I am reminded of that phrase as I sit down to write tonight. For the past 24 hours, I've had only un-nice noises filling out my mental landscape. Actually, it's a singular nagging voice, mainly. The one that reminds me of how I got here.
Wait, where are you going?
I'm only gonna concentrate on the good and the unique things of the past week.
The hypocrisy might cheer me up after all.
Firstly, the apartment (officetel) is starting to take shape:
When the Ryan Adams poster went up I officially moved in.
Here's the view out of my window:
I started planning and teaching my own lessons for real this week. We're still expected to follow the syllabus pretty closely, but I try to divert every lesson and give the kids something that is less "disneyfied" and has my stamp on it. Many of the students also have an aptitude for English that is far beyond what the program requires as they have lived in an English speaking country for a few years. For instance, I think of this girl as "the Kiwi" as she came up to me after the first lesson and told me that she lived in Christchurch for 2 years:
She didn't want her picture taken. Perhaps I therefore shouldn't post it on the internet but she is one of my favourites so that makes it okay. And not only because when she found out it was my birthday she brought me a block of Cadbury's!
That's actually a common part of the school culture here. Children bring candy to their teacher and often expect it back in return. We are advised not to fall for this trap as they will soon treat you as a vending machine. When I am given candy I offer it to someone else. If the mood catches me I'll mutter "no-one ever gives me what I really want" under my breath, before coming back into the room with an upbeat "see you next week for when Young-Ho learns prepositions!"
I certainly don't give candy. Teacher Son-na and I held firm on this one on Tuesday and resisted the demands of two particularly persistent clients (I was about to point to the fat kid and say "too much candy is already your problem, sunshine," but remembered the story of the golden haired boy who held too much faith in the importance of telling the truth, and what happened to him, the poor martyred little turd.) Anyway, we thought we'd found peace when they walked out but the little shits locked us in the staff room and we had to call the lady that delivers the milk to rescue us.
Which fulfilled two of my longest-standing fantasies in one hit. Talk about kicking goals all round.
Speaking of which, we (Stephen, Marina, Sarah and I) went to watch the Seongnam vs. Melbourne match on Wednesday, which Seongnam just took out in the last 10 minutes 3 goals to 2. Stephen and I sledged Kevin Muscat through the entire match and I like to think the big dumb meataxe could hear us. "I've got your number, Muscat!" "Muscat's a wanker!" and my favourite "Hey! Muscat! Go back to your own country!!!" etc. Which is to say that the foreign supporters of Seongnam FC loosened up a bit during their second home fixture. I got a really shithouse picture of the team before my camera went cactus:
Much of the reason for the jocularity (there's a word I won't be exposing to the candy-munchers!) was the plentiful (another one!) soju Stephen brought with him, which we began consuming at a galbi restaurant before the match:
A tenner from all concerned covered for that entire table! That came with 3 bottles of soju I'll have you know. (Equivalent to 3 bottles of wine). In fact, soju is so bloody cheap here it's a boozer's delight! Went to the supermarket this arvo, 6 pack of soju: 6 bucks! the most expensive? VB six pack (warm, in a can), $17.50!
But enough about alcohol because it's boring.
Here's a picture of me doing something Korean:
Eating kimchi that is! Here's another one:
Getting my picture taken (by the kiwi) while surrounded by a bunch of my students, giving what is known as the Asian salute. Asian kids do it all the time in pictures! These are some of my year 6 boys. The one just over my right shoulder is a bright young lad; cheeky as all hell and already popular with the ladies. Reminds me of me. He's got a strong left boot too. The boys were mid-game when I interrupted them, but it didn't bother them; they seem to like Lachlan, their new American teacher:
Here's some adorable kiddies having a running race:
But this is the standard reaction I get from Korean women, in case you wondered:
That's right: giggling, and trying to hide behind their sleeves. Which is fine. I had a really nice time in the playground today. The adults of the lunchroom are so bloody serious, with their bowing and their silence and their indoor slippers. I know! I turn up for the first day at school and my minder says "In my country, we wear slippers indoors because of the dust." I repress another urge, this time to say "in my country, people who wear slippers keep their teeth in a jar" but out of international friendship and tolerance I don't!
Life is very fast and I'm falling into the trap of thinking that if I didn't capture it on film then it didn't happen because I don't remember it, so I'll end with another picture and another goal I've kicked this week:
I have the gas connected now and can therefore cook pasta with tomatoes and onions. Mmmm, sounds delicious.
See y'all after I get back from Gangwon-do next week! Love, Lach.
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