tea diaries ~~~~~ groooooovy

Had the hot version of Omija (the native Jeju mountain tea), and it tasted a lot different than the iced, I think mainly because the iced was 50% sugar. ;) Still sweeter than most teas that I've had, it was ... very distinctive, with a strange red color that separated out as it sat, like the stuff in miso soup. Not the best tea, and I didn't finish it. The tea-shop though, was Heaven. That was it's name! And it had all sorts of bits and bobs and arty things all over, a great ocean view, and plush couches for seats. Think I'll bring my laptop and do some writing there sometime.

My fellow teachers have been amazing the past few days. On Tuesday I went out for dinner and drinks with all of Daesin Middle School, and then a few teachers and I went ... BOWLING! They couldn't really speak much English, so we communicated with smiles and high fives. And man, are they good. Last night some of the English teachers in other middle schools in Seogwipo City took me out to dinner and tea. :D Every Thursday we have a discussion group where they practice English and talk about whatever subjects are of interest. We were talking philosophy, teaching theory, and even relationships! My coteacher doesn't have a boyfriend so we were trying to set her up with someone at my school, the other guy in the group is getting married in January and still has that starry love-struck look in his eye, and one woman who looks about 25 revealed that she's 38 and has been "learning to tolerate" her husband! Korean culture is so surprising sometimes, they have a word, "hwan-tae-ki", which means the ten year marriage anniversary during which time you usually can't stand your spouse's idiosyncrisies. They have an expression, "I couldn't bear to see even the back of his head." Yikes ! Heheh, so much fun to learn about the way other cultures see the same problems we have. They seem a little more honest than we are sometimes.

Teaching has been going real well, I'm getting a better handle on things as time goes on. The kids are cute as hell, and class is something I look forward to each day. Next week's going to be fun, working in a lesson on the Simpsons and after school activities! Okay well gotta jet for school, hope everyone has a great weekend :) Love, Henry.