The Various Musings and Ramblings of an Educated Layabout

Abandoned Theme Park ... or is it?

In June I led my friends on an expedition to find an abandoned theme park in the centre of Seoul. On a blazing hot day we started off with an adventurer's lunch - a McDonalds. True hearty food for an afternoon of searching. We searched and walked aimlessly with a direction of vague north until we found a park. The inside the park after following a stream we discovered the theme park. To find it full ... of  children and English speaking edu-tainers. Not so abandoned.

 

Based around the Alice in Wonderland theme - it still was a pretty surreal thing to find in the middle of a big city.

 

Time Progresses

And a lot of things happen. Like usual I left my blog to grow dusty and ferment in emptiness. Mainly because I was feeling sad and I don't like to dwell. But now I am happy! Days at work go by fast and I feel less and less put upon. Although it is still busy as ever and I'm looking forward to holidays and weekends more than ever.

I had my 24th birthday with some old Seoulmates as Shannon put it in her birthday speech. I ended it all with a big mug of English breakfast tea and pancakes at Butterfingers in Gangnam. It's open til 3am which was amazing! Korea really is 'my kind of place' :)

 

Work drags on

It's been a particularly busy few weeks. Parent/Teacher conferences, project themed month, display work, cleaning classrooms after hoards of ten students. All very exhausting but I still manage to fit it in the day. Without breaks though. I'm also working at home a fair bit. Tiring. But I have an income and rent paid which is so much more than I had  3 months ago. I find the idea of looking forward to things/trips/days off  great way to get through it all. Next week I have a three day weekend due to a national holiday. I will be staying in Seoul and resting. Celebrating a friend's birthday on the Sunday. Then maybe head to a theme park on the Monday. I need to save money!

 

Cirque du Soleil Varekai

 
Saturday 7th May 2011

We booked the tickets a month ago. Located in a big blue big top around the back of the Jamsil baseball stadium I found myself dressed up (we'd decided on a formal dressed up style despite the laid back fashion of everyone else!) and ready to be impressed. I adored the performance and clapped so much my hands hurt.  Whenever I hear of  a Cirque du Soleil performance near me in the future I think I'll find myself reviewing  my budget to find the ticket price - seriously worth it!

 

Down Time

I haven't blogged for a while because I felt sad. The owner of the school took a dislike to me and I took it personally. The workload weighed upon my shoulders and I became someone who cries on a night. Then I got over it. She doesn't like me, big deal, she still has to pay me. Plus I enjoy working with the children - even when they're playing up. Although my enjoyment levels dip slightly when they decide drooling and running around the room in front of my director is more preferable to learning the new song for the competition next week.

Even A in the oldest class, when she ribs me constantly I'm cracking up. She's given a long and complicated nickname that encapsulates everything that annoys her 'Bobbie slow as snail Young teacher'. For some reason, she gets frustrated very easily by the smallest things that do not affect her. So, takes it out on me. I think my laughter response further fires the frustration.

My moods improved as I slowly gained confidence in dealing with the younger children and I realised that if worst came to worst I still have options. Also a flurry of national holidays, well two, and a big children's day performance for the foreign teachers meant no regular staff meetings. Something I enjoyed immensely. Also I had something to look forward - days off and cirque du soleil tickets. I loved both the time off and the performance!

Only four more weeks til the next national holiday which is a three day weekend - oh the options! I think I'm staying in Korea and probably going to Busan for some beachtime in June. 

So, while I use the day off to catch up on lesson plans and ideas to use to protect myself during staff meeting times as it is raining. And dream of the future, because whatever happens it is bright and I am lucky. And Dad keeps reminding me to save up money for it :p

Cherry Blossoms make my happy

I woke up refreshed early Saturday and went to see cherry blossoms in bloom!

 

Sarah - The Clumsy One

In my 'forest mammal' homeroom (my class has a particularly amusing animal name) Sarah has warmed up to me considerably over the last few weeks. I remember I spent the first week or so genuinely worried she didn't like me, only to discover this not engaging eye contact gig of hers is universal to all races, creeds and colours. She's just a little awkward and perhaps can not really see out of her smudged up, child-friendly, bendy red rimmed glasses.

She also has these massive indoor slippers. Huge blocks of red plastic Crocs that she lumbers around the room in, often dragging her feet as if she were deformed in some way. She'd pass for an awesome Frankenstein's monster in the future. Sarah's not a graceful swan either, her motor skills leave something to be desired. But isn't that what's loveable about five year olds? You never see a five year old gymnast and go 'aaaaw', you'd react in terms of 'genuis ooOOOoo'; whereas after sometime Sarah makes you want to give her a big hug.

