Last weekend in Gunsan

Well, my last weekend in Gunsan was definitely fun filled!!

Friday night, I went out for dinner and then met up with some other friends and we shared a few beverages!

Saturday, I had a mini garage sale in an attempt to get rid of all of my stuff and then had bbq on Liz's roof top.

I dominated a few games of flip cup, we played some pictionary and then headed out downtown.

All in all, it was great to spend my last weekend with my favourite people from Gunsan!

5 years since Brazil!

Warning these next few blogs are probably going to be pretty mushy. With lots of anniversary type dates and 16 days until I leave, it’s all pretty emotional!!

So…..

This day five years ago, I was on my way to Brazil on my first Cross-Cultural Solutions program. It’s crazy to think how much has happened since then! I remember getting my final expectations talk and really having to stop myself from crying on the phone! It was the first time I had travelled alone to a different country and I had no idea what to expect.

Turns out doing that program was the best thing to ever happen to me. It gave me the confidence to believe that if I could ‘sort of’ control a class of 30 three year olds who didn’t speak a word of English; I could pretty much do anything. I met some amazing and inspiring people in Brazil who I am still in touch with now. Brazil and the people I met captured my heart.

This incredible event led me to move to New York to work for the organisation.
It led me to travel all over the States, again meeting more remarkable people.
It led me to volunteer in Costa Rica, volunteer in Guatemala. And even when I made the hard decision to leave CCS and New York, my astounding journey continued. I volunteered in Ghana for 2 months and realised my passion for teaching, which led to me move to South Korea for a year to teach.

I have said this previously but on each Cross-Cultural Solutions program and each step of my travels I have met wonderful people who have inspired and encouraged me. Every new journey I have embarked on I have always been nervous and apprehensive. But I have the support from family and friends to go and do, it resulting in life changing and unforgettable experiences.

My advice is to go and do. Go and travel. Get out of you comfort zone. Yes it will be scary, yes it will be uncomfortable and there will be awkward situations where you wonder what the heck you are doing. But the positives will definitely outweigh the negatives and who knows what it could lead too….

‘A positive experience causes a chain reaction of positive thoughts, events and outcomes. It is a catalyst and it sparks extraordinary results.’

Children's Day

Yesterday was Children's Day, which meant we got a day off work mid week - assah!!

Being the caring teachers we are we decide to spend the day at various orphanages. We managed to get some donations together of roughly £100 and bought a mass of sweets, crackers, pencils and other goodies!

We went to 2 orphanages played some games and handed out sweets.

It was good fun but pretty exhausting as we had all been out the night before until about 3am!

We then headed back to mine for Poker night where I won about £4!!

Finally sun in The Goon!

I don't know where the weekend went but it was lots of fun!
Louise came down to The Goon on Friday and we ended up dancing all night at Cheers and not getting to bed til 5.30am.
The Alex came round in the morning for a big English fry up!

We pottered around, played on some swings and saw half my students on the way to Coldstones for icecream and then Lousie headed home.

The sun has finally decided to appear in Gunsan so on Sunday a few of us headed to the park and had a picnic and BBQ.

We were also a huge source of amusment for the rest of the park.

30 days left!

So I have exactly one month left in Korea. I can't believe that 11 months have gone so quickly!!
I have enjoyed my time in Korea a lot more than I thought I would. I was actually contemplating on my layover in Germany just hopping on a plane to Ghana, as that was my layover for Ghana too. To be brutally honest I would have quite happily not come to Korea and had a mild panic attack at Manchester airport.

However, I have actually had a pretty interesting, educating, enlightening and dare I say fun time. I will actually even... MISS... Korea!

Things I will miss about Korea:
The amazing friends I have made here.
My students - especially my adult class
Poker night every other Wednesday
Tuesday morning coffees at Bean and Bean with Alex and Izzy
Serviceeeee - The amount of freebie stuff I get at places
How kind and honest people are. I can leave my bag and purse, go to the bathroom, come back and it is still there
Couple t-shirts - you know who is with who, as they are wearing matching clothes!!
Having every argument dealt with by using rock, scissors, paper, stone
Cheap and easy transport - especially taxis
Free rent
The amount of hours I DON'T work!

Things I won't miss:
people hocking their guts and flem up every where
feeling like a big fat heffer and being told no largee size
names that I cannot even begin to pronounce!
having to remember to take toilet paper from the communal roll outside the bathroom stalls!

Things I will probably subconsciously take away from Korea:
Nodding and bowing at people
Offering and taking things with two hands (to show I am not going to kill them, with the one hand I am not using!)
Saying 'Assah!' accompanied by an arm pump, when something is great

Fish, fun and fabulous friends!

This weekend I headed up to Seoul.

I got in early on Friday evening as my last class didn't turn up.

I headed to Itaewon where a friend was singing. There was also another guy who was from he Chester area. He asked everyone to to write down a few random words and then free styled it into a rap He was REALLY good!

On Saturday we headed to Dr. Fish. Basically a load of fish eat all the dead skin off your feet. It is the most bizarre experience EVER. It is like being slightly eletrocuted on your feet!

