Not dead, just away from the computer

My last post was June 2. Seems like ages ago. Of course, that was right before the Mighty Summer Workload hit. Mid-June was final exams and grading, which was promptly followed by the summer intensive program for uni students, known as PassE. It's a four-week program where about 90 students stay at the dorm, only going home Saturday night, and spending about 6 to 8 hours in the classroom a day. That meant yours truly was at Yongdang Campus from 9am till 5ish Mon. through Fri., subsequently meaning I was knackered for that entire four weeks. Several Saturdays were spent mainly sleeping.

After PassE finished, I taught two weeks at the English Kids' Camp. Only four hours a day but wow it sure did remind me how I'm no longer so keen on teaching children. Actually the majority of the kids were really lovely. I had to teach a lot of classes under the auspices of 'Music and Chant'. That meant a whole lot of nursery rhymes but also I taught them 'Yellow Submarine' - what a great song for kids!

On top of all that, for the past few weeks major renovations have been going on in the Foreign Teacher's Residence. Granted a lot of the work was past due but what a mess cramming all the work into two weeks.


First off, I came home one day to the set of E.T. This is the hallway of the fourth floor. The fumes were AWFUL. In typical fashion we were not notified that this grand event was taking place so two days in a row I awoke to the toxic smell of paint. Fortunately the Starbucks down the street opens early so I filled my backpack with books and headed there for the duration.


After the paint job all apartments had the floors and wallpapering redone (the floors here are covered in this strange 'paper', often patterned to resemble hardwood; it's similar to vinyl flooring but somehow different). That required a great deal of effort on my part since I had to 'put away' all my (loads and loads) of stuff so the workers could easily access the floor and walls. After that excitement, over the next few days we recieved a new microwave, TV, and washing machine. Here's the old ones sitting out to rest:

Here are the new washings machine waiting to be installed. I must say they are a VAST improvement over the old ones. The new one is so big and deep I have to stand on my tippy toes to reach stuff at the bottom. Happy days!

I thought the washing machine was the end of it, but no, there's more! We also got new air conditioning units and a new hood over the stove. Phew!! Finally I can put my apartment back together now that the streams of workers are done stomping through my apartment.