This morning I woke up and did the usual … quick workout, shower, turn on computer and check emails, etc. One email I clicked on, an inspirational, had this to say:

‘When Churchill was asked the secret of his success he answered, “Leverage.” The subsequent question was, “What do you leverage?”

To which he answered, “Four things: My mind, my experience, my time and my money… in that order!”

He went on to say, “Unfortunately most unsuccessful people do just the opposite. They leverage their money, their time, their experience followed by their mind.”

Obviously, to truly utilize your mind your must fully understand your mind.’

Hmm, I have way too much time to think these days! However, I went on search for what the hell leverage really is… I know, I know leverage: when you use a little of something to sway or get something bigger, right?

Well, here’s what dictionary.com had to say:

lev⋅er⋅age
/ˈlɛvərɪdʒ, ˈlivər-/ Show Spelled Pronunciation [lev-er-ij, lee-ver-] Show IPA noun, verb, -aged, -ag⋅ing.
Use leverage in a Sentence
–noun
1.     the action of a lever.
2.     the mechanical advantage or power gained by using a lever.
3.     power or ability to act or to influence people, events, decisions, etc.; sway: Being the only industry in town gave the company considerable leverage in its union negotiations.
4.     the use of a small initial investment, credit, or borrowed funds to gain a very high return in relation to one’s investment, to control a much larger investment, or to reduce one’s own liability for any loss.
–verb (used with object)
5.     to exert power or influence on.
6.     to provide with leverage.
7.     to invest or arrange (invested funds) using leverage.

So now the real question is … how does one leverage their mind, their experince, and time? And if you wondered why I didn’t add money… hahaha, I’m in Asia teaching English!

I think it’s time to complete the morning and get some real coffee.

Lately this blog hasn’t been sounding too happy. To be honest I’m not depressed but I’m certainly dissapointed! This wasn’t how I envisioned my second year in Korea.

And not everything is bad. I met some wonderful people here and outside school life it’s pretty damn good.

Yesterday I had one of the best days in a long time. A bunch of us in the neighbourhood got together for a small bbq… and it was grand! In the park and all afternoon. Laughing. Eating. Meeting new people in my neck of the woods.

This evening I went to central Seoul to help my friend find Korean class … we didn’t make it there in time.  Instead we had coffee and met up with another English teacher for dinner at this tiny Italian restaurant. Afterwards I split up from the little group to get to line 5 and on the way popped into the Body Shop.

Walking through the city at night I remembered this was how I envisioned my second year in Korea. By the time I finally go on the subway and made it home I noticed a few people I had met the previous day and said a quick hi! The girl in the group turned to me and said, “How did a nice girl like you end up here?” All jokes aside, somehow, I’d managed to fall far from the dream. So the only real question now is what does a girl do when life turns out differently than you’d expected?

I’ve heard it recently that today is only a result of what you were focused on yesterday. The only way to change life is to start with the now… change now and the future will change as well.

During the weeks I’m constantly going so lately I’ve been keeping it mellow on the weekends. This weekend was no exception! It’s the end of Saturday and after skyping the folks, to let them know I’m still alive and Seoul hasn’t been nuked by the North Koreans yet, I met up with a friend and went to Costco.

Costco is great and yes … I’m over Korean food for the most part … I believe I’m well enough justified, I’ve been cooking since I was a kid! I almost even entered the culinary arts, but that’s a completely different story.

Well, let’s just say that Costco in Korea although typically “Costco-like” you will be rudely awaken to the fact that you’re still in Korea. When you’re moving along through the isles with your Costco cart and someone rams into you with their wide-arsed Costco cart or tries squeeze themselves and their carts in front of you. OR, and yes I have literally had someone do this to me, keep walking into you with their cart… the illusion is broken and yes you’re still in Korea!  But never-the-less it’s Costco and being able to get certain things that are familiar so it’s always worth the venture.

The other odd thing about this trip to Costco was after continually seeing this other two foreigners I finally said something to them at the frozen food section. You see they were debating whether or not to get the frozen tortilla shells. For the most part if I make eye contact with anyone I tend to smile. These two strangers looked awkward and uncomfortable … hmm, I never got this reaction as a child! Some how in adulthood we become shocked and aloof at any communication outside of our own nucleus… why is that?

After Costco I decided to skip the subway and take a cab instead. What should have been less than a 15 minute cab ride turned out to be over 45 minutes. Even though the cab driver had used his handy dandy little navigation gremlin thing we managed to get onto the freeway and found ourselves in Incheon! And no it wasn’t my lack of clear directions or the fact that I showed him the exact subway station which was all written in Korean!

As the meter ran up to ₩30,000 we were finally heading in the right direction! Finally at the traffic light the driver turns to me and says “oh, so solly!” and I kinda smiled and looked over at the meter. He says “oh no no! man won, man won!” Which is ₩10,000 which is roughly what the cost of my ride should have been.

The poor man then tries to explain this is his 30th day on the job and he’s very embarrassed. I reassured him that it was ok… and frankly although slightly inconvenient it wasn’t the end of the world! My frozen foods were still pretty solidly frozen.

The nice thing about the whole experience was that I’d been shown the scenic route and part of the countryside … it’s very easy to forget how nice Spring is in Korea when all you see is concrete! My first year in Korea I lived in Incheon and often went out to Kanghwa-do (Kanghwa Island) to my friend and her hubby’s tea house. The drive reminded me how much I missed those weekends in Kanghwa-do!

