Hi

Yet another Tuesday rolls around and finds me sitting at the computer typing up an entry. There's no significance to Tuesdays, in case you were wondering. It just sort of worked out that way. I keep intending to write more frequently, but then I don't...

Well, the big news this time around is that I've finally started posting pictures! I sat down at the Jr High computer last night after my classes, and figured out what they have on the machine. To my amazement and joy, they have Photoshop 6, so I was in heaven. All I had with me was a panorama I took out the window of the apartment, but by the time most of you read this, there will be a bunch more posted. These are all scanned-in photographs, so there are no pictures yet of our apartment. But those should appear fairly soon, when we borrow a digital camera.

Anyhow, you can check out the pictures here and get an idea of what our lives have been lately. Let me know what you think. I'll try to post again some time this week, but I've said that before...

All the best.

Take care
-Justin-

A quick entry, to keep the Tuesday posting tradition alive. Sorry I haven't been writing more often, but the days fly by, and as I've said before, my computer access is woefully limited.

Well, today is the one month anniversary of our arrival in Korea! I'm not sure whether it feels like more or less than that. Probably less, most of the time. The time just zooms by at an alarming rate, and on Thursday, I receive my first paycheque!  Most of it has to head straight back to Canada, but I'm reserving a chunk for a nice beefy music order. Mmmmmmm. Beeeeeef. I haven't had beef since I've been in Korea. It's very expensive, on the order of $40/pound, and thus waaaaay out of our budget. But maybe for a splurge some time. We're also still looking at getting a digital camera.

My evening class schedule has been modified a bit, with 3 of my classes being amalgamated into one, and a class of new students added. It means I'm teaching one less class a week (and my latest one, at that!), so all is good. The amalgamated class is a bit big, but not unmanageable. They were well-behaved last night. I'm looking forward to meeting the new kids as well. When I was preparing for class yesterday, they were all pressed up against the glass of the office, looking at me!

I called my family over the weekend. It was so nice to talk to them. E-mail is good, but the sound of a voice is special. I tried a different phone company, in the hopes that their advertized rate for the US is close to their Canadian rate. The main phone company's rate is about $1.40/minute, and that's just horrific. I'm hoping the other one will turn out to be about 30 cents/minute. I'm keeping my fingers crossed, since I was on the phone for 40 minutes! I got to talk to everyone except one brother, so hopfully I'll catch him next time.

Anyhow, I have class in just a few minutes, so I'd better go and brace myself All the best to you. I hope you're all well. I've been doing a little better at visiting people's sites, but if I haven't dropped by yours in a while, let me know!

Take care
-Justin-

It may sound a little weird, but I find it kind of comforting how quickly time is passing. Here it is, Tuesday again. It's been yet another whole week since I've posted. While a large part of me is really chaffing under the lack of internet access, another part of me thinks it's kind of cool that this is my 4th teaching week already. Heck, I'm almost due for a paycheque!

Well, let's see. Since last time we've bought a few things (a lamp, a wooden platform for the bathroom floor, a new kettle that actually holds enough water for tea for both of us), opened a bank account, and started Korean lessons. The lessons are going well, though getting up earlier is tiring. It's half an hour every Tuesday and Thursday, which is pretty light, but with everything else on my plate, it's tiring. We're pretty much done with the alphabet, with only a few dypthongs to go, and we're learning some words.

The long hours are really tiring me out. We're up at 9am, and I get home from evening classes around 9:30pm, after which there are things to correct, lessons to plan, food to eat... And though we both fall asleep really quickly, it's a resless sleep where we wake up many times during the night. All in all, the whole thing is taking some getting used to. Thankfully, I had longer days all through university (classes 8am-midnight many days), so I'm at leat a little familiar with the concept. But although it sounds silly, I just don't have the stamina for long days the way I did just a few years ago in university.

The worst thing at the moment is Crista's lack of things to do. We really really really need to find her a job or something, or she is going to go completely out of her tree.

