Update
Day 42
No update for new years because I had the death. it finally seems to be under control with the exception of a lingering sinus headache. Now CFB seems to have it, worse than I did. His day off was today, but he's told me to tell the boss that he definitely won't be in tomorrow, after getting me to leave a note of similar message before I left the hagwan area. The guy who had been fired from the elementary school is no longer there, they had FKC (Female Korean Coworker) show up to fill in for him today. Everyone is having trouble adjusting to the winter intensive schedule which for 4 weeks has us coming in at close-to-normal business hours as opposed to my normal 3-10 PM. Today I had to get up at 7AM. 7AM. With the time difference that's like getting up before I even go to sleep. Such are the woes of living in the future. I finally got my advance yesterday, after being told on Monday that I'd have to wait until next week. (what great communication skills my management has) I did not yet have a bank account so I got an envelope full of bills. Of course since the biggest denomination in Korean currency is the 10,000 Won note, which is appropriately green, to the American mind, it looked like quite a lot of money. I somehow resisted the urge to take a bunch of kitschy photos of myself posing with wads of cash. I took a bit out and equipped with my new E2 visa I went and opened a bank account across the street from the school. It was surprisingly easy. They also gave me a Manchester United FC ATM card. I guess that makes Korean sense because that team is English and I am white. In other news, I shared a cab this morning with a Welshman. I was unaware that they spoke English intelligibly enough to teach it, but I guess I was wrong. I had to keep biting my tongue to keep from making reference to an in-joke I had with a former roommate. One of us would always tell the other that he runs like a Welshman. No I don't know why, but I feel almost certain that it's a reference to a cartoon or a stand up act, though I'm not certain which. CFB and I also finally met the Kiwi that lives in our building. He seems like a pretty cool dude, and it's always nice to have another friendly face around.
I keep telling myself that I'll write a few mini-essays about specific aspects of life in Korea to keep my post-count up. So far I haven't. If ever a I go more than a week without posting something, someone berate me until I do.
One new picture up on my flickr.
No update for new years because I had the death. it finally seems to be under control with the exception of a lingering sinus headache. Now CFB seems to have it, worse than I did. His day off was today, but he's told me to tell the boss that he definitely won't be in tomorrow, after getting me to leave a note of similar message before I left the hagwan area. The guy who had been fired from the elementary school is no longer there, they had FKC (Female Korean Coworker) show up to fill in for him today. Everyone is having trouble adjusting to the winter intensive schedule which for 4 weeks has us coming in at close-to-normal business hours as opposed to my normal 3-10 PM. Today I had to get up at 7AM. 7AM. With the time difference that's like getting up before I even go to sleep. Such are the woes of living in the future. I finally got my advance yesterday, after being told on Monday that I'd have to wait until next week. (what great communication skills my management has) I did not yet have a bank account so I got an envelope full of bills. Of course since the biggest denomination in Korean currency is the 10,000 Won note, which is appropriately green, to the American mind, it looked like quite a lot of money. I somehow resisted the urge to take a bunch of kitschy photos of myself posing with wads of cash. I took a bit out and equipped with my new E2 visa I went and opened a bank account across the street from the school. It was surprisingly easy. They also gave me a Manchester United FC ATM card. I guess that makes Korean sense because that team is English and I am white. In other news, I shared a cab this morning with a Welshman. I was unaware that they spoke English intelligibly enough to teach it, but I guess I was wrong. I had to keep biting my tongue to keep from making reference to an in-joke I had with a former roommate. One of us would always tell the other that he runs like a Welshman. No I don't know why, but I feel almost certain that it's a reference to a cartoon or a stand up act, though I'm not certain which. CFB and I also finally met the Kiwi that lives in our building. He seems like a pretty cool dude, and it's always nice to have another friendly face around.
I keep telling myself that I'll write a few mini-essays about specific aspects of life in Korea to keep my post-count up. So far I haven't. If ever a I go more than a week without posting something, someone berate me until I do.
One new picture up on my flickr.