Day 17- Blister Times

Oh Mondays how I hate you...seriously...hate! ha  Mondays are my longest days at school however today I got out 3 hours early to make my journey over to the immigration office.  Today was a day of running around like a chicken with its head cut off.  I got my pictures taken for my alien registration card (the card that gives me power to get a bank account, pay my bills and have the same rights as everyone else up in this joint :P) however I forgot to pick them up last night.  Sadly I start work at 10am and the store doesn't open till 10am so I was uncertain of how I was going to get the passport pictures I needed for this card.  One of my coworkers gave me the idea of going over on my lunch break and picking them up and coming back to school quick time to teach my next class.  Now lunch is one of my favourite parts of the day BECAUSE 1) I get some me time  2) I get to eat Korean food   3) I get to do the paperwork and planning for the day  4) I enjoy sitting in a chair  and finally 5) No kids in the teachers office.  Sadly as soon as the lunch bell rang I headed out to the store to get my pictures which turned out horribly (this was with the photographer man continuously telling me I needed to improve my hair and whatnot, boy was he right).

SO many leftovers...ahhh

When I finally got them, the man charged me 15 bucks for 8 pictures even though I only wanted 1...the pain of not being able to communicate! I REALLY need to learn the language, my goal is to be able to speak it comfortably before this year is up (we shall see how that works out).  One thing for most people to note is that when your job tells you how much things will cost, add about 60000 won on top of the price they tell you (60$ at LEAST) because everything costs money to get done here.  Once I had the pictures  I  headed back to school, missioning it like a boss...it did NOT help that today was one of the most humid and uncomfortable days of life.  I was sweating like a crazy person as I was running around and lucky for me I got back with a bit of time and grabbed an iced latte to give me energy for the rest of the day.   The running around really doesn't help the blister issue that occurred from yesterday and even though I was wearing comfortable shoes today, the damage from yesterday was already done (most painful blisters I have had in a while). Yay for activities! Maybe it will result in tougher feet? (Classy I know :P)

One of many...mmm mmm good (I know few people want to see this but it is MY blog and I wanted to show the world :P hah) 

 Once I got back to school I was able to sit and fill out some forms for a good 5 minutes before starting my next class which was ARTS AND CRAFTS (boo yah).   My kids were generally good today, I am starting to feel more comfortable with them and I can tell that they appreciate me too, getting way more touchy and willing to ask for help which is great.  I do notice that my Kindergartens are the most stubborn and least likely to ask for help on reading or pronunciation...very interesting since I would think that the younger the kids the more humble? Hmm maybe they just want to feel like they can do it?

Once the clock hit 4 I left school and caught a taxi to the immigration office which was incredibly intimidating and overwhelming!  I had no idea which area of the building to go, which forms to fill out and no one was very helpful BUT this allowed me to learn by example!  After about 15 minutes of walking around and being uncertain I figured out what I was supposed to do.

The immigration office is about 30-40 minutes away from where I live and the cab ride there only cost me 11 bucks :) (in Korea you never tip either, so it was literally 11 dollars).  As I was waiting for my turn, I watched as the clock kept ticking away and began to worry a tiny bit because the number of my ticket was 60 away from what numbers were on the screen and the place closed down in 45 minutes.  Less than 10 minutes before they were closing, my number popped up on the screen, I WAS SOO thankful because after filing out my forms I had to go get more paperwork done and I finished in JUST the right time (it was a beautiful feeling).

I then caught a taxi cab back home and he was really nice.  He gave me loads of candy and proceeded to talk to me in Korean even though I continuously told him in Korean that I spoke no Korean.  I told him I was from Canada and he seemed super excited about it and we sang "La bamba" all the way home.  He seemed super nice and kept telling me I needed to learn Korean (at least that is what I think he was saying, he was only speaking in Korean so I had to put together some things I have heard before).   The cabs are super awesome and clean and air conditioned and oh man do they ever beat the bus!  HOWEVER today the nice taxi man charged me 20000 won when we got back (20 bucks) and I knew it should be cheaper since I got there for 11000 won.  The nice man had cheated me and I was sad about it but it just gives me more motivation to learn the language. 

My feet are sore, my tummy is empty and I am boiling water so I can have a drink since the water here is unsafe to drink from the tap.  I think it will be a good time once I make some dumplings and cut up some tomatoes, we shall see what happens with the rest of my evening!  :)  Yay to continuous learning :P