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!
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
A Lazy Vacation... So Far
7-27
I guess it must be time for another update. I don’t really have much exciting going on at the moment. This week is vacation so a lot of people are gone. I have been enjoying relaxing and getting a bit more settled in. There are only two other teachers in town this week. One is Julie who has been here for about 2-3 months; the other is Kristin whom just got here 6 days ago. I enjoy both of their company, so we have spent some time together.
One day this week Julie and I went for a 4 hour walk around town. It helped me to get a bit more comfortable with my new home. We found a nice play ground near a stream. It was nice to act like one of my students for a few minuets. We also found a really nice coffee shop where I ran into an expat that I met from another school. I hadn’t realized how many people I’ve already met!
I have discovered a new love in my life; chicken korma with garlic nan. This is super delicious Indian food. I have had it 4 times since coming to Korea and twice this week alone. I have no words to describe it, other than it must be sent from heaven. This is by far the best food I’ve had in years, maybe my entire life…
I have spent quite a few hours this week arranging my apartment. I have cleaned, moved furniture down a crappy ladder, moved furniture up a crappy ladder and made my bed room/ loft more cave like. I am most excited about the cave-ness. My floor to ceiling, 13 foot windows face east and every morning I’m greeted by a face full of sunshine. Now, I have ghetto rigged a sheet of wall paper to shield me from the demonic, evil sun light.
I managed to go grocery shopping this week and get supplies to make a very tasty dinner. I made some really dank spaghetti with meat sauce. Of course it was made even better by tons of garlic and sautéed mushrooms. My entire apartment reeks of garlic and I couldn’t be happier!
I should be heading to Busan tomorrow and coming back on Thursday. Busan is the second largest city in Korea and is on the south-east coast. I’m excited to see a half a million people on one stretch of beach. Then, on Friday we are planning to head to Seoul to hang out with a few friends. It should be a nice vacation all in all.
I miss everyone back home very much! Please give all my little cousins, nephews and other children my love. I hope everyone is doing well!
I guess it must be time for another update. I don’t really have much exciting going on at the moment. This week is vacation so a lot of people are gone. I have been enjoying relaxing and getting a bit more settled in. There are only two other teachers in town this week. One is Julie who has been here for about 2-3 months; the other is Kristin whom just got here 6 days ago. I enjoy both of their company, so we have spent some time together.
One day this week Julie and I went for a 4 hour walk around town. It helped me to get a bit more comfortable with my new home. We found a nice play ground near a stream. It was nice to act like one of my students for a few minuets. We also found a really nice coffee shop where I ran into an expat that I met from another school. I hadn’t realized how many people I’ve already met!
I have discovered a new love in my life; chicken korma with garlic nan. This is super delicious Indian food. I have had it 4 times since coming to Korea and twice this week alone. I have no words to describe it, other than it must be sent from heaven. This is by far the best food I’ve had in years, maybe my entire life…
I have spent quite a few hours this week arranging my apartment. I have cleaned, moved furniture down a crappy ladder, moved furniture up a crappy ladder and made my bed room/ loft more cave like. I am most excited about the cave-ness. My floor to ceiling, 13 foot windows face east and every morning I’m greeted by a face full of sunshine. Now, I have ghetto rigged a sheet of wall paper to shield me from the demonic, evil sun light.
I managed to go grocery shopping this week and get supplies to make a very tasty dinner. I made some really dank spaghetti with meat sauce. Of course it was made even better by tons of garlic and sautéed mushrooms. My entire apartment reeks of garlic and I couldn’t be happier!
I should be heading to Busan tomorrow and coming back on Thursday. Busan is the second largest city in Korea and is on the south-east coast. I’m excited to see a half a million people on one stretch of beach. Then, on Friday we are planning to head to Seoul to hang out with a few friends. It should be a nice vacation all in all.
I miss everyone back home very much! Please give all my little cousins, nephews and other children my love. I hope everyone is doing well!
Sunday, July 18, 2010
Another amazing week!
