Apples apples everywhere

I've just had a 10 kilo box of apples delivered to me. I'm not kidding. Ten whole kilos of big, round, shiny red apples! They are a present to me from the parents board of the school, which is a lovely thing to do and I sincerely do appreciate the gift. However...this is distressing me on two counts.

Firstly, obviously I'm wondering what to do with 10 kilos of apples. Now, if I was at home, I would bake. Apple cake, apple pie, apple tart, tart au tatin, any form of appley-cakey goodness. And I would stew a lot of them to have with yoghurt or custard, and it would be yummy. However, it being Korea, I have no oven. Thus, no baking. Nor do I have a large enough saucepan to stew more than two apples at a time. I am currently contemplating purchasing a small oven, as they can be got a fairly reasonable price. This, however, presents a further two problems: a) where to put it, as I have no, literally no, kitchen space; and b) buying an oven with designs to bake would result in buying bowls and spoons and trays and tins, and sourcing the ingredients, which would be difficult and costly. So you can see my dilemma.

But the second count on which these apples are distressing me is a very simple one....I'm leaving for Shanghai in less than three hours!! So there is no time to stew them, nor can I spend the next week eating them! And I can't take them to China with me.

So all this was a long-winded way of saying I've got shedloads of apples and I don't know what the bejaysus to do with them! For the time being I'm going to stick them in my fridge and hope that they're not a rotting, maggoty mass by the time I get back in ten days. Maybe I'll make cider. All suggestions welcome.

Today was an easy day at school - mid-term exams started, so I had no class. Which meant I spent the day sending pointless e-mails and playing cute games online! Then left early to run some errands. I love running errands! It makes me feel all grown up. I usually gather them up over a few weeks until I have enough to justify an errand run; which also means that I procrastinate over some errands! But there was an even better sense of grown-up-ness and accomplishment today as I managed to buy train tickets, in Korean, operate an ATM, in Korean, exchange traveller's cheques and then get Chinese currency, and then send some letters from the post office, all in Korea, using my broken Korean! I'm getting there!

Had a lovely few evenings in Daegu the last couple of nights, having dinner and catching up with friends I haven't been able to see because of being incapacitated. Was nice to be able to wander around. Looked for a mobile as well, as I still haven't got that sorted, but despite our best attempts, and even using Korean people, due to various other complications it still hasn't been sorted! Ah well, can't use it in China anyway! I just miss texting. It's been 6 weeks since I sent a text. It's amazing how much you miss it, when you rely on it so much back home. Sad, but true.

I had more of my wonderful observations of Korean life to talk about, but as usual, they all dashed out of my mind as soon I started to write. Oh, but I did find my mecca! A lovely lovely bakery, that smells like a bakery from back home (Norn Iron home, not Aber home), with lots of delightful looking cakes and breads. Also lots of funny looking things...Koreans like their savoury pizza-style pastries, but they put peas, and whole burgers, and ketchup and mayo on top. Mayo! But I've got somewhere to go when i need a good cream cake. And the lady in the shop decided to have a chat with me. She was really friendly, and I think was telling me that the last English teacher from my school used to go in. But I've adopted the good old attitude of nodding and smiling when people talk Korean to me. It's going to get me into trouble some day!

That's just reminded me of something that happened last night. Those who know me will know of my habit of attracting strange foreign men. And of the scene I made in Mexico when a pregnant woman slapped her husband for staring at me. Well last night I combined both: attracted the attentions of a strange foreign man and made a scene. Got on the train to go to Daegu, paid a little extra as I'd got the times mixed up and got a fancy train, so there I was in my comfy seat. And a drunken old Korean man sits next to me, food all over his face, and decides he wants to talk to me. Not just talk to me, but lean over right into my face and insist on talking to me loudly, even though I keep telling him I don't understand. I had earphones in, and kept putting them back in and turning away, but when he started leaning over to pull them out himself, I decided that wasn't the best idea. So this goes on for about ten minutes, with all the people around watching us, but not helping. Eventually the conductor comes over to talk to the drunkard, checks his ticket and finds out he's in the wrong seat, so moves him. A few minutes later he comes back to get his bag, and talks at me for a few more minutes. As I say, people all around were watching, and continued to watch after he had left. So I can add causing a scene on a Korean train to my repertoire!

Right, time for me to shower, finish packing and leave for Shanghai! I've got a two hour train trip, and then a five hour wait before my flight! It'll be a laugh. Next time I write, I'll be telling you about Shanghai. Happy Chuseok everyone!

Mutantastic!

