Log #8: Two teachers and an octopus walk into a bar...

So once again, immediately after uploading the last posting, my new buddy Edward arrived and took me out. This time, it was a pub called "Loss Time." On the inside, it was just like any pub I might find at home. I was immediately comfortable. Edward ordered us some beer and some munchie food. All Korean pub food is apparently some sort of dry appetizer type thing. Edward decided that the dried octopus would be good. That sounded interesting. I was expecting strips of octopus, possibly battered. Instead what arrived was basically a whole, small octopus, dried and slightly warm. We tore it into manageable strips, dipped them into mayonnaise or hot sauce and ate. It was chewy, but tasty. It was octopus jerky. We spent the evening drinking beer, talking about sports and girls. How male bonding.
The next day was my first day of teaching. First came listening to a rather frustrating hockey game, then came the anxiousness as to what I was going to do. When I got downstairs to meet the other teachers and plan for classes I discovered that another class had been added to the schedule. Just one student who needed his basics like the alphabet and greetings brushed up before moving on to the next level. So, I would now be teaching three classes of a half hour each right in a row. I needed to prepare.
The first class went ok. He was much further ahead than I had been led to believe and I quickly ran out of material to teach him. The last 10 minutes of that class were a struggle, but I got through. Now I know his level and can better prepare for today's class.
The second class was more difficult. It was again just one student, a 15 year old girl who was quite shy and had trouble looking at me without giggling. My goal was to assess her conversational English abilities so I asked her basic questions about herself some of which she understood others she didn't, and had her ask me questions too. She was very quiet and her answers were quite short so it was another very long half hour.
The third class was a group of 5 seven year olds and one 40 year old lady. There were some difficulties in communication, and one of the little boys ended up crying because he didn't understand, but all in all, the class went ok once he settled down.
After that intensive hour and a half I was really hungry and craving pizza. I went to one place and, despite being the only customer in the store, was completely ignored by the guy working there. So, I went to another place. The staff was quite nice and helpful. While sitting inside waiting for my pizza I was accosted by yet another middle aged drunk guy who insisted on talking aggressively to me despite the fact it was obvious I didn't know what he was saying. He was getting more and more agitated until the pizza place staff had to kick him out. I just wanted to back to my rooms and eat/hide for a while.
I had one class left, two late high school girls, but it was a breeze. We were giving them a preliminary English comprehension test to see what their level was. No teaching involved at all for that class, at least for that night.
And now it's Wednesday morning. I feel a little better prepared for classes today, at least mentally, I still have to decided what to bring and all that. I should go do that.
Steve