THOMAS IS HEREEEEEEEEEEEEEE!
That's all.
xoxo
A
Thursday, December 31, 2009
Sunday, December 27, 2009
I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas. I went to LotteWorld. It was awesome. I don't know what else to tell you. It snowed on Christmas, and it's snowing now. I love the snow so much. I actually giggled like a small child when I saw it was snowing on Christmas. It only snowed for a little while (maybe 45 minutes) and it barely stuck, but it was still wonderful.
Today I'm cleaning my apartment and figuring out some new years resolutions. I will let you know what I come up with.
xoxo
A
Today I'm cleaning my apartment and figuring out some new years resolutions. I will let you know what I come up with.
xoxo
A
Friday, December 25, 2009
Merry Christmas
I unfortunately left my camera at school this weekend, and so this update will be picture-less. I am especially bummed about this because I took lots of pictures of my classroom, my students, and other things christmas-y. I guess I will just do a picture post later next week.
It's officially Christmas Day here in Korea. I was woken up by a text message at 7:30 from a student, saying Merry Christmas & Happy New Year. I was both touched and annoyed. haha.
Had some croissants for breakfast. It's not Mom's breakfast before, but it'll do.
Yesterday was a wonderful day of school. I was scheduled to have 5 classes, but I ended up only having 3, due to a special book program thing in the gym for all the students.
Because it was Christmas Eve, many students gave me Christmas cards. I got about 6 today, bringing my total christmas card count to 12. Not too shabby, me thinks. The cards from my students are my favorites, simply because I know the effort they put into making them. Some of them made cards by hand, others bought cards. Either way, they all wrote notes in English, which is impressive, and quite a challenge for some of them. They say the sweetest nicest things to me, and I love them.
Then, after work, my coteachers and I got together in the English room and they brought a cake! A Christmas Cake! You see, in the United States, it is our tradition to eat Christmas cookies. Here, they eat Christmas Cake. What is a Christmas cake you ask? Well, it's not any different than a regular cake, except it has adorable Christmas decorations on it. My cake, for example had a reindeer, two chocolate christmas trees, snowflakes and a bunch of fruit on top. I took pictures, which I will post on Monday.
Last night, I got to talk to Pav, and in about an hour I'll be talking to the parents! Quite excited for that.
My first Korean Christmas! As I told my co-teachers yesterday, hopefully not my last Korean Christmas!
xoxo
A
It's officially Christmas Day here in Korea. I was woken up by a text message at 7:30 from a student, saying Merry Christmas & Happy New Year. I was both touched and annoyed. haha.
Had some croissants for breakfast. It's not Mom's breakfast before, but it'll do.
Yesterday was a wonderful day of school. I was scheduled to have 5 classes, but I ended up only having 3, due to a special book program thing in the gym for all the students.
Because it was Christmas Eve, many students gave me Christmas cards. I got about 6 today, bringing my total christmas card count to 12. Not too shabby, me thinks. The cards from my students are my favorites, simply because I know the effort they put into making them. Some of them made cards by hand, others bought cards. Either way, they all wrote notes in English, which is impressive, and quite a challenge for some of them. They say the sweetest nicest things to me, and I love them.
Then, after work, my coteachers and I got together in the English room and they brought a cake! A Christmas Cake! You see, in the United States, it is our tradition to eat Christmas cookies. Here, they eat Christmas Cake. What is a Christmas cake you ask? Well, it's not any different than a regular cake, except it has adorable Christmas decorations on it. My cake, for example had a reindeer, two chocolate christmas trees, snowflakes and a bunch of fruit on top. I took pictures, which I will post on Monday.
Last night, I got to talk to Pav, and in about an hour I'll be talking to the parents! Quite excited for that.
My first Korean Christmas! As I told my co-teachers yesterday, hopefully not my last Korean Christmas!
xoxo
A
Monday, December 21, 2009
Christmas Time
It snowed on Sunday. One of my students texted me about it (this is a long story... my students know my phone number) and that was the only way I'd have known about it. I was in bed pretty much all day, trying to nurse a hangover. I got up around 5 p.m. to shower and finally get some food (I hadn't eaten all day). Hit up McDonalds where, to my chagrin, there were to families of Westerners with loud kids. You know you've been in Korea too long when you go somewhere and see Westerners and think, "God those westerners and their foreign ways, why can't they just try a little harder" I snarled at them a bit (and their kids who were going crazy in the play area climbing where they shouldn't have and then screaming wildly) and ate my chicken mcnuggets and bounced. Then had ramen for dinner at 10 p.m. Today my appetite is off. I wasn't very hungry at lunch, but now I am famished.
Anyways, this week I am showing A Charlie Brown Chistmas to my classes, and playing a word game (how many words can you make from the words Christmas Tree) and giving candy canes that my parents sent as rewards for the most words. It's gone over well. Students here don't know what candy canes are.
