Quick Catch-Up

I can't think of any (good) excuse why I've not blogged, except that when I sit down to write, I can't seem to get the words out.  Some call this writer's block! (rolls eyes)

Anyway, the past few months have been pretty busy and not so much at the same time. In April, after attending my friend Carmen's wedding in Cape Town, I decided to pack up and move from East London to the city of 021. It was evident that job hunting FROM East London for work in big cities was just not working for me. 

I found myself a lovely apartment with an awesome view and moved in at the beginning of July. With my mum's help, we turned this shell of an apartment into a cosy home. A week after my mum left Cape Town, she was in hospital for kidney stones.  The procedure wasn't successful and she had to go back in the following week. It was hard hearing my mum sound the way she did on the phone, especially since she's always cheerful and up to something or the other. I felt like I needed to be with her, especially when she went into hospital again. So I went back to East London and spent about two weeks at home. Thankfully, the second procedure was successful, but my mum took a long time to recover.

 I came back to Cape Town for a whole week before I had to go back to East London yet again. This time, it was for my 10-year high school reunion. More on that in the next blog post.

All that is over now and I'm back in the Mother City. I've been keeping myself busy with finding a job.

...and I'm still trying to find myself! :)

Update: English Camp (week 2 & 3)

I'm in my 3rd week of winter camp. Not much has changed, except that I have fewer students, some of which are just way too hyper! My 5th grade class has only 4 boys and they're all boys. I was teaching them parts of the body - simple things: leg, hand, fingers, arm, neck etc...

I guess boys will be boys regardless of where they're from or their age. They had to label each other with Post It's and for some reason they thought it hilarious to place these labels on their crotch. Sigh...

So I tried another activity with them. I taught them how to speak of ailments when they go to the doctor, like how to say "My arm is sore" or "I have a headache"

I had them do role plays - one was a doctor, while the other was a patient. And I gave them toilet paper to use as 'bandages'.

And then there are students who are just exceptional...like these:

These are my all time favourite 6th grade students. ...love them to bits!

Update: English Camp (week 1)

My first week of English camp is over, and I have to do some damage control.

EFL teachers will agree that lesson plans don't always work out as well as they seem on paper. Many times, I had to think on my feet and alter the lesson plans to suit the class. Also, children vary - I had a mixture of classes...either very lethargic or way too energetic.

Some activities that worked are the ones below. I had various body parts written on Post It's and had the children label a "model". They had fun with this one, although I had trouble trying to keep the 'model' still!


Korean kids love the cartoon character, Spongebob Squarepants so when I taught shapes, I had them draw Spongebob! (That's my drawing on the board...not too bad, eh ^^)


For my 6th graders, I was teaching them adjectives, so in pairs, I had them create their very own cartoon character with 'special powers' and they had to present their new superhero to the class - saying why he/she was so special...


This was by far the most popular. When I taught prepositions to the classes (all grades), I had candy all over the classroom - under the chairs & tables, behind pot plants, on the window, on the mirror, next to the computer etc... The kids had to search for the candy, and come and tell me where they found it. Eg, "The candy was behind the computer"

Monday 27th - Dinner with Mr Kim & his family...

When Angelina and I got to my apartment after school, my furniture was being delivered - closet, dressing table etc...

Then I went to the immigration office with Angelina....to sort out my ID card.

There were 3 Indian men (they were from Pakistan). I know this cause I snuck a peak at their forms. Oh man, the way they stared at me... but I can understand, I mean - there aren't THAT many Indians here in Korea... and you don't just see them walking around.

When I got home, my electronics had arrived - microwave, kettle, toaster, TV (!!!!!!) I was so happy....

Then I went to Mr Kim's home (Mr Kim works in the admin office). Mr Kim, his wife and their two little children have really taken me as their own. When I explained to his wife that I needed to buy a few things, she gave me things from her own cupboards - from trash bags to hangers to loo paper.

In this pic, Mr Kim's wife is speaking to Rachel - who is telling her that I need to buy bottled water from GS MART!!!

Mr Kim (in his realllly broken English) said we'd go to GS MART. I couldn't understand a word that was being said. Also, earlier in the day, I got my cellphone - so I called my lifeline (Rachel in Seoul), who spoke to Mr Kim's wife and who translated for me.


I had a traditional Korean meal with Mr Kim and his family... I had bi-bim-bap (think that's how it's spelt...)

Saturday 25th - Sunday 26th

Now that I've settled down a bit, I can be brutally honest about my feelings when I just arrived here...