After getting slighlty lost on the subway for 2 hours we finally made it to the COEX Aquarium.
We were a little grumpy by the time we got there but it was still fun.
One part they had the fish in different types of tanks such as:

There was even a 2 headed turtle!

Scam update

I have been researching the whole Spain scam a little more and it seems that these crimnal masterminds have done the same thing several times but used different but real school names.
They have even used the exact same email, sometimes the same name for the transfer.

Check out this forum with ESLbase.

I wouldn't say I am particulary guillable person, but I have to admit I was pretty close to sending the money.
ESLbase have some good tips on how to avoid scams. Check them out here.

Obviously this has been a great lesson for me in being able to identify job scams. I am actually getting pretty good at noticing them now! Yes, I mean you $3100 a month job in Abu Dhabi, that doesn't need a masters!

Oh Google, you are indeed a wonderful invention when it comes to trying to stalk....sorry research people!

Cherry Blossom in Gunsan

Spring has finally sort of started to appear. Last week, there was snow, Saturday was lovely and sunny and all of this week it has pretty much rained and been miserable and grey.

I finally managed to get over to Eunpa Park to see the blossom.

I took some night photos and went back before it got dark, however it was pretty grey so the photos are not as amazing as some I have seen!

So I was nearly part of a job scam. As annoying and disappointed as I am, at least I didn’t send any money and want to make as many TEFL teachers aware of it as possible.

I was contacted saying that they had my contact details on a TEFL website. I do have my resume up on lots of different websites, so this seemed fine. It was a German Private school in Spain.

I was asked to send my resume, details of certificates, etc. Again not unsusal.
I did that and was selected for a the second round.

There was a list of about 20 questions that I had to answer. There were pretty detailed questions asking about discipline, teaching methods etc. I was told that there would be no need to have a phone interview, which I found highly unusual, as surely they needed to hear my accent etc.

I was then sent the following email.
'This is to inform you that you have been finally selected to work with us.Our recruitment/employment procedure this year does not require a phone interview.That is why we selected only the candidates with the best qualifications.A detailed work contract is attached to this email.Fill your name and other necessary information carefully and sign at the space provided below.

Please print out the contract,then sign,scan,attach and return the signed contract to this email address.At no.4 of employee's personal information,you will see CONTRACT PERIOD,just fill 7thJuly 2010 to 7TH July 2011.

Please be informed that you are expected to arrive on the 3rd of July in order to attend the orientation programe prior to job commencement.Kindly send thepaymentthrough WESTERN UNION MONEY TRANSFER.Receiver's name: DAVID FREEMANAddress:Apartado de Correos, 318Marbella,Malaga,Spain.

Please send the transfer details to: info@colealemanjuanhoffmann.comAs soon as the finance department confirms your payment,we shall reserve your accomodation and commence the processing of your travelling and working documents. Only non EU's are advised to send both the accomodation reservation fee and the visa processing fee.EU's are expected to send only the accomodation reservation fee.NB: At your leisure,do not forget to fax a copy of the payment slip/receipt that was issued to you after the payment at the WESTERN UNION OFFICE.It has to be kept in your record for future reference.Our fax number is found on our website www.colealemanjuanhoffmann.com and on top of the contract paper as well.Congratulations!Daniela'

They wanted me to send 900 euro via western union to secure my accommodation. I was told that I would be reimbursed during orientation.

The money was to be sent to DAVID FREEMAN
Address: Apartado de Correos, 318 Marbella, Malaga, Spain.

Even when moving to Korea, I did not have to send any money. I asked for an email address of someone who was currently working there and was giving the email address 'georgephilip70@yahoo.co.uk'. I googled this and came up with this social networking website.

I was still wary and searched for the address online and it came up on this scam website. There is also a post on Dave's ESL about it here.

This is the schools real website - http://www.dsmalaga.com/

The scammers use this website - http://www.colealemanjuanhoffmann.com/.

They have even created an ESL page. That wasn't there a few days ago. The 2 websites are identical and the scammers have just replaced the real email addresses with their fake one!

The email addresses used for communication are
info@colealemanjuanhoffmann.com
cajhdocuments@rediffmail.com
director@colealemanjuanhoffmann.com

I am trying to include as much information as possible so that if anyone searches for them, like I did, this post will come up.

Again, it seemed to be a busy week socialising.

Monday, I was helping Jo do a friends son's homework - why he couldn't do his own, I am not sure. We ended up roping Saint into buying some beer and coming over which resulted in me chucking 2 very soju sodden Koreans out of my apartment at 4am.

Wednesday, a group of us had dinner at Elizabeths, which was as always a fun time.

Thursday, Jo, Saint and I headed to Daechon Beach in the evening and bought some seafood, then headed to a restaurant that prepares it all for you.

We had shrimp,

Some weird shell thing and oysters

Some type of fish soup

and crab.

We also had octopus, the kind that is cut up yet still moves. I have tried it before. I was going to try it again, but after having problems just pulling it off the dish as the it had suctioned itself to the the dish, I decided against it!

Friday, Jo and I went to see a movie, then met up with some friends for drinks and ended up at Saint's apartment eating sushi, that his room mate had caught fishing til 4.30am.

