12-8
So, it’s been a pretty nice past few weeks. We had a lovely Thanksgiving and its starting to turn into winter!
Thanksgiving was certainly different than I’m used to. I hosted the event at my tiny apartment. It was pot luck. We had stuffing, spaghetti, curry with rice, dill pickles, tok poki and many other random things. All of the food was great. We had a GI come, so that’s how we got actual stuffing and ham. We somehow managed to squeeze 16 people into my apartment along with all that food.
It was a very special night. My apartment seemed to be just the right size for all those people. Everyone got along really well, including the 4 Koreans and 3 Canadians that came to celebrate American Thanksgiving. People came over at 5:30 pm and the last ones left at 1:30 am. Only one person had to be carried to the car!
To top off the night, it snowed for the first time this winter. Everyone ran outside to see the first snow fall, took a picture and then ran inside. I, of course, stayed outside and marveled at the fact that it was snowing where I lived.
Thanksgiving has not been the only time it’s snowed. When I woke up this morning it was coming down pretty steady. Everything had a light dusting of snow. By the time I was walking to work, there was about two inches of snow on everything and no tracks on the road. Needless to say, I totally made snow balls and frolicked in the snow.
I am looking forward to this whole snow thing. Tomorrow I told some of my kids that I would wait for them before class so that we could play in the snow. They didn’t believe me that I want to play in the snow!
I hope this finds everyone well. I hope the Christmas season goes well for everyone!
Wednesday, December 8, 2010
Friday, November 12, 2010
Nothing much...
11-12
I know that I haven’t posted anything in a long time, but there isn’t much to say.
The weather is getting colder almost every day. This is not promising seeing as how I’m used to still being able to go to the beach at this time of year. I really do hate cold weather. It makes my bones hurt.
I got sick for the first time a few weeks ago. I’m impressed that it took this long since I work with nasty little children, oopps, I mean those cute kids! Some of them are so gross. I have to tell them to take things out of their nose/ mouth all the time. I let one kids borrow a pen and two seconds later he has it in his mouth. Eww!
Christmas looks like it should be relaxing. I have a few friends that are leaving for the break but I’m looking forward to being able to rest and enjoy Korea.
Work has calmed down a bit. We have a new teacher so the work load is lighter. I like almost all of my classes and I’m able to stay on top of my duties. I had a bit of a squabble with my boss but I think a bit of ass kissing has smoothed that over.
That’s really all I have for now. I hope all is well and everyone is getting ready for the holidays!
I know that I haven’t posted anything in a long time, but there isn’t much to say.
The weather is getting colder almost every day. This is not promising seeing as how I’m used to still being able to go to the beach at this time of year. I really do hate cold weather. It makes my bones hurt.
I got sick for the first time a few weeks ago. I’m impressed that it took this long since I work with nasty little children, oopps, I mean those cute kids! Some of them are so gross. I have to tell them to take things out of their nose/ mouth all the time. I let one kids borrow a pen and two seconds later he has it in his mouth. Eww!
Christmas looks like it should be relaxing. I have a few friends that are leaving for the break but I’m looking forward to being able to rest and enjoy Korea.
Work has calmed down a bit. We have a new teacher so the work load is lighter. I like almost all of my classes and I’m able to stay on top of my duties. I had a bit of a squabble with my boss but I think a bit of ass kissing has smoothed that over.
That’s really all I have for now. I hope all is well and everyone is getting ready for the holidays!
Sunday, October 10, 2010
Crazy Korean Times
10-11
Sorry for the massive delay on this. My life has been non-stop for awhile now. I have been attempting to get my computer fixed for 3 weeks now, but the fixing gods aren’t on my side. I still have to use the computer at work and that gets interrupted a lot.
Thailand was wonderful! I went with two girls from work; Krystin and Julie. We stayed at a cheap place right on the beach. We didn’t have AC, but it wasn’t too bad for Julie and me. Poor Krystin is from the north and just about melted. The food at the place was fabulous! The locals told us that it was the best place to eat on the island and I don’t think they were lying.
The first full day at the island we went on a kayaking/ snorkeling/ hiking tour. We spent the whole day on or near the water. One of the tour guides took me around in a kayak and showed me some really cool things. He was surprised by home much I actually knew about the ocean and coral. I can’t even tell you how wonderful it was!