It’s so easy to get stuck in the daily grind never venturing past the concrete jungle and under ground labyrinths of subway terminals and catacombs to the world that exists above ground.

It’s the end of May and I’m a quarter of the way through and already with over half my classes I have reached the “oh well whatever” phase.

Please, don’t get me wrong… it’s not the students or their poor lack of understanding or even the fact that they have no interest what-so-ever to learn a  language which is already so different from their own. No, that’s not the problem …in fact, that’s more like a challenge. The kind that makes me want to get up every morning and to see their smiling faces. I love challenges, what I abhor is conflict due to lack of communication or better yet the ridged closed mindedness that I face almost every time I come to teach.

Mind you, it’s not the students I get that from – it’s the co-teachers. Mind you, it’s not all of them just the two out of three. SO yes, I have decided to not give a crap… I shall be that “English speaking robot” just tell me what to say and when I should say it. But for heaven sakes don’t expect me to be happy or stay awake as your suffocate the life out of my mother tongue. And as far as planning goes… er, I have better things to do and dying of stomach cancer pushing to make everything rosy is not in the cards for me, thanks!

And yes, I have been there … the whole learning how to be a teacher! But you must understand teaching children is different than standing in a lecture hall and being monotonously boring, or even droning on from a pulpit! And yes, I did just go there! These are kids, dammit, not machines.

Last night all the teachers for Seoul English Education Center in Gapyeong were gathered for a meeting. We were told that some of the teachers hired for SEEC would not be going there.

I was pretty devistated to the news since I was one of the teachers  who had been axed from the list. Within a mere 15 minutes of hearing the news were asked if we were okay with the situation.

Hmmm, let’s see… you drop a bomb on me and I’m suppose to just sit here and take it like a good little girl!?!? Well, not only do I lose out on the extra 300,000 won per month but all the months of research, planning and connecting with people.

To add insult to injury we were told as a group that  if we weren’t happy about the decision and didn’t accept what happened there is the door … leave! Not really much of a choice if you ask me. But I do find it interesting that heaven help you if you dare break your contract; however, things can always change in a matter of seconds on the employers side and oh well!

Welcome to Korea… sparkling!

I’m trying to look at the positive aspects of this whole mess and hope I don’t regret the decision I made to return to Korea.

So after landing here in the Land of the Morning Calm and passing through customs I finally made it to the meeting place. On the way I had a nice surprise and bumped into an old co-worker!

We waited for about an hour or so till the buses arrived to take us to the compound. Good time to check my email and facebook!!

It seemed like the ride would last forever but we finally made it to the Hyundai Learning Center… aka the compound. Where I will room with two other girls.

So after sitting here biting my nails for over a week I finally phoned the TEFL course people. I’m leaving soon so I need to see if they’d mailed my certificate. Once you’ve completed the course you get an emailed PDF version of the certificate and a letter of recommendation. BUT I need the original certificate if I want anyone to consider it.

On the phone and after being put on hold I finally get the person in charge “Yes, Ms… we have mailed you the certificate on the 10th… it usually takes 4 to 6 weeks to arrive”
“Ur, great!” (silently saying OH $H!T… I leave in less than 10 dayz!!!!!!!!)

Don’t you just love it? I find in so many things I need to know the answer before I can ask the question! But if I knew the answer why would I need to ask the question… no, wait I wouldn’t! Therefore, go around and ask usless questions praying one of them is right til you find the right answer

Now if only I had known this wonderful piece of information sooner – I’d gladly paid extra to get it FedExd asap!?! Now it looks like I’m gonna have to get someone responsible FedEx it to me in Korea… Yay-NOT!

On a different note – I’ve got my eticket and through the magic of email and facebook have now met a few of my new co-workers … two of which I’ll be on the same flight with. Now all that’s left to do is all that last minute crap & pack.

Who knew a few weeks could take so long!!
It’s Sunday morning and although I have miles of things to do this countdown seems to be in slow mo.

Only 12 more days though.

After that I will land in Korea and taken to the Hyundai center  for a week of S.M.O.E orientation. From there all the teachers will be sent off to their various schools while my group will head off to SEEC for another 2 weeks of orientation… WOW that’s a lot of orientation compared to the one day that I had at my previous school! Well, it should be a lot of fun and hopefully a good time to make new friends

Speaking of waiting I am still waiting for my TEFL certificate to arrive. They sent me a pdf copy but I will need my original certificate for Korea. I hope that arrives soon.

I woke up this morning not expecting too much until I saw my inbox…

Inside, a nice little notice saying that I’ve achieved  98% in my TEFL course… that’s a distinction grade and just in time!

Hmmm so now it’s time to eat!!! It’s time to get out to as many places I won’t get to see for awhile… a long while.

Mexican, Italian, Greek, Thai, Indian, and anything else I can get with in the next few days. Hmm getting hungry right now…

The clock is ticking … 26 days in total, 18 business days, 7 weekend!

So yeah, not a lot of time!!!!

It’s not easy to condense your life into 2 suitcases… especially when you need to take so much stuff with you.

I’m not a ginormous girl but compared to Asian girls… yikes!! Last time I was able to “put” clothes on but they didn’t quite fit right – girls if you have a figure with more shape than a pencil, you’ll know what I mean.

Thankfully for sites like Sierra Trading Post, Lands End, and Victoria’s Secret I have some new found friends. The hard part is dealing with the stuff you do have… oh and shoes!