I've just seen the trailer for the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles film - I didn't even know they were making one!! How fantastic! It looks amazing, but it's not even out in the US until next March, so who knows when I'll see it! Brilliant!

(I know, I may end up overdoing the blogging today, but I'm having a Char day, getting excited by everything!)

My sultry tones become ever more famous

I've just been asked by one of my co-teachers to record a listening comprehension test. He wants students to get used to different accents of English, and he thinks I have a beautiful voice. Anyone that knows me will be aware that I'm used to recording my voice, as I provide a "thought for the day" on Dad's gospel show every Sunday morning. I'm famous in the Tyrone-Fermanagh area for my voice, and I'll soon be famous in the Gumi area also! Maybe there's a career in this...I could do voiceovers for ads, or take over from the movie trailers guy, he must be getting tired...!

Ripping off Char a bit now, but I'm going to start a "Things I'm Currently Loving" thread. Today, these are:

• Asian pears;
• aloe vera juice;
• my weekly treat of B&R chocolate cheesecake ice cream; and
• being able to walk properly!

Two of my students today, for their culture project, presented a winter vacation travel itinerary for me. It looked great, I want to do everything they suggested! They even did a little dance and introduced it like a TV show. I love these kids, they're so creative!

Still waiting for my visa....fingers crossed everyone!

Crutchless and fancy-free!

These are some of my students. They're all so happy to pose for photos, and so enthusiastic about, well, everything! This was taken last Friday, which was physical exam day at school, which meant no class for me! So I just wandered around chatting to the students and then somehow managed to kill the rest of the day. Not entirely sure how...but you know what happens when you get nosying around t'internet: next thing you know, it's two days later!

I've been a bit slack at updating this for the last week. Again, there's no excuse, I've just been lazy. Had lots planned to do on Saturday, but woke up to find that my ankles were bad again, so decided to scrap the plans and just rest. Since then I have ditched my splint and my crutches and so I'm moving freely again, finally! Which is a good thing, as my brother has already warned me that we'll be walking lots in Shanghai. Before I get carried away with that, I've had loads of thoughts on Korea whizzing around my head, so let's see if I can remember them!

I'll start with the physical exam day last week. This was a whole day of fitness tests. Not crazy hardcore tests, just simple push ups and sit ups, sprints, and long jumps (or long spring, as there is no run up). The day started off with a mass, all-school exercise routine, looking a little like t'ai ch'i at times, which just looked incredible. It's the sort of thing schools used to do every morning, and I wish we had done it at school! I know I would have complained at the time, but it looked like fun! After, the classes moved around the various activities, and results were recorded. This photo is of the sit up section. I've never seen people having so much fun while doing a physical exam! I think they were all just happy to have time out of class, and it was such a beautiful day too, that it was a day out in the sun! There seems to be a big emphasis on class identity, which means that there is some friendly rivalry between each class. They all have t-shirts printed up, and they stay in the same classrooms (teachers move around) so they seem to become quite close. I have yet to witness a student who seems a little on the outside, or who seems to be teased. They all get equal cheers and ridicule! It's nice to see, good to know that it is possible.

We've been continuing our Korean culture presentations this week, and I am learning so much every time I walk into the classes! The creativity of the students is amazing, not just in what they come up with but in how they present it. We've had a re-enactment of the founding of Korea, a taekwondo demonstration, and costumes, and props, and all sorts! One particular thing that I find quite interesting is the use of blood type to determine personality, like with horoscopes. During our introductions in the first week, one student asked me what my blood type was, which I thought was a strange question, until I was told about this personality link. Having researched it a little, I've learned that it started in the '30s, in Japan, and gained popularity in the '80s. It's such a big deal that some people won't date blood types that they're not compatible with, and there is even a Korean movie called, "My boyfriend is a type B"! I don't agree with my blood type-determined personality! Firstly, one class told me that being Type B meant I was a psycho! And another presentation tells me that I'm isolated, impolite, and never make a good impression on elders! Some parts seem a little true, but I'm quite offended by the rest of it!

Now this is why I need a little elf with me at all times, recording my every thought. I can't remember most of the Korean quirks that I wanted to talk about! I brought my teachers cakes today to thank them all for being so kind while I was on crutches. Throughout those two weeks, I was either told to go slow, or called slow! So often I had people - other teachers at school or often older men in the street - look at my leg, point and say something, and honestly, I never had a clue what was being said! I either just walked on (when I was in the street) or nodded or smile, or looked for someone to translate when I was in school. I know I need to learn the language, and I am trying, but it's so hard. I'm slowly learning the alphabet (I can read a train timetable now, almost), but the next challenge will be knowing what is I've just read! I also need to learn some key phrases so that I can have conversations with taxi drivers. It was one of my joys back in Aber, taking a taxi and having a chat with the driver, I loved it! Here, they do try chatting with me, but there's very little understanding! I can, however, write my name in Hangul (Korean alphabet) - if you don't have Asian scripts installed on your computer, you won't be able to see it, but here is my attempt: 제니. Pretty nifty if you ask me!