7-18
Another week in South Korea has come and gone. I still love it here and can’t wait to explore some more. Next week is my vacation so I should be able to get a good look around. I think I’m going to a resort with a Korean girl named Adrian. She is the girlfriend of a foreigner that is friends with my friends. Wow, that was confusing…
Reuven, Denis, Andy, Martin and I went to Seoul this weekend. We did a bit of shopping and just hung out. We took the KTX which is a super fast train that gets us there in about a half an hour. The ride was super smooth and the seats were very comfy. We got to our hotel and dropped our things off. We stayed at a love motel, which are typically cheap. These are places were couples basically go to hook up. They can be very nice though. They have everything you could need, like shampoo, conditioner and condoms! After the hotel we found a place to buy electronics because Denis wanted a camera. We had dinner at a Russian restaurant and it was oh so tasty! We managed to eat our way through at least 12 plates of food and drank 5 bottles of vodka. Needless to say the next day is kinda rough.
Last weekend a bunch of people from work stayed at a hotel near the beach. Our boss paid for everything. The rooms had no beds and looked over some rice paddies. The beach was kinda gross and I didn’t go in the water. People in Korea go swimming fully clothed and then play soccer and get completely sandy. There were also a ton of tents and booths set up selling things. They sold everything from beer to fireworks. I must say that I do miss the beaches back home.
Sorry for the short blog, but I’m tired and feel like being lazy. I hope all is going well where ever you may be reading this from!
Another week in South Korea has come and gone. I still love it here and can’t wait to explore some more. Next week is my vacation so I should be able to get a good look around. I think I’m going to a resort with a Korean girl named Adrian. She is the girlfriend of a foreigner that is friends with my friends. Wow, that was confusing…
Reuven, Denis, Andy, Martin and I went to Seoul this weekend. We did a bit of shopping and just hung out. We took the KTX which is a super fast train that gets us there in about a half an hour. The ride was super smooth and the seats were very comfy. We got to our hotel and dropped our things off. We stayed at a love motel, which are typically cheap. These are places were couples basically go to hook up. They can be very nice though. They have everything you could need, like shampoo, conditioner and condoms! After the hotel we found a place to buy electronics because Denis wanted a camera. We had dinner at a Russian restaurant and it was oh so tasty! We managed to eat our way through at least 12 plates of food and drank 5 bottles of vodka. Needless to say the next day is kinda rough.
Last weekend a bunch of people from work stayed at a hotel near the beach. Our boss paid for everything. The rooms had no beds and looked over some rice paddies. The beach was kinda gross and I didn’t go in the water. People in Korea go swimming fully clothed and then play soccer and get completely sandy. There were also a ton of tents and booths set up selling things. They sold everything from beer to fireworks. I must say that I do miss the beaches back home.
Sorry for the short blog, but I’m tired and feel like being lazy. I hope all is going well where ever you may be reading this from!
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
7-14 Teaching
7-14
I’m sitting here at work in between classes on my second break of the day. Its 7:15pm here. My day has actually been a pretty good one. Most of my kids have been good and only two kids cried. Not too bad! I guess I should attempt to explain a bit about what I’m doing for work over here.
I have a special kinder class on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. I do something called song and chant two days a week. I play a story on the over head projector, then a really bad rap song, and then we play a game and finish with coloring. These kids are about 6 years old and are a ton of fun. I also teach a science class on Fridays. This is my favorite special class, even though the experiments don’t usually work.
Every day I have two classes back to back that are the exact same. These are my everyday classes (surprising, I know!). These are New Hi Kids classes and are pretty easy to teach, even if the kids sometime aren’t!
On Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays I have 5 other classes with two fifty minute breaks. Most of these go smoothly but my oldest class drives me insane. It is my last class and I can’t do much to control them. They are slowing improving, very slowly.
On Tuesdays and Thursdays I have two classes after my everyday classes and then a 4 hour break at the end of the day. It is my first week having that long of a break. We finally got all of our teachers in and I had a class taken away, yay! Though, now I don’t know what to do with myself for 4 hours…
That’s my schedule and it’s pretty easy to navigate. We do have a rewards program that we give out stickers. Once every few months the kids can turn in the stickers and get “SLP money” to but things at “Market Day”. The stickers work well for most kids and keeps them under control.
