Korea blog: music, sleep, teach, immigration

Day 24/63...

Immigration woes are almost at and end. I completed my comprehensive health check-up and although it felt like I was trying to get retirement health insurance, I managed to pass everything (although I found out I needed glasses, and my heart rate is higher in hospitals then it is after I run marathons).
I went to the immigration office last week to submit all of the required documents (health form, visa application, passport) and found myself waiting for 30 or so minutes for my number to be called. Then, with 5 people ahead of me, the strangest thing happened...all of the immigration officials just stood up, put these little signs on their kiosks which read "away on business", and left the room. I looked around and no one had stirred. What the hell was going on? Then I looked at the time...12:00...lunch break. Made sense I guess.

So I booked it down to Nampo Dong (the immigration is by the international ferry terminal in the harbour, nampo dong is a big open market one subway stop away) and hit the black market for some bacon and cigars, necessarycommodities which cannot be bought freely. Made it back at exactly 12:58 to see all of the officials return to their posts and call out the 5 numbers preceding mine without a response. I was out by 1:10! visa should be ready by the 30th.

On to sleep, well music is the reason I have to sleep. I stayed out until 6:00am last wednesday jamming it up in an old haunt with some old and new friends and ended up in a cut throat game of darts and...when better judgement finally took hold the sun had already come up. I don't have to be at work until 3pm... but all of that effort to align my circadiun rhythym had been undone in one eveing of debauchery. It has taken me until now to get over it...and well, who am I kidding! I'll need to get over that in 4 weeks when I go back home so, what the hell!?! sleep when I'm dead they say. Why don't they snore?

the dead that is...

Teaching, there is nothing like being a small 15/20ft room with yourself and 12 little people aged 8-11 who love nothing more than to yell your name (my name is TEACHER!!) and grab your arm/leg/shirtsleeve/whatever they can get a hold of and beckon your attention...all at once. I've been trying to work on a theme in my approach to my methodology and lesson implementation...Thomas, dark and merciless lord of his dark and merciless classdom...the airconditioning is always at maximum and a reign/rain of terror/comprehension questions pummel my students at nearly every moment of our 180(-2 five minute break)minute classes.

No one has yet to seem intimidated.

I blame video games

and Oprah