So Friday was picnic day. This means that in lieu of classes, all the students and teachers go to have a picnic somewhere. Some of the students went to Incheon Park and some of them went to New Songdo City, a really fancy economic zone being built in southern Incheon.
Which one did I go to? How much fun was it? How was the weather?
Unfortunately I cannot answer these questions because I was not allowed to go to Picnic day. Instead, I went to school, where there were 3 other employees (not teachers, just staff), and the 7 students who are participating in the song/dance performance at the English Festival on October 28th. Yes, that's right, I missed out on a day of fresh air and sunshine so that I could practice a song and dance for 5 hours.
So it really wasn't that bad. It was actually kind of fun. I finally started to get the dance (although the performance is tomorrow and I haven't practiced since Friday), and practicing was interspersed with HEAVY snacking, which is always right up my alley. Chocolate mallomar type cookies (SO DELICIOUS). Then lunch of jajjangmyeon (Korean-Chinese noodle dish with black bean sauce) and mandu (dumplings), then apples and juice, then McDonalds snackwraps and french fries. Plus, the girls that I practice with are so so wonderful and good and fun, so in the end it really isn't so bad. ^^
Hopefully I will be able to have a coteacher take video/pictures of the song/dance at the festival tomorrow so the whole world can see me with my dancing shoes on. haha. It's not going to be pretty. Of that I can assure you. But it will be funny.
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Monday, October 26, 2009
Sports Day
**Please note that this post is littered with links to youtube videos. If you do nothing else, PLEASE watch these videos. They sum up every minute of my life in Korea pretty thoroughly**
Thursday was Sports Day at my school. I figured I could post some pictures from that for your viewing pleasure. Sports Day is supposed to be a Korean equivalent to American Field Day. Naturally, it's just a bit different to better fit Korean culture and expectations. So, at an all-girls school such as mine, Sports Day is more like "dance" day in that the majority of the activities are choreographed dances to various Korean songs. My co-teacher, Hye-sun told me that this year's sports day was scaled back significantly due to Swine Flu. I'm not entirely clear why swine flu would necessitate the minimizing of an outdoor, healthy activity, but whatever. So, the day went more or less like this:
1. Opening Ceremony type thing: The head gym teacher spoke, the principal spoke. Some students spoke. I understood nothing. Par for the course. The students sang the national anthem (I think), then they sang the school song (I think). One of the girls lead the singing like a conductor, which was interesting. I don't know if she was doing it right, but it seemed like a completely arbitrary hand waving. Then the fun stuff began.
2. Relay races. Like 4x4 relay races. On a NOT track. I don't know exactly what to call their play yard. It's mostly clay, packed tightly, and extremely dusty with a negative amount of traction. Now, regarding the races themselves, each grade has 6 classes, so each grade had two heats that were like semis or something, so grade 1, classes 1-3 raced, and then 4-6. Then grade 2, classes 1-3, 4-6, etc. Then later at the end of the day, the top two from each heat in each grade raced for grade championships (I think). Keep in mind that no one spoke any English during any event, and no one explained anything that was happening. Now how each class chose the students is a mystery to me. Only 4 students in each class of 30-38 raced, naturally, and you would think that each class would send their 4 fastest students. However, the runners in most of the races were REALLY slow. Part of this is due, in my opinion, to the utter repulsion that Korean girls typically feel towards any kind of sport-like physical activity. I also think that the girls that ran are probably just the four girls who were least shy, because, in my experience, only the 5-8 most outgoing girls participate in anything that isn't giggling and whispering. The last oddity is that in one heat, all the girls ran barefoot. I think thy believed that running barefoot would benefit them. I don't know why. Additionally, they still wore their socks. It was completely bizarre.
3. DANCING. This was by far the best part of sports day as almost all of the classes choreographed and performed a dance to a Korean song. All the grade ones performed, 5/6 of
grade 2s and half the grade 3s. They all chose really popular Kpop songs, which obviously worked perfectly for me. Some of the classes had really really really impressively well choreographed dances. My favorites were a grade 1 class that had two really great dancers for a 2ne1 song, 
where they perfectly mimicked parts of the dances; a grade 2 class that did G-Dragon's Heartbreaker (one of my top 5 kpop songs currently; WATCH THE VIDEO NOW) and had two girls who practice Hapkido (Korean martial arts). Every girl had a cane that is sometimes used in Hapkido as a weapon, and danced with that, and for certain parts, everyone squatted down while the two girls did hapkido moves, and flips and shit. IT WAS SO 
COOL. I almost peed my pants. Those two girls are super badass. They are also two of the most athletic people at my school, bar none. My other favorite was a grade 2 class that did a dance to not a kpop song. Instead it was a big band/swing type song and the girls were dressed to the nines, with black pants, and huge black bow ties and painted on suspenders on white shirts and also had little canes/walking sticks that they used as props. Also, that class's homeroom teacher danced with them, which is super cool.
3. Jump Rope. Instead of individual jumping rope, each class did it individually. So basically, two girls would spin the rope, and everyone would line up and jump once and then out. I guess they were counting who had the most jumps completed in a certain amount of time, but each girl only got to jump once, and then got back in line on the other side and jumped through again. It was weird.
4. TUG OF WAR. In Korean, i guess it's called a lover's pull (or something like that), which I think is just precious. Again, they did it in rounds. Plus the teachers competed against parents of students (I don't know why but there were a LOT of parents there watching). The teachers lost, but I think there were fewer teachers than parents participating, and so the numbers weren't even. That, or the teachers SUCK. That was really fun.
5. Finals of Relay Races. Same slow running. There was one really quick girl who was really short, but the rest of the girls on her team SUCKED at running, and so she was the last leg and had so much ground to make up and couldn't. sad face.
6. Bonus dance performance from the best dancers. SUPER JUNIOR- SORRY SORRY DANCE. Oh my god, so amazing(please focus on 2:33 of the video). Plus 10 out of 10 by 2pm. It was so goooooooood. It was a compilation of those two songs plus I think 3 more, and they absolutely rocked it. They were awesome.
7. Closing ceremonies.
Now for various other pictures:
Grade 2, Class 3- Note how many students are hiding. This is typical.
Grade 1, Class 1 dancing- The girl in the middle was really good at dancing. She, along with the girl in the red shorts and the girl nest to her (our right) are the biggest troublemakers I have)
Grade 3s HILARIOUS- The girls to the left is a total clown.
Yu Eun-Bin- She comes in to talk to me everyday and is really funny. She wants to be a comedy actress when she grows up. I think she can do it.
My troublemakers hard at work, acting like cats, haha. As annoying as they can be in class, they are adorable.
Da-Eun asked if I could give her a ride. I basically do everything my students tell me to do. I dance a lot, sing a lot, look at lots of kpop group pictures AND....
let my students paint my face with hearts, take compulsory Korean posey self portraits, and then walk home having forgotten about the hearts and buy stuff from the convenience store and have people look at me like I am actually crazy. Good times.
Then it was lunch time, and we had a delicious lunch with lots of fruit and ddok (korean sweet rice cake which is somehow both too chewy and too dry for my liking, but it super popular here). Then I practiced my dance for the English festival with my students until 3, when I went to the
new gym that was just built to play volleyball with the teachers against the teachers of the boy's school next door. There was another American English teacher there who was almost as tall as me, which is unfair since he is a dude, and thus clearly going to wreck me at volleyball. I dove a lot to get to the ball (because it was going all over the place due to the teachers generally being not great at volleyball) and I got holes in the knees of my pants because I had no knee pads. :-( Also, lots of bruises on my knees. No good. We ended up losing, but it was close (went to 3 games) and the last was a tight match. After that, we went back to the boys school cafeteria for AMERICAN STYLE BARBECUE. oh my god, talk about the perfect finish to the perfect day. Smoked pork with american barbecue sauce. I thought I had died and gone to heaven. No one except me ate the american bbq sauce and instead went with the gochujjang, which is spicy pepper sauce. This is good because I single handedly finished off all the american bbq sauce in sight. Now if only we could get some mac&cheese to this country, my life could really be perfect and happy here.
Also, I want to let everyone know about one other amazing amazing amazing Korean song that I am currently OBSESSED with. SHINee's Ring Ding Dong. And yes, it is based/ripped/borrowed from Dr. Dre's Ring Ding Dong from the 90s
Thursday was Sports Day at my school. I figured I could post some pictures from that for your viewing pleasure. Sports Day is supposed to be a Korean equivalent to American Field Day. Naturally, it's just a bit different to better fit Korean culture and expectations. So, at an all-girls school such as mine, Sports Day is more like "dance" day in that the majority of the activities are choreographed dances to various Korean songs. My co-teacher, Hye-sun told me that this year's sports day was scaled back significantly due to Swine Flu. I'm not entirely clear why swine flu would necessitate the minimizing of an outdoor, healthy activity, but whatever. So, the day went more or less like this:
1. Opening Ceremony type thing: The head gym teacher spoke, the principal spoke. Some students spoke. I understood nothing. Par for the course. The students sang the national anthem (I think), then they sang the school song (I think). One of the girls lead the singing like a conductor, which was interesting. I don't know if she was doing it right, but it seemed like a completely arbitrary hand waving. Then the fun stuff began.
