So I'm an official deadbeat. And a dumb one at that....
Last week, I was supposed to get paid. It was a hectic week on account of our kindy's graduation on Friday, so I didn't worry too much when I hadn't been paid by Friday. The problem, however, was that I didn't pay my electricity bill last month. Yes, I'm a procrasinator... And the bill came due last Tuesday, but since I hadn't been paid, I couldn't pay this month's bill because it was twice what it normally would be... on account of my procrastination... (you get where I'm going with this??)
So I get home sometime last week and there's a notice in Korean stuck to my door. At the bottom, I see it has a large sum in won (Korean money)... I chuckle to myself and take it inside without really looking at it.. (I mean, what are they going to do to me, right?).
So I get home from work on Monday night (last night) and go to flick on the light. No light comes on. I look over to the little light that is on my heating guage. It's not there. And it hits me, they've disconnected my power. I'm a deadbeat. So I have to fumble around my dark apartment for my flashlight. And I get to spend the night huddled under my blanket for warmth, watching exactly one movie on my laptop - which has enough juice for exactly one movie - and connecting to a random wireless internet connection floating around my building.
This morning, hanging my head in shame, I have to explain to the head teacher that I'm a deadbeat who doesn't pay her bills - so the president of my school (whoops!!) has to call the company to get my electricity turned back on... sometimes I'm glad I don't speak Korean!! Or she doesn't speak English. How embarrassing.. So I guess procrastination has finally come back to haunt me. Have I learned my lesson? We shall see!!
Tuesday, February 27, 2007
Thursday, February 22, 2007
Kids Are Way More Observant Than We Think....
This I'm beginning to discover after teaching for a while now. The kids notice EVERYTHING. They notice if I've showered in the morning as opposed to the night before. My hair is slightly damp and I get the question, "Teacher, shower today?" then we spend 10 minutes talking about when everyone showers. If I wear my hair down or in braids, it sends shockwaves down the halls - everyone is trying to touch my hair, or getting their friends to come look at me. If I have a cold or am tired, the kids are sure to call on it. I walk in with one of the other teachers, and I hear about it later in the day ("Teacher! I saw you talking with Brant Teacher this morning" - And then I have to explain that, no, we're not married, and no we don't have kids together). Anyways today, I got a good dose of kidisms...
So I'm sitting in Drama Class today - let me back up a moment... I have turned Drama Class into Art Class because the kids get way too out of hand if I try to teach them Drama. Anyways, we're all sitting around and one of the little boys I teach (6-7 years old) starts talking about his dad. And says "When my dad drinks soda, he..." And then gets up and wobbles around all shakily.
At first I have no idea what he is talking about. Then another boy starts to laugh, and yells out, "My dad, when he drink soda, he..." And proceeds to pretend to drink something, wobble around and fall back and act out smashing his head against the wall. Then a third boy gets up and goes, "My dad, he drink soda and BLAHHHHHHH," miming a bunch of vomit coming out of his mouth.
At this point, I wise up and go, "Soda or Soju??" And the kids chorus back, "Soju!!" Soju is Korean rice wine, by the way.
This is made even funnier by the fact that tomorrow is the kids graduation... So I get to meet all their parents. I am sure they would love to know that their little kids are not only telling their teacher about their drunken episodes but acting them out as well... I guess it is a Drama Class afterall!
Now I'm seriously afraid to ever have kids... It's like having a tiny spy in your house with you... all the time!
So I'm sitting in Drama Class today - let me back up a moment... I have turned Drama Class into Art Class because the kids get way too out of hand if I try to teach them Drama. Anyways, we're all sitting around and one of the little boys I teach (6-7 years old) starts talking about his dad. And says "When my dad drinks soda, he..." And then gets up and wobbles around all shakily.
At first I have no idea what he is talking about. Then another boy starts to laugh, and yells out, "My dad, when he drink soda, he..." And proceeds to pretend to drink something, wobble around and fall back and act out smashing his head against the wall. Then a third boy gets up and goes, "My dad, he drink soda and BLAHHHHHHH," miming a bunch of vomit coming out of his mouth.
At this point, I wise up and go, "Soda or Soju??" And the kids chorus back, "Soju!!" Soju is Korean rice wine, by the way.
This is made even funnier by the fact that tomorrow is the kids graduation... So I get to meet all their parents. I am sure they would love to know that their little kids are not only telling their teacher about their drunken episodes but acting them out as well... I guess it is a Drama Class afterall!
Now I'm seriously afraid to ever have kids... It's like having a tiny spy in your house with you... all the time!
Friday, February 16, 2007
Things I've learned continued...
I am a superhero.
