Yesterday, Sunday, I met up with a Kiwi teacher called Richard - who knew someone - who knew Jenna in Seoul. Anyway Jenna and friends were visiting Busan for the weekend so we got the InterCity bus to Busan - about an hour away.

We visited the UN Cemetary - lots of lovely sculpted trees...

and this guard on the gate - who reminded me of Michael Jackson - I think it was the gloves
And here they give the numbers and nationalities of those who died - I was surprised that the biggest number was from UK.

Here's Jenna and Richard outside the very flash toilets

And this was our lunch - cold noodle soup. As it was a hot day - probably around 30 C - my first cold noodle soup proved to be the perfect antidote. I enjoyed it so much I went and had it for dinner at my local when I got back home

Saturday: I went to find a market I'd heard about. It was underwhelming - but I later discovered that it really only gets going properly every 5th day - so it was on dates ending in 4 and 9 - shame I went on the 27th. Still now I know. I did take this photo of kimchi pots - it is stored here ?while fermenting.

This is at a downtown supermkt - there are lockers for backpacks etc to be left whilst shopping. And then these lockers - for your wee dogs.... and often you can hear them inside.

These are my new sneakers - I was very proud of this purchase because I had looked at lots and some didn't fit, some were for serious hiking and heavier and some were just more than I wanted to spend (and how am I going to save money if I keep spending it)- these were around NZ$100 - and are lightweight as they are really made for running.

Here are some pics I took last weekend on my walk.

Looking back down - I live to the right of those big apartments that are closest

Scenes from my walk. 

I had planned to go for a early morning walk on weekdays too - but last Monday it was hosing down and then on Tuesday I really didn't feel like it. It has been warmer this week - up to 30 C and by Wednesday evening when it started to cool off in the evening I really felt like a walk so I went for a wander around the streets after dark. But I decided it would be nice to do a shorter walk up the hill in the cool of twilight (7-8pm) so I tried that on Thursday and it was lovely.

On the way home I stopped in at my local restaurant - where I am working my way thru' the menu trying out the different foods. It was udon noodles that night - and baseball - the Doosan Bears vs the Lotte Giants.  I think Doosan might be construction or ship engines or something and Lotte is the main Department Store.

Red Letter Day

Today I finally got 'connected' at my apartment. A lovely man came from KT (I guess that's something obvious like Korea Telecom) and drilled a hole thru' my window frame and then spent ages climbing the pole on the street below - then he called in 2 more guys (in the sunhats) and in the end they relayed more cable over the road and went up that pole ...

And more good news - I am now officially an Alien
I read somewhere that there had been 3 celeb deaths in 3 days - I've figured Michael Jackson and Farrah Fawcett Majors but who was the third?  Now I'm connected at home I may stay more in tune with news.

I went for drinks and dinner tonight with another Kiwi teacher who is obviously way more technically skilled than me - she has been using the fancy equipment at her school to show (relevant) YouTube clips etc. So I think it is time to figure that out as we have the gear at school and no-one uses it! And the kids sure could do with something a bit more interesting.

The actual teaching part of life in Korea is hopefully to be a story of improvement. Some days I would like to just throttle them and feel as if I am getting nowhere - then occasionally I do get through and feel very pleased with myself. Then that is followed by something like the chaos we had yesterday of some classes and it is back to square one. As to how much English is being learnt - well - who knows 

We now have some morning classes - which has seriously eaten into our Korean/English lessons and time on the net. And the new classes have 30 students - which is not the greatest. Our afternoon classes are around 15 or so. Still I can't change that so it's good incentive to try and make interesting lessons.....

I am now doing my Carrie Bradshaw impersonation and writing this on my laptop on my bed.

I'm sure we look alike....

I will post more photos regularly.

