Asian travels

I am going to Seoul in a matter of hours

On 

a bus (leaving at 6 am)

With

good company (Kat and Kristin)

So

I should be sleeping right now

But 

I'm too super pumped for a vacation!

Also,

I am officially going to Beijing for the Chinese New Year!

Above pics are from my Korean Christmas celebrations at school and with friends...

"So Brian's YOUR son?! Hmm...."

Today I had my first parent-teacher meeting...oooooh! *cue scary music*

...I wasn't in the least bit worried about the parent-teacher conference until I got to school, met my Korean co-teacher for the class, and starting down the stairs to wait for the parents. Paris, who is normally pretty bubbly, was shaking in her boots...clearly nervous. Which in turn made me begin to feel nervous. Paris explained her worries about having to speak about the student's weaknesses in a way that doesn't upset the pushy mother paying mucho dinero (won) each month for their child to attend a private English school but also the challenge of having to present things honestly. I had been thinking about that myself, having to remind myself that I am in the English school business...a business that pays me well, so I must be careful as well. I'm sure she was also nervous to do translating so I could also communicate with the parents and vice versa but she didn't mention that.

Thinking about the stories my friend Lauren told me about the parent-teacher conferences at her English school made me giggle a bit as we waited for the parents. She's pretty sure her director translated only what he wanted the parents to hear as the parents would always smile, nod, and say thank you after everything she said. "Ahh, what? Why are you thanking me? I just said your kid was disruptive and a huge idiot!" she told me. hahaha.......

Four parents showed up, two of which were parents of my students. One being the parent of by far the worst student in the class. The one that never does his essays, speeches or follows along in class. So during the first 1/2 hour when it was all Korean speaking between Paris and the mothers I sat racking my brain for something positive to say about my worst student before mentioning how he needs to improve on his pronunciation, writing, listening...oh I don't know, just EVERYTHING!

I couldn't come up with anything so when my turn to talk came I just jumped in head first with suggestions on his much needed improvement. Paris seemed to be translating accurately and the mothers seemed to listening carefully as I spoke. A few of the mothers asked really great questions about the specific materials we are using in class and how their children compare to students in the U.S. and such. I was impressed.

All in all I felt it was a very successful meeting and definitely enjoyable to put some parent faces with student faces. I guess I'm like a legit teacher now with parent conferences under my belt...what? weird. *shrugs shoulders* :)

Searching for Christmas in Korea

more to come as the search continues...

Here comes Santa Claus....

Today we sang Christmas carols in our classes! Yipee! Each class gets to choose one song to practice then perform on Christmas Eve. The mixed CD of the carols are sung by all the classics like Bing Crosby and Elvis. The students were horrified at the "old" sounding songs and kept making barfing signals and demanding me to switch to the next song....haha it was very funny! Too much Korean pop songs have corrupted their music tastes I suppose. But what was even more funny is that the one song that almost every student already knew was....can you guess?.....FELIZ NAVIDAD! Isn't that hilarious? They were shocked when I explained that Feliz Navidad was Spanish not English...I think it may have turned their worlds upside down.

Also, we now have a few decorated (fake) Christmas trees scattered around the school. Christmas trees + Christmas carols = Kelly's heart warmed

A year of thanks..

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! Thanksgiving: a time to reflect on the past year's blessings and give thanks for those blessings. Even though I am not at home enjoying the big meal with my family (stomach growling), I certainly have a lot to be thankful for on this day, thousands of miles and 15 hours away in Ulsan, South Korea.

As you might have guessed Thanksgiving is not a holiday that Koreans observe. Although they do have a holiday that's similar, honoring their ancestors, celebrated back in September. Thanksgiving day at school was fun. I brought little pumpkin candy treats to share with the teachers and all my students. After letting my students enjoy the tasty treat I had the older ones read a short Thanksgiving poem. Then I made them come to the front of the room one by one and speak about three things they were thankful for. Hearing the chorus of whiney "Teeeaaaccccherrrr!" when I told them they must come to the front to speak, it was surprising how many students were still thankful for their teacher....or maybe they thought I would give them an extra candy if they brown-nosed! Either way it warmed my heart a bit. :)

Now it is my turn to make my list of thanks for this year...and I will write in complete sentences just like I made my students.

~I am thankful for graduating from college! In four years! Wooo!
~I am thankful for the free housing my last year of college even though I whined about having to shovel all the time. (It WAS a crazy, hard winter though, you must admit) :)
~I am thankful for my free housing now in Korea. A comfy, cozy, warm one room apartment. It's going to be a sad day when I must pay rent again.
~I am thankful for all the great friends I met throughout college....I miss you guys!
~I am thankful for an amazing (although short) backpacking trip through Europe with amazing friends (included here are all the new friends we made) and amazing adventures.
~I am thankful for my Grandma's long and sweet life on this earth that blessed so many people.
~I am thankful for the two months I spent at home being a lazy bum trying to figure out my next move.
~I am sooooooo (uber) thankful for my job in Korea. It is quite a miracle that I ended up here...not to mention at a good school, with a great director, and friendly Korean co-workers.
~I am thankful for letters and packages sent from family and friends. There's just nothing like getting mail from home. Thanks Kat and Nell and fam!
~I am thankful for all my new Korean friends (Hangu chingu) that take such great care of me and have taught me so much about their culture and language.
~I am thankful for my students who at times I want to slap but at most times make me smile a bunch.
~I am thankful for a new president.
~I am thankful for my relatively small student loan debt that I am working on paying off.
~I am thankful for finding a good church and fellow brothers and sisters in Christ in Korea.
~I am thankful for Skype and Skype dates with friends and family. It's so nice to hear your voices!
~I am sooooo thankful for Kat joining me in Ulsan and for her joyful, adventurous, kindred spirit.
~I am thankful for an extended and BEAUTIFUL fall season (which we are STILL in btw). Jealous?
~I am thankful for the beautiful Korean terrain that surrounds me (mountains and ocean).
~I am thankful for Rotiboy buns. The perfect treat, all the time.
~I am thankful for English bookstores.
~And last but not certainly not least, I am thankful for KIMCHI...in all it's fermented goodness and speculative health benefits. :)

Welcoming change...

The winds of change have blown over America recently with the exciting election of Barack Obama as our next president and similar (but not quite as blustery) winds of change have blown over my life in Korea in these last few weeks as well. Both I am welcoming with open arms.

Speaking of welcoming, I have been busy welcoming another Iowan to this very lucky city. After playing recruiter these last few months it was fantastic to see the lovely Kat Lundberg finally on Korean turf and ready to tear up this place up with me. Living only a few minutes from each other we have shared many adventures and laughs already.

The next big change happened at the same time as one term (1 term=4 months) ended and the new began. The end of the term was a very busy time as I had to evaluate each of my students (which is a LOT of students mind you) speaking abilities with a designated speaking test for each level. Each student is taken outside the classroom one by one, asked a series of questions, and is graded on their comprehension, pronunciation, grammar, fluency, and use of vocabulary. It took almost a full week to get through all the students and let me tell you...after asking, "What day is it today?" and "Where does a firefighter work?" for what feels like the 250th time it's hard to act interested in the students' response. I had one of my Pre-Step (younger, very beginning level English) students snap at me when he noticed my eyes glazing over and my mind obviously spacing out as I asked him his list of questions...."Hey! Teacher!" It was too funny! But perhaps the biggest challenge (and NOT so funny part) of the speaking test time is keeping the students in the classroom quiet and controlled while you are outside giving the test. There are only so many worksheets you can hand out and only so many times you can pop your head in commanding them to sit down and be quiet before you just give up and pray they don't kill each other.