Saturday, It was some friend's birthdays and a leaving party which involved flip cup, beer pong, fire shows, free shots - a typical night in The Goon!

Sunday, I went to a house warming party. Alex and Kenton have a really nice place and a baby, so I spent most of the day playing with her and trying not to feel broody!!

I don't seem to have done anything this past week but I seem to have been pretty busy. Lots of lunches with friends, dinner, drinks, shopping and socialising. Getting in as much time with people before I leave!

The weather is finally starting to get nicer. Although the other day it was raining and I was on my bike to work. I was waiting at the traffic lights to cross the road. An older Korean lady saw me waiting with no umbrella and came and stood with me until the lights changed. It was the sweetest and also slightly uncomfortable thing! The traffic lights take a while to change here and my Korean is so limited that we couldn't really talk! So we stood awkwardly until they changed!

It has also become ritual at spinning classes for the whole class to be introduced to the weiguk and the whole class has to turn round, wave and say 'Hi Joooss!'. A little embarrassing but I am getting over it.

There are also lots of new teachers arriving in Gunsan because a new school year started recently. It turns out that a new guy is friends with my old neighbour in NYC!! Talk about a small world!

De-Militerised Zone

This weekend I headed up to Seoul to visit the DMZ or de-militerised zone between North and South Korea. It is a strip of land running across the Korean Peninsula that serves as a buffer zone between North and South Korea.

We went with Wow Corea through Elvis!

We started off at the Imjingak Pavilion.

'Located about 54km north west from Seoul Metropolitan City Hall and about 7km south of the Demarcation Line, Imjingak Pavilion is as far as civilians can go to the north. It is a remnant of the Korean War. Built in 1972 to console those who had to leave their homes in the north, it stands on the 19,835m² area and has three floors and one underground floor. Around it, there are Mangbaedan, an altar where those who cannot go back to their homes get together and pray for their ancestors, a museum where various documents and about 400 pictures are displayed to provide a rare look at North Korea's military, politics, and society, the Peace Bell, the Peace Garden, the Imjingang River Battle Memorial, the American War Monument, and tanks and planes that were used in the war. It is a place where tourists feel the pain of the war and national division as well as the country's desires for unification. '

We then headed to Dorasan Station, the station that used to connect the North and South.

It was pretty eerie. Just a normal train station waiting to be used, with a ticket booths, security check points just waiting for the the 2 countires to reunite for it to be in use again.

Next we headed to the The 3rd Infiltration Tunnel, there are 4 that have been found and there are supposed to be up to 10. We were not allowed to take any photos, and I got told off by Gina G our tour guide for taking some snaps of Victoria and I in our helmets. Have a look at this search to check out some though!

I didn't think I was a tall person, but I banged my head a few times, so could not imagine walking just over a mile in a tunnel that was wet and only 2m high and wide with all the gear that a North Korean soldier would have to carry.

There was also the Re-unification Monument, which "Depicts the division of Korea, and the world, and the hope to reunite what was divided."

The last stop was the Dora observatory. This where you can actually get to see North Korea. There was a line that we had to stand behind when taking photos of North Korea, so unless you were super tall, you couldn't really get a good photo.

Also it was really foggy so we couldn't really see much anyway. You could tell where the south ended the north started as the North had no trees on their side. This is what it would have looked like minus the fog!

The end is nigh!

So, on Monday I booked my ticket back to the UK!!!!!
I fly out Friday 28th May and arrive in the UK Saturday 29th May at 8.40 at Manchester - in case you want to arrange a big welcome party at the airport, with banners, flowers and trumpets! Come on, it will have been 360 days since I was last on British soil!

Other big news, KM finally quit!!!!!! With only 66 days left she finally decide to quit. Why she couldn't have done it sooner and made my life easier is another question but the next 66 days should be great without her! Apparently she has another job teaching conversation at a middle school in Gunsan, so I have been trying to find out if any of the weiguks I know are teachers at that school! I pity the students and teachers she will be working with!!!

Wow 66 days! Lots to fit in before then!

This week after working in O2 Grande for nearly 10 months, I finally got to see inside one of the apartments! One of my adults invited me over for lunch. Or a 3 hour marathon eating session!! We ordered Chinese, had a massive plate of strawberries, ice cream, cookies, this fish bread or bungeonppang chocolate and more!

The apartment was pretty nice but I thought small for a 4 person family. There were 2 bedrooms, a small study, an en suite for the master bedroom, bathroom, open plan living room / kitchen, a sort of loft area and a small rooftop terrace. I guess it is just because I grew up in a 3 bedroomed house, with a front and back garden!
It did have some pretty funky gadgets, including a touch screen pad you could use to call other apartments and the lift, so that by the time you leave the apartment and walk to the lift, it is there!

This week I also worked out how much I actually work. My contract is for a 35 hour week. I used to go in at 11 but not start teaching until 2. They fortunately decided this was a waste of time. So now I am in for 24 hours out of my 35 hour contract - yet still get paid for 35. Out of those 24 hours at work, I only actually teach for 15!!

I have also been trying to figure out the date I will come back to the UK. My contract is done May 31st but I finish teaching on May 21st.

