The Weekend Blues

Contrary to appearances in the photos i've posted, I have more than one shirt.

The weekend has been a bit slow, once again, but it's probably a good thing to be able to spend some time to relax before next weekend's flight to Busan.

Friday ended up being a fairly long day. As I mentioned previously, we had kindergarden kids in the morning - although it was only for an hour an a half. I was tasked, with another teacher, to take charge of the Science room. We had to teach them the wonders of volcano-eruptions with the help of Vinegar and Baking Soda. I even added in some red colorant there to make it look more lava-like. I believe they took away two things from our lesson:
1- It's cool to play with volcanoes, and
2- Vinegar and Baking Soda really smell bad (though I wouldn't be surprised if they told their friends that lava smells bad)

Afterwards, all of the teaching staff (foreign and korean) were taken out to lunch at a nearby Korean restaurant by management. We ate a variation of a soup called 'Shabu Shabu' that cooks at the table, with a plethora of side-dishes ranging from Kimchi to Crab. They even bought everyone the alcohol of their choice, between Mekju (Beer) and Soju. If there's one thing to take away from this, it's that the staff is treated very, very well. And it makes sense; heck, if someone feeds me and buys me beer, it's a recipe for me to like you. Yes, i'm easy.

Later during the day, we had a couple of hours of training, followed by the 'GEC Olympics' - a series of sporting events with the idea being to promote bonding in between all teachers. Out of 16 or 17 foreign teachers, there are about 10 of us that are new, so it helps everyone get to know each other. From what i've seen, Korea does have a very team-first mentality. I like that.

Last night, Saturday, a few of us went to a restaurant called a 'Chicken Hof'. It's a place to eat chicken and drink beer (which is pictured above). All that was missing was my hockey game (Go Sens! 3-2 win!). The person beside me is Ivy, a Korean teacher. Ivy isn't her actual name, though - it's her english name. Most adults and kids who have studied English and gone abroad usually have an English name that they go by, since their regular names are a little hard to remember and pronounce correctly. They pick that name themselves, sometimes at a young age, so it's not unusual to hear a name that may sound a little strange. I've heard of some Yoshis, Marios and Luigis (see a pattern?). My co-teacher's english name is Shine. Again, a bit strange at first, but after addressing someone for several weeks, you really don't think much about the meaning behind the name.

After the chicken hof, we all went to noraebang once again. Third trip's the charm - I finally brought my camera along. Because of the flash, you can't quite see what's written on the screen, but you get a fairly good idea of the setup. Two TV screens on the side, and the one big screen in the middle. They also have some kind of 'echo' sound effect when you're singing in the microphone, which might make you think you sound better than you actually are (which it sure does, for me.)

My camera is able to capture videos, and capture a video it did. A terribly embarassing rendition of Weezer's Buddy Holly being performed by 5 dancing-hooligans who had a wee-bit too much beer. Where can you find a copy of this video you say?

Nowhere. I'll make sure that the footage never sees the light of day.

Looking to the week ahead, it should be an interesting one. Teacher evaluations begin on Monday, so i'm a little bit nervous - but I think i'll be alright. Hope everyone has a good week back at home.. Enjoy the season premiere of Boston Legal tomorrow. One more week until Dexter 'officially' hits the airwaves. For those of us who don't wait for things to be official, i'd just like to add that the Season Premiere was excellent.

Have a good one.
(Go Sens)