We all got amazingly sun burnt the first day. I put sunscreen on four times and still managed to burn. I didn’t put any on my legs and they are still pealing after three weeks!
The next few days we did our separate things. Julie and I went on an elephant trek and I had no idea how big they actually were! It was neat getting to feed them bananas afterwards. That night I went to a lady boy show by myself and met up with someone I had met earlier that night. The show was one of the best drag shows I have ever seen and those girls are really pretty.
The last day I went to a spa to treat myself. I got to hang out outside in some pools and then had a two and a half hour massage. The other girls went off and did their own things. It was a great ending to a wonderful vacation.
This past weekend I went to Seoul with some of my friends. I met my friends outside of work and their names are Travis and Ben. They work at different schools, so it’s nice to hear about their experiences.
On Saturday we went to Global Gathering. Global Gathering is a huge dance music festival. It started at 2pm and went until 4am. We got there about 4pm and stayed until almost 2am. It was a fun day of dancing, drinking and meeting new people.
The next day we slept in a bit. Travis and I had a nice lunch and then five of us went to The Rocky Horror Picture Show! It was the theatrical version with an English speaking cast. I am so happy that I got to go! I have never seen the theatrical version and it was brilliant! After that we headed home and I slept like a rock.
I have a few minutes before I need to do some work so I’ll catch up on day to day stuff.
We had a teacher leave without telling anyone in advance. This has left us with all of her classes to cover. That means that we are all working more than we were and are super stressed. Not that we aren’t stressed anyway… Hopefully her replacement will come soon and all will be well.
My classes seem to be constantly changing, but I like all of my new classes so it’s not too bad. I really do enjoy talking with the kids and they are pretty sweet most of the time.
That’s all I really have time to write. I hope that it’s enough. I hope everyone is well and please give my love to everyone. I am a little home sick so feel free to send me some just because I love you stuff!
Sorry for the massive delay on this. My life has been non-stop for awhile now. I have been attempting to get my computer fixed for 3 weeks now, but the fixing gods aren’t on my side. I still have to use the computer at work and that gets interrupted a lot.
Thailand was wonderful! I went with two girls from work; Krystin and Julie. We stayed at a cheap place right on the beach. We didn’t have AC, but it wasn’t too bad for Julie and me. Poor Krystin is from the north and just about melted. The food at the place was fabulous! The locals told us that it was the best place to eat on the island and I don’t think they were lying.
The first full day at the island we went on a kayaking/ snorkeling/ hiking tour. We spent the whole day on or near the water. One of the tour guides took me around in a kayak and showed me some really cool things. He was surprised by home much I actually knew about the ocean and coral. I can’t even tell you how wonderful it was!
We all got amazingly sun burnt the first day. I put sunscreen on four times and still managed to burn. I didn’t put any on my legs and they are still pealing after three weeks!
The next few days we did our separate things. Julie and I went on an elephant trek and I had no idea how big they actually were! It was neat getting to feed them bananas afterwards. That night I went to a lady boy show by myself and met up with someone I had met earlier that night. The show was one of the best drag shows I have ever seen and those girls are really pretty.
The last day I went to a spa to treat myself. I got to hang out outside in some pools and then had a two and a half hour massage. The other girls went off and did their own things. It was a great ending to a wonderful vacation.
This past weekend I went to Seoul with some of my friends. I met my friends outside of work and their names are Travis and Ben. They work at different schools, so it’s nice to hear about their experiences.
On Saturday we went to Global Gathering. Global Gathering is a huge dance music festival. It started at 2pm and went until 4am. We got there about 4pm and stayed until almost 2am. It was a fun day of dancing, drinking and meeting new people.
The next day we slept in a bit. Travis and I had a nice lunch and then five of us went to The Rocky Horror Picture Show! It was the theatrical version with an English speaking cast. I am so happy that I got to go! I have never seen the theatrical version and it was brilliant! After that we headed home and I slept like a rock.
I have a few minutes before I need to do some work so I’ll catch up on day to day stuff.
