One Month!

It's been almost one month since I've been in Korea, and it has FLOWN by! I am having a really great time. So, let's see... Last weekend I went out to eat and drink with co-workers on Friday, and Saturday I went to go see cherry blossoms at Yeouido Park in Seoul with my roommate from training, Vy and some of her friends.

When we first got there we were kind of disappointed, the park seemed pretty lackluster even though the cherry blossoms surrounding the place were nice.

 

Buuuut then we realized we weren't in the right park. Or the right section, anyway. The real Yeouido was much nicer.

I think this guy may have invented Hangul-

Either that, or he just liked to read a lot.

So yeah. This week was good. I took some shifts and so I didn't have that many of my classes canceled. This week we're starting some of our test prep for the placement exams at my school and next week we have the real deal so should be an interesting couple of weeks. Then we have just a few more weeks left in the term and that is it! I'm hoping to do some sort of pen-palish type thing with some of my kids and my sister-in-law's 7th graders in the US before the term ends, if I can. We shall seeee.

Oh. And this weekend I went out to the foreigner bar in Suji and then on Saturday I went bowling, and out and about clubbing with some people in Seoul. It was very interesting and I didn't get home until 9:30 a.m.! I also got a glimpse of Itaewon, the foreigner neighborhood in Seoul. It was very... crazy. Haha. There were people of all different races all over the place which was a site to see because I'm so used to seeing Koreans all the time. There's great Ethiopian and Indian food places and such so I may go and check those out at some point.

So. Just woke up at about 3 p.m. and it is a beautiful day so I feel like a bit of a bum. Will probably go out and take a walk or something or play basketball. We have this court near my apartment where people play so that's fun. Some Koreans are really good at b-ball but their ball is smaller so I'm trying to get adjusted. It's great exercise and good release so I'm hoping to do more of that. OK I've written a lot! Bye.

Where is Spring?

OK, Korea. I think it's about time for spring to come. Thank you.

The running joke here is when we ask when spring is coming we are met with the response, "next week". Well, next week has come and gone and still no spring! We got a glimpse last week, but it was just a tease. Oh weather, why are you such a temptress?

It snowed yesterday. Yes people, IT SNOWED.


So while you're all complaining about your sunburns and sweatiness, I will be reaching back into the back of my closet to fish out my winter coat.

W-T-F.

Oh well.

Yesterday, I got frustrated at my class. I'm very patient with kids so I didn't really see this happening, but I did! I got so annoyed because I had to keep repeating the same crap over and over because it was a class of 17 (larger than average) and everyone kept talking! So I had to get mean! I think this is serious payback for all of the times that I didn't listen when teachers talked to me. Karma is a funny thing.

I usually am patient though and I think it works because when a teacher is constantly pissed no one wants to listen to them, but if I occasionally get pissed I think it works otherwise people will think I'm a pushover haha. I felt kinda bad that I got annoyed so I basically just tried to make them all feel bad by saying how it was really unfair to the students who were trying to learn (which is true). I think it worked.  All in all, I really do like teaching ! I couldn't do it for a lifetime, but I think I'm okay doing it for a year. There can't ever be a dull/boring day because you're dealing with kids. And they really do crack me up. I also really like when people need my help, as weird as that sounds. I think that's why I enjoyed being an RA.

My classroom:

The majority of that random writing you see on the wall are dedications to various KPop bands haha. I should learn more Kpop stuff, Gina says, to try to tie in with lesson examples. So far I know Shinee and a few girl groups, but not too much about Big Bang.

As an aside, some of my classes are going to be cancelled next week because middle-schoolers are going to have their big exam. :(:( Wah. Going to lose a decent amount of $$ poo.

Hello!

HI.

After a long week of classes, I went out on Friday and grabbed some food with coworkers... Then, Saturday I went into Seoul's shopping district, Myeong Dong for the day with my coworker, Josh. It was really great! I love being in Seoul and I love how fashionable everyone is. Most people have similar fashion sense, but usually pull it off in a way that is still uniquely their own. It's hard to explain, but it's awesome. I'm really glad I left a lot of clothes home and wish that I didn't bring as much stuff because I really like the clothes here. If I could classify it according to American styles, I guess I would say people dress kind of "hipster"-ish here haha but not as absurd as (LATFH) or something.

Soho:

Yeah. I was looking for a good picture from Seoul but essentially, hipster but matching colors and not nearly as absurd. 

Here's a pic I took of Myeong Dong. Craziness.

Then, we ate at this place and I had chicken for the first time in six years but it was delicious.

And then we saw people holding a candle light vigil for the South Korean ship that North Korea may/may not have/likely shot down a month ago.

Ah, so that was that. We went back to Suji and then went out to this bar then sang karaoke until about 3 a.m. haha. Sunday, I went for a run on this big path they have near my apartment (really nice!) and cleaned. Apartment is nearly 100% clean now! Just need to start putting up some decorations now. yay! Off to go get some coffee. The milk I purchased to put in mine is unsweetened soy milk and it's really quite bad. The wonderful thing about not being able to really read labels always makes food shopping exciting haha. BYE

In Korea...

