Moved.

My winter vacation wasn't much of a vacation. Instead of relaxing and enjoying myself I spent all of it packing and moving and unpacking (which I haven't yet finished). I wanted to move and Christmas day the landlord made the decision easier by saying I either had to get rid of the dog or move. I still have to find a new home for the dog (that makes me so sad but it's hard to find a good home here that will allow dogs) but at least I'm out of the horrible home I was in before. The old home was good in the summer and fall because of the little outside rooftop area, but once it started to get colder the bigger problems started to show up. The landlord didn't get the heating floor mat that was promised, the living room (and sometimes kitchen) ceiling rained and water ran down the walls and behind the book shelves and sofa. [Black spots are mold - it was all over along this part of the wall/ceiling, and all along the floor and wall behind the sofa and book shelf.]The landlord's explanation - it's because of the difference in temperature. Her solution - open the door or windows for an hour or so every day. Ummmm... so I should make the inside the same as the outside in the winter???? When she decided that she didn't agree to provide heating for the living room??? Also, the water pipes froze so quickly that the hot water had to be running a little bit at all times when it was freezing out. That wouldn't be a bad thing if it were dryer or if the bathroom had a vent but it didn't so in order to use the bathroom I'd either need an umbrella or the bathroom ceiling had to be mopped from the dripping water. Ugh.
So I was told Christmas Day that I had to move. The next day I found a new home to move to, with Thursday being the moving day. Then Wednesday the new landlord decided she wanted to renovate the home instead and so changed her mind. Ack!!! So I found a new home on Wednesday and moved on Thursday. The new home is great except for the tiny bedroom. It's got a nice living room [still a tad disorganized] with a little balcony-ish outside space through large sliding windows, a decent kitchen , a wonderful bathroom - bathtubs in small apartments here are rare (although once again, no vents so the window has to be opened a little to let the steam out), and a nice back storage/utility area where the washing machine is.
It's been a stressful week but at least I'm in a much nicer home. :)
But... Now I need a vacation!!!!

typhoon

I so wish I had my camera right now. I am feeling so lost without a working camera. Especially when things like this happen.
Last night we were visited by Typhoon Kompasu. I've been in Korea for a long time but have never felt a typhoon quite like this. Being in a little rooftop house is a bit of a different experience from living in a sheltered little studio suite. The windows were shaking and rattling all night and something was making a very loud groaning noise. Then the little storage room door flew open and started banging (only held closed by a little brick leaning against it). Then the bookshelf type shelves I had outside were ripped apart and the shelves were flying around bouncing off the railings. The chair outside is on wheels and was rolling around. Crash. Bang. Groan. Rattle. Someone must have come up at one point because when I went out to pick up the pieces of shelf to stop them they were already gone. To where, I'm not sure. And the chair was on its side. I knew someone had been up there because there were two more bricks holding the little storage room door. More banging and crashing. A window somewhere breaking (the home right across). And THEN a bigger noise. Opened the door to go out to see what had happened and couldn't open the door. Part of the roof was blocking the door. Half of the front room roof top had come off and some of the tile had come crashing down. The landlord's daughter-in-law was then up with another woman trying to tie thick ribbon-like string to hold the rest of the roof down. Oh. The 3 large kimchi pot lids are gone. As is the large mirror that was out there. Hmmm. Don't see any little pieces of mirror anywhere but did hear something that sounded like it broke.
Schools were postponed two hours so I finally got to try to go to sleep for a little bit once the wind slowly started to die down.
I'm tired.