We had a teacher leave without telling anyone in advance. This has left us with all of her classes to cover. That means that we are all working more than we were and are super stressed. Not that we aren’t stressed anyway… Hopefully her replacement will come soon and all will be well.
My classes seem to be constantly changing, but I like all of my new classes so it’s not too bad. I really do enjoy talking with the kids and they are pretty sweet most of the time.
That’s all I really have time to write. I hope that it’s enough. I hope everyone is well and please give my love to everyone. I am a little home sick so feel free to send me some just because I love you stuff!
Sunday, September 5, 2010
Those Darn Kids!
9-6
So, not a very exciting weekend for me. It was more relaxing than anything. I’m glad I got to actually have a bit of a lazy day on Sunday. I almost forgot how nice it is to spend most of the day in pajamas!
On Saturday two of the new girls and I went to the public bath house. Now that I’m an expert (Ha!) on Korean culture, I was able to show them around. Think their first time went a bit smoother than mine. We also discovered another section where you can take a nap or even spend the night. This section is co-ed so they give you a set of really ugly pajama-like shorts and shirt. We looked like dorky counselors at fat camp.
After we left the bath house we did a bit of shopping before returning home to get ready for dinner. There is an amazing Indian restaurant here that I go to almost once a week. We went out as a group that night. I think there were nine of us all together. I felt so bad, because there were a few more large groups of foreigners and only three people working.
It was a strange time for me. I realized that I had managed to organize a group of nine, and only three people have been here more than two weeks. It was not that long ago that I was the one who was confused and had no idea where I was. It was an interesting feeling knowing that I was now the one who knew more than other people. I still get lost and confused!
The rest of the night was spent at an 80’s party that a bar was throwing. Some of us got dressed up. I got annoyed quickly with all the other foreigners and left after less than two hours.
I have a cute story about one of my classes. I teach three kinder special classes a week. One of the classes is called Glory and I teach them song and chant. My friend Julie is their main teacher. She asks them everyday what special class they have. She also asks who the teacher is and to describe the teacher. The day she asked about me the kids said I was tall, I wore my hair back, had earrings, ect. They also said that I always wear a smile. I thought it was one of the cutest things ever. Damn these kids being able to melt my heart!
Work is about to start so I must be off!
So, not a very exciting weekend for me. It was more relaxing than anything. I’m glad I got to actually have a bit of a lazy day on Sunday. I almost forgot how nice it is to spend most of the day in pajamas!
On Saturday two of the new girls and I went to the public bath house. Now that I’m an expert (Ha!) on Korean culture, I was able to show them around. Think their first time went a bit smoother than mine. We also discovered another section where you can take a nap or even spend the night. This section is co-ed so they give you a set of really ugly pajama-like shorts and shirt. We looked like dorky counselors at fat camp.
After we left the bath house we did a bit of shopping before returning home to get ready for dinner. There is an amazing Indian restaurant here that I go to almost once a week. We went out as a group that night. I think there were nine of us all together. I felt so bad, because there were a few more large groups of foreigners and only three people working.
It was a strange time for me. I realized that I had managed to organize a group of nine, and only three people have been here more than two weeks. It was not that long ago that I was the one who was confused and had no idea where I was. It was an interesting feeling knowing that I was now the one who knew more than other people. I still get lost and confused!
The rest of the night was spent at an 80’s party that a bar was throwing. Some of us got dressed up. I got annoyed quickly with all the other foreigners and left after less than two hours.
I have a cute story about one of my classes. I teach three kinder special classes a week. One of the classes is called Glory and I teach them song and chant. My friend Julie is their main teacher. She asks them everyday what special class they have. She also asks who the teacher is and to describe the teacher. The day she asked about me the kids said I was tall, I wore my hair back, had earrings, ect. They also said that I always wear a smile. I thought it was one of the cutest things ever. Damn these kids being able to melt my heart!
Work is about to start so I must be off!
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Body Painting Festival!
8-31
Sorry for slacking in the blog department, but my computer is still broken (yes, I have been lazy). Work has also been super nuts the past few weeks.
At work we have had a bunch of things going on. We have had class level changes and a change in our own classes that we teach. Seven out of nine of my classes that I teach have been changed. Quite a few of those are classes that I have never taught and I have idea how to conduct class. Luckily, I am pretty quick on my toes and pick things up fairly quickly. My new classes seem fine and should be fun. I will miss some of my students in other classes, though.