In Korea do not be surprised by the:

Toilets
OK so the toilet in my hotel was complex and it took us more time than it should have to figure out how to flush. There were about 20 different buttons and one labeled "for female only." Luckily, most other toilets I have encountered have been far simpler. However, some of the toilets in public places have seat warmers which is AWESOME. The one thing I am still getting used to though is the fact that you are not supposed to flush the toilet paper because the plumbing can't handle it.

Showers
In your bathroom via shower head. No separate stall or tub.

Heated Floors
Self-explanatory.

Technology
Technology! So basically in Korea they have the same technology that we have in the US (and some things that we don't, such as better cell phones) but they incorporate the technology in their everyday lives while in the US this would be just a luxury or something. Everything is so much more efficient here. Car garages in our building run without an operator (I'm pretty sure there are car garages like this in the US? Just not common?). You just type in the code and your car comes out haha. Like a car vending machine! Also, these garages are inside of regular buildings, not inside of some separate structure. In the giant Lotte mart there are escalators that take you floor to floor which do not have steps so you can bring carts up. Giant screens everywhere, everyone has cell phones, all of the lamps are pretty much touch or motion censored. It's great.

The Buildings
Some of the buildings here make me think I have been dropped off on another planet because some are just super-modern. Also, a lot of the buildings are the same and they have giant NUMBERS on the building itself. Very smart!

Bromance
It's not abnormal for guys to tease each other affectionately. It's cute.

LG
Who owns everything

The Announcer
Every day there is a man or woman who announces stuff on a loudspeaker in monotonous Korean. It sounds kind of creepy but I think they are just trying to sell stuff.

I'll put up some pics of this stuff later.

Teaching!

The words "teacher teacher" are actually ringing in my head in my quiet room right now hahah. WOW. I guess because kids have been beckoning me with this expression alllll day! SO today was my second day of teaching! It has been an experience so far to say the least. Definitely something that gets easier with practice. Kids aren't that much different from America in that they like to goof around and sometimes it's hard to get them to pay attention, but most of the kids in the classes are very motivated. Grade-motivated primarily, which is kinda sad with the little ones I have in my one class because it makes you think how much time they spend in school and how they probably don't have much time to play or be a kid... They're SO bright though and seem to really love learning, so at least that's a plus.

Some kids, like the ones I had tonight, are typical middle-schoolers and do not want to do anything haha. It was really hard to get them to talk, especially after having younger students all day who are so enthusiastic. It's a big shift.

I'm not teaching the highest level, Albatross, which I was trained in though because someone had already filled that spot about a month ago and so I'm just replacing the substitute. Now, I'm teaching essentially teaching a bunch of different intermediate/high intermediate classes. Woo.

So aside from teaching, life in Korea is good too. Few things to get adjusted to, which I'll talk about tomorrow. Really wish I had that USB or memory card reader. Doesn't feel like blogging without. :[

I've gotta hit the hay now !

Mold update: I can finally BREATH in my apartment and it is amazing. Not finished with the kitchen yet though, but at least I can close the door for now haha.

Finally!

Finally, I have time to update! I have so much to say so maybe I should break it into a few parts.

So, finished training. Definitely take back everything I said before about training not being intense. It was. They were just breaking us in that first day. Essentially, my fellow trainees and I didn't sleep for four days. Luckily, it's over now though!

After training I was taken to my school in Suji, about 20 minutes outside of Seoul, to meet the branch managers and my head instructor, Lisa. The managers seem nice and my head instructor is awesome. Essentially the head instructor acts as a middleman between the instructors and the managers and helps us get adjusted to things here. Lisa's really nice, she's 22 and from the US but her parents are Korean so she is fluent and what not. So after meeting all of them, one of the managers dropped me off at my apartment. The place wasn't cleaned like it was supposed to be so Paul (asst. manager) ran around with a tiny broom and dust rag trying to clean. It was cute. He also bought me a blanket and pillow :).

That night Lisa met me at my apartment and we all went out for a goodbye dinner for one of the instructors at this restaurant. I was at the table with Lisa, the managers and the Korean staff so it was really interesting. They were all impressed that I could speak a little Korean and handle soju though so thank you Gina Ahn. Haha. After eating, we went to KARAOKE :D which was fun. I met my coworkers who all seem pretty cool, and most of them live near me in the same complex so that's a plus. The apartments are nice for the most part, and the neighborhood is really quiet.

The next morning I had to do more training with Lisa because I was trained in a course that I'm not even going to be teaching so yah, a tad annoying but whatever. And then we went to an enormous Korean market, Lotte Mart to get cleaning supplies. Imagine Target on crack. People everywhere trying to sell you stuff, carts scattered around, bumping into one another haha. LOTS AND LOTS OF STUFF. I actually have to go back there in a bit to get more cleaning supplies and food.

And on to the next challenge/adventure... which is... CLEANING MY APARTMENT.

Definitely didn't think this would be the greatest challenge when coming to Suji, but it is. I'm determined to rid this place of it, though! I can't really breath otherwise so that's definitely a motivating force, but I'm also really excited to just make my apartment my new home and it's kind of hard to do that when I am suffocating from dust/mold. I spent the greater part of last night cleaning the main room, which is almost 100% clean now, cleaning dust and stuff out of the windows. Almost dropped my screen two stories down but luckily caught it in time and avoided manslaughter.


Once my apartment is clean and I get a USB for my camera, I'll put up some pics.!