Derek and Ed's Epic Hash - August 11th
This was the first major event since my trip to the DMZ. Derek's contract is up soon and he is taking off. He and Ed decided to hare this latest hash. It has been the been one yet and for a future reference it was the best one I have been to here. We started in Techno and ended up on a bus out to Ed's area. Drank near the river and wandered on back to Techno making various stops along the way. They had the fore thought to include games and drinks at each stop. (We only ended up playing a couple of them). But the last two stops were amazing discoveries. The second to last was on the roof of a five story building. It was sweet! The last stop was in a building that the was in the middle of being constructed. When I say that there are no safety rules here, I mean it. There was no tape or closed doors to tell us not to go in. There were even nails still sticking out of the walls. The boys used candles to light our way up and through to a room on the second floor. This hash will go down in the books as the best one!
Helen's BBQ - August 18th
This month we are also saying goodbye to Helen Walker. Amber put together and threw her a goodbye BBQ to send her on our way. The weather is currently cold and I have to tell you I am missing all of these wonderful BBQ that we had. As a farewell send off Helen proceeded to write us a poem back to front about her life and experiences in Korea:
Good-bye Wonderful Friends
As you may know, I have to go and get off this peninsula,
It was a panic at first – but with your love and support – I'm excited to be going some place way cooler.
The sun, sea and sand of Sydney awaits,
Before I go, I have a few things I'd like to validate.
I must share a word or two of what it has meant,
To be cast from England and Korea sent,
Where I met a fellow or two,
Who has meant so much to me – I'm talking about all of you!
From the double-decker airbus did I arrive,
Exhausted, hungry and bleary-eyed.
Where from the plane, to a bus,
I was picked up by a chap who I may (or may not) fondly remember as ‘the boss'.
He lead me up 67 stairs and through a small door,
And into my home on the fourth floor.
Exhausted, sweaty and bleary-eyed,
Showering in my washing machine I did try.
That was day one of my time in Korea,
Little did I know, it would all end here -
Surrounded by people I've come to love and shall deeply miss
- and some other peeps I just like around when getting pissed!
My dear friends of Techno V,
You have meant the world to me, like a little family.
No meal has been had,
Without a round robin invite to our New Place fad.
(But these texts were nuffin,
Like the one from Megan about banana bread muffins).
The invites don't just end here,
They also include lots of beer
… and poker ...and penises …and movies …and mimosas,
Which ultimately has brought our little community closer.
Yes, we may live north of the city,
Jokes about transport, things to do and the weather 'up here' have been witty,
But what the big city folks don't know,
Is we're a pretty great bunch here, as far as they go.
We've humped, we've henned, we've hared, we've hashed.
We've lunched, brunched, breakfasted and tea'ed
-due to language differences I once literally cuppa tea'ed with Anjali!
Coincidentally, most of these events I have found,
Often end up in a room that is... round!
I'm in Korea thanks to Stu, and got my place thanks to Luke,
And upon seeing yours', I knew it wasn't just a fluke,
I was destined to use that space,
As the last destination and general party place.
From quaint brunches and girls nights – (when Nina often shares too much)
To skittles, planning meetings, penis paper chains and such.
Lotte Mart became my second home,
Where dear Katherine joined me so I wouldn’t be alone.
Although we get on well, our friendship almost ceased
When I looked over and saw that she was getting yoga-love squeezed!
Luckily my desire for attention was replaced with idolisation,
When the strongest man at my gym, James, talked to me at the weights station.
D-money Derek is another to get a special mention
Who, on my first night out, gave me all his attention.
Since then we’ve travelled to Japan, to Seoul, to Samcheok.
And I’m happy to share the opportunity with him, of straddling an 8 foot golden ****!
Those daft enough to listen to me spouting nonsense and silly rules,
You’ll find that I’ve made many friends this way who are actually dead cool.
Harris and Helen, I knew I’d like you as soon as introductions had passed,
Because your name’s are so like, and I was right, you’re both a blast!
Similarly, using my gift of rhyme that I’m exposing you to,
I got talking to a guy called Alan, whom I met Xavier through.
Thank you dear Xavier, my time with you has been a riot!
Thanks for Sam, for sam-gap-sal and updates on our diets.
Of course there are always exceptions to the rule,
People with unusual names have also proven to be cool.
On nights out I met Elspeth, and a girl who grabbed my face.
The latter was named Samanth; she told me we’d be best friends whilst in this place.
And low and behold, she was right, we have become very close,
We’ve endured films, Philippine’d and hared the best hash (not to boast)!
My final mention goes to Amber; where do I begin?
I met you after my first week – you’d only just got in.
You were dragging heavy cases behind your back,
I ran out of Garten Bier after Nina and Matt.
Over beer and spicy chicken, I knew that we’d be friends,
And here you’re hosting a BBQ – looking after me till the very end.
You’ve laughed with me, mopped floors with me and listened to me moan.
Watched 50 First Dates (more than once) and filled me in with your tales from home.
You have offered me love and kindness – you’re a true friend, who’s always there,
But I shall remember you most as the one who knows great legs in high heels and underwear!
I promise you that this poem will end shortly,
You all have made my time worthwhile and I regard you thoughtfully.
Thanks to 10 months and talktomeinkorean.com I can say with flow,
Kam-sam-ni-da to you all and anny-ong ~~~ sey-yo!
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| Deanna, Sam, Me, Megan, Amber |
Summer Intensive Play - August 24th
I caught the lucky break on summer intensives. While the rest of the staff was slaving away from early in the morning until 7:30-10:30, depending on what day it was, I only had an extra 1 hour class Monday, Wednesday, Friday right before the start of my actual classes. My extra class was fun. We read Rapunzel (Tangled) and Bolt. Then we had some extra things with vocabulary. We did put on a small performance with ending song in Tangled (Something That I Want). I played the song for them, but was not in charge of the dancing at all. It was quite cute to see it all come together because they were all of the younger kids. One of the performances that Nina and Amy were in charge of was a musical for The Sound Of Music. Since I love this movie this was fun to watch. But apparently it was a headache to create.
"Something that I want" Song and Dance
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| Apparenly my boss, Kevin, can sing. |
Typhoon Party! August 28th
School was canceled today for the dreaded Typhoon. It was too dangerous to have the students come in. I called Deanna up to see what she was doing and she said that Song was coming over and so was Francia. As it turns out one person told another and it turned into quite a full apartment. To top it off there was no rain and it was an absolutely beautiful day! So we spent the day not at school and just hanging out, playing games. Best typhoon ever!
Start of 3rd semester!! I can not believe that it is already semester number 3. Time is flying! To top it off I got rid of my devil class with the student that I hated! Also, the whole program changed. It is more difficult for the students, but I like it so much better. So much easier to manage and teach. There is much more computer involvement and makes things more fun. In addition, it saves me from having to repeat two whole semesters.
I know that this is long but you do have to realize that it is an entire month's worth of information. Miss you all but I am halfway through!!
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