Another thing adding to the chaos at work is we are getting three new teachers and two more are leaving, while one has already left. The one who left only gave two weeks’ notice and broke her contract. This has caused problems because she has left a lot of things for the rest of us to do. We also have gotten two new teachers and should be getting a third tomorrow. The new girls are very sweet and one even went out with us this weekend.
While I enjoy the new people it puts stress on the office because training falls on the old teachers. We have to explain classes and have them shadow our classes. This means we have less time to do our work. Mind you this is falling during the time of class changes and everyone is super stressed.
Now for more fun things, like a body painting festival! That’s right, two other teachers and I went to the international body painting festival this past weekend. It was absolutely one of the most unique things I have ever done or seen. They had about 30 tents sent up where the models (boy and girls) were being painted. We got to watch the entire process.
They also had display booths sent up. You could get your face painted or a henna tattoo. They had some of the most interesting combos of food booths as well. There was Russian ice cream, gyros and fried fish on a stick. I of course had the corn dog covered in French fries…
We eventually left the park to find a place to stay. We had seen a few love motels while trying to find the park, so we went to one of those. It was about 25 American dollars for the night. That is pretty cheap, even for a love motel here. The lady that ran the place was nice enough and she kept giving us random drinks.
The rest of the day was spent wandering around the festival. We had a bunch of Koreans take our picture when we were just standing around. I guess it might have been because I had my nose ring in…
Then, the show case began. We had pretty awesome seats and could see really well. All the models walked on to the stage one at a time while music was playing. Some of the models went all out and danced, did the splits and even break danced. It was a lot of fun to watch. The best way to describe it is a cross between a fashion show and the circus.
The next day was a lazy trip back. All three of us were beat from the festival. When we got back a large group of us went out for some yummy sit-on-the-floor Korean food. I have found some places that I do like the food a lot. Most of them are places where you cook your own meat and other dishes. I don’t like a lot of other things though, like anything that has tons of seaweed.
My apartment is an ever-changing work in progress. I keep adding pictures (hint: pictures would be a good thing to send me) and other random things from my adventures. I finally have a chair so I don’t have to sit on pillows on the floor. Yippy! I also have managed to get my place more and more organized every week. It’s nice that it keeps feeling more comfortable all the time.
Ok, work is almost over and I need to do a few things before going home. I miss everyone and hope all is well!!
Sorry for slacking in the blog department, but my computer is still broken (yes, I have been lazy). Work has also been super nuts the past few weeks.
At work we have had a bunch of things going on. We have had class level changes and a change in our own classes that we teach. Seven out of nine of my classes that I teach have been changed. Quite a few of those are classes that I have never taught and I have idea how to conduct class. Luckily, I am pretty quick on my toes and pick things up fairly quickly. My new classes seem fine and should be fun. I will miss some of my students in other classes, though.
Another thing adding to the chaos at work is we are getting three new teachers and two more are leaving, while one has already left. The one who left only gave two weeks’ notice and broke her contract. This has caused problems because she has left a lot of things for the rest of us to do. We also have gotten two new teachers and should be getting a third tomorrow. The new girls are very sweet and one even went out with us this weekend.
While I enjoy the new people it puts stress on the office because training falls on the old teachers. We have to explain classes and have them shadow our classes. This means we have less time to do our work. Mind you this is falling during the time of class changes and everyone is super stressed.
Now for more fun things, like a body painting festival! That’s right, two other teachers and I went to the international body painting festival this past weekend. It was absolutely one of the most unique things I have ever done or seen. They had about 30 tents sent up where the models (boy and girls) were being painted. We got to watch the entire process.
They also had display booths sent up. You could get your face painted or a henna tattoo. They had some of the most interesting combos of food booths as well. There was Russian ice cream, gyros and fried fish on a stick. I of course had the corn dog covered in French fries…
We eventually left the park to find a place to stay. We had seen a few love motels while trying to find the park, so we went to one of those. It was about 25 American dollars for the night. That is pretty cheap, even for a love motel here. The lady that ran the place was nice enough and she kept giving us random drinks.