2. Relay races. Like 4x4 relay races. On a NOT track. I don't know exactly what to call their play yard. It's mostly clay, packed tightly, and extremely dusty with a negative amount of traction. Now, regarding the races themselves, each grade has 6 classes, so each grade had two heats that were like semis or something, so grade 1, classes 1-3 raced, and then 4-6. Then grade 2, classes 1-3, 4-6, etc. Then later at the end of the day, the top two from each heat in each grade raced for grade championships (I think). Keep in mind that no one spoke any English during any event, and no one explained anything that was happening. Now how each class chose the students is a mystery to me. Only 4 students in each class of 30-38 raced, naturally, and you would think that each class would send their 4 fastest students. However, the runners in most of the races were REALLY slow. Part of this is due, in my opinion, to the utter repulsion that Korean girls typically feel towards any kind of sport-like physical activity. I also think that the girls that ran are probably just the four girls who were least shy, because, in my experience, only the 5-8 most outgoing girls participate in anything that isn't giggling and whispering. The last oddity is that in one heat, all the girls ran barefoot. I think thy believed that running barefoot would benefit them. I don't know why. Additionally, they still wore their socks. It was completely bizarre.
3. DANCING. This was by far the best part of sports day as almost all of the classes choreographed and performed a dance to a Korean song. All the grade ones performed, 5/6 of
grade 2s and half the grade 3s. They all chose really popular Kpop songs, which obviously worked perfectly for me. Some of the classes had really really really impressively well choreographed dances. My favorites were a grade 1 class that had two really great dancers for a 2ne1 song, 
where they perfectly mimicked parts of the dances; a grade 2 class that did G-Dragon's Heartbreaker (one of my top 5 kpop songs currently; WATCH THE VIDEO NOW) and had two girls who practice Hapkido (Korean martial arts). Every girl had a cane that is sometimes used in Hapkido as a weapon, and danced with that, and for certain parts, everyone squatted down while the two girls did hapkido moves, and flips and shit. IT WAS SO 
COOL. I almost peed my pants. Those two girls are super badass. They are also two of the most athletic people at my school, bar none. My other favorite was a grade 2 class that did a dance to not a kpop song. Instead it was a big band/swing type song and the girls were dressed to the nines, with black pants, and huge black bow ties and painted on suspenders on white shirts and also had little canes/walking sticks that they used as props. Also, that class's homeroom teacher danced with them, which is super cool.3. Jump Rope. Instead of individual jumping rope, each class did it individually. So basically, two girls would spin the rope, and everyone would line up and jump once and then out. I guess they were counting who had the most jumps completed in a certain amount of time, but each girl only got to jump once, and then got back in line on the other side and jumped through again. It was weird.
4. TUG OF WAR. In Korean, i guess it's called a lover's pull (or something like that), which I think is just precious. Again, they did it in rounds. Plus the teachers competed against parents of students (I don't know why but there were a LOT of parents there watching). The teachers lost, but I think there were fewer teachers than parents participating, and so the numbers weren't even. That, or the teachers SUCK. That was really fun.5. Finals of Relay Races. Same slow running. There was one really quick girl who was really short, but the rest of the girls on her team SUCKED at running, and so she was the last leg and had so much ground to make up and couldn't. sad face.
6. Bonus dance performance from the best dancers. SUPER JUNIOR- SORRY SORRY DANCE. Oh my god, so amazing(please focus on 2:33 of the video). Plus 10 out of 10 by 2pm. It was so goooooooood. It was a compilation of those two songs plus I think 3 more, and they absolutely rocked it. They were awesome.
7. Closing ceremonies.
Now for various other pictures:
Grade 3, Class 2
Grade 2, Class 3- Note how many students are hiding. This is typical.
Grade 1, Class 1 dancing- The girl in the middle was really good at dancing. She, along with the girl in the red shorts and the girl nest to her (our right) are the biggest troublemakers I have)
Grade 3s HILARIOUS- The girls to the left is a total clown.
Yu Eun-Bin- She comes in to talk to me everyday and is really funny. She wants to be a comedy actress when she grows up. I think she can do it.
My troublemakers hard at work, acting like cats, haha. As annoying as they can be in class, they are adorable.
Da-Eun asked if I could give her a ride. I basically do everything my students tell me to do. I dance a lot, sing a lot, look at lots of kpop group pictures AND....
let my students paint my face with hearts, take compulsory Korean posey self portraits, and then walk home having forgotten about the hearts and buy stuff from the convenience store and have people look at me like I am actually crazy. Good times. Then it was lunch time, and we had a delicious lunch with lots of fruit and ddok (korean sweet rice cake which is somehow both too chewy and too dry for my liking, but it super popular here). Then I practiced my dance for the English festival with my students until 3, when I went to the
new gym that was just built to play volleyball with the teachers against the teachers of the boy's school next door. There was another American English teacher there who was almost as tall as me, which is unfair since he is a dude, and thus clearly going to wreck me at volleyball. I dove a lot to get to the ball (because it was going all over the place due to the teachers generally being not great at volleyball) and I got holes in the knees of my pants because I had no knee pads. :-( Also, lots of bruises on my knees. No good. We ended up losing, but it was close (went to 3 games) and the last was a tight match. After that, we went back to the boys school cafeteria for AMERICAN STYLE BARBECUE. oh my god, talk about the perfect finish to the perfect day. Smoked pork with american barbecue sauce. I thought I had died and gone to heaven. No one except me ate the american bbq sauce and instead went with the gochujjang, which is spicy pepper sauce. This is good because I single handedly finished off all the american bbq sauce in sight. Now if only we could get some mac&cheese to this country, my life could really be perfect and happy here.Also, I want to let everyone know about one other amazing amazing amazing Korean song that I am currently OBSESSED with. SHINee's Ring Ding Dong. And yes, it is based/ripped/borrowed from Dr. Dre's Ring Ding Dong from the 90s
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Wow. Just, wow.
So I figured it would come. I thought it would come sooner, but I knew it would come regardless. No, I don't miss home yet. Not exactly. I'm actually just really really frustrated with my job. Bear with me as I explain why.
1. I feel ineffective.
a)My classes have 40 students. In any given class the only thing the students have in common, level-wise, is that they are in the same grade. Aside from that, there are some students who understand literally NOTHING I say the entire class. By that I mean, they don't know what is your name, they don't know how old are you, nada. zip. zilch. zero. Then, there are some students who understand everything I say, and do the activities perfectly and speedily, and dear god I can hardly keep up. And then there is the other 70% of the class who are somewhere in the middle, wading amongst English words they recognize but can't use and understand but can't recreate on their own.
b) I see each student only once/week. I see each class only once/week. This means that I see all 630 students every week, but only one time/week. So, I can't remember anyone's name. Additionally, the students get only the most minimal practice of any of the work I do in our class. They have my class for 45 minutes once a week. 45 minutes is not nearly enough time to learn anything. Imagine if we had taken a Spanish class in high school for 45 minutes 1x per week. Now imagine if we had taken that class at age 13. Now imagine if we had taken that class at 13, with a teacher who literally speaks no more than 50 words of English. Most people learn nothing in their high school Spanish classes, so just imagine if this were the situation. This is precisely the situation in my classroom.
c) I have no idea how to discipline the students. Aside from stern looks, I don't discipline. I had assumed my co-teachers would handle the discipline section of the class (I was under the impresion that's how it was done at all the schools with native english teachers). Unfortunately my teachers don't really do much punishing. As such, my students have nearly free reign. I can give minus points, but I'm fairly hesitant to do that, because minus points directly factor into students grades. It's interesting because outside of school I'm a hardass, but in the classroom I can't figure out the appropriate way to handle discipline situations, and so I just don't do anything. It's beginning to get out of hand.
2. My co-teachers don't help me.
a) Upon arrival, I was told that I will not be using the books that the students use during the rest of their English classes. As such, I have to create my own lessons from scratch that probably has nothing to do with their lessons in their other classes. This is particuarly difficult and frustrating because they are learning multiple English lessons in a single week. 4 days/week they have English with their native Korean teacher, plus once/week English class with me, and most of them 2-5 times/week have English classes at hagwons, or private academies the girls attend after school. As such, they are learning up to three entirely different grammar points or ideas simultaneously. Now, which grammar point do you think they are least likely to remember? The one they receive 4x/week, the one they receive up to 5x/week or the one they get once/week? Obviously, mine.
b) Co-teaching supposedly implies some sort of teamwork or partnered approach to teaching in the classroom. Typically, in my classroom the only teamwork we do is her being present. I have 4 co-teachers, and typically none of them do much of anything. My primary co-teacher usually spends the majority of her time reading a book, and occasionally looking up to tell the students to pipe down or maybe, when times get desperate, translate something I say. The other ones will walk around and occasionally prompt students for answers, but that's about it. I should have been more assertive when I came here, but I just wasn't. I simply did not lay down the ground rules, I did not encourage more participation from the co-teachers, so now here I am.
c) I don't get any feedback on my lessons. The teachers usually don't talk to me about how a week is going in terms of lessons. I usually can tell when something sucks and I try to alter it, but really, I wish they would let me know. Unfortunately this is not the Korean way.
3. My students clearly do not fully respect me as their teacher. Generally they are relatively good, with few behavior problems. However, I've seen them with other teachers, and I have seen them with their homeroom teachers. There is no talking while the teacher is speaking. There is no note passing. Or not nearly as much anyways. Instead, I can consistently count on 2-4 girls holding their own conversations apart from the class, anywhere between 2 and 10 girls asleep, and another 10 passing notes. Gah. I want to rip my hair out.
It's a drag.
There are some really disappointing things about my job.
