Life as an English Teacher - Day 1.5

I have a prep period from 2:10-4:00 pm on Tuesdays and Thursdays for the month of September. Since I haven't quite been clued in on all my responsibilities yet, I figure this is probably a pretty good time to catch you up on life as an English teacher in Korea.

My school is about a mile, or 20 minute walk, from my apartment. I walked with Dustin, another teacher, yesterday just to make sure I knew where I was going. But, today, I made it all by myself! Hooray! haha. Here are some pictures of my school:

The outside of my classroom, the inside, and the teachers' room.

My day beings at 9:00 am when we are required to be at work. The kinders show up at 9:30 am, so I have about a half an hour to get my stuff together and organized before the kids show up. Kindergarten lasts from 9:30am - 2:10pm, with a 50 minute lunch that I get to myself. My class consists of three little girls whose English names are Grace, Jasmine, and Sue. Aren't they precious?
Grace, Jasmine, and Sue, respectively. (They are so fancy.)


We have 5 - 40 minute classes a day, with a 10 minute break in between each one. Every day begins with "sharing time" when we talk about the date, the weather, the night before, etc. The rest of the classes include phonics, reading, math, music, art, and writing. Jasmine and Grace are pretty easy to teach, but Sue's a little behind so I think I'm going to struggle to keep them all on the same page.

After, I have an elementary class from 2:30-4:00, and a class from 4:00-5:30. On M-W-F, my 2:30-4:00 class is pretty low level Engligh with only 3 kids in it, as well. My next class, though, (and my T-Th 4:00-5:30) is more advanced and I think I'm going to have a lot of fun with them. There are 5 students in that class on M-W-F, and only 2 on T-Th.

Our lunch is cooked by Susan everyday. This mean I get traditional Korean cuisine for lunch everyday! Today was bul go gi, which is beef grilled with peppers, spinach, and onions. It was delicious. There was kim chi, rice, and a crab salad for the sides.

Last night, Irene, my direct supervisor, took Dustin, Liz and I out for sam dak san (spelling?) in Jukjeon (the next neighborhood over). Sam dak san is pork with garlic, kim chi, and sprouts, cooked on a platter in front of you much like the dak galbi I told you about earlier. Side dishes included cold kim chi, a shredded caggage salad, and many sauces to season the meat with. Irene also ordered spicy cold noodles which were delicious, but by the time they came I was stuffed!

Like I told you, by the time I got home, I was exhausted! I'll keep you posted of any funny things that happen at school this week or any more tasty meals!

Life as a teacher - Day one (coming soon)!

GREAT FIRST DAY!
Soooooo worn out though...
Must go to sleep...

I took lots of pictures, though, and will you fill you in on all the glorious details of my first day as a teacher tomorrow night! Sorry!

First weekend in Seoul!

Liz, a fellow teacher, and I started our day about noon with a half hour run/walk at a local park. I completed a half marathon in April, and have maybe run five times since then, so I'm trying to get back in the groove. We started this "walk to run" program that my friend Sheila graciously showed to me a couple years ago. Its 10 weeks long and is a slow progression between intervals of walking and running. We started at week 3, so we only have 7 weeks total. We're looking into finding a 5K in Seoul to celebrate the victory of completion! I'll add a picture of the park after I get one today.

Then, we seperated to shower and met outside my apartment. While I waited for Liz to meet me, I took a few shots of the outside of my apartment. Here's the entrance to my place:

And this is what I see when I am walking out:

We walked to the busstop and road the bus to Suji (an area south of Seoul), where our friend Christina (and new friend Erin - from Cincinnati!) lives. Liz and I were starving so we swung into McDonald's (I know, gross) for a quick snack then the four of us hopped a bus to Insadong, which is a neighborhood (dong) in downtown Seoul just north of the Han River. We went to eat at Pho Mein and ordered some chicken with peppers, and a big bowl of noodles and split them. After dinner, we perused the streets for shops. We ended up at a store called IsWas, a store that was two floors of TCHOTCHKES! This one is for you, Swieters:

Though I've never been, downtown Seoul reminded me of what I envision New York City to be like. We walked around a bit in Insadong, then boarded the subway to Hongdae.

Hongdae is an abbreviation for Hongik Daehakgyo (Hongik University). It is an area in northwest Seoul that is known for its nightlife. Here are some photos:

Then, we all got sleepy and found our way home. It took about 1.5 hours to get home since we were on the direct opposite part of the city. It was fun to get out see Seoul. I'm starting to learn my way around - slowly but surely... Happy Sunday!