One last comment for today, and I'll try to get a photo soon as an example of this: there is a culture amongst young Korean couples to wear matching accessories and clothes. Sometimes it's a simple as matching bracelets, or matching phone charms, but it goes as far as matching t-shirts (different shapes for male and female) and, although I haven't seen it yet, apparently it goes all the way to complete matching outfits. Eek! How bad does that seem?! The matching t-shirts are really common, I see it all the time, but it just seems a big...sickly sweet to me! Anyway, as I say, I'm on a mission to get a photo of said phenomenon, so as soon as I do, it'll be up.

Off to Daegu this evening, to have dinner with a friend, and hopefully buy a cellpone (finally!), and off to Daegu again tomorrow to have dinner with another friend! See what I can do when I can actually walk! And Saturday, I fly off to Shanghai! Happy days. That is, as long as my visa comes in time...my passport probably won't be back until Friday. But it's ok, we Gordons are known for getting our visas last minute, so all will be grand! I'm leaving for the airport at 2am, should be interesting!

Right then petals, I'm done for today. I'll try and write again before I leave for Shanghai, but if not, next time I should have lots of new adventures to write about! Ta ta!

Oooh, exciting news!

Well, of a sort. I've set up a website for my photos. It's on flickr.com and I've decided to make the photos accessible only to family and friends (I'm not keen on the thought of strangers looking through my photos...no mention of Bebo please!) As such, I've invited people to come join so they can look through them. I had to do all the invitations in groups of three, which got a bit tedious, so I did as many as I could manage. But, if I left you out, and you want to see my photos, just e-mail me and I'll send you an invitation. You can see photos like this one here (taken at the Korean Folk Village last month).

There are only 42 photos up so far, but I have more to add tomorrow, and there will be more still as the year goes by. How exciting!

On a slightly less exciting note, my acupuncture doctor seems to be on a mission to bruise me as much as he possibly can. My hand is black and blue, and my feet are blue and green in places. I do make for a colourful Westerner!

I have a lot to write about yesterday (Friday) but it's now late and I'm all sleepy, so I'll blog properly tomorrow. Blogalicious.

I'm not kidding...

This is perhaps the strangest thing I inherited when I moved into my flat. It took me a while to figure out what they were, as the little cartoon picture in the bottom right is a tad hard to identify.

But these are doggy nappies.

Seriously.

The previous tenant had a little dog. Maybe the dog had a problem, I don't know, I don't want to think about it too much. But it obviously needed the security of nappies.

Just a little bit weird, I think... I got rid of them fairly hastily!

Shameless plug

I'm going to give Dad's radio station some free advertising. He is on a station called Q101 West, based in Tyrone and Fermanagh, Northern Ireland. He has two shows: one is on a Saturday night, 6pm-9pm, and it's a country programme, but not Shania Twain style country, I guess he would like it to be called "true" country. Then on Sunday morning, 6am-10am, he has a breakfast show, with a gospel hour from 8am-9am (and you can hear me at about 8.55am).

People like him. Me, I cringe when I hear any family member's voice on TV or radio! But if you're interested, the website is http://www.q101west.fm/q101/new/index.php, and you can watch and/or listen live, and e-mail him if you so desire. Just tell him you're a friend of Jeni's and he'll love you!

There, shameless plug.

The finer points of Korean sanitation

The last couple of days have been...interesting, to say the least. What most of my classes are doing for the next few weeks is giving presentations on Korean culture. Any aspect of Korean culture, however small and obscure. And it has prompted some amazing results. We are but four classes into the presentations, and there will be close to 20, and I've already seen:

• hilarious demonstrations of traditional table manners;
• examples of superstitions;
• dramatisations of ajumma on the subway (middle-aged married woman who have incredible power in Korea);
• an explanation of 'comfort women' - Korean and Chinese women who were taken hostage by the Japanese army during WWII and forced to work in brothels;
• and learned an awful lot about Korean wedding traditions...like spying on the newlyweds on their wedding night "to give them support", and tying up the groom by his feet, hanging him upside down, and hitting the soles of his feet with sticks...all I can say is, good luck to Geordie Patrick!