I started to think that I may actually miss Korea! It is a pretty easy life here, the money is good, I have my own studio, the job is pretty easy and I enjoy it.

I have a good social life, I have the sushi place that know me, Wow and Joy, the bar that always gives me free stuff. Even the people at the bank know me. I was transferring money and the Bank Manager kept loitering near me obviously wanting to impress me with his English - which he did!

I have been going to the gym about 2 or 3 times a week recently. I have been trying to go in the mornings, as it is quieter and also do the 9 o'clock classes of spinning and yoga. The guy who does the yoga class is really nice and I am sure is telling the class wonderful words of wisdom to improve your health but I obviously don' understand any of it.

The lady who does the spinning is slightly scary and shouts at you if you sit down. She also incorporates these jazzy hand moves along with cycling like a crazy woman, disco lights and ear splitting K-pop. I am not yet brave enough to let go and join in the jazz hands for fear of losing control and falling off!

There is also this loud and I thought slightly obnoxious trainer, who when I did go in the evenings would shout encouragement at me, so that the whole gym would turn round and look at the fat sweaty foreigner - hence why I tend not to go the gym in the evenings anymore!

However I went last night and it just turns out that he loves me and gave me some traditional Korean cake! As much as I hate the gym the instructors are all really nice and do know me and always try and use what little English they do know on me.

However much I complain about Korea, the people here are lovely and life is pretty good. I was thinking about all the things I miss back in the UK. Turns out there wasn't that much! Some types of food, being able to shop for clothes, of course family and friends. It will have been a year since I last set foot on British Soil -the longest amount of time I have not been back before.

I do think that going back to the UK will be a massive culture shock. I will be able to read and understand signs. I will be able to order a meal and know exactly what I will get. I will be able to understand all the channels on the TV. I will be able to sort out my own phone contract/gas bill problems - what a novelty!!

It is so crazy to think that I will have been here for a year soon, it seems to have gone so quickly!
73 days until the end of my contract!

This weekend was a pretty packed weekend in The Goon!

Friday at work went really well. With my adult class I did a version of 'Call my Bluff' I gave them different definitions of words and they had to guess the right answer. I used words like flibbertigibbet, lollygagging, canoodle and gobsmacked. They really enjoyed it and we had a lot of laughs.


Then with the kids I did games including a version of 'Wheel of Fortune' and the kids loved. It was definitely one of those days where I could definitely say I LOVE TEACHING! Also discovered that bribery and sweets are a total motivator!!

In the evening I tried to get all the new and old teachers together. Not too many newbies turned up but there were about 10 people at my apartment and a couple of new faces I had not met.

Betty was complete tart and was getting love and attention off everyone. I was surprised at how she kept hopping around and wasn't bothered by all the people.


We then headed out to Bar Street met up with some other teachers and then a couple of us headed to noraebang. I LOVE NORAEBANG. I am the woooorst singer but it is just so much funny. Judging by my sore throat the next day, I apparently did a lot of singing/screaming/shouting!



A couple of us went over to Jeonju to watch Jeonju KCC Egis basketball team at Chonbuk University.

It was packed and actually really good fun! I was surprised at how commercialised it was. They would keep stopping the game, get the cheerleaders to come and and do chants about KCC.

Jeonju won though and a good time was had by all!

We then had a really nice Vietnamese meal and found a really nice bar. It was called Art and Travel or Samsara was slightly hippyish and incensey. The whole place was covered in photos of the couple who owned it and places they had travelled and pictures drawn by people. It had good sangria, wine beer and cocktails and boardgames!

Everland

This weekend Danielle and I headed up to Seoul to go to Everland, think the Korean version of Alton Towers combined with Disneyland and Zoo.

Quite a few rides and shows were closed but we still head fun. The T Express was really good and I screamed A LOT. It is Korea's longest, steepest, fastest wooden roller coaster.

There was also a zoo and an 'Animal Wonder Show. Which was actually pretty impressive. It involved a tiger cub, pelicans, monkey's guinea pigs, dogs, parrots, a horse and many others. The funniest part was when the chickens ran across stage and one was so scared/excited/confused it ran into the wall!

At one point the pelican was not doing what it was told and had to be escorted off.


We also saw a seal show which again was pretty impressive. I can't get some of student to behave and these seals knew exactly what they were doing!

In the evening we headed to a comedy show a friend of a friend had put on through Stand up Seoul. There was free wine and food before hand and the show was pretty funny. As it was arranged by foreigners the place was full of foreigners. It is the most foreigners I have been around in almost 10 months!!

After a pretty packed day we headed back to our slightly dodgy love motel!

Change, Change, Change!!

Well.... things have definitely been shook up at work!

I have a new co-teacher, who is supposed to be replacing KM!! What no more outlandish and crazy stories about KM anymore I hear you gasp.. well hold your horses.....

The new co-teacher seems really nice, she was a tour guide for 7 years, a teacher for 2 and half, speaks English (REALLY well), Korean, Mandarin and Italian and has been to 35 different countries!

I only found out about the new teacher when she walked into my other school asking about the job... the job which neither of I or my other coworker knew about! KM finally told me about it when I asked her. She said she will be getting some experience in a middle school so will be too busy. As she is still tied into her contract, the uni are still paying her and then she is paying the new teacher. However, the new teacher had asked me why KM had quit, so who really knows what is going on.