moving in

This might give you some idea of the battle I've been slowly winning the last few weeks. These were taken the day I moved in.The front entry with fridge and shoe cupboard to left. That is the doorbell/door phone hanging on the right.The kitchen. The sink and table are out of view to the left. The sliding doors are to a small room (pretty much just the width of the doors) for the washing machine and gas panel. The door to the main room is behind me.The main room with the door to the kitchen behind me. That is the bathroom door ahead. Note the UGLY tape that is covering a 4" gap in the window left by the air conditioner hose. That was rather quicky changed (the tape was coming off in spots and a cold breeze was coming in, not to mention the fact that it is such UGLY tape).The main room. My bed is there under the mess. Instead of a closet, I have a clothing rack (seen right). :( Note the UGLY tape that is covering a gap left by the TV and Internet cable. Once again, that was quickly fixed.
I've done a lot of washing and scrubbing (starting with the fridge, of course), and still have a bit more to do. Everything that I could move (including the fridge) has been completely re-arranged since I took the pictures and I am gradually getting things put away. I do have a fairly big problem, though, in that this place has about half of the kitchen storage space that my last place had, and 100% less misc large thing storage space (my last place had the large balcony area in which I kept my fan, bags of shoes, etc when not in use). What to do...
Oh. To clarify something... in Korea when you move into a new place, unless it is brand new, it has most likely NOT been cleaned in a while. I don't think this place had been cleaned for a few months. And the kitchen was coated in a sticky orangy grime that took A LOT of scrubbing. Basically everything that was already here was coated in a layer of dust. And the bathroom. Well... some of the bathroom was the FIRST thing to be cleaned as soon as I got here, and of the rest of it followed fairly soon. I can't stand a dirty bathroom!

new home, new job

Saturday was such a long day. As my flight was delayed, I didn't arrive in Korea until 9 AM after only about 2 hours of sleep (I don't sleep well on planes). As soon as I got to my friends home a couple of hours later, I had to rush to get my stuff together, as the mover arrived at 12. The mover that my school usually uses is a 73 year old man. He was carrying 3 boxes at a time on his back. He was so tired by the time the truck was loaded (yes, I did help as much as he would let me). Then once at my new place the assistant manager of my school was there with my key and helped unload the truck. It is surprising how much stuff one can acquire over a couple of years. When it is all put away, it doesn't look like much, but when it is all in boxes and bags in the open, it looks like a ridiculous amount of stuff.

My new home is basically 2 rooms. Going in the door, you enter the front hall and kitchen area (kitchen sink and stove to the right). A sliding door is on the same wall as the entry door and goes into a little closet-ish area where the gas heater and washing machine are. Straight ahead from the entry door is another door which leads to the main room with the bed, dresser and standing clothes rack (no closet, unfortunately). The bathroom door is to the far left. It isn't the smallest home I've had here but it definitely isn't the largest. It is SO dirty! I think who ever lived there last wasn't so clean, and no one has lived there in a month or so. Dust has built up everywhere and there is sort of a layer of scum on a lot of things (especially in the kitchen). From the time I arrived at my new home, I've been scrubbing and cleaning. My hands are so sore from all of the scrubbing! I'm no where near being finished, either. :S
I haven't started unpacking anything. I don't want to put my things away in dirty drawers and cupboards!
My home is less than 10 minutes walk from my school. The area is great. Coffee shops and such EVERYWHERE!! There is a huge Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf right beside my school. Dangerous, actually! ;)
Yesterday was my first day of work, but this whole week is just observation. Not so fun. Sitting watching other people teach is not all that entertaining after the first hour or so. I'd rather just teach.
My work day is 9 to 4:30. Not bad.
The kindergarten runs 9:30 to 2:30. My kindy class is the Rose class, with around 18 students, all 5/6 years old (Korean 7 years old). So far it seems very easy. There are 2 English teachers for each class; one native speaker (foreigner) and one Korean English speaker; as well as one Korean teacher/helper. While one teaches, the other has prep time/ break time. Sweet! The entire day is set up in 30 minute blocks.
9:30 - 10: snack/play time. The Korean helper sets everything up for snack and lunch.
10 - 10:30: Circle Time, which seems to be a combination of reading and phonics (there is a book for it). (2 English teachers alternate every other day)
After that the order and content of the blocks changes around a bit. For Monday it was:
10:30 - 11: Art (Break time for me)
11 - 11:30: Phonics
11:30 - 12: Lunch time. We take the kids down to the cafeteria and each class has one long table. Korean food is served to the kids in trays. We help ourselves to what we want of the Korean food. They also have salad for the teachers (I am told that it was a huge ordeal to get this).
12 - 12:30: Theme English. To do with what ever the theme is that week/month. Could be anything from catching up with other book work or learning songs. My kids are learning the song, "All I want for Christmas". Yes, the full song, not a short children's version.
12:30 - 1: Language Practice. (Break time for me)
1 - 1:30: Math. (Break time for me)
1:30 - 2: Phonics. (Break time for me)
2 - 2:30: Reading
Then the kids get ready to go and we take them down to catch the bus.
From 3 until 4:25 I then teach their Super Elite Power Class, which is a group of 8 students, all 6/7 years old, who have been coming to this school since they were 3/4 years old. Their English is excellent. I teach them reading, writing, grammar, etc. Earlier this month they finished reading a short novel (something like Elmer and the Dragon) and wrote a 2 page book report on it. It is very organized, as the program is standardized - all of the schools have the same programs. Makes things fairly easy.

