Students and friends
Hello all,
I am sorry that I am being a bit rubbish at the old emailing thing at the moment. So many of you wrote and sent me big long updates and I meant to reply to each and every one of you (and will do at some point in the future but not today). Things are still going well here in Korea, although some of you seem to be offering sympathy where it is not needed. I think that I told you about the school and how it isn't all sunshine and roses. I have to admit that it took me a long time to settle into the new school when I first arrived and kept waiting for my old students to show up. And they didn't since they go to a school at the other end of the country. But since the English camp at the end of July I have realised how attached I have got to some of the kids here.
I think that their behaviour at the camp was just awesome, they had plenty of other people who they could talk to in Korean but so many of them chose to spend time with me instead. And indeed got very excited everytime I reappeared from doing some pointless waiting around in another room to be told what to do. It was also the first time that my director has seen me with the kids and I think that it was a bit of an eye-opener for me. I am naturally pretty quiet with the other teachers (it doesn't help when I can hear them talking about me all the time but don't understand what they are saying!) and they seemed to think that quietness extended into the classroom. Needless to say it doesn't and the kids know a very different me from the one the teachers see.
And the trouble at the school just reinforced how great the friendships that I have are- whether it was support and sympathy through the email, in a letter or meeting up with people here who offered me help finding work and somewhere to stay should I need it- I realised just how many special people there are in my life. I guess that what I am trying to say is that there is no need to worry about me. But thank you for doing so!
A very close friend left Gangneung a couple of weeks ago and it has led to periods of introspection for those of us still here- you know the kind of thing- what am I doing with my life and what am I going to do in the future and other such searching questions which are best avoided. And that is part of the reason that I haven't been able to get it together to sit and write long and (hopefully) amusing emails for you all. Day to day life is still day to day life whether it is in Korea, England, Ireland or Australia- just that the day to day trials are a little different here- I don't worry about getting bills every month, I worry about trying to find out what they are for and whether I should pay them or not and whether they are really for me or for the person before me- damn that language barrier! I worry if a shop assistant will let me into a clothes shop in the first place, never mind if they will actually find something that fits me once I am in. I worry that I have to travel three miles just to buy diet coke and that I can't seem to find skimmed milk anywhere. I got excited when a new supermarket opened up near my house last week which should give you an idea that life isn't a constant whirl of excitment.
Anyway, obviously, I still have a shedload of stories for you all- I have to tell you about the bath house and clubbing in Seoul but I am not going to right now. Be warned that I have bought a digital camera and so there will be photos online- feel free to ignore the invitation to look at them if you want to- most of them will be of the same people in the same bar anyway. I have always been snap happy and my new toy isn't really helping that. All it really means is that my poor old mum won't have to worry about storing even more photos albums at the end of each trip. I am going to try and take some outdoor shots soon too so that you can see a bit of this country that i am living in.
So this is just a touching base email really because I don't really have anything to tell you but felt I should make contact. I do feel guilty if I go more than a month without sending one of these group things you know.
Take care each and all
love
H
xxx
I am sorry that I am being a bit rubbish at the old emailing thing at the moment. So many of you wrote and sent me big long updates and I meant to reply to each and every one of you (and will do at some point in the future but not today). Things are still going well here in Korea, although some of you seem to be offering sympathy where it is not needed. I think that I told you about the school and how it isn't all sunshine and roses. I have to admit that it took me a long time to settle into the new school when I first arrived and kept waiting for my old students to show up. And they didn't since they go to a school at the other end of the country. But since the English camp at the end of July I have realised how attached I have got to some of the kids here.
I think that their behaviour at the camp was just awesome, they had plenty of other people who they could talk to in Korean but so many of them chose to spend time with me instead. And indeed got very excited everytime I reappeared from doing some pointless waiting around in another room to be told what to do. It was also the first time that my director has seen me with the kids and I think that it was a bit of an eye-opener for me. I am naturally pretty quiet with the other teachers (it doesn't help when I can hear them talking about me all the time but don't understand what they are saying!) and they seemed to think that quietness extended into the classroom. Needless to say it doesn't and the kids know a very different me from the one the teachers see.
And the trouble at the school just reinforced how great the friendships that I have are- whether it was support and sympathy through the email, in a letter or meeting up with people here who offered me help finding work and somewhere to stay should I need it- I realised just how many special people there are in my life. I guess that what I am trying to say is that there is no need to worry about me. But thank you for doing so!
A very close friend left Gangneung a couple of weeks ago and it has led to periods of introspection for those of us still here- you know the kind of thing- what am I doing with my life and what am I going to do in the future and other such searching questions which are best avoided. And that is part of the reason that I haven't been able to get it together to sit and write long and (hopefully) amusing emails for you all. Day to day life is still day to day life whether it is in Korea, England, Ireland or Australia- just that the day to day trials are a little different here- I don't worry about getting bills every month, I worry about trying to find out what they are for and whether I should pay them or not and whether they are really for me or for the person before me- damn that language barrier! I worry if a shop assistant will let me into a clothes shop in the first place, never mind if they will actually find something that fits me once I am in. I worry that I have to travel three miles just to buy diet coke and that I can't seem to find skimmed milk anywhere. I got excited when a new supermarket opened up near my house last week which should give you an idea that life isn't a constant whirl of excitment.
Anyway, obviously, I still have a shedload of stories for you all- I have to tell you about the bath house and clubbing in Seoul but I am not going to right now. Be warned that I have bought a digital camera and so there will be photos online- feel free to ignore the invitation to look at them if you want to- most of them will be of the same people in the same bar anyway. I have always been snap happy and my new toy isn't really helping that. All it really means is that my poor old mum won't have to worry about storing even more photos albums at the end of each trip. I am going to try and take some outdoor shots soon too so that you can see a bit of this country that i am living in.
So this is just a touching base email really because I don't really have anything to tell you but felt I should make contact. I do feel guilty if I go more than a month without sending one of these group things you know.
Take care each and all
love
H
xxx
posted by Helen @ 10:58 AM
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