So her first day at the job was a complete nightmare, as usual KM had not prepared her for anything, told her lies, told her the wrong working times, not ordered text books, not written lists of students as she could not remember their names - Korean or English.

At several times during the day, we had parents either call or come in to complain about KM. It was a nightmare. Neither of us knew what was going on.

Then at the end of the day KM turned up, called the parents, shouted down the phone at them and also had a few arguments with the new teacher. The new teacher had asked me why KM had quit, so I thought she had left but then she turned up. It was all just a big crazy nightmare!!

But on a happier note, at the other school I will only be teaching 4 classes on Wednesday so work 1-6 and 2 classes on Thursday working 2-5!!!!!

Also, one of the other teachers left to go back to New Zealand, so I inherited Betty!

Thailand!

So finally back from Thailand.. be prepared this will be a long one!


Saturday
Set off to the airport at 5.30 and got there early than I thought, so had lots of time to kill around Incheon Airport, which is a pretty nice airport, so I didn't mind too much.
On the flight to China, I was sitting next to a British guy who had been working in Korea but not liked it and was moving to China to work there. It was nice to chat to an English person for a few hours. I then had a 5 hour lay over at Beijing, and then about 4 hours to Bangkok.


Sommer's flight was due to get in at exactly the same time as mine - 12.45pm.


I rushed through departures to find Sommer in a movie like reunion in slow motion and background music but couldn't find her flight. I then found out that her plane had broken, the flight cancelled and she was still in Japan! They didn't know when she would arrive and gave me a number to call after 9am the next day. The hotel was booked in her name so I jumped in a taxi and hoped that they would let me check in.

Managed to check into the hotel and conked out! It was a really nice hotel called the Lamphu Tree Hotel.

Monday


The Internet was down at the hotel so I couldn't check if Sommer had sent me an email or not. I ventured out for a walk round to find an internet cafe and then started chatting to a tuk tuk driver who took me around for a bit.


I saw the Giant standing Buddha

I also looked at Wat Benchamabophit

I then headed to The Queens Gallery which had some really nice pieces of art.

Headed back to the hotel and managed to call the airline to find out that Sommer would not be getting in to Bangkok until 12.45 on Monday night!!!

So realising that I would have 2 full days but myself, I set about on a sightseeing frenzy!

I headed back out in the afternoon and checked out the Golden Mount or 'Wat Saket'

and the King Rama III Monument and the Democracy Monument.


Monday

I had booked a trip through the hotel to Damnoen Saduak floating market. It was pretty interesting to see but definitely a tourist trap.

Then Sommer finally arrived at 12.45 in the morning!!!!

Tuesday
We got picked up at 6am to go and do some Ziplining.

It was sooooo much fun!!

We then got dropped off in Pattaya and checked into our super swanky hotel The Avalon. Because Sommer had been so delayed and the hotel was so nice we decide to stay an extra night here and not head out to the island.

Pattaya itself is a pretty touristy beach resort. It is really well known for its sex industry so there were A LOT of old men by themselves or with young Thai girls. So some parts seemed pretty sleazy.

Wednesday

We went on an Elephant trek!

Thursday

We hung around at the hotel, sat by the pool, went into Pattaya to do some shopping and then headed back to Bangkok. We decided to stay in a super cheap and very basic hotel right on Kosan Road. We did some shopping in the area. I went slightly crazy as to find clothes that fitted me in none boring colours. (Most of the clothes in Korea are pretty dull) and also found sandals to fit me as well!


Friday
We checked out the Grand Palace & Wat Phra Kaew.

We then found this amazing vegan/vegetarian place called Ethos. That had ammmmmazing food so we sat and ate A LOT there! We waddled back to the hotel to try and back up all our goodies!

I had booked a min bus to take me to the airport. I had wanted to book it for 9 but as my flight did not leave until 1am, the lady said 10 should be fine. So at 10.30 when the mini bus still had not arrived I started to panic. A little Japanese man ran back to the woman to get our money back and we were going to share a taxi. They both came back and she hailed a taxi and gave the driver our money. We then got stuck in some serious traffic and I didn't get to the airport until 11.45, the fight was supposed to start boarding at 12.15 so I was slightly panicking. Of course the check in desk was the furthest one away, there were massive queues at immigration and then the gate was at the other end of the airport! However the flight was delayed but about 30 minuted so actually made the flight.

I arrived in China to -3c temperature and snow. The airport was in Emergency weather alert and I wasn't sure if I was going to get out. After about an hour delay while they deiced the plane we finally took off. Got back to Seoul and just managed to catch a bus back to Gunsan to get stuck in holiday traffic as it was Independence Day in Korea on Monday!

So finally got back into The Goon at 6.30pm on Saturday evening!

