Bo

It’s a thunderin’ grey day for a blog post! Hello, storm! Hello, monsoon. Saturday has arrived, though I must say the week has flown by with dashing speed! Perhaps the dramatic shift in office politics has had some bearing on that, our supervisor having disappeared and the whole foreign teaching staff having been lectured and scolded regularly by Principal (she goes by just Principal, as no one seems to know her name) and “Supervisor Teacher” (who has disappeared) ever since our return from vacation the last week of July. Very odd climate, indeed!

One of my Kindergarten kids left South Korea for America yesterday. Sad saying Goodbye but my sadness was greatly eased by the mammoth box of Korean rice sweets that his (Kevin’s) mom gave me as a farewell gift. I’m not a fan of the Korean rice “sweets” (they’re really not all that sweet to my taste buds), but still, the gesture. Kevin is a very affectionate boy and has invented his very own language, which he’s been teaching me. I think I will miss him a little!

So, the morning (Kindergarten) went by swimmingly, with lots of laughter. Lots of crying, too, but hey, this is Pooh Class. Andy slapped me across the face in a fit of surprised and confused joy at Jungle Gym, and gave me quite a start. (And a sting!) I was very surprised at the force of a five-year old, needless to say! My afternoon Elementary classes were okay, too, despite being very tired from a night out for Galbi (grilled pork) and celebratory drinks for Matt’s (a co-teacher;s) birthday. After work, I went to the gym (back, at long last!) and then ventured solo to a Jinjabong (my very first!), which turned out to be a massive area of saunas, steam rooms, ginseng baths, hot baths, cold baths, sleeping quarters, lounging quarters, restaurant(s), PC bong(s), and much more! Nude massages by Ajummas in their underwear, if you like, for a measly 10,000 won! Absolutely massive and all underground. After the Jinjabong, I retreated to my apartment to relax a while, eat dinner, energize!, before heading out to our favourite, smoky (urgh) underground bar, The Underground, and then top it all off with a fantastic Norebong (karaoke) session with some of my favourite people. Good, good fun.

Sunset over a temple somewhere near Suji.

Hiked to my heart’s content today, in flip-flops and yoga pants. A lovely day.

I ate tentacles today. They were muy chewy.

A Korean shoots some hoops at a B-Ball court not far from my apartment building.

Típico meal when we’re not eating out at a Gimbap shop. You’re impressed that it looks so flavourful and hearty and diverse, aren’t you? I try.

Progress. Production. Pumpkin pie.

Seoul, Peace and Mustard Seeds.

Tomorrow morning we are going on a field trip with the Kindergarten kids. What fun! I’m pretty stoked, needless to say. The curious thing is that for our field trip…well, we are actually, literally, going to a field!! Yeah. Amazing! Going to a field to plant some potatoes for “field day.” Sounds like a solid plan to me.

Yelling. I hate yelling. I absolutely loathe the action of yelling. It’s not even effective with my little, tiny, mousy voice in any case. I can think of little else (except maybe a stranger vomiting inside my mouth) that I loathe more than yelling. Yet at the private English school (hagwon) at which I work it is oftentimes necessary. In my last class today, a student (a normally loud and obnoxious and yet charming boy – yes, charming and obnoxious at the same time) informed me, nastily, that his parents were going to call the school to complain about me and the school because he was unhappy he’d received two Xs on the board for behaving badly and being disruptive (how teacher-y do I sound?!?!) AND to add insult to further injury, I’d not give him any stickers as a reward for his good behaviour (which was non-existent.) (Pretty teacher-y.) Blurgh. Another student, who is also loud and disruptive, but smart and usually participates, threw his book to the ground in a fit of anger at not having received a sticker either. He then refused to respond to any of my attempts to speak with him. Sometimes I think it’s all a giant paradox – the school’s mandate to please the students and their parents whilst maintaining – or some sense of – discipline in the class. Is it possible? “CAN YOU DO IT?! I CAN DO IT!!!” (a chant repeated at least a  hundred times a day, but one that I would most certainly call a personal fave.)

However, if truth be told, I do have few complaints, overall. I do enjoy the majority of my time here immensely. I simply hate yelling, is all. Yelling does worse things for my soul than losing control of the classroom, than surrendering to the chaos that surrounds me, which I can assure you I have little or  no control of/over.

Tomorrow is another day (whatever that may mean!) and I have no doubt that the students will have forgotten all about any theatrical fiascoes that may have taken place today. Thankfully. And I…I will do the same. At least I will try my best to.

I will do my best. The End.

A gloriously happy (and rainy) Sunday in Seoul City (last Sunday)! My first little adventure flying solo (believe it or not.) Was trekking up to Seoul Tower (it’s a far walk, okay, I’m allowed to use the work “trek” here, AND it was all uphill) and stopped to snap some panoramas (Hey, Aunt Faye, panorama is a good word, isn’t it?!) of the city line when this Korean man, 이한복 (?!) (I still can’t read Korean, which makes me a tool)) took a photo of me (with HIS camera), (which is why I’m grinning so stupidly, ’cause I thought this moment was the best thing since Bob Dylan) and then just e-mailed it to me a second ago! How fabulous. I also received a novel from another Korean (a photographer) (I’m very conspicuous walking around with my tripod) I met on the subway that morning. Koreans (the ones I’ve met) are just so nice. And so clever with modern communication tools. Also visited Deoksugung Palace (and saw the changing of the guard, which was NEAT), Mount Namsan and Seoul Tower. Solid – and solidly drizzling – Sunday.
(Hey Stef, I thought all my brackets would turn you on immensely, so I decided to add this silly sentence (in brackets) (AGAIN) just for you.)
More pictures are on the way! Love, Bo