"Ee She She" aka ECC in Korean

Well it is a rainy Saturday morning and I am at ECC waiting for school to start. Yes, school on Saturday. The reason is we have Monday-Thursday off in two weeks for the Chuseok holiday. Chuseok is the Korean version of Thanksgiving. It's a time to celebrate the harvest and family. Many people will most likely travel around Korea and visit with their loved ones. My supervisor's family is coming into town from Canada and he asked if I'd like to join them for all the touristy things around Seoul. I am very excited about that because I still feel like a tourist here! It hasn't sunk in yet that I am actually living here!

As for the rain, it has been raining for 48 hours straight. I enjoy a good thunderstorm now and then. Perhaps falling asleep to the rain and enjoying the pitter-patter on my window. But this is a different type of rain. It's the "someone-is-throwing-rocks-at-my-window-and-I-can't-sleep" rain. Or the "there-is-a-massive-waterfall-outside-my-apartment-and-I-have-to-pee-every-ten-minutes" rain. Not very enjoyable to say the least.

"Ee She She" is just a funny joke with the foreign teachers. Whenever we get into a cab or tell Koreans where we work, we pronounce it as "ee she she." If we say ECC, they have no idea what we are talking about. I've found that the more you imitate them, perhaps even mock their accent, you communicate better with the Koreans. Some people can really surprise you though and speak amazing English. We went to this new restaurant last night and everyone there spoke English very well! They were very excited to have foreigners in their restaurant. Many members of the staff came and talked to us in order to practice their English. They also gave us a bunch of freebies, which is just a perk of being a foreigner in an extremely hospitable country.

I do not have any great stories about new adventures as of now. I have been working 12 hour days all week and getting ready for a very important parents day at ECC. The entire school depends on impressing the parents so my lessons and teaching have taken a backseat in order to prepare for next week Monday and Wednesday. Tonight, we are going into Hongdae which is considered a "college town" of Seoul. I am sure that I will have a story or two to share after tonight! And after the week we've had, us teachers could use a night on the town!