On Saturday, after dinner with Angelina (my co-teacher), Mr Kim (school officer) and his wife, we went to a store to buy things like cleaning agents, bins, iron, ironing board etc...and there was someone from the store who helped us back to my apartment with all our things (basically a few metres down from where I live.

Then we went to a "PC bang" - "bang" means "room"...so, PC ROOM (aka Internet cafe). Angelina had to go home, and I assured her I'll be ok to get home by myself.

Entrance to PC BANG

Remember, I was jetlagged...I had only arrived a few hours earlier, so my body hadn't yet adjusted to the time difference. At 00:00 I was wide awake and asked the man who worked at the PC bang where I could get a call card. He looked at me blankly and said something in Korean. Then I mimed to him... I said SOUTH AFRICA.... and pointed to the phone.

A girl was watching me, and I tried asking her... she told me to follow her. I followed her to a cafe where there was a man, woman and a baby. I said SOUTH AFRICA...PHONE. The man said to me, "SAUDI ARABIA?" Thank heavens he had a chart in his store, so I point to the SA flag, and he sold me a call card.... and he let me use his phone...

..I called home, and spoke to my brother. My folks weren't home. Then I called my mother on her cell... and while talking to her, I thought - OH CRAP I don't know where I am and how am I going to get home? It was 00:30 now.

Still talking to my mum, I saw 2 Indian guys pass the store and I waved frantically at them. They were from Bangladesh and their English was none the better. SUN JIN APARTMENT, I repeatedly said. NO ONE as in NO ONE understood what the hell I was saying.

I mentally prepared myself to be raped or mugged... I mean, what the hell was I doing walking around the streets of Sinchen-dong on the night that I arrived? I was close to tears. I had no idea where I was.

Then....the guy who took my parcels to my apartment earlier saw me, and noticed I was lost and he walked me home. I was shaking. I was tired... hungry...and needed a shower.

....so around 01:00 I had a shower. I was so upset about getting lost that I didn't care that I couldn't find my shower gel. I used shampoo. (Manuka shampoo from the Body Shop to be precise)

My apartment was bare and eerily silent. I went upstairs, sat on my bed and thought - OH MY GOD....what have I done coming here? How will I ever get the hang of things?

I fell asleep for an hour, and woke up @ 3am. It felt like I slept for 6 hours. I was frustrated and the silence was deafening. I went back to the PC bang, and made sure I knew where the hell it was. Well, it's really just straight down the road from where I live.

I needed to get onto MSN / GOOGLE TALK. The man had no idea what I was saying when I said GOOGLE TALK? I burst into tears in his face... and he gave me a cup of coffee from the coffee machine. My friend, Jayme was online and I asked her to call my brother to get him online.

He logged on and I said - WHAT HAVE I DONE COMING HERE? Then I asked him to call Cliff & YunOck, who spoke to me..and YunOck spoke to the guy working there in Korean. For the next 4 hours, I sat at the PC bang (5am....6am...) I couldn't bare going to my apartment.

It's now Sunday... at 7am, I went home... fell asleep at 8am and woke up at 3pm. Within 10 minutes of waking up, I went back to the PC bang and sat there till midnight. I downloaded Skype, and spoke to friends. I even managed to upload pics on a PC that was 100% in Korean.

When I got home, I only got to bed around 2am... woke up @ 3am... and again at 5am....and then at 7am... I thought the jet lag would never wear off. I was so upset.... and so lonely....

...but things slowly picked up (as you will see read in my next post).

....FROM KOREA

...picking up from my last post, Viola and I ended up checking in and not going to a coffee shop. We were just way too tired to even think straight. The flight was from 8am to 3:30pm. We were blotchy faced and irratable that we couldn't fall asleep.

When we arrived, we could just feel the humidity as we stepped off the plane. After immigration / customs, we picked up our luggage, freshened up and proceeded to arrivals where a Mr Jo was waiting for us with a nice big sign: VIOLA & SHEETAL...WELCOME TO KOREA!

The drive from Incheon Intl Airport to Siheung was about 1.5 hours and after random bantering with my Mr Jo, Viola and I passed out in the backseat. I was dropped off first. We went to my school - Sinchen Elementary School where my co-teacher, Angelina and the school officer, Mr Kim met me.

Initially my apartment wasn't ready and I was going to be put up in a hotel, but plans changed and I am in my new aparment. I was ordered a brand new bed which was assembled right before me... and afterwards, went to get a bite to eat with Angelina and Mr Kim. Mr Kim's wife and 2 kids soon joined us and we went shopping for other little items that I needed - sponge, dishwashing liquid, toaster etc etc etc...

