Long weekend Friday

The kids have a half day today because f the long weekend. Well, they get off school early, but they had to start school early to get in the same amount of classes, and have a shorter lunch time. So, they had the same amount of work, but finish school about half an hour earlier, for whatever reason. I don't think the teachers get to go early, but maybe by a little bit. Maybe. Haha, or maybe everyone else will, but I'll have to stay. In saying that, though, Mr B told me to go home at 4.30 yesterday, After all the bother of me wanting to leave at 4 on Wednesday to go to the bank, and offering to come in early, and him saying I strictly had to work 9-5, he came up to me yesterday, tells me after school class is cancelled (which he already told me on Tuesday), and says I can go. At 4.30. Never one to look a gift horse in the mouth, I hot legged it outta there! But I do not understand how anything in this school works. But, only 7 work days left to go.

Nothing very exciting yesterday evening or today so far. Yesterday I went with Andy to buy some presents for his bosses at work for Chuseok. He was such a boy about the whole thing - totally disorganised, and had no clue how to make a present special or look nice. So, I helped him :) The super special gift over here is SUPER huge SPAM sets. I kid you not - spam. Andy decided on a classier option of NZ Airborn Manuka honey - which I totally approved of :) It's over $40 a jar here.

Today's five things:

1) I've spent lots of time setting this up and preparing the material for it (Though I'll be changing the picture on the front page once I have a suitable one of me with students or something). I have no idea why, or what I'm going to use it for, but it might come in handy, if I can keep it up to date, when I'm looking for better jobs where they actually care about teacher quality.

2) I have a can of emergency tuna in my handbag. School lunches have been so bad lately that I actually can't bring myself to eat much. The best stuff we only ever get a tiny bit of, so I've started bringing emergency rations to school. I'll probably eat the tuna if I'm still here by 4pm.

3) On Tuesday, Andy has work and I have the day off. I think I'll go shopping in Seoul. I want to buy one piece of clothing that is something I'd never normally buy. You know, kinda spice things up a bit - a new colour, or animal print, or something. All my clothes look so much the same sometimes. It's pretty fun to be young, debt free, earning my own money, and be able to do whatever I want with it. Haha, I mostly do nothing except buy food, though!

4) Crap - it's raining and I didn't bring an umbrella. Why is that a good thing for today? For some reason I find getting rained on really fun and funny. Dunno.

5) I got a cake tin last night. Operation: Pumpkin Cheesecake will commence this evening. Woohoo!

More publishing Thursday

Things here at work are.... blegh! I only have just over eight days of work left, thank goodness. Things aren't bad exactly, but the environment is getting more and more negative. For example, on Tuesday all the teachers were given a big box of chestnuts for Chuseok (Big Korean harvest holiday - reason for my upcoming 5 day weekend). I was given one too, which was nice. But then when I went to get it off my desk at home time, it was gone! I'm pretty sure they took it to give to someone else. Then, today all the teachers were given HUGE gift sets of stuff by the VP. Except me, who got nothing. Mr B told me the other day that the principal had talked to him because he noticed I had come late to work, and now everyone is watching me like a hawk. And it's not even true! I am never, ever late for work. When Mr B. told me, I was like "What!? When? What day was I late, do you know?", and he just hummed and harred and said it was 'some day last week' - totally not true! I've been late for work once in the past year, and that was when the bus got stuck in the three hour snow-traffic jam and everyone was late. So, I've be accused of lateness when I wasn't, not given any presents, and now, Mr. is even checking my photocopying (I have no idea why - all I'm printing is the tests for the open class today). So weird, and pretty crappy.

Yeah, so what with no lessons for me this week, none next week, and the first three days of the following week being exam days, I only have two other days left at school! But, this afternoon I have an open class. Mr B. just made the students clean the classroom all special, and went to the trouble of telling me that the Korean teacher and the VP would be coming to watch. I was kinda like "...and I should care why?". My job ends in eight working days... it's not like this lesson is going to benefit me any (nor have they ever). Of course I'll do my best, but jeez guys, don't expect me to respect you.