Anyhow, I'm trying to think of cool things to do next semester, and I am hoping to start pen pals with my grade 3s, but I need to find someone in the states who is teaching middle schoolers. I'm thinking maybe 6th graders or something. I will have about 100-150 grade 3 students and I would like to do a monthly penpal letter. My students would write their letters in class as part of their practice (homework is nonexistent here because students are so busy with school and then hagwons or private study) for one class period/month. Then, I would mail all the letters in a bundle back to the states and they students back at home in the states could respond. I am thinking that monthly would work okay. My students write a letter in class, I mail it the Friday at the end of the week, It gets to the States in about a week (so we are at 2 weeks time). Students in the states have a week to read and respond (homework?) and then US teacher sends bundle back to me (2 more weeks). Repeat. Repeat. Repeat. My students start in March. The only problem is that students would only be able to be penpals for 3 months. March, April, May, before school ends for summer vacation. That's the only downside.
It could still be fun for American students, and really really good practice for my students. If any of you know of some middle school teachers who would be interested in doing something like this, holla atcha girl.
So, Christmas is on Friday. It hardly feels like Christmas, even with the snow (of which there are still lots of remnants around my place). For a little while, weather.com indicated snow on Christmas, which would have been LOVELY, but it looks like they have since retracted that prediction. Bummer.
Ho Ho Ho bitches.
xoxo
A
Anyways, this week I am showing A Charlie Brown Chistmas to my classes, and playing a word game (how many words can you make from the words Christmas Tree) and giving candy canes that my parents sent as rewards for the most words. It's gone over well. Students here don't know what candy canes are.
Anyhow, I'm trying to think of cool things to do next semester, and I am hoping to start pen pals with my grade 3s, but I need to find someone in the states who is teaching middle schoolers. I'm thinking maybe 6th graders or something. I will have about 100-150 grade 3 students and I would like to do a monthly penpal letter. My students would write their letters in class as part of their practice (homework is nonexistent here because students are so busy with school and then hagwons or private study) for one class period/month. Then, I would mail all the letters in a bundle back to the states and they students back at home in the states could respond. I am thinking that monthly would work okay. My students write a letter in class, I mail it the Friday at the end of the week, It gets to the States in about a week (so we are at 2 weeks time). Students in the states have a week to read and respond (homework?) and then US teacher sends bundle back to me (2 more weeks). Repeat. Repeat. Repeat. My students start in March. The only problem is that students would only be able to be penpals for 3 months. March, April, May, before school ends for summer vacation. That's the only downside.
It could still be fun for American students, and really really good practice for my students. If any of you know of some middle school teachers who would be interested in doing something like this, holla atcha girl.
So, Christmas is on Friday. It hardly feels like Christmas, even with the snow (of which there are still lots of remnants around my place). For a little while, weather.com indicated snow on Christmas, which would have been LOVELY, but it looks like they have since retracted that prediction. Bummer.
Ho Ho Ho bitches.
xoxo
A
Saturday, December 19, 2009
Love Motel
Well, I had a crazy Thursday night. How I spent my Thursday night in a love motel:
I locked myself out of my apartment. I didn't realize I had locked myself out until I got home and couldn't find my key. You see, my apartment door locks automatically behind me and if I don't have my little key to let myself in, I can't do anything. So, at 11:45 at night, in freezing weather (legitimately... it was like 16 degrees outside) I was locked out of my apartment.
So I go downstairs to the security guard thinking maybe he has a master key or a keypad code to use to unlock the door. The security guard is sleeping when I approach his booth, and when I knock on the door and wake him up, he certainly looked less than thrilled. He emphatically waved to me to indicate GO AWAY, but I didn't. Instead, I opened the door myself and tried to pantomine a key, while saying, key oppsoyo (I don't have a key). He was just like, I don't know, go away. And so I was like, okay, I have to find someone who speaks english and korean to explain this prediciment. So I go to Family Mart because a lot of the clerks are younger and speak a little english and might be of some help. Naturally, it is my luck that this night, it was a girl who repeated emphatically, several times, "No Englishee" So, frustrated, I went back to the security guard to plead for help. More go aways.
I head upstairs to my apartment to try to use random number codes to get into my apartment. No luck. I'm crying. I had tried calling my coteacher a couple times, but since it was late, she was already asleep. Then, called my friend andre to see if he knew any korean speakers that might be able to help me. His friend joe called me and I went to the security guard to have him talk to him. The security guard then stepped out of his office/booth and said, no talk. HE WOULDN'T TALK TO THIS GUY IN KOREAN TO HELP ME?!?!!!!! But, he does usher me upstairs where he proceeds to rattle off a bunch of information in rapid Korean that I don't understand.
By a stroke of sheer luck, a couple step out of their apartment just as this is starting to get really awkward. This couple happens to be a Canadian man and his Korean (but fluent English speaking) girlfriend/wife. They ask whats going on and the woman begins to help me out. She started talking to the security guard and then started calling locksmiths to see what could be done. The locksmiths all said one of two things: 1) They were closed for the evening, or 2) The only thing they could do is rip the entire lock out of my door, thereby creating a giant hole in my door, and also making it impossible for me to lock my door until they replace it, at my expense. Unfortunately, this option was looking reasonable to me at the time. But the Korean woman suggested I just spend the night somewhere and deal with it tomorrow morning.
