"Isn't it splendid..."

"Isn't it splendid to think of all the things there are to find out about? It just makes me feel glad to be alive--it's such an interesting world” ~Anne of Green Gables, L.M. Montgomery

Wonderful little stories from December...

*I went to the cinema with my co-teacher and she insisted on us watching a film in English because it helps her to improve her English. I looked over at her twenty minutes in and there she was, snoring away beside me.

*Winter English camp have begun at my school and I'm teaching a great group of grade three and four students.  A poster was made by one of my co-teachers to advertise the camp to parents.  The poster is hung outside of our classroom which reads, “Tops in Enlish”. Sigh.

*I sent two parcels home filled with gifts for Christmas from Seoul, which only cost a total of $30.  When I was in Canada and I had to mail a piece of paper to Seoul , it cost over $60. Hmmm…

*Hyehwa. Bar. Vinyl. 7/11 deck of cards. Cass. Morrison Hotel. Dylan. Appetizer surprise. Jack Daniels. Bar top dancing. Oh! Darling. Cheese & Crackers. Korean paparazzi. Dillingers. Mingling. Darts. Misplaced purse. Found purse. Cab home. Changed mind. Train home. Sleep on train. Enough said.

*I missed the Monteith Christmas party....extreme bummer!  One of the not so splendid things about being far from home.

*I found another market near my place, which brings me so much joy.  I decided to walk another route home from school and just stumbled upon it.  It's AMAZING the things you just happen upon while wandering around.  Market specialties: Yubu chobab, Veggie Mandu, Jijimi, and the most beautiful selection on veggies I have ever seen: sweet potatoes, pumpkin, carrots, radish, chives, garlic stem...Heaven!

*Went on a Sunday stroll through Seoul forest, which wasn’t a forest at all (no surprise there).  While bored in the forest, I decided to learn how to use my friend’s iPhone. Big mistake! I was so enthralled that I tripped off a curb, and in an effort to save his phone, I nearly broke my hip, scrapping my knees and elbows.

*I volunteered once again at the orphanage and enjoyed an awesome Christmas party with the kiddies.  They are so cute and sweet.  Watching them open the gifts we brought was a perfect holiday moment. 

*Parking in Seoul can be a bit of a problem as there are just too many cars to accommodate. While out with my co-teachers, a car had blocked us in. I figured we were gonna have to wait around until someone came back in order to get Kate’s car out. Of course, this was not the case.  I watched stunned as my co-teachers began pushing the MERCEDES out of the way!!  I’ve been informed that it is common courtesy for Koreans to leave their cars out of gear once parked.  It makes it easy to push cars out of the way to avoid parking issues. LOL!

*I’m contemplating backpacking South Korea during my two weeks off in January.  Yeah its winter, but I think that’s what will make it such an exciting adventure.  Bring on the snow!!

*No snow in Seoul yet, which is a real bummer. I WANT SNOW!

*I experienced a few interesting dishes this month in the school caf, one of which was fish organs. Sorry, but I had to pass. I just couldn't do it ha.

*About two months after I came to Seoul, I wrote a list of random things I want to accomplish during my year here.  Some things are Korea related, but most are just random things I want to do.  There is this blog that I like reading every now and again, and I got the idea from it.  Sooo…..since I have no original ideas of my own I thought I’d copy it and post my list on my blog.  We’ll see how much I actually accomplish.

*Feeling bored of my current hair colour, I decided I would buy some dye and rock a new shade of red.  Instead of red, I ended up with bright PUMPKIN ORANGE hair and was mortified. I feared I'd never hear the end of this mistake the next day at school as my students never hold back.  As it turned out, my students think pumpkin orange hair is really cool and I am no longer "ugly teacher".

*Knitting parties!! I’ve started knitting again and my friends here have decided to join me.  Yarn and supplies are super cheap, so we’ve been knitting up a storm. I’ve completed a scarf and am currently making a hat.  Parties include dessert, fancy coffee, wine and lots of laughs.  Who knew knitting could be sooo much fun!