1. I feel ineffective.
a)My classes have 40 students. In any given class the only thing the students have in common, level-wise, is that they are in the same grade. Aside from that, there are some students who understand literally NOTHING I say the entire class. By that I mean, they don't know what is your name, they don't know how old are you, nada. zip. zilch. zero. Then, there are some students who understand everything I say, and do the activities perfectly and speedily, and dear god I can hardly keep up. And then there is the other 70% of the class who are somewhere in the middle, wading amongst English words they recognize but can't use and understand but can't recreate on their own.
b) I see each student only once/week. I see each class only once/week. This means that I see all 630 students every week, but only one time/week. So, I can't remember anyone's name. Additionally, the students get only the most minimal practice of any of the work I do in our class. They have my class for 45 minutes once a week. 45 minutes is not nearly enough time to learn anything. Imagine if we had taken a Spanish class in high school for 45 minutes 1x per week. Now imagine if we had taken that class at age 13. Now imagine if we had taken that class at 13, with a teacher who literally speaks no more than 50 words of English. Most people learn nothing in their high school Spanish classes, so just imagine if this were the situation. This is precisely the situation in my classroom.
c) I have no idea how to discipline the students. Aside from stern looks, I don't discipline. I had assumed my co-teachers would handle the discipline section of the class (I was under the impresion that's how it was done at all the schools with native english teachers). Unfortunately my teachers don't really do much punishing. As such, my students have nearly free reign. I can give minus points, but I'm fairly hesitant to do that, because minus points directly factor into students grades. It's interesting because outside of school I'm a hardass, but in the classroom I can't figure out the appropriate way to handle discipline situations, and so I just don't do anything. It's beginning to get out of hand.
2. My co-teachers don't help me.
a) Upon arrival, I was told that I will not be using the books that the students use during the rest of their English classes. As such, I have to create my own lessons from scratch that probably has nothing to do with their lessons in their other classes. This is particuarly difficult and frustrating because they are learning multiple English lessons in a single week. 4 days/week they have English with their native Korean teacher, plus once/week English class with me, and most of them 2-5 times/week have English classes at hagwons, or private academies the girls attend after school. As such, they are learning up to three entirely different grammar points or ideas simultaneously. Now, which grammar point do you think they are least likely to remember? The one they receive 4x/week, the one they receive up to 5x/week or the one they get once/week? Obviously, mine.
b) Co-teaching supposedly implies some sort of teamwork or partnered approach to teaching in the classroom. Typically, in my classroom the only teamwork we do is her being present. I have 4 co-teachers, and typically none of them do much of anything. My primary co-teacher usually spends the majority of her time reading a book, and occasionally looking up to tell the students to pipe down or maybe, when times get desperate, translate something I say. The other ones will walk around and occasionally prompt students for answers, but that's about it. I should have been more assertive when I came here, but I just wasn't. I simply did not lay down the ground rules, I did not encourage more participation from the co-teachers, so now here I am.
c) I don't get any feedback on my lessons. The teachers usually don't talk to me about how a week is going in terms of lessons. I usually can tell when something sucks and I try to alter it, but really, I wish they would let me know. Unfortunately this is not the Korean way.
3. My students clearly do not fully respect me as their teacher. Generally they are relatively good, with few behavior problems. However, I've seen them with other teachers, and I have seen them with their homeroom teachers. There is no talking while the teacher is speaking. There is no note passing. Or not nearly as much anyways. Instead, I can consistently count on 2-4 girls holding their own conversations apart from the class, anywhere between 2 and 10 girls asleep, and another 10 passing notes. Gah. I want to rip my hair out.
It's a drag.
There are some really disappointing things about my job.
Other days it's wonderful. Today was a really good day. It was apple day (a day where you give an apple [korean: sagwa] to say you are sorry [korean: sagwa, you see the reason?] to someone. The students all received an apple and wrote notes to other teachers. I don't really understand everything that happened (no English, you see), but I saw that girls were posting notes on this board, and one of the notes said, "allison, I love you!" and it made me so happy I thought I might cry. Seriously.
Me posing with some apples next to the board with my note! *^.^*
Me posing with some apples next to the board with my note! *^.^*Saturday, October 17, 2009
Weather
Holy shit, the weather here is OUT OF CONTROL. It looked like an average fall day the whole time I was at school. Not too sunny, but not terribly overcast either. After work, I went home, read a bit, took a nap, and when I wake up, I think I hear some thunder. nah, I think, it was so nice out earlier.
Alas, foiled. Go to Family Mart, top off my T Card, step outside to discover it's raining.
"Okay," I think, "that's how we are going to play this game, huh, Incheon?"
I run back upstairs, grab my umbrella and head back down. At this point it is actually raining, not drizzling. It's not a downpour, but it's enough to make my work pants damp and heavy around my ankles and very relieved to have remembered an umbrella.
It stops raining at some point in the evening, while we are at dinner, and we head to Goose Goose for drinks after (yes, the name of the bar is Goose Goose, what of it?)
Afterwards, I head to the train, take the train to the bus stop. Take the bus to my apartment. While crossing the street, I notice a flicker of lightning just off in the distance and I started urging the traffic signal to change and let me cross.
Got back to my apartment just in the knick of time. I get up stairs, sit down, and it is suddenly POURING. We are talking , blankets of rain, bright white lightning streaking the sky, booming, cracks of thunder, and a positively howling wind. I am sitting at my computer facebooking, minding my own business, when what is obviously a particular stong gust of wind blows and knocks the door to where my a/c unit is hidden away open. I'm not joking, the door is thrown open and wind whips through my apartment like I'm in Kansas, and oh no Toto, here we go again. I force the door shut, only to have it blow right back open again seconds later. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat.
I finally chose to tape the door shut about 10 minutes ago.
Now? raining, but no thunder, lightning, or wind? What the heck Incheon? What the heck?
As an aside:
After dinner, I tried to go get a copy of Taeyang's new album, "Where U At?' with Miranda but unfortunately had NO luck. We stopped by McDonalds before heading to Goose Goose, and ordered some sundae ice cream (in korea, they flip the phrase so it's not an ice cream sundae, it's sundae ice cream, pronounced sunday i-suh cuh-ream-uh) and coke. We sit down to enjoy our treats (the ice cream sundae is easily the most delicious thing I've ever tasted, with hot fudge in just the perfect proportion to soft-serve, and all for 1000 won, or just under a buck)
While we are relaxing, giggling about how SEXY Taeyang is, this Korean man hustles by us wearing a bright orange zip-up jumpsuit (some sort of uniform) and carrying a net. A large net, in which you might catch something. He goes behind the McDonalds counter authoritatively and disappears behind the soda fountain and burger assembly line. All the customers got suddenly quiet and watched this man, and there were about 8 people outside, staring through the window, trying to determine what was going on. I hardly noticed him (I was so distracted imagining Taeyang), but when another guy in the same orange uniform came stomping in, I couldn't help but take notice. I happened to recognize the picture of a dog on a patch on the second man's sleeve. I quickly put two and two together as a McDonalds employee hurriedly addressed the man, pointing is several directions. She was, I deduced, explaining the route of some sort of animal which these jumpsuited men were to capture and remove from the premises. Luckily I had all but finished my ice cream, and safely avoided a quick vom as miranda and I scurried out like two mice frightened away by the animal catchers.
It was crazy.
That is all.
xoxo,
A
Alas, foiled. Go to Family Mart, top off my T Card, step outside to discover it's raining.
"Okay," I think, "that's how we are going to play this game, huh, Incheon?"
I run back upstairs, grab my umbrella and head back down. At this point it is actually raining, not drizzling. It's not a downpour, but it's enough to make my work pants damp and heavy around my ankles and very relieved to have remembered an umbrella.
It stops raining at some point in the evening, while we are at dinner, and we head to Goose Goose for drinks after (yes, the name of the bar is Goose Goose, what of it?)
Afterwards, I head to the train, take the train to the bus stop. Take the bus to my apartment. While crossing the street, I notice a flicker of lightning just off in the distance and I started urging the traffic signal to change and let me cross.
Got back to my apartment just in the knick of time. I get up stairs, sit down, and it is suddenly POURING. We are talking , blankets of rain, bright white lightning streaking the sky, booming, cracks of thunder, and a positively howling wind. I am sitting at my computer facebooking, minding my own business, when what is obviously a particular stong gust of wind blows and knocks the door to where my a/c unit is hidden away open. I'm not joking, the door is thrown open and wind whips through my apartment like I'm in Kansas, and oh no Toto, here we go again. I force the door shut, only to have it blow right back open again seconds later. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat.
I finally chose to tape the door shut about 10 minutes ago.
Now? raining, but no thunder, lightning, or wind? What the heck Incheon? What the heck?
As an aside:
After dinner, I tried to go get a copy of Taeyang's new album, "Where U At?' with Miranda but unfortunately had NO luck. We stopped by McDonalds before heading to Goose Goose, and ordered some sundae ice cream (in korea, they flip the phrase so it's not an ice cream sundae, it's sundae ice cream, pronounced sunday i-suh cuh-ream-uh) and coke. We sit down to enjoy our treats (the ice cream sundae is easily the most delicious thing I've ever tasted, with hot fudge in just the perfect proportion to soft-serve, and all for 1000 won, or just under a buck)
While we are relaxing, giggling about how SEXY Taeyang is, this Korean man hustles by us wearing a bright orange zip-up jumpsuit (some sort of uniform) and carrying a net. A large net, in which you might catch something. He goes behind the McDonalds counter authoritatively and disappears behind the soda fountain and burger assembly line. All the customers got suddenly quiet and watched this man, and there were about 8 people outside, staring through the window, trying to determine what was going on. I hardly noticed him (I was so distracted imagining Taeyang), but when another guy in the same orange uniform came stomping in, I couldn't help but take notice. I happened to recognize the picture of a dog on a patch on the second man's sleeve. I quickly put two and two together as a McDonalds employee hurriedly addressed the man, pointing is several directions. She was, I deduced, explaining the route of some sort of animal which these jumpsuited men were to capture and remove from the premises. Luckily I had all but finished my ice cream, and safely avoided a quick vom as miranda and I scurried out like two mice frightened away by the animal catchers.