Halloween came at the perfect time this year, on the Friday at the end of the term, so we could truly observe it as a "fun" day filled only with snack parties and games. We teachers all dressed in costumes (I was a bunch of grapes...see pictures in last post) and had a runway show for the younger students earlier in the afternoon. After the second runway show I pulled off all my grapes and let the students fight over the balloons...it almost got messy! The older students played this game called chicken fight where they would sit in a circle with two players in the middle hopping on one leg trying to knock the other down with their other leg that is folded at the knee. It was pretty entertaining to watch (and slightly dangerous), especially when a few of the girls showed up the tough boys.

With the stress of the term ending and the Halloween holiday near, Kristen and I decided it was the perfect time to initiate some co-worker pranks. Jerome, our Korean friend and key player in our prankster team, has helped to translated ambiguous messages into Korean for us and other various tasks. No one was suspecting us but now I am afraid we have been discovered. After Simon (a part time worker) feverishly looked for his shoes (that Kristen and I had swiped and locked in a desk drawer) for two hours the other night, Jerome broke down and returned the shoes, admitting our prank. So sadly, we will have to wait a little bit before we can do more office pranks.

The new term brought a new schedule of classes to teach and a number of new faces in the classroom. I have kept many of the same students just moved up one level but have unfortunately lost my two favorite classes of the lower level English students. All in all I'm enjoying my new schedule, the change, and the fresh start so it looks to be a very good term ahead.

Much of my free time these days has been filled exchanging language lessons with Korean friends and I love every minute of it....oh how beautiful communication is! I have so many stories to tell, so ask me over Skype sometime!

Love and miss you all...

Some pictures from the latest hiking adventure:

Beware, beware

Sorry I haven't written in a while but here are some pictures from Halloween Day at school to hold you over until my next post...and let's be honest, you enjoy the pictures more than my babbling anyway!

Joys down in my heart

As I sit down to blog a Sunday school classic runs through my head...

I've got joy, joy, joy, joy down in my heart.
Where? Down in my heart!
Where? Down in my heart!
I've got joy, joy, joy, joy down in my heart
Down in my heart to stay!
And I'm so happy, so very happy....etc.

I am nearing the three months mark, an important landmark when living and working abroad. Almost every foreigner I've met has warned me of the third month "low" in which the honeymoon stage of life in Korea has worn off and most people find themselves annoyed, frustrated, and/or homesick. Determined not to fall into this infamous "low" I've decided it's "high" (ah ha ha) time to record the little joys that bring a smile to my face each day.

1. The friendly guard at the back entrance to the university- Most mornings I go for a jog at the university track close by to my apartment. And most mornings I am greeted by the same old guardman who gives me a bright smile and a "hello" salute. He must be studying up on his English because in addition to the simple salute, a dialogue has gradually grown (with a new, added phrase about once a week) into "Hello/good morning beautiful lady! How are you? Have a nice day/see you tomorrow!"

2. Little Alvin- My very first class of the day are always my precious Pre-Step 2-ers. They are the youngest students at E.L.C. (8 years old) and have the lowest level English. One student named Alvin is the sweetest little thing in the universe. Everyday he sprints up the steps to the teacher's area before the bell rings (which always leaves him gasping for breath) in order to grab my basket of books to carry into back down into the class room. If he doesn't come to get my books then I can be sure that he is hiding under my desk to "scare" me when I sit down to take attendance.

3. Go-karts- This past weekend was the annual fall picnic for my school. Smith, my goofy director, decided we'd go-kart racing for the Saturday adventure. The day began at 9:15 am when we loaded ourselves into the school vans for the hour long drive to Gyeongji, Korea's old capital, very historic and beautiful countryside (note the mountains in the background of the picture). It didn't take long before the fried chicken covered in spicy sauce, chips, oranges, soda and beer were passed around to all of us passengers. What? Fried chicken with spicy sauce in the morning? Believe it. To no one's surprise Smith was a madman on the go-karts, not slowing down for anyone, not even the double carts containing small children (see picture)...eek! The poor secretary at the school made the mistake of riding with Mr. Kim and screamed the entire race. He took great pleasure in her screams and the rest of us took great pleasure in the terrified look on her face each time they sped by. Mr. Kim spun around in circles several times as a grand finale before pulling into the "pit" lane and even somehow managed to keep a straight face as he was being scolded by the go-kart workers for his spinning. Ah, nothing beats driving super fast around a track and the smell of burning rubber though...that cannot be denied.

4. Cheap lunch- Thanks to the introduction from my Korean friends Jerome and Nimo, I've been enjoying the delicious and super cheap lunch specials at the university cafeteria. We're talking a full plate of food for 2,000 won (~ under $2). Can't beat it. Not only is it tasty, it also allows me to try a larger variety of Korean dishes, makes so I don't have to do any cooking/cleaning, AND allows me to practice my Korean as I try to read the signs and order by myself. Win-win-win.

5. Mums- This week is the flower festival at the university. Mums galore. Nearly every open space is now filled with mums. It's breathtaking...today kindergarten students were swarming the place getting pictures taken with their classmates. Since when have we been this in awe with creation like these kindergarteners?

6. My new camera- Wooo, obviously I'm excited to finally be able to capture memories as I choose and post pictures for ya'll back home to make my blogs a little more exciting. :)

Becoming cultured

My apologies. I have been lazy to blog lately leaving me so much to tell all at once....ah, where to begin?

Well, biggest news first: I have a cellphone now! It's fanTAStic! I kept telling myself the longer I went without, although frustrating then, would just make it all that more sweet in the end and it was so true. It feels incredible to have one now! Ah, so great. With Internet at my apartment now as well, I can fully reach my social potential with friends here and people back home. Yay! Not to mention I love not having to plan everything ahead of time anymore...I can return to my laid back, wherever the wind blows me, spontaneous, and late self.

Last weekend was full of new adventures and distinctly Korean culture experiences. Friday was a holiday (no work) which called for a Thursday night all school dinner celebration. Dinner was Round 1, drinks with funny snacks (dried squid dipped in a red pepper paste and mayonnaise blend) was Round 2, and the night ended as the sun was beginning to rise after Round 3 in the karaoke room. I discovered my manager's love for ABBA so we had a blast singing and dancing to "Dancing Queen" with the handful of co-workers that stuck it out the whole night.

After a few hours of sleep I felt refreshed and ready to attack Mt. Gaji with Kristen, Jerome, and Melanie. We must have been jamming too loud to Jerome's mix CD of Britney Spears, 98 degrees, Clay Aiken, and Mariah Carey that we ignored the GPS instructions to stop (oops) and kept right on driving past Mt. Gaji to end up at Mt. Sinbul a bit further down the very scary, tight, and twisty road. The new, unexpected destination was fine with me because Mt. Sinbul is home to a beautiful waterfall I had secretly been wanting to see since I came to Korea.

The hike down to the waterfall was a piece of cake and after a snack of apples (rudely interrupted by giant bees) courtsey of Jerome, we decided to explore the path going up from the waterfall. Being amateur mountain hikers we failed to pack our hiking sticks or wear the proper hiking shoes for the kind of trails we encountered. We climbed almost straight up until we reached what we thought was the top (and I'm still convinced it HAD to be because we were SO high) but when we stopped to catch our breath and enjoy the view we were told from some other hikers it was another 2 hours to the top. Whhhha?!? Kristen and I climbed a tree to get an even better view of the endless mountains and we all decided making it that far was good enough to be called a successful hiking adventure.