Good advice. So, I hop into a cab, and say, "Motel, chogiyo" Which means motel over there, while pointing to the area where all the cheap, seedy love motels are located near me. It was within walking distance but it was so cold and I was so flustered and upset that I refused to walk. I chose the least disgusting looking one, Motel White Castle, which actually turned out to be quite nice. I had a huge room, with a big bed, a couch, a toilet with heated seat, a HUGE ASS BATHTUB, which I didn't use, two computers, and a care kit that include bathrobes, toothbrushes (score), shower caps, facewash (score!) and condoms (less of a score). My apartment also had a phone charger which was really really clutch (all phones in Korea use a universal charger... USA, take note of this). I took a shower, and pretty much went right to sleep.
Woke up the next morning, went to school wearing the same clothes I had worn on Thursday, and explained everything to my co-teacher, who pulled out a spare key and said, here, go home and change. I'll take care of your first period class. THANK GOD!
Seriously, that is exactly what happened.
xoxo
A
I locked myself out of my apartment. I didn't realize I had locked myself out until I got home and couldn't find my key. You see, my apartment door locks automatically behind me and if I don't have my little key to let myself in, I can't do anything. So, at 11:45 at night, in freezing weather (legitimately... it was like 16 degrees outside) I was locked out of my apartment.
So I go downstairs to the security guard thinking maybe he has a master key or a keypad code to use to unlock the door. The security guard is sleeping when I approach his booth, and when I knock on the door and wake him up, he certainly looked less than thrilled. He emphatically waved to me to indicate GO AWAY, but I didn't. Instead, I opened the door myself and tried to pantomine a key, while saying, key oppsoyo (I don't have a key). He was just like, I don't know, go away. And so I was like, okay, I have to find someone who speaks english and korean to explain this prediciment. So I go to Family Mart because a lot of the clerks are younger and speak a little english and might be of some help. Naturally, it is my luck that this night, it was a girl who repeated emphatically, several times, "No Englishee" So, frustrated, I went back to the security guard to plead for help. More go aways.
I head upstairs to my apartment to try to use random number codes to get into my apartment. No luck. I'm crying. I had tried calling my coteacher a couple times, but since it was late, she was already asleep. Then, called my friend andre to see if he knew any korean speakers that might be able to help me. His friend joe called me and I went to the security guard to have him talk to him. The security guard then stepped out of his office/booth and said, no talk. HE WOULDN'T TALK TO THIS GUY IN KOREAN TO HELP ME?!?!!!!! But, he does usher me upstairs where he proceeds to rattle off a bunch of information in rapid Korean that I don't understand.
By a stroke of sheer luck, a couple step out of their apartment just as this is starting to get really awkward. This couple happens to be a Canadian man and his Korean (but fluent English speaking) girlfriend/wife. They ask whats going on and the woman begins to help me out. She started talking to the security guard and then started calling locksmiths to see what could be done. The locksmiths all said one of two things: 1) They were closed for the evening, or 2) The only thing they could do is rip the entire lock out of my door, thereby creating a giant hole in my door, and also making it impossible for me to lock my door until they replace it, at my expense. Unfortunately, this option was looking reasonable to me at the time. But the Korean woman suggested I just spend the night somewhere and deal with it tomorrow morning.
Good advice. So, I hop into a cab, and say, "Motel, chogiyo" Which means motel over there, while pointing to the area where all the cheap, seedy love motels are located near me. It was within walking distance but it was so cold and I was so flustered and upset that I refused to walk. I chose the least disgusting looking one, Motel White Castle, which actually turned out to be quite nice. I had a huge room, with a big bed, a couch, a toilet with heated seat, a HUGE ASS BATHTUB, which I didn't use, two computers, and a care kit that include bathrobes, toothbrushes (score), shower caps, facewash (score!) and condoms (less of a score). My apartment also had a phone charger which was really really clutch (all phones in Korea use a universal charger... USA, take note of this). I took a shower, and pretty much went right to sleep.
Woke up the next morning, went to school wearing the same clothes I had worn on Thursday, and explained everything to my co-teacher, who pulled out a spare key and said, here, go home and change. I'll take care of your first period class. THANK GOD!
Seriously, that is exactly what happened.
xoxo
A
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
Cold Cold Night
Today is freaking freezing. This week shows highs in the 20s. Huzzah, winter is here! However, Christmas predictions show now snow. In fact, prediction looks like highs in the balmy 40s!
Thomas is coming here soooooon! I cannot wait! He gets in on the evening of December 30th, which is my last day of classes. Then we shall explore Incheon (blah) for a day. By that I mean, we will go to Chinatown and eat jjajjangmyeon and sweet and sour pork and maybe see the peru, and then we'll go to Seoul for New Year's. Shooting for an all-night, which is very plausible, if not likely. Then Dongdaemun, cheongyecheon, maybe that one palace that I haven't been to yet near city hall. Maybe Myeongdong. 63 building. Busan? Who really knows?