But by far the most amusing presentations have been about the traditional Korean toilet. Now, for those of you who have not been fortunate enough to experience an Asian toilet, one word should tell you all...squatter. In fact, I've found a photo...

There, that's a squatter. And, as the name suggests, you squat. More on the contemporary conundrums posed by such a device later, but now back to my students' presentations. (By the way, the hood-type bit is the front, in case you were wondering. People often do...)

True traditional Korean toilets were two planks of wood set across a hole in the ground. And we had kids on top of the chairs to demonstrate this, yes, indeed, squatting! Apparently all the human waste was collected (by the "generals of dung"), mixed with ash and used to fertilise the soil. Nice. Makes some tasty potatoes, I'm sure! There is the legend of the toilet ghost, who comes up from the hole and offers you blue or red toilet paper, then makes your hip whatever colour it was you chose! And then the best of all...is a two-storied toilet: toilet on the second story...pig living on the first. The pig consumes the waste, which protects it from poisonous snakes, and apparently makes for tasty pork. Although Tony and I aren't too sure about that! We're never eating pork in Jeju (which is where this apparently still happens). But the best bit of this pig story is that, sometimes the pig is really hungry....so it will jump up and bite your bum, so you have to fight it off with a stick. So we thought you took the stick with you into the toilet. Nope, it's already there!

Seriously, we had two of these presentations, each time telling us something new and fascinating! So we spent a lot of today, literally, talking about crap. It's so odd how they feel so free talking about it - I guess the British are still quite prudish about some things. I had one of my co-teachers ask me how I was dealing with the squatters, as there are no Western toilets in our school. One of the male co-teachers I should say!

The first time I was faced with one of these was a little terrifying - I hadn't been warned about them, and it was on a 6 hour train trip in Japan, so I had no option, and no clue! The biggest problem for Westerners is that we're not used to squatting, whereas Asians can be seen on street corners, squatting (not over a toilet, obviously, just "resting"). So it hurts the old knees and thighs, and takes quite a while to get balance sorted! I was doing alright...until I decided I needed a splint on my leg, and that's making it very very difficult again.

Right, enough of that sewer talk (sorry, couldn't resist!). I can't believe I've just talked about toilets for that long! Honestly, though, I'm learning so many fascinating little bits about Korean culture. It's amazing how much tradition and culture there is. I guess we don't think about our own cultures until we have to tell others about it, and there are probably customs that are so insignificant that we don't even think about it until someone points them out.

Enough of my musings, on to some great news! (Well, great for me, and for Peter.) As I said in my previous, very short blog, I've decided to go to Shanghai. In a fortnight's time is Chuseok, which is Korean thanksgiving, one of the two biggest holidays in Korea. That, combined with students' mid-terms right before, means I have a full week off work, with the two weekends at either side. The way I see it, I have so much time to explore Korea at the weekends, but if I have a substantial length of time off, I need to go travel, baby! And travel within and around Korea gets both fully booked up and much more expensive at holiday times. This way, I avoid the rush by leaving before it all kicks off and coming back just after. So I got in touch with the wandering brother, who I haven't seen in 18 months, found myself a flight to Shanghai, and booked it mighty fast as the seats were going as I watched! It's also Golden Week in China, so they have a week's holiday too, but I'm looking forward to seeing, doing and eating anything! So excited about it, I've been telling my students all day!

Should be off the crutches by the end of the weekend, so Shanghai will be a good way to celebrate being able to walk again! It's getting better, both ankles still slightly swollen but not as sore. I'm just so fed up with the splint and the bandages and the crutches, although it is nice having all the other teachers offering me lifts! And when I get back from Shanghai, I plan to join a gym (because I found one near me) and start yoga (as soon as I can find out where it is...can't read the Korean map!) Full of good intentions me!

Righto I've written far too much. Which is even worse considering most of it was about toilets! I shall leave all my other musings for another day. I hope people are still reading this! The comments have died down a little, but this is operating as my journal these days, so it's good for me to write it all down, even if no one else cares! (It's fun to have dramatic hissy fits!)

Oh, a happy, slightly belated birthday, to the lovely Miss Bridget.

Ta ta folks. Hope all are well.

YAY!!

WOO-HOOOO!! I'm off to Shanghai!

Well not quite yet obviously, but next weekend, for a good 9 days. I'll explain more later, right now I have to go to class and conduct mid-term interviews. Apparently my questions are too hard for the poor kids!! Muahahahaha!

