the door ain't closin'

so i've been teaching english to kids in Korea for 11 months, give or take (actually, it's give, but i'll take it). here's where i'm at, where i've been, and a maybe we're i'm going.

- arrived September and started working in a private school southwest of Seoul. met a crazy group of foreigners and made friends very quickly in this town of 20 english speaking non-Koreans and the Korean english teachers at school. here's a pic from our bar street, which is populated very well most nights in summer, and a little less in winter (-10 celsius will do that to a place).


- lived with Andy (Canada/Hong Kong) and Brian (Ireland) for around 8 months. fantastic couple of guys. we had a great laugh, relaxed and had few issues, and those mainly occurred when the chicken delivery guys wouldn't answer the phone at 3am.

- had to learn to cycle on the right side of the road, going for 90 minute splurges south, but soon gave up when i realised just how lucky i am to survive. Koreans drive very fast and use all the road.

- visited many a temple and attraction, and a quiet place to chill out.

- took up screen golf. extremely frustrating, especially when i think i've hit the ball well but the screen says, 'you! off my planet'. Brian being a child prodigy also liked to visit the Royal Shihwa golf links, and we found ourselves to be a highly competitive and well-matched pair. i dominated our matches for a while, but by the time the Shihwa Invitational Players Matchplay Championship rolled around this July, Brian was on top, considerably. He took the trophy home without much fanfare, mainly cos he doesn't have any fans.


- life became a little difficult a while back due to a new teacher arriving in April, as i have blogged about here, here and here, but having moved apartment, i'm feeling much more positive about life, and myself. all of a sudden, i hated someone for the first time in 2 years. now it's not so immediate (i only have to work with him) i am not feeling the same venom anymore. i wrote to my father saying this is the first person i've wanted to hit more and more each day since i was at high school. its great to feel that dissipate now. now, i pity myself much less.

- work is interesting. the times i work are often pretty difficult, and the demands made on the teachers at our school are mixed. in many ways, it's a fun, interesting, involving and greatly motivating position. yet, for some reason, it can feel horrible. i enjoy most of my classes, and i hardly ever fulfill my contracted hours. yet i always feel like i'm at work. it could be the Korean holiday system. there's never a 2 week block together. it's always a day here, 3 days there. it's really hard to get away from work. there's always something i'm preparing in my head.

i feel i've connected with some great kids here. i care about many of them (i won't lie about caring for any of the devil's spawn intent on world destruction) and really get attached to them succeeding and having a good time. i'm okay when the tears come these days, but it's still tough when it's one of my faves who's crying (yes, i have favourites, i'm not embarrassed, even if i should be). Sylvia, a teacher at school, told me that Andy and i treat the girls like princesses. probably not wrong. they get away with all sorts with me, compared to the boys. as my time here is coming to an end, i'm quite sad at the prospect of saying goodbye (if 'quite sad' means i'm expecting to become a blubbering mess).

- what the future holds, i'm unsure. i've been offered a good job in a good area starting in September, but it's been a long time since i had a real holiday, and August is a big month at work. i'm really keen to have a holiday and get traveling. i'm looking at options, and they're all looking good. one of those times where, whatever course i take, life rocks.

- now Andy and Brian are leaving, along with Jo and Jackie (NZ), two more friends with whom i've spent the bulk of my time. i'm sad. it's all changing. it never stays the same. just like every time something ended before. there's one or two more special people leaving too.

y'know those people you reserve a place in your heart for, should they ever want it? sometimes, i wonder why they don't say they want it. then i remember, i never let them know.

leave supermanning to supermans

during my 3pm class, one of my little darlings was running around having a laugh and decided to do a superman from the window ledge. with my back turned, i didn't see it, but had many a reenactment from the other rugrats. she basically landed awkwardly, slipped, and her face took the brunt of the fall.

i turned to see a crumpled 6 year old (8 years old in Korean counting) lying motionless, not a sound. it takes a lot to shut my very vocal kids up, and these guys went silent. i felt as useless as i ever have, basically. there was a long moment that she didn't respond to anything and i didn't want to move her in case something serious had happened. so, with my heart in mouth, at a loss, all of a sudden she whimpers, splutters, and begins bawling her eyes out. my first feeling was relief. a crying kid who's hurt is better than a quiet kid who's hurt, from what i can tell.

20 minutes later, she was back in class, still in obvious pain (her hand was permanently rubbing her jaw) but at least she was okay. to chill her out a little (i had no heroin), she showed me her teeth and i said they were all okay. then i told her she's still beautiful. she smiled at that, but it obviously hurt to smile cos she started crying again. by the end of class, she was okay. i wanted to hug her, but she was racing off down the corridor, and probably about to fight for a good seat on the bus.

i'm not sure what this post is about. my life revolves around these kids now. she's one of my faves and seeing her on the floor in pain was especially difficult. seeing how kids deal with stuff is pretty gutrenching. she was hurt, cried, wanted help, got it, wanted reassurance, got it, wanted to get on with life, got it herself. i'm jealous. i wish i could do that.

other highlights:
- Boryeong mud festival - photos to come
a few of us went to Boryeong on wednesday, had a great laugh. covered in mud, had a swim, got sunburnt, our bus was late, missed the connecting bus home, so last train from Cheonan, and at our transfer station, Geumjong, i had to sprint to the other platform and stick my foot in the last train's door and scream at others to run. earned a few not-friends on the train for the 30 - 45 second delay. ah yes, apparently i have no shame.

