i know, i know. ive been doing a terrible job keeping this up to date and filling you in on all of the important things that are going on in my life, and in korea. its funny, too, because its not like i dont have anything to tell you about. i think of things all the time, cool things, things that i would want to hear about if i were you. things like:
-its become autumn here suddenly, but what is interesting about this is that during the day it is still nice and warm. at night, however, it is about 20 degrees different. i wasnt expecting this; it happened so suddenly that one night i couldnt sleep for wishing i had turned on the ac and the next i was wishing i had closed the windows.
-konglish exists. it is the hybrid version of english and korean. in korean writing, there has to be enough vowels to pair up with consonants in syllables. it is also the reason that the pasta rio restaurant across from my window is pronounced pas-uh-ta rio. likewise, i got my first bank statement the other day and alexandra is written 알렉산드라 and pronounced al-leg-sun-de-ra. and the ls and rs are pretty similar sounding
-playing soccer with my coworkers is pretty much the highlight of my week. i look forward to it for days. we play at 11 pm and dont score on goals but rather by hitting one of two mannequin torsos. i love the excuse to play soccer and run around with my friends.
-the last 2 weeks were middle school breaks, where my second class, the middle school one, was canceled because the students had really intense exams at their daytime school. as a result i only worked 3 hours a day but got paid the same. we are back on our six hour/day schedule and i forgot how tired i could get. its been taking some getting used to.
-i am now in my seventh week of teaching. this, to me, is beyond belief. it feels like not so long ago i was still living in the sty that was 747 packard, complaining about the hotel guests and hanging out in the garden. now i live alone and the cleanliness status of my apartment is on me. i miss the mess sometimes, or rather, the people that made it.
-korean students have been brainwashed from an early age to provide a standard response to "how are you?" ask any of them and you will get "finethanksandyou". it's monotone and without any real concern for the answer so sometimes i wonder if they have ever even thought about what they are asking. theyre bright kids, really spot on, but so much of their education is memorization. i like that as a school, we dont do that as much as others.
anyway, thats life here i guess.
-its become autumn here suddenly, but what is interesting about this is that during the day it is still nice and warm. at night, however, it is about 20 degrees different. i wasnt expecting this; it happened so suddenly that one night i couldnt sleep for wishing i had turned on the ac and the next i was wishing i had closed the windows.
-konglish exists. it is the hybrid version of english and korean. in korean writing, there has to be enough vowels to pair up with consonants in syllables. it is also the reason that the pasta rio restaurant across from my window is pronounced pas-uh-ta rio. likewise, i got my first bank statement the other day and alexandra is written 알렉산드라 and pronounced al-leg-sun-de-ra. and the ls and rs are pretty similar sounding
-playing soccer with my coworkers is pretty much the highlight of my week. i look forward to it for days. we play at 11 pm and dont score on goals but rather by hitting one of two mannequin torsos. i love the excuse to play soccer and run around with my friends.
-the last 2 weeks were middle school breaks, where my second class, the middle school one, was canceled because the students had really intense exams at their daytime school. as a result i only worked 3 hours a day but got paid the same. we are back on our six hour/day schedule and i forgot how tired i could get. its been taking some getting used to.
-i am now in my seventh week of teaching. this, to me, is beyond belief. it feels like not so long ago i was still living in the sty that was 747 packard, complaining about the hotel guests and hanging out in the garden. now i live alone and the cleanliness status of my apartment is on me. i miss the mess sometimes, or rather, the people that made it.
-korean students have been brainwashed from an early age to provide a standard response to "how are you?" ask any of them and you will get "finethanksandyou". it's monotone and without any real concern for the answer so sometimes i wonder if they have ever even thought about what they are asking. theyre bright kids, really spot on, but so much of their education is memorization. i like that as a school, we dont do that as much as others.
anyway, thats life here i guess.
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