Lessons in dak galbi

"If you reject the food, ignore the customs, fear the religion and avoid the people, you might better stay at home." - James Michener

I started my day off today doing just that. I woke up (ungodly early again), ate a granola bar I packed from home, blogged forever, chatted with friends and family on Skype until about noon, showered with all of my American toiletries, got dressed in my clothes from home and proceeded outside to find some food. Where did I end up? Paris Baguette... I bought a pizza.

Then, I returned to my room, read my American book by an American author and played around on Facebook - perturbed that none of my American friends were awake to communicate with me. It was ONLY 3 AM their time!

Then a fellow teacher, Liz, swung by to pick me up and my whole day changed. We met 4 other teachers (one of whom was celebrating her last weekend because I am taking over her classes on Monday), and walked to a local restaraunt for dak galbi. We took off our shoes, and sat on pillows around the table. I had no idea what dak galbi was but was so excited to find out.

The first thing I noticed were the large frying pans in the middle of the tables. We order 5 dak galbis for the 6 of us, at the reccomendation of our waitress. Next thing I knew, there were platters of a shredded cabbage, corn and dijon mixture, bowls of kimchi (a South Korean fermented cabbage specialty), a boiled egg situation that I don't think I can actually explain, and baskets of lettuce leaves in front of us. Then, our waitress heated the pans on the table, and brought out 2 platters (one for each pan) of raw chicken, cabbage, red potatoes, onions, rice cakes, and a chili pepper sauce and dumped them each into the skillets.

They were left to cook while we munched on our cabbage/corn/dijon mixture, egg deal and kimchi, and sipped our rice/beer/liquor situation that I'll have to get back to you on the name of. When our dak galbi was ready, we served ourselves. We created lettuce wraps with the lettuce leafs and the dak galbi and chowed! 5 orders was the perfect amount and we are all stuffed! This is all that remained:

Then, because it is Tiffany's last weeked in Korea, we ordered a bottle of Soju (a vodka-like liquor) and took shots with the owner of the restaraunt who she lovingly referred to as her boyfriend. Here's a picture of her making a tornado with the bottle.

After that, plates of grapes were served as dessert. They were wine grapes. The skin is too thick to be eaten and each grape had a seed in it. You must suck the fruit out of the skin and then spit the seed into your bowl. They were delicious. They tasted like the grape flavor used in candy.

When the bill came, we couldn't read it, so we all threw in 10,000 wons, the equivalent of just under $10 and figured we'd go from there. No one tips in Korea, and tax is included in the price. We got 9,000 won change back. That meal for 6 of us was less than $9 a person! For everything! I love this place!

I learned a few rules about drinking in Korea tonight, as well. One, when purchasing an alcoholic beverage it must always be purchased with food. Don't mess with tradition, especially when its not your own. Two, never fill your own glass at a table. And three, if someone older than you is filling your glass, use two hands and lift the glass off the table to assist them in pouring your drink.

Needless to say, my seemingly ignorant, culture-free day turned into quite the lesson in Korean lifestyle! I guess I'm not one that "might better stay at home." WHEW!

My cozy abode...

The sun's finally up so I had enough light to get some pictures of my little palace. Here they are!

This is the view upon immediately enterring the door. In the bottom right hand corner is my washing machine, then my refridgerator and freezer combo. The balcony is not really much of a balcony... it's like 1' by 4' and kind of a joke. My bed and closet on the left.

This is my box-like bed! Anyone who wants to send me an eggcrate cushion for a single bed and maybe a more comfortable pillow will be my best friend forever! Contact Weezer for mailing address. Haha. Kidding! Kind of.

This is the view from inside my room looking toward the door. You can see my little kitchen set up in the left corner and the bathroom door to the right.

These are both pictures of my bathroom. To the right is the toilet and to the left is the shower spout I told you about. Not that big of deal until I need the mirror and the floors all wet... wah wah.

In Korean households and restaraunts, it is customary to remove your shoes immediately before enterring the room, so all Korean housing is equipped with this shoe closet right inside the door. Shoes are removed and then the rest of my floor stays super clean!

Well, that's my home for the next year... I'll post pics of the area I live in after I go take them today!

Vietnam in Korea

Okay, so.

I really want to show you pictures of my dorm-sized room/apartment but that will have to wait until tomorrow because I want to explain to you the meal I just consumed. Unfortunately, I did not take any pictures of the food because I went out with my boss and his family and figured that quite rude.

Let me slow down. Yesterday, day one in K-town, I arrived at my apartment at around 8 am. I had every intention of unpacking and exploring, but in reality, I was passed out on my box-like mattress by 9 am. I slept on and off until around 3 pm when I figured it was time to shower and do something with my life, as my fellow teachers were picking me up at 5:30 pm to grab dinner and do church. So I showered in my bathroom, literally. Like, the shower is just a removable spout in the bathroom. I can sit on the toilet or on the sink and shower, all at the same time. It's a little strange, but I'm sure I'll get used to it.