The rest of the day was spent wandering around the festival. We had a bunch of Koreans take our picture when we were just standing around. I guess it might have been because I had my nose ring in…
Then, the show case began. We had pretty awesome seats and could see really well. All the models walked on to the stage one at a time while music was playing. Some of the models went all out and danced, did the splits and even break danced. It was a lot of fun to watch. The best way to describe it is a cross between a fashion show and the circus.
The next day was a lazy trip back. All three of us were beat from the festival. When we got back a large group of us went out for some yummy sit-on-the-floor Korean food. I have found some places that I do like the food a lot. Most of them are places where you cook your own meat and other dishes. I don’t like a lot of other things though, like anything that has tons of seaweed.
My apartment is an ever-changing work in progress. I keep adding pictures (hint: pictures would be a good thing to send me) and other random things from my adventures. I finally have a chair so I don’t have to sit on pillows on the floor. Yippy! I also have managed to get my place more and more organized every week. It’s nice that it keeps feeling more comfortable all the time.
Ok, work is almost over and I need to do a few things before going home. I miss everyone and hope all is well!!
Monday, August 16, 2010
Bath!
8-16
Sorry for the delay in getting a blog up. These past few weeks have been nuts! After vacation I really had to hit the ground running. In the past week or so I’ve had to give and correct tests, do report cards with individual comments, and start monthly plans. I have really been a busy beaver. So that’s work, now for more fun stuff.
I really haven’t done too much that’s exciting these past few weeks. I have been hanging around my city and trying to become a bit more familiar with where things are. I have tried out a few new bars and restaurants. I even made a couple of friends outside of work. I think I’m becoming rather comfortable in my new environment.
One of the more adventurous things I’ve done recently is go to a public bath. I went for a walk last weekend and saw the spa. I really just wanted to check it out since I hadn’t been planning on getting wet in front of strangers. Alas, my Korean is not good enough to tell the lady that I really didn’t want to go in, so I ended up paying about 5 bucks and taking a bath. You are given a key with a number on it and then put your shoes in a small cubby. Then you walk into a big open area where there are women of all ages in every state of undress. Some are completely clothed sitting on a platform in the middle of the room watching TV, while others are butt ass naked and drying their hair. You then walk into another room that has all the different baths. You walk in and are expected to sit down to shower and get completely clean before going into the baths.
The actual baths were quite nice. They had all different temperatures and jets. I really enjoyed the super hot pool and then cooling down in one of the bigger pools with very nice jets. I hung around for about an hour and a half. I didn’t get nearly as many stares as I expected. Everyone pretty much left me alone and went about their own business. Some of the smaller children did stare, but I can understand since I have tattoos in funny places. (If you have more specific questions about this experience please email me, instead of leaving comments)
One of the other interesting things I’ve done recently is take a shot that was on fire. Some of the bars here put on cocktail shows and you can pay extra for flaming shots. They spin bottles, light them on fire and breathe fire. I have been rather impressed by the talents of bar tenders here.
That’s it for now. I need to go teach my devil’s spawn class. Hope all is well!
Sorry for the delay in getting a blog up. These past few weeks have been nuts! After vacation I really had to hit the ground running. In the past week or so I’ve had to give and correct tests, do report cards with individual comments, and start monthly plans. I have really been a busy beaver. So that’s work, now for more fun stuff.
I really haven’t done too much that’s exciting these past few weeks. I have been hanging around my city and trying to become a bit more familiar with where things are. I have tried out a few new bars and restaurants. I even made a couple of friends outside of work. I think I’m becoming rather comfortable in my new environment.
One of the more adventurous things I’ve done recently is go to a public bath. I went for a walk last weekend and saw the spa. I really just wanted to check it out since I hadn’t been planning on getting wet in front of strangers. Alas, my Korean is not good enough to tell the lady that I really didn’t want to go in, so I ended up paying about 5 bucks and taking a bath. You are given a key with a number on it and then put your shoes in a small cubby. Then you walk into a big open area where there are women of all ages in every state of undress. Some are completely clothed sitting on a platform in the middle of the room watching TV, while others are butt ass naked and drying their hair. You then walk into another room that has all the different baths. You walk in and are expected to sit down to shower and get completely clean before going into the baths.