Over all it was a pretty good trip but I am so not used to the touristy thing. I am used to 'Volunteer Vacations' where you are integrated in the local community on programmes with Cross-Cultural Solutions and being part of the community. I hated being a tourist and the fact there were so many scams to try and get money out of you. Some of the taxi and tuk tuk drivers would not take us where we wanted to go unless they took us to gem stores as they got 'free gasoline' If you did that they would charge you 10baht, if not it was about 500 baht or they wouldn't take you at all. Bearing in mind it cost us 300 baht for the 45 minute drive from ther airport and they were asking for 500 baht for a 5 minute drive!

But it was a good trip and great to see Sommer and get some sun!

All the pictures here!

So this week I had a slight disaster with dying my hair.

Jo and I dyed it on Tuesday night, but because I had dyed it a pretty dark brown previously, my roots took the dye more, so I ended up with slightly ginger roots! We went to the hair dressers at 9am the next morning, but unfortunately that didn't take and I still had slightly ginger roots. So I had to go back AGAIN on Thursday when finally my hair was all one colour, so one hair cut 3 dye jobs and £24 later I was all sorted!

This is also the last week of term. I went out with my adult class. (Have I said how much I love my adult class!?)

We went for a meal, some beer and then headed to a noribang!!! We had soo much fun and some funny conversations. The girls are pretty good singers and dancing and did some really good renditions of some English songs! I think this is the way to teaching English, at the noribang!

For activity day today, I just played games with the kids and we had snacks.

I am so ready for Thailand tomorrow. All packed and ready to go and so excited to see Sommer. Sommer, I met while volunteering in Guatemala, we had a reunion in June 2008 in Florida, so it has been about 18 months since we have seen each other.

I am also looking forward to some sun. It snowed again this week, and is windy and cold. I am ready for spring!!!

See you in a weeeek! :D

Crabs and Cocktails!

Went for dinner last night to a crab place. Eating in Korea is always an adventure as you are never really sure what you will get, if you ordered the right thing, if they understood your order!

You could pick your crab out

Then they brought it all prepared for you

You could also feed you child to the crabs...

After I headed downtown to some western style bars. It was wall very bizarre as there we so many GI's that it didn't feel like I was in Korea anymore!

This weekend is Lunar New Year it's a pretty big deal here and also means I get next Monday off! There seems to be the same sort of atmosphere as Chuseok with the big gift sets out in Lotte Mart. KM gave me a beautiful gift boxed one - holding 10 cans of Tuna! Which is actually more useful than the 10 tubes of toothpaste she gave me last time.

I feel like I need to mention my adult class again. We have so much and fun and random topics always seem to pop up. Last lesson we ended up talking about drag queens, speed dating and how one of them had thrown up in a taxi because she was too drunk. Bear in mind that the majority of the class is 40+ housewives!! The lessons are definitely a cultural exchange for all of us!

They also told me about a part time job as a 'Pusher man'. This is literally a man who during rush hour, is paid to push people onto the subways in Seoul!! I don't think this still happens, as they have introduced double doors now. But I couldn't believe that this job actually existed!

So I have 120 days left in Korea. I spent a while trying to figure out my new life plan, should I settle down, stay in Korea, teach some where else, apply for a PGCE, travel....the options are endless!


I was toying with the idea of do a Spanish course in Spain and trying to find a TEFL job there. I was also thinking about Italy. I thought that learning Spanish would be more useful and open up places in South America as well. I was also thinking about applying for a PGCE, however being in South Korea meant I could not attend interviews, so I would have to wait to apply until 2011. If I was in Spain it would be really easy to pop back to the UK for the interviews.


I had been applying for jobs and uploading my CV on to various teaching websites. I had some response from a job in Spain and had someone get in touch with me about a few jobs in Korea.


A friend then posted an opportunity in Joinville, Brazil starting in February ending in July. My contract doesn't end until May but sent off my CV anyway saying I would be available in July, if another position opened up.

I got a really positive response and lo and behold, looks like my next TEFL oppourtunity will be in Joinville, Santa Catrina, Brazil!



















The school has been going to 20 years and has kids from 18 months up to teenagers. I will be responsible for teaching the pre-teens and teens! What I really love about the school is that they teach English through science and art projects. They do lots of different and meaningful projects, as opposed to following a text book.


Apparently the teenagers are going to start in February a project about "The Wave", talking about autocracy.


I get my own studio (phewww! I love having my own little place, SK spoilt me!), they pay for my flights, and will also pay for me to study Portuguese at a university!

I am sooo excited about this opportunity, it combines teaching, art, and Brazil. I have always wanted to go back to Brazil and I now I get to!

Joinville is going to be completely different to Salvador. About 50% of the population is from German descent. I think this might be good that it will be totally different. I am not sure if I am just remembering Salvador and Brazil through rose tinted glasses as it was my first solo travel experience that pretty much kicked off my life. So it being a brand spanking new place means I won't compare it to Salvador, yet I will still be in Brazil!


Have a look at this video tour of Joinville here. and one here.


So 2010, so far seems to be bringing some amazing opportunities and again I feel so thankful that I am able to do all this travel, experience new cultures all under the guise of teaching English!


This job just sort of happened and fell into place, so my luck still continues...... :D

One thing I do love about Korea is the free stuff you get. Everywhere! I bought some makeup at a shop and got a facemask, hand sanitiser, shower gel smaples, foundation samples and moisturiser free with it!