We headed home, cleaned up, and went to check out the world music festival going on at a park downtown. Everything seems to be called a festival here so our expectations for this world music festival were very low. I was blown away when we arrived! The first band playing out the large outdoor stage was called Gypsy from the Czech. Picture this: Eminen mixed with accordian and fiddle, speaking in Czech with the occasional curse word in English. Ridiculous but they were extremely talented musicians. The next was a Romanian band...10 or so older men standing in a line on the stage, 2 tubas, 2 trumpets, 2 bass drums, 2 saxophones, and a few singers. It was one of those things where you think, "Wow, I can't believe I just watched that for an entire hour," but there was just something intriguing about it all.

Saturday morning I hopped on a bus to go to the magical land of Daegu...home of Costco, over an hour drive from Ulsan. I haven't missed much food from home so I wasn't even going to go but decided to enjoy the social outing of it all. Costco was not that exciting (or maybe it was the fact that we were there, in the store,for over 2 hours...) but I did scored some Eggos to have for breakfast in the mornings. Leggo my Eggos! The funny thing is I never ate Eggos in the States because I could always eat my mom's waffles. But now that real waffles are not to be found, I have to indulge in the pre-packaged kind.

The long bus ride made me antsy so I couldn't wait to get back to Ulsan and check out the music festival again. There's just something about live music that is addicting. This time we visited the other stages to hear some jazz and artists from the featured country (Portugal). On the outside stage an Argentinian band played and WOW, they were so good! The last song they let everyone rush the stage and danced around them as they sang and played their instruments. Amazing. A last minute, late night soccer game watching, spicy fried chicken eating party with Willy after the music fest made for an action packed and quite exhausting day.

Side observation: Koreans love to clap...to everything...and I find it hilarious. Now I'm a bit of a clapper hater so maybe I'm a little bias, but let's be honest, some types of music you simply cannot clap along with, am I right? In my opinion, clapping is just a lame kind of exemption from dancing and I say, why don't we just all dance? What's the big deal?

Sunday after church I once again caught the last bit of the music festival. This time a traditional Korean drum group was performing where all traditional instruments were played. It one of those shows that would come to the Gallagher-Bluedorn Performing Arts Center...it was great and something every expat living in Korea should experience. It was exhausting and inspiring to watch as the performers drummed their hearts and ran around singing and playing other instruments out for a solid hour.

After the performance I was off to one of my manager's son's first birthday party at a buffet restaurant. A child's first birthday (which is really their 2nd because they are said to be 1 at birth) is a huge deal here. Hundreds of people are invited and it runs sort of like a graduation party. There was a slide show of baby pictures, a large table set up with framed pictures, the parents and baby both dressed in the traditional hanbak outfits, and a "MC" of sorts directing the party. Jerome and I walked in a bit late and slipped into a sit in the back of the room but as I looked around I noticed I was the only non-Korean there. The MC was doing his thing in Korean and within 30 seconds the entire room was pointing at me, people were pushing me out of my chair, towards the front of the room and the MC, and saying congratulations. I had no idea what was going on (I'm sure my face was bright red), so I sheepishly accepted the bottle of wine the MC was offering me. When I sat down it was explained that I had won the gift for having travel the furthest to be there. I ended up leaving with a full tummy, a bottle of wine, and a hand towel with the baby's name and birthday embroidered on it. Crazy!

One of the most interesting Korean 1st birthday traditions is small trinkets that represent a certain career are set on the floor, the baby crawls towards them and whichever he touches first is said to be the career he is destined for. Thomas' baby touched a computer mouse so it's said he will be a computer IT person. So fun!

Ah, no time to fine-tune, more to come soon!

For those of you who may have forgotten what I look like here's a few pictures from the orphanage that I stole from a friend's Facebook page. The second picture, besides being a reminder of what my back side looks like, is the best picture I could find of a Korean style jump rope game I learned. One person puts their shoes in the center next to the rope swinger and you must jump inwards, grab a shoe and jump out to be successful. It's not easy people. Especially when the swinger is crazy, swings faster and faster and makes you jump higher and higher as you move in closer. Try it out. Warning: make sure to take the wood or plastic off one of the ends...it's a shin killer. :)

Hemingway's old man meets Mr. Wonka

After a long afternoon of teaching I love going back to the quiet of my one room apartment, changing out of my nice clothes, eating a tasty snack, and relaxing with a good book. Although I must admit, some nights I flip on the TV and get sucked into an episode from an old season of Hell’s Kitchen or House playing on the English channels instead of picking up a book. I need those mind numbing nights on occasion, I mean, don’t we all?

Anyway, as I snooped through Kristen’s bookshelf one night, I spotted a copy of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator. Realizing I had never read these books even though I am crazy about the original Willy Wonka movie with Gene Wilder, I figured it was about darn time I sat down and read the two. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory was a quick and fun read that made me better appreciate (although I still think the older one is better) the newer Willy Wonka movie with Johnny Depp since it truly followed the book. While waiting to swap the Chocolate Factory book for the Great Glass Elevator from Kristen, I picked up Hemingway’s The Old Man and the Sea from the school’s bookshelf. I was on a Hemingway kick this summer before I left for Korea so I was excited to find it on the shelf. The Old Man and the Sea is short enough that I knew I could squeeze it in between the Charlie series so it was perfect.

Hemingway’s book could not have been any more in the opposite spectrum of books from Charlie’s adventures but both stories were wonderful and inspiring stories in their own, unique way. Ah, reading is great for that, isn’t it?

The Old Man and the Sea is this very realistic story of an old fisherman down on his luck who, by his lonesome, battles a giant fish out at sea. It seems a sad tale at first but in the end is an inspiring story of triumph in defeat. Here’s one of my favorite lines…
“Don’t think, old man,” he said aloud. “Sail on this course and take it when it comes.” Good life advice, eh?

Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator can officially be marked the most ridiculous story I’ve read in a long, long time. Trips to space, Wonka-Vites, Minusland, it all had me laughing. Among its ridiculousness I did find a great and inspiring passage that I think we all need to hear and take to heart…
“What if they capture us?” said Mrs. Bucket.
“What if they shoot us?” said Grandma Georgina.
“What if my beard were made of green spinach?” cried Mr. Wonka. “Bunkum and tummyrot! You’ll never get anywhere if you go about what-iffing like that. Would Columbus have discovered America if he’d said ‘What if I sink on the way over? What if I meet pirates? What if I never come back?’ He wouldn’t have even started! We want no what-iffers around here, right Charlie? Off we go, then.”

Now after some lovely reads, I am only left wondering what would happen if Hemingway’s old man were to encounter Mr. Wonka or have a run in at sea with Charlie in the glass elevator…hmmm….a story that needs to be written….

Teaching is going wonderfully, even the few trouble classes that I wrote about previously I no longer dread. I feel like I have finally figured out how to manage the difficult students and may even be teaching them some English. I’ve been able to reveal more and more of my personality as they start listening and behaving in class so I think now they see me less as a strict, frustrated, and angry teacher and more like a person who really does care about their learning.

Over the weekend I went to the infamous karaoke rooms for the first time with Amber, Chris, and Willy, a manager at the new E.L.C. school. What little joys they are! I’m not sure how I’ve survived thus far without that kind of joy in my life. The rooms were tiny, scattered with little sitting pillows on the floor, and hanging on one wall was a large, flat screen TV. Just a few push of some buttons and the music starts blaring while miscellaneous music videos are played in the background. We jammed to some Korean songs done by Willy and a lot of terrible American songs from our childhood like “Wannabe” by the Spice Girls and “I Believe I Can Fly” from the Space Jam movie.

