Sorry for the downer blog posts of late. It's hard to be chipper when you're sick so far from normal and all you really want is someone to drop by with soup and something interesting to say.
We're all recovered or still recovering. It's the worst cold/flu that has hit us in a long time, but lots of expats will tell you it's like an initiation to a new place- sickness is almost inevitable. So now that we've had our right of passage into Seoul life, we're all ready to move on to more pleasant days.
The weather warmed a little yesterday which also brought some cheery feelings. I know Canada is so much colder than here, but it's bitter here and the city wind chills the bones. I don't like it. I'll have to dig out my parka when I'm home in the summer to bring it back for next winter.
I'm trying to be a more diligent homeschool parent...you've heard this before. It really is a challenge. The kids don't like it, and feel that all comments are personal criticism, plus there are tears and often nastiness. Such fun! They wanted March Break off, and are annoyed we said no. It's hard not to throw it back and them and say, "what else are you doing," but that would just be cruel because they really are doing nothing else.
We continue to plod along in our pretty unsociable way here. The only place we have met any kids is at church. It's nice to hear other kids call out, "Hi Molly" or "Hey George" but they still haven't really connected with anyone yet as Sundays only come once per week. George said when he finally went to the first youth group and when kids were asked to pull out their Bible to read, everyone pulled out an iPhone 6 or equivalent and used their Bible AP! Yikes - high tech kids. George was feeling a little left out.
I had my first afternoon at Yeomyung School on Friday. My cold was still nasty, so it wasn't pretty, but I did get through it. What they've asked me to do is run an "English Conversation Club" for 2 hours on Fridays. All 100 students must participate in one club and last week they listened in on 3 options each and by Friday I'll know how many chose the English club. Suzie, the grammar teacher, suspected 5-8 students would be suitable. So, I was originally worried Yeomyung would ask for too much of time, and as it turns out, they are asking for very little. I guess that's ok.
We're still finding it hard to find extracurriculars for the kids. The reality is that all foreign kids go to foreign school and their activities take place at school - then they go home and study. Now that the colds have passed, we're going to stop by the taekwondo studio in the neighbourhood again and see about classes. It could be good, or it could be torture from a language perspective, but we'll try.
Korean lessons are also harder to organize than I thought. In fact, it's not even organizing, it's just finding some group lessons for kids/families that's tricky. Most business people would have them offered at work, and most kids could take them at school, so once again, we're finding ourselves on the periphery. I could get private lessons, but that's kinda lonesome.
So not much else to report. Just plodding along. If the weather stays nice this week, we get out and explore the city like tourists - we have only scratched the surface of this huge place.
We're all recovered or still recovering. It's the worst cold/flu that has hit us in a long time, but lots of expats will tell you it's like an initiation to a new place- sickness is almost inevitable. So now that we've had our right of passage into Seoul life, we're all ready to move on to more pleasant days.
The weather warmed a little yesterday which also brought some cheery feelings. I know Canada is so much colder than here, but it's bitter here and the city wind chills the bones. I don't like it. I'll have to dig out my parka when I'm home in the summer to bring it back for next winter.
I'm trying to be a more diligent homeschool parent...you've heard this before. It really is a challenge. The kids don't like it, and feel that all comments are personal criticism, plus there are tears and often nastiness. Such fun! They wanted March Break off, and are annoyed we said no. It's hard not to throw it back and them and say, "what else are you doing," but that would just be cruel because they really are doing nothing else.
We continue to plod along in our pretty unsociable way here. The only place we have met any kids is at church. It's nice to hear other kids call out, "Hi Molly" or "Hey George" but they still haven't really connected with anyone yet as Sundays only come once per week. George said when he finally went to the first youth group and when kids were asked to pull out their Bible to read, everyone pulled out an iPhone 6 or equivalent and used their Bible AP! Yikes - high tech kids. George was feeling a little left out.
I had my first afternoon at Yeomyung School on Friday. My cold was still nasty, so it wasn't pretty, but I did get through it. What they've asked me to do is run an "English Conversation Club" for 2 hours on Fridays. All 100 students must participate in one club and last week they listened in on 3 options each and by Friday I'll know how many chose the English club. Suzie, the grammar teacher, suspected 5-8 students would be suitable. So, I was originally worried Yeomyung would ask for too much of time, and as it turns out, they are asking for very little. I guess that's ok.
We're still finding it hard to find extracurriculars for the kids. The reality is that all foreign kids go to foreign school and their activities take place at school - then they go home and study. Now that the colds have passed, we're going to stop by the taekwondo studio in the neighbourhood again and see about classes. It could be good, or it could be torture from a language perspective, but we'll try.
Korean lessons are also harder to organize than I thought. In fact, it's not even organizing, it's just finding some group lessons for kids/families that's tricky. Most business people would have them offered at work, and most kids could take them at school, so once again, we're finding ourselves on the periphery. I could get private lessons, but that's kinda lonesome.
So not much else to report. Just plodding along. If the weather stays nice this week, we get out and explore the city like tourists - we have only scratched the surface of this huge place.
The kids played a game at the amusement park nearby - the odds and prices are similar to home; crappy! At least they had fun. There's a candy game that dispenses Tootsie Rolls, so that's a hit.
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