*Cat and dog cafés. I have yet to go to one, but it’s on my list of things to do.  What are they? Just as they sound…enjoy a latte while playing with cats and dogs. AWESOME!!  There are many of these all over Seoul and I plan on a trip soon.

*Christmas.  This will be my first Christmas away from home and I’m happy to say it won’t be a lonely one.  I have an exciting weekend ahead with great friends and I just can't wait!

Life is fabulous!

I want to wish family and friends back home a very Merry Christmas and a wonderful New Year.  I miss you all very much…especially this time of the year. 

Enjoy the holidays and know I am thinking of you.

Nothing like some Peaceful Protest...

Such exciting events!!! ...but where to start?

 A couple days after I wrote my last blog I received a phone call from the board office here stating that I would be transferred to a new school come the new school year (March) and would fulfill the rest of my contract elsewhere.  The dude on the other end of the phone sounded like I should be thrilled with this change of plans, but initially I took it quite hard.  Actually, when I found out I cried LOL…but I waited for the dude to hang up first.  Why was I so upset?  I’ve made terrific relationships at my school and my overall experience has been really great.  I didn’t want to go to another school and start all over again…what if I got transferred to a horrible school? (yeah I realize this is a pretty selfish statement). Of course, everyone at school found out and my Principal and Vice Principal decided to make some phone calls. 

The reason why I was being transferred was because of budgeting.  Seoul had voted in a new mayor and part of his campaign would include students having free lunches at school.  This also meant cutting back on foreign English teacher jobs.  My school was one of six schools in the Songpa region who would lose funding for a foreign English teacher.  This ruffled some feathers at school because they did not feel it was fair that our school had to sacrifice their English education.  As explained to me by my head teacher “this budgeting clearly goes against the English learning mandate established by the government and education office”.  So what did my school do to retaliate?

They decided to call on the people the school board would NEVER want to piss off: Mom’s Council. For those of you that don’t know, parents here really call the shots in education.  If they don’t like something you’ve done, you’ll find out and best change your ways. That said, eighteen mothers went to the board office and PICKETED outside the building!!!  My head teacher called me into her office and told me that these women were picketing on my behalf and that I had a better chance of staying in our school if they requested it.  All I could think to myself at that exact moment was “Holy shit! What have I gotten myself into here?” LOL.  And as much as I’d like to tell you all how “I’m the best teacher ever and that is why they picketed for me”, I do realize that it wasn’t necessarily for ME that they were fighting for.  I do see the bigger picture…….but when my principal and head teacher gave me the news, and she had tears of joy that I would be STAYING, I felt really honoured and cared for (just let me bask in the reflected gloryJ).

BUT, having now lived here for almost four months, I have also learned that ANYTHING is possible and that there is probably still a good chance that I will be transferred hahaha. That’s just Korea!!

So other than being somewhat connected to some radical collective movement, what else have I been doing? 

I’ve joined a volunteer group called Bean Seoul and have helped out with a couple events.  I’ve volunteered at an orphanage and have donated a gift for the Christmas toy drive.  There are other volunteer opportunities that I’d like to get involved with as well, like ocean fishing or tandem bike riding with the blind, but with over 500 volunteers, it’s hard to get an opportunity to get involved.  It’s kind of a first come, first serve basis LOL…I guess everyone just wants to help out ‘round here…

The orphanage was really not like I expected, which was a good thing (I always expect the worse).  We teach for about 40 minutes and then the rest of the time is spent snacking and playing with the kiddies.  The age range was toddler to 10 years old (I think) and the whole experience was pretty chilled actually. The best part of the experience for me was playing tag with this little girl.  It was soooo much fun!!  I haven’t played tag in years…and enjoyed every minute of it.  Big smiles in return always make it worth while anyhow J 

And of course, it wouldn’t be an ordinary story from MOI unless I told you about the part where I was ALSO playing catch with this one girl and I might have passed her the ball when she wasn’t ready and it SMASHED her really hard right in the face! … and she was wearing glasses….ahhhhhh man!! I felt so HORRIBLE.  So I just ran up to her, grabbed her head and started hugging her.  She was pretty tough though…she didn’t cry!  But some volunteers did look at me mortified…so I just went on my way and played tag again.

Peace.