Well, for days two and three of teaching I felt much more at ease. There were no crying children, the shy people were less so and I just plain had more of an idea of what I was supposed to be doing.
Outside of teaching though, I have done absolutely nothing the past two days. Seriously. I bought some household supplies, I ate, slept, and talked to my computer people. I'll break out of that on the weekend I'm sure. I think it all has to do with this being my first week of teaching.
On a side note, I was woken up this morning by what sounded like a general announcement for the entire city. The only word I recognized was the one for the name of the province Miryang is in (Gyeongsangnam-do). So, something is happening in this province. I looked out the window. No one was running around screaming, crouching down low and covering their heads, heading for bomb shelters or otherwise panicking, so I can only assume the news was, if not good, at least harmless.
This is also a good time, seeing as this update is so short, to share my views on how people drive here. It's controlled chaos. Pedestrians seem to have the right of way. Drivers will stop for them. The roads, and sometimes even the sidewalks, are shared fairly equally by all. As for the car to car relationships, I'd have to say they're dominated by polite aggression. Do you want to turn left onto a busy road? Well, gradually creep out into the intersection until the oncoming traffic has to stop for you. It's different than Mexico, where its just plain chaos and lanes are ignored, people go at whatever speed they deem necessary, etc. Here people very politely make it known that they are going to do something, then do it. Also, very few intersections in Miryang have traffic lights, so the above applies to many major intersections. Cars just slow down, look around, then creep into the intersection. It's fun to watch, really.
Oh yeah, one more thing. I think I'm finally getting used to sitting in a room with people speaking Korean and referring to me, gesturing at me, etc., but never translating to me what they were talking about. I think it might be a little like being in a zoo.
Crocodile Steve
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2 comments:
Well, I am glad to hear that you are settling in to a teaching rythym... It is a great thing if you can get the hang of it. I really enjoyed my own experiences at it, i just wasn't very good at it. The driving sounds similar to that of traffic in Taiwan. Except that there were not as many cars as there were scooters. and all the sidwalks were scooter parking. oh and pedestrians were unheard of... people literally drove their scooters to cross the street. Well, I hope that it all continues to go well and that you have a good time this weekend. having people point and talk about you can get really irritating after a while... just keep reminding yourself " at least I don't have boobs for them to stare at" :) Well, I anxiously await the next posting... I love that I am in touch with you way over there. I hope that you grow to love teaching and make the shy people laugh and the stoic faced studious ones grin like a... crocodile...? :)
hey Guy - its vicky - I've been enjoying your e-mails - sounds like you are doing mighty fine and of course Grant thinks you are super cool for listening to the hockey game - one track mind. I'm in White Horse doing some consulting - but please keep up the writing as I get to a computer at least once a week. Take care of yourself,
v
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