It was crazy.
That is all.
xoxo,
A
Thursday, October 15, 2009
A Lovely Day
Today was made to be perfect.
I had fried eggs and toast for breakfast (so yummy, even though I did break a yolk on my flip).
On the walk to school, a guy was trimming some evergreen trees on the other side of the privacy wall, and it smelled like Christmas trees, and it was briskly cool out, which was glorious.
At school lunch today, we had pork loin that tasted EXACTLY like what my mom makes, and cucumbers and I basically died because it tasted so much like home. Comfort food, to the fullest.
My next door neighbors put out some Halloween decorations. Plus, I found out where I can get a real big pumpkin to put up for halloween in my classroom. I wish I could afford little bitty pumpkins for my students. Unfortunately, I have 600 of them, and that simply will not work...
Had a McDonalds choco sundae, which is literally the best snack a human being could have invented. At just under one buck, I can have soft serve vanilla ice cream slathered with thick hot fudge in exactly the perfect proportion. McDonalds is not a place I would consider known for perfection, but this is edible perfection in a plastic cup.
Korean class was freaking ridiculous, but I didn't care. I think I will learn a lot, as long as I study a LOT, and try to pay attention in class even when I don't know what the hell is going on. Flash cards, here I come.
This was extra clutch because last night I had been feeling a touch lonely and stressed, but those feelings have completely evaporated and I'm happy to say nothing could be better. ^o^
Back at home, readying myself for bed. yay!
I had fried eggs and toast for breakfast (so yummy, even though I did break a yolk on my flip).
On the walk to school, a guy was trimming some evergreen trees on the other side of the privacy wall, and it smelled like Christmas trees, and it was briskly cool out, which was glorious.
At school lunch today, we had pork loin that tasted EXACTLY like what my mom makes, and cucumbers and I basically died because it tasted so much like home. Comfort food, to the fullest.
My next door neighbors put out some Halloween decorations. Plus, I found out where I can get a real big pumpkin to put up for halloween in my classroom. I wish I could afford little bitty pumpkins for my students. Unfortunately, I have 600 of them, and that simply will not work...
Had a McDonalds choco sundae, which is literally the best snack a human being could have invented. At just under one buck, I can have soft serve vanilla ice cream slathered with thick hot fudge in exactly the perfect proportion. McDonalds is not a place I would consider known for perfection, but this is edible perfection in a plastic cup.
Korean class was freaking ridiculous, but I didn't care. I think I will learn a lot, as long as I study a LOT, and try to pay attention in class even when I don't know what the hell is going on. Flash cards, here I come.
This was extra clutch because last night I had been feeling a touch lonely and stressed, but those feelings have completely evaporated and I'm happy to say nothing could be better. ^o^
Back at home, readying myself for bed. yay!
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Dream Concert 2009
This post had to be labeled 2009, because I will inevitably return for another Dream Concert (it's held annually). Ok. So this shall be the epic post about my weekend. And by epic, I mean it's epic only if you love me a lot and care about the things I do or if you are really into kpop. If both statements fit you, this will be a good blogpost.
So Dream Concert was this Saturday, October 10 (HAPPY BIRTHDAY SARAH COMSTOCK! I LOVE YOU SO MUCH). It was probably the most amazing thing that has happened to me in Korea. This is because I love kpop more than I love life itself. I don't know when this happened, but I seriously could listen to kpop only for the rest of my life. Okay, so that's probably not true, but I do love love love kpop. It's like I'm back to being 13 again, and it's fine by me.
SO, without any further ado, my weekend:
Saturday afternoon= Frisbee practice, as per usual, but a bit earlier, 11-1:30 or so. I leave at 1:30, and hope on the subway to World Cup Stadium to meet with Robyn, for whom I had bought an extra ticket so we could sit together. Because I had just finished playing ultimate for 2+ hours, I was sweaty and stinky and needed to shower. However, I HAD to go to the stadium to give Robyn my e-tickets for her to exchange for real tickets (see earlier post). Evidentally, I went up the wrong escalator (the hoards of hundreds of screaming fangirls made it difficult to choose what escalator I wanted to use) and I couldn't find Robyn. Soooo, I'm looking around trying to figure out where to go, when I hear shouting, "Allison Teacher, Allison teacher!!" I turn around and to my utter surprise and elation are 8 of my students, on a simultaneous sugar high and adrenaline rush due to the
concert which would begin in a mere 4 hours. I asked them to guide me to where I could get my e-tickets exchanged and they guided me almost directly to Robyn. I love my students. They were so excited to see me. This is the stadium the concert was at, with the concert banners flying. Dream Concert=15 korean artists/singers/groups performing on one stage over the course of 4 hours.
I then returned to Bekah's in Noksapyeong to shower and get ready for the show. I was in quite a rush because I was nervous we would have problems exchanging the tickets or the lines would be really long and I wouldn't be able to get in. Luckily, this fear was unwarranted as neither situation came true. Hopped back on the subway to World Cup Stadium AGAIN, where I met with Robyn AGAIN and went in. I hadn't eaten much of anything all day, given that I'd been rushing around. I had had one ice cream cone, a bag of potato chips and a bowl of cereal all day, and don't forget, I had practice earlier. I figured the stadium would sell the Korean version of stadium food (idk, ddeokboggi, kimbab ppeppero and whatnot in lieu of popcorn, nachoes and crackerjacks). Unfortunately i was mistaken as all the real food had sold out (WTF, did you not realize thousands of people would be here for this event?) and all that was left was potato chips, soda and coffee. So, I dined on those items throughout the concert. Going in, we saw a cameraperson filming us walking up the stairs so we
did a quick pose, waving and peace-signing to the camera. Interestingly, the lady stopped us and we did a quick interview. idk if we made it on air, but I was totally a screaming fangirl the whole time. haha. Basically my interview went: OH MY GOD! BIG BANG IS MY FAVORITE! I'M FROM FLORIDA! I LOVE KPOP! I LOVE TAEYANG! I LOVE BIG BANG! end scene. We sat down in the corner of the stadium in the setting sun, anticipating the start of the concert. The picture to the left is a good indication of where exactly our seats were in relation to the stage.
Waited around in the setting sun. Discovered that we were sitting in the midst of a couple thousand SuperJunior fanclub members. For future reference, the SuperJunior fan club is called
E.L.F., which stands for (no I'm not kidding here) EverLasting Friends. Seriously. We sat with the Everlasting Friends. Oh Konglish and your ridiculous English creations. So, we sat with ELF and were given blue SuperJunior ELF balloons (so wonderful, see left) which were used to wave around in excitement the entirety of the concert. I also bought a blue superjunior glowstick (I would have liked a BigBang 
one, but I think some SuJu fan girls would have slit my throat at the blasphemy). I got yelled at by the girls that sat behind me because I accidentally turned my light-up glow stick on too early. I turned it on, you know, just to check it out, and the girls behind us (in their first words to us of the day) screamed Noooooooooooooooooooo! OFF OFF OFF OFF! No Now, no now! I was very embarassed and apologetic, but they were forgiving (thank goodness).
Luckily, we made friends with these girls and they instructed me precisely when to turn on and turn off my glowstick (there are very strict rules regarding this situation here). I wanted to take a picture with them, but I don't think they would have gone for it. Plus, I forgot. Also, immediately (we are talking seconds) after my glowstick faux pas, Robyn was playing with her balloon and it popped. Naturally, the manner in which it popped was most unfortunate. The balloon burst into several pieces, the largest of which nailed a fangirl in the row in front of us right in the eye. I burst out in laughter, on the verge of tears, while the girl peeled the ripped rubber balloon piece off her face. omg, freakin' waegooks (that's foreigner in korean)
Anyways, so onto to the actual show. IT WAS AMAZING. I was
actually this excited to be seeing BigBang. This picture was taken the moment G-D came on. Note the glowstick. I got yelled at again to turn it off during bigbang (I had to keep it fairly quiet that I like big bang better than SuperJunior. I didn't want to lose a limb that night)
My favorite acts? 4minute (They sing Hot issue, one of the catchiest songs I know), 2ne1 (only performed 2 songs, but it was
amazing), BIG BANG (omg, G-D did Heartbreaker and I cried a bit, with excitement, it was that good; then Taeyang did My Girl, 
and I basically had a heartattack, then they all did Lies and it was the most wonderful 3 minutes of my life). Taeyang got a lot of big screen time, and as such, I got LOTS of pictures of my boyfriend-to-be. Also, SuperJunior was amazing, and so 
was MCMong. He performed this c
atchy song that I didn't know called Circus. I'm planning on downloading that bad boy asap. Did I mention the pyrotechnics?? Best fireworks I've ever seen at a concert. Ever. It was great.