jobless and homeless

Well... This sucks.
For now I am jobless and homeless. My life here is all in boxes stacked up in a friend's home in Seoul. As her home is only one small room, my stuff is taking up about half of it. : I'm sleeping on the floor space that is left.
I'm applying for many jobs and going on a few interviews here and there. I'm sticking to those I can find within Seoul.
Some offers are for starting ASAP, some don't start until anywhere from early to late November. Anything after that is way too late for me.
I'll let you know when I do finally get a job and new home.
It is depressing having to live out of a suitcase.

walking home

Just some random pics along the route up the hill towards my home. I find the area very interesting. A bit dirty, yes, but interesting none-the-less. There are a four ways I can take to get up the hill (up two different sides). Which way I take depends on where I am coming from and how I am feeling. This is but one of them; one of the more interesting ways in that it is partly little paths that no cars can go on. I live on a hill, right near the top. It is like a little maze of streets going every which way. In a car, I only know one way to get up as it is all one way streets.going uplooking backa little set of stairs up aheada bigger set of stairshanging over the wall just before the stairsa Gingko Biloba tree above the stairs - I love Gingko trees!a vine growing up the wall beside the stairssome sort of squash plant hanging over another wall past the stairsKeep going.up some more

WTF is it??????

I was on my way out. I shut the door and then decided to change my shoes so came back in. I looked up and above my bed, saw a dark thing on the wall. ACK!!!!! Scary. It is the same as a thing that jumped at me about a month ago in my bathroom - I went into the bathroom and it jumped at me - only THIS one, is about 3 times the size of the other one. I though the one in the bathroom was bad. Remember that the trim around my room is about 2 inches wide. Ugh. I grabbed my camera first, as I wanted to find out what it was, and was trying to think of what I should do. After taking pics, I grabbed the fly swatter. It took me a while to get up the courage to get close enough, as the smaller one jumped all the way across my bathroom. I can't imagine how far this thing could jump. I smacked it as hard as I could and then jumped back with a bit of a yelp/screech/strange unhuman sound. It fell behind the headboard of my bed. I went slowly to look and it wasn't moving (there is about a 1 foot space between the headboard and the wall where it fell). I tested it with the fly swatter. It moved a little and so I had to squish it more with a bag of things that was sitting there. Then I noticed the eggs. It was full of eggs, I guess, as it left them all along the wall where it fell and in a blob on the floor. I had to make sure I squished all of them. I dont' want more of them. I've no clue where it came from, though. How it got in. I suppose it would be easy for it to get in where the air conditioner hose goes through the wall, as there is about a 1 inch space around it. I think I will have to seal that. Needless to say, I was late meeting my friend. And I didn't sleep well that night when I got home. I kept having to look around to make sure that there wasn't another one of these things.

a centipede?

