My first week of teaching!!!

The weekend was great!On Saturday we met up with Cherry, Andrew, Jen, Scott and 3 of Cherry's friends. We went to Apgujeong first and had an ice cream in Yoochun's ice cream parlour! It was fully of fan girls and pictures of the man in question! Of course I fangirled, having my picture taken under his etc. and the ice cream was nice too! Then we had a meal with our friends. The meal was nice and it was great to see Jen before she went back to the states. We thern went to a club called Monkey beach. It was nice there and they sold cocktails in buckets! I stuck with bear because I don't drink tequila and that seemed to be the drink of choice. Eventually the atmosphere picked up and there were girls dancing on the table! Of course scotty had to join them :) after that we went to the Hill. It was great to be back in Queen. I made a beeline for the stage cos that's where the aircon is! Scott and I immediately made friends on the stage. A boy came up to me and said he'd met me in London. I recognised him but I couldn't remember his name - the same thing happened last year! after two dirty straight men tried to grind me we decided it was time to move on. We joined the others outside then Scott took me into a nearby bar called Soho and introduced me to his friends. I met some lovely lesbians who I ended up having a good chat with. By now Jaron and the others were in a bar opposite. I went into the bar and a man Jaron I met last year was there working! I had a hug and a nice chat with him. It's so nice to go back and meet old faces. I had a really great time. Itaewon is buzzing at night. it's where the gay area and the red light district is. It's also full of foreigners, especially Americans from the nearby base. We went to get food and I witness the funniest row I have seen in a long time. A big fat man was arguing with a black guy. the fat man was so drunk that it was clear that the other man could kill him. He was making a real twat of himself much to the amusement of the many mainly Korean men watching him. I love Itaewon, it's so lively! We got a cab home. A 20 min drive cost us a tenner! we got home at 5am but we had a great night. Tonight we're going out again and this time we get to see David!!!! I love that boy!!! I'm also meeting Sooyoung who I met last year so I'm really looking forward to it.

My first week of teaching has been so much fun! The kids are brilliant! I can't believe the level of politeness compared to the UK. I hand my children their trays at lunchtime and they bow to me!!! I have 7 classes a day and I teach 5 different groups of children during the week aged from 8 -15. My home classes (two of them) are brilliant. all the children have English names and they are not allowed to speak Korean. Their level of English is good and it put's my Korean to shame!

The hours here are 9 - 5.30 but we only teach until 4.30 and there a ten minute break between each class with an hours lunch break. We eat lunch with the kids and the food is delicious. The camp amnagers, Hanna and Mr. han are really nice and they look after us well. When i mention that my fan was on a two hr times and I woke in the night when it went off they got me another one. I've had good feed back so far. Hanna said the children like me and when she observed me she said I was a good teacher and I explain things clearly. So far so good. If this experience continues to be positive I really want to do it again. I keep waiting for something to go wrong because it all seems to be too good to be true. I'm basing that on my experience back home where if you tell children off they can be very vindictive. After teaching here I don't want to teach back at home any more and that makes me feel really upset. I would love come and teach here for a whole year as every teacher I've spoke to here says how good it is. there's 2 reasons I'll never do that. 1) I couldn't leave my family for that long and 2) It will be really hard to leave after being here that long!

I really love it here! Korean's can be unfriendly if they don't know you but once they do know you they are lovely. The food is superb. Everything is cheap! People drink a lot ( a real big drinking culture) but nobody seems to get out of order, aggressive or mouthy (Only fat drunk white men - ha ha)

Observations so far: The ants are really big!

It's hot but it's going to get hotter.

The rain is scary!

We arrived home from Yongsan a couple of hours ago but first yesterday. Jaron and I went to Home Plus (Tesco). We bought a few essentials and decided to get a cab home but we couldn't find one. It was a horrendous journey home on the bus with our bags in the blazing heat but we managed it. I also managed to but some straighteners. There was some great rice cookers there and I'm seriously thinking about buying one and shipping it home. Home plus was as crazy as usual and I even man aged to get Tesco brand bran flakes so I now feel complete!

We went to the orientation in the afternoon and met our fellow teachers. There are 6 of us. 3 part time and 3 full time. Steve from Cambridge, Henry from USA, Sunny a Korean from USA, Minji a Korean from Canada. We also met our CA's who are students. They seemed like really nice kids and the two girls I'm working with seem really sweet. There's a Korean boy, Steve who seems really crazy! I'm not working with him but if i was I know it would be fun.

