Tuttle Update

Wow!

Long time no viddie, droogs! Since my last post, about 17 millennia ago, a lot has happened:
1) said my final farewells to Young-il H.S. (in Korean, no less)
2) spent 10 days in and around the Newnan/Atlanta, GA area
3) said farewell to more than one friend (August sucks in Korea for this and other reasons!)
4) moved to a new officetel in Yangcheon-gu
5) began teaching at a new school,Yangmyung Elementary
6) got wireless internet installed today in my new place
You can expect one or more posts on most of these topics in coming days and weeks. Still, a few quick notes are in order.

My new neighborhood, right at Sinjeong sta. on line 5, is quite developed--it's a ten minute walk from Mok-dong sta., and is situated in the low-rent area of one of Seoul's richest dong. That said, my old place was superior in some ways: first, this building does have a convenience store on premises, but you have to go outside to access it; second, the apartment is quite similar but smaller, and has no large storage space, such as for suitcases, the boxes of mementos I've collected, etc--on the plus side, the loft is actually usable, since you can stand up in it; thirdly, there is no Emart directly across the street, though a reasonably-sized grocery is located a block away; fourth, the nearest dry cleaner is a five minute walk, instead of just downstairs; fifth, most of the restaurants in the area are unfamiliar to me--one familiar name is Donenu, but I had to leave there tonight because they tried to tell me what I have to order; finally, the subway entrance is four times further than at my old place--40 paces instead of ten!

It was great seeing friends and family back home, and ten days was almost the right amount of time--maybe two days longer would have been better. I bought some new clothes, since it's hard to find stuff to fit me here, and I ate all the food you can't get in Korea. Some pictures later.

The new school seems nice, though the jury is of course still out on that: the VP is pressuring me to teach a monthly Saturday class in which I am less than not even slightly interested--I already teach a Saturday class, that pays much much more and gives me the opportunity to teach superior high school students.

The English classroom is really cool (pics later), and the co-teachers seem okay, and very nice. I co-taught three classes on Monday, and the comment I got from the two cos was, "Your teaching is amazing!" Yep, tell me something I don't know. But seriously, the bad news is that I go from two preps per week to five!
No classes today, since the promise of Typhoon Bolaven cancelled classes throughout Seoul. Teachers had to show up, though. Tomorrow is scheduled to be a teacher in-service from SMOE for all of us high school NSETs that are now at elementary schools.