Anyhow, that's it for now. Hope you're all well. I've been trying to drop by and visit everyone when I can!

Take care
-Justin-

Wow. It's been over a week since the last update. Time feels like it's flying sometimes, and crawling at others. An odd sort of situation.

This is my 13th teaching day (I'm glad I'm not superstitious), and the whole process gets a very tiny bit easier every day. Most of my elementary classes are great, with the exception of the littlest kids (they're great most of the time, but they're also 3 years old, which presents its own difficulties) and one or two classes of 9-12-year-olds who are really energetic, inattentive, disruptive and loud.  I still haven't quite figured out how to reach them, but I'm trying. My Jr. High classes get progressively more difficult as the week goes. The Monday classes seem to do the best, but the overall attention leve seems to decrease with each day. I only see each class once a week, which is a blessing and a curse... Thsi week I'm doing another listening comprehension exercize, trying to size up where the classes stand in relation to each other.

The apartment is looking much better. It's been subjected to a lot of scrubbing, and a number of the posters and paintings have been put up. It's a bit difficult, since all the walls are made of concrete! One of the fist things we learned when we came to Korea is that all buildings are made of concrete. It takes some getting used to.

Crista is going crazy from lack of occupation. Her life right now is far too housewife-ish for her, but since we're in a small town, her opportunities seem rather limited. But we're going to start casting our nets further afield, and she may well be able to find something in one of the nearby cities. It would mean a daily commute, but anything would be better than spending all day every day in the house...

We went into Daegu, a nearby city, over the weekend, to pick up my Alien Registration Card and do some shopping. We went, of all places, to a French department store called Carrefour. We picked up some groceries (tomato sauce, black tea.......) that can't be bought here in Angang, and some things for the house (a stereo!!! YAY!!! I can listen to music!!!). We looked at digital cameras, since I'm starting a website with pictures of our Korean experience, but their selection was fairly limited, at least in our price range...

Anyhow, I have to let my lovely wife get on the computer. I'll try to drop by all of your sites and say hello at some point soon, but it's so hard to find the time, especially without a computer at home!

All the best!

Take care
-J-

Hi all

Sorry not to keep in touch. Thanks to all of you who have kept reading and commenting, even when I haven't been able to return the favour. I'm pretty sure we'll be getting a computer soon, but just how soon is uncertain. It'll have to wait until after at least the first paycheque, but I'm getting pretty desperate. Only having a few minutes a day here at work just isn't cutting it for an online junkie like myself.

Well, I'm in the middle of my 7th teaching day, and the world has largely stopped being a place of chaos, confusion and fear. I've taught the last few days of classes unaccompanied, and (knock on wood) I do believe that I'm starting to get the hang of all this. There are still 2 or 3 classes that are bafflingly impossible to control properly, but I'm slowly starting to swap discipline stories with the other teachers, so hopefully I'll soon have the tools in my arsenal to turn these problem classes around.

The Junior High classes all last week were all sort of "intro to us" classes, where Crista and I talked about Canada, showed maps and photograps, talked about families and activities, and basically tried to let the students get used to us. This week, it's business. However, there's no curriculum! Scary! That's right, there's no book for these 6 classes, so I have to develop the material myself. I taught the first 2 classes yesterday, and it actually went really well. I started by writing 7 questions on the board and got them to copy them onto paper. Then I read a one-page story several times, at various speeds, with talking time between each reading, the answers to the questions being contained in the story. Then we worked our way down through the answers, reading out the relevant sections of the story for each. And after they had answered all 7 questions, I pulled a sneaky teacher trick and gave them 3 more. But even though at the beginning of the class they were baffled and convinced that this was an impossible activity, in the end they managed to answer all of the questions. I was really pleased, and I think they were too...

The apartment is slowly shaping up. The posters should be flat enough tonight to put up, and a few things are up already. The pictures are almost all framed, although putting them up may be a challenge, since at least one of the walls is solid concrete and thus doesn't accept thumbtacks particularly well. But pretty much everything has been swept and scrubbed, which is good.