(It's been one of those days....things are making me giggle lots!)

Forlorn little me

I had lots of wonderful things planned for this weekend. None of them involving leaving my apartment, as I can't really do that very easily. But I had online activities planned - e-mails to catch up on, things to research, lesson plans to devise, blogs to update.... But for some reason my internet has decided to choose this weekend to go on strike. Great.

I'm currently sitting in a PC bang - literally, computer room - and these places are mad! Koreans use them mainly to play games, they come and play for hours and hours against people in the same room, or anywhere in the world. It's hot, and noisy, and a little bit crazy, to be honest. Cheap though. I've been here for two hours, and I think the price has just reached a quid.

It's frustrating not being able to do things. I wanted to meet people, explore some more, head into Daegu and find out what was happening there that I could get involved in. But I'm trying to look at this positively, convincing myself that I'm learning Korean from watching TV. Ah well. Doctor says in 10 day I can ditch the crutches. So when that day comes, Korea better watch out!.....Er....yeah, sure....

One thing I wanted to rush home and write about yesterday (before I discovered t'internet was down) was the kindness of Koreans. I always hear people talking about this, and it's true, if you ask for directions they will physically take you, at least part of the way (this happened to me in Japan too, it's such a friendly habit). But yesterday I had my first experience of pure, uninvited helpfulness.

After leaving the hospital, I was trying to hail a taxi to get home. It isn't too hard in Korea, there are hundreds of taxis. But I had been trying for a few minutes with no luck. So, picture the scene, if you will: a lonely foreigner, with one foot in a splint, on crutches, standing by the side of the road as car after car drives by, and it's raining (just a light shower, but enough). I must have been looking quite forlorn. Next thing I know, a middle-aged Korean lady appeared beside me, put an umbrella over my head, and helped me get a taxi. We tried hailing a couple, and then she phoned one for me, and waited with me until it came. This lady got nothing out of this act, except my bad Korean thank yous. I was quite taken aback, and so grateful. I can't imagine many other countries where people would help a stranger like that.

I then proceeded to have a great conversation with the taxi driver, which was getting very close to explaining why Northern Ireland is separate from the rest of Ireland, and which country hated who. He spoke no English, I spoke no Korean, and yet we managed to have a conversation like that. It was great. The whole taxi experience yesterday made me smile.

Anyway, since then I've been in my flat, so there really isn't much else to write about. I'll have to find my landlord later, and somehow explain that the internet isn't working. That could be fun. Although he has gone out of his way to help me as well, so he should be nice about it at least. Ta ta.

Much ado...

Forgot to say this earlier. I'm getting quite embarrassed by the fuss being made over me because of my current uselessness. Yesterday I was driven to the cafeteria...it's about 200 metres from the office. But it's up a couple of steep hills, so the teachers insisted I be driven. And when I have to go to the hospital - despite my protestations that I can get a taxi - someone drives me (there's a note on the board of our office asking for volunteers - how humiliating!) I feel like a massive inconvenience to them all - they asked for an English teacher, not a burden!

But perhaps the funniest allowance being made for me is that my landlord - who only found out yesterday that I had hurt my ankle - now insists on driving me to school, until I'm better! Very nice of him, but I do feel so embarrassed.

Oh, and I did use my ankle as an excuse to get out of singing in front of a class yesterday - I said it had affected my voice...

All hail the enchanting Kate Winslet!

Apologies for the lack of bloggage this week, but it's a combination of two things. Firstly, I've been wallowing in a bit of self-pity, as my ankle has restricted me from doing little more than going to school and then coming home. And secondly, I finally got my TV sorted out at the weekend, and I got hold of season four of Scrubs. So whereas last week I spent my evenings composing fascinating e-mails and witty blog entries, this week I have turned on the TV and felt sorry for myself! Terrible, I know, but there isn't much more I can do right now.

My ankle is on the mend though. I was told that I needed to go to a local hospital on Monday, and I thought I would be taken to a standard hospital, X-rayed again and rebandaged. But one of my co-teachers was so adamant that acupuncture was the best thing for me, that before I knew it I was at the Oriental Hospital having needles stuck into my legs! They wanted me back every day for the next two weeks, but I'm only going every couple of days. Also having physio to relieve the pain. The physios are all lovely, but don't speak much English, and I think I'm a bit of a novelty for them. Sure it's an experience. I'm still in the splint because the ankle is still quite swollen, and it's all sorts of wonderful bruised colours. Found out today that I've actually pulled a ligament. And my other ankle isn't doing so well either! It's weak anyway, but having to put all my weight on it has made it swell a bit too. I should probably be resting more than I am, I don't like to sit in my classes. But hey, I get symapthy from the kids!

