Joel: Never, never, never, never, never, never again!!! Organised coach tours. Unbelievable! If it hadn't been our last chance to spend time with Ryan and Kristen, there's no way I would have even entertained the idea. Our experience only confirmed what I'd always suspected - organised coach trips are a complete nightmare. One particular guy who was sat in front of us on the journey to Seoraksan stood out in particular; an Aussie who we nicknamed Frank after the psychopath in the Japanese novel "In the Miso Soup." This man was the most relentlessly boring, conversation-hijacking buffoon I've met for a long time and after our arrival, I had the misfortune to be cornered and questioned by him whilst sat naked in an underground spa with no escape. When it came to the journey home, our priority was to be on a different coach from him (there were three). To be stuck behind this twit for five hours was excruciating. However, as Rakhi said, the trip was made worthwhile by the stunning scenery. I've heard it said so many times that this is the best time to visit the area due to the tremendous display of autumnal colours. Also, it was ace to spend a bit of time with the Canadians before they departed. It's really sad that their adventure here has been cut short and it would be nice to think we'll see them again.
I've also had an action-packed couple of weeks. Last Wednesday was the inter-school sports competition and after a couple of hours practice with our volleyball team on Tuesday evening, I was thrust right into the action. At the gym we go to, there are monitors on the running machines so people can watch TV whilst working out. Since almost all the programmes are in Korean, I usually settle on a sports channel and more often than not, one is showing volleyball. So, although I've never played before, I've watched a fair bit of the game recently and got my head around the rules and tactics. The thing that stood out the most to me was the way players at the net timed their jumps to coincide with a player on the other side of the net who is about to smash the ball (is this called a spike? I dunno). When it came to our captain (my Vice-Principal, who had clearly never heard the motto "There's no "I" in "Team"- he was desperate to be the star) organising the positions I was quite glad when he directed me towards the net on the right of the court. As the game got underway I knew what I had to do. In my mind the "Eye of the Tiger" theme began to play. Ha ha! Anyway, I jumped for everything. Some balls I blocked only for it to fly out of court, some I sent back into court with unstoppable power and trajectory. I made a block to win the first match, two sets to one. We were in the final. During the break, my Vice-Principal and the other Koreans were drinking lager. Not for me I'm afraid. This was beginning to mean something.
The final was against a combined team of teachers from Rakhi's school and my friend Shane's school. Shane was playing aswell- and he's an Aussie. I couldn't let them win; It's almost Ashes season! It was a fiercely contested game, so much was at stake. A two-minute delay broke-up the flow when my afore-mentioned VP wasn't happy with an umpiring decision. He took this game far more seriously than me if that can be believed. Anyway, we won! We did it. But due to results in other events (our skipping team was dreadful) we came second overall out of eleven teams. The trophy slipped through our fingers. Rakhi did fantastic for her school. At the last minute (surprise, surprise) she was asked to compete in three of the four events - skipping (which she hated for being so bloody girly) the relay (in which she ran first leg) and stick throwing (in which she demonstrated peculiar deftness for a non-Korean). It was a great afternoon. One I'm sure I'll dream about for years.
The week before last, we invited our co-teachers, Bo-Hyun and Yeon-Hae, over for dinner. Ideally, we wanted to make them something English, but I'm pretty used to hearing Bo-Hyun complaining at lunchtime that the soup that has just burned a hole in my mouth is not spicy enough, so we didn't think they'd appreciate the blandness that is bangers and mash or hot-pot. So, we cooked up a Mexican for them. Non-Korean ingredients are easily available since we discovered Cost-co, so we treated them to burritos and tortillas with all the trimmings. I think it was quite an experience for them both. They took photos of the table setting in the same way Rakhi takes pictures of the food in Korean restaurants. I think it was even pretty novel for them to be eating dinner while sat on chairs. Bo-Hyun compared the experience to eating in a romantic restaurant. We warned them in advance not to be disappointed but there wasn't going to be any Kimchi. There was wine though. After dinner they taught us a traditional Korean (gambler's) card game. I'm really glad that Yeon-Hae is now so different from the person who failed to make Rakhi welcome at her school when we arrived. I think the relationship you have with a co-teacher has such a massive bearing on how much you enjoy your experience when living and teaching in a different country. They're both now really friendly and lovely to spend time with. I think we're pretty lucky in that respect.
We stumbled on our Korean language course in quite a fortunate fashion. A few weeks ago we were discussing how we never see any other non-Korean looking people in our area and no sooner had we mentioned it than, on our return home one night, on the main road right by our appartment, we clocked a young western-looking white guy. We stopped and said hello and discovered he lives just a short way from us, near the next subway station, so we swapped numbers and arranged to meet up. Turns out, he's a really interesting guy called Jeff who harks from California and has a really peaceful, positive outlook on life. And luckily for us, he tells us about a free Korean language course he's planning to start where we just need to go and take a short test to determine our level then we can start that week. Great timing we think. So, we went along, took the basic reading test and both scored 9/10. We were able to skip the first part of the course and join the Beginners 1B group starting that Friday. So, this Friday will be our third class and I'm really enjoying it for so many reasons. Language learning is so challenging and stimulating, I feel as though parts of my brain that have lay dormant for years have been woken. And , of course , it gives me such a new perspective on my own teaching. I get to experience exactly how my students feel when they're sat at the wrong end of an assertively-put question and wished they'd spent more time studying last weeks class at home. It's great. And here we have the fantastic oppurtunity to put the new language we learn into immediate use with people around us - surely the best way you can learn a language. After only the first class (and a few beers) Rakhi was approaching people late at night in the local dumpling caff and introducing herself. That, surely, is what it's all about.
