Friday, 6 March 2009

Hello everyone..

This has been a very very busy and tiring week, but things went good I guess. It was the end of a session, and also the start of the March session, so it was really really busy. To start with, I have 29 students now, because our numbers are increasing. We have reached 130 students, which is really good, and fantastic. More students coming in, and things are really looking good.

Today, I have been very very tired, and just arrived home, and went to buy Mcdonalds tonight. Tomorrow I have training in Seoul, so there goes my Saturday, but at least I would be seeing a lot of foreigners from all over Korea, because tomorrow's workshop is only for English Foreign teachers, so tomorrow should be interesting.

To top things up, my wisdom teeth, decided to come out here in Korea of all places, and this isn't funny, because its really sore, and my knowledge of the language is really not so good, so I am a little nervous should things become bad, but its only 3 months before I go home, for vacation, so hopefully my teeth will not cause too much pain for me. I love my students, and work is really really nice, and going good for me, and I hope every day and week can go as this one.

I hope you all have a fantastic weekend, and talk again soon,
Bye,

Sunday, 1 March 2009..Start of Spring...

Where is the fork going?

Be scared of me! I repeat! Be very afraid!

One of the worship leaders....

Is this good or what? Looks like he's enjoying it!

Goegoema pizza...Was very delicious...

This is me, posing for a pic...

Look at all the food!

More yummy food!!

Making the cake...

Pastor Lee at the cake...

One of the worship leaders....

She wasn't expecting this pic...hahaha..a good one though!

Pastor Lee and his brother...

Jenny at her table..Today we were on opposite teams...

Here you can see Jenny again...Thinking very hard!!

Me and Lisa...I gave her an English name today...

Me and Lisa again....

Some final planning taking place before the party starts...

Hello everyone...This has been another incredible day for me...I went to church at 9, and we had our usual worship service, followed by the main service, and the youth service. Today our theme was about to love your neigbor as yourself, and to also love God. A very touching message, and it made you think...One thing is for sure. You should never be scared to show to others that you are a Christian...I think today was really an eye-opener for me, and everyone at church..

After the service, we had a wonderful coffee get together at a coffeeshop, and the gathering was really incredible. Once again, I had no problems with the language, because everybody really put in effort to translate the Korean for me, so I never felt out. I also saw Jenny today, although we didn't really talk too much today. It wasn't the perfect day for me. I was not feeling so good, because of something I ate, so my tummy is still a bit sore, but it should be okay now. That didn't prevent me of eating some cake, pizza and fried chicken. I really enjoy my time here so much, and afterwards the pastor brought me and a friend who stays in the same area, home, so I got home just after 6, and another successful day is over.

Well, I have really been happy with all the blessings of God in my life so far, and to give me a Korean family here who really cares, makes every minute worth it for me. Everyday is getting nicer, and it feels like the puzzle is starting to fit in now, and thats really making it very very nice for me.

Well, tomorrow its back to work. I was supposed to get up early tomorrow morning, but my director called me now, to tell me I don't have to come in early tomorrow, so that means, I can sleep late again. Having in mind, I only slept 3 hours last night, because I was watching the rugby, and it kept on going late. I was dissapointed, because we lost the rugby, but at least i was able to watch it this time.

Here, I also include pictures of my time at the coffee get together, and I hope that everybody likes it, and gives feedback! Look at how quickly my hair grew back!! Write comments, if you feel like you like my blog! Take care, and have a good time...

Sandwich day...Friday, 27th of February...and dinner with Anoria

This is the church choir at my church..

The caramel macchiato I drank...yummy...

This is my friend Anoria, who I had dinner with.

This is Anoria, with the camera flash on.

my caramel macchiato with flash on.

This is Joe..

Angie and Gina..

Tom, Nick and Joe....

Angie and Gina, Finally Gina looks at the camera..She is so shy! but two very good students..

Everybody working very hard!

Angie and Gina busy preparing their sandwiches...

This is Tom and Nick, both very good students...

This is Joe...He really is a good boy, and I enjoy working with him.

Adding some flavour to the sandwich, by using pizza sauce..Yummy!!

I call it the Domino-effect...Yummy...