I unpacked my things after my bathroom adventure, and then read a little more of Eat, Pray, Love while I waited for my chingus (friends) to arrive (side note: my reading of Eat, Pray, Love is much more successful this time, for those of whom that may be revelant to). When they arrived, we hopped a bus to a subway station and road the subway to the Mosaic Cafe. I would be more specific about bus stop locations if I could, but I can't yet.

I ordered a chicken sandwich, swallowed it whole and then we did the church thing, which was a praise and worship sing a long, with a talk in between about facing fears. Then, we met a few of my colleagues' friends at Starbucks and hung out until about 11 pm or so. We made our way back to our apartments and I crashed until about 5 am this morning.

My school's owner, James, picked me up at 9 am for my medical exam at the hospital. They drew blood, took a urine sample, did height and weight measurements, blood pressure, etc. Oh, and they valeted all the cars, which wasn't as weird as the fifty something men in John Deere trucker hats that were doing all the valeting.

After the exam, James took me to the computer store to get a charger for my laptop! FINALLY!

I putzed around until lunch time, went looking for some, and settled on a box of crackers and a Coke Zero from the grocery store. After my nutritious lunch, I passed out again until 4:30 pm when it was time to go meet at the school. I got my lesson plans for next week and all my workbooks to look at over the weekend.

Then, we got in James's car with his wife, Michelle, and twin boys Laio and Ray, and drove down the road to a Vietnamese restaraunt. They did all the ordering which was fun to be surprised! Out came rice paper with bowls of warm water in which to soak them until malleable. These papers then turn into a clear wrap of sorts and then we all shared a huge platter to stuff the "wraps" with. On the platter was chicken, shrimp, crab, carrots, cucumbers, green peppers, red peppers, purple cabbage, white onion, rice noodles, pineapple, sprouts, spinach and radishes. There was a peanut sauce, a sweet and spicy sauce, a hot sauce and a mild vinegar to accent the wraps. Content after about three wraps and few glasses of tea, I was surprised when the waitress brought out chicken fried rice served in half of a pineapple, two huge bowls of beef and noodles, and a large platter of fried noodles. We ate until we could not eat anymore... and then they sliced the pineapple for us.

I didn't embarass myself with chopsticks either! woo hoo!

Off to bed now. I'll update with pictures of my village and apartment tomorrow, promise. Maybe I'll even eat Korean food tomorrow!

Goodnight!

Because when I arrive...

I have arrived!!!

I'm sitting in the Incheon airport right now with my driver. We're waiting for one other teacher who's flying in from LA to arrive and then we'll be on the road to Yongin City! Yongin City is where my school is located. It is just southwest of Seoul Metropolitan. I finally figured that out today.

The airport looks just like a big American airport except its filled with Koreans. All the signs are in English and in Korean. Hopefully the rest of the city will be, too, or it'll get very interesting! :-)

My flight went without a hitch. I had a window seat and I slept the whole time. Arnold, who was sitting next to me woke me up for breakfast because I had missed the other meal, too. It was a yogurt, fruit, sausage, pancakes and a croissant. DELICIOUS! I didn't even realize I was hungry until I had swallowed the whole platter full. Hooray for Asian airlines!

I have to pack up the computer now... Just wanted to let you know I arrived safely. I'll fill you in about the school and my apartment later!

[insert awkward bow here]

En route!

"A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step." -Lao Tzu

... a journey of 7,000 miles begins with 7 steps, apparently.

Step 1, Check in/pass security Fort Wayne
Step 2, Fly to Chicago
Step 3, Queue international security Chicago
Step 4, Finally get to front of line with boarding pass and get told to go back to re-check in
Step 5, Re-check in Chicago
Step 6, Try the security debacle again and succeed
Step 7, Wait patiently at gate for a 14 hour flight to Seoul to embark

In all actuality, nothing about this process has been anything to complain about. My luggage was the perfect weight and I even got my Uggs and a winter coat packed! I had no idea what I was going to do with my five and a half hour layover in Chicago anyway, so running around the terminal to get everything lined up for an hour + really worked out well. I'm almost looking forward to this flight. Almost.

I've got my Dramamine lined up to take here shortly and exhaustion has already begun to set in. Passing out shouldn't be a problem. I'm hoping to sleep the whole time.

Upon arriving in Seoul, I am supposed to have a driver that picks me up. The school I'm working for is sending one. I have no idea how to find him/her or where they are taking me once they find me. Should make for an interesting blog post.

