Rakhi: After returning from school last Wednesday, Joel and I discovered that our gas had been cut off. We had no hot water and nothing to cook with. Confused by the situation, Joel took a notice that had been posted on our front door down to the guards to try and work out what had happened. It turns out that ever since we have been here, we've not paid any of our gas bills. We were under the impression that the only bills we need to pay each month are electricity, phone and an apartment maintenance fee. Joel and I have always presumed that gas fees are included within the maintenance fee. After Joel's co-teacher kindly spoke to guards at our apartment and the gas was reconnected, Joel and I searched through a pile of old mail and found 6 bills which, after deciphering the hangul, we realised said 'gas!' Whoops! The joys of living in a foreign country with a strange language and writing system!

What with the extra teachers classes that I am doing and preparing for my open class tomorrow, the past few weeks at school have still been quite busy.
The teachers classes are going well; Yeonhae (my co-teacher) has told me that a few teachers have commented to her that they really enjoy my lessons. It's good to get some positive feedback and I'm glad that the teachers find my lessons useful and interesting. Last Friday, I went for dinner after school with all the teachers and the principal. Luckily for me, we went to a raw seafood restaurant! There really wasn't much that I deemed edible although there was some sashimi which was delicious. Thankfully, I was excused from staying for too long because I had to get to my Korean class. Just as I was about to leave, a plate of wriggling tentacles fresh off an octopus was placed before me. One of the teacher's tried to encourage me to try one but I was having none of it! Another teacher told me how delicious they were, especially when they use their suckers to stick to the inside of your mouth!

Today at school, we had a chance to practice the lesson that we will teach tomorrow for our open class. I wasn't nervous but I am now! In true Yeonhae style, everything is totally messy and chaotic, since she has changed her mind about things so many times. Hopefully it'll all come together tomorrow.

Our Korean classes are going well even though our teacher does go through topics as fast as lightning. I suppose the emphasis is on personal study rather than being spoon fed everything. Our lesson last Friday was actually the last class in Beginners 1, next Friday we're moving up to Beginners 2! Yeah (nearly fluent)! We were given a 'surprise' test on Friday to determine whether we were eligible for the next level. I actually found the test okay even though it was two pages of eye bending hangul. Jeff, our friend, struggled a bit and later confessed to copying my paper! What's funnier is that only that day he had been discussing the morality of cheating in one of his lessons.

The place where we learn Korean also organises cultural trips. Since it's 'gimjang' season, on Saturday, Joel and I took part in a kimchi making class at a cookery school in the city. Gimjang is the age old practice of preparing kimchi for the winter as few key ingredients are grown during the winter months. Actually, with the advent of kimchi fridges which can store kimchi for prolonged periods, during this time of year, people use over 30 cabbages to make kimchi for the entire year. On Saturday, we made kimchi out of one cabbage each. It was really interesting and fun to see how the nations favourite food is prepared. As part of the deal we both got to take our kimchi home with us so we now have lots of kimchi sitting at the bottom of our fridge. I wonder if it'll ever get eaten...

Tempting eh?!