Disciplining the disciplined

Whispering: This, my dear friends is a squatter... originally intimidating but enevetably (in Korea) you will have to face it.


Oh Yes! I am here to teach, not just to wander the streets aimlessly and take pictures of things. The teaching is going well so far, though the variation in English speaking ability is great from one student to the next and from level to level. Surprisingly the younger the student, the better they seem to be at speaking English. Did I mention that I have the pleasure of teaching prepubescent teenage boys? I reckon that if I can merely keep them distracted from whatever they are daydreaming about long enough for them to learn a few stanza's of English prose then I am doing alright.

I have yet to see another caucasian creature but I don't stick out so much (except when I am behind my camera), at which point I am clearly a tourist. The walk to school is a modest 15-20 minutes (when I don't get lost), my sense of direction is sharpening slowly and my Tim Hortons withdrawal sypmtoms are fading into oblivion.

A little rant on discipline...
Forgive my generalization, I am new at this "moving to a new country" thing but I've observed that the Korean people are far more disciplined then us (lazy) Westerners. My apologies to the hard-working Westerners (you know who you are). Anyways...

In South Korea convenience is not held on a pedestal as much as it is North America. Technology is held on a pedestal, it is ubiquitously prominent- from the perpetual use of cell phones to specialized kimchi refrigerators, to all the beeps and bells and unexpected electronic voices that pop in and out of the walls somehow. And yet with all of this advanced technology I come across some uncivilized property- a squatter! What preposterous hypocricy! I almost walked right out of the bathroom with my tail between my legs! Where are the instructions for this thing anyways? Oh well, it is a (not-so) pleasant reminder of where I am and it will haunt me all day, to remind me to avoid overdosing on diuretics while at my daily 9-5... or 8:30-4:30.

Back to the discipline thing though- From the daily ritual of rigorous recycling methods to endless school hours and homework for the children the South Korean people live to THINK! I wish I could understand Korean so that I could participate in the brilliant discussions they are having...or at least know when I am being made fun of. At any rate, South Korea is a part of the world where respect for elders is paramount, where everybody owns a Samsung, drives a Hyandai (or Kia) and where the preservation of tradition is rooted in the celebration of family.

Using a shamelessly psychic method to account for the events of tomorrow today: I plan to open a bank account and eat some fresh eggs and fresh rye bread... I mean that is why I came to South Korea- to find fantastic eggs & bread!

Enough run-on sentences for now...