I also attempted to buy a webcam but failed miserably since NOTHING seems to be Mac friendly in Ulsan. Boo! I was feeling pretty down about my failed webcam mission so Edwin and I found a restaurant serving a Korean dish that I’d never tried before but he assured me was delicious. Some cow meat, vegetable, rice cake, soupy, noodle, mix, he said. It was very tasty but the “cow meat” was definitely not “meat” it was most certainly intestine. And the purple “rice cakes” were definitely cow liver mixed with rice cake. After I found this out I just told myself that it had to be extremely healthy and kept eating. Ma-shit-da! Tasty! Oh the adventures with food….
Later that night Edwin took me for a ride on his moped up into the mountains behind the city. Looking down on the city lights was super sweet. Acting just like a nervous parent of a teenager, he let me drive for a brief period of time before turning back and heading home for the night.

The weekdays fly by in the classroom…the weekend is almost here! Saturday I am going to an orphanage in Busan with a group from church. I am super excited to go and will let you all know how it was next week!

Hugs from Korea!

When going green goes bad

“When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him?” Psalms 8: 3-4

Tree-huggers, hippies, eco-freaks, green people, supporters of team Earth (my personal preference)…however you choose to label “those” people, count me in. The older I get, the more educated I become, and the more I travel, the more I find myself completely awed by the beauty on this planet and the majestic Creator of it all.

The breathtaking beauty in both people and nature inspires me to everyday do my best in preserving all its glory. Therefore, I’m a firm believer in the 3 R’s. We all learned them in elementary school…REDUCE, REUSE, RECYCLE, remember? Following the 3 R’s is not only good for the environment but, in the long run, good for your pocketbook and good for your health…or so I thought…

Upon my arrival in Korea I noticed bottled water being served at several restaurants, an excessive number of plastic bottles thrown along the streets and trashcans overflowing with water bottle debris. I was a bit disgusted. The environmental activist spirit in me immediately reacted by vowing to reuse like crazy in this country. So the bottle of water I purchased in the airport after I stepped off the plane in Ulsan I faithfully refilled over and over again from my tap (totaling a LOT of refills especially during those hot, humid August days)…until last weekend. As I was riding the bus and chatting with Kristen I pull out my bottle’o’tap water, take a big gulp and casually mention my refilling and reusing obsession. I make some crack about the water smelling funny at times to look up and find Kristen making a disgusted face. She informs me of the reason Koreans drink bottle water and have water dispensers everywhere…not because they are earth-haters as I had so easily assumed but because there are TOXINS in the tap water! Toxins that, in some cases, cannot even be boiled out. YIIIIKES!

Instantly hunched over and convinced I have every kind of cancer known to man Kristen tries to reassure me by saying she knew of some guy who drank it for over a year without knowing and seems to be doing fine. So surely a month would not affect me, right? Let’s hope so. If not I’m going to write Al Gore, explain the situation, my good “green” intentions, and request that he pay for all my medical bills.

So that, my friends, is how just like the corn beef at Happy Chef (that one’s for you mom), going green can go bad.

In other nontoxic and far less dramatic news I have been using my weekends to run from the cityscape as much as possible and enjoy the marvelous mountainous landscape that Korea truly is. Ulsan Grand Park (comparable to Central Park in NYC) is a lovely and surprisingly huge oasis in the middle of the city where Kristen and I rented bikes and spent an afternoon cruising about two weekends back. My first time on a bike in nearly a month (even though it was nothing like the Swinn) did miraculous things for my spirits. This past Sunday afternoon (which was also the Korean holiday called Chuseok) was spent at Mt. Sinbul, home to Ulsan’s biggest and most famous temple. The air was so fresh, the temples so serene, the mountains so exotic, and the company (Edwin and Lauren) so enjoyable that I didn’t want the day to end. We even met a Korean congressman at the temple who shook our hands and took a picture with Lauren and I, making us feel pretty darn lucky to say the least. On our way back to the city we stopped for a pricey (but delicious) Chuseok meal at a well-known bulgogi beef restaurant that was well worth the splurge…even the staple kimchi side dish (fermented cabbage in red pepper paste) that’s not all that tasty had a better flavor.

Sidenote on Chuseok: Chuseok is similar to our American Thanksgiving. Families gather together for a big meal and bow at their ancestors graves to pay respect to them. Gifts of basic household goods (like soap, toothpaste, cooking oil, etc) are given to friends and family. Our director dressed in the traditional Korean outfit and delivered to all the teachers a large set of shampoo and toothpaste on Friday...it was super adorable. :)

And after sitting down with my Teach Yourself Korean book on a rainy Saturday afternoon I’ve finally learned the Korean alphabet. It’s exciting to be able to read words (even if I have not the slightest idea what those words mean) but I’m sure super obnoxious especially for Edwin, my brother from an Asian mother, as I now attempt to read everything in sight and often request his help with pronunciation.

The foreigner festival on Monday was all fun and games until the free giveaway where after a string of Pilipino and Vietnamese names were drawn for the prizes an angry Sri Lankan accused the host of rigging the name selection, started a mini revolution, and convinced all the Sri Lankans to throw up their arms and walk out of the theater. All over a few large boxes of ramen and some space heaters! Then they (the Sri Lankans) were all still waiting outside the theater when the evening concluded, looking tough, and waiting to pick a fight. I didn’t stick around to see how it all ended but I have a feeling some fists were probably swinging. Pretty ridiculous if you ask me.


I am savoring every last minute of this long holiday weekend as I won't have a break like this again until New Year's...*groan*

Silly sights in Korea

-banana puff chips
Craving a salty snack after classes I went to the market and picked out what I thought to be cheesy imitation Cheeto puffs sitting in the aisle among the salty snacks. Turns out they were indeed puffs, but sweet banana flavored puffs…
-paper pockets of water
Instead of drinking fountains at school we have hot and cold water dispensers. And instead of Dixie cups we have little paper pockets to drink out of that can hold only a gulp of water. I find them very funny…
-cheese on cake
On another after school snack mission, this time craving sweets, I browsed small the cookie and snack cake section. I found a box of small little Debbie-ish cakes reading (in English) cheese and honey cakes. My mind automatically assuming cream cheese I think “Yummm” and sealed the purchase. The box didn’t lie, I opened the package to find a sweet cake covered in actual yellow cheese. And by actual cheese I mean the unnatural, processed, I-can-sit-on-a-shelf-for-weeks cheese…very interesting and only slightly tasty…
-sugar on corn dogs
Students and the Korean teachers alike often snack between classes on corn dogs purchased from the snack shop on the first floor. Normal corn dogs as we know them with ketchup but also sprinkled with sugar. For a country that doesn’t consume many sweets, sugar is a surprise addition to several seemingly odd things…like garlic toast and corn dogs.
-men carrying their lady’s purse
Man bags (aka purses) are very common in Korea and are carried with absolutely no shame. This is not particularly silly to me, in fact I find it quite endearing, but what I cannot help but giggle at is the sight of guys carrying their ladies’ very girly purses as well. Such gentlemen!
-fully clothed swimmers at the beach
For no other explanation except perhaps their fear of the sun’s harmful rays, you will very rarely see a Korean swimming in just their swimwear. Rather they choose to swim fully clothed with shorts and a t-shirt over their swimsuits or full body swimwear.
-banana boats
The mere sight of banana boats bring me endless joy and I WILL ride one before I leave this country.
-the American flag without stars
At the foreigners talent contest/concert a few weeks back a large banner displayed the flags of all the countries participating in the contest. Several flags were wrong including the U.S. flag…it had everything except the stars, making for a very silly sight. After a sincere apology to the crowd of foreigners the organizers assured these mistakes would not happen again…
-bubble machines at concerts
At the very same talent contest/concert in the middle of certain acts a bubble machine would start up sending bubbles into the crowd and up on stage. Vicki, one of the girls from church who was singing and playing guitar, starting laughing during her performance when the abrupt bubbles caught her off guard.
-couples t-shirts and lingerie
To let everyone know you are a couple the latest rage is to dress in couples outfits. This means matching t-shirts or coordinating t-shirts, matching shoes, even lingerie. You see it everywhere…
-socks with sandals
Everyone does it.
-sweet potato and mustard pizza
Surprisingly delicious.
-heels at the beach
I don’t know how they do it. I am amazed at the women in this country…
-eating cake with chopsticks
A beautiful cake was mauled by chopsticks on Ester’s birthday at school a few weeks ago quickly destroying its charm.
-square track
At the university there is a SQUARE outdoor track that I go to in the mornings for a jog. This being silly enough, there is apparently a right and wrong direction to run around it as well because this morning a man stopped me and motioned for me to change directions…so strange.

