Movin’ on Up…

The first hours of this day were spent packing and lugging a few (not many) boxes from our current office on the 2nd floor of the 2nd Student Union Building to our spankin’ new digs on the 6th floor of the main building. The new offices are decked out with sweet swivel/rocker/roller chairs, and my desk faces the window overlooking the forest and mountains. To make the entire deal even sweeter, there is a wonderful coffee shop on the 2nd floor…which by necessity I’ll need to walk past on my way to the elevator. I think that me and the nice guy that works there are going to become the best of friends.

However, just because the offices are new and beautiful, don’t think that there weren’t a few glitches. As always, the helter-skelter planning that seems to dominate businesses in this nation, helped contribute to some confusion this morning…when it was discovered that the office was short 2 cubicles. Yes, someone forgot to take into account that the number of teachers we have would also require that many desks. The second matter of confusion arose when one of my co-workers said “Hey, this is beautiful! Where are the computers going to be?” At which point one of the people in charge got a terrified look on his face, he glanced around the full room like a cornered rabbit, then rushed out. Yuppers…after ordering new computers and their components to replace some of the old ones we were using, nobody bothered to wonder where they would be set up! Sometimes ya just gotta laugh.

It’s Friday afternoon, the sun is shining, the cherry and magnolia blossoms are starting to bloom, students are sitting around the student union building strumming guitars or practicing their fencing. I’m doing laundry. blah. I’m also contemplating buying a scooter for bombing around campus. One of my co-workers just upgraded to a real motorcycle, so I’m going to take his scooter for a test drive this evening.

I just finished my third Korean lesson with JooYong, and I think I’m improving. I still speak like a turtle with a mouthful of molasses, but at least I’m getting my verbs and object particles in the right places. (most of the time). It’s a good thing he’s patient.

Pottery classes are going well, and I’m going to try and sneak into the art room this weekend to make a few extra pieces. Yes, I’ll do it under the cover of darkeness, and dress entirely in black, with some tree branches stuck to my head to disguise my appearance. Then, instead of asking the office assistant for the key, I’ll try and sqeeze myself through one of the rusty barred windows. Yessir, it’ll be an adventure.

Well, the race is on. Yesterday afternoon I played volleyball with the other foreign teachers. I stank. Today, I had my first Korean lesson with my tutor JooYong. I stank. So…the race is on to see which skill will actually improve this semester ~ My athletic or linguistic ability. ? I’ll keep you posted.