Week 3 and we are still alive :)

As week 3 of our teaching careers draws to a close, a blog post is definitely overdue.

Week 2 was spent almost entirely in Seoul, where we attended a 6 day orientation course for English teachers in Korea. It was a great chance to meet some of the teachers who will be teaching in our local area, as well as get some good tips and useful resources. On the downside, it felt like we were back on a highschool camp - a curfew was imposed, roll call was taken multiple times a day and a strictly no alcohol rule was put in place. I find this slightly hypocritical in a country where it is not uncommon for teachers to be drinking soju at school - but hey, we will play by their rules. The Korean lessons until 9pm at night were a tad rough, but Brendan and I are starting to get our heads around Hangul (the Korean alphabet system), enough at least so that we can read bus timetables (and avoid getting on the wrong bus).

It wasn't all work and no play in Seoul. On the Sunday we were taken out for a day of "cultural experiences" around the suburbs of Seoul. We have been traveling for too long not to cringe when the phrase "cultural experience" is uttered - perhaps we are turning into cynical old farts? In my experience, these experiences feel like over-rehearsed, touristy demonstrations of what a culture wants to sell to you as being their culture. Although Sunday possessed the necessary cringe moments to satisfy my expectations, I have to admit that some of it was quite fun. Icheon, about an hour out of Seoul, is well known for its pottery (world famous if you believe their brochures). We got the chance to paint our own mug - can you guess which one is mine and which is Brendan's? We went to a cultural park (oooh...double cringe) where we were taught how to bow according to Korean cultural rules and did some Korean painting. At night we went to a performance called Nanta - an almost non-verbal high energy Korean musical which relies on drumming and involves acrobatics and dancing. It is set in a kitchen where 3 chefs use just about everything in the kitchen to bang out an amazing beat. It was pretty clever and a bunch of fun.

Back to work in Uljin and Brendan and I are starting to feel a little more comfortable in our roles. We have both got really nice co-teachers (co-teachers = a Korean trained teacher who we share the teaching with who is also invaluable when it comes to crowd control and admin issues) and most of the kids are not too crazy. Some of them are down right adorable :) No fatalities or substantial injuries have been incurred by the students or us, so on figures alone things seem to be progressing well.

We also got an introduction to a very very very important part of Korean culture this week - the noribong which is the Korean equivalent of karaoke. Scoff not people, this is serious stuff over here and boy can they sing. For those who have heard me sing, you would understand why my karaoke experience is limited to drunken moments of stupidity. But in Korea it is almost a national pastime which must be taken seriously, despite the amount of soju that accompanies the activity. We had a great time hitting a karaoke cafe with some of the teachers from Brendan's school on Wednesday night. Instead of going into an individual room which is the normal style, this was an open mic cafe where you could sing, or even play an instrument along with the backing music. I am sure this year will produce many an embarrassing noribong experience.

That's it for now. I am going to try and whip up a bunch of hot cross buns this weekend and introduce them to Korea...wish me luck :) Bye for now. Lots of love

//Kate