Time in korea is odd. I guess any time when you’re not enjoying yourself stretches out, but in Korea a week feels like a month. It’s an agonising crawl across a hellish wasteland with no end in sight. Harpies shriek and dive at you while the relentless sun beats down, and you’re dragging yourself across the hard-packed clay with shredded fingertips, but it NEVER ENDS BECAUSE THERE IS NO END IT’S ONLY HERE AND NOW FOREVER AND EVER AND EVER
I’m a little drink. I guess. What’s wrong with that? You want to start something? I have less than 100 hours to shove some mpre glorious raspberry wine down my throat, rapsberry wine being the ONE AND ONLY good thing about Korea (okay, barbecue restaurants are cool too).
(and kiwi soju)
Anyway. Anyway. I was going to talk about how… I don’t know, I think about how I’m starting to count off the ‘lasts?’ last Monday, last Tuesday, last Wednesday. Last time I’ll eat at the awesome restaurant downstairs with those onions soaked in that glorious vinegar sauce. last time I’ll have to sit through a bullshit meeting. Last time I’ll haave to draw up a bullshit weekly plan, write some bullshittests, serve some bullshit lunch to the kids which apparently doesn’t count as work seriously come the cufk on charles all the other kids were done fifteen minuts ago and you’re jsut sitting there slowly shovelling it down what are you storing it for winter i want to have my lunchtim nap hurry the fuck up.
I had my last gym class today. I’mnot meant to teach gym but “the government passed laws saying all teachers have to speak English” (translation: we felt like firing the extra teachers to save money and getting you waegukin monkeys to do their jobs 9instead) so i’m meant to teach them gym/PE every wednesday. They gave me this bullshit curriculum which basicaly said “make tghem stand one leg the whole time” and said the exact same thing for the next week, so I jsut let them run around and play instead. God knows they get precious little of that in the grand master plan for Asian ant colony supremacy, STUDY STUDY STUDY, FIVE-YEAR OLDS! Nice break for me too because I get to wander around and give them dizzy-whizzies or let them stand on my feet while I walk around. THIS is when I’m good with kids, when I get to let them play. Not when I have to actively prevent them from hacving fun and force them through a textbook way too hard for them. Every five minutes or so I have to solve some dispute about toys or who hit who, but their language skills are pretty limited (and when they’re in tears they tend to clam up and only speak Korean) so I generally let anarchy rein. I am an indifferent and impotent god, children.
Am I really going? Am I really doing this? it seems so easy when I’m drunk, or when I don’t think about it. I’ve tracked down every single story of a midnight run on the Internet. Not once have I come across anyone feeling guilty and awful about abandoning theirnfellow teachers, even people who were close to the end of their contract. Not once. Am I close to these people? Not really. Do I feel bad about walking out unexpectedly. yeah. A lot. Does that make it okay?
Maybe… it does?
Moot point because I’m doing it anyway. Today was exhausting and felt like an entire year of my life was drained from me. I was banging my head on the table at some points, I didn’t care about the kids or the windows or the Orwellian CCTV cameras. I don’t care anymore. I just want out. This is killing me.
88 hours to go.
6 comments
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September 10, 2009 at 2:55 pm
Alex
Good luck buddy. Hope Australia skies are bluer.
That’s silly. Of course they are. There’s no life-leeching smog.
Well, enjoy the stars anyway. Those’ll probably be nice to see again right?
September 10, 2009 at 7:48 pm
chris
is this alex from mitches childhood?
September 10, 2009 at 8:11 pm
grubstreethack
No this is Alex that I have been hanging out with in Korea. Alex from Mitch’s childhood is too busy taking drugs and getting her teeth knocked out in faceplants… and not having sex with me.
Also GEEZ you make one facebook status update about stars and suddenly everyone’s accusing you of being gay
September 11, 2009 at 11:34 pm
Petite Mystere
hahaha u made a facebook status about stars??
September 10, 2009 at 10:17 pm
exalen
Hey mate,
Found this blog while cleaning up my bookmarks, and via End Times. What an experience – to read that you were in Korea and then to read how much you’re hating it. Zero to excitement to ‘aww hell’ in like 10 mins.
I truly hope that you can find a way to leave and get back here to Aus if you hate it that much. I don’t know what obligations you have up there, but if you hate it that much then you’re probably not doing anyone any favors by staying.
I hope that you’re not thinking of doing anything drastic btw, and all the talk of leaving is a literal leaving of KR to get back to AU.
Let us know how it all goes.
— Incidentally, your writing is as good even when you’re in a drunken stupor! Typing suffers tho. ;-)
September 17, 2009 at 2:47 pm
grubstreethack
Hey, I rememember you…
Rest assured that my escape from Korea was indeed quite literal. Suicide would have been a secondary option though.