Class

On Saturday I went to Korean class with Pete, a co-worker. We went to the level zero class (this is 3 classes long) and we can't go to the level one class until May. I guess really we could go, but that would mean we were going in in the middle of the course (it's 10 classes long). You pay 1,000 won at the end of the class which basically just covers the cost of the paper copies. We came to the third class, so we were a bit slower than some, but we plan to go until we can hop up to level 1.

Tomorrow I'm going to meet with Andy again. We're gonna go to lunch and after that I'm heading to class. At night I'm meeting Charis to go to an apparently amazing pancake place that her friends are obsessed with.

Today was really nice and sunny though the wind definitely makes it rather chilly. Today I went to school then picked up some things at E-Mart (potatoes, fabric softener, towels. was going to get some Jack or champagne, but it's outrageously expensive....$50 for a fifth, $20 for the cheapest sparkling wine) and another random store, picked up a pizza (not too delicious) for dinner, and headed home.

Tomorrow is the 3rd which means I have to write a number outside my door that corresponds to my gas usage for the month. Sora told me today that my health insurance should be coming soon. I have my phone, so I'm pretty much set.

The Korean education system is pretty crazy. Elementary school is the same as ours, where the kids can play and learn, etc. But once they hit middle school, it is all work and no play. They go to middle school around age 14 I believe. Every day (including Saturdays) they go to school and then usually go to 3 or 4 academies after. I work at an English one. So the kids might have gone to a math one and a science one before coming to mine. So it's pretty hard to get them to do their homework because they're so unbelievably busy. A lot of the older ones don't even want to be attending class, but come because their parents force them to. Pretty much when they hit high school they stop coming because they have too much schoolwork. At the end of high school you have to pass this huge exam that basically tells you where you are going to go to college. From what I hear, college is sort of a joke and they don't really have to do much. So they climax in high school basically. Pretty much everyone I've talked to hates the system but Andy tells me that the man in charge will be there for a while. Well, I hope they figure it out...

Today Nhi showed me the stationary store, basically Office Depot but Korean style. It makes me want to paint! They had tons of great stuff there, but art is way too expensive of a hobby. So I'm banning myself from that place in order to not go bankrupt.

I think I'm going to try to go to Japan in September. Korean Thanksgiving is in September and it's really the only substancial break I get. Mainly I just get random days throughout the week which really sucks because it means I can't really go anywhere. Oh well. If I save enough money I can just go after I finish the year's contract.