Some kids like to come in the teacher’s room when I first get to work. I must say this is my favorite part of the day. I have a few girls that come by and sit in my lap and just chill for a few minuets. This makes me feel so warm on the inside. It also makes me miss my family
Some of the kids are too funny and like to point out all sorts of flaws. I have been told many times that I’m “big”, “strong” and “fat”. Some students like to suck up and call me pretty and smart. They usually get a good response from that. The kids here love to talk about death. I have had many classes revolve only around death and going to jail. I don’t care as long as they use what we learned that day. “What will you be doing in 5 years?” “I will be shooting Tim in 5 years.” “Very good!”
For every class that I teach, a Korean teacher also teaches the same class. This is kinda nice because it makes it so I have someone to discuss my students with. I have had a few classes tell me that they don’t like the Korean teacher, but love me. What can I say? It makes me happy.
That’s about all I got for now. I have class in ten minuets and still need to post this. I hope all is well where ever you’re reading this from!
I’m sitting here at work in between classes on my second break of the day. Its 7:15pm here. My day has actually been a pretty good one. Most of my kids have been good and only two kids cried. Not too bad! I guess I should attempt to explain a bit about what I’m doing for work over here.
I have a special kinder class on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. I do something called song and chant two days a week. I play a story on the over head projector, then a really bad rap song, and then we play a game and finish with coloring. These kids are about 6 years old and are a ton of fun. I also teach a science class on Fridays. This is my favorite special class, even though the experiments don’t usually work.
Every day I have two classes back to back that are the exact same. These are my everyday classes (surprising, I know!). These are New Hi Kids classes and are pretty easy to teach, even if the kids sometime aren’t!
On Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays I have 5 other classes with two fifty minute breaks. Most of these go smoothly but my oldest class drives me insane. It is my last class and I can’t do much to control them. They are slowing improving, very slowly.
On Tuesdays and Thursdays I have two classes after my everyday classes and then a 4 hour break at the end of the day. It is my first week having that long of a break. We finally got all of our teachers in and I had a class taken away, yay! Though, now I don’t know what to do with myself for 4 hours…
That’s my schedule and it’s pretty easy to navigate. We do have a rewards program that we give out stickers. Once every few months the kids can turn in the stickers and get “SLP money” to but things at “Market Day”. The stickers work well for most kids and keeps them under control.
Some kids like to come in the teacher’s room when I first get to work. I must say this is my favorite part of the day. I have a few girls that come by and sit in my lap and just chill for a few minuets. This makes me feel so warm on the inside. It also makes me miss my family
Some of the kids are too funny and like to point out all sorts of flaws. I have been told many times that I’m “big”, “strong” and “fat”. Some students like to suck up and call me pretty and smart. They usually get a good response from that. The kids here love to talk about death. I have had many classes revolve only around death and going to jail. I don’t care as long as they use what we learned that day. “What will you be doing in 5 years?” “I will be shooting Tim in 5 years.” “Very good!”
For every class that I teach, a Korean teacher also teaches the same class. This is kinda nice because it makes it so I have someone to discuss my students with. I have had a few classes tell me that they don’t like the Korean teacher, but love me. What can I say? It makes me happy.
That’s about all I got for now. I have class in ten minuets and still need to post this. I hope all is well where ever you’re reading this from!
Sunday, July 4, 2010
First outings in Korea
6-28
I finally got more than 4 hours of sleep, hoo raw! I passed out last night at 8pm and woke up today at 9:30 am. This is all thanks to my dear friend, Nyquil. I haven’t been sleeping all that well since I arrived so a good night’s sleep should help a lot with the jet lag.
7-4
I think today I shall tell about my adventures, instead of telling about my job. The first night in my apartment the boys took me out. There are three single boys; Andy, Denis, and Ruven. They all like to drink and shoot the shit, so we get along great! The first night out we went to Wabar, which is close to my apartment. I met the owner and had fun learning the different customs. Koreans don’t pour their own drinks, but you pour for everyone else. Also, at the bars here you have a service button you press and the waitress comes right over. I think we need this back home.
I have been out almost every night since being here. Koreans really love to drink and are super friendly. One of my favorite spots is Boom Bar. The bar tenders name is Pooh and one of the waiters is Tigger. I really can’t make this up. Pooh and Tigger love to do shows like juggling bottles that are on fire and magic tricks. They also give out balloon animals. The bars here are so much fun!
