movie popcorn

Yesterday I went to Seoul and saw Robin Hood with two friends. I was happy to see popcorn at the theater. It looked the same as in the US, but after I got it and tasted it, I realized it had some kind of sweet glaze on it, not butter. It was good, but I really wanted buttery popcorn. (update- they do have buttered popcorn, you usually get a choice of which you want. The Koreans I have been to movies with seem to prefer the sweet popcorn.)

I don't go see movies very often. Seeing Robin Hood was not my idea, but I didn't object. It was just another typical movie. Somewhat interesting, but nothing special. I'll probably forget I even saw it within a couple months.

Jogyesa Temple

Last Friday (5/21) was Buddha's Birthday, so we didn't have school that day. One of my co-teachers suggested I go to a temple since they will probably be doing something special. I went to Jogyesa Temple in Seoul.

sleep

Thursday night I got about 9 hours of sleep and I felt so much better Friday than I usually do. Usually I get about 4 hours sleep. It's really hard for me to go to bed early on the week days when I get up at 6:40am. I prefer to sleep late and stay up late, and for the 5 years before coming to Korea I had mostly been doing that. I have never been able to get on a schedule where I am going to bed early and getting up early. It has always been difficult for me. I hate mornings.

I'm having trouble motivating myself to do things like write in this blog and upload my photos to Flickr. It's not like I am doing so much that I don't have time to write about it, I just don't feel like it.

new dictionary

I finally got an electronic Korean-English/English-Korean dictionary while I was in Seoul yesterday. It also has a Korean-Japanese dictionary. I wish it had English-Japanese, but all these electronic dictionaries are made for Korean speakers, not English speakers. It was the same when I bought my electronic Japanese-English dictionary, they were all made for Japanese speakers. They end up having a lot of features I cannot use.

My cell phone has a K-E dictionary. It seems most cell phones have them. It's nice to always have a dictionary, but its kind of slow to use, and I hate the touch screen on my phone.





I have not been studying Korean much since I got here. I studied for a couple months before I came here, but when I got here I mostly stopped. I have not found a place to take classes in my city, but I haven't looked very hard either. I don't really want to have to go far to take a class. I am not sure what I will do.

it's been 4 weeks already

I can't believe I have been here a month. I still feel like I just got here. This is only my second week teaching. I think that's part of the reason why I still feel like I have just started.

Last week the school had a dinner party. I got really drunk with some of the other teachers. It was fun. Soju is much easier to drink than any other alcohol I have had. Anything with alcohol tastes bad to me, but soju is pretty tolerable.

Last week was also midterm tests. Since the students had tests everyday I did not have to teach. I just had to sit in during some classes and watch them take tests.

first two weeks and my first day teaching

It's been two weeks since I got here. I haven't done much so far. There hasn't been much to write about and I haven't felt much like writing cause I am kind of stressed from this new environment and new job.

My first week here I did some things with my co teacher to get settled, like getting a cell phone, getting internet hooked up at my apt, and getting a drug and health check for my job. Then I went to a 3 day orientation in Anseong.

The next week I didn't teach. I was supposed to make lesson plans and get ready to teach. I did some more stuff like applying for my alien registration card.

Today was my first day teaching. The first class I taught was really difficult. They have the lowest English level in the school and no interest in learning. The next two classes I taught were much better. The students had better English and much more interest in the class.

There's no school Wednesday because it's Children's Day. I also have the next Wednesday off because its the anniversary of the founding of the school. The week after that I have Friday off for Buddha's Birthday. I like being eased into the new job with all these 4 day weeks.