Speaking of school, I've had my first couple of classes all by myself. It's still pretty terrifying, and I don't think I've quite found my flow yet, but hopefully as the weeks go by I'll get it all figured out. We've been meeting all the first graders this week (who are aged 16/17), and they're amazingly enthusiastic! We had one class yesterday who cheered everything we said! You can't help but be energised by an environment like that.

To add to the movie-style names that I mentioned last week, we now also have Frankenstein, Angelina Jolie, Jessica Simpson, Dior, and DiCaprio. We also have a Love and a Me. Honestly, "Me", that was the kid's name! This is what happens when you let kids choose their own English names!

The students really are quite delightful though. They're boisterous and can get incredibly noisy (especially when you play games) but they're generally well behaved. They bow at their elders - which means that first graders have to bow for second and third graders, and teachers! Poor kids must have backache. They constantly surprise us with their knowledge, and the questions they come out with. And since I've been here, I've been called Jennifer Lopez and Kate Winslet (which is fine by me!) But...but....I've also been called Legolas. I don't fully understand that. I don't look like a wispy blonde elf, do I?!

Time for Jeni's daily observations of Korean culture.

This is an inherently polite society. Certain habits are obviously socialised early on, and passed from generation to generation, even though they're the smallest of habits that most Koreans probably don't even think about. One is that in the cafeteria queue, when someone comes to the soup, they serve themselves, and then pass an empty bowl to the person coming behind them. I thought, at first, that this was just the other teachers helping me out, but people-watching at lunchtime proves that this is habit. Seems so small, but everyone does it, and it's just a little bit of consideration. Also, and this one I love: in car parks - it must come about because of a lack of parking space - if there are no free spaces, people will just block other cars. However, their cellphone numbers are in their front window, so when the owner of the blocked car comes and wants to get out, they just call the number - with no anger - and the other driver - also with no anger - comes and moves their car. And it works. As I say, simple, but effective.

Korean TV only has a few English channels, but enough to keep me going. Does, however, mean that I resort to watching some bad movies. Right now there's one starring The Rock. Nice to know that he can put his pretend wrestling to other uses. Unfortunately, after watching English programmes for a while, I get quite confused when I hear Korean voices outside my window, and temporarily forget where I am! Oh I have such a simple mind!

Anyhoo, I've written a fair bit today, should make up for my few days absence. I'm not going to let this fade out though, this is one thing I'm going to stick to! So ta ta for now, further reports to follow.

Silly Splinty Jeni

That would be me. On a hospital bed, in the emergency room of a hospital in Daegu. Ha! I had a little accident on Friday night, twisted my ankle a bit, and when I got up yesterday morning, one ankle was about three times the size of the other. So the lovely folk I was with got me to the hospital, where I was X-rayed and treated fairly quickly, and cheaply (compared to the US). I don't believe you've truly explored a country until you experience its health system, so I know Korea well now! Had to buy my own crutches as the hospital didn't have any tall enough for me, so if anyone ever needs a pair, I can help you out!

It's a bit of an inconvenience, and such a silly thing to happen, but what's done is done, and there's no point moaning about it. So I spent most of yesterday laughing at myself for being so stupid! And the people with me were good natured and oh so helpful - they just laughed at me all day too - and that made things a little easier.

I had intended on being Daegu for the whole weekend, but the big heavy splint on my leg and the crutches brought an end to that idea. It was a bit difficult negotiating busy city streets. And Korea love their stairs, so it was a challenge! In fact, it will be a bit of a challenge at school: it has many, many stairs! Our office is on the second floor and there are half floors and I've got classes on all floors, and there's no lift! Ah twill be fun, and it'll give me something to talk about in the many more introductions I have to do this week.

So, Daegu, looked quite fun, lots to do. It's only 30 minutes away by train, and the fare is stupidly cheap, so it's within commuting distance. I think I'm going to look into what's going on down there - much more than up here in Gumi anyway. It's the third largest city in Korea, so there's definitely more happening.

So that's about my only story for the weekend. Except for Phil's incredibly drunk co-teachers who were performing that lecherous inebriated Korean older man routine. Funny though. I spent today resting my leg, and I've managed to get hold of Scrubs season four, so I had a bit of a Scrubs marathon today. Awesome. Tony was kind enough to bring me dinner, as I had been planning to go food shopping today, but that proved too awkward. In fact, a lot of things have been put on hold for a while. Sure tis grand, I've got a year, right?