That’s it for now, more to come I’m sure….

Monthlies

August has drawn to a close and the cool September air has quietly slipped in, marking my time in Korea to be nearly one month (hard to believe). With the end of this month came several added responsibilities and changes at school.

One added responsibility was report cards. Foreign teachers rotate report card duties every month with the Korean teachers to get a mix of comments for the parents to read. Go figure, this month I just happened to be handed reports cards for nearly all of my 16 classes…totaling a lot of freakin’ grade giving and comment writing. It seemed every time I finished one stack I’d go to class only to find two more stacks on my desk when I returned.

Now report cards are a funny thing because before writing we are gently (but sternly) told to keep in mind that the school is also a business…this means no failing students (nothing below a C) and no harsh or severe comments. It’s frustrating to not even be able to hold a bad grade over a few students’ heads to get them to focus more in class…but it is what it is. As I worked through the stack I was reminded how many really great students I do have. I spend so much time thinking about the few bad ones that it’s easy to forget that the majority are sweet and fun to teach.

The end of the month also brings new books and monthly tests for the students; a big test over all the units covered in that month. That made for a very somber mood among the students towards the end of the week. The somber mood from the students must have wore off on me because by the end of class on Friday I was not my usually TGIF cheery self. I just wanted to go home and sleep.

But I knew I couldn’t because I had been looking forward to Friday all week. To celebrate the opening of our director’s new E.L.C. school in a different district of town all the teachers were invited out to the new school for an after work, late night celebration. From what I have heard about Korean celebrations (more or less Korean drinking habits) I was curious as to what the night would hold.

Nothing can cure a somber mood faster than what was waiting for us at the new school. A huge buffet with Korean, Western, and Japanese food, drinks, cake, friendly co-workers, Korean music videos, toasts, drunken hugs from your director, and karaoke.

Knowing we had to get up early in the morning to catch a bus to Busan with two couples from church, Kristen and I were relieved that the night did not last until daybreak and were able to catch a free ride home with Willy, an employee at the new school who lives in our area of town. Saturday’s trip to Busan (Korea’s 2nd largest city) took only an hour by bus and held an afternoon of browsing the street markets, Krispy Kreme donuts, the world famous fish market (eww), beach, and a delicious traditional dinner.

Sunday I enjoyed the company of friends after church, learned Chinese traditional writing from a woman on the street, and had my first moped scooter tour of the city. Woo!

Coming soon...silly sights in Korea and lessons I am learning (yes, learning) in the classroom...

I want YOU...I want you so ba-a-a-ad...

There have been several moments in my life where I have thought, “Wow, this could be in a movie.” But never have I felt like I was in a movie more than I did yesterday at my required-for-an-alien-card government health check.

Mr. Kim, who we can only accurately describe as looking like the Korean mafia, rolls up to E.L.C. in the school van to take Amber, Chris, and I to the hospital for our health checks. This is a big day because a completed health check means we can be issued our alien cards and alien cards mean we can finally get Internet at our apartments! Wa-hoo! Now Mr. Kim may look like a mafia man but in reality he’s quite friendly. His English is very bad but he always tries. As we are driving he points at himself and says, “Help,” then points at me, Amber, and Chris and says, “Today.” Initially thinking HE needed help with something, I then realized that he was trying to reassure us he was here to help us today. Oh, really? Wonderful. :)

We arrive at the hospital, follow Mr. Kim to a waiting room area and sit as he is handed a pile of papers from the receptionist. Handing us each a few forms all in Korean he points to the highlighted boxes and hands us a pen seeming to forget that we don’t read Korean. “Ah, Mr. Kim? What might this say?” You can see panic on his face as he carefully responds and points to one box, “Name…” Great, got it. The next box, “Address.” We don’t know our addresses so Mr. Kim writes something (I think it was the school address). Next, “Umm, ah shit…number?” he says. Phone number? Nope. Passport number? Nope. Birthday? Nope. Visa number? After so many scribbles we are still not sure what number they were actually intending us to write on our forms but eventually something must have been correct.

Then the exam started. It was exactly like that scene in Across the Universe when Max goes in for his army health check. I was directed from station to station, room to room. First height and weight, then eye check, then hearing, then some x-rays, then I was hooked up to some strange machine (Chris thinks it was an EKG?), then back out to the lobby where I was handed a Dixie cup, pointed to the bathroom, peed under the pressure of a ticking clock, then back out to the lobby where blood was drawn (with everyone waiting looking on), then immediately following there was a woman checking my teeth. And then it was done. Total time for everything: 1 hour.

We all walked out of the hospital together. Without skipping a beat Mr. Kim pulled out a pack of cigs and politely offered us one, we declined, had a good hearty laugh about the irony of it all and back to reality we returned...

Gold in the Air of Summer

In everything that is learnt or experienced, the child, just like the man, sees doors; but for the former they are places to go to, for the latter to go through. –Nietzsche

Last week I discovered the “library” (aka the top row of a small bookshelf) at school and was pleasantly surprised to come across Essential Thinkers, a collection of work from the well-known “God is dead” philosopher, Friedrich Nietzsche. I briefly studied Nietzsche in my Rhetorical Theory class a few years back. Now that I am out of the bonds of university education I can properly enjoy reading his quirky observations and reflections on life. Hence the interjection of the Nietzsche quote at the beginning of this post.

Last Monday afternoon I had planned to meet up with Bruce before classes began so he could take me to the bank to set up an account. Somehow we missed each other so I, the independent fool that I am, decided to try on my own to set up an account. I walked into one of the banks just down the street from the school to give it a go. At the entrance there was a machine printing numbers giving you two options…both in Korean. I had no idea what either read so I just eenie weenie minie mowed it, grabbed the receipt it printed, and sat down to wait. Well I must have chosen the I-have-all-the-time-in-the-world-to-sit-around-at-this-bank option because the other numbers seemed to be changing quickly while my group was ridiculously slow. A half an hour passed and finally my number was flashing. I start walking towards the counter and whoosh I am cut off by an old man who had just been waiting in the bank for a few minutes! Oh nah ah old man, no you didn’t! Suddenly I realized this was why I had waited so long. The printed numbers were intended to cure the Asian disease of pushy line budgers but in reality the numbers were quite a joke….and the joke was on me. I blame my lovely kindergarten teacher, Mrs. Owens, for forever ingraining the importance of standing patiently in a line into my head. All who travel to Asia should go through some mandatory boot camp to train themselves to overcome all that we’ve been formally taught regarding lines and to join the world of line aggressors. Cut in front of me once, shame on you…cut in front of me twice shame on me, right? So needless to say I got in there right after Mr. Cutter. But only to be greeted by a woman who spoke no English. Finding not a single employee at the bank knew enough English to help me I realized I’d have to find another bank and just exchanged money instead.

