hurray! internet!

This morning the internet guy came over to our house to "install" the internet that was already half working. He didn't ask for any money, which was good because I don't really have any money to give him, especially since I didn't break the internet in the first place. It took me a minute to get it to work on my computer, since he installed it on Timber's. After much cursing and throwing around of ethernet cables, it finally worked and I logged on to "KT MEGAPASS!!!".

I was all excited to load all my pictures, but now I can't find my camera cable. There aren't too many places it could be, my apartment isn't that big and if I could find it, I could show you how not that big it is. Hopefully this situation will be remedied this weekend, and if it's not, more cursing and throwing of things will probably be happening, which I also will not be able to post pictures of.

But, onto more pleasant things....

Last night we had "thanksgiving" with two other teachers from our school, a brit and a guy from Texas, and a Korean woman who I think assists my boss, but I'm not sure. We went to a restaurant called Moogtick or something equally entertaining, and had galby, which is the Korean barbeque that you may or may not be familiar with. So, you know, pork/turkey, kimchee/mashed potatoes, whatever. On the way home though, Timber and I stopped at a little french bakery by our house and found a walnut pie! We didn't know what kind of pie it was, and the lady at the counter insisted on finding an english translation for us other than "Pie, pie!" which she kept repeating until we emphatically shook our heads and repeated "Pie!". She searched my little phrasebook and then on the internet for about ten minutes until Timber said "OH! Walnut!" and we purchased our pie and went home. It's not pumpkin or pecan, but it was pie anyway, and pretty good for Korean street bakery pie at that. I took pictures, but it's honestly not that interesting. It looks like pie. It helped it feel more like thanksgiving though, and thats what counts.

I've decided that I like teaching for now, but am really glad that it is not my lifelong career choice (sorry, Mom). Overall, the kids are really great. Some of them have behavioral issues, and I've had to do my fair share of demerit giving and stern glancing, which I have to say I'm not very good at unless I'm in a poor mood to begin with. Mostly I just think they're funny when they act out, unless they're shouting which tends to give me a headache. Some of them really do want to learn English well for various reasons, and those are the most fun classes to teach. I learned last night that one of my students, Chongwoo wants to be an acupuncturist, which is pretty great. I'm not sure how to incorporate that into what I can teach him this year, but I'm sure I can come up with something.

I am slowly learning Korean words for things. I learned that yogio is for "stop, here" when you're in a taxi and that 'sawpa' means sofa, which is easy. Timber is talking about taking Korean classes one night a week and I might join her. We'll see how far I get with just immersion learning. I think for a week and a half I've done a good amount of learning, and as long as it continues at this pace I should be OK. I've made some connections in terms of finding an acupuncturist to observe, and offered acupuncture of some of my co-workers, who are generally impressed with the fact that I can poke them with needles. It feels like far more than a week has passed, especially with how sore my throat is from talking so much.

For the words I don't know, I've been pantomiming a lot which makes the Koreans laugh. I pantomimed "suction cup" to a lady on the street when we were trying to buy hooks from her and she gave me a hug and now waves to me every time I see her.

Well, now I don't know where the morning has gone and I need to get ready for work.
I will try to get some pictures up soon.