So there is my Desk! I have a Desk! Bask in its Glory! The beginning of my first two days of work were terrible. No real training on how to properly teach means I couldn't do anything right. I was able to manage the classes but nothing seemed to work. At least the afternoon classes were great. Friday however I nailed it. One of the old co-workers showed me how to organize a bit and suddenly (with the help of a really good kindergarten class) everything went perfect. I had a flawless day and thing went my way. I was very happy and felt successful as a teacher. I've realized because of my beard I've confused people into thinking I was Mr. Thompson (he had a beard just like mine). Another problem I've seen is that kids cannot say may name correctly. I;ve been called Mr. Goldbach in every possible way to destroy the letter A in that name. I've also been called Goldb**** a few times. Also Mr. Gold-a-bach is popular too. I also got the name Mr. Goldpuppy (I got three stickers and one of them was a gold puppy. Then that second grader made the connection in the word gold between gold puppy and Goldbach). It was great though and I got to teach kindergarten math, elementary science, phonics, spelling, etc. It was great.
Two nights ago we went out for dinner after work. There was rib meat stuff that wasn't too good. Lots of fat on it and the ribs were still in the soup (you'll see it later in the pictures). I think I ate more/stomached it better. I was really hungry (ate some of the fat even). Other than that there where some small fish to eat whole (I actually didn't try it. I am a bit disappointed I didn't it. O well :) ) and squid (which I tried the next day). There was a bean or something noodle and a sauce I wasn't sure off.
So yesterday I spent the day just cleaning the apartment I got to move in and settled in completely. I plan on having a walk through video of the place tomorrow for all of you to see. Near dinner time I meet up with the coworkers and had dinner at this tofu place. They had tofu donuts and pancakes (delicious!!) and this tofu soup. Or what I thought was tofu soup until I saw people pulling out clams. I tried it but I could really only handle a few bites. I don't know how the rest of them couldn't taste it but the fishy taste was overwhelming. I did eat some squid (stuff in the red sauce) and that was ok for a bit. Got to try squid though! There was some soybeans that tasted like baked beans, squash kimchi, regular kimchi, and something else. The donuts and pancake filled me up though! All this for 6 bucks each (the quantity of food was great!).
So went for a 6 mile bike ride today. It is to a mountain/temple area about 6 miles north east of
Iksan (name of temple is on a sign in the picture. Don't know mountain). It was the largest temple compound in Korea. It has been demolished by the Japanese during their occupation between 1910. The building that is there (the large rectangular one) is over a spot that used to have a temple but was dismantled to be rebuilt and retouched. The original one was falling apart and the Japanese repaired it with concrete...then destroyed it and the whole compound. I took a picture of the compound for those to look at. If there is a question about the pictures just message and I'll talk about it. There are just way to many to discuss. Hopefully the pictures (in order from departure to arrival) will be enough! I would like to point out that today I have officially love and appreciate the beauty of Korea. There was a moment where I debated on living here. But that moment was quickly ushered aside when I was reminded of family, friends, and an important person in my life at home. Maybe we could all move? By the way here is a quick video of me spinning around showing the area and then the storms we got suck into. The shelter we were under was nice and it was so cool. I felt really relaxed and at peace. It is near impossible for me to explain the tranquility of it all. I plan on running soon. Besides getting fit I want that peace again. We didn't get to walk on the mountain (time). I plan on running to and up it one day before I leave.
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