No worries, the next day Bruce directed me to a different bank with an English-speaking banker so bank account…check. I can now get my flight reimbursement and next week my first paycheck! *cue Apprentice theme song* Other big successes of the week include finding the post office and figuring out my washing machine.

Landmarks in teaching include kicking a student out of my most dreadful class for the first time on Thursday. I had high hopes for tonight’s class as the lead troublemaker seemed to take me seriously after he had to face the wrath of the managers last week but alas. I developed a seating chart separating the terrible ones (all boys), moving them towards the front of the room. That did nothing but put a real sweet girl in tears when she was assigned a seat next to one of the disrespectful boys who is never listening. I just don’t know what to do with that class but will continue to try things until something works.

Pushing naughty boys and classroom management far from my mind I had a fabulous weekend. For under ten U.S. dollars Amber, Chris, and I enjoyed a day at Jin-ha beach just south of Ulsan. After almost three weeks of concrete and tall building after tall building I felt rejuvenated seeing the mountains meet the sea, the waves splashing up on the beach and the hilarious banana boats. Our hunt for cheap seafood for dinner was a failure so spicy chicken it was once again.

After returning to Ulsan we made it our mission to find the infamous foreigner hangout known as Tombstone to have a few drinks. But first we stopped in a popular sports bar to catch the end of the Korea verses Cuba Olympic match-up. People were standing anywhere there was a TV along the streets watching the game. There was much rejoicing, cheering, embracing, whistling and toasting at the big win. It was thrilling to witness. After the sports bar we stop a foreigner to ask for directions to Tombstone figuring she must know…but instead meet a girl who had just arrived in Ulsan a few hours before. She was out looking for some food and wireless but agreed to join us in our quest. It wasn’t long and success, we found it! Twas a lovely (and late) night of socializing with fellow expats from all over the English-speaking world.

Sunday was Ulsan’s 2nd annual foreigners music contest festival in old downtown (Shin-nae) to celebrate Ulsan’s nearly 12,000 foreigners living and working in the city. Words cannot describe it really. Definitely one of the funniest experiences I’ve had in a long time, my abs are still sore from laughing so much. The performers were from China, Japan, Philippines, New Zealand, Canada, Bangladesh, and the good ol’ U.S. of A. I scored a plastic Korean flag, a movie pass and a free jersey reading Korea V-Day. It’s funny because nobody knows what the V-day is all about…even our Korean friends haven’t a clue. The evening was topped off with some super spicy chicken, veggie, rice combo that cleared my sinuses and made me sweat a bit. Who could ask for anything more?

Here goes another week…

Rainy Days and Sundays

In honor of Korea’s Independence Day (Friday) I thought I would spend some time reflecting on my experiences in Korea thus far and compare and contrast with my experiences in China. Perhaps I should make a Venn diagram. Just kidding, I hate Venn diagrams. Almost as much as I hate the Dutch. Ahhaha, I kid…but I really do hate Venn diagrams.

Keep in mind I’ve only been here in Korea for a short amount of time and only spent 4 weeks in China-land so these are merely first impressions and by no means represents all there is to know about either culture…here goes:
➢ Reaction to foreigners: In Korea, the presence of foreigners is nothing…foreign (haha); there are a ridiculous number of American military bases throughout the country and a surprising amount of foreign English teachers (due to their enthusiasm to learn English), engineers, businessmen, etc, not to mention a large influx of Western culture now permanently fused with their own. Seeing foreigners in China was something very rare and unusual for their citizens (pre-Olympics). Western culture is intriguing and mysterious because it’s for the most part nonexistent in China…except for the McDonald’s, KFC’s and Pizza Huts. In both countries a long stare is expected but the attitudes behind the stares I feel are much different. Perhaps because the Chinese have not yet been overwhelmed by Western culture, people are genuinely fascinated by foreigners, even wanting pictures to be taken with their children. Korean’s however will stare then ignore you completely, showing no interest and perhaps a hint of contempt. I haven’t exactly figured it out yet.
➢ Bicycle transportation: I’m convinced Beijing has the most bicycle riders in the world. There are bike lanes the size of car lanes that are always full making biking probably as equally dangerous as driving a car would be. In Ulsan there is notta a bike lane to be seen. Bikes are rarely seen and the bikes you do see (which are mostly scooters) have to ride on the sidewalks that (beware) double as parking spaces. I’d be curious to see what Seoul or Busan are like in regards to bike transportation this could be due to Ulsan’s smaller population and hilly terrain.
➢ Fashion: As far as fashion is concerned in both countries just about anything goes, everyone has their own style it seems and I love that. Korean women love their heels. When I was waiting in the Seoul airport I noticed sisters probably age 3 and 5 running around in a pair of short heels…preparation for their lifelong high heel walking career I guess. Another difference I’ve noticed is hair. In China we saw all kinds of strange hair trends, permed, blue, pink, orange, wavy, straight, bangs, etc but in Korea there are 2 basic haircuts. Long, straight hair with bangs and short, straight hair with bangs. Nothing outrageous.
➢ Food: Chinese food is oily, fried, and many dishes are full of vinegar (boo vinegar). Korean food is much healthier with much of it being fresh, grilled, boiled, or steamed. And everything is very spicy…basically both cuisines takes a body some gettin’ used to.
➢ Safety: For no reason in particular I would have felt nervous walking around after dark by myself in China. Here in Ulsan I feel safe walking home from school every night. I don’t think there is any such thing as a “bad” part of town in this city but if there is I definitely do not live in a “bad” area. Although one night there was a sudden burst of screaming coming from the Japanese restaurant that I live above. A small crowd gathered on the sidewalk to watch the commotion. Since I had no idea what was actually going on I made up this scenario in my head: the wife had just caught her husband out to eat with another woman. It was clear he was a cheater and she was obviously furious calling him every name in the book while the he tried to justify his actions (what a pig) claiming his dinner date was really a business meeting of sorts.

Independence Day in Korea is sort of a let down, no fireworks, no debauchery. It appeared to be celebrated by most businesses (all open) merely pulling out their Korean flags to fly for the afternoon. This was officially confirmed today when that’s exactly what one of the Korean teachers told me. I spent the holiday cleaning, doing laundry, re-arranging, and giving my apartment a little Kelly flavor. I found some matches so I was finally able to put my incense and incense boat to use, christening my apartment. Now all I need is a nice houseplant to pull everything together.

Saturday was rainy so no beach plans were carried out. Instead Kristen took me to a district of town called Shin-nae. Shin-nae had a long, covered shopping strip that kept us nice and dry as we browsed the shops. We then took a bus to a Home Plus store. Home Plus would be equivalent to a Wal-mart…it is huge, has everything you need, and pretty much blew my mind. I’m talking samples at almost every aisle people. It doesn’t get much better.

Sunday brought a fun-filled day full of church, new friends, Korean Chinese food, laughter and successfully using my stove to yield a tasty late night treat of hot tea and oatmeal.

