Bloody finger!

This afternoon I accidently cut my finger. My left index finger to be precise. It's a tiny cut. Practically a paper cut, except I cut it with a craft knife whilst cutting paper. Anyway, it's no big deal for me. But NOT for the Korean teachers at school! They made such a fuss. They all crowded round me and acted horrified. Noone listened when I said it was ok and I just needed a plaster. Someone grabbed by hand and lifted it up above my head whilst another pushed me onto a chair.

A teacher than squeezed the cut really tight making more blood drip out and brought more gasps from the crowd around me.

Chi He and I kept exchanging bewildered glances. Someone removed the tissue they put on my finger, put it in the bin, then realised it had taken off a flap of skin. So took the tissue out of the bin as if they were considering saving this tiny flap of skin to graft it back on again or something! Various plasters were put on and then ripped off soon afterwards, making my finger bleed profusely.

Then someone wrapped my finger in tissue and held it tightly in place with a rubber band. They then practically cut of the blood supply to the finger by very tightly wrapping a rubber band around the base of the finger like a tourniquet.

All this prodding and playing with my finger meant it now actually hurt. And was turning blue! Chi He said from across the room "Is it really a good idea to do that?". Me: "I don't think so...!"

A few minutes later, when it felt like my finger was now detached from my body, another teacher got involved and looked horrified when she saw the dying finger and someone hastily removed the rubber band as she spoke agitatedly in Korean.

Thankfully it was the end of the day, so I got up to go and insisted that they had done a great job and my finger and I would be ok.

It does hurt a bit but I bet my finger will be healed by tomorrow. I don't think I could handle the drama if there was actually anything really wrong with me. I can't imagine a TV programme like Casualty would work here. Maybe it would have to be given an 18 guidance rating or just be dumbed down....!

School trip

On Tuesday the younger kindy kids I teach went on a school trip to an indoor play centre and I got to go too.

It was awesome! There were slides, inflatables and loads of lego-type toys. The best bit was the room full of balloons and the room full of small pieces of tissue paper, where the kids loved ganging up on me chucking paper at me.

It was good to get closer to the kids. Some of them were competing with eachother to get my attention which at one point it turned into a contorsionist show with kids doing freakish acrobatics to try to out do eachother!

After two weeks of teaching at this new school I am really getting to like it. I'm teaching 76 kids, but I still feel like I know some of them well and the kids seem to be totally comfortable with me as their teacher.

The kids were told to have English names and most of the parents came up with nice, sensible names. However, I am teaching a Snowman, a Barbie, a Bud, a Butterfly, a Lala, a Tiger and a Liger! Attempts to get across that these are 'unusual' names went unheard. None of these names beat the Windy and Wind that two boys were called at my last school!

First day at our new school

It was our first day today at the kindergarten. We have a week until the kids get back from their vacation. Since they know barely any English we're busy trying to plan an English curriculum and organising resources. I like all the fun, colourful resources one can find on the net so I'm happy! It's been a whiole since I fed my laminating addiction, so that will be something to amuse myself with :)

I'm concerned I won't be able to remember all of the kids' names, as they mainly just have a Korean name as opposed to many English learning centres where the kids are given an English name too. Ronnie's school had kids with some delightful names. The boys called Windy and Wind were my particular favourites. It's a shame I never got round to telling the principal how 'unusual' these names are.

Lets hope this school doesn't close on us...

Contracts signed!

We've signed contracts for the kindy school which start mid January, which means we have the next month free to have lots of fun exploring Korea. Our contract is until the end of February 2009. That seems such a long way away! Phew! What a relief to have another job sorted :)

And your new boss is...Ronnie Corbett!

We've found the BEST new job! Loads of pay, 9-3.30 (all other jobs work you 'til 6 at least), over time, 4 weeks hol with 2 of those weeks fixed plus national holidays off and ... the two owners are the funniest Koreans I've met so far, one of which is a dead ringer for Ronnie Corbett. The fact that he's a complete joker adds to the similarities.

The guys, Ronnie-alike and Eddie, are obviously very intelligent men, having worked in very high-powered jobs in the past all over the world...but I can't quite see why they want us to work at the school so bad, when surely they have tonnes of people wanting what they're offering.

Anyway...we're not complaining. The school is in a really nice area, Yongin, which is very affluent and just out of Seoul. The school is on a 'campus' near the mountains with really spacious buildings and a swimming pool. It's a far cry from the small 4th floor we had for our last school.

Chi-He and I had trouble sometimes control our giggling as the guys seemed to bounce laughs off each other like a comedy duo. Most of the time they were trying to be witty - but other times it was accidental, such as Eddie's: "killing two rabbits with one stone." Eddie's cockney and Alabama accents were pretty funny too. As was him announcing that since we are Brits he was going to start using the word 'bloody' to colour his language.

I'm looking forwards to a funny year ahead...