Ok, now that I've got all that out, some good news :) I got another article published online, and another one in with a different magazine that they say 'looks very interesting' and I'm waiting for a reply on it. Yay! Time to do some more writing. And I'm in the process of setting up a website for myself to act as a kind of online resume with links to my articles and stuff. I'm not totally sure why, but it looks cool, and I wanted to. That's a good enough reason. I've been so busy working on it, I haven't been on pinterest all day - shocking!

Thursday's five things:

1) I got another article published online.

2) I have left over steak for breakfast. Not much beats steak for breakfast.

3) I'm making a pumpkin cheesecake for the Korean thanksgiving holiday (from Pinterest).

4) I did yoga this morning and it kicked my butt, in a good way.

5) I'm about to eat a banana. It is a wonderful thing.

Tuesday's Five things

Now it's time for five things on a Tuesday!

1) It is a beautiful day today! Warm, but cool, sunny, blue sky. Gorgeous!

2) It's disgusting behaviour, I know... but I ate whipped cream with chocolate in it for breakfast. I'm not sorry.

3) I've been pinning like a crazy lady on Pinterest. It's kind of my job now. I have so many new meals and crafts to try.

4) I've bought the stuff to make one of my pins. I'm making it as a present for Andy. I'll put up photos in a few days. I'm happy about it.

5) This makes me laugh EVERY time!!

Hurt myself hiking Tuesday

Sorry! It's been a few days. I've been busy!

On Friday Andy came over and went out for dinner. We had this really nice rice and fish egg thing that comes in a hot stone pot - it was yum!

Saturday was hiking! Andy and I woke up at 5am to get into Seoul in time to meet up with the group. We made it just fine, met everyone, and took the private bus a couple of hours to Seoraksan National Park. The group was pretty big - about 40 people in all - mostly Americans, but some Korean, and a few people from Europe too. We started hiking at about 10.30 and for about an hour it was pretty hard going. Very steep up, a lit of steps and rocks and stuff. I found it really difficult to appreciate the scenery because I was concentrating so hard on climbing and not falling over. At about 12 we reached the peak of our trail (the super easy trail). Andy went an extra 25 minutes up to the peak of the peak, but I wasn't having any of that! He got some nice photos, anyway. Then, we started the down part of the trek, which was much longer, but much easier. There were lots of rivers, caves, and waterfalls, and it was really beautiful. We stopped for lunch and saw some really tame chipmunks - very cute! More hiking, and we stopped at a spot in the river. Andy went swimming! Which I would have bet money against him doing - take off his shirt and swim in water that might have bugs, and dirt, and stuff in it? I'd have said no way, but there you go - in he went. I love that he surprises me like that.

Anyway, we got back to the bus at about 5pm, then went to a nearby restaurant for some dinner. Both Andy and I had bibimbap, which was mediocre. Then, back on the bus for the trip back to Seoul. Weirdly, after about 15 minutes on the bus, so maybe 2 hours after we finished hiking, my ankle got a bit achy.  Then it got really achy. Then it got swollen and really really achy. It was very painful. Andy took care of me though, and after I convinced him I didn't need to go to the hospital, he took me to his sisters house, which was very close to where the hiking bus dropped us off, and I put some ice on my ankle. His sister and brother-in-law weren't home, but his nephew was, so we played cards for about an hour while I iced my ankle. Then Andy's brother-in-law came home and offered to drive us back to Osan since he was going out that way anyway. At 11pm. I dunno. Anyway, got home with a minimum of fuss.

Sunday was spent sleeping, resting my ankle, and eating. Now my ankle is pretty much fine. I have a bandage on it for a bit of added support, but I don't think I'll need it by tomorrow. A bit weird, and very painful, but I'm glad it was so short lived. Andy was really wonderful and helpful, so I cooked him a special dinner of home made hamburgers followed by home made chocolate mousse. He seemed appropriately impressed :)

Now it's Tuesday and I have two weeks of no teaching to deal with, as mid-term tests are coming up. I only have just under three weeks of work to go, all up. AND! I just found out that this weekend is a 5 day weekend! I knew it was long, but Tuesday is not an official public holiday (Monday and Wednesday are), so I figured I'd have to come to work. I just asked about it this morning and there's no school that day - so 5 day weekend! Woohoo! What am I going to do? I need a project or something. No point in trying to go anywhere... the whole rest of Korea will be in all the good holiday spots. Plus, it's too late to book now. Hmm, shopping in Seoul, finally go to the garden of the morning calm? Do some art, craft, and cooking? Sounds pretty good.

