Hi, everybody. I am posting from a PCBang where I am showing my students how to start their own weblogs. You can check out their blogs here:
Links:
Tae Won's Wony Life
Sung Woo's Inn
Kang Lip's 'My Life......'
Alan's 'Fishkiller' Blog
The Diary of Heun Joo
Thursday, November 29, 2001
Wednesday, November 28, 2001
Well... it's back to frustration mode again. First let me say I had a pleasant trip to Kyungju on Sunday and bought a nice hat. I'll try to post a couple pics when I get my film back and see which ones are scannable. Mostly I took videotape so you will likely have to wait to see that. How long will you have to wait? Well... that's why it's back to frustration mode again.
Point: My contract said that I was to receive a return ticket at the end of my contract. Simple? Not in Korea.
Basically, the ticket I got expired exactly one year after I first used it. That meant that it was no good after October 28th and my contract actually ended October 31st. When we tried to extend it, we were told (after several weeks of inquiries) that it was purchased on sale and as such could not be extended. They would give a $100US refund however.
Point: My contract says I can not accept a cash equivalent for the ticket. I can only accept a bona fide ticket. This was originally done to discourage teachers who were staying in the country to pocket the extra cash, however, right now it means my school can't pawn the refund off on me and say "There ya go." At least not legally.
What's happening? No ticket. My school refuses to buy me a good ticket (one that I can use). They have even gone so far as to say my contract ended on Oct. 25. I can't figure that out since it said 12 months, unless they are using the lunar calendar and I am using the solar calendar.
Oh yeah, and the same $%#& who has been causing my relocation problems since September was on the phone with me today too. He said it was my responsibility to check into the ticket. Surprise! I did. That's how I found out the ticket was no good! How much more responsibility can I take in the matter since the ticket was non-renewable? He also said that I didn't give 30 days notice that I was going to renew my contract. In reality, what I did was to VISIT HIM 2 months BEFORE the end of my contract. YES... VISIT HIM!!! In SEOUL!!! to ask for a transfer. (That's when he pawned me off on the other airhead that works in his office). The only reason I signed an extension was because he wasted that time and nobody from his office could come up with a new job for me. They gave me the names of 3 schools but when we called those schools, none of them actually had openings. I'm not even gonna mention the rude letter he sent me a month ago which opened a whole tonne-sized can of worms. He shouldn't have even been writing me since he shuffled my case to chickie sitting next to him. Back on track however, he shuffled me back to her when I sent him an appropriate reply.
My plans to visit Canada will undergo some radical changes. Since I really can't afford both tickets, I really think it's proper that I skip buying the return ticket (which I was going to do out of my own money) to come back to Korea and finish my contract extension.
Contracts! Schmontracts! This is Korea!
The first time someone tries to P-ss in my Corn Flakes tomorrow... I'm walking.
Thursday, November 22, 2001
Oh right. The Blog. I forgot. Sorry guys. I have been in a rut(?) this week. Last Wednesday I came down with a sore throat which then alternated to and from a headache until Monday. I managed to squeeze in a couple of long night drinking engagements-- so that probably helped prolong it. On top of that, you might never even know I felt sick because I have obsessively been playing The Sims all night until 7am several times this week. With that said, I had to write something.
Oh, and BTW, thanks to Hoss who actually sent me his aforementionned Asia Carrerra stunt double pic of me, which while I am flattered-- I am not going to post :)
What's new? Tonnes. I should mention that November 11th, while being Remembrance Day in Canada, is actually a completely different day here. In Korea, Novemember 11th (being the very linear 11/11) is Pepero Day (being a very linear candy treat which is pretty much a pretzel stick dipped in chocolate). It is a marketer's coup de grace. Everyone exchanges boxes of these little treats on a day that helps work with Valentine's Day and White Day to break up the business year almost symetrically. (In case anyone doesn't remember, Valentine's Day here is gender polarized and only girls give chocolate on Feb. 14th. Boys on the other hand, give chocolate on March 14th, called White Day.) Now, in November, the stores are running out of boxes of Pepero as everyone snaps them off the shelves for friends and family.
On newer note, some of the youngest students at my school are trying out the roles of teachers. Usually around 3pm every day, they burst down my door and run in to pester me for candy, stickers, or whatever is on my desk and in their field of vision. They're cute if not slightly diabolical and malevolent. While a couple usually distract me by asking me "How are you?" and "What is your name?", others begin rifling through my desk or scribbling on the white board. Today however, they started earning their keep by furnishing me with a list of 10 new vocabulary words for my Korean studies. In turn, I will pester you by publishing them here. So... without hesitation, the words for Nov.21 were:
문 - moon (door)
도장 - dojyang (stamp [as in rubber stamp])
바구니 - bah-gu-nee (basket)
창문 - changmoon (window)
스티커 - suh-tee-kuh (sticker)
달력 - dal-lyuk (calendar)
모자 - moh-jah (hat)
책 - chaek (book)
지우개 - jee-oo-gae (eraser)
연필 - yunpeel (pencil)
And today's new verb is 돌다 - dolda, which means "to turn" as in following a direction.
Tomorrow is Thursday which is an easy day. I still don't feel 100% better but I will do my best to get some more interesting posts recorded. On Sunday, I have been invited on a day trip to 경주 (Kyungju/Kyongju). It's probably the most important of South Korean historical sites, having been the capital of the Unified Shilla dynasty.
Tuesday, November 06, 2001
Well I didn't expect to see a story like this in the news today. Maybe there's something else to the recent buzzing of troop movements. Korea definitely has changed since 9-11 in one way. I have only seen U.S. soldiers at the local foreigner bar maybe once since this thing started. I had no way to verify that the guys I saw two weeks ago were troops (sailors from Chinhae) but they did have short, military-style hair and virtually all the black guys you see around here are U.S. Navy. Before all this, there would normally be a half dozen soldiers hanging out at the bar on a given Friday night. I am guessing that if everyone is not officially confined to base, they are sticking pretty close to it. Anyway... this is a story to follow.
Sunday, November 04, 2001
Brrr... I woke up to see it was 4 degrees Centigrade in Seoul Friday morning and it's not much warmer here today. I finally pulled out my heavy guage leather 3/4 trench coat for the season, and I am debating whether I should turn the apartment heat on tonight. That might be overkill, but it's definite that winter is coming. Nothing more to write at the moment... I think I am going to go set fire to something and huddle beside it.