Anyhow, I'd better go. I'm hogging the computer. Plus, it's lunch time and I have to go home and take care of Crista, who's home sick.

Hope you're all well and happy. All the best.

Take care
-Justin-

Well, we're here in Angang, South Korea.

We got in late Saturday night, and I taught a full day of classes Monday! Crazy. It was extremely stressful, and I had to work hard not to break down in tears during my supper break, but I got therough. It's not the teaching or the classes that caused the stress, but rather my complete lack of preparation. I expected to have a few days before starting, and I really expected more prep help. As it was, my prep time was the ten minutes between each class!

In the morning I teach little ones (3-6 or so), slightle older in the afternoon (8-12 or so), and then in the evening I teach Junior High! Yes, that's right, Junior High - that dreaded period between the usefulness of Elementary and the respect of High School. A holding pen while we get through the uncertainty and hormones a little and work toward finding ourselves as human beings. I don't remember Jr High fondly, shall we say. But the funny thing was that the 2 classes last night were a blast!

I must officially say that what is saving my butt is my wonderful wife. Yesterday was a stress meltdown extraordinaire, and she went above and beyond the call of duty, offering to co-teach the classes with me for a few days until I find my feet. It's made all the difference in the world.

Anyhow, it's sunny so we're going to go for a walk for the 45 minutes or so before the afternoon classes begin. I'll check in again soon, if I can. Keep sending those good vibes my way, and I think everything will be just fine.

Take care
-Justin-

Hi all

I find it extremely difficult to put my current thoughts and emotions into words. I'm scared and tired and there are two classes left.

We did make it to Korea just fine, and the apartment is great. The school is nice, and the operators are friendly. However, we arrived Saturday night, and it's Monday evening, and I've been teaching all afternoon. I'm very jetlagged, I'm fighting off the tail end of a flu, and I'm teaching with virtually no preparation. It's crazy. I'm sure it'll all work out, but right now I'm absolutely terrified!

Anyhow, I guess I'll check in again when I can. Wish me luck. I have a couple of classes coming up in about 20 minutes and there's no course manual!

Take care
-Justin-

4:45am. Plane leaves Toronto at 8:45am. We leave for the airport very soon. As near as I can figure. it's 6 hours to Vancouver, then 14 hours across to Seoul, 3 hours to clear customs and such, then a 4 1/2 hour train ride. Long trip. But it should be good. Stuff is packed, clothes are on, and the game is afoot. Talk to you all in Korea!

Take care
-Justin-

Well, our stay in Cambridge will finally be coming to an end in a few days. We leave on Friday. Visas have been taken care of, as has pretty much everything else, so we're all set. Which is good, since we're both going seriously stir crazy. While it's nice to see the inlaws, there's nothing to do here at all, and no way to get to it. And we have to ration every cent, so we can't afford any entertainment or travel or anything. Let's just say that Friday is a highly anticipated day.

The Toronto trip was reasonably fun. Got my work visa processed, ran into some old friends (Kory and Colleen), I saw my friend Amy play again and picked up a copy of her FABULOUS new CD (entitled Lullabies For Barflies), took in the Royal Ontario Museum (on Friday night, which is free instead of $18/person), and spent a lovely few hours at the Toronto Islands. And, of course, we visited relatives -- I finished my collection (I've now met everyone on Crista's mother's side).

Anyhow, I need to get some sleep. I installed high speed cable access here a couple of days ago, so I now have a reliable connection to the internet. My withdrawl symptoms are slowly receding.

Take care
-J-

A very quick entry, again from the Cambridge library.

We've changed our departure dates, so we now leave the country on the 18th of October. Hanging around here is driving me nuts, but it could certainly be worse. Our paperwork arrived today from Korea, so we're heading into Toronto tomorrow to get our visas processed. I'll also get to see my friend Amelia perform again. She's out here in Ontario doing a mini-tour in support of her new album.

Anyhow, the library's closing so I'd better go. All the best, and I'll check in again as soon as I can.

Take care
-Justin-