At the risk of sounding like I am in some kind of prison, it's three weeks down, 49 to go. I'm settling in and slowly making inroads into the culture and the language. I take my phrasebooks wherever i go and sneakily have a look before approaching a market stall, for example, and speaking only in Korean. I've started to teach myself Han-gul.. it should not take too long.. once I have got the basics, I should be able to build up, in my mind, the various combinations. Then I will able to read sings and, importantly, menus. Translating them is another matter, however. Anyway, the locals appreciate the effort.

I've got my Alien I/D Card now, so have been able to open a Kyongnam Bank account. Nothing in it yet, I haven't been paid yet, but at least my Visa works in the major stores. Still have to buy a laptop/notebook... will look for one today.

Said goodbye to Wyn last weekend and welcomed Garry this week - his direct replacement. I have to be careful what I say - because he is probably reading this right now(!). Originally from Lowestoft, he has been living in Manchester and is a qualified accountant. He recently spent 18 months volunteering in South America, mostly concerning himself with Organic Farming. He also did a bit of English teaching and, quite by accident, has fallen into the idea of teaching English full-time - starting with this job in Changwon. Andrew was a key player in him deciding to come here. He would rather go to the local eateries and bars and generally get immersed in the culture, rather than playing it safe. We will still go to the relative 'safety' of the International Pub tomorrow morning, however for the Rugby World Cup Final, where a few South Africans should be waiting for us....

I continue to have a mixed bag of classes - roughly 10 per day - some keen students, some funny ones and some completely unmotivated to do anything. It appears they are not the 'cream' of intellect, but are the sons and daughters of well-heeled monied types... so a lot have attitude problems. I refuse to hit them, however, as I don't think that solves anything. I am encouraged to chuck them out of class, but the younger ones are very slippery, like eels, and usually manage to swim their way back into the room somehow. I am trying to apply some of the basic rules of teaching (e.g not turning my back on them) but they throw insults to my face, anyway. I just think a lot of the abuse is just to test me... i refuse to bite, not yet anyway. Slowly, I am gaining their trust. For some, however, there is no hope, and I am thinking of refusing to teach some classes because of a total lack of respect. I have got the boss on my side, however and he has his beady eyes on trouble-makers. If they are not in class then they are proabably being grilled in his office about their conduct. So I am playing to my strengths - entertaining and coming up with games (including topical wordsearches) - rather than bowing to the prats.

Still, it's a challenging experience and one that has not disappointed me so far. Will blog again soon! Keep the messages coming in, especially news from England - I know more about what is going on in Pakistan right now than I do in Wells!

Love

Phil