Well actually two superhero. One of them is "Bundegi Man" (real flattering - trying to explain I'm not a man didn't help). Because I was telling one of my classes that the smell of Bundegi (spelling?? these disgusting little wormy bugs that street vendors saute up for people - the taste is vile, but perhaps more vile is the smell...) makes me vomit into my own mouth a little. I mean I am walking down the street with no street vendors in sight, a slight breeze will start to blow, and then my nose will twitch. And I will know bundegi is near. And then I will go to great lengths to spot the offending vendor and cross the street, or at least hurry by with my breath held. Anyways, as Bundegi Man (Imagine Batman with a small wormy creature replacing the Bat Symbol), I scour the streets of Seoul blasting away the bundegi vendors (this according to one of my classes).
Superhero two is not quite as glamourous but more functional, and is simply Super Hilary. I got this name today. I was teaching one girl today and I left the class to go to the teacher's room. On the way I walked past another class I teach and the teacher was out of the room. I happened to see that two of the boys were about to get into a fist fight so I busted in yelling and pulled them out of class. I got them in the hall standing with their hands in the air (an effective Korean punishment) and of course they refused to talk to me - so I brought in the big guns. At this point, one of the boys was balling and the other was standing there with his face frozen like stone. Anyways, they got an ear full in Korean for a good 10 minutes. And when I returned to class, my student who had heard through the open door was applauding me and calling me Super Hilary....
Ahhh all in a day's work. ;)
Well actually two superhero. One of them is "Bundegi Man" (real flattering - trying to explain I'm not a man didn't help). Because I was telling one of my classes that the smell of Bundegi (spelling?? these disgusting little wormy bugs that street vendors saute up for people - the taste is vile, but perhaps more vile is the smell...) makes me vomit into my own mouth a little. I mean I am walking down the street with no street vendors in sight, a slight breeze will start to blow, and then my nose will twitch. And I will know bundegi is near. And then I will go to great lengths to spot the offending vendor and cross the street, or at least hurry by with my breath held. Anyways, as Bundegi Man (Imagine Batman with a small wormy creature replacing the Bat Symbol), I scour the streets of Seoul blasting away the bundegi vendors (this according to one of my classes).
Superhero two is not quite as glamourous but more functional, and is simply Super Hilary. I got this name today. I was teaching one girl today and I left the class to go to the teacher's room. On the way I walked past another class I teach and the teacher was out of the room. I happened to see that two of the boys were about to get into a fist fight so I busted in yelling and pulled them out of class. I got them in the hall standing with their hands in the air (an effective Korean punishment) and of course they refused to talk to me - so I brought in the big guns. At this point, one of the boys was balling and the other was standing there with his face frozen like stone. Anyways, they got an ear full in Korean for a good 10 minutes. And when I returned to class, my student who had heard through the open door was applauding me and calling me Super Hilary....
Ahhh all in a day's work. ;)
Thursday, February 15, 2007
Things I've Learned This Week...
1) Kimchi makes you taller. We were talking about height in one of my kindergarten classes, and the kids told me that one of the boys used to be the shortest, but because he ate a lot of kimchi, he was now the second tallest in the class. Eat up!
2) Valentine's Day in Korea is a day where the girls must give chocolate and cards to the boys. Interesting!! Luckily being a teacher seems to exempt me from this - I got a king's ransom in chocolates from the kids! Teaching does have it's perks, I suppose!!
3) I can make really little kids laugh just by dancing. Oh yeah, you should see my Charleston!
4) In Korean age, I am actually 25! I gained 2 years in one conversation. Yikes!!
5) I'm a strep throat vector. Even though exhibiting no symptoms, I still pass it on... but I've long suspected this!
2) Valentine's Day in Korea is a day where the girls must give chocolate and cards to the boys. Interesting!! Luckily being a teacher seems to exempt me from this - I got a king's ransom in chocolates from the kids! Teaching does have it's perks, I suppose!!
3) I can make really little kids laugh just by dancing. Oh yeah, you should see my Charleston!
4) In Korean age, I am actually 25! I gained 2 years in one conversation. Yikes!!
5) I'm a strep throat vector. Even though exhibiting no symptoms, I still pass it on... but I've long suspected this!
Wednesday, February 14, 2007
Guam, finally!
So I have heard from some people that there has been no post on my blog for a while! Guess you are right... I will try and get the Guam trip out in one blast, so I don't lose steam like I did for my Japan trip.
So we flew out on the first Friday of the month, at around 9:30 at night. I knew the trip had begun when we cracked some beers in Incheon Int'l Airport while waiting for the rest of our party to arrive, and continued to carry them in through check-in.
Anyways, we touched down in Guam around 3:30 am, and boy was it nice to step into the mildy humid, warm night. (When we left Seoul it was around -10 Celcius!).
We got into our rooms, and crashed, finally, around 5 am. When I got up, I looked out my window and the first sights to hit my eyes were the beautiful turquoise sea, white sand beaches, flowers, palm trees and butterflies flitting around. Hmm... I think I am going to like Guam!
We headed off to the field, where our first game wasn't until the afternoon, so we had the morning to lounge around on the sidelines under palm trees, listening to Bob Marley on the loudspeakers. Could life get any better?
