Trip to BusanBusan, Korea Rep. Busan, Korea Rep. Waking up was tough but I managed and quickly packed an overnight bag for my night in Busan. Once again Karina and I met up and she introduced me to another of her fab friends, Christine, a Canadian girl. Aalia joined us too and we made our way to the KTX express train which would get us to Busan in two hours instead of the usual four. Christine is a girl after…
Seoul Lotus Lantern FestivalSeoul, Korea Rep. Seoul, Korea Rep. What an action packed 4-day weekend! Last night I went to Karina’s place for some drinks before heading out to a salsa evening at a pub/club called Dolce. She introduced me to the first South African I’ve met here, a fantastic girl called Aalia from Cape Town. It seems so silly but it just felt so good to meet someone from home and be able to chat about certain things that…
My first week of teaching comes to an endCheonan, Korea Rep. Cheonan, Korea Rep. To sum up the past week of teaching English to middle school boys: it was great but I am sick to death of the sound of my own voice giving my introductory lesson. Each week I see every boy in school once only. I teach about 20 lessons per week & because each boy has only one conversational English lesson a week, I really only need…
Childrens DayCheonan, Korea Rep. Cheonan, Korea Rep. I was given a lift again yesterday afternoon by the lovely mum of the Grade 2 boy (I think she said her name is Jane – many Korean people have an English name to help the likes of us foreigners who can’t pronounce their tongue-twisters). I was super happy about my camera so went straight home to put it on charge. I had been craving a burger and chips, MacDonald’s style for two…
A new camera, fire drills & some Korean wrestlingCheonan, Korea Rep. Cheonan, Korea Rep. My camera arrived today!! I was hoping it would, and just when I had given up hope, the principal himself came to my desk and put a box on it. My new camera is beautiful and oh so fancy. It is a pink Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX75 with a fantastic wide angle leica lens and a big LCD. I was wondering why there were so few buttons…
Visit to Gagwonsa TempleCheonan, Korea Rep. Cheonan, Korea Rep. Yesterday I finally taught my first two lessons and they went pretty well. I also caught the bus by myself to school for the first time and it all went smoothly. The only thing is, there is only one bus that goes to the school at the right time for me. If I miss it then I have to catch a taxi. Bus fare is not too bad, I think it…
My second weekend in Cheonan – getting braver!Cheonan, Korea Rep. Cheonan, Korea Rep. What a busy weekend it turned out to be, despite starting out with nearly no plans. By Friday I was tired and ready for a lie-in on Saturday morning. Well lie-in I did. I was shocked when I woke up, looked at the time and it was 11am!! Maybe I was jet-lagged after all? Karina phoned at around 12 and suggested she show me how to use…
Lotte WorldSeoul, Korea Rep. Seoul, Korea Rep. Whew! An exhausting day was had yesterday when I went with some teachers and the Grade 3’s to Lotte World, a huge theme park In Seoul, for a field trip. One of the teachers had a camera and gave me some of his pics so finally I have some photos to upload. “Lotte” is (I think) a Japanese brand and there are Lotte Supers (supermarkets) around here as well as department stores. Lotte…
Feeling like a dork!Cheonan, Korea Rep. Cheonan, Korea Rep. Yesterday I went to the hospital where I had a full medical test. If it comes back positive for drugs or HIV I get sent back home. Today I went to the bank but still can’t open an account so spent the rest of the day doodling the time away with a little lesson-planning, e-mails & Facebook. The school day is pretty long compared to SA schools. We start at 8:20am…
Easter weekend continued…Cheonan, Korea Rep. Cheonan, Korea Rep. Happy Easter everyone! I’ve spent my morning cleaning this place…I have cleaned inside the fridge and put the deodoriser in there and it still smells – any tips? I’m sure there is something to do with bicarb that takes fridge smells away? The cupboards are also all clean now so I can start arranging my stuff properly. Yonok kindly donated some plates, bowls, cups etc. to me so I have some more…