Pictures:
1. Taeyang, my boyfriend, singing LIES
2. Fireworks during Girls' Generation
3. 4minute singing Hot Issue
4. 2ne1 signing I Don't Care
After the show, I met up with frisbee people near Hongdae, at Sinchon. Everyone was hanging outside this little bar (because there were babies and the music was too loud inside the bar. This was convenient because it made it easy to find them, and it made it possible to go to the 7-11 and get some Ramyeon since I hadn't eaten anything all day. Went to the bar, had some beers, played a few rounds of flip cup, drank some more beers, danced, did a shot of tequila with anthony, danced some more. I was trying to get people to go home and get something more to eat (ramyeon didn't fully satiate my hunger) when I got tricked into doing a shot with yong. By that I mean, I go to the bar, and he's like, listen, do this shot of rum, it's not bad, and you get this orange to suck on after and it tastes pretty good. So I was like, fine fine. And then the bartender comes over with a bottle of 151, no joke, and I'm like, wait, you didn't say it was 151, and Yong was like, uh, it wasn't last time. But it was too late, the shots were poured, so I had my first ever shot of 151, and it was DISGUSTING. But, it did make me wonderfully warm and spectacularly drunk very quickly. Left the bar as a group, but everyone splintered, and I ended up at KFC with Tweezy. Perhaps this only because I was drunk, but I firmly believe that KFC in Korea is significantly better than it is in the States. had a sandwich and a soda, and then we took a cab back to Noksapyeong station and stumbled up the hill (because we didn't know bekah's actual address). Spent the night on the hardwood floor at bekahs. That was unfortunate, because I later found out there was an open bed spot.... gaaah.
Waffle Factory (again) Sunday morning for breakfast with bekah adam and tweezy (nothing like pancakes, bacon, ham and eggs to get you ready for an ultimate game). Rocked league. Had fried chicken and dominoes for dinner at the fields. Headed home.
AWESOME WEEKEND.
So Dream Concert was this Saturday, October 10 (HAPPY BIRTHDAY SARAH COMSTOCK! I LOVE YOU SO MUCH). It was probably the most amazing thing that has happened to me in Korea. This is because I love kpop more than I love life itself. I don't know when this happened, but I seriously could listen to kpop only for the rest of my life. Okay, so that's probably not true, but I do love love love kpop. It's like I'm back to being 13 again, and it's fine by me.
SO, without any further ado, my weekend:
Saturday afternoon= Frisbee practice, as per usual, but a bit earlier, 11-1:30 or so. I leave at 1:30, and hope on the subway to World Cup Stadium to meet with Robyn, for whom I had bought an extra ticket so we could sit together. Because I had just finished playing ultimate for 2+ hours, I was sweaty and stinky and needed to shower. However, I HAD to go to the stadium to give Robyn my e-tickets for her to exchange for real tickets (see earlier post). Evidentally, I went up the wrong escalator (the hoards of hundreds of screaming fangirls made it difficult to choose what escalator I wanted to use) and I couldn't find Robyn. Soooo, I'm looking around trying to figure out where to go, when I hear shouting, "Allison Teacher, Allison teacher!!" I turn around and to my utter surprise and elation are 8 of my students, on a simultaneous sugar high and adrenaline rush due to the
concert which would begin in a mere 4 hours. I asked them to guide me to where I could get my e-tickets exchanged and they guided me almost directly to Robyn. I love my students. They were so excited to see me. This is the stadium the concert was at, with the concert banners flying. Dream Concert=15 korean artists/singers/groups performing on one stage over the course of 4 hours.I then returned to Bekah's in Noksapyeong to shower and get ready for the show. I was in quite a rush because I was nervous we would have problems exchanging the tickets or the lines would be really long and I wouldn't be able to get in. Luckily, this fear was unwarranted as neither situation came true. Hopped back on the subway to World Cup Stadium AGAIN, where I met with Robyn AGAIN and went in. I hadn't eaten much of anything all day, given that I'd been rushing around. I had had one ice cream cone, a bag of potato chips and a bowl of cereal all day, and don't forget, I had practice earlier. I figured the stadium would sell the Korean version of stadium food (idk, ddeokboggi, kimbab ppeppero and whatnot in lieu of popcorn, nachoes and crackerjacks). Unfortunately i was mistaken as all the real food had sold out (WTF, did you not realize thousands of people would be here for this event?) and all that was left was potato chips, soda and coffee. So, I dined on those items throughout the concert. Going in, we saw a cameraperson filming us walking up the stairs so we
did a quick pose, waving and peace-signing to the camera. Interestingly, the lady stopped us and we did a quick interview. idk if we made it on air, but I was totally a screaming fangirl the whole time. haha. Basically my interview went: OH MY GOD! BIG BANG IS MY FAVORITE! I'M FROM FLORIDA! I LOVE KPOP! I LOVE TAEYANG! I LOVE BIG BANG! end scene. We sat down in the corner of the stadium in the setting sun, anticipating the start of the concert. The picture to the left is a good indication of where exactly our seats were in relation to the stage.Waited around in the setting sun. Discovered that we were sitting in the midst of a couple thousand SuperJunior fanclub members. For future reference, the SuperJunior fan club is called
E.L.F., which stands for (no I'm not kidding here) EverLasting Friends. Seriously. We sat with the Everlasting Friends. Oh Konglish and your ridiculous English creations. So, we sat with ELF and were given blue SuperJunior ELF balloons (so wonderful, see left) which were used to wave around in excitement the entirety of the concert. I also bought a blue superjunior glowstick (I would have liked a BigBang 
one, but I think some SuJu fan girls would have slit my throat at the blasphemy). I got yelled at by the girls that sat behind me because I accidentally turned my light-up glow stick on too early. I turned it on, you know, just to check it out, and the girls behind us (in their first words to us of the day) screamed Noooooooooooooooooooo! OFF OFF OFF OFF! No Now, no now! I was very embarassed and apologetic, but they were forgiving (thank goodness).Luckily, we made friends with these girls and they instructed me precisely when to turn on and turn off my glowstick (there are very strict rules regarding this situation here). I wanted to take a picture with them, but I don't think they would have gone for it. Plus, I forgot. Also, immediately (we are talking seconds) after my glowstick faux pas, Robyn was playing with her balloon and it popped. Naturally, the manner in which it popped was most unfortunate. The balloon burst into several pieces, the largest of which nailed a fangirl in the row in front of us right in the eye. I burst out in laughter, on the verge of tears, while the girl peeled the ripped rubber balloon piece off her face. omg, freakin' waegooks (that's foreigner in korean)
Anyways, so onto to the actual show. IT WAS AMAZING. I was
actually this excited to be seeing BigBang. This picture was taken the moment G-D came on. Note the glowstick. I got yelled at again to turn it off during bigbang (I had to keep it fairly quiet that I like big bang better than SuperJunior. I didn't want to lose a limb that night)My favorite acts? 4minute (They sing Hot issue, one of the catchiest songs I know), 2ne1 (only performed 2 songs, but it was
amazing), BIG BANG (omg, G-D did Heartbreaker and I cried a bit, with excitement, it was that good; then Taeyang did My Girl, 
and I basically had a heartattack, then they all did Lies and it was the most wonderful 3 minutes of my life). Taeyang got a lot of big screen time, and as such, I got LOTS of pictures of my boyfriend-to-be. Also, SuperJunior was amazing, and so 
was MCMong. He performed this c
atchy song that I didn't know called Circus. I'm planning on downloading that bad boy asap. Did I mention the pyrotechnics?? Best fireworks I've ever seen at a concert. Ever. It was great.Pictures:
1. Taeyang, my boyfriend, singing LIES
2. Fireworks during Girls' Generation
3. 4minute singing Hot Issue
4. 2ne1 signing I Don't Care
After the show, I met up with frisbee people near Hongdae, at Sinchon. Everyone was hanging outside this little bar (because there were babies and the music was too loud inside the bar. This was convenient because it made it easy to find them, and it made it possible to go to the 7-11 and get some Ramyeon since I hadn't eaten anything all day. Went to the bar, had some beers, played a few rounds of flip cup, drank some more beers, danced, did a shot of tequila with anthony, danced some more. I was trying to get people to go home and get something more to eat (ramyeon didn't fully satiate my hunger) when I got tricked into doing a shot with yong. By that I mean, I go to the bar, and he's like, listen, do this shot of rum, it's not bad, and you get this orange to suck on after and it tastes pretty good. So I was like, fine fine. And then the bartender comes over with a bottle of 151, no joke, and I'm like, wait, you didn't say it was 151, and Yong was like, uh, it wasn't last time. But it was too late, the shots were poured, so I had my first ever shot of 151, and it was DISGUSTING. But, it did make me wonderfully warm and spectacularly drunk very quickly. Left the bar as a group, but everyone splintered, and I ended up at KFC with Tweezy. Perhaps this only because I was drunk, but I firmly believe that KFC in Korea is significantly better than it is in the States. had a sandwich and a soda, and then we took a cab back to Noksapyeong station and stumbled up the hill (because we didn't know bekah's actual address). Spent the night on the hardwood floor at bekahs. That was unfortunate, because I later found out there was an open bed spot.... gaaah.
Waffle Factory (again) Sunday morning for breakfast with bekah adam and tweezy (nothing like pancakes, bacon, ham and eggs to get you ready for an ultimate game). Rocked league. Had fried chicken and dominoes for dinner at the fields. Headed home.
AWESOME WEEKEND.
Monday, October 12, 2009
Inefficiencies and oddities.
So, from my experiences thus far, Korea is an extremely efficient and advanced society. By this I mean, everything seems to be done in a manner that cuts down on waste, promotes well-being, and saves time. Additionally, everything is super tech'ed out. For example, instant texts for every debit purchase, paying bills at atms, paying for taxis with a transit card, delivery of every food item imaginable, huge touch-sensitive t.v.s in English classrooms.
