Arbour Day

Hi all!

Hope everyone's well, etc.... I must remember to stay up to date with the happenings in SA. I'll try to catch some news later. Anyway, from my side:

I had a nice quiet sort of weekend here in Gunwi. I was supposed to go in to Daegu on Saturday for my medical exam. Daegu is the nearest city, which is about an hour's drive from here by bus. (Koreans drive very fast, by the way. Apparently, they are very impatient people! Foreign drivers are warned to rather travel by public transport as they might cause an accident on Korean roads!)

Anyway, the visit to Daegu didn't happen, cause I had to meet the students officially, at assembly (yes, they go to school on Saturdays here!). By the time my co-teacher was done teaching, it was too late to go, as the hospital staff assigned to foreign medical exams go off duty at 1pm on Saturdays. So it, has been postponed to this coming weekend. I have to undergo a medical exam here in Korea, so they can verify my good health, in order for me to apply for an Alien Registration Card, in order for me to purchase a cellphone and/or be connected to their cellphone network!

A word on their school assembly. It was like army camp! The kids had to stand throughout, in assigned rows. They had to respond to certain calls with specific postures...just like in the army. (Of course, it's not done with military precision, as we ARE talking about young teenagers here. But the discipline idea is cool. Actually, it reminded me of the good old days when I first attended school back home. There were some similarities. You just don't see it today anymore.)

I think my co-teacher felt bad about the whole thing, cos he invited me to join his family the next day. His family owns a small plot of land just outside our town, in the mountains. And it was Arbour Day on Sunday, so we went and planted strawberry and tomato seedlings. He has a lovely wife and 3 small daughters who, of course, are adorable. What beautiful surroundings. It was a full-on farming experience, involving heavy machinery to plough the land, and furrow-making. Even carrying water in old pails and metal kettles up the mountain to water the seedlings! Thankfully, the men did that! Us girls entertained the kids, playing hide-and-seek in the bushes and picknicking! We did eventually get our hands dirty by helping to plant! What a lovely experience!

And then, Monday! So I had my first day teaching here in Korea. I was a bit nervous at first. Of course, nerves are good, lest we get overly confident, you know. I didn't quite know what to expect. My first class was a bunch of rowdy 1st Graders (Gr8). Thank the Lord for my previous teaching experience and UCT Drama School! Basically, I handled it without screaming and shouting. Yay!

For my first lesson, I was asked to do a presentation introducing myself and sharing some info on where I come from. So, guess what... I played WELCOME TO CAPE TOWN for them, turned it into a listening activity, involving worksheets, etc. They got to take the words home with them, and they are now singing the song in the hallways here! Cape Town is alive and well in Gunwi, South Korea!

Okay, there's more news, but let's leave that for another email....

Love to all

Andrea