Every place you go to gives you some sort of snack. Some places are normal and have popcorn, nachos, or nuts. Other bars have a bit stranger snacks. Last night is a good example. The gave us snails, sea weed, and we ordered ramen. The snails kind of tasted like cold, salty oysters.
Every thing here has bright neon signs that just blow me away. I look like such a dork standing on the side walk with my eyes as big as half dollars. Some places blast music, which is usually k-pop or American pop. The names of some shops are too funny not to laugh. I saw a place last night called “Skin Food”.
Koreans are really into karaoke. The have places that you go and get a room with a group of people and just sing as much as you want. These places never close so of course most people end up there after going to a bar, or six. I’m not a big fan of karaoke, but this concept is fascinating to me. You pay money to sit in a room and sing songs horribly, just to embarrass yourself in front of friends and co-workers. Wow…
Things are pretty cheap here, even taxis. Now, living in Florida I don’t ride in to many cabs. I love it here because it is so easy to grab a cab and go. I would not want to drive here; they drive almost as badly as Dominicans. A ten minute taxi ride here is only about 3 dollars. You just can’t beat that!
Sorry that it took me so long to post, but things have just been kinda crazy. I will have pictures soon and I will try and post about once a week, probably on Sundays. Happy Fourth of July!
I finally got more than 4 hours of sleep, hoo raw! I passed out last night at 8pm and woke up today at 9:30 am. This is all thanks to my dear friend, Nyquil. I haven’t been sleeping all that well since I arrived so a good night’s sleep should help a lot with the jet lag.
7-4
I think today I shall tell about my adventures, instead of telling about my job. The first night in my apartment the boys took me out. There are three single boys; Andy, Denis, and Ruven. They all like to drink and shoot the shit, so we get along great! The first night out we went to Wabar, which is close to my apartment. I met the owner and had fun learning the different customs. Koreans don’t pour their own drinks, but you pour for everyone else. Also, at the bars here you have a service button you press and the waitress comes right over. I think we need this back home.
I have been out almost every night since being here. Koreans really love to drink and are super friendly. One of my favorite spots is Boom Bar. The bar tenders name is Pooh and one of the waiters is Tigger. I really can’t make this up. Pooh and Tigger love to do shows like juggling bottles that are on fire and magic tricks. They also give out balloon animals. The bars here are so much fun!
Every place you go to gives you some sort of snack. Some places are normal and have popcorn, nachos, or nuts. Other bars have a bit stranger snacks. Last night is a good example. The gave us snails, sea weed, and we ordered ramen. The snails kind of tasted like cold, salty oysters.
Every thing here has bright neon signs that just blow me away. I look like such a dork standing on the side walk with my eyes as big as half dollars. Some places blast music, which is usually k-pop or American pop. The names of some shops are too funny not to laugh. I saw a place last night called “Skin Food”.
Koreans are really into karaoke. The have places that you go and get a room with a group of people and just sing as much as you want. These places never close so of course most people end up there after going to a bar, or six. I’m not a big fan of karaoke, but this concept is fascinating to me. You pay money to sit in a room and sing songs horribly, just to embarrass yourself in front of friends and co-workers. Wow…
Things are pretty cheap here, even taxis. Now, living in Florida I don’t ride in to many cabs. I love it here because it is so easy to grab a cab and go. I would not want to drive here; they drive almost as badly as Dominicans. A ten minute taxi ride here is only about 3 dollars. You just can’t beat that!
Sorry that it took me so long to post, but things have just been kinda crazy. I will have pictures soon and I will try and post about once a week, probably on Sundays. Happy Fourth of July!
Thursday, June 24, 2010
First day - belated
It’s the first morning in South Korea and I’m sitting in my hotel room waiting for 11 to roll around. Yesterday went about is well as I could have asked for, except one problem. My apartment smelled like spoiled chicken…
I arrived at the airport at 4pm and was on the limousine bus by 4:20. The ride was pleasant and the country beautiful. Once at the bus terminal in Cheonan, my boss’s wife, Elle, picked me up and took me to the school. Mind you, at this point it was about 7pm Korean time and I had been up for 27 hours.
