Tears & Tokyo

Once they start crying . . . .
Well after that first one, it seems I have a kid crying in one of my classes pretty much every day! Though I am rarely to blame, its usually because one of the other kids hit them, or just for no reason at all. Or for some reason, when we talked about names, and I explained how you can add 'y' or 'ie' to the end of names to make a nickname, which prompted Jackie to get quite upset. I'm really only taking credit for that first one still. And try as I might, I can't make that little girl cry again (she's still messing about, but she's toughened up now to my threats and punishments!). I should point out, that kids don't generally burst into tears at the sight of me, they generally yell "Teacher! Teacher!" and try and high-five me, hug my leg or just teach me like I'm a rockstar. Its just that kids sometimes cry. FACT.

As for my 'Science' teaching, its become something of a farce. The school invests in new materials for each week's classes, so one week I had a load of magnetic boards and some magnets, and I taught the kids about magnetism. Kind of. But that was the peak of scientific discovery. The week after, we had simple wooden toys, which we just played with. And this week, we're just drawing pictures of bees. The Head Teacher told me to teach them about what bees eat and how they make honey, but these kids are 6 or 7 years old, and I don't think words like 'nectar' or 'cross-pollination' are really that useful! Still, I can teach them "Help! I'm covered in beeeeeeeeeeees!!!!" Which could come in handy.

Away from school, its been non-stop excitement! I went to see my first ever pro baseball game, between the Doosan Bears and the LG Twins, and it wasn't quite as boring as I'd expected, though it is certainly not as thrilling as cricket! I've also been drafted, so am now part of a team playing in the Seoul Baseball League! These Americans are going to be in for a real shock when I turn up for our first game in two weeks time! I'm tempted to dress in a suit and bowler hat, and stroll in, twirling an umbrella, and say in my poshest English accent "Good morning chaps! What are the rules to this uncivilised game then?" (I honestly don't really know the rules!) We'll see how my baseball career eventuates . . . .

I also went to Seoul Zoo, which was awesome, as zoos always are. And then this weekend, I went to Japan, for the Tokyo 7s. I've now been to four of the nine HSBC Sevens World Series events, the others being Dubai, Edinburgh, and Hong Kong. As an Englishman with a Kiwi family, its odd that I've not been to the London 7s, or the Wellington 7s, but I will one day. The Tokyo 7s was good crack, though not a patch on the fun of the Dubai 7s, without a doubt, the best on the tour. England made a mess of day one, but came good on day two, and thrashed Argentina to win the Bowl Final. Japan made the Shield Final, and got great home support, but Canada pooped on their party, though not literally, and won that one quite comfortably. In the main final, New Zealand were beaten by the cheating South Africans, but I'd left by then, as I had to get my flight back to Seoul.

I have to say, I was really surprised by Tokyo. I didn't see much of it, but I was expecting some sort of futuristic wonderland of shiny, floaty, newness, with gadgets and robots and lasers everywhere you looked. But its kind of shitty. It almost had the feel of an English seaside town, kind of faded and old. Everything was kind of dirty and looked like it was from the 80s. Thats not to criticise Tokyo, its no worse than any other major city really, its just not what I expected. I was expecting something from a science fiction movie I guess, and its just a bit shitty.
As for my accommodation, I stayed in one of those capsule hotels, and it was definitely an 'experience.' The capsule was quite wide and quite high, though only 6 foot long, a problem for a 6'3" guy like me! And the bamboo screen at the front doesn't exactly keep out the noise, but it wasn't too bad. The hotel was male only, and had a sauna and communal bath house, but I didn't really fancy naked bath time with a bunch of strange men, so I gave that one a miss.

Easter has also been and gone, but its not a holiday in Korea, so we didn't really notice. One of my Korean colleagues gave me an easter present though, a little box, with 'Happy Easter' and my name written on it. And inside was an easter egg. In the afternoon, a bit peckish, I thought I'd eat my egg, and was surprised to see it was a real egg. Not a chocolate egg. Just an egg. Not even an egg with a toy inside. Just an egg. I was confused.

And finally, I am now officially a registered alien! I have my Alien Registration Card (ARC), which means I can do all kinds of things I couldn't before, most importantly, get a phone, and a proper bank account. It also means I can walk around singing "Woah-oh, I'm an alien. I'm a legal alien. I'm an Englishman in Suwon . . . . "