Silly, silly Jeni. I shouldn't be allowed out, really.

Oh-oh I'm an alien, I'm a legal alien...

Yessirree, as of today, I am indeed a legal alien. So says my Alien Registration Card. Means I can do all the fun stuff, like, you know, open a bank account, get a phone....get paid!

I have no idea where the spider has gone...hoping to someone else's apartment. It hasn't shown its ugly legs since last night, so hopefully my screeching and banging the wall scared it off. Still have to check the whole place every time I come in though, and didn't sleep at all last night! What a silly little fear....but seriously, huge spider!

So, Everland yesterday. We were fortunate - in a week of dull and cooler days, we got a scorcher. (Yes Mum, I had suncream on.) I was with the other two NET teachers all day, with various students at different times. Tried most of the rides, and although it was fun, and amusement parks are always good no matter what size, there wasn't really enough thrill and terror involved! Still a giggle. Went on one of those boat rides, where you go through rapids and waterfalls, but the Koreans cheat! They have plastic covers that come up to your neck! Defeats the purpose really. First time we went, I had the cover on, still got wet. So the other two times we went, no cover. Got even more wet! Other people came off not so bad, me, I got soaked every time! Good job I had chosen trousers that would dry quickly. My shoes however...may still be wet.

The students were amazingly quiet on the bus. I remember school bus trips when I was younger, we made so much noise. This lot are incredibly well-behaved, you would hardly know they were there. They're all so polite as well. It's funny walking around school with a Korean teacher. To the Korean, they bow, say "annyeong haseyo" (hello), then they see me, smile, wave and say "hi Jeni!" They're always eager for a chat, so I can see there will be no such thing as a down day for me this year. The kids just won't allow it.

I'm off to Daegu this evening, just 40 minutes down the road, for the weekend. Last minute decision, so I need to stop writing, get dinner, and get my stuff together! I think I'm addicted to this...blogaholic? Right so, must dash. Have a nice weekend everyone.

I DO NOT LIKE SPIDERS!!

This was supposed to be a post all about my happy day at Everland, followed by some musings about religion in Korea, and then some talk about spicey Korean food. Instead, my evening has been destroyed.....by a huge spider!

I know, it's silly to be scared of spiders, and I spent all day being Fearless Jeni, going on all the scary rides put in front of me. But seriously, this one is humungous. It's a couple of inches, and it's got such a big, dark body. It's horrible! I spent ages trying to build up the courage to go near it and kill it, but missed it, and now it's scurried away under my cupboards!

Guess I'll be closing the kitchen door tonight when I go to bed! What worries me is that if there is one of that size here, there are, or will be, more. Might need to do something about that corner of the apartment. It's all clean, except for there. And I can't deal with bugs!

Help!

Today, I bought a packet of what I'm assuming is some kind of curry mix. This photo is the back of it, ingredients and instructions and whatnot. The photo might be slightly blurry, but I'm sure you can see that it's all in Korean!! All I can gather is that you add meat and some water, amongst other things...ah sure it'll be fun figuring it out! And it's already helped me with a bit of Korean, so it all counts, right? Of course, if I give myself food poisoning and don't get to Everland tomorrow, I will not be a happy Gumi bear!

Got the cast for a movie, just need a crew and a story...

One of my third grade classes sounds like the makings of a very interesting movie....We've got Malfoy, Xia, Pooh, Frodo, Ghandi, and Jesus. I kid you not. They pick their own English names, so they tend to go for things they've heard in films. And I still haven't met all of my classes yet, so I fully expect to find a Gandalf, a Darth Vader, and maybe even a Dalai Lama.

Taught by myself for the first time today...it was alright, but I was terrified, and I'll have to think quite hard to come up with things for the students to do without getting bored. As I said, high level of English: in one of my classes today (a class of 14), 5 of them have lived in the US for a year. So they don't sound even remotely Korean when they speak English.

I need to find something to do in my long spare hours too. Need to get to learning Korean. My department has a lot of books that I haven't read yet though, so I can probably get through some of those. As long as I look busy, they don't mind what I do. Fell asleep over a National Geographic earlier....so someone offered me an ice cream!

Today started off gloomy with some light rain, a lot cooler than it has been. But in the last couple of hours, the clouds have cleared, the sun has come out and the sky is now a beautiful blue. And the mountains right outside my window are looking particularly green and spectacular. Hopefully the weather will keep up for tomorrow...we're off to Everland! Fair enough, I have to leave home at 7am and endure a 3 hour bus trip with overly excited teenage Korean girls, but it should be a giggle. Maybe they can teach me Korean bus songs. I'll be tired come Friday evening, I can tell you that.