I'm making Christmas cards for my coworkers right now. Making a snowman card, a snowflake card, a santa card, and one more. Maybe a Christmas present? I need a good idea. I have glitter glue to use, which is quite exciting. Back into craft mode, which is a relief. Things have been really crazy lately, so it's nice to be able to take a break. I gotta find wrapping paper and then a white elephant gift before Saturday so I can go to the Christmas party on Saturday AND so I can mail my Christmas gifts next week sometime. God. Working full time (at a place that isn't the mall) really impedes my ability to get Christmas gifts.
I didn't teach any classes for the last two days, which is good because I've finally had a break. I got some planning done for a teacher class I'm doing over winter break (which is good because LPs are due on the 17th) and I came up with some ideas for the camp at the boys school. Still no idea what I'll do for the girls, but that's easy enough I only have 4 hours to plan. And two hours are supposed to pretty much just be games, so that'll be easy enough, I suppose. For the boys camp, it'll be about 20 hours, which is a lot more demanding. Unfortunately I've received no guidance or information regarding the boys camp, so idk what the hell is going on with that.
Thomas is coming here soooooon! I cannot wait! He gets in on the evening of December 30th, which is my last day of classes. Then we shall explore Incheon (blah) for a day. By that I mean, we will go to Chinatown and eat jjajjangmyeon and sweet and sour pork and maybe see the peru, and then we'll go to Seoul for New Year's. Shooting for an all-night, which is very plausible, if not likely. Then Dongdaemun, cheongyecheon, maybe that one palace that I haven't been to yet near city hall. Maybe Myeongdong. 63 building. Busan? Who really knows?
I'm making Christmas cards for my coworkers right now. Making a snowman card, a snowflake card, a santa card, and one more. Maybe a Christmas present? I need a good idea. I have glitter glue to use, which is quite exciting. Back into craft mode, which is a relief. Things have been really crazy lately, so it's nice to be able to take a break. I gotta find wrapping paper and then a white elephant gift before Saturday so I can go to the Christmas party on Saturday AND so I can mail my Christmas gifts next week sometime. God. Working full time (at a place that isn't the mall) really impedes my ability to get Christmas gifts.
I didn't teach any classes for the last two days, which is good because I've finally had a break. I got some planning done for a teacher class I'm doing over winter break (which is good because LPs are due on the 17th) and I came up with some ideas for the camp at the boys school. Still no idea what I'll do for the girls, but that's easy enough I only have 4 hours to plan. And two hours are supposed to pretty much just be games, so that'll be easy enough, I suppose. For the boys camp, it'll be about 20 hours, which is a lot more demanding. Unfortunately I've received no guidance or information regarding the boys camp, so idk what the hell is going on with that.
Sunday, December 13, 2009
Weekend and my Apartment!
This weekend was crazy. Cocoon in Hongdae twice, plus I tried Chinese Beijiu for the first time. It tastes like paint thinner. Smells like paint thinner. It was disugusting. Cocoon is crazy. It was packed, mostly with Korean people, which was cool. Also, they played great music (mostly hip-hop) and there were a lot of AWESOME dancers there. There were like 4 guys who had almost choreographed dances to half of the songs. I wish I had taken a video. Unfortunately I didn't bring my camera.
I went to Insa-dong, which is a big traditional Korean arts area, with tons of shopping. I'm almost done with Christmas presents, which has been a tremendous hassle. I got my first christmas gift from Eric & Kate, which is awesome. Unfortunately, I have no Christmas tree, so I've just put it on my coffee table and figure there won't be too many more coming in, so it should be fine. The biggest problem will be having the willpower not to open then before the big day. Christmas is going to be super lonely here this year. Sad. Luckily though, it hardly feels like Christmas here. Sure there are some Christmas decorations, but not nearly as many and they aren't nearly as gaudy. This is good because most of the time I've almost forgotten that Christmas is right around the corner. ^^
Anyways, I took the time this evening to make a video tour of my apartment. I know most of you have skyped me and have at least sort of seen my place, but a lot of you haven't. I figured you might be interested to see how I am living here. Old habits die hard friends, so you will see me in standard form. I did clean up a bit (I even vacuumed today), but I left it mostly in my natural habitat so you could see what it's like. Enjoy!
xoxo
A
I went to Insa-dong, which is a big traditional Korean arts area, with tons of shopping. I'm almost done with Christmas presents, which has been a tremendous hassle. I got my first christmas gift from Eric & Kate, which is awesome. Unfortunately, I have no Christmas tree, so I've just put it on my coffee table and figure there won't be too many more coming in, so it should be fine. The biggest problem will be having the willpower not to open then before the big day. Christmas is going to be super lonely here this year. Sad. Luckily though, it hardly feels like Christmas here. Sure there are some Christmas decorations, but not nearly as many and they aren't nearly as gaudy. This is good because most of the time I've almost forgotten that Christmas is right around the corner. ^^
Anyways, I took the time this evening to make a video tour of my apartment. I know most of you have skyped me and have at least sort of seen my place, but a lot of you haven't. I figured you might be interested to see how I am living here. Old habits die hard friends, so you will see me in standard form. I did clean up a bit (I even vacuumed today), but I left it mostly in my natural habitat so you could see what it's like. Enjoy!
xoxo
A
Thursday, December 10, 2009
Embarassment
Today I embarrassed myself. I won't include all the miserable, pathetic details, but I embarrassed myself at Family Mart today. Let me say this, friends, don't go out on a limb. It's a silly waste of time. Korean people are too shy, too uncomfortable, too everything. So that's that. Now I will go wallow in self-pity.
