This Viking

This Viking and I see eye to eye on all things Korean. I am Andrew Blair and I approve this message:

http://kr.youtube.com/watch?v=-aY7w2dpQ7s&feature=related

So the Won has recovered some and it looks like it will stabilize against the ever-unstable dollar. For now, at least, my plans are intact. All we can do is wait and pray. 

After this last post I got restless. I was disappointed in the economy (as we all are, I'm quite sure) but also disappointed in myself and my decision to come here. It seemed like, perhaps, the Korean 'salad days' were behind us. I would not be sitting in the fabled 'cat-bird seat' after all.  I languished through the beginning of this week, sleeping in, not going to the gym. Even daydreaming about places I could have been other than here. Then, of all times, one of me younger classes started giving me a hard time for the first time. They begin talking back with a defiant "NO" when I gave them a direction. I'd say, "Be quiet, please, I can't hear Kevin's question." and get a "You be quiet!!" right back like a bullet from a gun. There's even a kid who stares me down sometimes. "Stare ME down?!!!" I wanna scream in his flat fugly face! I was about to crack. Then suddenly, I thought hard on it today, waking up in a better mood and working out at the gym before school: "This couldn't have anything to do with me, could it? Those kids are brats, right? It's not that I've been a shitty teacher this week, is it?". Well...I was going to find out for sure. I went in to work early and organized a fail-proof lesson for the little monsters in my first period class that was fun and new and fresh. Very little book work, lots of moving around and games, games, games. I was sure that they were going to hate it. Not so... they had a blast. Gone were the snide remarks, gone was the name-calling behind my back (I'm starting to get the hang of Korean kid-speak) and the laughter had returned to take it's place. Don't get me wrong, I still wanna wring a few necks here and again. Teaching children is STRESSFUL to say the least. However, I realized beyond a shadow of a doubt that these kids can sense a defeatist attitude, even if they can't define it. Let's face facts here, as a youngster my class sent teachers to the sanitarium!!! They are nowhere near the hell-raisers we were. Plus, the curriculum is outright boring! How can I blame them for getting distracted. Half of these 'pint-sized migraines looking for a host' are HIGHLY under-medicated (ADD, ADHD, and other easily treatable conditions simply do not exist here.... yeah, right). That being said, I once again take two steps back to step forward once (the story of my life)  and accept that I am NOT the teacher alone, but the teacher, the babysitter, the clown.... I am the whole fucking show. And the show must go on. With just a little effort on my part, it can be not only fun for these heathens, but memorable, as well. Here's to making it great. 

Korean Won Plummets

I can't tell you how disappointed I am in light of this new revelation. I was planning on saving close to 15,000 USD this year. If my contract ended today, that same amount would be worth about 8,000 USD. And it's getting worse every day. This was a graph of the projected fall of the Korean Won vs. USD in the coming year. It's not even 2009 and the Won has fallen (on the graph: risen) to 1400 per USD. That's off the chart!!! It was predicted to settle before 1200...months from now!!!!

This article explains it better than I can. All the foreign teachers here are in an uproar. We just took a 50% cut in pay over a period of weeks. A mass exodus is approaching. I might be onboard. Taiwan? Tokyo? Prague? Anywhere but here? 

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601080&sid=aD50HUGZzgck&refer=asia

More than a few people have asked me where I've been and said that the blog was lacking... To all: my apologies, I didn't think anyone was that interested. But I am happy to report back to duty and report my daily, if not, weekly updates for those who are watching and reading. Thanks for looking and I won't let you down again. 

Last week was "Chusock", the Korean Thanksgiving and Christmas all rolled into one. Typically they have a five day weekend, but every 5 years or so Chusock lands on a weekend. This, I am sorry to say, was one of those years when we only got monday off. Nonetheless, it was a welcome respite from the day to day. I recently posted this in a Korean Teachers Forum (a place to vent or vamp on whatever suits your fancy) and I think you all might enjoy it:

 I did not understand what Chusock was all about until a few students explained it to me today, and still, it wasn't clear. "You visit the graves of your dead relatives. Sweet... sounds like a blast." But I was just out walking after work and could truly FEEL the difference in the energy around my neighborhood in Seoul. For one, there were more people in the usually crowded restaurants than I've seen before. Two, they were all happy, and I mean really happy, not just punch drunk. Three, there was laughter everywhere, more than I've heard the entire time I've been here (granted only three months). There is a real sense of relaxation, like the whole city just took a long, deep breath and sighed collectively. It's as intoxicating as it is contagious, and I for one am truly happy to be here right now. Now I get it, this is "the Season" so to speak. I've been a little down recently (don't hate, I'm not pouting) and this evening turned it all around for me. You know, it's easy to say that "we determine our level of satisfaction" in life, and that "happiness comes from within". All of this is true to some extent, but I gotta tell ya, when Korea is happy, it makes it a whole lot easier for me to be happy, too. I'm gonna go for another walk. 

Since then I have been in a great mood. I wake up earlier than I have in months and try to get more done through the day. I take pride in my job and strive to be the best teacher I can be for these kids. Korea is Korea, and it certainly IS NOT Barcelona or the south of France and never will be. But it is what I make of it, and for now, at least, I'm getting by just fine, I might even be liking it. Dare I say it? Okay, here goes.... work is the best part of my day. 

Who is this guy? 

IT'S MY BIRTHDAY!!!!!!!

Boracay was beautiful, even though it rained everyday. Moving on....