And again Thursday

On top of yesterday's awesome news about my article being selected, I got a different article published online today. It's not as much of a big deal as getting in a magazine people have to pay money to read, but it's still pretty awesome, as it's a heavily-trafficked website, and I use it a lot. You can check out my article here :) I'm pretty happy with it, and it was a much simpler (not to mention lightning fast) than getting the magazine one. So, I might try for a few more online ones over the next couple of weeks. They seem to favour things with numbers, you know "ten ways to...", "seven steps to better..." and so on. I'm thinking of doing something on ways to build mutual respect between teachers and students.

In other new - my brains are fried today. Oh, and I got busted yesterday coming into work early and leaving at 4. Mr B asked me to type some stuff up for him yesterday because I'm faster at typing in English than he is. I got it all done, emailed him, and left at 4pm, just like I always do. He called me at 4.20 in a total panic asking where I was and why had I left school. I explained that I'd come to school at 8am, so my finish time was 4pm. He was like "but there's no class between 8 and 9am". Yeah, there's no class between 4 and 5pm either - weird comment. I was like "I came in early to finish writing the listening tests" (which was actually true). He was like laughing at me, all frustrated and flustered, and then suddenly goes "Oh! Did you email your work to me?", and I said "Yes, of course" (Um, like I ALWAYS do), and then he gets all happy and is like "Oh, ok great. See you tomorrow then!" all happy and fine. He thought I'd left school an hour early and not finished the important work he'd asked me to do. Has he learned nothing from working the past year with me? It would seem not.

Buuut, only three-ish weeks to go! And I'm optimistic that one of those weeks will be mostly, or at least partially, taken up by mid-terms :)

I did have a few things I wanted to write about today, but they've been buried under the brain fug! So, onwards with today's five things:

1) Getting an article publish by a 'proper' website :)

2) I posted the copyright form for the magazine article today. It had to go to England, and I went to the post office at lunch. It was really easy, and air mail to England cost me about 60c - including the envelope! I thought they told me $6 at first, and they were like 'no, no, no!'. I couldn't believe how cheap it was! So, that's all set - now I just have to wait (probably months and months and months) to find out when it will actually be published.

3) One of the kids gave me a lollipop today. She said "Sam teacher - here! Because you?... me?... teach good!" Haha, obviously not that good, but it was sweet :)

4) I'm going hiking on the weekend - on a mountain no less! Expect photos.

5) There was meat in today's lunch, and I got lots of it. It was yummy boiled pork!

I'm getting published Wednesday

Well, my email yesterday must have worked because I got a reply last night saying they are going to publish my article! I am so thrilled! This is really huge for me. Like, really huge.

I feel like this is the first thing I've ever really achieved by myself, for myself. Yes, I've achieved lots of things in the past, but other people had a big effect on that. For example:

- Highschool scholarship to Uni - uni was giving at least two to all the schools and I was the only on to apply from my school. I didn't suck, so they gave it to me.

- Good grades at uni - always had assignment guidelines, so not hard.

- Honours and MA - always had my supervisor editing my work and helping me make it better.

- MA scholarship - I always felt like my supervisor got this for me because of her skills as a referee, not because I was the best.

- Jobs - again, I feel they had more to do with my wonderful referees' skills than mine

But this? This I did alone. I thought about it myself, researched it myself with no guidelines, wrote it, edited it, proofed it, and submitted it all on my own. The magazine doesn't know anything about me, or have references to look at, so my writing made it for it's own value, not the value someone else says it has. Other than getting an 'A' on my CELTA, this may be one of my proudest things. So, I'm super happy-dance happy.

The magazine editor asked me to submit a 40 word bio about myself to print along with my article. I didn't know what sort of thing to write, so I checked out the sample edition of the magazine online. Oh my. I am so glad I didn't read the author bios until after I submitted my work, otherwise I might have been too intimidated to send mine in. They are all like:

- Freelance writer, lecturer, and teacher. Involved in teaching English for over 15 years. Has specialties. Has a DELTA, a BA in Education and an MA in learning disabilities.

