I still have muppet-hand, so this entry will probably be pithy (at least that will be the goal), and although it takes much more time to use correct punctuation and spelling I will try my best because it pains me to look at my writing that is lacking those things.
On Monday after school my CT took me to get my haircut before Korean lessons. It was a very interesting experience, especially since the last shower I had taken had left me with a big knot in my hair due to my inability to wash myself effectively. Actually, it was borderline embarrassing - have you ever gone to get your hair cut with your hair tangled so badly that it was an effort for the hairdresser to brush your hair? Doesn't really bode well for others' impression of your personal hygiene. At one point there were actually three women brushing my hair...haha, yea. But they did a fantastic job with my hair and now I feel rejuvenated from the elimination of split ends and the like. Sigh.
Then we met my other Korean tutor, and we went to eat steamed chicken and noodles. The noodles were probably two feet long, and when you add left-handed chopstick usage into that equation you get 1) chopsticks on the ground, and 2) my CT feeding me noodles. At first glance I probably looked like that foreigner who couldn't use chopsticks to save my life. Whatever. Although I was doing ok eating the rest of the food. Just those devilish noodles... So after eating we went to study, and since taking notes was somewhat out of the question we focused on speaking. We discovered that my phone can record messages...so we had a lot of fun with that...
On Tuesday I was supposed to go watch another native English speaker's class. I could probably write a short novel about this experience-gone-awry, but for now I will just give the much-less-interesting account (although this is an experience I'm sure I will never forget so I can embellish at a later date). Basically, I was supposed to go to Yeon cheon Elementary School, and despite the fact that I gave my taxi driver the name of the school written on a piece of paper to avoid confusion, I still ended up at the wrong location...in fact, the school I was supposed to go to is only 10-15 minutes from my house, but I was in the taxi for 40 minutes...with a limited amount of money...so when we finally arrived at the destination (which I obviously didn't know was the wrong destination) I didn't have enough money to pay the full fare...(which I worked out)...and then I got out, and realized a few minutes later that he had taken me in an extremely round-about way to YEONG cheon Elementary School instead. Which was pretty much on a highway with no banks around and no convenient stores where I could take out cash. So I'm stuck there with no money, on the outskirts of Busan, with only a bus/subway card for possible transportation usage in the absense of finding a bank. I found a random bus, rode that for a while, and after a few more embarrassing moments I finally found my way to a subway station. Needless to say I missed the class. That was a very interesting experience...
When I got to Dong Sang, my CT told me that the 5th graders were asking where I was and were very disappointed that I wasn't teaching today. I thought that was sweet :)
Today we had a teacher's training day run by EPIK for Native and Korean English Teachers. That was very fun. I learned a lot from the four classes we had, and will definitely use some of the games and techniques that we used. Some are very interesting but my stub is starting to get sore so I won't be sharing any of those today. It was so strange to see all the Native English Teachers together again, especially since I usually don't spend time with English-speaking people. It made me wonder how my life would be different if I didn't spend most of my time with Korean people. And while many (and I'm sure most) of the Native English Teachers are very nice and interesting, I don't have any regrets about how I spend my time. I feel that I am maximizing my experience here with my choices as well as getting to know some really great people. And it was nice to be reminded of that :).
I still haven't showered since I got home from practice and I am trying to procrastinate that process. Ugh I hate showering with my stub...
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