Saying good bye to everyone today totally sucked. I can't think of a better way to say that. I ran the gammit from grandma to boyfriend and it was quite the rollercoaster. I had half a mind to sprint off the plane and be like SURPRISE! just kidding, I'm not going! But, naturally, I decided to be tougher than that.

I feel like this post is a little choppy. Probably because it is. My eyelids are pretty heavy, though, so forgive me. I'm trying to form a habit of posting... at all costs. Today's cost is that it may not make any sense at all.

Alright, back to the quote (see, it really can help me stay focused.) It seems so obvious that any journey begins with one step. Obvious things are sometimes very profound. Or they can just be obvious. Like, today, when my silly mom said, "well, we didn't know each other when we met" (referring to my dad). DUH.

My journey began today. I have taken the first step (and the second, and the third, etc.) and am ON MY WAY! I'd jump around with excitement if I wasn't so tired. Drowsiness kicking in...

Can't wait to experience/tell you about tomorrow's adventures! Ciao!

Seven, Eleven, or Doubles

"All journeys have secret destinations of which the traveller is unaware." - Martin Buber

Two weeks ago my mom and dad took my brother, sister and I on what was aptly named: "The Mystery Trip." They made all of the plans and we were to dutifully follow without knowing what our next adventure would be. Normally a control freak, I surprised myself at how easy it was for me to give up being in charge. It was so much fun to merely go through the motions, just soaking in every minute and not having to worry about or plan the next.

We began our journey on a Saturday morning. We were allotted one guest for the trip. My brother chose his good friend Danny and my sister brought along her friend Ashtyne. I asked my boyfriend to join us on the journey, but he declined because of work obligations (or so I thought).

We pulled out of the driveway around noon. Like always, we said three speedy Hail Marys for a safe trip. We ended up in Marblehead, OH, at The Lighthouse Resort at around three in the afternoon. The hotel sat right on Lake Erie. The rides at Cedar Point could be seen at a distance to the east even through all the rain. We unloaded our luggage, had a snack and were informed that our next journey would be around 5:30 pm. We were to be ready to be outside for a couple hours.

At around 6, a man named Joe picked us up in a large black van with no seating except for a few loose coolers. He drove us to a dock, where we boarded Joe's 37 foot sailboat, The Serenity. We spent the next 3 hours sailing/tumbling around Lake Erie. It was a rather choppy day. While I did my best to enjoy the ride, I spent most of my energy trying to keep my cookies un-tossed. Here are some shots I took on the boat:

After the boat ride it was time for a little dinner and bed. We were told that our next adventure required us to be up, dressed and packed by 9 am the next morning. The boat ride got to me the worst and after a brief stint over the bathroom sink, I hit the sheets and was out cold.

As we've aged, we've begun to follow directions much more willingly. We were all right on schedule and I was brushing my teeth in my parents room when my boyfriend, Chris, walked in the door. Him and my mom had planned the whole thing. It was sooooo sneaky! I gave him a big hug and then ran to the bathroom to spit out my toothpaste. My brother was in the shower and by habit, I turned the light out when I left. He was screaming for a good while before I realized I left him in the dark. OOPS!

We all loaded up the van and drove down the road to attend Mass. It was a Catholic church of the Byzantine rite. The whole Mass was sung in English, the sign of the cross was done right to left instead of left to right, and Communion began as levened bread and was soaked in the wine and served with a spoon.

After Mass, we went out by the water to take a family picture:

Then, we drove to the ferry dock, drove the van right on the boat and made our way to Kelleys Island. Kelleys is a 4 square mile island with 387 permanent residents. It was absolutely beautiful. We were all starving upon arrival so we went straight to The Casino, which was a bar and grille on the water. Lake Erie is known for being the walleye capitol of the world, but nobody ordered any.

We rented two golf carts as our mode of transportation for the weekend and then caravanned to our home for the next 24 hours - a 3 bedroom condo with a full kitchen and balcony overlooking the water. There was a pool on the water side and bicycles available for check out. We spent the rest of the day and night just relaxing by the pool, taking golf cart and bike rides around the island, and enjoying each other before my departure.

When I get to Seoul, most of my fellow teachers will have been in the country for a good amount of time. They will, obviously, know way more about things to see and do then I will. The "Mystery Trip" was excellent practice for me to hand over the control and just follow. Following leaves a significant amount more time for observation, reflection, and pleasure. Be sure to remind me of this if it sounds like I have forgotten to follow along the way!

We had a little going away party for me at my parents' house last night. It was so nice to see everyone one last time before I leave! My crafty Aunt Kelly was kind enough to make me a cake. Look how cool it is:

Sorry I haven't updated lately, I've been busy running around giving hugs and saying my good byes. I leave Monday for my big adventure! Three Hail Marys for a safe trip!