The best-laid plans

Well I had good intentions today - in a compromise of my principles I went to Starbucks where they have wireless internet access - so I figured I could download photos to my laptop and then update this with pics. So I bought an expensive coffee and got to work --- but - there's always a but - it turned out I needed to register with my Alien number - but I haven't yet had the results back of my application for Alien Registration so it was back to square one.
However the good news is that my Clear email is back working - so please use this as first preference.
It is Sunday afternoon and the PC Bang (bang is Korean for room) is full of kids playing games. I am probably the only one actually accessing stuff like emails.
On Friday night I went and bought some sneakers after much browsing of the various options. Some didn't fit well when I tried them on but in the end I found a nice light and very comfortable pair from Adidas. I went back up the hill for walks yesterday and this morning - we'd had some rain overnight and it was lovely and misty up the top. It takes me about 40mins up and 30 mins down. The track splits off a few times and I took a wrong turn yesterday - coming out somewhere completely unrecognisable - except that I felt it wasn't far from where I should be. I was very reluctant to retrace my steps back up the hill so cautiously headed off in what I thought was a homeward direction - taking photos all the way in case I needed to backtrack. Fortunately I soon found myself in familiar territory....
In the afternoon I went to the bigger, provincial Art Museum - Changwon is the provincial capital. They had a good sculpture park where I could take a few photos - but not able to photograph inside. The current shows were of Korean kinetic art and some Jean Tinguelly (?sp) works - I think he was ?Dada.
Anyway - I've been here a few hours now - catching up on the past week's emails - I only managed to get back into the Clear ones today - so will head home for some cleaning of my mansion. Hopefully it will take about 10 minutes. There has to be some advantages of living in a shoebox.

getting out and about

Last night I went to my first Korean class. It is run by a lovely young guy called Sonny. He has travelled around the South Island of NZ and was given great hospitality in Dunedin so I'm lucky...
He started me with explaining the alphabet - I'd already been learning it however his explanantions were brilliant and cleared up a lot of the confusion. There were about 15 students (most were English teachers) and each is paired with a Korean volunteer tutor. And it is free. How kind is that? Afterwards we went to one of the two "English" bars in town ... I didn't stay too late - not wanting to miss my bus. But actually there were plenty of buses and even after 10pm there were heaps of people about - lots of kids around 13-16 age - going home after doing further classes at a Private Academy/hagwon. Gee they have it tough I think.

Currently I am having problems with my email - I am unable to access it!
It is very frustrating but hopefully Clear will sort it out in the fullness if time.
In the interim please use this address: julia@davies.net.nz
and if you sent any emails in the last 48 hours - please resend to the new address.
I had a trip to the Immigration Office this morning - to apply for my Alien Registration Card.
I like the idea of being an alien.

Food glorious food

We get lunch every day in the school canteen. It is usually rice, a bowl of meat/fish/tofu soup and kimchi and a couple of small assorted dishes of ...'things'
I just love someone cooking my lunch - I think it costs about $3 a day.

And I have found a nice wee local restaurant nearby and I feel quite comfortable going there by myself. They do Korean 'cheap and cheerful' - I figure I'll work my way thru' the menu then I'll be familiar with a lot more dishes.

Tho' there is one Korean dish that I may be in trouble with - I emailed another teacher here today - placed thru' the same recruitment agent in Dunedin. He was great - said where I can go to Korean classes and invited me to dinner on Thursday. After I accepted he said it was going to be 'boshintang' food - I said I had no idea what it was but no doubt it would be a good opportunity to experience it. Then I asked co-teacher and it turns out to be dog!!!! I may never confirm or deny if I ever do go....

Old hand...