Plus, I have no date to Natalie's & Drew's birthday party tomorrow night. Woe is me.
On a positive note, today the teachers had a pizza party with Pizza Hut pizza (with peppers, onions, sausage, ham, black olives, and sweet potatoes. It was amazingly delicious. AND FREE.
Korean class also broke my heart and went way the fuck over my head. I hit a bit metaphorical language learning wall, and was completely flummoxed roughly 15 minutes into the class. That sucked.
That's it. Sorry this is so slapdash, but I'm kinda boring right now and disappointed with how many afternoon went.
Plus, I have no date to Natalie's & Drew's birthday party tomorrow night. Woe is me.
On a positive note, today the teachers had a pizza party with Pizza Hut pizza (with peppers, onions, sausage, ham, black olives, and sweet potatoes. It was amazingly delicious. AND FREE.
Korean class also broke my heart and went way the fuck over my head. I hit a bit metaphorical language learning wall, and was completely flummoxed roughly 15 minutes into the class. That sucked.
That's it. Sorry this is so slapdash, but I'm kinda boring right now and disappointed with how many afternoon went.
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
A weird weird day
Today has been a combination of awesome and awful. I'll spare the gruesome details, but will share this:
1. I broke a girls' spirit while playing review Jeopardy. She almost cried. She is the best student in that particular class. I was emotionally distraught
2. I was only emotionally distraught until I started filling in birthdays and American holidays on my new 2010 HELLO KITTY calendar. Oh. My. God. It is so cute.
3. My coteacher informed me there was a three day training thing going on in the middle of the time Thomas is coming to visit. I wanted to cry. Luckily, they are working it out for me.
4. After lunch, I have just one class. It is grade 1, class 1. I HATE THAT CLASS.
5. One girl in grade 1-1 made me cry today. She was incredibly disrespectful, and I had no co-teacher to monitor the situation. I almost lost it and swore and screamed, but I held it in. It was heartbreaking though. There are some really really good students in the class, and I feel incredibly bad for them because they want to learn, and there are about 5 girls who blatantly interrupt their ability to learn by being talkative, disruptive or rude for no real reason, except that they are poorly behaved and mean-spirited.
6. One student brought me a BigBang/2ne1 poster! SO HAPPY.
7. I am finally learning names. Lots of them. There is: Chrissy, Scarlett, Amy and Audrey, plus Jeong Yeon, Ha Eun, Eun Yeong, Jin Ha, Minji (times 3), Ara, Jinsu (times 2), Areum, Saerom, Hyeju, So-Yeon, Hyeon-bin (who has a pet goldfish named poo-poo. seriously, I can't make that shit up), Sara, So-un, Eun-bin, Da-eun, Da-un, Hee-Jin(school president) and some others than I'm forgetting at the moment but legitimately know. It's so hard.
8. My Korean teacher said that for the next term I should go to the intermediate class. HOORAY!
9. Delicious dwaeji-kalbi (bbq pork) for dinner.
It sounds like on the whole, the positives outweigh the negatives, but that one girl in my grade 1, class 1 really irritated me to the point that I questioned whether or not I can handle being in Korea for another year. I am over it now (sort of), but I think that now I will have this awful bias against this one girl.
On a lighter note, Christmas is in full swing here. Hooray! Pictures from Christmas in Korea:
At Myeong-Dong, the busy shopping area in Seoul. I wish I had taken a picture of the obscene crowds. At Christmastime, there are easily THOUSANDS of people crowded in this 5 block x 5 block shopping district. It's intense.
This is Etude House, a make-up/beauty store in Korea. It is very famous and popular amongst younger girls. It is adorable for Christmas, I think.
This band came on the ice and played instruments, while these two weird Disney-esque rip-off characters ice-skated around and sort of danced in a poorly choreographed manner.
It seemed to me like they were only concerned with actually choreographing only the band's movements and tiny portions of the characters ice dance, as much of the "dance" included off beat head bopping and knee bending, and occasional sidelong glances at each other in an obvious attempt to figure out what the other was doing and then mimicking it lamely. But the band was pretty good.
1. I broke a girls' spirit while playing review Jeopardy. She almost cried. She is the best student in that particular class. I was emotionally distraught
2. I was only emotionally distraught until I started filling in birthdays and American holidays on my new 2010 HELLO KITTY calendar. Oh. My. God. It is so cute.
3. My coteacher informed me there was a three day training thing going on in the middle of the time Thomas is coming to visit. I wanted to cry. Luckily, they are working it out for me.
