Wednesday, Sep 16, 2009 8:51AM /
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I went back to the university I studied abroad at for a big event that happens there every year...it was amazing and felt like I was back to being a college student, just chillin, hanging with my friends ~ then I had to come back to work on Monday~ =__=
Work...is okay ~ I renewed my contract to stay in Korea for a 2nd year. My school treats me well and I didn't want to risk changing my environment ~ plus I'd be too lazy to
move to another apartment. I definitely need another year to think
about what I want to do in the future. I'm sort of settled into the
education field. I do want to use my IT background (no matter now
useless it now seems to be)...I'd like to be a computer teacher in a
public school or an English teacher abroad. I think I want to go back to school maybe at a university in Asia or Europe.
I can see now that there is no perfect education system. I'm currently grading writing assignments that the government has given to all public schools. There's no problem with giving them essays to write...except when I must grade them with a class average of 4/5...when some of the real averages are 2-3/5 (at the max). These assignments are just being turned into meaningless numbers for a budget cut or raise for our school...or maybe just to give the school a good "record". You know there's something wrong when you are regrading papers and then calculating the average until it hits a certain number.
Either way...I feel like my efforts are being wasted because I can't go against the system...there's so much more that it'd be too much to go into right now.
Next week marks the end of my official 1st year in Korea ~ Keepin' the faith in happiness for now~
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Tuesday, Jun 23, 2009 5:02PM /
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it seems I update my blog every month....just haven't thought of AnD in awhile~~
Nothing is really going on. I'm trying to decide if I should renew my work contract and stay another year here but it seems that my family is quite against it. No one in South Korea seems worried that the North is going to attack...but the media back home is in a frenzy.
I like living here and I'm having an awesome time. It seems like life is more intact than it was when I was back in New York. So for now, I've semi-decided that I'm going to stay another year. I know I'm not going to find a job back home in this economy....it seems more and more people are coming over to Korea to teach.
I'm having thoughts of going into education which would require me getting my masters and going back to school. I'm not a competitive person so I don't see myself being in IT (my major) or business....being a teacher seems to fit me okay...it's not the best feeling in the world but I don't think I can be idealistic anymore and think I'll find a job that I love and want to do for the rest of my life.
Time is going by so fast and I feel like I'm not at the age to wander around anymore but maybe just one more year...
Just some of the thoughts in my head...I'm getting a lot of headaches recently because of this issue....seems like an ongoing issue and I'm constantly going around in circles.
Well....off to have dinner then the gym. So far I've lost...6kgs! It feels better losing weight the healthy way...I'm doing it much slower this time, unlike the other times where I lost weight but gained it all back.^^
I'll leave you all with a picture of my desktop...just put in a new wallpaper today. I went hiking with my faculty and we went to a traditional tea house on the mountain...had an awesome view and awesome green tea. These are the leftover tea leaves....
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Sunday, May 3, 2009 8:56PM /
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Been a little busy and a little more sick lately haha....it seems my body isn't doing very well in Korea but it's all good! I'm trying to be more healthy and exercise but apparently I got dehydrated without knowing it and had to spend a few hours attached to an IV at the hospital and I missed an awesome weekend trip that I was looking forward to =[
But anyways ~ I had a good time relaxing and sleeping at home and I fell in love with this version of a song by Navi - 마음이 다쳐서 (My Heart Was Injured). I love this live performance which featured a rap by 2PM's 재범....it's a Korean and English rap and it was written by him! I hope you all enjoy it!
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Tuesday, Apr 14, 2009 2:21PM /
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I'm feeling a lot better now...thanks everyone! =]
I've been going to work and going back to the gym...the internet in my apartment isn't working very well so only been going online at work. The 1st and 2nd years at my school have gone on a week-long trip to the English Village in Seoul...I had to stay at school to teach the 3rd years.
Apparently they're going on an excursion (hiking/biking) tomorrow and I didn't find out until today (another minus to being the only foreign teacher in the school). They never tell me anything until the day of or the day before and it usually comes from small talk with the other teachers.
A prime example:
Teacher : "What are you going to do tomorrow?"
Me : "I'm coming to school."
Teacher : "But there's no school tomorrow...it's a national holiday. You didn't know?"
It usually or almost always comes to a point like that. Or the other time when all the teachers were introduced to the PTA and they all came to work ultra dressed up in suits and fancy dresses...while I'm wearing jeans and sweater I must bow in front of hundreds of people looking like a messy foreigner. Or the other time when they asked me to dress up for something and then didn't give me a seat or introduce me (which was apparently the reason for my showing up).
I was happy to learn about the excursion too because there are no classes in school so I would've just sat around doing nothing all day. But then I find out...in order to fill out the paperwork for "out of the office work" I should've done it at least a few days ago to get it to go through. It doesn't make sense because it's a new digital system that the education board just put into place...shouldn't it be running 24/7?
Actually I wasn't the only one left out of the loop...there's some gossip going around the school about the administration because some other person was unable to go for the same reason...so yea don't know what that's about.
So now I must come into an empty school tomorrow and sit around...what I've pretty much been doing this entire week and will be doing for the rest of the week. The only positive note is that I'll be alone...I can blast my music and do some lesson planning but man will it get boring.
I was excited to go to a part of the country I've never been and take pictures. =[
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Sunday, Mar 29, 2009 7:04PM /
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weirdly I seem to have gotten worse...i've been getting stomach pains, fevers and my hands are shaking now...I don't know why I'm so sick and I don't think I can take anymore days off.
Actually in my 6.5 months of working in Korea...I think I may be the first person I've heard of in my school to take a sick day. Everyone has them...but it must be taboo to take them. All the teachers work overtime...sometimes until midnight and they never get paid extra (even though legally they can claim....again...no one really claims them). Only I leave everyday at 4:30 sharp (why I'm sick when I proably get the most rest out of the entire faculty is beyond me).
Since my last entry I've taken around 15 pills a day and gotten shots in my ass....which doesn't seem to have helped much. Going to the doctor doesn't seem to help because of the language barrier...they seem to just enjoy giving me drugs, sticking a needle in me and sending me away. I'd hate to bother my co-workers again to take me to the doctor when they're always so busy...
I'm just ranting now....I wish I'd just wake up and feel healthy instead of feeling like hacking my lungs out. I hope the next time I feel the urge to write a blog entry I'll be healthy instead of sick!
And thanks to everyone who commented on my last blog! =]
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