However, there are something that just seem silly, inefficient or way behind. These are a few examples:
1. E-tickets. For Dream Concert, you had to order your tickets a certain amount of time in advance to get actual traditional looking tickets. Otherwise, you were issued an e-ticket. This is something we have in the United States. For many concerts you can order your tickets online and have them e-mailed to you. You just get it scanned or show it at the entrance to the venue, be it a small club, or a huge stadium. For dream concert, there were e-tickets issued, but you had to exchange them for the real thing at the stadium on the day of the concert. This wouldn't be so terrible if there were 50,000+ people at the concert. The sheer number of people as compared to the number of ticket exchange booths (two) seemed simply insufficient. People began exchanging tickets as early as 11 a.m. and had to wait more than an hour in line. Then, they had nothing to do for several hours, waiting for the concert to begin at 6:30. I had a friend exchange my tickets for me. I got to the stadium to drop off my e-tickets with her at about 2:30. I went back to Bekahs to change and get ready and I headed off back to the stadium. By the time I got back our tickets were exchanged, but that was an hour and a half. It was a ridiculous ridiculous ordeal, and it seemed so hectic. In a nation where you can pay for anything with a chip in your cell phone, I feel almost certain there is a better way.
2. Toilet Paper. Many places don't have any. I don't mean the occasional shithole club that has run out by 2 a.m. I'm talking the subway station at any given day or time. I'm talking about most restaurants (except the largest chains or the fanciest places). I'm talking about my school's bathrooms (except the teacher's bathroom, they always have toilet paper). It's so weird. You seriously have to carry your own everywhere because many places won't have it.
3. Schedule changes at school. I know that there is a lot going on at any given time within a school. However, giving me a 10 minute advance notice that my class is no longer at the time I thought, but an hour earlier or later, or that I have to go to their classroom, which does not have powerpoint 2007, nor a whiteboard, nor a properly functioning computer is NOT helpful. In fact, it's just plain annoying. Or when, one day before the class your teacher informs you that you have to alter your already perfectly planned out lesson because of the exams that are going on which require near absolute silence. They don't even make copies in the copy area because it might distract the students. SILENCE IS REQUIRED. in my speaking class. Right. Good. No problem. Thanks for not only creating a predicament that fully contradicts the concept of a speaking class, but only informing me half a day before said classes begin.
4. Toilets. Some are really nice, and have bidets and butt dryers and all that, but others are not toilets. And by that I mean they are squatters. No, they are not Slumdog Millionaire squatters with no plumbing, but they are the kind that are porcelain holes in the floor that you cannot flush paper down and are extremely difficult to use while wearing pants, tights, skirts, shorts, or, frankly, anything on the bottom half of your body. Most subways stations have these as the primary toilet, with perhaps two regular western style toilets, which are never available. The flusher is on the floor and you just step on it (NEVER TOUCH WITH HANDS) which is convenient, but squatting down on bad knees or really sore legs and trying to aim into a narrow, shallow bowl is counterintuitive given that immediately outside the bathroom there are people hawking cellphones that play local t.v., browse the internet and have I mentioned that they act as debit cards? SERIOUSLY.
Those are the big ones right now. Honestly, Korea is amazing, I love it. I just thought I would let you guys know about the other side a bit.
Next post will be a much happier one: DREAM CONCERT and the rest of my weekend (Korean KFC, dancing till 4 a.m., sleeping on hardwood floors, chicken and pizza)
xoxo,
A
However, there are something that just seem silly, inefficient or way behind. These are a few examples:
1. E-tickets. For Dream Concert, you had to order your tickets a certain amount of time in advance to get actual traditional looking tickets. Otherwise, you were issued an e-ticket. This is something we have in the United States. For many concerts you can order your tickets online and have them e-mailed to you. You just get it scanned or show it at the entrance to the venue, be it a small club, or a huge stadium. For dream concert, there were e-tickets issued, but you had to exchange them for the real thing at the stadium on the day of the concert. This wouldn't be so terrible if there were 50,000+ people at the concert. The sheer number of people as compared to the number of ticket exchange booths (two) seemed simply insufficient. People began exchanging tickets as early as 11 a.m. and had to wait more than an hour in line. Then, they had nothing to do for several hours, waiting for the concert to begin at 6:30. I had a friend exchange my tickets for me. I got to the stadium to drop off my e-tickets with her at about 2:30. I went back to Bekahs to change and get ready and I headed off back to the stadium. By the time I got back our tickets were exchanged, but that was an hour and a half. It was a ridiculous ridiculous ordeal, and it seemed so hectic. In a nation where you can pay for anything with a chip in your cell phone, I feel almost certain there is a better way.
2. Toilet Paper. Many places don't have any. I don't mean the occasional shithole club that has run out by 2 a.m. I'm talking the subway station at any given day or time. I'm talking about most restaurants (except the largest chains or the fanciest places). I'm talking about my school's bathrooms (except the teacher's bathroom, they always have toilet paper). It's so weird. You seriously have to carry your own everywhere because many places won't have it.
3. Schedule changes at school. I know that there is a lot going on at any given time within a school. However, giving me a 10 minute advance notice that my class is no longer at the time I thought, but an hour earlier or later, or that I have to go to their classroom, which does not have powerpoint 2007, nor a whiteboard, nor a properly functioning computer is NOT helpful. In fact, it's just plain annoying. Or when, one day before the class your teacher informs you that you have to alter your already perfectly planned out lesson because of the exams that are going on which require near absolute silence. They don't even make copies in the copy area because it might distract the students. SILENCE IS REQUIRED. in my speaking class. Right. Good. No problem. Thanks for not only creating a predicament that fully contradicts the concept of a speaking class, but only informing me half a day before said classes begin.
4. Toilets. Some are really nice, and have bidets and butt dryers and all that, but others are not toilets. And by that I mean they are squatters. No, they are not Slumdog Millionaire squatters with no plumbing, but they are the kind that are porcelain holes in the floor that you cannot flush paper down and are extremely difficult to use while wearing pants, tights, skirts, shorts, or, frankly, anything on the bottom half of your body. Most subways stations have these as the primary toilet, with perhaps two regular western style toilets, which are never available. The flusher is on the floor and you just step on it (NEVER TOUCH WITH HANDS) which is convenient, but squatting down on bad knees or really sore legs and trying to aim into a narrow, shallow bowl is counterintuitive given that immediately outside the bathroom there are people hawking cellphones that play local t.v., browse the internet and have I mentioned that they act as debit cards? SERIOUSLY.
Those are the big ones right now. Honestly, Korea is amazing, I love it. I just thought I would let you guys know about the other side a bit.
Next post will be a much happier one: DREAM CONCERT and the rest of my weekend (Korean KFC, dancing till 4 a.m., sleeping on hardwood floors, chicken and pizza)
xoxo,
A
Thursday, October 8, 2009
DREAM CONCERT!!!!
I got an outfit to wear to Dream concert this weekend. So it's only moderately embarrassing and lame that I got a brand new outfit to wear for this concert. I decided that for the concert, which is the 15 biggest Korean groups/singers right now, it is only appropriate that I get Korea'd out. As such, I got a new oversized plaid shirt (3/4 length rolled up sleeves, blues and browns, hits below the hips). I am going to get some khaki colored converses tomorrow to rock, and hopefully a pair of brown leggings to top it off. The brown leggings seem like a sretch because I'm so tall, and it will be difficult to find a good length. I'm thinking an x-large might do the trick. Anyways, I have to figure out a sweet hair pin to wear, and I got a necklace this weekend at Forever 21 that will be PERFECT!!! *^__^*
Additionally, I really wanted a plaid shirt. Plus I really wanted to buy some clothing from the underground. Success on all fronts! The shirt was from the underground in Dongincheon. It was a bit pricey (20,000won) but it's because it was made in Korea (that's what the lady said). It's moderately warm, which is clutch because if it's cool Saturday night (likely) I'm gonna have to keep warm somehow. Taeyang will keep me warm after the show, but for the actually couple hours the show lasts, I'll need something.
I got to talk to the whole fam via skype tonight, which was LOVELY. Tomorrow I have to pack my things for the concert/frisbee and get ready to go to Seoul.
Reading a Bill Bryson book I borrowed from Beth. Pretty good so far. Recommend.
Got a massive gas and electricity bill today. That was a bummer. Good news is I officially turned off my a/c for the rest of the calendar year (hopefully). If everything goes according to plan, that will save me a few bucks on gas/electric, which is mad expensive here.
FUEL goes to Itchfest this weekend. First season I'm not there. SO SAD. T.T I am cheering for everyone. I hope I get updates often.
xoxo,
A
Additionally, I really wanted a plaid shirt. Plus I really wanted to buy some clothing from the underground. Success on all fronts! The shirt was from the underground in Dongincheon. It was a bit pricey (20,000won) but it's because it was made in Korea (that's what the lady said). It's moderately warm, which is clutch because if it's cool Saturday night (likely) I'm gonna have to keep warm somehow. Taeyang will keep me warm after the show, but for the actually couple hours the show lasts, I'll need something.
I got to talk to the whole fam via skype tonight, which was LOVELY. Tomorrow I have to pack my things for the concert/frisbee and get ready to go to Seoul.
Reading a Bill Bryson book I borrowed from Beth. Pretty good so far. Recommend.
Got a massive gas and electricity bill today. That was a bummer. Good news is I officially turned off my a/c for the rest of the calendar year (hopefully). If everything goes according to plan, that will save me a few bucks on gas/electric, which is mad expensive here.
FUEL goes to Itchfest this weekend. First season I'm not there. SO SAD. T.T I am cheering for everyone. I hope I get updates often.
xoxo,
A
Yesterday I got a package in the mail from mommy & daddy!!! They sent me a bunch of things I forgot or left at home. It was like Christmas in October. It was awesome. I loved it! It was a bit of a hassle to actually get it though.
