Another freezing Friday

Can I just start by saying 

Hi mum! I know you a reading this :)

So, today I talked to Richard about the IELTS class and he said he'd think about what to do over the weekend. I was half hoping he'd just swap me out with another teacher since next week is my last week anyway, but that doesn't seem to be where he's at. He thought he might come and do some speaking tests for them himself. This makes me feel a little bit better, but I still feel that I'm not what they paid for!

1) Some of my favourite young learners left today, and they all wanted to have their photo taken with me and to tell me they thought I was a good teacher and that they liked my class. I'm sure it was mostly politeness, but it was nice regardless.

2) I called my mum and had a great chat!

3) I fixed a jam in the photocopier at work. The other teacher in the room was surprised. Everyone else just opens them up and fiddles aimlessly until the offending bit of paper gets pulled out. I followed the on-screen instructions the copier gave me and the jam was removed in a jiffy. People can be pretty dumb... just read the instructions folks!

4) A crazy guy talked to me at the bus stop today. Normally I'd be really embarrassed and walk away, but today I wondered why I had an urge to do that and I stayed and made understanding faces at appropriate moments (I couldn't understand a word he was saying, so I hope I made the right faces). This made me feel like a better person. He had bad teeth though, and it made me wonder if people bother giving braces to mentally disabled people? I just don't know.

5) Only one week of work left!!

Out of my depth Thursday

I feel like a total waste of time teaching the IELTS class in the afternoon. They have paid good money for the course, and even more when they take the exam and they expect me to be able to help them listen and speak to a very high level, and I'm not sure I can. I have no real knowledge about the test and can't really let them know where they are at or what score they could realistically expect, and they seem to think I can. It's totally not fair to them, they should have someone who knows about it teaching them - that is what they paid for, not someone whose been teaching for two months and has no knowledge about the techniques or tests. I'm going to talk to Richard tomorrow, because I just feel like it's not right. They deserve someone who knows and who can help them properly.

1) It was rainy and stormy today, and I liked it. The ocean looked awesome from the harbour bridge. I keep wondering what it will be like to almost never see the sea when I'm in Korea. I see it multiple times every day, I can even see it from my house, so to not be near the sea might be a bit different. Don't they say the sea had negative ions or something that affect how you feel? I don't know.

2) I gave out some chocolate bars today, to the kids who were trying hard or did really well. Some of them seemed really proud when they got one :)

3) I also had to go hard-arse today. A couple of students would not be quite when I was talking, and on top of being incredibly annoying, it stops everyone from concentrating on my awesome grammar explanations. So, I did the thing I do where I put steel in my voice and told them to please stop speaking when I was. I possibly went a tad too steely, because they seemed a little afraid after that, but it certainly worked. The class was much more respectful. It's good to remember that it is perhaps not what you say, but how you say it, and having a clear line that you don't want crossed (ie: talking quietly during activities is fine, but be quite when I'm talking).

4) I'm making prawn pasta for dinner. Yum!!

5) I'm really enjoying this song on the way to work:

Wednesday's Five

Today and yesterday have been pretty normal days.

I've checked my documents parcel and it has left NZ and is flying its way to Korea right now. I'm hoping I get to book my own flights and that my visa will get done in time for me to spend a week in Seoul by myself before having to go to Pyeongtaek and start work. If I end up having heaps of time, I'd take an over-night stop over somewhere too, just so I can sleep. I am woefully bad at sleeping on aeroplanes, much to my own disappointment. I always arrive feeling sleepy and disgusting - totally not the state I want to meet all my new co-workers in. I've ready many stories of newly arrived English teachers being whisked off to eat and hang out with their bosses and co-teachers straight off the plane. This sounds horrible! All I ever want to do after flying is shower and sleep. So, I'm thinking if I can arrive at least a little bit early, go to a hotel near the airport, sleep, freshen up, and THEN go through all the new job hooha, I'll feel much better. If I can't then no worries, but it'd certainly be my preference!

1) Brook and I went to see that last Harry Potter movie last night. I really enjoyed it! I think the last two were my favourites, they had pretty good acting and special effects. They have certainly come a long way since the first one!!

2) I'm counting down my last days of work. I've let everyone know that next week is my last week, and I'm all but crossing the days off the calendar. It's not because I don't like the work - I do - it's just once I've made a decision to move on, I just want to get on with it. Change is exciting... and don;t you always want what you don't have? When I had no work I was desperately bored and wanted work, now two months later I'm looking forward to no work for a month :) I'm going to need to work on loving what I have.