I also did lots of games on Friday with the kids, they really enjoyed them and this is a couple of students playing a kangaroo game where they have to collect pieces of sentences then, put them in the right order. The video is off my phone and the sound never seems to transfer over......

Also had an interesting lesson with my adult class where Paul asked me how to pronounce 'beach' and 'b*tch'! She also wanted to know what the meaning behind the words were as well!

I did a bit of shopping at 'Super Girl' which is a very small shop with 'large sizeee'. The lady there is really nice and has a couple of kids, who just kept wandering in and out of the changing room, while I tried things on. Koreans really have no idea of person space at all!

English names for Students

I got a new student in my adult class this week. Her name is Paul.... Yes, HER name is Paul. I wasn't sure whether she meant Paula, so asked her to repeat it a few times but it was most definitely Paul. Then I started to doubt her gender and had to confirm with my co-teacher that she was a woman. I don't really know what to do now, having had 3 lessons with her I can't really say now 'oh by the way your name is a man's name'

At the start of each term, if I get new kids, I always give them an English name, this sounds really arrogant but all English Academy's do this. It does make it easier when you have names like Ji Eun, Ji Won, Joo Young, Joon Young etc etc.

Unfortunately, if I am not there when the kids are being given their names, they can end up with some pretty strange ones.

I have a couple of best friends called Bella and Fella. A Jade who somehow became a Jada, another class that is named after the cast of Gossip Girl. Once I forget my list of names so also have a class named after all my family!

It did get a bit confusing when one of my students who I had named moved over to the other academy and was given a new name!

Other names I have heard off fellow teachers are:
Harry Potter - (at an all girls school)
Satan
Hitler
Hulk
Drunken Sheep (The reasoning behind this one was that she has curly hair, like a sheep, and goes pink in the cold and so looks drunk)
Golem
Crazy Grandfather Dinosaur,
Brother, Sister (who are in fact brother and sister),
Umbrella

There is a facebook application that works out your Korean name, as sometimes the kids do ask me what my Korean name is. Apparently it is Gi (기) meaning "brave one". Pretty easy to remember!

I think that South Korea is a pretty safe place, crime is really low, and I feel safe walking home in the dark.

This photo shows how trusting South Koreans are:

You can steal the bike just not the bike lock!

Another example was when I accidentally left my keys in my bike basket, came back an hour later and they were still there.

One of Korea's cultural nuances is that you take your shoes off when going into someone's house, some restaurants and work places. For the past 6 months, I have taken my shoes off at work and left them in the shoe rack outside work. For six months, at the end of the day, my shoes have always been there.

So imagine my surprise when on Thursday somebody had stolen my size 7 black ankle boots. I WAS NOT IMPRESSED!! For a start, it is really difficult to find shoes to fit me here as the biggest they go up to is a skinny 6 1/2.

Also it has been snowing for the past week.

So I had to walk the 15 minute walk home in snow a foot deep, in my SLIPPERS!

I hope the tiny footed Korean who stole my boots, falls over on the ice and hurts themselves!

Also, I actually got off my lazy bottom to go to the gym this week. Having been successful in going on Tuesday, I headed out at 7am on Wednesday morning to find even more snow. Seeing as I was up and trying to get back into going to the gym, I ploughed though the snow looking extremely sexy in all my layers, leg warmers, hat and scarf. I had trudged up the hill to the gym when a bus went past and covered in me in brown, slushy, dirty, wet snow.

Needless to say I went home and didn't make it to the gym that day!

So note to self always keep an eye on your shoes and only walk on wide footpaths, walking as far from the road as possible!

Let's hope the weekend it better! :D

Integrating with a new Foreign Teacher (FT) can be hard, be sure to follow these simples rules and tips for a happy and harmonious relationship!

Always ensure that the FT feels completely smothered and overwhelmed
Goods ways to achieve this are:
- go round to FTs apartment all the time without invitation.
- Enter FTs apartment without knocking
- Read and go through FTs emails
- Go through FTs rubbish
- Rummage through papers on FTs desk while FT is in the bathroom
- Telling FT that you are going out for dinner but really take them to a Korean Bible reading meeting

Make sure FT has transport
This may include driving the FT on the wrong side of the road, stopping in the middle of a motorway, driving through red lights and doing make up while driving.
If the teacher becomes a nervous wreck due to the driving, get the FT a bike. However be sure to follow the FT home on the 5 minute ride, shouting directions out of the window, stopping traffic and completely embarrass them.

Socialise with FT
Guilt FT into going out for drinks. Offer to drive home FT home while drunk and in 2 foot of snow. When FT refuses and walks the 5 minutes home. Consistently call FT every 5 minutes and wait outside their apartment. Ensure that FT catches a cold by waiting outside the apartment for at least 10 minutes while FT hides behind a lorry.

Make sure FT has lots of friends
Introduce FT to your friends and then ban FT from seeing said friends as they are a bad influence and drink too much.

Make sure that the FT knows that you are ALWAYS watching them
Good ways of doing this is to subtly ask about a new restaurant in the neighbourhood. When FT confirms its existent. Tell FT you know they already know the restaurant as you have interrogated the chef about how many times FT has been there and who with.