I've also had an action-packed couple of weeks. Last Wednesday was the inter-school sports competition and after a couple of hours practice with our volleyball team on Tuesday evening, I was thrust right into the action. At the gym we go to, there are monitors on the running machines so people can watch TV whilst working out. Since almost all the programmes are in Korean, I usually settle on a sports channel and more often than not, one is showing volleyball. So, although I've never played before, I've watched a fair bit of the game recently and got my head around the rules and tactics. The thing that stood out the most to me was the way players at the net timed their jumps to coincide with a player on the other side of the net who is about to smash the ball (is this called a spike? I dunno). When it came to our captain (my Vice-Principal, who had clearly never heard the motto "There's no "I" in "Team"- he was desperate to be the star) organising the positions I was quite glad when he directed me towards the net on the right of the court. As the game got underway I knew what I had to do. In my mind the "Eye of the Tiger" theme began to play. Ha ha! Anyway, I jumped for everything. Some balls I blocked only for it to fly out of court, some I sent back into court with unstoppable power and trajectory. I made a block to win the first match, two sets to one. We were in the final. During the break, my Vice-Principal and the other Koreans were drinking lager. Not for me I'm afraid. This was beginning to mean something.
The final was against a combined team of teachers from Rakhi's school and my friend Shane's school. Shane was playing aswell- and he's an Aussie. I couldn't let them win; It's almost Ashes season! It was a fiercely contested game, so much was at stake. A two-minute delay broke-up the flow when my afore-mentioned VP wasn't happy with an umpiring decision. He took this game far more seriously than me if that can be believed. Anyway, we won! We did it. But due to results in other events (our skipping team was dreadful) we came second overall out of eleven teams. The trophy slipped through our fingers. Rakhi did fantastic for her school. At the last minute (surprise, surprise) she was asked to compete in three of the four events - skipping (which she hated for being so bloody girly) the relay (in which she ran first leg) and stick throwing (in which she demonstrated peculiar deftness for a non-Korean). It was a great afternoon. One I'm sure I'll dream about for years.
The week before last, we invited our co-teachers, Bo-Hyun and Yeon-Hae, over for dinner. Ideally, we wanted to make them something English, but I'm pretty used to hearing Bo-Hyun complaining at lunchtime that the soup that has just burned a hole in my mouth is not spicy enough, so we didn't think they'd appreciate the blandness that is bangers and mash or hot-pot. So, we cooked up a Mexican for them. Non-Korean ingredients are easily available since we discovered Cost-co, so we treated them to burritos and tortillas with all the trimmings. I think it was quite an experience for them both. They took photos of the table setting in the same way Rakhi takes pictures of the food in Korean restaurants. I think it was even pretty novel for them to be eating dinner while sat on chairs. Bo-Hyun compared the experience to eating in a romantic restaurant. We warned them in advance not to be disappointed but there wasn't going to be any Kimchi. There was wine though. After dinner they taught us a traditional Korean (gambler's) card game. I'm really glad that Yeon-Hae is now so different from the person who failed to make Rakhi welcome at her school when we arrived. I think the relationship you have with a co-teacher has such a massive bearing on how much you enjoy your experience when living and teaching in a different country. They're both now really friendly and lovely to spend time with. I think we're pretty lucky in that respect.
We stumbled on our Korean language course in quite a fortunate fashion. A few weeks ago we were discussing how we never see any other non-Korean looking people in our area and no sooner had we mentioned it than, on our return home one night, on the main road right by our appartment, we clocked a young western-looking white guy. We stopped and said hello and discovered he lives just a short way from us, near the next subway station, so we swapped numbers and arranged to meet up. Turns out, he's a really interesting guy called Jeff who harks from California and has a really peaceful, positive outlook on life. And luckily for us, he tells us about a free Korean language course he's planning to start where we just need to go and take a short test to determine our level then we can start that week. Great timing we think. So, we went along, took the basic reading test and both scored 9/10. We were able to skip the first part of the course and join the Beginners 1B group starting that Friday. So, this Friday will be our third class and I'm really enjoying it for so many reasons. Language learning is so challenging and stimulating, I feel as though parts of my brain that have lay dormant for years have been woken. And , of course , it gives me such a new perspective on my own teaching. I get to experience exactly how my students feel when they're sat at the wrong end of an assertively-put question and wished they'd spent more time studying last weeks class at home. It's great. And here we have the fantastic oppurtunity to put the new language we learn into immediate use with people around us - surely the best way you can learn a language. After only the first class (and a few beers) Rakhi was approaching people late at night in the local dumpling caff and introducing herself. That, surely, is what it's all about.
posted by Rakhi and Joel @ 6:14 PM
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