2. In a nutshell..

3^C

Bright sunshining day.

Pav and Shelly left yesterday; I went to drop them off to the airport and got back around 6pm. It was a good change to have them around; I think I’ve learnt a lot more about myself just by having them back. We had some good times and not so good times, but all in all I think their trip here was heaps of fun all round! Here's a brief rundown for those not on facebook.. over the past three weeks, (during the more blurry/fuzzy times), this is how the Shiv-Steve war begun..

So the story goes..

~ Shelly threw a pillow at Stevo.

~ Stevo thought it was me.

~ Stevo got mad and decided his revenge would be to bite me.

~ Stevo drew blood in 8 different places on my hands.

~ I thought it'd be funny if I gave Stevo a smily (heat up the metal part of a lighter and burn the bugger).

~ Turned out worse than I thought it would.

~ Stevo decides his revenge would be to give me 2 of them in return.

~ He then thinks its still not enough and proceeds to bite the burn.

~ I punch Stevo in the eye.

~ Pav feels left out and gives herself a smily.

~ Shelly remains quiet throughout all of this.

~ To be continued...

Today I’m back at work and I’m bored as! Here’s what my winter vacation timetable is like:

Winter Holiday Timetable 2008-2009.
Paid Vacation: December 20 - January 10. (3 Weeks)
* Winter Camp Prep: January 12 - 16. (1 Week)
Winter Camp: January 19 - 23. (1 Week)
* Nothingness: January 26 - February 6. (2 Weeks)
* Previous Year Summary for Kids: February 9 - 11. (3 Days)
Graduation Day: February 12. (1 Day)
* Nothingness: February 13. (1 Day)
* “Lesson Planning”: February 16 - 27. (2 Weeks)
School Starts: March 2.

So you can tell that most of the time spent is at my desk doing nothing. Each entry with a * next to it means that I’ve been sitting at my desk Facebooking or playing games or watching movies online through that whole period. I get paid for it, but I just can’t understand the logic behind it! What’s the point!?!?! See the dilemma I face here is that every English Program In Korea (EPIK) Teacher has varying levels of freedom. Some I’ve talked to have Dec24-Mar02 where they can do whatever they please but only have to show up for graduation day. Others (like me) have to sit at their desk day in day out and do nothing. Then there’s the majority I’ve spoken to who must come into work but only until midday or only for a couple of hours a day and then go home and do what they like.

Since I’m the first English Teacher at my school, that means everything must be done by the book! Even if I am lucky enough to be granted the opportunity to work from home, I must pledge to stay at home and not step outside for fear of being seen and reported. The real predicament lies here.. if I tell my school that I want to have the days off because so-and-so teacher is doing it, then my school calls so-and-so teachers school and asks if its true. They deny it (because it’s against the rules) and then so-and-so teacher gets reprimanded and loses his freedom.

I’ve decided that it’s just a doom that I’ must bear, well, that is until next year. See my contract runs out officially on the 17th of October 2009, but there are huge incentives to stay until the end of semester (17th February 2010), so all I have to do is say I’m leaving unless I get my days off.. otherwise I wont sit at my desk and do nothing all day for no reason.