For me, rubbish piled high on the streets was not to be expected in a First World country. In truth, I must confess that Korea’s garbage disposal system is much more in keeping with the original ill-informed, vague, preconceived notion I had of SK as a still-developing country – one where people pulled carts down [...]
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I had this dream last night that my scalp was really itchy, and when I scratched it this big flaky piece came off in my hand. I was quite dismayed, but imagine my surprise when I went to a mirror and started to pull out these big pieces of what I thought was skin, only [...]
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It only occurred to me to ask the school secretary yesterday about the ritual of the children when they arrive at school each day. Korea is so cool at times. From the number-coded lock on my apartment door, to simply offering customers a spritz of Febreeze when leaving a smoky grill-your-own-meat restaurant, they have a [...]
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I’m not a big fan of being talked to/at in the morning. Leave me alone until I’ve had my first cup of coffee, and then we can be the best of friends. Expect me to be communicative when I’m still fighting off the sleep monsters, and it will probably do some damage to our relationship. [...]
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I gave a child a black eye today. I haven’t exactly been the world’s best teacher this week. I’m going to blame the yellow dust, which has started drifting in again and making us all cough and sneeze. I’m tired and a little under the weather, a combination which maketh not a good teacher. Teacher, [...]
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It is the middle of the night, and my delightful neighbours have returned home to have a fight. They’ve been so happy for the past few weeks, too. I’ve hardly heard a peep from them, other than the occasional civil conversation and the odd peal of laughter, and sure who could complain about that? But [...]
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I don’t get angry very often, but occasionally something will happen in one of a few categories, and then my blood boils. Topics capable of sending me into a seething rage where I’m willing to set aside my fear of confrontation and get into an argument do not include such things as being right, not [...]
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It is with feelings of despair that I have been contemplating the fact that winter is over and summer will soon unleash itself upon me in all its scorching, humid glory. However, I have managed to think of one fairly major reason why summer might be preferable to winter, even for a cold-dweller like me. Yes, [...]
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I can tell that I’m going to get a lot of blog posts out of this Art teacher thing. I’m seriously loving it, by the way. The director was more than happy to hand complete control of the entire Art curriculum over to me when I showed her a sample plan, so I can pretty [...]
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First day of term. Did I mention that I’m now the Art teacher instead of Musical English? Oh yes. Indeed. I’m launching straight in at the deep end with three Art classes with the brand new babies. This ought to be entertaining. I’ve just had a brief moment of panic when it occurred to me [...]
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You Say Goodbye, I Say… Historical Snapshots It Just Makes Me Happy
