4.6.02.sat.day 32

One month down, eleven to go! Unbelievable how time has flown.

Tammy and I spent the day visiting, eating out at her favorite places, and window shopping, especially at an enormous underground shopping plaza in Chunchon shaped in the fashion of a subway train line.

For dinner we ate a remote restaurant where they served about 20 side dishes which included octopus, raw crab in shell, oysters, two kinds of kimchi, a tofu soup, fried vegetable patties, and some delicious beef strips. After dinner we had a few minutes to visit with Tammy's friend Mrs. Jung who lives across the street from Weesing. She and her husband have three young boys. They are all very friendly and I hope to have a chance to spend more time with them. Tammy caught the late train to Seoul.

4.7.02.sun.day 33

To my embarrassment I overslept and was 90 minutes late for church. I had been asked to teach the English Sunday School class but Elder Curtis ended up teaching in my absence and said later he'd always expected to teach it today anyway so it was no big deal. I met Brother Deemers for the first time today. He's a High Priest, in his mid-40s I believe, serving at Camp Page in Chunchon. I think he's from Texas and serves in some sort of medical capacity in the military. A very nice guy and I'm glad to have another English voice in this sea of Korean speakers.

4.8.02.mon.day 34

I met Curtis for the first time today. What an odd bat. He's 38, single, and LDS - though not practicing from what I can divine. When we went out to a bar to welcome his arrival, he drank and smoke in moderation. He spoke to me one on one about his mission and how it was the greatest experience of his life but left no explanation as current lifestyle, not that he owes me one. He also has an awkward way of participating in conversations and, as a self-proclaimed drummer, a nervous habit of drumming his fingers (or even his drumsticks sometimes!) It's hard not to read all of this as deep seeded insecurity. Why any of this should matter to me or even drive me to write about, wonder about it, or talk about it with anyone else is a matter of frequent self-examination. I have determined to strive for politeness with him, if nothing else.

Mr. Kim paid half my salary to me today in cash with a promise to pay the rest tomorrow. As the 10,000 Won bill is the largest they have, the 1,000,000 he paid me was a sizeable stack of money.

4.9.02.tue.day 35

The English teachers went out after work for drinks (see yesterday). We had a nice time and I met Junnita (see tomorrow). Carly and I left around 1 AM so we could get enough rest for the activity we had planned for Wednesday.

No money today from Mr. Kim. Tomorrow he tells me, again.

4.10.02.wed.day 36

In the later morning I went with Carly and Junnita, another English teacher she'd met from New Zealand, to Jungdo, a resort island in Chunchon. After taking a 5 minute ferry ride (2,200 Won round trip), we ate lunch and then rented mountain bikes for 3,000 Won and rode around the island. The day happened to be very cold and windy but it was the kind of cold and wind that helps you appreciate the outdoors, not ruin it. After maybe three hours we took the ferry ride back home.

I spent the rest of the afternoon before my one class of the day at 6:30 looking for a dowel or closet rod to install in my upper half of my dresser to allow me to hang up my clothes. I have spent a considerable amount of time the past two weeks looking for anything I could use to make a makeshift closet rod to no avail. I finally had to settle for a 10,000 Won kit that fits inside the dresser. This was more money than I wanted to spend and I was discouraged I had to buy a kit rather than being able to build something on my own.

I received a card from Shylock via Bonnie at Weesing when I went to school to teach. The envelope had a paw print from Shylock and the card had a tuft of her hair taped inside. It was cute and the other teachers got a big laugh out of it.

Today I did finally get the rest of my money. Many people have told me Mr. Kim is famous for not paying on time, though he always does eventually pay. This concept is so foreign to me as I can't fathom a business lasting two months back home that engaged in such a practice. I anticipate each month is going to require me to daily bug him for money, something I know I will abhor.