Yeah, after school I'll have a little chuckle about her antics, but after slipping down the stairs on the way to the subway today I've become to realise there's a lot I see of myself in Sarah. I was, and still am, the little awkward kid with the thick glasses trundling round the room like a small elephant. And 15 years or so later I wouldn't have it any other way.

IV Drips and Teeny Tiny Water Sips

Only one month in and I've already taken a sick day. Oh no. But I was seriously sick. Death's door, poisoned by food and alcohol.  Granted probably my fault for mixing beer and barbeque on a school night. Well, completely my fault. I was puking in taxis, puking in bathrooms, puking in my room. Needless to say it was graphic, nasty and wrong. Sorry if this is openly gross but the situation was awful. I also have no shame left in me anymore.

And the next morning I was white as a sheet, continuously vomiting. Couldn't make it to school. Managed a hot shower. I managed to get the news to my workmates as they were leaving to go to work that I was sick. And thankfully at 10.30am, the lovely Korean teacher and owner's husband came in the school bus to pick me up. From there, they whisked me off to the school where the director took one look at me and told them to get me to a doctor. I've never wanted an IV drip before but I felt so dehydrated and crappy that in my head I thought to myself - if it's offered I'm not saying no. Needless to say it was offered and for two blissful hours I laid being dripped electrolytes and other beautiful bodily fluids back into my body. After a little child supervision at work, mainly due to there being no one else there and miscommunication I headed home early to nap and rest.

I have learnt my lesson. Work hard. Take care of your self. Then ensure you're fully taking care of yourself. Leave playing hard to the weekend. I also have a lot of dry cleaning to be carried out due to the aftermath -_-

Anyway, three days later I'm all good :)

Back in the Saddle

After three bumpy weeks I'm gradually getting into the swing of things. Kindergarten is a different kettle of fish from anything. But my homeroom class are loveable characters and I do let them loose a little which annoys the school I think. Like if May and HW wanna walk around the room and be kids in the little free time they're given I let them. When I say walk though it often descends into some kind of crazy running rough housing with books and toys and a lot of paper.

HW is perhaps one of my favourites. He's one energetic kid. However, even his parents and grandparents have expressed concerns on his wild side. And it is now my responsibility to try curb his wild outbursts. Basically I'm improving his social skills. It's mindblowing to consider this my job now. Occasionally I get little nightmares of my epic failure and HW's imminent future as a 15 year old gangster all because Bobbie Teacher didn't make him sit down enough!

I told my Mum on the phone sometimes I wake up and wonder where the kids are and think 'God, who's supervising them!'. In my half awake mode I genuinely worry where they are and why aren't they in my line of sight. Then my logic kicks in and I think why on earth would they be in my apartment?

One of the girls Sarah, with the funky glasses and selective deafness, warmed to me a little this week. It was her birthday, so immediately Tuesday and Wednesday she walked in the door with a giant smile on her face. This was a real departure from her usual demeanor - either ignoring teachers and greetings or a little grouchy.

The school had a big birthday party for everyone whose birthdays fell in this month, Sarah was over the moon. She wore a strawberry dress, new red glasses and managed to keep her hairstyle intact til lunchtime. I had hugs, talk and smiles all day. The new relationship continued throughout the week where she began to speak more and more. At first I thought she didn't like me but I guess it just took awhile.  Plus her mother brought in the biggest and creamiest cake ever. I love birthday parties at the school now!

May is still wary with me. Plus he is quite unruly generally as a person. I think he just likes to test boundaries and stretch patiences! I've changed the system - now everyone has to earn stars. Before it was 5 star system then losing stars for bad manners. Now I want to see them earning them with good behaviour. After a week, when the winners get some bribery/prizes - it should get some results! Fingers crossed. 

Slowly but Surely

Man, I feel like I got a mini rollercoaster of self doubt going on right now. I'm bi-winning as Charlie Sheen would put it. On the one hand I do like the job and by the end of the looong day I get a sense of 'wow - I did just do a lot of work' - on the other hand I find out I get paid the least. But then I think, well, put it in perspective to where you were 3 weeks ago.

Also I'm slowly learning how to manage a class of six 5 year olds. It involves a GIANT number of activities and a massive vat of energy. Haven't quite learnt the knack of controlling 4 year olds yet. Not even sure if it's possible. I currently have them for story time twice a week after school. Thing is it's a 50 minute slot, so today around the 30 minute mark we hit the playroom and watched TV with the owner's son!

My homeroom class if getting good, although May is still testing the limits. They're one up from the baby class so I guess they're still getting used to being considered older and having an English speaking teacher full time. So I guess we're all learning at the same time.

Onwards and upwards!