocky and took on another teacher and tripped over the ball to leave a bruise on my elbow and a graze on my forehead ;) I told the captain of my team that I had a class starting at 6:20, and when 6:15 came around, I told him I had to go. "No!" he said in Korean, "Stay here!!". I stayed on until another teacher came out of the building and dragged me off :) After that class I went to a dinner with all the male teachers, about 40 of them. Lots of food and Soju and a lot of fun. Most did not believe that it was my first game of soccer :) I am taking a very quiet inside weekend this weekend. My experience on the camp has made me keen to learn Korean again, and I have been learning new words and phrases at a good rate, as well as getting on with my grammar book, but not this weekend. Take care 14 March 2008I am on my last day of my first week in my new school. Well, I was here last week but had no classes. My timetable is light so I have lots of free time. I have 15 year 1 classes (turning 16 this year) that I get to teach the same lesson to, or change as I see fit and boredom dictates. Each class has about 40 students. I will also have three lessons with some year 2 students, but these classes have only 11 - 14 students, and it is optional, so the students are keen. Further, I have two classes a week where I will teach the English teachers (difficult as their English is very good) and two more where I will teach the non-English teachers. School here is very very different from Australia. Teachers and students wear slippers all day long. Why? I will get to that in a bit. The students work very long hours. There are three grades here, with about 600 students in each grade. Classes are sexually segregated, but the school is not. The staffroooms are also segregated, with the men's staffrooom being the smoking room. First grade students get off early, 8pm, second grade at 9:30 pm and third grade finish at 11pm. Homeroom teachers are here until those times. Dont ever bitch about those afterschool meetings that keep you there until 5:30 again!!! Every second Saturday is a school day, but I think it finishes earlier. I get to go home at 5:30 twice a week, 7:10 twice a week, and 3:10 once a week, and dont have to work Saturdays. Most classrooms are teacher centered, the teacher at the front, the students are empty vessels waiting to be filled. With these class sizes it would be hard to do it any other way. Students clean the school three times a day. Mops, brooms, dustpans, the whole lot. It is always spotless, hence the "inside shoes" or slippers. The canteen food is pure Korean, and fairly good, especially for the price about $2.50. On the two days I have to stay until after 7, my dinner is free. I still have rockstar status for as long as my honeymoon lasts, which I hope to extend as far as I can. After that the real work will begin. I am still stealing wireless internet access at home, but hope to have a proper connection on Saturday. My new apartment is a bit smaller than the last, but much quieter, newer and as I am on the 10th floor, a great city view. Life is good. 6 March 2008It has been a busy time. After getting back from Vietnam I stayed in a hotel for three nights before moving into my new school supplied apartment last Friday. It is smaller than the last apartment, but a bit nicer. Further, the building is on a small hill, and my apartment is on the 10th floor, so there is a very good view out the window. There was a hectic social whirl after getting back, while I caught up with many of my friends, and on Monday I went to my new school. I had been told on the previous Friday I was going to talk to the new students, and was under the impression that I was to be introducing myself. This was not the case. The whole student body was crammed into the hall, standing room only with 1800 of them. The already established teachers were then introduced by way of "Ordeal of Applause". The students clapped, cheered or wildly screamed at the teachers, tough if you are not so well liked. Then it was the new teachers' turn, and the foreign teacher (your correspondent) was given huge screams. Scary. About 2 minutes before I went back up on stage I was told that I would be welcoming the new students. Speech notes scrunched up in my pocket, up I went. The beginning was good, but I became a little lost in the middle, so with fast words and idiom I bought some thinking time. The end was nice and slow and clear. Drenched in nervous sweat, I retreated off the stage. About two hours later I found out that I would be going to Japan the next morning to get my visa, and off I went. It was a fairly easy trip, just overnight, and back again. However I had three currencies in my wallet, Yen, US Dollars and Won, and after my recent trip to Vietnam, four conversion rates. Now, back safe and sound, sitting in school, though I dont teach until Monday. I dont yet have internet installed in my apartment, I piggyback off the neighbours wireless. Take care all, drop me a line, 15 Febuary 2008Well there was a busy day the other day. We woke on a barge in Ha Long Bay, very hard to take a bad photo here. After a few short cruises arrived back at the docks and caught a bus back to Hanoi. We had lunch there and tried to book an overnight train to Danang but couldnt as it was fully booked in the post-Tet rush. So we caught a taxi to the airport and flew there, arriving at 9pm. While waiting for our luggage I tried to find some people to share a car to Hoi An, about 30km. As luck would have it I met a French engineer who works in Hoi An and had a car and driver. They took us to our hotel in Hoi An. So on that day we were on a boat, a bus, a taxi, a plane and a car. We had all yesterday and half of today in Hoi An and are about to take a car to Danang and then an overnight train to Hanoi. Sang Hee will leave on Sunday night, as she has to be at work on Monday morning. I am going to find somewhere quiet near Hanoi to hole up and read, eat and learn Korean. If you know of anywhere good, let me know. 6 Febuary 2008After spending a couple of days with a Russian software engineer living in Korea I traveled with a French finance worker who lives in Spain. So there we were, a French citizen living in Spain, and an Australian living in Korea, sitting in a tiny village in Vietnam, listening to a local play a Romanian pop song on a Japanese radio made in China. It would be easy to start thinking that the world had become so small it is possible to see the rest of it that afternoon. However my sore arse from the jeep ride showed me that this was not the case. I am spending today doing nothing. Well, I will learn some Korean, and read my book, and listen to some music. After that I will eat again and repeat the process. What a blissful day. Tonight I will catch the night train back to Hanoi for Tet. I just hope that nobody will be offensive. :) 2 Febuary 2008I have arrived in Vietnam. I spent some time on the plane talking to a young Vietnamese guy who was on his way home from working for 2 years in Korea. As I have no Vietnamese and he had about as much English we talked in Korean. A strange experience, and difficult for me as his Korean was much better than mine. At the airport I met a Russian guy and we caught a bus into the city and then walked about 4km to the Old Quater. I am staying in the Old Quater, as this is where all the backpackers are. I have no plans yet though I have to be in Hanoi on the 10th to meet Sanghee. She will be here until the 17th. 15 January 2008Hi All, It has been bloody cold here. Most mornings this week have been about -15C when I walk to work, and while the snow that was a few cm think has largely melted, there are still patches of ice here and there. It will nudge above 0C over the next few days, there is more snow on the way. Thursday morning is predicted to be -16C. I have one week of winter school (9am to 5pm) left before one last week back on a normal schedule (2pm to 10pm). Brad, a teacher who was here earlier will arrive on the 30th, and take over my apartment and job when I leave. This is very good for the school as Brad is an excellent teacher, and good for me as Brad has agreed to let me leave my gear in his apartment while I go for four weeks holiday in Vietnam. I leave on the 2nd. Lots of stuff still to do, but some of it will be easier when I move to the afternoon work. I hope you are all well and happy :) |
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