Would you believe that my neighbour has already expressed her hospitality towards me and gave me a bunch of grapes and a bottle of juice :)

Mr Kim's son seems very intrigued by me and keeps talking to me in Korean. Then when I don't answer, he asks his father things about me - where am I from.... etc etc.. but it's ok cause I've been warned that kids tend to stare at foreigners... they just look different! I have seen the most beautiful Korean children since arriving, and their parents had no qualms when I asked if I could take photo's of them!

Anyways, my apartment building is called Sun Jin and is on a corner. It's very modern and when you enter, you don't need a key or card.... just a pin number! When you enter on the right is a bathroom - not quite what us SA's are used to... then I have a kitchenette, a living room area and a few stairs leading to the sleeping area. My closet, desk, chair etc will arrive soon I am told.

I won't lie - I am missing home, especially for the menial things. Language is a definite barrier, and one has to constantly break down simple sentences for mutual understanding.

I'm @ an internet cafe right now which is a few metres from my apartment. After I send a few mails off, I'll head on home, take a shower and get to bed.

Pics to follow shortly.
Love to one and all in South Africa. xxx

...in Singapore

Viola and I have arrived in Singapore and will be boarding for Korea with 45mins. Apart from being so tired, we are trying to soak up the experience as best we can.

As I write this, I'm @ a free internet terminal @ Changi aiport in Singapore. It's just past 06:30..our flight was good (all 11 hours of it) but we were kept entertained with the 100 channels of movies. I watched 2 Bollywood movies (Namaste London & Dhoom 2), a Korean film and Shrek 2. And how lucky was I to catch my current fave song playing (Timbaland's 'the way i r').

Food on the flight was good... we were served lunch...or was that dinner? and a nice breakfast. Since Viola and I were confused out of our minds where we were and what time it was where ever we were flying over, we decided to enjoy our flight according to South African time.

So...we had wine with lunch (which I gulped down during some turbulence) and then had Bailey's just before breakfast. Hmmmm....!! but hey...it was about 11pm SA time, so it's fine, isn't it?!

I had my fair share of drama in Cape Town @ the airport. At the risk of being teased at...let me just say I was overweight in excess baggage (over 10kg)....I had to go and buy another bag to unpack some things in ... but was still over. The lady told me I had to pay over R5 000!!! HELL NO...so I sent some things home with my mum.

Anyways my time is up and Viola and I are going to a coffee shop..

xxx Thanks for all the messages...

I'm still around...

To say this post is long overdue is definitely an understatement.

First of all, since I’ve been back from university, I’m using a slow internet connection so blogging has become a nightmare!

Nevertheless, I hope everyone had a great festive season and that you’re all back into the swing of things…

And now for the really sad news…

My uncle (dad’s younger brother) passed away while he was on holiday in the Philippines with his wife and daughter. He was involved in a freak accident where a motorcycle hit him while he was waiting for a taxi.

My aunt called us at 3am (South African time) to alert us about the accident, but we didn’t know the severity of it. A few hours later we received another call saying that he was being taken off life support. It all seemed to happen so fast, and writing about it now makes it feel like it happened a long time ago.

Meanwhile, here in SA we carried out the necessary prayers (following Hindu custom).

My aunt Aurora and cousin, Trusha arrived back in the country on Saturday, 13 January 2007 with my uncle’s ashes. From the airport we proceeded to the crematorium to bury my uncle’s mortal remains. It was very emotional and heart-wrenching to see the remains of an adult man in a plastic packet which sealed in a black plastic container.

Today (Thursday) my mum and I took my aunt and cousin to my uncle’s workplace to clear his desk and empty his drawers. There’s still so much to be done – lots of admin.

My internet connection seems to be behaving today, so hopefully I can be more regular with my blogging from now on.

Back "home"

After spending a week at home, I am back on campus for the final term of my degree. It's a scary thought, but... I'm ready to kick ass!

I am still alive (and kicking)

Hello everyone! So Tuesday is over...which means, the week is progressing nicely. I'm going home on Saturday (shrills of joy).

I am so pleased that our 24minute group documentary is complete. I am very proud of our team for producing Searching for Existence.

Just briefly, the story is about Second Creek - a rubbish dump in East London which a community of people actually survive on. They literally eat off society's waste (we have footage of this) and they compete with pigs and dogs trying to get food. It was emotional filming these people. At times I felt guilty shoving a camera in their face. But had we not done that, the severity of the situation would not be taken seriously by viewers.

The dumpsite is being moved 60km out of the city, and part of our documentary deals with the (supposed) plans that local government have for this community.

Here are just a few pics of Second Creek for you to get a vague idea of the place I've been talking about.