The Ego Has Landed

Ever had someone turn round to look at you, then visibly appear shocked and exclaim, "WOW! You're so beautiful!"?

No, it doesn't happen to me often either. But I've discovered that being a pale Irish young woman in Korea prompts just this sort of reaction. I was expecting to be told I'm fat, and I have big feet, and I have bright red cheeks; just wondering how long the novelty will last, and the kids will turn to these comments!

Had my second day of class today, and man, are these kids enthusiastic! I've never had applause before for being called Jeni or for being from Ireland. And they know about Northern Ireland being part of the UK, and they even know where Wales is! These are smart kids, a much higher level than I was expecting, so a drastic rethink of the plans is in order. We were asked some highly intelligent questions, questions I wouldn't expect from similar aged students in Western countries.

Done 5 different introduction classes so far, and got another 8 or so to go. It gets a bit repetitive as it's the same thing over and over, and I'm trying to come up with new stories and/or new ways to tell them. Need to learn to keep talking, talking, talking, as from next week onwards I won't have my fellow native English teacher (NET) with me, and he's been doing most of the talking up until now! He spent a year teaching in Korea already, so I'm trying to learn from him.

It was strange leaving school today: I know I'm finished at 5, but none of the other teachers left then, and the students don't leave either, because they board at school and they do self-study until 10 anyway. But it was strange being the only one leaving campus - felt like I was sneaking out in the middle of the day.

As an interesting sidenote: I think my landlord has been leaving me gifts! The last 2 days, I've come home from work to find a little plastic bag hanging off my door handle, containing 2 little cartons of what I think is milk! Very strange. I can only assume it's my landlord leaving it. I wonder if milk means anything in Korea...

Anyhoo...time to make dinner in my mouldy kitchen (seriously need to get that seen to). Ta ta x

It's a mushroom, I swear it is!!

My home for the next year (at least)

Greetings everyone and welcome to the first edition of my blog. Hopefully I'll be able to keep this going (and actually have interesting enough things to say) for the foreseeable future at least.

If you're reading this, then you probably know me, and you'll know that I have recently moved to Korea to teach English, for a year...at least. Now, after almost 2 weeks of an orientation with the other EPIK teachers in Cheongju, I have finally moved out to my placement, and this beautiful place just on the left, that would be my apartment. What you can't see in this photo is the shelving unit with the TV, DVD player, VCR, the fridge, the small kitchen and the bathroom. It's small, but, you know, it's big enough for me. And I can probably fit 2 people on the floor (hint hint!) I'm 5 minutes from the train station, 10 minutes from downtown, and 15 minutes from my school. So it's all good.

I'm in a city called Gumi (goo-me), hence the oh so hilarious title of this blog! It's not quite the rural backwater I had been angling for - industrial city of 350,000 - but I'm in a quiet part of the city and it doesn't so far feel all that big.

Orientation was fun - once you got past all the little social groupings that popped up within days, and the often rather dull lectures, and the curfew. I met some wonderful people who I most certainly intend on keeping in touch with and visiting often! We went to Seoul last weekend, which was fun - such a mission getting there in the first place, but once we had somewhere to leave our bags, we headed our for some drinks and much fun was had by all. Of course, the next day was a cultural day, visiting just some of the many sights of Seoul. Still lots to see though, but sure I've got a whole year.

The other folk in my province and I left orientation on Friday still not having a notion where exactly in Gyeongbuk we were going, so talk about a magical mystery tour! I'm quite fortunate where I am, as there is another EPIK teacher who has been in Korea for a year already, and we're living in the same apartment complex and going to the same school. Most people have headed off to rural parts where they probably won't see another foreigner for months!

Start school tomorrow, should be interesting. It's a Foreign Languages High School, and a boarding school, with a tough entrance exam. Which means the kids should be bright and enthusiastic. Which means they might well be correcting me! I'm to be eased into it for the first couple of weeks, so much so that on Thursday the school has a field trip, and I get to go. Where is the field trip to? The biggest amusement park in Korea, that's where! Fantastic.

Right so, this here blog is just to keep people updated on the little things that might not make it into e-mails that I send, little observations and experiences and thoughts and musings. I would appreciate any and all feedback. This could be highly successful, or I might give up in a month! Either way, I'm off to christen my apartment with its first cup of tea, as I just bought a kettle today, and it's one of those stove-top ones, and I only figured out the gas this evening. So a cup of tea it is! Ta ta. x