- Has publish widely, including article and whole books. Author of the British Council's Learn English website.

- Associate professor at a University.

- Owns his own English school. Teaching for 20 years. Has published several articles.

- Series editor for major ESL publication, taught for over 40 years in 9 countries. Published over 30 books.

- Teaching for eight years; teaching since 1993; teaching for 15 years; 20 years; University teacher for seven years; 18 years; six years...

Seriously - they are all so much more... everything than me. On the one hand, I'm sort of like 'Well, I'm going to look lame next to that!', and the other part of me is like 'Woohoo, I have so much less training and experience and I'm getting published in the same magazine!'.

So, yes. I am pretty happy right now.

As to WHEN the article will be published - I don't know yet. Not for a few months, at least. But, I'm happy to wait :)

Smells like waffles Tuesday

Another fantastic weekend!

Andy took me to Everland on Saturday and I had such an awesome time! The lines for some of the rides were really long, but I didn't mind so much because I had him to hang out with and talk to. Turns out that beneath that sometimes very serious exterior is someone who loves theme parks and Disney movies. And likes to sing Brittany Spears songs... really badly and much to my horror :D

Haha, anyway. At Everland we went on a chairlift (boring), and safari bus (cool, but the animals were not in big enough enclosures and it was a bit sad), a river rapids ride (awesome! Andy got wet and screamed like a girl and it was hilarious), a horror maze (where you walk through in a group and people chase you - It was pretty scary, but I found it more fun than scary), a log flume (fun!), and a random 'around the world' boat ride (weird, but ok). Also, I got a giant candy floss on a stick. On a steeeeeeeeeck. Only mum will get that. It was a really fun day!

Then on Sunday it was Andy's grandma's birthday, so he went off for some family time and I stayed home and did some craft and what not. I also made a yummy curry! After dinner Andy came over and we watched a movie. It was very nice.

Now, yesterday (Monday) there was another typhoon. Yet again, the kids got to go home at 2pm so they'd be safe from the storm, and all the teachers had to stay at school. I didn't really care, but the logic defies me. It's too dangerous for the kids to stay at school, but fine for the adults? Anyway, Andy got the whole day off work because it was too dangerous to even open the air force base (but I'm still at school all day!!), so he came and picked me up. We hung out for a while, had some dinner, and then he went home to study. I watched some TV and got an early night. Oh, and Amy left Korea to go back to America. Another friend gone!

Today is Tuesday and I don't have any teaching today except after school class. That's ok though. I've gotten heaps of work done. I finished writing the mid-term exams listening section, and just finished the final draft of my second article. This one I'm going to try for online publication. I also emailed the journal about my last article as they still haven't gotten back to me and it's been over three months. I told them (nicely) that if they couldn't get it together, I needed to withdraw the article for submission elsewhere.

Also, today's school lunch sucked! They used to be so good, but they have REALLY taken a downturn lately. There's almost never any meat, and if there is, it's tiny specks of it, bony fish is becoming more frequent, and it's all ew. Today's menu? Deep-fried battered tofu (which I was excited about because I thought it was a big chunk of fish), fern frond salad, kimchi, purple rice, and egg sack soup (gross sacks covered in veins with fish eggs spilling out all in a water red soup with more kimchi and bony fish floating in it). I just can't eat tofu - not only do I think it's disgusting, I've read it's from really genetically engineered soy beans and has the potential to be very bad for you. I'm trying to REALLY minimise processed foods, and tofu is disgusting, G.E., and super processed. Haha, so I ate the batter. The teacher next to me was like 'WTF?'. :)

And now, today's five:

1) An old lady sat next to me on the bus this morning and she smelled like waffles covered in syrup. She really did!

2) I'm now part way through my 4th to last week of this crappy job. I find I really want to give kindy teaching a go. I so hope everything works out and I can live near Andy and have a great job. When I told him I was staying in the area for him he was like "No, you're staying for us", which I thought was sweet.

3) To make up for the truly awful lunch, I bought my favourite chocolate bar from the shop down the road. I'm saving it for before after school class. Oooh, and my leftover curry is for dinner tonight.

4) I'm so excited by my trip home!

5) I downloaded the 'Princess Bride' movie to watch with Andy - I think he'll enjoy it. Maybe.