Just the usual stuff here. Last minute time-table changes as work, and then important information at the time the boss thinks I need it. Sometimes I'm surprised how things are actually done here, since things seem so last minute, and random. In my opinion, so many things are made, without any thought of the consequences, or how it affects other people. This pic on the left is an example. While doing renovations at the apartments I'm living in, some worker thought it was a good idea, to leave this tin of stuff open in the elevator. You can see 6 yellow warning labels on the tin, and it is open in an elevator, and enclosed space. By the time I got out of the elevator on the 1st floor from the 12th, I was feeling a bit dizzy. Also, what if a child got into the elevator, and was "curious" about the tin of stuff. Join the dots, and you've got some very angry parents, possibly with the worker trying to lie and get his/her way out of it. But sometimes, that is Korea.
Another issue I have with Korea, is its attitude towards English. One aspect of that, is how they use English for promotion of things, or just random sayings on any product that is manufactured - most of the times, wrong. And, after over 2 years of seeing/hearing/experiencing shit English, it does get to you. Here is an example, on a random bottle of sauce: "For your the image world". Even if you change it to "For your image world", what is my image world? These kinds of things pop up everywhere. English has made its way into Korea and its culture in a strange way, and its fascinating, peculiar and damn annoying at times. Some "mistakes" I've seen are just stupid mistakes, but others are problems that come from thinking of the Korean first, and then changing it to English.
Yesterday, I woke up at 7am so that I could go into Gwangju to buy some books for classes. This is part of the "last minute/not telling you everything" problem here in Korea. I bought books on the weekend, for a new elementary student, and some books for middle school classes for Friday. Since the boss was pretty busy on Monday, I didn't give him the receipt until Tuesday afternoon, before the first class. Also, last Friday, I told him that I was going to Gwangju on the weekend to buy books. At that time, Friday evening, he knew I was going to Gwangju, and he didn't know about the new class until Sunday evening. So, I show him the receipt for the books I bought on Sunday, he paid be back, and thought that was it.
No, that wasn't it.
He then asks my Tuesday night, after the class, why I'm not using the new books I bought, for the new class (that I didn't know I had, at the time I bought the books Sunday afternoon, and neither did he). No thinking there what-so-ever. Then he tells me, that the parents of the students, gave him money, for books to use for their class. So, how can I books for their class, when I don't know that I have that class when I buy the books, and also, how can I buy them books, when I didn't know that I was supposed to? This is the kind of logic that Native English teachers would have to deal with, when they come to Korea to "teach" English.
Whenever I go to Gwangju, I take the subway to go to different places. Normally downtown, and Sangmu. I prefer to take the subway here, because the subway is never crowded here, and its a lot safer than taking the buses anywhere (Korean bus drivers don't get me started on them!). Lately, the walk from the bus terminal and the subway station, is just so damn boring, that when I think about going to Gwangju, I start to think "I have to walk to the subway station", and its just so boring! I can walk from the Bus Terminal to Sangmu, which takes about an hour. I used to walk it now and then, when the weather was good. I have found that in Korea, there really isn't enough diversity to keep me interested here. I think that is also part of what bores me here. I have good friends, but some friends just want to do the same thing all the time when we meet. But, I've noticed, that many Koreans do the same things all the time as well. Either they are content with that, or they do a damn good job of hiding it. I just feel that things are very stagnant and monotonous here.
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