obladi obladah

La la la  .. how life goes on!

Here I sit, at my own desk in the teachers’ room of the best high school in this region in South Korea, as the new Foreign English Teacher.

Timing.. it’s all in the timing.

It’s been a really (emotionally and financially) difficult year so far. But I think I’m coming out of the tunnel of ups and downs.  I love my new apartment, I love my new job and I love (finally) feeling in control. I no longer feel like living in Korea is just ‘biding time’ until I get to ‘start again’ back home in Australia. This is my fresh start. This is it. This is my life.

And I’m loving it.

Yes, it’s still challenging and difficult living in such a foreign country, but this is it, juju.

I was talking with one of the Korean English teachers yesterday and he was telling me how he ran into one of the other teachers at the airport in Sydney. As we were talking about this surprising coincidence, he said, "Oh, it’s a narrow world!"  I laughed. A narrow world indeed!

In Korea, the teachers are held in high respect (it’s still a guilty-secret- ego-building-wonderful-pleasure when every student I pass bows to me, also as I return the bows of other teachers) and especially so the Principal. "Mr Principal" has his own chauffeur-driven car. So, imagine my mortification this morning (while still on ‘best behaviour’ mode doing my utmost to make the very best of impressions) the chauffeur came into the teachers room to tell the Head English Teacher to tell me to move my car.. out of the Principal’s carpark.. please! They all laughed, but I was really embarrassed.

Today Mr Principal’s carpark… tomorrow the (albeit narrow) World!