Well it is Day 10 today.
I survived my first week of 'teaching' - I'm not sure it was really teaching - it certainly bore little relation to what I learnt on the Celta course. Me and co-teacher do a kind of double act - sometimes I feel like the gameshow bimbo. Co-teacher is there to explain tricky things to the students in Korean - consequently a lot of Korean is spoken and not so much English. But I figure 'slowly, slowly...'
It was a pretty cruisy week - we only had 3 classes every afternoon so had the morning to prepare. I had thought I'd be working late nights preparing lessons so this is great.
I think they will add more classes soon and also we have to do something on every other Saturday...
But I got to Friday and celebrated with a beer. I had felt like celebrating every night with a beer but decided that may not be such a good habit to get into.
After school on Friday the other English teacher - Jeremy - showed me how to take the bus downtown to the two main shopping areas - including the 2 bookshops with English books. Both the bookshops didn't have big English sections but they did have a good assortment of reading - so it is nice to know. Although Jeremy claims to have a good collection of his own that I can raid - as an English major he reckons it is pretty good.
Weekend - went to town each day to familiarise myself with what is around. And today I visited the main art gallery - they had a series of small exhibitions - photography, watercolour, Chinese calligraphy and some young contemporary art that had some interesting/different/appealing work.
The nicest thing I did tho' was to head off for a walk early-ish this morning. There is a path heading up into the trees/bush from school and I'd been told it was about 30 mins to the top. It was a lovely morning - the usual balmy but not too hot and then shaded in the trees. Lovely and quiet, cuckoo singing.
I passed a couple of outdoor gyms and also at regular staging posts there are various things to exercise on. And lots of people out walking, though most would be over 40. The older women are amazing - immaculately turned out in their walking outfits, charging around. They must be pretty fit - explains why you don't see any overweight older people though it is a different story with some of the kids. And then at one stage the trees parted to reveal a golf course - I will take my camera next time.
Hopefully this week I'll get my Alien Resident card and can then try to get connected at home -then I can post photos.

My how time flies when you're in a new country.
On Sunday I moved from my harbourside hotel to my shoebox apartment.
When I get online, from my apartment, I'll send photos...
I have a new bed (single!), new table (tiny), 2 chairs, dresser, wardrobe and TV stand. I had wondered why the contract didn't stipulate a couch or easy chair - but you guessed it - there isn't room.
So now I'm going for minimalist living. We went to a Walmart/Briscoes type store today and I bought one knife, fork, spoon, one cup, plate, bowl etc etc If I invite someone over I'll go buy another set!
I'm 4 floors up so that covers most of my exercise requirements surely. Sadly no balcony.
And 10 minutes and 1 kilometre from school. Heaps of shops/bars/restaurants all around.
Yesterday I opened a bank account and went for a medical - BP 117/79, pulse 61, height 1.7m, weight 63kg, eyesight good, not colour blind, hearing ok, urine diabetes-free - now awaiting results of Xray and blood test. When that come thru' I apply for my Alien Resident card and armed with that I can get online in my apartment and can then send photos from my laptop...

My temporary accom
view from my room
window cleaner in Shanghai Airport

Well, finally I am here in Korea. 

Packing and tidying my house was a neverending process - almost enough to make me stay home. But it was a bit late by then.

My last night in NZ I managed to get 2 hours of kip...

And then comes the good bit - on the plane and finally relaxing.

Saw 'In Bruges' which I'd never gotten around to. 

And my strategy of sitting in the middle row of seats at the back paid dividends - got all 3 seats to stretch out on for about 5 hours' sleep. Makes all the difference just getting my feet up.

I decided to get rash and try the congee for breakfast - it came with some chicken mince and egg strips. It's been described as gelatinous - but it was quite edible - an Asian version of porridge.

In Shanghai we had to wait on the plane for their health workers to come on board, dressed in white overalls and masked - looking like we'd all contracted the plague. They zapped our foreheads with some red spots light - that determines body temp. Fortunately we must have been ok as they let us off.

And coming in to Korea we had to have our temps taken before going thru' customs - this time they pressed their probe-thing on a  spot behind the ear. So far I seem to be quite healthy.

I was picked up and taken straight to my school - about 40mins drive to Changwon.

Warm 24deg C and quite humid. Lots and lots of tall apartment blocks - and then vast areas of just bush on the hillsides - it keeps it a bit more scenic.

I met the Principal and my Co-teacher and a few others - there is also an American there teaching English so it will be good to have a more experienced person - he's been here 3 years.

My apartment isn't ready till Sunday so my Co-teacher drove me to Masan - about 30mins away - but the built-up area just continues seamlessly so I didn't realise we had gone from Changwon to Masan.

And I'm in a lovely hotel down on the waterfront - lovely vistsa across the harbour - almost reminds me of home.

Right now I'm ready for a long sleep