Rule number one

I am exhausted.

I have just finished my first week at an english camp for kids here in south korea.

And may I add that my respect for elementary school teachers has rocketed exponentially in the past few days.
Really, next to nurses they should be sainted.

Where does the energy come from?

During the course of the past week, I have been able to improve my shouting skills, my having-my-head-jumped-on-by-a-kid-in-a-swimming-pool skills and also my wider shouting skills.

It has also been possible for me to accrue some parental wisdom that I am willing to pass off freely to any prospective parents.
Rule number one: Never give a kid candy at 9 o'clock at night.
Never do this.
This rule is also good for coffee, coca-cola and all sugar related products.

Korean kids are extremely cute, though.
I have been working with three or four other westernised teachers throughout the course of the week, sharing around 15 kids.
Since the camp is an English speaking only camp, my coworkers and myself have devised a cunning plan in order to stop the children from using korean.
Once the culprit has been apprehended he or she is immediately required to perform pushups in public.

So far this plan had met with mixed success.
I will keep you up to date with all alterations to our current punishment regime.
Sort of a kids punishment sub blog.

With the advent of sunlight behind the murky outgoing rainy season, Seoul appears to become more and more beautiful everyday, not least within the gracious hospitality exhibited by my korean hosts.
It seems as though everybody here is eager for me to enjoy a pleasant experience of their native land.
I have had interesting conversations with strangers in kimchi type bars - koreans appear flustered and flattered at my eagerness to assimilate korean culture - a characteristic I tend to find endearing.

I will try to post more pictures.