They (Korean Postal Service) tried to deliver the package on Monday, while I was in Seoul, and again on Tuesday, while I was in school. They left a little notice on my door (I guess this is a universal thing in developed nations). Naturally, it was entirely in Korean, with the exception of my name and the location of origin: USA. So I had to ask my co-teacher where I had to go to get the package.
Incidentally, the Incheon post office is a 45 minute trip from my doorstep. I took a bus for half an hour to Arts Center, then about 15 minutes of combined walking & subway riding I got off at Shinyeonsu Station, which is about 5 minutes from the post office. I walked to the post office (which is supposed to be open until 9 p.m.-- it's 6:30 or so) and I see that the entire front entrance is blocked off. There is no one but workers in the post office and I start to get really annoyed because I WANT MY PACKAGE. Fortunately, I persevered and walked around to the back of the building, and discovered a small doorway with a security lady/receptionist in an office off to the side. I showed her my note and I don't think she knew how to tell me to go to the 3rd floor (I already knew to go to the 3rd floor, but I wanted to make sure I was in the right place at an appropriate time... plus I know how to say that in Korean). So I asked her, "sam chung, nay?" and she smiled in relief and said yes, third floor. At that moment this guy walked by and she asked him to take me to where I needed to be. Got off the elevator on the 3rd floor and walked into the mail sorting center for the whole of Incheon. It was crazy. There were maybe 50 people sorting huge boxes of mail in what appeared to me to be a very old-fashioned manner of business. They would sort and bundle mail and then place it in any number of slots (for different areas, I suspect. Each of the 50 people working probably had 50 slots to place mail in. It was hot in the room, and stuffy and buzzing with activity. It was so so cool. I felt like I had gotten an inside ticket to Korean life. This guy takes my note over to this big bin filled with package and starts looking for mine. He pulls out my package, which is very large, but surprisingly light (which is a relief given the journey home). I say thank you, bow, and leave, thanking the lady at the front as well on my way out. Success! The subway was jam-packed and I bumped like a zillion people with my box on the way home, but so it goes. The bus ride was better. There was a little spot at the front where I put my package so I didn't have to hold it or put it on the ground.
The best part of the entire trip was the fact that when I walked into the mail sorting area, not one of the 50 people working there gave a second look to me. Everywhere I go in Korea, people stop and look at me because I'm so different. Here at the post office, everyone was so focused on their job that a 6'2" blonde chick did not phase them in the least. Finally! A reprieve from uncomfortable attention.
Granted, as soon as I stepped out of the post office, I once again was a 6'2" blonde chick carrying a very large box to be visually dissected by every person that I passed.
That was my yesterday!
xoxo,
A
They (Korean Postal Service) tried to deliver the package on Monday, while I was in Seoul, and again on Tuesday, while I was in school. They left a little notice on my door (I guess this is a universal thing in developed nations). Naturally, it was entirely in Korean, with the exception of my name and the location of origin: USA. So I had to ask my co-teacher where I had to go to get the package.
Incidentally, the Incheon post office is a 45 minute trip from my doorstep. I took a bus for half an hour to Arts Center, then about 15 minutes of combined walking & subway riding I got off at Shinyeonsu Station, which is about 5 minutes from the post office. I walked to the post office (which is supposed to be open until 9 p.m.-- it's 6:30 or so) and I see that the entire front entrance is blocked off. There is no one but workers in the post office and I start to get really annoyed because I WANT MY PACKAGE. Fortunately, I persevered and walked around to the back of the building, and discovered a small doorway with a security lady/receptionist in an office off to the side. I showed her my note and I don't think she knew how to tell me to go to the 3rd floor (I already knew to go to the 3rd floor, but I wanted to make sure I was in the right place at an appropriate time... plus I know how to say that in Korean). So I asked her, "sam chung, nay?" and she smiled in relief and said yes, third floor. At that moment this guy walked by and she asked him to take me to where I needed to be. Got off the elevator on the 3rd floor and walked into the mail sorting center for the whole of Incheon. It was crazy. There were maybe 50 people sorting huge boxes of mail in what appeared to me to be a very old-fashioned manner of business. They would sort and bundle mail and then place it in any number of slots (for different areas, I suspect. Each of the 50 people working probably had 50 slots to place mail in. It was hot in the room, and stuffy and buzzing with activity. It was so so cool. I felt like I had gotten an inside ticket to Korean life. This guy takes my note over to this big bin filled with package and starts looking for mine. He pulls out my package, which is very large, but surprisingly light (which is a relief given the journey home). I say thank you, bow, and leave, thanking the lady at the front as well on my way out. Success! The subway was jam-packed and I bumped like a zillion people with my box on the way home, but so it goes. The bus ride was better. There was a little spot at the front where I put my package so I didn't have to hold it or put it on the ground.
The best part of the entire trip was the fact that when I walked into the mail sorting area, not one of the 50 people working there gave a second look to me. Everywhere I go in Korea, people stop and look at me because I'm so different. Here at the post office, everyone was so focused on their job that a 6'2" blonde chick did not phase them in the least. Finally! A reprieve from uncomfortable attention.
Granted, as soon as I stepped out of the post office, I once again was a 6'2" blonde chick carrying a very large box to be visually dissected by every person that I passed.
That was my yesterday!
xoxo,
A
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
Chuseok 2009
So this weekend was Chuseok, which is the Korean Thanksgiving holiday. Everyone goes back to their hometown to spend time with family and pay their respects to their elders and deceased family members. As such, it is a VERY busy traveling time. Because of the holiday, we didn't have school on Friday or Saturday, which was wonderful. Thursday night, I went into Seoul to meet up with some girls from EPIK orientation that are living in Ulsan, but visiting Seoul for Chuseok (I think everyone from EPIK, well, and Korea, who doesn't live in the immediate vicinity of Seoul came to seoul for the weekend. We got some Mexican food at a decent restaurant. They get bonus points for charging my then dead phone. We walked around Hongdae a bit, shopping, and chatting and such. Unfortunately I couldn't stay long because I had to meet Bekah and then head back to my place for the night. Went to Bekah's house, and helped her finish (read: start) packing for our weekend getaway to Deokjeok-do. Deokjeok-do is an island about an hour and half (or 3 hours, depending on the ferry you take) from Incheon ferry terminal (which is like 10 minutes from my apartment).
Let me just say this: it was a near-perfect weekend. We left Incheon ferry terminal at around 9 a.m. and go to the island right around noon. The we is: Me, Bekah, Beth, Cat, Adam, Tweezy, Yong, and later joined by Dave, Liz & Chase. I had been worried about the weather being a bit chilly, but it was of no concern upon arrival. The sun was shining, the breeze was blowing, and the ocean was calling. We got to our hotel (hooray, not camping), which is a Korean-style hotel. This means: no beds. It means yos, which are very thin pads upon which you sleep fitfully and minimally. This also means that there was a rice cooker in our room. haha. There were four people per room, and it was 100 won for two night, so 12 won/night/person, or about 10 bucks, which is pretty good. My room had me, Beth, Cat and Tweezy (Bekah and Adam camped on the beach... suckas). We were a five minute walk from the beach, which is also wonderful.
We got to our hotel, got settled a bit. By that I mean, we laid out the yos, I changed into my bathing suit, and we drank some beers and ate some corn pop like sugary snacks. We hit the beach shortly thereafter, and I got some quality time with the sunshine. Although the scenery looked nothing like Palm Beach(lots of mountains and shittier sand), if I closed my eyes and imagined, it was almost like I was back at home. I could almost feel Sarah laying out next to me, listening to the ipod or reading a trashy chick book. :-) Anyways, we laid out, threw a disc around a bit, and ultimately ended up moving towards the back of the beach, where fervent games of cups was being played. For those unfamiliar. Cups in a game of skill and drinking. Rules: 1. there are two pairs of sticks (about 5 1/2 ft long) stuck in the sand about 20 paces from each other. The sticks are a disc and a thumb's length apart. Resting upon each stick is a small plastic cup. Often, they are solo cups, but solo cups do not exist in Korea 2. Games are played 2 vs. 2. 3. The goal is to throw a frisbee either into one of the sticks or between the two sticks. By hitting a stick, the cup, in theory, flies off. 4. When a cup falls off the sticks, the opposing team, standing behind the sticks has the opportunity to catch the cup before it hits the ground. By catching the cup (one handed, without trapping it against the body), that team gains a point. If the cup does hit the ground, the other teams gets a point. 5. By throwing the disc between the sticks (without touching the sticks at all) the throwing team earns 2 points. 6. Games are to 13. 7. All of this must be done with a drink cup (or a cigarette, depending on your vice) in one hand. Spilling liquid is not illegal or punished, although it is firmly looked down upon.
So, we played a whole lotta cups this weeked. We drank a whole lotta Hite (if there is one link you click, this is the one... BIGBANG) and Cass (Korean beer, which sucks) and a whoooole lotta soju (and orange juice). The game is really fun, although it was nearly impossible for anyone to beat Endes and Tweezy, so that was kind of lame.
We had Samgyeopsal Friday night, and then went back to the hotel for a bit of a reprise for a few minutes. We ended up returning to the beach, where a small fire was being built, and people were setting off fireworks (totally legal here, and way better than back home). The "beach party" was fairly lame, but I stayed for a little while, chatting and watching fireworks and looking at the stars. Ended up back at the hotel on the rooftop for a bit, then back to the room. Spent the rest of the night tossing and turning on hard wooden floors.
