Well it's about time that this was updated...and seeing as I have a random day off what better time to do it.

I have now been back in my third stint for three months and and reminiscing about the first time I made it to Korea... the fear, questioning if I made the right choice, and dare I say it the loneliness. The thought here is that if you can make it past three months you will have a blast...and it's true. Of course there is times that you miss your friends and family from home... and to be honest this happens the entire time you are overseas.
Today is one of those days for me... Thinking of all my amazing family and friends back home. Some of which I have known for 20 plus years. Remember the good times, all the stories, rugby, cricket and league. 
I know we will be friends with them forever and I will make sure of that. 
This leads on to the time in Korea. Everyone is in the same boat, which makes it easier. We are all in a foreign country with a major language barrier so what do we do... we become a pack. We roam streets, have fun and develop, for lack of a better phrase, build a dependency with each other. With an added bonus being we have developed friend from throughout the world and no matter where we are we are bound to know someone. Plus I know if friends ever come to NZ my family, friends and I will make them feel welcomed.


Anyway nothing too much to report from the land of kimchi for me. We have had a long weekend so what did we do... went camping. Being in a landlocked area in Korea we headed to an Island and to beaches. So the group of us boarded buses, jumped in cabs, boarded a ferry, jumped on a bus, then more taxis and we arrived to our destination. The first beach we arrived at was a sand beach, but it was not the nicest place. There was fishing crap everywhere, the water looked disgusting and there were no open toilets. 
The amazing taxi drivers took a few of the group to another beach which we decided on taking over. The one downside was a stone beach... definitely not the best on feet, however the water was beautifully clean all be it cold as hell. It was some good time filled with swimming, camping and fires. 

      
Other than that just been hanging around spending time with friends.


The work side of things is up and down for sure. Some days it's fine other days the kids are done. The drawbacks of high schools in Korea is that if they are deemed not suitable for university are basically given a lessened education. They are often shipped off to a technical high school, which are effectively just a place for students to be held before they are old enough to be released into the world. 
In terms of English ability most students have given up even trying to learn it and know little if any at all.
An example of this is one day I asked a student, "how are you?" The response I got was, "it's Thursday" 
Instead of being annoyed I was impressed that this kid even knew what day it was. My classes basically consist of me talking about a topic and then asking a few of the kids with an interest in English questions regarding the subject matter.

But the perks of a public school job is coming up.... Vacation days!!! I have no idea how long I get off yet... could be a week, could be a month. The previous contracts were at private institutes and did not have the same vacation benefits that's for sure.

Anyway that is enough from me... To all my NZ friends and family... miss you guys and I'll see you when I see you next. Hopefully for March.

Be good and have fun.

Blair