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...
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
Sunday, November 23, 2008
Solo Hosp Visit; Sweet Training; Crash
This entry will be very short due to my current situation which has rendered me incapacitated for typing. And as as u can see now i am going to take most all possible typing shortcuts bc i am writing only w my left hand. this will be a different style entry.
wednesday, hospital: went alone. thought it would be much easier than it was, bc was told it would be by co teacher (ct). overall, the nurse had to escort me to various places in the hospital; saw the doctor one more time as a follow up consultation type thing; got the prescriptions (paper); went downstairs to pay; was directed to pharmacy with piece of paper to give them. didn't fully understand how that worked so i ended up standing in front of the counter like a fool for about 10 min trying to hand them a piece of paper while the people behind the counter just looked at the paper and then looked away and avoided eye contact. i'm assuming they didnt speak english and couldnt explain that i was suppsed to come up only when my number was on the screen...i had no idea how the system worked...but 10 min later someone called my name and spoke to me in english to instruct me on how to take the meds. got 6 months worth of 2 medications for 122,000 won. sickeningly cheap. left hosp with a monkey load of med. looked strange im sure.
thurs: ran 85 min in am - didnt go to practice wed bc hosp took so long so thats why i ran thurs. longest run ive ever done! was super pumped.
sat: got wall fixed because there was water damage, so had to miss bike practice in am. swim practice at night was amazing. super fast, at least for me. did long sets compared to usual sprints. 500 warm up, then 1000m at 85%m 500m at 90%, 500m at 95%. last 500m was 9min flat, with pull buoy. i was suuuper pumped! after swim practice went to see bond movie. excellent.
sun: ohh sunday. basically....crashed into a pole, broke my bike, almost broke my hand (i'm pretty sure its not broken). was one of those pole=gate type things that they have so motor vehicles cant get through (i think thats why they are there) - 3 or 4 poles, space between about..i dunno, 2 feet? we were doing laps in a parking lot and it was the 15th lap or so so i had no excuse - was going too fast and took the turn to pass between the poles too fast and at too small of an angle and smashed right into the pole on right hand side, and fell down. in front of one of the girls on the team (was riding with the younger kids). bent my right hand shifter....hugely. derailleur wouldnt move. luckily there was a mechanic at practice who fixed it, and in a very short time too. and he unbent the shifter, i dont know how. miraculous.
after practice we went to coachs house and he and his wife took care of my hand - gave me ice and treatment and bandaged it. then we ate some egg and apple and jam sandwiches....soooo delicious...and then some persimmons (soooooo good too) and some oodeng, which is like moist fish bread (its much better than i am making it sound). then we took a rest before running. unfortunately no swimming bc of my hand. bah. it was such a nice day too, like 60 deg and sunny! :( but we went to igidae park, my favorite place in busan, to run. it was me, coach and his wife, and we hiked for a bit and then they set me loose to run. i ran for 110 min!!!!! longest by far that i have ever run! and since i was able to do that with minimal stopping i have decided that i will do the marathon in january. im scared but it will be good practice. :)
after that we ate some more food - left handed chopsticks are very interesting....and then they took me home because they didnt want me riding my bike w my hand as it was. so a very eventful day. and a very eventful week at that.
wednesday, hospital: went alone. thought it would be much easier than it was, bc was told it would be by co teacher (ct). overall, the nurse had to escort me to various places in the hospital; saw the doctor one more time as a follow up consultation type thing; got the prescriptions (paper); went downstairs to pay; was directed to pharmacy with piece of paper to give them. didn't fully understand how that worked so i ended up standing in front of the counter like a fool for about 10 min trying to hand them a piece of paper while the people behind the counter just looked at the paper and then looked away and avoided eye contact. i'm assuming they didnt speak english and couldnt explain that i was suppsed to come up only when my number was on the screen...i had no idea how the system worked...but 10 min later someone called my name and spoke to me in english to instruct me on how to take the meds. got 6 months worth of 2 medications for 122,000 won. sickeningly cheap. left hosp with a monkey load of med. looked strange im sure.
thurs: ran 85 min in am - didnt go to practice wed bc hosp took so long so thats why i ran thurs. longest run ive ever done! was super pumped.
sat: got wall fixed because there was water damage, so had to miss bike practice in am. swim practice at night was amazing. super fast, at least for me. did long sets compared to usual sprints. 500 warm up, then 1000m at 85%m 500m at 90%, 500m at 95%. last 500m was 9min flat, with pull buoy. i was suuuper pumped! after swim practice went to see bond movie. excellent.
sun: ohh sunday. basically....crashed into a pole, broke my bike, almost broke my hand (i'm pretty sure its not broken). was one of those pole=gate type things that they have so motor vehicles cant get through (i think thats why they are there) - 3 or 4 poles, space between about..i dunno, 2 feet? we were doing laps in a parking lot and it was the 15th lap or so so i had no excuse - was going too fast and took the turn to pass between the poles too fast and at too small of an angle and smashed right into the pole on right hand side, and fell down. in front of one of the girls on the team (was riding with the younger kids). bent my right hand shifter....hugely. derailleur wouldnt move. luckily there was a mechanic at practice who fixed it, and in a very short time too. and he unbent the shifter, i dont know how. miraculous.
after practice we went to coachs house and he and his wife took care of my hand - gave me ice and treatment and bandaged it. then we ate some egg and apple and jam sandwiches....soooo delicious...and then some persimmons (soooooo good too) and some oodeng, which is like moist fish bread (its much better than i am making it sound). then we took a rest before running. unfortunately no swimming bc of my hand. bah. it was such a nice day too, like 60 deg and sunny! :( but we went to igidae park, my favorite place in busan, to run. it was me, coach and his wife, and we hiked for a bit and then they set me loose to run. i ran for 110 min!!!!! longest by far that i have ever run! and since i was able to do that with minimal stopping i have decided that i will do the marathon in january. im scared but it will be good practice. :)
after that we ate some more food - left handed chopsticks are very interesting....and then they took me home because they didnt want me riding my bike w my hand as it was. so a very eventful day. and a very eventful week at that.
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