4.11.02.thu.day 37

I had to remove a boy and girl from a Let's Go 4 class today. I've had this class from the beginning and these two students have always been a thorn in my side. Before I threw them out, the whole class was being so noisy I had to resort to a 5 minute lecture, asking them why they couldn't understand the most basic instructions to be quiet. I know they likely couldn't understand everything I was saying but it's impossible they missed the gist of the lecture. Somehow they did though which is why I had to remove those two troublemakers. It was pretty awkward for a few minutes but once I got past that, teaching became SO much easier.

Tammy was finally able to get me a new phone card in Seoul and I called her after work for the details so that I could actually use the card without having it in my hands.

4.12.02.fri.day 38

Called Mom & Dad at 8 AM; it was 5 PM Thursday for them. Dave passed his medical exam in Oklahoma; Natalie will be returning with him to look for a house and they will probably move the middle of May. Julia is no longer selling Mary Kay.

I taught my first housewives class at 10:30 AM. It's a two hour class, primarily for adult women with more advanced English skills. I've been nervous about teaching it for some time but I always knew it was just first-time jitters. After going through basic introductions, we spent an hour studying from the designated textbook and the final hour just talking about everyday things to give them a chance to practice their conversational English.

Later in the day I taught a Let's Go 2 class with two girls and three boys, probably an average of ten years old. This was the first time I'd taught these particular students and it was a nightmare. The girls and one of the boys were well behaved enough but one giant, sumo wrestler of a boy was so rude, disprespectful, disruptive, and uncooperative as to make the make the 50 minute class nothing more than a waste of time. The third boy was so A.D.D.-like, trying to make him just concentrate, that it was like teaching a three year old. I finally had to resort to making everyone copy words off the whiteboard and write them 5-10 times each, depending on their good or bad behavior. When class was over, I dismissed everyone but the two boys and made them sit for a minute or two before letting them go. What a battle of wills that class is going to be.

My consolation for the day was the party I'd promised my next class of advanced students I've had since starting at Weesing. We'd reached the end of a major section in the textbook. So, after a tough spelling test, we had M&Ms, Sun Chips, cookies, grape Fanta, and Pocari Sweat (a Korean Gatorade-like drink).

4.13.02, sat, day 39

After meeting Carly at the bank to loan her some money and dropping my laundry off at the laundry mat, I spent several hours at the pc bang emailing and listening to Rush.

I went to Weesing to order take-out and eat with Carly, Jim, and Mr. Kim. Later in the evening I went to Fusion to read (David Copperfield), have a drink, and enjoy the atmosphere.

I called Bonnie around 11:30 PM to thank her for the card and inquire after Shylock.

4.14.02.sun.day 40

Today was Ward Conference and I counted 50 people in attendance - a record since I've been here. I taught the Sunday School lesson in our little class of English speakers, chapter 3 from Gospel Principles. It was Sister Huffaker's last day in the ward (she's going home Wednesday) and Elder Curtis' last day (he's being transferred to Seoul I think). After church the sisters of the ward served pibimbop for lunch, a Korean dish I've come to enjoy.

Brian called during lunch from New York to tell me the money he'd been hoping for to come to China to teach for the summer has been approved. He'll be there during June, July, and August I think. I am hoping to have some time off to visit him there for a week or so.

Mr. Kim invited Michael, Curtis, Jim, and me over for dinner at 7:30. His four year old son kept us entertained while his wife prepared dinner. She is actually Japanese and I'm told the food she served was more of a traditional Japanese meal that Korean. We at a sort of clam soup, rice, and a breaded pork cutlet with a barbeque-like sauce. Delicious. Carly didn't come as she'd gone to spend the day in Seoul with Junnita.

4.15.02.mon.day 41

Lunch at Fusion. I spent some time there afterwards catching up on my writing. Promptly at 2 PM, some kind of air raid or invasion siren sounded up in the city and ran for 3 minutes. Tammy called during the drill to tell me what it was and that it runs either monthly or every six months. Through the window I could see activity carrying on as normal so I wonder how Koreans are supposed to know if it's a drill or the real thing.

When I was walking to the school at 3 PM, Michael called to ask my whereabouts since I was supposed to be at school for my 2:30 class! Big-time brain lapse!