Insist on knowing everything about FT personal life.
Persistently ask why FT does not have a boyfriend. Insist that FT must be a lesbian if FT says that boys are too much trouble.

Value your FT
An excellent way to do this is to sleep in class while FT is teaching. Nothing shows interest like a sleeping co-worker!

Ensure that proper English is always taught.
Especially sentences like ‘Can I take a bread/milk.’ If FT disputes the grammar of these sentences then tell FT it is American grammar. If FT still disputes, then tell them it is Canadian grammar.

Detailed ‘lesson planes’
Always ensure the ‘lesson planes’ are thorough and included in-depth information such as ‘student wriing difficult thinking'

Help to increase the confidence of FT.
An excellent way to do this, is to break FTs chair to give them a complex about their weight. Be sure to break their chair at least twice but DO NOT tell them. This is much more amusing when they sit on it and fall on their arse in front of students!

Communication
Ensure that communication is great by forcing Korean lessons on FT. Have lessons at the FT apartment and turn up with lots of friends and force FT teach your friends English. When FT complains about having their house invaded and wants the lessons some where else, ask them ‘is it because your house is dirty?’

Give great advice and support to FT when they need help
Great ideas are helpful tips like ‘Hit the kids or give them crackers if they don’t answer questions’.

If FT comes to you for support because one of the students is being naughty. Be sure to just send the student back into the classroom allowing you go back to sleep.

Always be late.
A FT will always work better if they have been waiting outside in the cold for 30 minutes.

Respect FT personal space
Always invade FT personal space, this can include trying to dress them, trying to hold their hand and general shoving around.

Ensure your personal life is kept personal
Feel free to have personal conversations within the office. Especially ones that include trying bribe your professor to change your grade to a higher one to ensure you have more TOEFL points for a new job you are applying for.

Holidays
If FT questions why they have to work during their holiday time, scream and shout at FT and tell them it is their responsibility to. If FT has already booked flights, demand that they change the flights. If FT asks if they will get paid for working during their holiday accuse them a being a lazy money grabbing foreigner.

Following these tips will definitely lead to a happy FT who will absolutely re-sign to build upon the joyous relationship that has been formed!

This time last year I was in Ghana about to embark on an amazing and life changing experience. It was in Ghana that I realised I loved teaching, met amazing and inspiring people and totally changed my career path, leading me to teach English in South Korea!

After reminiscing over all my photos, a year on I decided to finally put them into an awesome montage which of course had to accompanied by my favourite hip-life song Angelina!



I have been so lucky in my life to have such amazing experiences and met so many interesting and inspiring people, resulting in many fabulous friends all over the globe!

Let's hope the luck doesn't run and see what 2010 has in store........ :D

New Year and nakedness!

New Years Eve was a pretty typical Korean affair. In that it involved a random eclectic bunch of people from various countries! I spoke to people from Columbia, Ecuador, Barbados and the usual Korean, American, Canadian!



We just headed into Bar street, had a few drinks and nearly set TLC on fir with sparklers and balloons!

Yesterday was my first experience at a jjimjiibang. It is a Korean bathhouse, with saunas, hot pols, movie room, oxygen room, massage room, restaurant, sleeping room. Basically everything you would ever need. We did spend some time discussing if it would be cheaper t live at a jimjambang or pay rent somewhere!

Click here for a really good article that explains them a bit better.

I had been a bit dubious about going as you have to naaaaked! Some you are naked for the whole experience (in single sex ones) and some just while you shower, as the saunas etc are co-ed.This was was co-ed.

When we got there, we took off our shoes and put them in a locker, we then swapped that locker key for another key/tag, towels and our uniform of shorts and a t-shirt. We then went to the locker room got completely butt naked and went to the shower room.



It was a massive room with showers along one side, a sauna at the back, a couple of hot tubs, an area for scrubbing yourself and lots of naked women! I am totally self conscious about my body so it was all a bit daunting. But after showering and chatting to my friend, while a small baby boy sat in a tub near my feet, me and his sister was running around with her naked mother chasing after her, I started to get over it! We then put on our uniforms and headed to the sauna, there were 3 saunas one of 72c, 60c and 42 and then an ice room.

The outside of the saunas

We spent some time in all of them but I didn't even attempt the 72c one. We went and got some ice cream, the tag with the key, has a barcode on it. So if you buy anything, get a massage etc, they can your tag and then you pay for everything when you leave.

We sat in the 'oxygen room' eating and chatting, then headed back to the saunas. After we all then showered again. There is also a section in the shower room to totally scrub and exfoliate, I was pretty much done with the whole nakedness so I headed home, while my friends all sat in the hot tub naked with with some random Korean women! One step at a time for me!......


It actually wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. I had been groped on the thigh by an 'ajamma' (old women) while being fully clothed at a bus stop, so the thought of being naked made me wonder what else they would grab!! You do realise that actually no one does stare at you because you are a foreigner. We also learned that if you travel in a group people will come into the sauna see a group of foreigners and run away, leaving you to have the whole place to yourselves! I was also with a girl who had lots of tattoos and both her nipples pierced, so if they were going to stare at anyone, I am guessing she would be the main attraction!