4. After lunch, I have just one class. It is grade 1, class 1. I HATE THAT CLASS.
5. One girl in grade 1-1 made me cry today. She was incredibly disrespectful, and I had no co-teacher to monitor the situation. I almost lost it and swore and screamed, but I held it in. It was heartbreaking though. There are some really really good students in the class, and I feel incredibly bad for them because they want to learn, and there are about 5 girls who blatantly interrupt their ability to learn by being talkative, disruptive or rude for no real reason, except that they are poorly behaved and mean-spirited.
6. One student brought me a BigBang/2ne1 poster! SO HAPPY.
7. I am finally learning names. Lots of them. There is: Chrissy, Scarlett, Amy and Audrey, plus Jeong Yeon, Ha Eun, Eun Yeong, Jin Ha, Minji (times 3), Ara, Jinsu (times 2), Areum, Saerom, Hyeju, So-Yeon, Hyeon-bin (who has a pet goldfish named poo-poo. seriously, I can't make that shit up), Sara, So-un, Eun-bin, Da-eun, Da-un, Hee-Jin(school president) and some others than I'm forgetting at the moment but legitimately know. It's so hard.
8. My Korean teacher said that for the next term I should go to the intermediate class. HOORAY!
9. Delicious dwaeji-kalbi (bbq pork) for dinner.
It sounds like on the whole, the positives outweigh the negatives, but that one girl in my grade 1, class 1 really irritated me to the point that I questioned whether or not I can handle being in Korea for another year. I am over it now (sort of), but I think that now I will have this awful bias against this one girl.
On a lighter note, Christmas is in full swing here. Hooray! Pictures from Christmas in Korea:
At Myeong-Dong, the busy shopping area in Seoul. I wish I had taken a picture of the obscene crowds. At Christmastime, there are easily THOUSANDS of people crowded in this 5 block x 5 block shopping district. It's intense.
This is Etude House, a make-up/beauty store in Korea. It is very famous and popular amongst younger girls. It is adorable for Christmas, I think.Also, I went to Lotte World (but only the ice skating rink, not the whole theme park)on Saturday with Ara. We had coffee and chatted (and met with Guenwoo, another former ELI student) and that was quite fun. Then we went ice skating which was AMAZING. There are some good pics Ara took up on facebook, including my new Korea-tastic profile picture. I was terrified at first (it's been almost 10 years since I've ice skated), but I got back into it in no time. However, my ankles were beat by the end. Afterwards, we went to Omuto Tomato, which is an omurice place. Here are pictures (AND VIDEOS) of that.
This band came on the ice and played instruments, while these two weird Disney-esque rip-off characters ice-skated around and sort of danced in a poorly choreographed manner.
It seemed to me like they were only concerned with actually choreographing only the band's movements and tiny portions of the characters ice dance, as much of the "dance" included off beat head bopping and knee bending, and occasional sidelong glances at each other in an obvious attempt to figure out what the other was doing and then mimicking it lamely. But the band was pretty good.Video 1- The Doxology
Video 2- O Come All Ye Faithful
Monday, December 7, 2009
An update.
Things here have continued in their insanity. I am so busy, but then I am completely not busy. It’s a mystery to me how I get anything done. I’m at work for 8 hours a day, but only teaching somewhere between an hour and a half and four hours on any given day. Unfortunately, the things that I am busy doing are things that require me to move around and not be at school. Christmas shopping has been a nightmare thus far, as I feel obligated to by Korean things for my friends/family, but that is a vague notion in itself, and then I can’t stick to clothing because it’s just so damn weird here. Plus, the sizes are all crazy. Add on top of that, grocery shopping, Korean classes, eating food (which lately involves me eating out) and I have zero time for myself. My sleep patterns are all out of whack, and I’m tired all the time. And we will not even talk about the appalling disaster that is my apartment. It looks, currently, like my closet vomited all my clothing onto the floor, and then I took a three-inch binder and emptied its entire contents onto my bed/desk/coffee table and then decided to not clean my bathroom or vacuum my floors for three months (honestly, it’s been a week and a half, but nothing stays clean on hardwood, and my bathroom was disgusting from the day I moved in, and I’m still trying to recover it).
Buuuut, I love it here.
I promise to post Christmastime pictures soooooon. Plus, a VIDEO.
p.s. I may start doing video blogs, if I get the inspiration.
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
Funny things in Korea
This isn't the predicted next post, but I had to let you all know.
While shopping today for Christmas gifts (LOEF secret santa halfway done, Melly halfway done, plus nail polish, headband,necklace,and hairclip for me ^^) I saw two hilariously awesome articles of clothing. The first was a sweatshirt/sweatpants combo that had this written in HUGE all-caps lettering across the chest and down the left leg: FAT. bwahaha. Next, a sweater with a bear in a sweater on it. Caption of the picture reads, "Recession, got no job, but my tan looks fine." Oh Korea, you slay me. Unfortunately, I didn't have my camera with me, so I couldn't capture these two gems. This was in the same place that has a store called Jeworld, which makes me think they sell Jews, but it's actually Jewelry.
