Back almost a month, a Great British review

Well, Ive been home nearly a month now and having no money in the UK really does suck balls. Even though Im back at work, I really did forget quite how expensive this country is; just visiting a pub seems to cost money these days, and a few tame nights out cost me the spare £100 or so I had in no time.

I had a job, then I didnt, then I did, then I didnt again.... now for the first 10 days or so, when I thought I had a job, I actually wasnt working, so once again Im going to be a little fudged for money for a little while, but hopefully, one day, Ill actually be sorted!
I've started work of my story of my time at Wonderland but given the current work and living situation (Im back at my old mans) Ive had less free time than I might otherwise have, and the time I have had has been frittered away catching up and trying to sort my stuff out. I've come back to an even smaller space than I had in Korea, and I actually have more stuff to boot! Check out Fuck Wonderland or Wonderland Sucks at some point soon for my full lowdown.

People keep asking me "is it good to be back?", half expecting me to be all enthusiastic and reaffirm that the UK is "the best place in the world" but in all honesty, Im not all that enthused. The UK is still the shithole I left 6 months ago, with the same ridiculous tax levels, scroatish general public and its endless grey skys; the only change is people seem "distracted" by the Polish immigrants now (note to the lazy, or the job insecure - if someone can do your job as well as you and is willing to do it for less money thats called healthy competition. Rather than looking at the people that are coming here to do the manual labour jobs most people on this cesspool island think theyre too good to do, look at those benefit cheats, tax dodgers and other leaches that are draining our resources and start pointing the finger at them.... who knows, we might be able to reduce our National Insurance contributions if we do!).

You see, living in another country you learn that this is not the only place in the world that one can make a living, and those manual labour jobs, you know... the ones that anyone can do if theyre not a fat, boneidle bastard, can be done by anyone! So the rhetoric of British jobs for British people doesn't wash with this guy, hence coming back to get back into my career, at that which I went to University to learn (and had to support and pay for myself thanks to that C U Next Tuesday Tony Blair).

In any case, there are a few things I miss about Korea, my good buddy Mike being the main one, but there were a lot of little things about being there that I really did like...hence the picture! I have no urge to go to the gym here because I'm surrounded by fatter, uglier (IMO) people.. I still want to go to the gym (given my current financial debacle its a way off yet), but I'm not driven to like I was in Korea. I miss skirts, shorts and knee high socks, even if its nearly freezing out. I miss being 20 seconds from a shop thats open 24 hours a day, 30 seconds from a cheap place to eat and 45 seconds from the norebang (Singstar just isnt the same... ). I miss having all my wages after tax. I miss Yong San. I miss having a disposable income. I miss cheap booze, even in a pub (Rich & Hayley : Its £2.25 a pint in my local now!). I miss being able to ignore the adverts on TV. I miss a fast, unmetered internet connection. I miss skirts, shorts and knee high socks.

But I would never actually go back to Korea (not that I can on anything other than a tourist visa now). It had its bad points too but I still can't help feeling its good points are available somewhere else in the world. I just need to get off Treasure Island, the tax is just unbearable! I'm going to get my skillbase up in my field and then I'm going to be hunting again, aren't I... I think Japan or Hong Kong has a sock fetish too!

All we can do is laugh

Sometimes you just have to blog these things as a reminder of the shite we have to put up with as teachers in a hogwon in Korea... there has been so many of them that I havent that in the dying period I have left I probably should get as many down on the virtual paper as possible. Today, thus far, has been one of them!

We had to be at the school for 9:15 for a mystery schedule change that we hadnt been informed of until leaving on the Friday, so it put a downer on the day. We all arrive to find we now have 2 block sessions in the morning for 80 minutes before lunch with the same class which is just hell. I had Berkeley first, the UC "HELL" A, a class that in my 6 months tenure as teacher, I havent taught once. To add insult to injury, the "lesson plan" is vague at best, so as soon as we find this out we're trying to form plans of action.

But before we can even get to the photocopier, the moody bitch tells us that we have to go down to greet the children as the get off the shuttle bus. Theres 6 teachers greeting 4 buses, plus the teachers/assistants as they get off the bus. Common sense isn't a Korean strong point. Its another dogs dinner of a decision, and more of the bull shit we didnt sign up for.

In any case, Berkeley were great and UCLA were a nightmare.. that class must die in a fire. I started to make a wildlife scene with Berkeley which was fun, and spent 80 minutes beating kids with my stick in UCLA. Then lunch, then the next piece of crap, another mystery art lesson...

I have 8 kids in Cornell and I was told that each one of them had a seperate art project to do in 40 minutes. What a crock of shit.. this "art" lesson includes finger paints, craft paper, scissors etc in a random amount for each child, and I have to help each one of them do something completely different! Oh the joys!! At least I had the oldest children, poor Hayley and Michael had 11 kids each in younger classes!

It was a painfully slow 40 minutes, and now, at 1:40pm I have my first break of the day.. lunch doesnt count as I have to work through that too. Stupid Wonderland...

A painfully tepid week...

This week has been one almighty suckfest... its just crawled throughout and I have nothing interesting to report other than being bored out of my skull. My only saving grace is the thoughts of getting drunk tonight and playing some NHL07 with Mike, as otherwise its been pretty mindnumbing.

I seem to have aquired more frees than usual this week, that or time has been slowing down in the ones Ive had as Im quite literally bored of surfing the net. I find myself perusing the same sites over and over in the bleak hope for something interest but to no avail; Im surfing for surfings sake, and I cant really do anything "constructive" on this machine to kill time. I should really start bringing my PSP to kill time...

In any case, Im glad my time teaching is coming to a close... Ive given it a go and you know what, I hate it! I can hear the "I told you so"s now but to be honest I really am not bothered in the slightest. I had to give it a go, if anything just to say Ive done it rather than just dismissing it as "I could never do that" or alike. Some people take a year or so out after graduation seeing the world... Ive spent 2 years clearing my head of the coulda-should-wouldas and now I can look forward to the start of my career.

Whether thats a future in the UK is yet to be seen... it most certainly is for a brief spell at least, but the pursuit of my career is now my number one priority when I get back. Ive been "out of the game (s industry)" for a while now but after some intensive personal training I think Ill be ready to punch above my graduate weight again... I may have even learnt a few new tricks in the process!

I have a few things to chase up on the job front when I get back, and hopefully will have enough money to keep my head above water until I find a "decent" job. Sitting on my arse all day coding has never seemed so appealing until now!!

Im looking forward to seeing friends and family on the 14th or thereafter and will be in the pub before you know it!