We were given the syllabus and work books. There's so many things to do that it was hard to take it all in but I'm sure once we get started it will all fall into place. We then all went to coffee with Gena the camp coordi and it was a nice opportunity to get to know each other. The camp managers are very nice so I think as long as the kids like me I will be fine.

I actually managed to get to sleep quite quickly but during the night the door in the corridor slam shut with the wind and woke me. I stormed out of my room and jammed it shut. Then a bit later on I was woken up by a thunder storm. As I couldn't sleep I decided to go out and get rained on. It was heavenly cool! I finally managed to get back to sleep only to be woken up by Jaron at 10 ish!!!

So today we decided to go to Yongsan to look for a phone. At Yongsan there is a huge shopping mall that just sells electrical goods. It is a huge place and has anything electrical you can think of. Ipod touch only costs a couple of hundred quid! I managed to get a phone so I can set it up on Monday. Scott met us there and we went for a burger at lunchtime. It was the most disgusting burger I have ever tasted! I was still hungry so I filled myself up with popcorn a bit later on at the cinema. We saw Inception. It was a good film but I was so tired I think I nodded off for a few minutes. After the film we decided to have dinner and we went to a Japanese place and had chicken Katsu. It was very nice. before we went to the cinema Scott and I had a look around a record shop and I bought Se7en's new album. The boys A side collection was there for about 12 quid - it's 38 on yesasia. So getting that before I leave!

We had coffee then decided to go home. I snoozed on the train too! The train was so packed. It seems like it's always rush hour in Seoul. Everywhere is so busy all the time.

This time round the ajummas don't seem so scary, although I still get some peculiar looks off of people. Scott reckons it's my boobs. he noticed men looking at them. I think it's because Korean women don't have much chest - most of them are so skinny. They have the thinnest legs you will ever see. It's because there are so many steps and hills in Korea! Even my legs are beginning to feel thinner! having said that I have noticed some Korean chubsters, although this is rare. When you see the amount of fast food outlets and doughnut shops it's not surprising. I think the younger Koreans are being enticed by western food and are eating too many Macs! I actually don't want to eat western food while I'm here. I wish I could get granary bread. As this is a rice eating nation bread is largely limited to fancy white bread from 'French' bakeries. We actually managed to get some brown bread but I think it is just food colouring! One thing I love is the boiled eggs! You can buy pre packed, pre boiled eggs and they are delicious!

Minor irritations so far: My fan is on a two hour timer so it switches off when I'm asleep and the heat wakes me up! My legs ache with all the walking up stairs and hills!

I am soooooo tired.

What a day we had yesterday! Jaron and I tried to open me a bank account. In the bank you go to the young handsome greeter and tell him your buisiness, he then pushes the appropriate button on a machine and then gives you the ticket that it issues. You are then directed to a seating area that has a number board. On your ticket it tells you how many people are in front of you. Very hi- tech and efficient. The lady we saw was very nice but we had no luck. I needed a Korean with me to vouch for my identity - apparently my passport wasn't good enough.

We then went to Myeong Dong to look for a phone. SK Telecom does not sell second hand phones and also I have to be in the country for 4 days before I can register a phone. Yes, you have to register for pay as you go. I bought a phone card and as soon as I have a phone I can go to any phone shop and register it. We looked at some second hand phones in a shop in the station but Jaron felt they were overpriced. As the man looked like a Korean version of Arthur Daley I was quite happy to agree with Jaron.

We went to a fantastic bookshop in the station and browsed for a while. I bought myself a couple of Korean study books. It was really nice in there. Every male worker was about 6'2" and good looking. I wonder if that was in the job description : "Must have experience in customer service and must be talk, dark and absolutely stunning..." wished I'd got some sneaky pictures now....

After that we went to the Lotte dept store. It's so cool in there - a bit like selfridges but with better customer service. We were meeting Jaeduk there. When he arrived the bank was closed so he and Jaron decided to go and get their hair cut. I sat there for an hour studying while they were getting metrosexualed up. it was a really great salon on two floors, with an internet area and free fruit drinks. again the customer service was lovely. When we left two members of staff escorted us in the lift and saw us out of the building safely. then we went for dinner and I had one of my favourite meals - dak Galbi (I think I've spelt it correctly) OMG I was in heaven eating it! Some of the waiting staff were so young - they looked about 12!

then we went wandering around the shops, well strictly speaking, Jaron went looking at clothes and Jaeduk and I followed him!