3) I saw a very cute jack russell puppy today. It made me think of Jessie, the best dog in the world. If I can, while in Korea, I would like to five fostering animals a go. It's where you look after an abandoned animal while they look for a new 'proper' home for it. I love animals, and it might be a really good alternative to having a pet. Or it might suck, I'll see.

4) There's some new teachers at work who a really nice. One huge bonus to going in to work each day is having other teachers to talk to. I never realised fully how solitary thesis writing was. Now I get to see and talk to people every day, and it's pretty cool.

5) I have a super secret surprise planned for Brook on the weekend. We're doing his birthday then because I'll be gone by the time his comes around in late August (probably). So, I've got something I think he'll really liked lined up for Saturday night, and then I'm making him a nice dinner on Sunday.

Yucky Monday

Ew, so today hasn't been great. I came home from work early because I was feeling quite sick. I'm all good now, and luckily they had someone who could cover for me. They were really nice about it too, probably because I felt so bad about needing time off :) Anyway, I came home, drank lots of water, slept, and feel much better now.

1) I couriered my documents to Korea! Things feel like they are really getting underway now. Hopefully everything I need is correct and in there - there are so many conflicting instructions on what to send and how many copies to send, and on and on! I'm pretty sure I got everything though. I checked about a million times. Dad suggested that I try to get to Korea at least a week before my job starts, even if I have to stay in a hotel, just to get a little used to it before I start work. I thought that was a pretty good idea, so I'll see if I can get that worked out once things progress a little further.

2) It's a beautiful sunny day today!

3) Dinner with mum, dad, Dave, and Hilary last night was lovely. It was really nice to see them and Dave gave me one of his precious shell hangings that he makes (which are VERY cool), and some fresh eggs! Eggs for breakfast tomorrow :)

4) The lady who helped me send my documents in the post office was really nice. She was very helpful and friendly, and told  me exactly what to do and what was going on. It was such a nice change!

5) Brook is cooking dinner tonight! I don't much feel like eating, but it's the thought that counts.

Freezing Friday

It's rained heavily on and off all day today, so I was too afraid to wear my new jacket in case I got it wet. That's silly, I know, but I don't normally spend three hundred dollars on pieces of clothing, so I'm being precious about it :) It's so cold today, too. It would've been a good day to try it out.

1) As I said, it's chilly, so I'm making pumpkin soup for dinner. There's not much better than hot soup to warm you up on a cold night. Unless I ate the soup whilst wearing my jacket. But I would never do that, it might get soup on it :D

2) One of the girls in my young learners class asked if they would be getting a new teacher next week. When I said no, that I was still going to be their teacher, her face actually lit up and she smiled really big. I guess she was pleased, so that was really nice!

3) I got all my documents printed for Korea, and all filled out. All I need now is to do some photocopying, and I'll be ready to courier it on Monday afternoon.

4) I need to do a little clothes shopping for Korea. New jeans (again - why can I never find the right ones??), and new undies. I've decided to get a pedicure and maybe a massage while I'm out, because my feet need some TLC. So, I have that to look forward to tomorrow.

5) I've been doing some reading about Pyeongtaek, and it sounds pretty good. Fairly standard for Korea, which is fine with me. I found this blog, and this info book. I'm still more excited than afraid. Long may that continue!

Super Thursday

I got the job! Woohoo! Come the end of August I will be moving to Pyeongtaek, South Korea. 

1) I got a job in Korea, finally!

2) I secretly printed off my contact and other documents at work, feeling like a bit of a criminal. I used all their stuff to print stuff for a new job. But, I was like a printer ninja. I'm sure no one knows.

3) I went to Kathmandu and got my down jacket for half price! Instead of $600 I paid $300. That's still a crapload of money, but I think it'll be worth it. It's like wearing a duvet.

4) The star dome and dinner last night was lovely. The universe it amazing! All the galaxies... I had no idea there were so many. The pictures they can take are simply awesome. The project them onto a huge dome screen above you and it looks like the night sky, but they can highlight constellations and whatnot. It was very cool. Saturn is my favourite planet.

5) The best thing today was that three of the Saudi guys I taught last week in the beginners class came up to the teachers room after school today to ask if I could be their teacher again. I was really flattered! Sadly, I can't go back to them, I have to keep teaching boring IELTs instead.

BUT... only for two more weeks. Then I'm going to stop working and start getting ready for Korea and my BIG adventure. I'm so.... scaredexcitedamazedcrazy. Yeah, that.