The Daily Grind: Korean Style

Hi everyone! So it seems like all of our posts are about weekend trips and holidays we've had, but I'm sure you're wondering what we're up to in our everyday lives now that we're back to work and finally all settled. Em and I truly are "9 to 5-ers" now and are loving the routine after night jobs and years of crazy studying hours at school.

For the most part the job gets easier each day, but the kids are starting to get used to us and don't feel as much of a need to behave like they did when we were still the mysterious new foreign teacher. They can be absolutely crazy sometimes!! Also, the vastly different english levels are becoming more and more apparent. It's hard to keep everyone focused and interested when, in a class of 36, you might have some kids who don't understand a word you're saying, and others who are bored because it's too easy. Do you remember the boy I was talking about in the first blog post, the one who is trilingual? The other day he was finished copying the dialogue in his book way before the other kids. So, I told him to do it in handwriting, which he did very quickly again. Then, I told him to do it in French... it took him a while longer, but indeed he did that too!! So amazing!


After work we usually meet for dinner each day with a group of friends, and either explore Suncheon to find a new restaurant to eat at, or go to one of our favourites. We've made many great friends here, but there are 4 in particular - Glen, Liz, Corina and Catherine - who we spend most of our time with. After dinner we might walk around downtown, go shopping, watch a movie, or go for a run.

We both just signed up for the Suncheon Marathon (although we're only doing the 10k) on November 13th. There is a beautiful lake right across the street from our apartment that we like to run around. The lake is about 2km around, so it makes it easy to figure out distances/times.


We also just attended our first Korean language class tonight. Our teacher, Rob, is from Ontario but has been in Korea for 7 years and has a Korean wife, etc... needless to say he is fluent in Korean but is able to teach us the ins and outs of the language in english... perfect combination! We meet twice a week for 1.5 hrs, and the course is 6 weeks. We've heard great things about Rob's teaching so hopefully we'll come out of these classes with a good understanding of reading, speaking, and writing. 


...But, for now, annyeonghi gyeseyo!! (good-bye: said by the person who is leaving. literal meaning, "stay in peace.")