Jaeduk is Jaron friend and he is great. He is quiet and so polite. He carried my bags for me and while Jaron's long legs carried him far ahead of me he made sure he walked with me. It would be hard to find a nicer man than him.

Jaron bought himself some shorts and a shirt that looked really good on him and I bought myself the funkiest looking bright orange socks. We went for coffee before we went home. Just walking through the streets was great. I missed the busyness of Seoul. The pretty girls shouting and handing out free beauty sample, the music blaring out of speakers outside shops....oh, and the bad English spelling, ha ha!

we arrived home quite late, our journey took about an hour in all. I was so tired when I got home but I could not sleep. I had the fan on me full blast so I don't think it was because I was hot. I must have been laying there for 2 hours. I knew I had to be up at nine so we could go and sort out my bank account but the more I thought about it the more I couldn't sleep.

When I eventually did sleep I only slept to about 7am. I'm going to update about today later on.

I wasn't going to write anything tonight as I'm so tired - but it is 31 degrees and it's too hot to sleep. Well, I'm here at last!

The journey wasn't too bad. the first leg to Doha seemed to go fast. When we got off the plane at Doha it was 39 degrees and the heat hit you like a brick wall. How do people live here???

We didn't have to wait long for our connection so we were soon on our way. The next leg was a bit longer (just over 8 hours) but it seemed to go on forever. Perhaps we were feeling more tired. Anyway our tiredness and irritation caused Jaron and I to slip into that old 'bickering married couple' mode. I had my arm on the arm rest and he kept nudging it off in his sleep which caused me to wake up and nudge him back. He swears my arm was over his side of the arm rest and I was infringing on his space but well, we all know who was in the right :)

Then he had a fascination for lifting the window shade to have a peek out, this let in a burst of sunlight that singed my retinas through my eyelids. This caused more irritation. Eventually we snuggled up together on the same pillow and peace was restored - thank fully neither of us started snoring or I think there would have been world war three!!!

On the first leg there was quite a bit of turbulance. I love it! The only problem is it was during a meal and I ended up with rice inside my bra. This didn't deter me from eating it just took longer to get my fork to my mouth. Jaron was drinking red wine and the plane dropped. Everyone but Jaron and I was "wooooow!" I was too busy trying to get food in my mouth and Jaron was knocking back his wine between dips so he didn't get it all over his white shirt.

Two things to tippity tap when I get a minute:

1) Why do I fine tubulance so exciting - am I a freak?

2) Why am I always really hungry when I'm flying?

When I'm at home I can just about manage one piece of toast but today I ate everything they put in front of me - and it was quite a lot!

When we got to Incheon we met Jun, Jarons friend. he works for JAL and was in the luggage hall. After a quick chat with him we were met by Jaeduk, Jaron's other friend. after a coffee and a quick email home we got the bus to Yeokguk and then a cab to the Uni. We met the managers and they seemed really nice. We were shown to our rooms and were allowed to choose rooms next to each other. We thought they would be strict - women one floor, men on a separate floor, but they were very casual. I feel safer having Jaron next door.

The rooms are quite big, equipped with fridge, sink, cooker, desk, bed etc. I gave the room a bit of a wipe round but all in all it's quite nice. On the next floor there is a kitchen and common room that we can use and downstairs there's a laundry.

After a freshen up we walked to Yeokgok station and met Scotty. It's been a year since I've seen him so it was great to catch up. We had samgyeopsal, (Korean BBQ) soju and beer! It was heaven!!

After that we went to Baskin Robins and had ice cream - yum yum!! On the way home we bought milk, water coffee, crisps etc....a few essentials - ha ha!

Tomorrow the plan is to go out to buy a few bits. I need some straighteners and we are going to buy a few more essentials like cereal, fruit and washing powder.

I feel really pleased to be back at the moment, although leaving while my mum is still in the hospital was hard. Hopefully she'll be out soon and she will be off of my worry list!

I don't know how I will feel when I start teaching because that's going to make my experience totally different than last years. People keep telling me it's pleasant to teach here because the children and parents hold teachers in high regard so you don't get any of the BS you get back at home with spoilt kids and there pandering parents. Oh well - I shall soon see!

It's 2.26 am here so I think I will try to sleep now. The fans been on all night so my rooms cooler now.