A very good day

Well, I didn't make it to Toastmasters.
I went into Seoul about 1 pm, met a nice couple who were from Osan and doing touristy stuff in Seoul, met Sae-min, had coffee, then had dinner and coffee with Sunny from the head office.
Not much that was exciting, but a very good day indeed. Plus I met a young Korean girl who teaches English in Seoul, and might be interested in teaching me Korean for one month before real classes start. I even found a cool sweater on sale, and got the guy to take an additional dollar off. My plants are doing well, I found a place to eat tacos (yes real tacos!) Found a great jazz CD store with a very cool owner (you know where my money is going after payday) and found a place to buy international calling cards. (I'll be calling home soon.)
And so it goes

working

So, it is Saturday afternoon. The sun is shining, birds are singing. It is a beautiful day. Where am I? You may well ask. I am at work. Waiting for one student to finish his 3rd try at the level test, and then I will give him an extra class. I tried to talk to Cindy about this, I want 2 of the slower boys to have a different class, one that uses the same materials, but that goes a bit slower than the regular class. I think that if you push them to finish the book, they don't really learn to use the material. Some people just need more time and more space to learn. Bah.
Anyway, I'm excited because tomorrow I will start Toastmasters, and after work Fiona is showing me where the Korean language school is, so I can sign up, and on Monday I'm thinking of starting a health class (mostly weight lifting) because after the health test my taek kong mu sul teacher gave last night, I realized that I am truly pathetic.
And so it goes

well

Well, things aren't going so well at work. Two of our upper level students took the level test, and they went down instead of up. My boss is most upset. Unfortunately she is not very good at communication, and so it gives me some serious stress.
I also have a test today in Taek kong mu sul, and I'm not at all happy about that, because that gives me a bit of stress. I really just want to hit the punching bag and have a good time, but the testing is such a big part of things here that it is impossible to buck the system. I still love the class though.
Saturday I have to go in to the school because startled turtle was one of the students who did badly on the test. I could just make him come in and do the homework, but he really needs someone to hold his hand. He wasn't getting it before, so I guess my Saturdays are a loss for a while. On the plus side, on Sunday I'll be going to toastmaster's . It is a speech club, and most of the people there will speak English well. So maybe I'll meet someone to hang with on the weekdays. -not that I have a whole lot of extra time.
And so it goes

no news is good news

Rub a dub dub

Rub a dub dub, a whole lot of Koreans in a tub. I went to Sauna yesterday. It is very wonderful. The men have their side, and women have theirs. I of course go to the women's side. You walk in, and they give you a locker and towel. You put all your clothes in a locker, then go through the double doors into the main sauna rooms. First you take a shower, and soap up well. There are 4 small pools, or large tubs. One is cold water -- I was surprised ice hadn't formed) the other two are warm water, although one has a water jet massage. I almost fell asleep. Then there is the very hot water. I could literally feel all stress wash away. After a while the ahjuma came and she did the scrub. She took two scrubbie mitts and started on my legs and worked her way up my whole body. It took all the dead skin off, and plus you got a bit of a massage. She also put some foul smelling cream on my face, but I didn't mind after I got out because it left my face feeling and looking pretty good.
After the Sauna it is almost impossible to get your muscles to do any kind of complex movement. It is best just to go home and read a book. That is just what I did.
Sunday Sae-min came over and we had some wine and cheese. Not particularly exciting, but pleasant none the less.
It is almost time for testing and evaluation again. I can't believe I've been here two months already.
And so it goes.

What it is

Not much new to report. I'm getting a bit less sore from Taek kong mu sul, but I swear my teacher is a secret sadist. He laughs when I cry. Actually it isn't that bad, and I like the class a lot, it is a lot of fun.
I wish the Korean teacher had lasted a bit longer, I'd of liked to have the head teacher see my boys presentation. They are so cute. I even got them to do some hand gestures. Two of them are quite the hams. We will have a few more students next month, and that is good. My serious scholar actually talked out loud yesterday, and part of me wants to have some other students for her and part of me likes the one on one class. I don't have any control anyway, so it is a moot point.
I am going to go to the sauna now. I will get an ahjuma scrub. A woman a bit older than me (about 50) will take a scrubie cloth and scrub every last skin cell off. It feels wonderful.
And so it goes.

Much ado about nothing

Yesterday, everything seemed very good. We had a new Korean teacher. Yeah! She kind of reminded me of a friend I have in Deagu. But.
She didn't have good enough English
So.
You guessed it, we are still looking for a Korean teacher.
And so it goes