I think Monday's 1am interview went ok! But, having an online "Skype" interview is difficult enough but more so when the interviewers ID is "Cynical and Cold".

Broken!

She seemed ok and I wouldn't publically say anything more about my impression of her but I favour the first position which is purely based on my "Gut Instinct".  This may have been clouded by the fact that I had a couple of internet connection problems which were so bad that I couldn't even make out the questions, I had to stop the interview at one point and reboot my router.

The interview questions were again mainly around the fact that the children are really badly behaved... when i thinkk back to my school days and the number of teachers who were disrespected and abused by students that it is wonderous that they didn't leave the teaching profession altogether, probably some did.  So classroom management was the hot topic of this interview, there was also a question on teaching grammar and also questions about my strengths, which i think I handled well.  Cynical and cold said that she would let me know by 30th Jan at the latest.. so again more waiting!!!

We are still plodding away with the house sale... it is so frustrating. Time is now really critical. we need to be able to book tickets and with the iminent price hike in mid to late feb any delay seems that it will impact us negatively also. I feel quite stressed about it, not knowing is very annoying.

Great WeEkEnD!

We had a really good weekend! 

We went to the joint Birthday party of our best friends 2 eldest kids at the funky playhouse in Cambridge.  Afterwards we went to their house for dinner and the kids enjoyed playing on the Wii while we chatted.  Sunday was, of course, church and this week was Bi Bim Bap day also New year so we enjoyed the food and a game of "YUT", which is always good fun, even if just to be amazed about how excited the girls all get about it!  

The game board is really confusing and it is also fun to see the confusion on the faces of the non-Koreans that are playing!




These are the things we are really going to miss... OUR FRIENDS!!!  We maybe approaching our last week in the UK....


It is now 0:45am and I am waiting for another interview...  I am a bit dubious the interview will take place as it is a National Holiday in Korea today (New Year).... I AM SO TIRED - But have been to sleep!


Will update soon!

Interviews!

Just a quick update as it's very late! I have been on a business trip
for 2 days but i scheduled a post for each day I was away!

I have now had 2 agency interviews and tonight i had my first
interview with a school! The school is an elementary school in
bundang! The interviewer was the co-teacher and she seemed impressed
and she seemed to like me! I think it went well! I hope to hear from
her soon but this weekend is harvest festival. So a few days public
holiday in Korea she said she will call me anyway so fingers crossed
until then!

The house sale seems to be going ok! They have asked for some more
documentation which we were able to send them straight away! So more
fingers crossed here!

I will try to post a more detailed update soon!

--
Sent from my mobile device

Nearly resulted in serious injury!

Sunday night we moved a wardrobe downstairs, one of the many things we have sold this week.  I was holding the bottom and on the 3rd step from the top when Gong who was holding the top of the wardrobe said her neck hurt, she was unable to hold on and suddenly I found myself being pushed downstairs... fighting to stay on my feet, as I knew that if I fell backwards I would be seriously injured.
I have a couple of minor injuries sore foot, sore leg and a cut on my hand. But needles to say I have found the quickest way to get a wardrobe downstairs... you just need a wife to let go!!! 

Finally DID IT!

Finally handed in my resignation Yay!  feels great!!!!
Unfortunately my boss was ill today so I was unable to hand it to him personally but email had to do.  He said he was disappointed and wanted to talk, but I explained the reasons in the letter so it is really just a process thing.  not sure how much notice I can work - house sale seems to be going OK and we are on target for an end of the month move!!

a car for the Gifted And Young!!

I am away on a course for the next two days - but have prepared a couple of short posts - to fulfil my desire to post everyday and to fill you in on what I have done over the last couple of days.  The course will be my last official outing with Audi and I will get to drive the R8 and RS5 Coupe.  However I 
will be travelling there in a bit less style and 'understated luxury' in a very effeminate Fiat 500 1.2 Lounge  in white with a beige interior, the build quality is shockingly bad, when you press a button on the dash the whole dashboard moves and the driver information dials odometer and speedometer are pretty much unreadable (if I remember I will post an image for your amusement)...  

It is definately a car for the Gifted And Young!!

The Chosun Ilbo: Do S.Koreans Really Want Reunification?

For today's post I have decided to post an article I read recently in the Chosun Ilbo: See the  original article here the article is in its original form.  No permission was sought to post here.

This addresses the issue of reunification from a South Korean view point but I felt it was a good article that addressed the basic concerns about reunification, a good entry level article. 

 Do S.Koreans Really Want Reunification?

Sonu Jong

My father, who died 25 years ago, was born in Jongju, North Pyongan Province. He was always proud of his hometown, saying it was the birthplace of many great people. It was a poor town but filled with fond memories and the true home my father wished to make his final resting place.

Three years ago I met a Korean Japanese who moved to North Korea but ended up defecting from Sinuiju close to the border with China. I asked him about my father's hometown, which is close to Sinuiju. The defector said, "About 10 years ago I saw the bodies of people who died of hunger littering a hill in Jongju." That was all he said. For him, my father's hometown was just another part of North Korea that had grown weary of despotism and drought. There was no trace of the fondness my father often talked about.

A friend of my father's from Jongju visited North Korea nine years ago. He was a devout Christian and an avid supporter of former president Kim Dae-jung's Sunshine Policy of engagement with North Korea. He voiced disappointment with North Korea the day after he returned to the South. "Adults in North Korea are the same height as junior high school students here," he said. "Wouldn't it be better to achieve reunification as soon as possible, even by launching a limited attack? Would we be able to stop the chaos there if 1 million Christians rushed over to North Korea and make them believe?" Perhaps he was just rambling. He never said he had changed his political views after his visit to the North, but one thing was clear: The memories he had of North Korea had been shattered. That's when I thought, "Perhaps my father was happier than I am, since he was able to keep his fond memories of North Korea."

How many children of the North Korean diaspora actually long for North Korea as their parents did? Honestly, my image of North Korea is not that different from the picture of the North painted by the defector. My father missed his father and the siblings he had left behind in North Korea, but I am quite nervous at the thought of some strangers from North Korea knocking at my door after reunification telling me they are my relatives. As much as he detested the communism that took away his hometown, my father worried about the blind decadence that could taint South Korean capitalism. But I am more concerned about the streets of my hometown Seoul being filled with poor and disillusioned strangers from the North. My father was willing to spend his entire savings on his hometown, but I am not willing to do that. Compared to my father, I am selfish and cowardly. 

Whenever we talk about reunification, the first thing on our mind is the financial burden South Korea would face. People say that the share price of Samsung Electronics will plummet if the North Korean regime collapses. They say that South Korea's economy needs to grow further in order to be able to feed 23 million North Koreans. They claim that we must accept the reality of North Korea, even though a youngster in his 20s becomes the country's highest-ranking military official overnight, and even if another million people there starve to death again. It all boils down to the same sentiment: "It's still too early for reunification." Really? Or are we just too scared and selfish to take the leap?

I believe that reunification should have occurred during my father's generation, when there were people who really wanted it to happen. We may have been poorer, but there were many more people back then who were willing to share what little they had. If we are more concerned about the share price of Samsung Electronics than we are about reunification, then we will never be able to become one nation.

Perhaps we are unable to achieve reunification not because North Korea refuses to embrace reforms but because it is us who are unwilling to change. It is no use pointing the finger at others. We have to change first.

By Sonu Jong from the Chosun Ilbo's News Desk