SLP (my school), is on the 5th floor of a building. The school is very nice, and so were the other teachers. I met quite a few people and barely remember anyone’s name. The teacher I’m replacing is Bethany and she showed me the ropes. Bethany is from Canada, I think, and is super sweet and bubbly. The teacher’s lounge is cramped with 20 or so teachers but still comfy and cozy.
After seeing the school I was taken to my new apartment just a few blocks away. This is the first time that something seemed off. The girl whom used to live there left quickly and the place was a bit of a mess. The floors were dirty and dishes were in the sink. She had also left some personal effects. After my escort left (I can’t remember his name), I started to tidy up and opened the freezer to find two packages of rotten chicken. I almost barfed. Good thing I hadn’t eaten in awhile!
I knew that one of my fellow teachers lived next door, so I went over to ask her for some help. Kristina kindly took pity on me and lent me some cleaning supplies. I tried to clean the best I could, but the smell was too strong so I returned next door. Kristina took me back to the school to talk to Frank, my boss.
Frank decided I should stay in a hotel for the night and called his wife to pick me up. The hotel is extremely nice, though different than what I’m used to. They have all sorts of beauty supplies and even complementary condoms. I took a shower and tried to find something on TV. Apparently here you don’t have to pay to watch porn!
I gave up on the TV and tried to find a wireless connection for my computer to no avail. After admitting to defeat I fell into a deep sleep and woke up earlier than expected this morning. It seems like a lovely day to start my new job!
I arrived at the airport at 4pm and was on the limousine bus by 4:20. The ride was pleasant and the country beautiful. Once at the bus terminal in Cheonan, my boss’s wife, Elle, picked me up and took me to the school. Mind you, at this point it was about 7pm Korean time and I had been up for 27 hours.
SLP (my school), is on the 5th floor of a building. The school is very nice, and so were the other teachers. I met quite a few people and barely remember anyone’s name. The teacher I’m replacing is Bethany and she showed me the ropes. Bethany is from Canada, I think, and is super sweet and bubbly. The teacher’s lounge is cramped with 20 or so teachers but still comfy and cozy.
After seeing the school I was taken to my new apartment just a few blocks away. This is the first time that something seemed off. The girl whom used to live there left quickly and the place was a bit of a mess. The floors were dirty and dishes were in the sink. She had also left some personal effects. After my escort left (I can’t remember his name), I started to tidy up and opened the freezer to find two packages of rotten chicken. I almost barfed. Good thing I hadn’t eaten in awhile!
I knew that one of my fellow teachers lived next door, so I went over to ask her for some help. Kristina kindly took pity on me and lent me some cleaning supplies. I tried to clean the best I could, but the smell was too strong so I returned next door. Kristina took me back to the school to talk to Frank, my boss.
Frank decided I should stay in a hotel for the night and called his wife to pick me up. The hotel is extremely nice, though different than what I’m used to. They have all sorts of beauty supplies and even complementary condoms. I took a shower and tried to find something on TV. Apparently here you don’t have to pay to watch porn!
I gave up on the TV and tried to find a wireless connection for my computer to no avail. After admitting to defeat I fell into a deep sleep and woke up earlier than expected this morning. It seems like a lovely day to start my new job!
Airplane post- belated
Today has been a very tiring day of travel and I’m not even in South Korea yet! My mom, Diane and I woke up at about 3:15 so that I could be out the door by 4:45. Let me tell you how much I don’t like seeing that end of 3:30 am! It’s 10:12 pm in Florida now and I am beat.
Getting on the plane was fine, except apparently my four sticks of deodorant in my carry on was a threat. As Matt said, “You not having the deodorant is more of a threat.”
Getting on the plane was fine, except apparently my four sticks of deodorant in my carry on was a threat. As Matt said, “You not having the deodorant is more of a threat.”
Friday, June 18, 2010
Not quite yet.
Well, this is the first post and I haven't even left yet. My bags are almost packed and my last minute stuff is almost done. I'm not excited yet, just ready to start the journey. Its been great spending time with my family and friends here, but I'm ready for the next chapter of my life.
I must be off to finish the final scramble...
I must be off to finish the final scramble...
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