Saturday: repeat Friday, but with more cups, more soju, more craziness. Samgyeopsal for dinner, with a delicious side of catchphrase. Back to the hotel, more catchphrase, to the beach, to the hotel, Century Club. Now I had never heard of century club before, but let's just put it this way. It is a power hour, but 100 minutes. Everyone who was with our group at this point (so roughly 15 people) decided to partake in the festivities. I only made it to minute 33 before I took myself out of the game (we had already been playing drinking games at dinner, so I knew my limits), but 2 gallant men made it to the bitter end. And trust me, it was bitter. But the getting there was awesome. Dave was laying down beats and Tweezy freestyled. Everyone was dancing. We were all laughing. However, at the 100th minute, only 2 men were left standing, and then a mere 5 minutes later, one was in the bushes.
Spent that night looking after a very very drunk person, which was part hilarious, part scary, part disgusting. He made it through alright though, and by the next morning was ready to go. Sunday morning, hit the beach one last time for a quick throwing session. Packed up, and hit the road/sea home. Back in Incheon, everyone got Pizza Hut in my neck of the woods (hooray). I saw two students en route to pizza hut (I also saw a student at the ferry terminal friday morning) and they were quite excited to see me (as they always are).
Headed to Seoul Sunday with the group (no school monday, at least for me). Spent the night at Bekah's, and woke up the next morning ready for some SHOPPING. We went to Itaewon first for some breakfast (omg, so delicious: omelet, ricotta cheese, spinach, tomatoes, basil pesto, and toast) and then hit up MyeongDong. Got a whole bunch of goodies at Forever 21 (necklace, long sleeve shirts, blue pinstripe shorts, navy v-neck top) and then window shopped the rest of the way. Had some thai food for dinner in Yongsan and then hit the subway for home.
Also, sorry no pictures. This was one of those weekends that will live on in memories instead of concrete images. :-)
This is all I have:
So to the left is the bridge that is being built from Incheon directly to the airport. It is supposed to open next year sometime and will be AWESOME. To the right is an image from the boat. You will note that people are sitting on a blanket. There were no seats on the boat. Only floors. Additionally, you will notice the very Korean way in which everyone has removed their shoes and left them 
immediately next to the blanket. You may also note the overturned soju bottle on the blanket, along with it's partner soju bottle still in the tray. That's right, folks, it's 10 a.m. and these gentleman (and ajumma) are already getting their soju on (for those that have forgotten soju is that most intense of all Korean alcohols). They drink soju li
ke water here. It's disgusting. Note also the old lady (aka ajumma) with her enormous sun visor. It was not sunny at this point. However, it is requisite that all women over 45 wear these hideous visors. I vow to leave Korea before I turn 45. Also to the left is Me lying on the boat next to Tweezy, who is playing with Lamonte (sp?), the doggy owned by one of the people who came to Deokjeok-do with us. I don't know if you can really tell, but this dog has ridiculous hair. David Bowie-esque. That's all folks. Nothing from the island, only from the ferry there. haha.
The weather is supposed to be getting cooler this week, about which I am very happy. Thank you gods, for watching over me this weekend and holding off the colder weather until just now. Mommy and Daddy just got my North Face coat, and I can't wait for it to get here!!!!!
xoxo,
A
Let me just say this: it was a near-perfect weekend. We left Incheon ferry terminal at around 9 a.m. and go to the island right around noon. The we is: Me, Bekah, Beth, Cat, Adam, Tweezy, Yong, and later joined by Dave, Liz & Chase. I had been worried about the weather being a bit chilly, but it was of no concern upon arrival. The sun was shining, the breeze was blowing, and the ocean was calling. We got to our hotel (hooray, not camping), which is a Korean-style hotel. This means: no beds. It means yos, which are very thin pads upon which you sleep fitfully and minimally. This also means that there was a rice cooker in our room. haha. There were four people per room, and it was 100 won for two night, so 12 won/night/person, or about 10 bucks, which is pretty good. My room had me, Beth, Cat and Tweezy (Bekah and Adam camped on the beach... suckas). We were a five minute walk from the beach, which is also wonderful.
We got to our hotel, got settled a bit. By that I mean, we laid out the yos, I changed into my bathing suit, and we drank some beers and ate some corn pop like sugary snacks. We hit the beach shortly thereafter, and I got some quality time with the sunshine. Although the scenery looked nothing like Palm Beach(lots of mountains and shittier sand), if I closed my eyes and imagined, it was almost like I was back at home. I could almost feel Sarah laying out next to me, listening to the ipod or reading a trashy chick book. :-) Anyways, we laid out, threw a disc around a bit, and ultimately ended up moving towards the back of the beach, where fervent games of cups was being played. For those unfamiliar. Cups in a game of skill and drinking. Rules: 1. there are two pairs of sticks (about 5 1/2 ft long) stuck in the sand about 20 paces from each other. The sticks are a disc and a thumb's length apart. Resting upon each stick is a small plastic cup. Often, they are solo cups, but solo cups do not exist in Korea 2. Games are played 2 vs. 2. 3. The goal is to throw a frisbee either into one of the sticks or between the two sticks. By hitting a stick, the cup, in theory, flies off. 4. When a cup falls off the sticks, the opposing team, standing behind the sticks has the opportunity to catch the cup before it hits the ground. By catching the cup (one handed, without trapping it against the body), that team gains a point. If the cup does hit the ground, the other teams gets a point. 5. By throwing the disc between the sticks (without touching the sticks at all) the throwing team earns 2 points. 6. Games are to 13. 7. All of this must be done with a drink cup (or a cigarette, depending on your vice) in one hand. Spilling liquid is not illegal or punished, although it is firmly looked down upon.
So, we played a whole lotta cups this weeked. We drank a whole lotta Hite (if there is one link you click, this is the one... BIGBANG) and Cass (Korean beer, which sucks) and a whoooole lotta soju (and orange juice). The game is really fun, although it was nearly impossible for anyone to beat Endes and Tweezy, so that was kind of lame.
We had Samgyeopsal Friday night, and then went back to the hotel for a bit of a reprise for a few minutes. We ended up returning to the beach, where a small fire was being built, and people were setting off fireworks (totally legal here, and way better than back home). The "beach party" was fairly lame, but I stayed for a little while, chatting and watching fireworks and looking at the stars. Ended up back at the hotel on the rooftop for a bit, then back to the room. Spent the rest of the night tossing and turning on hard wooden floors.
Saturday: repeat Friday, but with more cups, more soju, more craziness. Samgyeopsal for dinner, with a delicious side of catchphrase. Back to the hotel, more catchphrase, to the beach, to the hotel, Century Club. Now I had never heard of century club before, but let's just put it this way. It is a power hour, but 100 minutes. Everyone who was with our group at this point (so roughly 15 people) decided to partake in the festivities. I only made it to minute 33 before I took myself out of the game (we had already been playing drinking games at dinner, so I knew my limits), but 2 gallant men made it to the bitter end. And trust me, it was bitter. But the getting there was awesome. Dave was laying down beats and Tweezy freestyled. Everyone was dancing. We were all laughing. However, at the 100th minute, only 2 men were left standing, and then a mere 5 minutes later, one was in the bushes.
Spent that night looking after a very very drunk person, which was part hilarious, part scary, part disgusting. He made it through alright though, and by the next morning was ready to go. Sunday morning, hit the beach one last time for a quick throwing session. Packed up, and hit the road/sea home. Back in Incheon, everyone got Pizza Hut in my neck of the woods (hooray). I saw two students en route to pizza hut (I also saw a student at the ferry terminal friday morning) and they were quite excited to see me (as they always are).
Headed to Seoul Sunday with the group (no school monday, at least for me). Spent the night at Bekah's, and woke up the next morning ready for some SHOPPING. We went to Itaewon first for some breakfast (omg, so delicious: omelet, ricotta cheese, spinach, tomatoes, basil pesto, and toast) and then hit up MyeongDong. Got a whole bunch of goodies at Forever 21 (necklace, long sleeve shirts, blue pinstripe shorts, navy v-neck top) and then window shopped the rest of the way. Had some thai food for dinner in Yongsan and then hit the subway for home.
Also, sorry no pictures. This was one of those weekends that will live on in memories instead of concrete images. :-)
This is all I have:
So to the left is the bridge that is being built from Incheon directly to the airport. It is supposed to open next year sometime and will be AWESOME. To the right is an image from the boat. You will note that people are sitting on a blanket. There were no seats on the boat. Only floors. Additionally, you will notice the very Korean way in which everyone has removed their shoes and left them 
immediately next to the blanket. You may also note the overturned soju bottle on the blanket, along with it's partner soju bottle still in the tray. That's right, folks, it's 10 a.m. and these gentleman (and ajumma) are already getting their soju on (for those that have forgotten soju is that most intense of all Korean alcohols). They drink soju li
ke water here. It's disgusting. Note also the old lady (aka ajumma) with her enormous sun visor. It was not sunny at this point. However, it is requisite that all women over 45 wear these hideous visors. I vow to leave Korea before I turn 45. Also to the left is Me lying on the boat next to Tweezy, who is playing with Lamonte (sp?), the doggy owned by one of the people who came to Deokjeok-do with us. I don't know if you can really tell, but this dog has ridiculous hair. David Bowie-esque. That's all folks. Nothing from the island, only from the ferry there. haha.The weather is supposed to be getting cooler this week, about which I am very happy. Thank you gods, for watching over me this weekend and holding off the colder weather until just now. Mommy and Daddy just got my North Face coat, and I can't wait for it to get here!!!!!
xoxo,
A
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