Also, two of my students made me SUPER happy the other day. I don't know if I have mentioned this on here before, but my school has this thing where students get stamps from me for speaking English to me. They all have a piece of paper with a maze type thing on it and they get one stamp per English sentence that they speak to me, with a max of three stamps/day. As a result, I am ridiculously busy between classes and after school. Students are literally sprinting to be the first to talk to me (and thus be guaranteed plenty of time to create and say their sentences as I often have to rush some girls or simply tell students, sorry, next time. After class). Last week sometime, two friends came together and one of them was talking to me about books. Apparently, many of my students have read some English and American classics. I've spoken to some students before about Grapes of Wrath and the Great Gatsby. This girl asked me if I like reading, and I said yes. They she said, no joke, do you know the book Jane Eyre? Oh course, I said. She then proceeded to tell me that was HER FAVORITE BOOK. She knew that Charlotte Bronte was the author and was able to talk about it. I about peed my pants because Jane Eyre is one of my favorite books. What are the odds?
The next girl wanted to talk to me about movies. She asked who my favorite actor is and I proudly announced Jim Carrey (in the States this garners shameful looks and shock as Jim Carrey is NO ONE's favorite actor, but here, students fully appreciate my Jim Carrey love because he is pretty well known. My student then said, "Oh! He's my favorite actor!" Too much right, I was sure they had some how found out that I loved this book and actor, but how? The student then proceeded to say, "My favorite Jim Carrey movie is Truman Show. Do you know?" And I pretty much leaped out of my chair and hugged her because IT'S MY FAVORITE MOVIE OF ALL TIME. And I was searching their faces for some sort of prior knowledge, but they were as surprised by my enthusiasm as I was.
I was SO happy. I showed them my facebook page to show that those really are my favorite movie and book. They were really happy too. But it was awesome!
That's all.
While shopping today for Christmas gifts (LOEF secret santa halfway done, Melly halfway done, plus nail polish, headband,necklace,and hairclip for me ^^) I saw two hilariously awesome articles of clothing. The first was a sweatshirt/sweatpants combo that had this written in HUGE all-caps lettering across the chest and down the left leg: FAT. bwahaha. Next, a sweater with a bear in a sweater on it. Caption of the picture reads, "Recession, got no job, but my tan looks fine." Oh Korea, you slay me. Unfortunately, I didn't have my camera with me, so I couldn't capture these two gems. This was in the same place that has a store called Jeworld, which makes me think they sell Jews, but it's actually Jewelry.
Also, two of my students made me SUPER happy the other day. I don't know if I have mentioned this on here before, but my school has this thing where students get stamps from me for speaking English to me. They all have a piece of paper with a maze type thing on it and they get one stamp per English sentence that they speak to me, with a max of three stamps/day. As a result, I am ridiculously busy between classes and after school. Students are literally sprinting to be the first to talk to me (and thus be guaranteed plenty of time to create and say their sentences as I often have to rush some girls or simply tell students, sorry, next time. After class). Last week sometime, two friends came together and one of them was talking to me about books. Apparently, many of my students have read some English and American classics. I've spoken to some students before about Grapes of Wrath and the Great Gatsby. This girl asked me if I like reading, and I said yes. They she said, no joke, do you know the book Jane Eyre? Oh course, I said. She then proceeded to tell me that was HER FAVORITE BOOK. She knew that Charlotte Bronte was the author and was able to talk about it. I about peed my pants because Jane Eyre is one of my favorite books. What are the odds?
The next girl wanted to talk to me about movies. She asked who my favorite actor is and I proudly announced Jim Carrey (in the States this garners shameful looks and shock as Jim Carrey is NO ONE's favorite actor, but here, students fully appreciate my Jim Carrey love because he is pretty well known. My student then said, "Oh! He's my favorite actor!" Too much right, I was sure they had some how found out that I loved this book and actor, but how? The student then proceeded to say, "My favorite Jim Carrey movie is Truman Show. Do you know?" And I pretty much leaped out of my chair and hugged her because IT'S MY FAVORITE MOVIE OF ALL TIME. And I was searching their faces for some sort of prior knowledge, but they were as surprised by my enthusiasm as I was.
I was SO happy. I showed them my facebook page to show that those really are my favorite movie and book. They were really happy too. But it was awesome!
That's all.
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
A Very Korean Thanksgiving... or two.
Since Thanksgiving was last weekend, a bunch of the Incheon English teachers from August EPIK program (sometimes aptly titled the Incheon family) got together and celebrated by having a feast of sorts at Bennigans. Now, Bennigans, as you may well know is all but out of business in the United States. However, Korea is probably single-handedly keeping Bennigans afloat via their financial support of this American "institution." Now, they don't have a whole lot of turkey (think a club sandwich with turkey on it), but they DO have pumpkin soup and mashed potatoes. Unfortunately, no gravy and no pumpkin pie. However, given the circumstances it will do. It was super fun and a big group of about 15 of us rolled into Bennigans and had a great time! I ate to my heart's content (chicken and green beans and mashed potatoes and pumpkin soup-- not too shabby for a foreign thanksgiving), and laughed and enjoyed good conversation with friends. It wasn't the same as being home for Thanksgiving, but honestly, I couldn't have asked for better circumstances for my first Thanksgiving away.