Ugh. This one was in my home, on my wall. I was in the bathroom brushing my teeth and happened to look up to see this thing moving across the wall near my bed. I ran over, with my toothbrush hanging out of my mouth, and quickly grabbed my camera to take a pic before trying to smack it with a notebook. I thought I hit it, but it fell behind my book shelf, which is too full of books to just move, so I left it. And tried not to think about it. Then, as I was getting into bed, I looked across the room and right infront of the bathroom door, a big black thing was moving. I turned on the light and there it was. yikes. I find insects very interesting, but NOT when they are on me or in my home. I caught it, but then had nightmares about things like it crawling in my bed. for reference, the white trim around my room is about 2 inches wide.

my new home

the wall:This might give you an idea of what I meant in terms of the wall going in and out. The part sticking out on the left, I am pretty sure is the drains from the floor above. The bit in the middle (the opposite wall has the same thing) sticks out about 25 cm. It makes fitting things in this room a bit annoying, especially since it is such a small place to begin with.my kitchen:I do like my kitchen. I have more cupboard space and counter space (even though the microwave is on it). My fridge, however, isn't so great. It is a mini fridge. Going from a normal size fridge to a mini fridge is NOT an easy thing to do.
my bathroom:YES!!!! I have a sink and a mirror!!! (There was no mirror, and no sink in the bathroom of my last home, only a faucet coming out of the wall near the floor.)

AND... There is a cabinet in the bathroom, and a toilet paper holder. (The last one only had a corner shelf thingy above the toilet.)
the enclosed balcony:my washing machine that I am slowly figuring out (It is VERY different from all of the others that I have had here).I do like the balcony part.I do find it a bit strange, though, in that I have to climb through a window to get to it.Some of the windows slide open to a little gardenish ledge,and a great view of Namsan Tower (Seoul Tower).

or not...

I've had a busy week. Every night it was something different... and my home is still not arranged, as the closet that my school got for me is about 2cm bigger than the space I told them it had to fit in. So, I have to rearrange my entire room in order for it to fit somewhere; anywhere. The table they got me is also too big. I asked for a little Korean style fold up table, as my home is so small. They got me a normal height table.... with only one chair.
Word itself is good. I am enjoying it, and I love my kids. I think my class is the best in the school (and not just because they are my class).
SO.... TODAY I am flying to Japan. I found that out only YESTERDAY!!!!! I was supposed to go in 2 weeks, but they found out yesterday that because my other school sent in my release forms on February 28th, my VISA actually finished then, instead of the 9th, as my actual VISA says. There is a 2 week grace period after the VISA ends, which would put it at the 14th.
I am going to Fukouka. I'm not exactly sure where it is... somewhere in the south of Japan. The other times I have gone on VISA runs, I've gone to Osaka. I don't know where anything is in Fukouka. I had told them right from the beginning that I wanted to go on a weekend so that I could actually do something there, or see something while I am there, rather than just going and getting the VISA. I hate going to a country and not seeing anything while there. It seems like a waste (I did that the last 2 times, as I had no money then).
AND... they booked my tickets yesterday afternoon and only booked my hotel for Monday night, as I have to pay the others (the VISA run now takes 2 days). I had asked them to just add the other two nights but they said they couldn't as it was too late. AND... I asked my boss to print out my e-ticket for me. He said okay, went and printed out a page and handed it to me. I assumed that it was my e-ticket. It was only my itinerary. I HAVE NO PRINTER. I would have done it myself, but I didn't get the email until later that evening. So NOW I have to go find some place that will print it out for me. I also didn't have a chance to figure out what I can do when I am there. I was going to use the next couple of weeks to look it up. Now I am going to a place that I know nothing about. AND I don't yet have a hotel for tonight. I am hoping that if I go to the hotel that they booked me in for Monday, that maybe they will have a room available. And I haven't yet checked what I am allowed to take on the plane. I haven't yet packed anything and I have to leave my home less than 4 hours.

I'm baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaack!!

I FINALLY got my net and phone line installed. After more than a week of waiting. Now I just have to wait for my closet and book shelf, pots and pans and other such things. I was told to expect them today/this evening sometime (my boss told me before I left work today). Hopefully that won't be postponed yet again. My home is still a mess, as I can't really organize anything without the shelves and closet and such. I need to know how much will fit before I do anything else.