Hello everyone...Well..Today was a very happy day AND a very good end to a lovely week in Korea, because it all started with a very nice lunch with my staff at work. We went to a very famous duck restaurant here in Cheonan, and I didn't really know what to expect, because it was only the second time I would eat duck. I got to say. Duck isn't so bad, because after my colleagues showed me how to eat it, and to add some flavour to the duck, it was actually really nice. I watched with large eyes, as they ate crabs...It looked really really tasty because they really enjoyed it. I thought to skip it, and to not try and eat it. Afterall, it was a lovely lunch, and the bonding was really nice, and enjoyable.

Back to work, I was so sleepy. You know when you have nice lunch, you could do with a nap, but unfortunately I had to go work. It all started very nice, with some reviews for some students, and we also did reading, and just prepared the students for Tuesday's monthly test. I then taught my one class to make sandwiches. I brought some bread, ham, cheese, pizza sauce, butter, and pepper. I first showed them how to make a sandwich, and then they made theirs. It seems like they enjoyed it, because they really worked very well together, and my students really made me happy today. After that, we cleaned up, and I prepared for my next classes.

At 7:20 pm, I finished at work, and got on the bus, to meet my friend Anoria at Yawoori. We decided to go to a Japanese restaurant for dinner, and ate Japanese pork cutlet. I felt very proud of my Korean, because this was the first time I went to a restaurant without any Korean support. We were able to order the right food, and had a very lovely and nice dinner. Afterwards, we went to a coffee shop, and just talked for a long time, and after the busy week it had been, its just what I needed, and then we both took a taxi, to our respective homes, to finish a very nice day.

I couldn't be happier. Over here, things are getting better, and nicer everyday, and so many things to be grateful about. I have a nice place to stay, good work, good students, good friends, and most of all, I am enjoying myself now more than ever.

Here is some pictures of the fun I had today. I told my students, they can come check out the pictures, and that my friends all read my blog, so my students will be visiting my blog too... Have fun, and enjoy your weekend everyone!

Thursday, 26 February 2009..

Hello everyone...I guess this side of the world, is already early morning, and I couldnt sleep, so I decided to update my diary...Things are going okay now, although I am not so happy with the bad exchange rate! Just this morning, the dollar reached W1512 against our local currency, which is not so good! Usually the two currencies only loses value on one side, but in this case, the dollar is strong against our currency, but loses against the Rand, so thats not so cool, but I think everybody is experiencing economic situations right now.

This weekend, I would be home again, and probably do nothing, because I had a plan, but decided against that plan for now. It would have been really cool to see it through, but I am going to be very realistic on this one.

In about 4 months time, it will be my birthday, and almost time to visit SA for my vacation, and something really to look forward to. One of my friends, wants to also visit SA, but we both will first see, if it will be possible.

Yesterday, our students at our english academy, have increased to almost 125 which is really good! I am so happy that things are going well. I struggled with my B2-classes, because they didn't really understand me, but now I have some new methods to help them, and it seems to work pretty well, because yesterday in their Unit test(D.O.L) they all did very well. Usually they get many wrong, but yesterday, they only got 1, 2,3 wrong, and two students made no mistakes, so I was really happy yesterday about that.

I finished my day by eating a pizza, and next week is Payday, and tomorrow our staff will be having lunch somewhere nice, to bond a bit, and to take a little break after the busy time we went through. I think the level of my students' English has really improved, and I feel so proud when I listen to them, and know that all my effort and hard work is rewarding at the end of the day!

Now, I have to get going and get ready for work, but have a good time, and talk again soon...

Church can be fun!

This is Jiyang, my translator! Without her help, I am clueless, but she is good!

I stand next to the guy in green again. This is a ritual, in which you write down some things, that bothers you, and burn the paper. and then we also had fireworks

FUN!!!!!

I stand next to the guy in green, with the black Nike jacket, and the blue jeans, and white shoes.

My poor back, but it held!!

Hello everybody! Well, its been a couple of days, I haven't been able to post something, but now I am back again! This is some of the pictures that was taken at our church youth meeting. Every Sunday, we have a youth service, after the main service, at 1:30 pm, which lasts for about 1 and a half hours. I am lucky in the sense, because I am the only foreigner at this service, to have a translator, who translates everything for me, so I get all the messages very nice and clear! I am an official member of the youth now, and we have even received bus cards, with a nice picture of the church on it. For those who don't know, in Korea we use bus cards, to travel on the public transport, like buses, taxis, subway, and now the church made some nice travelling cards for the youth! It usually costs about 7000 won, or R50 but I got mine free!