After going to Bennigans (which had a tree decorated for Christmas-- since they don't gauge Christmas season by Thanksgiving, they can bring out the decorations a touch earlier), we went to the underground near Bupyeong station and saw a Christmas tree and some wreaths that had been put up right in the center.
This is disc hotel. These are the people that live in this apartment, plus the people who live in this apartment on weekends.
This is most of the people who were at the Thanksgiving dinner. Note the adorable small children at the bottom. More on them later.
Oh captain, my captain. Chase, one of the Korean Team captains, teaches us how to model. For this I am thankful.
These boys are very thankful and very full.
I only posted this picture to show off my new ring. It is bling-tastic. If you can't see it, just click the image for a bigger size to show up. ^^
Korean boys first turkey! Junseok and Heejeong. They are SO MUCH FUN.
Ben (middle) is teaching Dave and Tweezy some trick with two wine corks. Ben is full of tricks. He rides a unicycle. He can juggle anything. He often juggles while unicycling. His mother is the only person in his immediate family that cannot simultaneously ride a unicycle and juggle. Fun facts, right?
We decided to allow two Korean boys (heejeong, left & Jihoon, right) pull the wishbone, since they naturally had never done it.
The kiddies. On the Right is Jihoon and Jae-eun's son, and to the left Aaron and Yoonee's son. THEY ARE SO CUTE OH.MY.GOD.
After going to Bennigans (which had a tree decorated for Christmas-- since they don't gauge Christmas season by Thanksgiving, they can bring out the decorations a touch earlier), we went to the underground near Bupyeong station and saw a Christmas tree and some wreaths that had been put up right in the center.
On Saturday, I went to Myeongdong for some shopping (as per usual). I got a white coat (omg, so cute, pictures coming soon) and a ring and pair of earrings. Afterwards, headed to Bekahs (also as per usual). At Bekah's, the frisbee group was having a big festive Thanksgiving dinner. Bekah had ordered (from the USO) Thanksgiving dinners complete with Turkeys, and enough stuffing, mashed potatoes, green beans, cranberries and gravy to feed a small army. Plus, everyone brought a little something extra to share, so in addition there was mac&cheese(thanks Melly!), green bean casserole (a la Canadian Allie), amazing mashed potatoes (Carne), chocolate cake (beth), tiramisu (Julie) and lots of appetizers like cheese & crackers and veggie platters. Let me tell you what, it was AMAZING. I was so happy to be able to have a *real* Thanksgiving dinner and be with the people I am closest to here in Korea. Honestly though, I love the people I play frisbee with. Such a good, warm group and I feel like in 3 months I have melded right into the group and it's so wonderful. Here are some pictures from our big evening:
These are the people who live in the apartment and hosted the Thanksgiving dinner. L to R: Bekah (go gators!), Dave & Beth
These are the people who live in the apartment and hosted the Thanksgiving dinner. L to R: Bekah (go gators!), Dave & Beth
This is disc hotel. These are the people that live in this apartment, plus the people who live in this apartment on weekends.
This is most of the people who were at the Thanksgiving dinner. Note the adorable small children at the bottom. More on them later.
Oh captain, my captain. Chase, one of the Korean Team captains, teaches us how to model. For this I am thankful.
These boys are very thankful and very full.
I only posted this picture to show off my new ring. It is bling-tastic. If you can't see it, just click the image for a bigger size to show up. ^^
Korean boys first turkey! Junseok and Heejeong. They are SO MUCH FUN.
Ben (middle) is teaching Dave and Tweezy some trick with two wine corks. Ben is full of tricks. He rides a unicycle. He can juggle anything. He often juggles while unicycling. His mother is the only person in his immediate family that cannot simultaneously ride a unicycle and juggle. Fun facts, right? 
We decided to allow two Korean boys (heejeong, left & Jihoon, right) pull the wishbone, since they naturally had never done it.
The kiddies. On the Right is Jihoon and Jae-eun's son, and to the left Aaron and Yoonee's son. THEY ARE SO CUTE OH.MY.GOD.So after eating a ton of food, we all got ready to go out. And by we all got ready, I mean Bekah did my hair and make-up and made me look BEAUTIFUL. She also did Beth and Cat's eyes. And then we went out. Pictures of everyone on their way out:
Some of us. BUT, some of these people didn't go out *ahem, Bekah, Tweezy, Chase*
Me and Mark. A good picture of my eye make-up/hair. Also, Mark is Canadian but a really cool one.
The girls with sexy eye make-up headed out to King Club. Also, this is my new coat, which you can't see very well.
Some of us. BUT, some of these people didn't go out *ahem, Bekah, Tweezy, Chase*
Me and Mark. A good picture of my eye make-up/hair. Also, Mark is Canadian but a really cool one.
The girls with sexy eye make-up headed out to King Club. Also, this is my new coat, which you can't see very well.That's all for now folks. Coming up next: Seoul and my classroom Christmas'd out!
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