Anyways to make a long story short, we played rugby during the day (and it was fun ;) )
That night we had the dance - our team went as cave women, so we all made our costumes out of leopard print and had paper mache clubs, and our manager dressed as Barney Rubble... how cool!! We went to an all you can eat and drink surf and turf buffet - I think I have never eaten so much in my life! After the 3rd plate, I can recall saying "I think I am going to blow up..." And then came plates 4 and 5. Yeah, you do NOT make money off a rugby player at a buffet (have I mentioned, though, that I've lost about 25 pounds (I think??) in the time I've been in Seoul?). Later we walked down the street to go to some other clubs. On the way, we met some police officers and convinced them to take a picture with us in mock arrest... Hahahaha. You will see!!
For those of you that don't know, Guam is an American territory, or something like that - there's a lot of army posted on Guam. So going out to the bar was like being in an army base. And believe me there were some intelligent comments that came along with it... my favorite was a guy walking by leans over and says to his friend, "What is it, leopard print night or something?" Hahaha. Yeah. Leopard print night.
Anyways, the next day we got up and played some (sub-par) rugby but ended up winning the women's half of the tourney (in sudden death overtime, whoops!). Later we ate some more Tony Roma's ribs (they were sponsoring the tourney - never eaten so many ribs in my life!!) and watched some really cool Guamian (huh?) dancing with fire and hulas and the works!
After, we had our kangaroo court under the goal posts - I was the president so I got to fine people (myself included) for doing stupid stuff all weekend, got to shoot the boot for scoring my first try with the Seoul Sisters, and of course did my rendition of the Haka, Canadian style.
We went out Sun. night, and flew back around 3:30 am... rolled back into Seoul at 6:45 am, dashed home, and caught 30 minutes of sleep before I had to get up and get ready to teach - then taught all day. REAL cool. Actually, really NOT cool, I would not recommend this!!
But on the whole, I loved Guam. It was exactly what I needed, to get away from the cold, smogginess that is Seoul. It also made me realize that I really dislike teaching here and need to get a move on... so I don't know how much longer I will stay. Hopefully I can last out my 6 months so I don't have to pay back my flight!!
So we flew out on the first Friday of the month, at around 9:30 at night. I knew the trip had begun when we cracked some beers in Incheon Int'l Airport while waiting for the rest of our party to arrive, and continued to carry them in through check-in.
Anyways, we touched down in Guam around 3:30 am, and boy was it nice to step into the mildy humid, warm night. (When we left Seoul it was around -10 Celcius!).
We got into our rooms, and crashed, finally, around 5 am. When I got up, I looked out my window and the first sights to hit my eyes were the beautiful turquoise sea, white sand beaches, flowers, palm trees and butterflies flitting around. Hmm... I think I am going to like Guam!
We headed off to the field, where our first game wasn't until the afternoon, so we had the morning to lounge around on the sidelines under palm trees, listening to Bob Marley on the loudspeakers. Could life get any better?
Anyways to make a long story short, we played rugby during the day (and it was fun ;) )
That night we had the dance - our team went as cave women, so we all made our costumes out of leopard print and had paper mache clubs, and our manager dressed as Barney Rubble... how cool!! We went to an all you can eat and drink surf and turf buffet - I think I have never eaten so much in my life! After the 3rd plate, I can recall saying "I think I am going to blow up..." And then came plates 4 and 5. Yeah, you do NOT make money off a rugby player at a buffet (have I mentioned, though, that I've lost about 25 pounds (I think??) in the time I've been in Seoul?). Later we walked down the street to go to some other clubs. On the way, we met some police officers and convinced them to take a picture with us in mock arrest... Hahahaha. You will see!!
For those of you that don't know, Guam is an American territory, or something like that - there's a lot of army posted on Guam. So going out to the bar was like being in an army base. And believe me there were some intelligent comments that came along with it... my favorite was a guy walking by leans over and says to his friend, "What is it, leopard print night or something?" Hahaha. Yeah. Leopard print night.
Anyways, the next day we got up and played some (sub-par) rugby but ended up winning the women's half of the tourney (in sudden death overtime, whoops!). Later we ate some more Tony Roma's ribs (they were sponsoring the tourney - never eaten so many ribs in my life!!) and watched some really cool Guamian (huh?) dancing with fire and hulas and the works!
After, we had our kangaroo court under the goal posts - I was the president so I got to fine people (myself included) for doing stupid stuff all weekend, got to shoot the boot for scoring my first try with the Seoul Sisters, and of course did my rendition of the Haka, Canadian style.
We went out Sun. night, and flew back around 3:30 am... rolled back into Seoul at 6:45 am, dashed home, and caught 30 minutes of sleep before I had to get up and get ready to teach - then taught all day. REAL cool. Actually, really NOT cool, I would not recommend this!!
But on the whole, I loved Guam. It was exactly what I needed, to get away from the cold, smogginess that is Seoul. It also made me realize that I really dislike teaching here and need to get a move on... so I don't know how much longer I will stay. Hopefully I can last out my 6 months so I don't have to pay back my flight!!
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