Also, I’ve just finished the book Jesus for President by Shane Claiborne (author of Irresistible Revolution) and Chris Haw. A must read in these days leading up to the November election. Plus I’d love to discuss it with someone. So go on, read it, and tell me what you think.

Looking Foreign

Yesterday morning Leslie and I volunteered our foreignness for the director of our school, Sam. Sam is opening a new hagwon (private language school) in Ulsan. It is not opening until September but they were having an open house of sorts to show interested parents what E.L.C. is all about. By Leslie and I being there it validated their claim of having foreign teachers at their school. Even though we won’t be the ones teaching there. We just had to stand in the doorway, look foreign, and greet the parents as they arrived.

This hagwon is on the outskirts of town which is about a 15 min drive from my school. But that’s not entirely accurate because Smith, one of the managers at E.L.C., drove like a madman to the school because we were late. All Leslie and I could do was laugh as he drove through red lights, around traffic, all to the directions of his English speaking GPS system. When asked why it was in English and he said he likes to practice his English this way. Oh, good….except when he confused right turn for left turn and had to quickly cross many lanes of traffic after realizing his mistake!

The school was in a brand new building so everything looked amazing. We grew pretty jealous of the new facilities especially when we saw the teacher’s lounge had a door. At our school there is no door so it’s very noisy at all times not to mention always crawling with students screaming, “Teacher, teacher!”. It’s cute because they always want to carry your basket of books or your cup of water but as Leslie puts it, “It ruins your last few moments of Zen before class begins.” So true. There is an amazing view of the mountains out the large windows at the new school. The view from my hagwon is not spectacular which probably explains the lack of windows.

Learning moment: At both schools the classrooms are on floors 3, 5, and 6. This is because the number 4 is like number 13 to us Americans, associated with bad luck.

After only about an hour greeting parents at the new school we were taken out to eat for lunch. My first experience with a take-off-your-shoes-sit-on-the-floor type restaurant. We ate shabu-shabu, a very tasty soup. It reminded me of that children’s story Stone Soup. Large platefuls of fresh veggies were brought out and one by one thrown into the pot of boiling water. All kinds of greens, mushrooms, eggs, rice cakes, pumpkin, meat, and lastly the dumplings and noodles. Yumm! Except I burnt my tongue on my dumpling…silly me, I was just too eager to eat it! And a surprise cup of espresso coffee as we were leaving (just like in Europe!).

In other news, a new couple came on Tuesday much to everyone’s surprise. More Americans! We now officially outnumber the Canadians. America F-Yeah! Amber and Chris are from Kentucky, it’s pretty funny to listen to their accents as they introduce themselves to students who just laugh. They are the lucky ducks of the bunch because somehow they landed a BRAND NEW apartment that’s apparently huge and has an OVEN! What?! Also, since they came a full two days before the teacher they are replacing is leaving they got an official orientation with shadowing and whatnot. Not fair! But beyond the jealously I am genuinely glad to have other “newbies” here with me so we can get our questions answered together and whanot.

Another surprise this week…come to find out Friday is a holiday! Korea’s Independence Day. Woo, three day weekend! Saturday Kristen, Amber, Chris and I are planning to go to Ulsan beach and Sunday Kristen is taking me to her church. She has met a lot of friends through her church so I hope to do the same. I’m definitely excited for the weekend!

One more thing: watching the Olympics here is funny. They replay the Park (Korean) swimmer guy who won gold in 400m over and over, at all different times and channels. I thought he had won 8 gold medals or something but then I realized I was watching same darn race over and over…

Fermentations

My first Korean food adventure occurred Friday night after classes. The other foreign teachers took me out for a “Welcome to Ulsan” meal. It was a truly appreciated gesture and a good chance to get to know more about my fellow expats. Bruce, the expat leader of the pack, has been teaching at E.L.C. for 2 ½ years and is pretty much the go-to man for anything and everything. Kristen, my fellow American compadre, has only been around for 2 months while Leslie and Doug (married Canadian couple) are fresh off the plane as well having been in Ulsan for only one month. Being around Kristen, Leslie and Doug gives me much hope as they seem to be adjusted and functioning well despite their short amount of time here.

They led me through Ulsan University’s campus to the hip-hopping part of town known as the university district. My senses were overwhelmed from the delicious smells coming from an endless number of restaurants, the flashing neon lights lining the streets, and the bustling, young crowd found in this area. Feverishly trying to take mental notes of all the suggestions on where to find good coffee, ice cream, smoothies, Italian food, pastries, etc on our way to the restaurant I was certainly glad to get to our final destination so my brain could have a rest. I have no idea what the name of the restaurant was we stopped at but since there was a picture of a cartoon pig on the banner above the door I decided to call this place Mr. Pig. (side note: I tried to find the restaurant again the next day and much to my disappointment discovered many restaurants with cartoon pigs on their banner in roughly the same location….hmm, rats…going to have to be more creative with my observations before naming).

At Mr. Pig Bruce ordered and before we had finished settling our small table was covered with little dishes filled with peculiar looking veggies and sauces. Bruce explained that these side dishes vary at every place but some assortment will standard with any order. We had been given green onions, kimichi (fermented cabbage covered in red pepper paste), regular slightly cooked onions, red pepper sauce, fermented sweet radish, garlic, salt/pepper/oil mixture, and fermented bean soup with random veggies. (side note #2: putting the word fermented in front of anything automatically makes it sound nasty when that is not actually the case)

As I tried the little side dishes I was given a lesson on Korean eating and drinking customs. Koreans eat rice with a spoon (that’s the only thing they use it for…crazy, I know). Never leave your chopsticks in your food. Never pour your own drink, others are constantly refilling each others’ glasses. Pour with your left hand (or was it your right?) if you know the person well, otherwise use both hands. Accept with both hands. Always refill glasses oldest to youngest in the group. Etc, etc, etc…basically amounting to: I’m definitely going to offend someone when I go out with a group of Koreans. It is what is it.

The grill in the middle of our table began to smell good and hot so the rest of our meal was brought out to cover the remainder of the open space on the already crammed table. That was a plateful of raw bacon-looking strips of meat, rice, and fresh green leaves. Bruce began cooking the meat on your table grill as Leslie demonstrated how it all works. Take one large green leaf, cover in red pepper sauce. Add onions, garlic, rice to your liking. Top with the freshly cooked meat and wrap into ball. Fit entire ball into mouth at once. Hmmtasty!

Also, during dinner I had my first Soju experience. Soju is the alcohol of choice in Korea. Why? It is very cheap and very strong. But as you can guess, not very tasty (tastes like a combination of vodka and gin). It comes in a normal looking beer bottle but is 20 proof. People drink it from shot glasses but because of the custom of constantly refilling glasses it is easy to lose track of the actual amount consumed. Or so I’ve heard. Bruce thinks he once had around 4 bottles of Soju throughout an entire night resulting in an embarrassing blackout situation in which he had to be carried home. Moral: For the sake of my safety and my liver, I must be careful with this refilling business.

A table full of food and drinks totaled approximately $2.50 per person. Not bad, eh?

A new week has begun and I’m looking forward to all it holds!

Pia-pia-piano

Sorry these posts are coming at the same time but after a few days of casual exploring I have located a cafe with wireless! Success! But the battery power on my computer is quickly dwindling so this is going to have to be a super, ultra fast update on the last few days.

