UNFORTUNATELY as I don't have the use of both my legs at the moment, I don't have the luxary to blog about anything interesting that I have been up to in Korea, I figured I'd better post something considering I have already had complaints that my 'loyal follower' (You know who you are!) is looking for daily updates on my life in Asia.I really wish I had something good to report, but apart from riding the bus with a set of crutches and some extremely painful hand and armpit pains, I haven't experienced anything new and of note this week!
I'm not sure if it is the added stress of not being able to use my right foot or just the continuing and daily struggles with teaching English but I am pretty tired as the weekend arrives.
My heyfever decided it was going to kick into action this morning as well and it's really not fun trying to teach when your nose is running with the fear in the back of your mind that standing up and reaching in your pocket for a tissue is a dangerous combination for over balancing!
It's been a mixed bag in terms of classes this week, I feel somehow strangely detatched from my morning kindergarten class because I am unable to run about, dance or basically do anything with them. They have been really good to me by getting me a chair to sit on and also by not taking advantage of the fact that I can't chase them down when they get out of control but it's a bit of a different experience to the last couple of weeks and I'll be glad when I can walk again for the sake of my lessons!
The afternoon classes have been up and down to be honest. I've got three new students in my 3pm class who are from the International School in Suwon where I play football. They have the strange combination of being able to speak English very well but hardly being able to read it. The kids I have in the class already are pretty good when it comes to reading so it's sometimes a bit of a struggle to teach two drastically different levels of abilities the same things as three will rush away and be finished in five minutes where as the other three will be struggling, not only because they don't know what to do, but they don't know how to read the instructions for the exercise so they can understand it!
My one rowdy class on Monday, Wednesday and Fridays have been pretty restrained this week, and they even behaved acceptably enough and didn't speak a word of Korean that we got the oppertunity to play a game. There was one kid missing and it's the first time it's been a pleasure to actually teach them. I think it's pretty obvious where the source of all the noise is in that case!
Work aside, as you can imagine, I really haven't been doing much at all with myself. I had to take an interesting little trip to the bank the other day at dinner time to pay an electricity bill. Unfortunately the midday sun wasn't kind enough to not beat down for the 15 minutes it took me to get from my house to the bank and when I came back I had to have a shower as I was getting a bit of a sweat on!
I've been doing my best to go out with the guys every night and eat but because I haven't been able to play football or go to the park or anything, most of my time has been spent on the computer or playing Charlie at FIFA!
In terms of the foot, hopefully the rest at the weekend will be just what it needs as it's really taking it out of me at the moment. The dr's assesment of my foot on Monday has me worried about how long the 'damage' will take to repair. After icing it for a couple of hours each night it's pretty clear that the majority of the swelling is going down and day by day my foot appears to be getting it's 'defenition' back. My ankle is still pretty big compared to the one on my left foot and there is still a huge lump on the top of it which is quite painful. I'm hoping that in the next few days that the swelling will continue to dissapear and that next thursday I will be able to get this damn cast of my foot and at least begin walking. Until then, this foot is not touching the ground!
As I have had a lot of time on my hands over the past week, I've had to have something to occupy my time with and decided that even less than two months into my time in Korea I should probably start looking at what lies in the future for me.
Kevin and I were talking the other day and initially it was regarding 'summer holidays' as we said we both fancied heading somewhere during the week we get off from Talkster. Obviously Charlie is in for it as well, but as yet we don't know when this five days will be but it's likely to be the end of July from what I understand.
Both Thailand and the Phillipines have been discussed which is perfectly fine with me as I would enjoy either an wherever we don't go on that week we are likely to be heading too during our time off at Christmas because as far as I understand Korea is pretty miserable in the winter. I'm not too up for sticking around during that week if it's going to be horrific and I think it would be kinda nice to have an 'alternative' Christmas in Manilla or Phuket where it will be considerably warmer!
These discussions got me thinking about what exactly my next step should be after I leave Korea. It's far ahead in the future I know, but I have a long distance view of these things! My original plan was to head back to England and have another go at continuing my career in journalism, but the more I think about it, the less it appeals and with the state of the economy the less likely it will be that I will be able to do that.