Here I am uploading some pictures. Every Sunday they take pictures, of everything, so I usually just go to cyworld, where the youth has a site like facebook, but cyworld is Korean. All the youth here are on Cyworld, and I get all the pictures there, like you can see me in action here, during worship, and see I am really having fun, fun, fun here at my church!

Its been a very good time for me, and I have so many things to be grateful about, but I am happy for friends, and family and for everything that i can be happy about, because having so many people that cares for me, makes it worth being here, although I am so far from my home!

I will be back soon, and give feedback, or suggestion, when you have time!

Best news ever!

Wow! What a contrast! After a very very difficult day yesterday, I got the best news today, when my director offered me another year contract, so I am going to stay in Cheonan for another year, and I have so many things to be grateful about, because I have a good job, and a good boss, and God is just good.

I am really looking forward to July to return to South Africa, when my vacation starts! I am looking forward to my vacation in July, and to return to SA and back to Korea! What more do you want!

I just want to thank God for his love, and for everything He do in my my life everyday!

Saturday in 대전(유성)

Wow, look at me...

The lunch we had...Beef galbi..

I am too shy for the camera...But Jenny still snaps me..

More Jenny pics...during our lunch...having galbi..

Jenny smiling for me...

At the residence.

There Jenny is again infront of the tower..

Thats Jenny infront

of the tower..

Me standing in front of the tower..

The tower at the university where Jenny studies..

Today has probably been one of the best days of my life! I got on the bus to visit Jenny(장지선) and i really had a wonderful time with her. This whole week, I was preparing myself firstly for the trip, because I have been to Daejeon before, but I haven't been to Yuseong, where she stays, so I was a little nervous, this morning, when I got up, and went to Yawoori. One good thing that happened, as I was exiting the bus, to buy my ticket, one of my church members was on the same bus, and also told me she is going to Yuseong, and WOW! It looks like God had this meeting planned! This church member was really so kind, and nice to me, and even bought me coffee for the trip to Yuseong. The busride went by so quickly, and in the back of my mind, I was thinking what is my meeting with Jenny going to be like. We saw each other a lot at the church, but this was the first time we meet in public.

We got to the Yuseoung bus terminal, and there she was. I was so happy to see her, and we started to plan what we would do for the day. We first went to walk into some markets, and I bought me some walnuts. Been looking for them in Korea, and ironically I found them today. After that, she took me to her university, and showed me her library. Having in mind that the university only opens in March, I was astonished, with how full the library was, and like in South Africa, where a study room is very noisy usually, this was really another eye opener, on how much Koreans put effort in their studies. Firstly, because its vacation, and secondly, because there wasn't a single noise in the study room.

After that, Jenny took me to her study place, and we stayed at her place for about 1 hour or so, and just chatted, and get to know each other better. After we went there, we decided to have lunch. First we wanted to have pizza, but we decided against it, and we ended up eating Galbi, and it was a lovely lunch, and the food was so fresh and delicious. The talking was really nice, and I have to say for a girl that only started to talk to me about 3 weeks ago, I am really impressed with the way she improved! I also gave her Ferrero Rocher chocolates for valentines day, and she really appreciated it, and thats why she insisted to pay for the food. I was going to pay for it, and when I went to the bathroom, I saw she paid. Korean girls are really humble, and they don't always understand when the guy goes out, and wants to pay, that its the guys job to spoil the girl, but we went to drink coffee afterwards, and then we both took a bus back to Cheonan, and chatted for most of the time. I even taught her some Afrikaans today, and she can even ask Hoe gaan dit now!

I learned a couple of new words today, like Goegoema, that means sweet potato, so mom, your new name is sweet potato! We got back to Cheonan, and then I took my bus home, and her mom came to fetch her.

To think, I only met this girl, 3 weeks ago, and already we are having such a good time, and the language isn't even a problem. We can communicate, and thats good! Im learning Korean, and having somebody like Jenny around is really cool, because now we are planning our next trip, to Seoul, or to Everland. Finally it seems like things are going well!

Here I post some pictures of me and Jenny today...