- was invited to a friends place for a few nights until i can move into my new regular digs. i've partaken of the room and hopefully they're okay with me not being around much. cheers guys, i don't really know how to thank you enough.

Dan, you're a hero!!

well, some big news here lately.

a few weeks ago, a silly bet made between teachers saw broccoli necklace day an eventuality. South Africa lost a rugby match to New Zealand so H and J had to wear 'em. we laughed and laughed. well, maybe not 'we'.


this week saw the rematch, and anyone in the know will understand that NZ was expected to beat SA extremely easily. before the match, the girls weren't too keen to put a bet on, but i opened my big mouth and said NZ would win by 25 points. the bet, at first, was i'd wear green nail-polish for a week if the winning margin was any lower. we went to Scrooge bar in Itaewon as per usual, and Jeanine (SA) and i were pretty excited. come half-time, the score was 6 - 3, and all of a sudden, the bet included piercing my ear and wearing a huge green stud in it for the week too.

let's just say i was a vocal supporter of all things black (NZ's uniform colour is black) and a vocal unsupporter of the ref. he was arse. anyway, 1 minute to go, it's 26 - 6, we're at the completely WRONG end of the field, my head is in my hands, everyone at scrooge bar must be wondering why i'm so fired up, and the girls have got the green polish out! then, my lovely All Blacks come from nowhere to score through Dan Carter, maybe the most important touchdown of his career.

33 - 6. i never doubted it (even if i was crumpled on the table for 5 minutes suffering from exhaustion).

moving on, i've moved out of my apartment. being abused for the umpteenth time by the guy living there was the last straw (see the previous post). he yelled and screamed at me for 20 minutes, most of it extremely personal. for those who know me best, you won't be shocked to know i didn't utter a word back. there was no point. so, i slept on a friends couch and at 430am saturday, i wanted to brush my teeth, so i went back to the apartment and grabbed my toothbrush and everything else i could carry, which happened to be everything i own.

anyone else out there packed up their life in 90 minutes or less, including sweeping and filling a garbage bag? here is my life captured, including the bed i've been provided for the next little while, minus laptop, waist-high shelving unit, and what i was wearing.


i was feeling sorry for myself, but the support i've had from friends has been great. i've been offered a room, which i'll gratefully accommodate, and the school have been very understanding.
anyway, there's no donation hotline. i'm not starving, not freezing, and feel much better about life now. doing a midnight walk from the apartment may sound a little childish/cowardish, and not sticking up for myself against the ex-roomie may do too, but if so, that's so. suppose i'll have to deal with myself more than anyone else will.

again, woah, hey there (said in a monotonal i-wish-i-could-sound-sincere fashion)

so, again, it's been ages since i blogged. there's a few reasons for the lapse(s):

1. i've been seriously considering how much to say as i don't want to turn this blog into a bitch session. generally, life is great, but in some respects, it's gone pretty septic lately. i've discontinued communicating with the new person living in our apartment. i'll try to not shit talk, however i find no reason to talk to him whatsoever. this has led to me avoiding home pre-midnight, and sometimes sleeping on a couch at the ladies apartment.

work, as well, has become difficult, as the aforementioned person has alienated everyone and they refuse to socialise with him (resulting in him ALWAYS being at home, which doesn't quite suit me). not that i blame anyone. he has abused and insulted many people (including young students) and set the rules for how he will teach, no correspondence entered into.

things i've learned from the ordeal:
most people on this planet are incredible and accepting people's differences, i hope, will be a much more natural thing for me;
sometimes i practice being angry, even when people i'm angry with aren't around - i really want to stop this;
he reminds me of myself sometimes, and my need to listen to people with conviction;
trying to communicate with everyone is a fantastic endeavour, yet, with some people, is pointless.

2. facebook = time consuming.

3. looking for new work. my contract finishes in August and i'm currently hunting down a new position. at present, i've found a cool position in Yatap, Bundang, 30 minutes south of Seoul, and am in the midst of the application stage. hopefully i'll have good news to follow some time this week.

okay, that said, what else have i been up to?

Busan party weekend - a few weekends ago, i attended Brian, Jiehae and Dee's party in a beautiful Busan beachhouse (it was an apartment, but i'm an alliteration fan). it was a great party until a scuffle between 2 guys i didn't know broke out. the scuffle turned pretty nasty and ended outside over an hour later. kinda ruined the night for a few people, but we partied on anyway. next day, monsoon rain engulfed us and, drenched, we had to hide in Dee's apartment. great times, and sat around talking Hercules Returns with Matt of Australia. we may have ruined the day for others, but we had a laugh. 'While you're standing in that bucket, you won't be needing THIS!'

painted the town red with a couple of great nights in Seoul, and generally been relaxing in the summer rain. wow, when it's hot here, it's HOT. when there's mosquitoes, i'm in trouble (my ankles are a general plague area at the moment).

had an awesome moment the other day. i was saying goodbye to one of my classes when a kid i used to teach ran up and started hitting me (playfully). i hadn't seen her in ages, so was pretty surprised and ecstatic to see her. she jumped up and gave me a big hug. her english isn't great, but her eyes and wide smile said enough. i think i'm really gonna miss her and many others when i leave. they give their love freely. i wish i could do that.