The actual baths were quite nice. They had all different temperatures and jets. I really enjoyed the super hot pool and then cooling down in one of the bigger pools with very nice jets. I hung around for about an hour and a half. I didn’t get nearly as many stares as I expected. Everyone pretty much left me alone and went about their own business. Some of the smaller children did stare, but I can understand since I have tattoos in funny places. (If you have more specific questions about this experience please email me, instead of leaving comments)
One of the other interesting things I’ve done recently is take a shot that was on fire. Some of the bars here put on cocktail shows and you can pay extra for flaming shots. They spin bottles, light them on fire and breathe fire. I have been rather impressed by the talents of bar tenders here.
That’s it for now. I need to go teach my devil’s spawn class. Hope all is well!
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
Vacation!
8-4
Sorry for the delay in getting this written, but my computer at home has decided it no longer wants to turn on. I’m hoping to find somewhere to take it this weekend. Skype works on my iPod, but I don’t have wireless at my apartment. Sigh…
We had vacation last week and it ended up being very nice. The new girl, Kristin, and I went to Busan on Wednesday and returned on Thursday. There was supposed to be 500,000 people at this beach, unfortunately the weather was foul so not too many people were out. We went to the Busan aquarium and had a blast. For a country that eats almost all sea life, they did a wonderful job show casing the animals. They had one of the best shark tanks I have ever seen.
After the aquarium, we headed towards downtown to find a hotel. This was not as easy as I had hoped. The taxi driver had no idea what I was trying to say and had to call over a police officer to get help. Once we managed to get to downtown, it turned out that there were not too many hotels in the area. Love motels here are cheap and tend to be quite nice. Since we were having trouble finding a place to stay, I started asking random foreigners if they knew of a good love motel. Man, I have never gotten more offended looks in my life! No one was able to help, but we did find an acceptable hotel for the night. We went out for dinner and a few drinks then crashed for the night.
The next day we packed our things and headed to a temple. We managed to use the subway system and then grab a taxi up the mountain. The temple was beautiful, as was the scenery around it. I took a lovely little hike by a creek. I had to walk on large rocks, which reminded me of Valencia dock at home. I stopped to wash my face in the water. It was so clean and refreshing. I can totally understand why someone could live there. I am so proud of Kristin and me for managing to get to Busan and back all on our lonesome!
Since I’m at work I have to end this blog here. Hopefully I’ll have time to post about our trip to Seoul. I hope all is well with everyone and I miss ya’ll!
Sorry for the delay in getting this written, but my computer at home has decided it no longer wants to turn on. I’m hoping to find somewhere to take it this weekend. Skype works on my iPod, but I don’t have wireless at my apartment. Sigh…
We had vacation last week and it ended up being very nice. The new girl, Kristin, and I went to Busan on Wednesday and returned on Thursday. There was supposed to be 500,000 people at this beach, unfortunately the weather was foul so not too many people were out. We went to the Busan aquarium and had a blast. For a country that eats almost all sea life, they did a wonderful job show casing the animals. They had one of the best shark tanks I have ever seen.
After the aquarium, we headed towards downtown to find a hotel. This was not as easy as I had hoped. The taxi driver had no idea what I was trying to say and had to call over a police officer to get help. Once we managed to get to downtown, it turned out that there were not too many hotels in the area. Love motels here are cheap and tend to be quite nice. Since we were having trouble finding a place to stay, I started asking random foreigners if they knew of a good love motel. Man, I have never gotten more offended looks in my life! No one was able to help, but we did find an acceptable hotel for the night. We went out for dinner and a few drinks then crashed for the night.
The next day we packed our things and headed to a temple. We managed to use the subway system and then grab a taxi up the mountain. The temple was beautiful, as was the scenery around it. I took a lovely little hike by a creek. I had to walk on large rocks, which reminded me of Valencia dock at home. I stopped to wash my face in the water. It was so clean and refreshing. I can totally understand why someone could live there. I am so proud of Kristin and me for managing to get to Busan and back all on our lonesome!
Since I’m at work I have to end this blog here. Hopefully I’ll have time to post about our trip to Seoul. I hope all is well with everyone and I miss ya’ll!
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