Must Write Something

Every day so far I have had plenty to write about, but no time and no computer by which to do it. If I find a way of writing back dated blogs I will do so, once I have found the nearest internet cafe. Most of the shops around here sell snacks, clothes or mobile phones. Wall to wall. Andi pointed out an internet cafe to me on the first day, but feeling tired and disorientated, I have completely forgotten how to get there.

Today, I went to register at the local immigration office, accompanied by the Boss (whose friends are gangsters, apparently), who now have my passport. I am to pick it up (along with my immigration card) on Wednesday. After that I should be able to open a Korean bank account, as HSBC, your worldwide local bank, is as about as local to me as the Grand Canyon. While I stood at the counter, Andi was arguing with the Boss that no he could not take her immigration card, as she needs it to fly out of Korea. The same thing happened when Janice tried to get home, he actually took the card off her and consequentally she could fly out of the country. Andi also had to argue for this months pay, plus the rest of the refund for the flight, plus the bonus months pay as stated in the contract. What a nightmare. This is one dodgey geezer. Andi warned me about him, but I did not realise he was this bad. Hey, I can handle him. If not the sansaengnim at the local dojan has offered to sort him out. (With a sword? what a show-down).

After the visit to the immigaration office I spent 2 hours wandering around the shops near the hagwon (school) looking for the nearest cash machine. Found them actually inside the banks, but they were not machines that accepted international cards, just cards belonging to that bank. Its lucky that I thought ahead, and have enough cash and travellers cheques to last me a couple of months. Have also found a very good bookshop that sells English Language teaching materials. Unfortunately however, I could not find a bottle of bleach with which to clean the disgusting flat. Might explain a few things...

(I have only been here 5 days, but I am already sick and tired of EVERY SINGLE TAXI honking me, touting for business. Yes, westerner may equate to lost, confused and stupid, just not right now! I WILL FLAG YOU IF I NEED YOU!!!

This is my last day of observation. Next monday I will be teaching. The school is completely disorganised;in some of my classes the children are at different levels. Apparently I need to come up with a solution. Yeah right. The children are badly behaved, especially as they know that they do not need to learn anything as they will not get tested ( what is the point...?). The teachers carry wooden poles with them which are used as canes. This is perfectly legal in Korea, though I can't imagine that I will be using it, no matter how badly behaved they are.

This is the first morning (anywhere between midnight and 9am) where I have not had an upset stomach, despite using bottled mineral water. This morning I had only stomach cramps, but that was all. Progress...

My rhianitus has cleared, only to be replaced with Andi's cold...

7.40pm Just witnessed half the class being caned (because they forgot their homework, or did it so badly they may as well have not bothered), weird experience.