Thursday was my first full day of teaching. The school runs on an even and odd day schedule (like our day 1 and day 2) so I had a whole new set of students than the day before. I was getting to be a pro at introducing myself and teaching a short lesson on Iowa, farms, farm animals, etc. Also come to find out when I arrive on Thursday that it is storybook day. Storybook day means that the regular workbooks are forgotten and certain pages in a designated story is the replacement for the 32 min. class time. The kids generally enjoy storybook days as well as the teachers. My first class of the day is called Pre-step 2. Pre-step basically means little to no English knowledge (aka the younger kids). They have a book that they use to sing along with a CD. It is the cutest thing in the universe!! Here's how one verse goes (it get stuck in your head so easily):

There was a music man,
He comes from down your way
And he can play
What can he play?
He's plays the
Pia-pia-piano, piano, piano
Pia-pia-piano, piano, piano.

Each verse one more instrument is added. Thursday we learned we added trombone so we spent the entire class period learning how to pronounce trombone, what a trombone is, and singing about the music man playing the trombone. It was priceless.

The job of the foreign teachers is mainly to work on pronunciation with the students. The Korean teachers will go over a lesson the day before with the students and the next day us foreign teachers will do the same lesson but work on correct pronunciation. There is a lot of listening and repeating that goes on during classes. Repetition, repetition, repetition. But I think it's an excellent way to learn English...it makes a lot of sense. Ah, I am running out of battery power so....

Friday was even better than Thursday. The other foreign teachers took me out to eat some traditional food. It was delicious (more to come on that I promise).

Saturday I spent the day exploring, settling into my apartment, and watching a lot of Korean TV. Good news, they air a lot of our crappy America reality TV shows. America's Next Top Model for example. Although I tend to like that one. But more good news....I saw a commercial for The Office!! YYYYYESS!!! A dream come true.

Sunday more exploring, a pleasant time reading in the university park watching a soccer game, and this great find of free wireless!

1%...got to go! Love and hugs everyone!!

Arrival

YES! I've made it! Now, warning: My blogging may be few and far between since I do not have Internet at my apartment yet. For now I only have Internet at school….I hope you all will still be my friends.

The flight-
I was originally supposed to fly out of Moline. Moline to Chicago, Chicago to Seoul, Seoul to Ulsan = 30 some hours. Upon arrival at Moline, my parents and I were informed of several flight cancellations from Moline to Chicago earlier in the afternoon. Because of this my flight had already been delayed 5 hours with a high possibility of cancellation as well. Hmm rats. The woman at the desk suggested driving to Chicago instead of risking it and waiting in Moline. So without much of a choice, we rushed off to Chicago. It was a quick goodbye to the sibs and my dad as my mom and I rushed off to Rockford to catch the last bus leaving into O’Hare airport for the night.

I've discovered something about myself (and probably most people)...goodbyes wear me down. The first few goodbyes I do fine, in fact I'm probably insultingly cheery with people. But the more goodbyes I say, the more I have to fight to hold back tears. The last few goodbyes to my family....ridiculous waterfalls!!! I think I’m going to name that day Sobfest 2008. I don’t think I have ever seen my dad cry before so seeing the tears in his eyes as I pulled away from his hug still make me cry just thinking about it. As the bus to O’Hare pulled away in Rockford I was full out sobbing as I waved goodbye to my mom. It was violently storming the entire drive into Chicago but I was comforted as there was a nun seated across the aisle from me on the bus. :)

Waiting to board my flight to Seoul in Chicago was funny as I listened to two girls about my age sitting behind me (headed to Beijing for the Olympics) talk in valley-speak. Barf. I had to hold back a laugh when one says to the other, "I'm going to be so mad if my camera (digital) only holds like 6 pictures. The card that came with it says 16 MB. I think that's a lot." And the other replies, "Yeah, like my friend Mary had a card with like 16 MB and I think she said hers could hold like umm….1,000 pictures!" aaaaahahahaha...stupid girls.

The flight was long but good. I sat next to a very friendly Chinese American who was traveling to Beijing to watch the Olympics as well (I think many on my flight were headed to Beijing). Once in Seoul I had the challenge of switching airports before my next flight. Arriving at 5 a.m. Seoul time the airport was very quiet. But, wow, this airport was straight out of the Jetson's or something. Definitely felt like I was living in the future.

I stopped in the spotless bathroom to clean up (carrying my big bags was making me sweat like crazy) and was greeted by a woman who watched my every move as I washed my hair, brushed my teeth, splashed water on my face, and changed my clothes. I thought she was a bathroom attendant because she was just standing there for such a long time, but when I finished and began to put all my things back into my bags she smiled, said " Goodbye!" and walked out. So strange...

My journey in the future (aka Seoul) continued as I hopped on an express train (also freakishly spotless!) to Gimpo Airport. Thankful to get rid of my heavy backpack and suitcase I spent only a few hours waiting for my flight into Ulsan. A few chapters in my book and word finds later my gate area began to fill with people so when an announcement was given in Korean I automatically got up and followed the crowd to get in line. Much to my embarrassment the ticket-taker said, “ No, no, next flight.” I sat back down confused and panicked as I looked at the time on my Ipod. 9:40! My flight was supposed to leave at 9:50…what the heck? That HAD to be my flight! I jumped up to find someone to help me and my eye caught the digital clock on the wall…8:40. What a relief! My blasted Ipod was an hour off.

An hour later I boarded the correct flight to Ulsan. I was greeted by a very friendly man named Jason who, to my surprise, drove me straight to the school to meet the director and tour the building. I was feeling pretty gross, my eyes all bloodshot due to lack of sleep but I tried to forget all that and act friendly and confident as I was introduced to several key figures at E.L.C. (English Learning Center). I was asked if I felt like I could teach/introduce myself to my classes later in the day and I agreed. But first I was taken to two apartments just down the street and got to choose which one I’d like to live in for the year. The first one had clearly been occupied by a male and the second by a female. It was a no brainer, I chose the latter. The cleaner, more furnished (including a table and couch!), former female apartment. Stocked with all the basics I was pleasantly surprised as I pulled open the cupboards and cabinets. I unpacked in no time, showered and rest a bit before heading back to the school for a half day of teaching/introducing myself to my classes. The schedules, students, workbooks, native teachers, foreign teachers, classrooms, etc were all super overwhelming and are sort of a blur in my memory now. Somehow I managed to get through the evening. On my walked home I passed a supermarket and picked up some necessities (bread, jelly, fruit, and a much deserved ice cream cone). That night I slept like a baby until late into the next morning.

Since I don't have a camera yet (after my first paycheck people) I will try to describe my apartment....

You walk in the door. Ah -tsk-tsk, take off your shoes please (it's offensive in Korea to not). Directly to your left is my range stove (2 burners) that I still have not figured out how to work. Also on the your left is the sink, a few cupboards above the sink holding dishes, a few below holding cleaning supplies and a longer pantry like cupboard on the right of the sink. On your right from door is my bathroom. The bathroom (completely tiled) has a large mirror, a sink, a few cabinets, and a toilet. The shower head is connected to the sink faucet leaving a few feet between the sink and the wall to act as the shower. There is a drain on the floor under the sink. Quite nice actually because every time I shower I am actually mopping the floor of sorts. If you go straight three steps from the door and open another door you walk into my bed/everything room. On the left two steps is a small refrigerator, my (large) bed straight ahead, and on the right a stand alone closet thing and bookshelf. Take a few steps passed my bed and on the right is a small table with a TV on it. Across from the table this a coffee table and a cute little couch with pillows. Right behind the couch is a sliding glass door that leads into the porch area that has a washing machine and a few miscellaneous things. That's it, that's the tour.