Saturday 27 February 2010

Garry, Garry, where for art thou Garry?

Well, after a 3 hour bus journey to Gumi during which I was really ill and had to get medicine from a doctor, we were introduced to our co-teachers. Off Garry went with his co-teacher and off I went with mine with no form of communication between us. My co-teacher is called Jenny (they often have an English name for ease of pronunciation) and she seems really nice. if not a bit on the eager front. She collected me in Gumi and drove me the 2 hours to Pohang all the while chatting in very broken English. During the drive it became apparent that they had not yet found me an apartment but she said I could stay in the Principal’s (empty) apartment until next week. No worries I thought, however, when we arrived at the school it was soon discovered that a female teacher was living in the apartment but they decide I could stay with her - YAY for me. The teacher was exceptionally kind, she spoke very little English but made me feel at home with a Korean ondol (floor bed made of blankets) and I was in bed by 9pm clutching my UK mobile wondering where in the world Garry was.

In the morning the teacher had made a huge breakfast (eggs, cheese slices, toast, sweet potato, and of course kimchi) which was very kind and we chatted in some English using a lot of miming. She let me use her computer and I sent out an SOS for Garry. Luckily, his co-teacher HaeSoon had contacted my school and phoned the teacher I was staying with to arrange to meet up. Little did I know that Garry had been put up in a fancy hotel on the beachfront!

That day was spent getting Garry’s apartment and his furniture all arrived in a flurry - bed, TV and unit, chair, fridge/freezer, washing machine - things happen quickly in SoKo! I also attended a doctor as I still felt a sick and dizzy and HaeSoon took me to her local surgery. It became a bit awkward when the Doctor asked if I had ‘morning sickness’ and HaeSoon did not know what to say! I was handed lots of little sachets of pills (at least 5 pills in each pocket) as well as some drink sachets to be taken 3 times a day for 4 days. If only Sheils knew, I had no idea what I was taking but it seemed to work and within a few days I felt a bit better.

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