this past weekend, I managed to meet up with my good friends codey and julian, both of whom crashed on the floor of my "studio" apartment.
to be honest, i think an artist would be hard pressed to have enough space to really work in the place as a studio. and if i did, i think at least one wall woudl be lost to a painting. now normally i would consider this something that could- possibly - cause an appreciation of value in the otherwise cement wall (mine happens to have a few pieces of wall paper that look like cinderblocks..... not really sure what the previous guy was thinking. becuase to me the process osunds kind of like this
Gosh, these walls sure are cement. how could we decorate them tolook better, more interesting?"
I know, lets cover them with a plain yellow wall paper.
yea but that looks plain still
heres a thought, lets put some more wall paper on top that looks like cement bricks!.
GENIUS!
i want you to think about that. becuase my room has cinderblock wall paper on top of cement walls covered in wallpaper already. wow dude.
so work for my first week started in earnest today. it is intense. i thought my not having any teaching experience would not be an issue here. that i would be able to use the lessons and information left behind by the pervious native english speaker who inhabited my humble abode, and my office desk space and my computer for the previous three years. so far, i have found one lesson plan. for the first lesson. and it has nothing to do with anything in the book, that i have been told to abide by in creating my lesson plans.
then i found out today, that the 20 minute conversational lesson i have to create for aa twice a week morning class is part of a nationally funded english research program that my school is a part of. so i am, as the native english speaker in resident at the school, a crucial part of the research and teaching development of korean-english education. shnikes. the work im doing now seems horribly unacceptable for a natnioanlly funded research program.
i hope they realize they hired a completely unexperience college grad with no teaching experience and very little experience in controlling groups of 40 plus kids in a classroom.
i hear its a fast learning curve though. so ill keep you all posted on that. however, my co teachers are all great help at keeping the little rascals in line. otherwise i think they would just go straight korean the entire time.
as it is, the teacher are all very nice. I havent been chopped again by the principle.... but its only a matter of time. i did get a crash course on east asian etiquette. so hopefully that will come in handy when ever i do eventually have to socialize with the elite officers of the school.
Monday, March 8, 2010
Monday, March 1, 2010
total sleep time over past 72 hours - 6
So here goes post numero uno -
Made it into Incheon International Airport yesterday at around 5PM Seoul time, around 3AM east coast time. surprisingly, customs was exceptionally easy. They asked if i was military, i stated in the negatory, and she realized upon looking at my sweet full page visa in the fresh new passport i paid 160 for (only to find out two days ago, my original passport was in my little bro's closet, in a box, with the rest of my travel documents like a ISIC Card and god knows what else. figures i would hear of its existence the day before my departure; fate is always predictable in that manner of things).
so where was, ah yes before the aside about fate and the passport, she saw i was going to be a teacher for the youth of korea and even though i was carrying booze and cigarettes in mass quantity, i was not given a second glance through the rest of the customs process. i picked up my luggage, my 45lb backpack and a 40lb unmanagable orvis bag (who knows what the rents where thinking when they bought that satchel - its impossible to carry any distance if its packed full), and walked out the door. i was confident that my ride would be waiting, as promised, in the zoo of people sitting at the baggage claim exit, name signs in hand, waiting to pick up the travel weary passengers who were fortunate enough to set up the ride out. this was going to be a personal first for me, having a ride ready for me at the airport... usually i arrive in a far off exotic country, with nothing but my large backapck and a childlike sense of wonder that is only slightly blended with dread.
the sign with my name on it was no where to be seen. i was furious. soon chan, that durvish fellow, had abandoned me to korea. i hadn't even remembered to right down the name of my emergency contact in the city to call should i find myself in this situation. i opened my laptop and went to work, finding the contact info - a secretive fellow by the code name of mr. ham (thats his real name actually, but the story flows better if we made him a secret agent of sorts).
just w\hen i wrote down the number on the post-it note that had the serial number of my laptop, which i saved to extend my applecare plan and only just then noticed that the number is etched into the computer itself, i heard a page go out over the intercom.
"yada yada yada, a mr patrick gehling go to the east information desk."
maybe the sign name guy had arrived, or had been there for ages, wating for me and had gone out to his car to check on something. i had to find this east information desk. my sense of direction in an airport in terms of north south east west is relaly limited to entrance exit, baggage, gate of departure. and even then, its not that solid.
as it turns out though, the east information gate was right next to me. i literally turned around, and bam, i was there. no floo network necessary. remarkable.
the ride out to my humble abode took about an hour by car, although for me to get into seoul, i think i only need hop on the subway and i shall soon be transported with rapid efficiency and minimal carbon footprint to the city center.
i met my co teacher kim at the base of a tall building, in which i live now. she took me in, and upstairs to the tenth floor where my abode resides. great window view of the city, too bad it was rainy and cloudy today and yesterday.
i went out that night, to the grocery and the nearby mall to find some food and maybe some fresh sheets for the bed. there are sheets on it, but i dont know how ancient they are, and whether or not they have been cleaned is a whole different question, a horse of a different color if you will. needless to say, i didnt find the sheets, but i did find the grocery. tons of great looking food. most of it i have no idea what it is. if tehre is not a defining picture, there is a solid chance i have no idea what it is.
went back to the place, took a shower, listened to some tunes, broke the window shade trying to close it, and went to bed.
sleep didnt last long, as i woke up at first 12 am korea time, then 3 am korea time, then 6 am korea time. im not sure if its becuase im 14 hours ahead of th states and still on that time, or if it was becase i dont ahve an alarm clock, or anyway of making sure i wake up intime to make it to work. im going to say its a combination of the two. first item of order - buy an alarm clock. and some sweet slippers for work and maybe for my crib as well.
sunlight finally began filtering into the apartment as i put on my fresh office digs for my first day at school as a teacher. gah these kids are in fora treat.
only i dont get to teach at all today, or tomorrow. as it turns out, i'm the one in for a treat.