Today was the second day of classes. It went fairly well, I suppose. I am still not yet into the hang of it, as it is very different from the other schools I have worked in.
The schedule isn't very strict. It is basically:
9:00-9:40 welcoming students, getting coats and bags put away, etc.
9:40-10:40 class time with 6 year old Milky Way A class (my homeroom class)
10:40-11:00 snack time (with my homeroom class)

11:00-11:30 class time with 5 year old Moon class (younger 3 year olds)
11:30-12:00 class time with 5 year old Rainbow class (older 3 year olds)
12:00-1:10 lunch time (with my homeroom class)
1:10-2:10 class time with 6 year old Milky Way B class
2:10-2:30 circle time with my class and getting kids organized to leave (getting coats, etc)
We don't have to follow that schedule exactly... It depends on the kids, really. Today I didn't start the Moon class until around 10:10 and then finished the Rainbow class at around 11:45. I basically let Stephanie (a Kyopo: Korean that grew up overseas - she is from New Zealand), the Milky Way B class teacher decide, as I do things the same time as her, only opposite.
I am surprised at how much work it takes to fill an hour of class time with a bunch of 4 year olds (the Korean 6 year olds are Western age 4).
I love my class. They are all so sweet and relatively well behaved. I have 12 now. Almost the entire time I am with my class, my Korean partner (she doesn't speak much English) is there. The Milky Way B class is a bit more problematic. There are a few boys in there that are very obnoxious and overbearing. So far, the Korean teacher that is in that room has not done much to stop such behaviour. If it continues much longer, I will complain about it. It can get a bit stressful trying to deal with things like that without neglecting the other students that actually want to learn and pay attention. Ignoring them is not an option, as they are extremely loud. Both days so far, they were shouting "Panties" instead of every word in the songs we were singing. I asked them if they were babies. That stopped it for a little while, as they didn't like being called babies, but then they got over that and started again.

Today's snack was not milk and cookies or anything like that... it was milk and little dried fish that the kids here seem to love.Yuck.

still waiting...

I have to wait yet another day for everything to be set up... my phone, net, cable... and I am still waiting for my water cooler, closet, bookshelves, etc.
Frustration.
The students started today. I am the 6 year old (Korean age... so for the rest of us, 4 years old) class teacher. There are a total of around 20 6 year olds, split into 2 classes. I have one and Stephanie, a Korean from New Zealand has the other. We do switch for one hour after lunch. My group is great. I have 11 in my room, and they are all fairly well behaved. Stephanie has some very over active boys with attitudes in hers. For one hour during the day, I also teach the 5 year old (actual age 3) classes (half an hour each). They really are babies. A couple of the kids were crying the whole time. One of mine was crying for a little while after arriving in the morning, but got over it fairly quickly. Many of them have never really been away from their moms, so it is not unexpected.
I still want to post some pics from the last school (the graduation, etc) before I post ones of my new school. But I have to have my net set up do to anything.
It was so cold here today. It rained almost all weekend, and today it was snowing. I hate the cold.

busy

Well, I am now moved into my new home. I don't yet have my telephone or net set up. I'm hoping to get that done this week, but I'm not sure if that will happen or not. Moving is sooooo stressful. I didn't really sleep all weekend, due to packing and such. Now I have to figure out where to put everything. My new home only has one small wardrobe that is only shelves. Maybe 1/4 of my clothes fit in it. There is no where to actually hang up clothes. I have to ask my new school to get me a closet or dresser or something like that. I am still waiting for my water cooler, too.
It will take me a while to figure out the area. Where my home is, it is like a maze of little streets, some too small for cars to go down. It is in the hills, almost at the top of a hill. There are two entrances to my building. One on the first floor, where my home is, and another on the 3rd floor. Once I am settled in I will post some pictures. It is really an interesting area. It is almost right below Namsan Tower (Seoul Tower).