Too Hot to...

It's not been so bad today, but lately it's been too hot to dress particularly neatly.  I keep expecting another teacher  to tell me to tuck in my shirt, or straighten my tie (even though I don't wear one) and walk properly, don't drag my feet etcetera; then it dawns on me that I'm the teacher.  It's amazing how often I forget that.

So my first day went okay, the first three classes were tough, primarily because I misunderstood the lesson plans from the previous teacher, so I ended up going over the same things again, oops!  This also meant that I set the same homework, so that went down well.

My afternoon classes went much more smoothly, partly because some of the kinks had been removed, and partly because they're older children.  It's hard to tell which classes are going to be the best, but I'm sure some will emerge as frontrunners.  Anyone who gives me chocolate receives an instant A on their next test - no questions asked.

I went to the local (sic) department store over the weekend.  Well, not over the weekend, but during.  The local store is around a twenty minute bus journey, and despite being imposing outwardly, is surprisingly small inside.  It's like a Tardis, only backwards.

They didn't have any of the things I wanted, so I guess I'll either wait or get them shipped over.

The most surprising thing was that TESCO has a branch here.  All the advertisements were the signature colour, and the store was laid out similarly; however something wasn't quite right.  I caught myself thinking: 'It's TESCO's Jim, but not as we know it.'

There's no Marmite either, which is a bummer.  That coupled with the food stalls erected about the store with servers dishing up octopus and squid led me to suspect the store manager wasn't English.

Warning, Swearing Ensues!

So I held out this many days, I'm quite proud of myself.

The driving here is appalling.  From the first time I stepped into a car (literally within a couple of hours of being here) I knew the driving here was terrible.  I didn't want to pre-judge everyone however, and am glad to say that my boss can drive pretty decently.  (I'm not just saying that, she's the best driver I've seen so far, She won't ever read this, so it's not simply a bum-kissing exercise... Ok stop looking at me with those accusing eyes!)

Anyway.  The drivers here pretty much ignore red lights at their whim.  I wish I were joking about that.  The Korean reliance on technology has also had an unexpected side-effect, their digital world extends to the accelerating and braking aspects of driving here too.  Drivers are either 100% throttle bound, or 100% braking; there is no middle ground.  You can get whiplash without ever having an accident here.  It's not an isolated phenomenon either.  Some people drive like that in England, but not everyone.

There are some serious bum-clenching, avert yon eyes moments in just going to the shops.

And on being a pedestrian I can say this: (this is where the swearing comes in)

If you see a car coming, you get the fuck out of the way.  Even if you're on the pavement you step a foot away from the road.  Crossing the road isn't actually too bad.  I spoke to one american who likened it to a feeding time frenzy at the zoo, and cars most definitely have right of way; but it's similar to rush-hour London in that it's every man for himself.  Don't bother waiting for the green light, just go - blinkers on and get marching.

I've been told that Korea has the highest pedestrian mortality rate in any first world country, and that really would not surprise me.  Especially considering that most of the roads don't have permanent pavements.  Just like Japan, the streets are a free-roaming area.  Unlike Japan however, there are no laws governing who goes where.

Or maybe I have it totally wrong.  Maybe there is a code, so complicated that I've not deciphered it yet.  Like an ant-trail, with returning worker ants on the inside, outgoing ants on the outside, and the cyclists dipping between all lanes.

Oh and for those of you with an atlas (or google)  I think I live in a place called Okpo.  I'm definitely not sure about that though.

And a double Oh, for anyone who remembers Pocari Sweat from Japan, they have that here too.  Epic.

First Impressions are Always Fun, so Let's Write Some!

So first off, Goeje is huge. No matter what it may look like on a map, and no matter how small the population, traversing this island takes a substantial effort. I've no idea how long it took to reach this place once we were on-board, but it's not a journey to be undertaken on a bicycle!

Unfortunately the couple who bought me here did not speak any English, and I can't speak any Korean, so the journey was mostly silent. What with the language barrier and my insistent drowsiness, very little communication happened. I would like to take this opportunity to publicly apologise to the two who bought me over to the island for being incredibly boring, and I am grateful that you took your own night off to do so. And as a side-note, the woman driving should definitely pursue a career as a racing driver.

On a tangent, the landscape here is unbelievable. It's absolutely fantastic. Flying overhead on the internal connecting flight, I saw the towns and cities perched on hillsides lit up in neon. Obviously I couldn't see the hills themselves, they were merely silhouettes on the skyscape, but the combination of mountaineering skyscrapers (I don't know what classifies a building as being such, but these are pretty damned tall) and hilltop of complete darkness (presumably because they're too difficult to build upon) makes for a completely unique view. I had theorised, prior to visiting, that Japan and Korea might suffer from similar land space issues, mainly that the land is primarily mountainous and therefore difficult to build on; it seems this is definitely the case, although the problem appears somewhat less pronounced than in Japan. From a classically minded perspective the urban sprawl isn't particularly eye-pleasing, but the endeavour with which they've built is fantastic.

The flat is surprisingly clean, if unspectacular. The only downside is that the TV doesn't have an HDMI connection, gutted! I'll go out and get an adapter later, or if I can't find a shop I'll use the internet. As of writing this I have no idea what the internet is like, because I'm not connected yet. Just storing a few diary-esque thoughts until I do get hooked up.

Everyone seems pretty nice, and two even stayed up specially to greet me last night, despite it being around 1AM; which was a nice touch.

I'm going to have a mosey around later and hopefully pick up some supplied from the local supermarket. That is, if I can find the local supermarket...