In my first five minutes upon arrival, i am already publicly shamed by the principle. i, in my naivity, did not have both hands out in front of me when i shook hands with the principle and vice president. as a result, in the process of shaking hands, my offending phalanges are lightly chopped witha karate style blow. my co teacher is like, oh god, so sorry, he didnt know . then she looks at me dead serious like take your hands out of your pockets when you talk to elders here. i havent put my hands in my pockets since, even when we stood outside for a solid hour in the cold light drizzle. hands were and are out, and ready to not offend any elders. lesson number one - forever burned into my skull - no hands in pockets.
Made it into Incheon International Airport yesterday at around 5PM Seoul time, around 3AM east coast time. surprisingly, customs was exceptionally easy. They asked if i was military, i stated in the negatory, and she realized upon looking at my sweet full page visa in the fresh new passport i paid 160 for (only to find out two days ago, my original passport was in my little bro's closet, in a box, with the rest of my travel documents like a ISIC Card and god knows what else. figures i would hear of its existence the day before my departure; fate is always predictable in that manner of things).
so where was, ah yes before the aside about fate and the passport, she saw i was going to be a teacher for the youth of korea and even though i was carrying booze and cigarettes in mass quantity, i was not given a second glance through the rest of the customs process. i picked up my luggage, my 45lb backpack and a 40lb unmanagable orvis bag (who knows what the rents where thinking when they bought that satchel - its impossible to carry any distance if its packed full), and walked out the door. i was confident that my ride would be waiting, as promised, in the zoo of people sitting at the baggage claim exit, name signs in hand, waiting to pick up the travel weary passengers who were fortunate enough to set up the ride out. this was going to be a personal first for me, having a ride ready for me at the airport... usually i arrive in a far off exotic country, with nothing but my large backapck and a childlike sense of wonder that is only slightly blended with dread.
the sign with my name on it was no where to be seen. i was furious. soon chan, that durvish fellow, had abandoned me to korea. i hadn't even remembered to right down the name of my emergency contact in the city to call should i find myself in this situation. i opened my laptop and went to work, finding the contact info - a secretive fellow by the code name of mr. ham (thats his real name actually, but the story flows better if we made him a secret agent of sorts).
just w\hen i wrote down the number on the post-it note that had the serial number of my laptop, which i saved to extend my applecare plan and only just then noticed that the number is etched into the computer itself, i heard a page go out over the intercom.
"yada yada yada, a mr patrick gehling go to the east information desk."
maybe the sign name guy had arrived, or had been there for ages, wating for me and had gone out to his car to check on something. i had to find this east information desk. my sense of direction in an airport in terms of north south east west is relaly limited to entrance exit, baggage, gate of departure. and even then, its not that solid.
as it turns out though, the east information gate was right next to me. i literally turned around, and bam, i was there. no floo network necessary. remarkable.
the ride out to my humble abode took about an hour by car, although for me to get into seoul, i think i only need hop on the subway and i shall soon be transported with rapid efficiency and minimal carbon footprint to the city center.
i met my co teacher kim at the base of a tall building, in which i live now. she took me in, and upstairs to the tenth floor where my abode resides. great window view of the city, too bad it was rainy and cloudy today and yesterday.
i went out that night, to the grocery and the nearby mall to find some food and maybe some fresh sheets for the bed. there are sheets on it, but i dont know how ancient they are, and whether or not they have been cleaned is a whole different question, a horse of a different color if you will. needless to say, i didnt find the sheets, but i did find the grocery. tons of great looking food. most of it i have no idea what it is. if tehre is not a defining picture, there is a solid chance i have no idea what it is.
went back to the place, took a shower, listened to some tunes, broke the window shade trying to close it, and went to bed.
sleep didnt last long, as i woke up at first 12 am korea time, then 3 am korea time, then 6 am korea time. im not sure if its becuase im 14 hours ahead of th states and still on that time, or if it was becase i dont ahve an alarm clock, or anyway of making sure i wake up intime to make it to work. im going to say its a combination of the two. first item of order - buy an alarm clock. and some sweet slippers for work and maybe for my crib as well.
sunlight finally began filtering into the apartment as i put on my fresh office digs for my first day at school as a teacher. gah these kids are in fora treat.
only i dont get to teach at all today, or tomorrow. as it turns out, i'm the one in for a treat.
In my first five minutes upon arrival, i am already publicly shamed by the principle. i, in my naivity, did not have both hands out in front of me when i shook hands with the principle and vice president. as a result, in the process of shaking hands, my offending phalanges are lightly chopped witha karate style blow. my co teacher is like, oh god, so sorry, he didnt know . then she looks at me dead serious like take your hands out of your pockets when you talk to elders here. i havent put my hands in my pockets since, even when we stood outside for a solid hour in the cold light drizzle. hands were and are out, and ready to not offend any elders. lesson number one - forever burned into my skull - no hands in pockets.
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