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.