Whether it's just a brief holiday or a period of time spent travelling I was hoping to spend a period of time out of the country but the more I think about it and the more I reflect on my enjoyment of the experiences so far, the more I am considering spending another six months to a year working abroad. Before I came to Korea I'd done some research online about working abroad in different countries and I think that if I spent some time travelling, either through Asia or around Europe then I would be able to do some first hand research of the kind of things that I would be able to do. I would be hoping to combine travel with work again and ideally I think it'd like to coach football rather than teach English though I realise those kind of oppertunities are limited.
Realistically I think that the transition from living as I am now to returning to England would be a little too much of a reality check than I need and while and I am still young and have the oppertunity to travel I would love to be able to do so! At the moment though I am still very undecided!
If anyone has any good ideas then please feel free to relay them to me because at the moment this little brain has too much to cope with!
Considering it's friday night and I am sitting in my room with a bag of chicken nuggets strapped to my leg to ease the pain I figure it's a fitting time to put my journalistic skills to good use and write a 'list' of some of the 'skills' which I have learnt while I have been here. This compilation of five things should probably be titled 'Things I Couldn't Do Before I Came to Korea'...
1. Speak Korean....
Well fair enough, I still really can't at the moment but I know at least ten words of the language that I didn't know before I left Heathrow Airport in April! I was told the other day that Korean is the second hardest language on the planet to learn and with my limited success at trying to learn the alphabet I realise that is very true. I'm determined to learn the whole thing inside six months and I reckon that by the time I leave next year I will be able to speak a little bit of Korea (or at least I'd hope I could) and I'll certainly be able to remember the two phrases which I picked up this week which as 'Don't yell' and 'You are a dwarf'.
Don't ask me where either would be practical.
2. Teach...
Fairly logical this one, and don't get me wrong I am not claiming to be able to do it very well but 'teaching experience' will certainly be added to my CV (future employees don't need to know that at least half of it is just gloryfied babysitting!)
I've not 'taught' before as such but having coached, and helped my mum with countless lessons at school I have the basics at least. Considering there is no real training as far as this kind of teaching goes, it's really about learning as you go along and I'm sure that even after eleven months in the job I will still be learning new things and picking up what does and doesn't work!
3. Tollerate Spicy Food...
Like being able to laugh at yourself in a classroom situation, this is a must when living in Korea where they put spices in everything. It's only recently that I have started to notice how spicy some of the their food is and it's only just dawned on me that I now no longer taste the spice first. Most of the foods we order now like 'dak galbi' and 'pudeh-gi-geh' as not really that spicy but they sure have a kick to them which I couldn't cope with at first.
I'm a bit of a girl when it comes to eating spicy things and I am not claiming that I will now be able to eat Tobasco and Pepper Sauce like my grandad does on everything but I will certainly be able to eat something a little hotter than a korma next time I have an Indian!
4. Communicate with strangers...
I think I have always been a pretty poor communicator with people I am unfamilar with but when you are 50,000 miles from home and aren't sure what is going on, you really have no choice but to try and express yourself so at least one person understands.
I wouldn't say that we have had the experience of being 'lost' yet, but when that moment comes along there is little doubt that we will be finding our way wherever we need to go and by any means possible! I sure wouldn't have been able to have ordered half the food I eat without the ability to comunicate with body and often sign language!
5. Spending such a long time away from home...
I was struggling to think of a fifth thing but then it dawned on me that this, by a distance is the longest I have been without seeing or actually speaking to anyone of my friends back home. Sure I was at the opposite end of the country for three years at university, but this is a totally new experience and at some point it will dawn on me that I am well out of my depth. So far I think I am doing very well with the homesickness and missing things and people back in England, not to say I don't but sometimes when I go on holiday I start to miss home after three or four days. Perhaps the realisation set in after a week here that I am in it for the long haul. I realise there will surely be tougher times ahead at the first two months have been a bit of a breeze (aside from the leg) but I feel like I can definately do what I have done already six more times to complete the year!
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