On the upswing
Drama at work has died down. I feel comfortable around the Korean teachers again, which is good, because I really like them!
Got my last new set of classes. They're pretty much all younger. But most of them seem pretty good. I have a few talkers, but if that's the worst of my problems, I'm doing quite well. But it's not. My first class on Tuesday, Thursday, and every other Friday is really little kids who... can read a bit, but they don't understand a word I say. So I talked at them in English, and they talked at me in Korean. I'm going to try to use more writing with them, and hopefully they'll get a little more. We'll see. And I have a private "clinic" class with an older girl who's moving to America in December. She has great pronunciation, and reads at a good pace, but she can't tell me what she's read, or answer questions about it. I think a big part of the problem is that she's shy. I talked to her mom after class, and learned that she doesn't even speak much in Korean. So that's a struggle, but I'll work on it. Um... A few slow kids. Maybe an entire slow class. But we'll make it work.
I talked to the assistant director yesterday about my flight home. He's going to check and try to book me a flight home from Osaka on or before Thanksgiving day. I hope that works out... And he's checking to see when I can pick up my pension money. Hopefully the day I leave for Australia! But we'll see.
And they're interviewing an Australian guy to replace me today. I'm supposed to answer all of his questions in my free period. So that should be interesting. Actually, I'm the best possible person to do that. I'll be honest, but I have a positive view of things, even despite the recent headaches.
I got my eyes checked last weekend. $7 for an eye exam! Whoever heard of such a thing! The optometrist told me that my glasses are too strong, and it's straining my eyes. So he wrote me a prescription and I took it downstairs to get new lenses. They gave me a vitamin drink and a computer to play on, and 10 minutes later my glasses were ready (with complimentary hard plastic case and cleaning cloth). My left eye is fairly good, and my right one is fairly useless. The difference is very pronounced, and for the first couple of days I was feeling dizzy and unbalanced. So Tuesday morning I went back and told him my complaints. He gave me another exam, with a few additional tests, and said the prescription was right, I would just have to get used to it. He said I should wait two weeks, then go to a national hospital if I still had a problem. Okay... And that I should take a 10-minute break from the computer/book/video game every hour. Okay. It's gotten better since then. It's manageable, but I still feel it. Focusing my eyes feels different/possibly harder. I'll give it more time. It makes me feel a little dyslexic when I type and such, though. I know, that's all in my head. But I'm glad I have time to adjust while I'm not driving. It'd just better get back to normal soon...
Um... That's all, I think. I've seen some movies and done some other stuff. I got some bleach and attacked my apartment with it on Sunday, which was very good for it. I've been playing Legend of Zelda: The Phantom Hourglass, which I started before but gave up on early on. It's way fun now that I give it a second chance. I love it!
Oh, and I've pretty much decided on what I'm doing at camp next year. Time for a slight change of pace, I think.
Whee, it's September! 55 days until I fly to Australia!! :)
Got my last new set of classes. They're pretty much all younger. But most of them seem pretty good. I have a few talkers, but if that's the worst of my problems, I'm doing quite well. But it's not. My first class on Tuesday, Thursday, and every other Friday is really little kids who... can read a bit, but they don't understand a word I say. So I talked at them in English, and they talked at me in Korean. I'm going to try to use more writing with them, and hopefully they'll get a little more. We'll see. And I have a private "clinic" class with an older girl who's moving to America in December. She has great pronunciation, and reads at a good pace, but she can't tell me what she's read, or answer questions about it. I think a big part of the problem is that she's shy. I talked to her mom after class, and learned that she doesn't even speak much in Korean. So that's a struggle, but I'll work on it. Um... A few slow kids. Maybe an entire slow class. But we'll make it work.
I talked to the assistant director yesterday about my flight home. He's going to check and try to book me a flight home from Osaka on or before Thanksgiving day. I hope that works out... And he's checking to see when I can pick up my pension money. Hopefully the day I leave for Australia! But we'll see.
And they're interviewing an Australian guy to replace me today. I'm supposed to answer all of his questions in my free period. So that should be interesting. Actually, I'm the best possible person to do that. I'll be honest, but I have a positive view of things, even despite the recent headaches.
I got my eyes checked last weekend. $7 for an eye exam! Whoever heard of such a thing! The optometrist told me that my glasses are too strong, and it's straining my eyes. So he wrote me a prescription and I took it downstairs to get new lenses. They gave me a vitamin drink and a computer to play on, and 10 minutes later my glasses were ready (with complimentary hard plastic case and cleaning cloth). My left eye is fairly good, and my right one is fairly useless. The difference is very pronounced, and for the first couple of days I was feeling dizzy and unbalanced. So Tuesday morning I went back and told him my complaints. He gave me another exam, with a few additional tests, and said the prescription was right, I would just have to get used to it. He said I should wait two weeks, then go to a national hospital if I still had a problem. Okay... And that I should take a 10-minute break from the computer/book/video game every hour. Okay. It's gotten better since then. It's manageable, but I still feel it. Focusing my eyes feels different/possibly harder. I'll give it more time. It makes me feel a little dyslexic when I type and such, though. I know, that's all in my head. But I'm glad I have time to adjust while I'm not driving. It'd just better get back to normal soon...
Um... That's all, I think. I've seen some movies and done some other stuff. I got some bleach and attacked my apartment with it on Sunday, which was very good for it. I've been playing Legend of Zelda: The Phantom Hourglass, which I started before but gave up on early on. It's way fun now that I give it a second chance. I love it!
Oh, and I've pretty much decided on what I'm doing at camp next year. Time for a slight change of pace, I think.
Whee, it's September! 55 days until I fly to Australia!! :)