Nearly A Month In Now...

This is our fourth week at school now, and and fast is has gone by. We are pretty much settled in, and are adding to the existing resources available. This mainly helps us in our work, and helps the children better understand the concepts and ideas that we are attempting to get across. Sometimes these are quite complex. You forget how complicated the English language can truly be at times, and how easy what seem the simplest of mistakes are to make.

We've more than settled into the routine of living here. Language is still an issue, and is going to take a long time and some effort to get over that initial hurdle of being able to communicate even at the most basic level. I have started working my way through the Korean alphabet, which is supposed to be simple but isn't so when it seems so alien. I've got the vowels nailed, and can recognise them in words. Just the constanants, and the various complex and double combinations to go. I feel once these have been mastered, the rest of the language should begin to fall into place.

We've not yet ventured beyond Suwon, and plan to expand our horizons into Seoul and the surrounding area in the next few weeks. Then when money is better, we will do some weekends away around Korea, getting to know the country that is to be our home for the next year at least. We particularly want to visit the DMZ, probably the most heavily protected border in the world. As part of the only remaining divided country in the world. Eventually a trip into North Korea is on the cards, as that is something that must be experienced to understand the country as a whole.

We have summer and winter holiday time also when we can venture further afield. Japan will be one of the desitnations as part of a holiday trip, that is a must. Also China at some point. Although only the smallest fraction in the time that we will have. Maybe it will be something that we will do after our contract comes to an end. I know that thinking that far off seems like some serious forward planning, but its good to look to the future. and time does seem to be flying.

At the moment we think that at the end of our contract we will most certainly be returning to England, even if only for a visit to see friends and family. We'll probably head to Oz to see Mum and Dad, and then fly to the U.S. (via a Pacific island or two), then on to England. Flying that way round means that we will have circumnavigated the globe, something else we could tick off the list of things we have done.

Well that's still some time off. We have the rest of our time here to go. I'm sure there will be ups and downs, as there always are in life. The one good thing is that the school week does go passed quite quickly, so we are unlikely to feel the drudgery of the daily grind. Plus the children are always there to keep us on our toes.