Hello Everybody!

Hey guys! Another little update on how my life is going here in South Korea! The apartment is going great as usual with no problems whatsoever! Tomorrow classes really begin for me as the introductions are now over with the students. I have a lot of different games and activities for the the boys to do and I think they well really enjoy English the way I teach it! Last night I went out for the first time in Seoul. Life's pretty weird as I found out one of my UofT classmates has been in South Korea for 6 months! Turns out there are 2 other UofTers out here too! It's really nice to see familiar faces in a strange land. It took me about a 40 minute busride to get into the city. Reminds me of my trek from Scarborough to Downtown Toronto. It is nightime and the streets are lit up by neon signs lining every building. Each building is multiple storeys high with a number of different shops, stores, and bars all residing. It is quite a sight! I meet up with my friend and I go to my first bar in South Korea! She treats me to my first Korean beer - Cass. Instead of the cap there is a mini Korean hat folded from a napkin which I find quite funny. The place is very classy and Beyonce is blaring from the speakers. Next song - Dancing Queen, hilarious! After the drink we go to the party. It is held at a dance studio on the 5th floor of a nerby building. When you step off the elevator there is a beautiful path that leads up to the wall in the picture, "Life is great when you dance!" This makes me laugh out loud! Following custom, shoes are removed. There are about 8 other English speaking teachers at the party. It is very nice meeting these people and hearing their stories. The studio is large, clean and music from every one's Ipod - including mine of course, makes it a wonderful introduction to the nightlife in Seoul. The party moves from the dance studio to some one's apartment. It is a beautiful loft apartment and we sit around talking and enjoying company. Before I know it, it's 3:30am! Time to go! I jump in a cab and take my first cabride in the city! Seatbelts are a must as it seems redlights are only a suggestion! I make it home safely and after catching some friends on skype I got to bed. In other news, classes last week were really easy. One of the boys sang "So Sick" the Ne-yo track! He was really good - and even though the pronunciation was a little off the melody was there! I was really surprised as most of the kids are really shy. By feeling out the classes I can already see that some of the boys are more talkative. It's really cool to be thrown into the classroom like this as the experience is irreplaceable. There is a huge mountain behind my school, another teacher and I climbed this mountain during some spare time - took us an hour and a half! Thursday evening a different Korean teacher brought me to a traditional Korean martial arts class. This martial art is called Taekkyeon. It is much older than Tae Kwon Do and is less popular. The fighting style stems from movements in the knees and matches are only won by a kick above the neck or a takedown. There are no arm strikes. I found learning only the basic moves to be difficult and am very impressed by the others in the class. Some of them students of mine. Well, hope you've enjoyed this little update - I will be sure to take a lot more pictures this week and will post them in my next update. Stay classy Toronto, I'll be home in 50 weeks!

Jason Singh.