Amazing Things #11 Playstar

Amazing things #11

A floatation device for safe water park fun... or inflatable swimwear?

Amazing, none the less!

bike w★★★★r

What kind of asshole nearly bikes into your 6 yearold kid on a public
path, on his £3,000 bike then asks for your phone number so that in
case after he gets his bike checked at the bike shop and there is
any damage he can call you to discuss it...


This type of asshole....

Who is also the type of asshole who fails to notice it happened next to a sign that says bikes slow down

Amazing Things #10 - The Egg master

Amazing Things #10

 The Egg master - I saw this on a Korean Shopping channel (Of which I have MANY!)

Add an egg and any chopped ingredients that you want (and a stick in the middle) and it pops up when cooked as an easy to eat egg (omelette) on a stick.

Amazing!

1st day at work

Yesterday was my first day at work in my new job! Officially, I am no longer a teacher. I arrived at work at 9 as instructed to meet my boss outside. Actually  I arrived at 8:30 waited by the station and arrived at work at 8:50. She was waiting for me outside (I don't understand Koreans and time: Koreans are late, for everything... it is even called Korean Time when you are late! ~ except for meetings when it is very rude. I guessed 10mins early would be acceptable!~ who knows?

The first thing my boss asked me was "aren't you sick?" ...  "your heart, did you treatment... recover?" [sic] before starting this job it was required that I had a medical with the results being sent to the company so my intial thought was that the result was less than perfect!

It turns out the confusion was from 2 weeks earlier, when I had seen my boss on her way to work, near the office. She was surprised to see me and during our breif conversation I told her I had been to the hospital for my medical check...

When I arrived at my desk there were 2 monitors a trusty samsung magic station (pc), a paris baguette bag containing various cables and stationery (post it notes, craft knife, pen holder, 2 pens, mechanical pencil and lead refills) a new keyboard and mouse in a retail box, a stainless steel flask mug, and a pot plant!

I was told to set my computer up, this task was interupted by an angry outburst from the CEO and a gathering in the meeting room to introduce myself to the team and vice versa. The whole time I sweated... A LOT! I don't know if it was caused by nerves (I felt okay) but I hope I don't sweat like that again today... We have a free evening meal at work (lunch is 3,000₩ /£1.60) so at 6 we had dinner, afterwards I was told I could "go home early, as it was my first day" (6 is my contracted finish time!) My first day at a korean company... was finally over!

Amazing Things #9 ~ vtie laces

Amazing Things #9 

This week's amazing thing is vtie laces.

I'm theory a wondrous idea but I wonder about the practicality of them... how do you tighten your shoes... however this is  probably not a consideration to  Koreans who remove ahoea when entering homes / restaurants etc and generally have shoes loosely tied or just tread the backs down.

I like the image showing the alternative linking options... amazing!

Amazing Things #8 - LED Fan

Amazing Things #8

Led fan that is programmable with your own message, be it one of love, one of hate or a pretty pattern... or as I think I would put "USB fans generally don't have the power to make any difference"

English Summer Camp Video Grade 5 & 6

I made this video for my students and showed it during the snack party on the last day of summer camp.

One student pointed out that it says 2014, not 2013 - At least I know they were watching!

The music is Wonderful by Big Bang (students love K-Pop) - these students are wonderful...

My last day today... going to miss you guys!

This Summer Camp will be my last...

Wow - It seemed to come around quickly but it is already the end of summer camp and equally quick and unexpected is the fact that it will be my last Summer English Camp.


Firstly, I am staying in Korea...  but not as a teacher...   whether this is the right decision will be told after the passing of time but I have accepted a job outside of teaching, but related to my degree and related to English Language.

after a bit of the usual beating around the proverbial bush and a lot of Korean not really giving a straight answer  I read the words" "Of course, you've got accepted by my team."  in a tone that read like it had always been so obvious  I then resigned from my position as NET at Seongsu Elementary School.

I think it was a complete shock to my Co-teacher / Manager and to the vice Principal and Principal when I went in front of them holding my hastily written letter of resignation with my co-teacher doing the talking and me standing there trying not to look too happy and at the same time trying not too look miserable... while the news sank in and they spoke about me and the impending lack of an English Teacher at their precious school and who can blame them.  I thought that they would just get another teacher and it would be fun for the kids to get to meet another foreigner...  However, it turns out that they can't get the budget for a new teacher.  On one hand it seems a little bit odd, as they won't be paying me so they have that money and I am sure they could find a teacher in Korea and with their own housing (there are lot's of us!) But they have been told by GEPIK that they should wait...  this suggests to me that maybe GEPIK really will end next year... !

I will write again as things get finalised, I was pressured to tell my school before I even knew the exact details of the new salary and benefits package - in fact I still don't know those details concretely and have nothing in writing.  But I know enough that the basic package is substantially more than what I get now and I just need to negotiate the final package....


I never posted this so I can fill in the blanks.  I had an interview with the HR manager and an interpreter - I am happy with the result, the salary is close to what I really wanted and certainly comparable to UK wages, so better than now, obviously.
It was unusual to negotiate with the HR manager.  In England I can just about tell if I am being 'played' or the negotiation is genuine.  about this time it left me confused.  The fact that he asked me - what do you ideally want as a salary indicated that the negotiation was 'on' so I started and pitched my top figure.  he just about fell out of his seat we then played the game for about 40 mins, while I dragged him close to my figure, or he pulled me down to his...I may never know if the interpreter said exactly what I said or what he thought I should say... he seemed uncomfortable with the situation, but I really really thank him for his efforts on my behalf

My emotions are mixed... leaving a relatively easy job for the unknown longer hours, pressure, work/life complications and no longer having rockstar like attention everywhere I go... There are students I won't give a second thought to, but there are some that I will miss a lot. The 3rd and 4th grade camp was mostly spend controlling students and breaking up fights and was, for the most part, pretty awful. There were some students who were great, though and this makes a difference. The 5th & 6th grade camp was pretty awesome allround. Lots of teaching, lots of fun, lots of creativity and no fights... I really enjoyed it. I made a video to show them (I will post a link later) on the last day (today) and Harvey is coming with me... So this is it ~ 18 months as a teacher in Korea is over, for now. I don't know if I will teach again. I learnt a lot about myself and looking back there were a lot of positive experiences. But I wasn't happy and I wanted to do something else, to work for a company, to have a different set of experiences in Korea... and this part of the adventure starts on 20th August... I have 13 days of holiday to enjoy first...

Amazing things #7

Amazing things #7

Because flip flops are so Big and Heavy to carry, Some clever company has come up with Magic Flip Flops.
Lighter and thinner 0.4 cm thick!!!

And no doubt really comfortable.... and stylish looking too!! - Available in a range of colours...