Oh, Korea

This week has been a crazy week. I'm thinking I'm ahead of the game since I planned lessons for Wednesday through Tuesday. What? I'm prepared? Heck yes! Then Wednesday I find out Chaz and I are supposed to go to Seoul for our program's orientation. Huh, wha? Yes...we miss Friday, Monday, and Tuesday of school for orientation. Then I find out students have midterms Mon-Wed anyway, so there are no classes. Would have been nice to know BEFORE I PLANNED! Ah, well. I'll have to plan all new lessons for the week after next as the lessons I planned for will be completed by the other teachers.

So Chaz and I packed a bag yesterday and headed Seoul via the train (KTX), only a three hour trip from Busa. I was dreading the trip, but orientation is actually exciting. I usually hate things like this, but they've done a really good job of providing interesting activities plus helpful lectures. Today we had opening ceremonies which included a performance by Tarang, a traditional Korean drum group. It was amazingly sweet, and I'm upset I didn't bring my camera to the ceremony. Others will post pictures on Facebook, so I'll just steal them. :) Today we're having a lecture about Korean history and adjusting to Korean culture, and then we're getting Korean language lessons this evening, which I'm really excited about. I feel there's a lot I'll be able to take from this, and it's great because I'm experiencing my first "teaching conference" and it's in Korea.

I'll update on the weekend as we continue orientation because it promises to be great.

one in which i post pictures i have not posted yet

At Jagalchi Fish Market & Nampo-dong




Chaz found a friend:


Our first Dokkoki (street food...rice cake with chili sauce):


Sunrise at the Beach:






Sand castle time:




Korean hearts!:



Model Ji:



Chaz's classroom:



Chaz's failed haircut (the clippers blew up):


And Chaz's awesome $6 haircut:


And amazing Gim-Bap:

There really are good times while teaching in Korea

(Be sure to check out pics I just posted to my previous blog...all courtesy of Gon)

So most of you have heard my frustrations with my teaching experiences in Korea (thus far). Kat suggested I blog about the positives because there really are many. Also, those are the times where I can laugh and shake off the bad behavior. These are the times when I realize that I just might be able to survive teaching in Korea. :)

First of all, let me tell you the names. Oh the names these kids come up with. I wanted to give them English names to use in class, mostly to help me be able to keep kids straight. Now, I feel a bit bad about having them "change their names" for me, but most of the kids seem to enjoy it, and they do it with their Korean teachers anyway. So, I let them choose names. Some of these came from a list I put on the board (including Brian, Ben, Sam, Steven, Kimberly, etc....where did I get those?). Others came from the kids' minds, and I have no idea where these minds have been. Some of the highlights include:

Baguette
God (I have two)
Homer
Chicken
Top
Bella
Kaze
Rarph (no, that's not a typo)
Bank
Gun J
Magic Force
Dumbledore
Voldemort (Dumbledore and Voldemort sit next to each other)
Baby Bear
Turtle
Superman
LaBron James
Whap
Gangsta
Johnny Depp
Dino
Big Joe
Gucci
Messy
Ostrich
Beyoncé
Fiona
Wow
Pringles (and a Potato Chip too)
Buggy
Heart Breaker
Homeple (?)
No Pain No Gain
Wind Breaker (this made me laugh)
Crocodile
Sexy Boy

There are many other hilarious and just plain strange names, but I'll leave you with this list. I hope it brought you laughter.

Next good story: yesterday after school my English Conversation class (I teach an after school class everyday) came in. There were some boys talking in the back of the room, and then one said, "Teacher, teacher. Make up?" And I said, "No, I don't wear makeup. Just on my eyes." He responds, "Ohh...eyeliner?" And I said, "Yes, eyeliner." "Ohhh. Very good. Beautiful. Teacher, you sexy girl." So I responded, "You better watch out! My husband will come and fight you, and he is very big." They all said, "Ohhhh....don't!" Pretty cute/comical.

Then today, I had my last (pretty much, except for Friday) day of introductions. In one of my classes, I was introducing my family:
"Iowa has a lot of land. If there is a lot of land, what would a good job be?"
"Farmer!"
"Yes, you're right! A farmer is a good job to have in Iowa. This is my father, Brian."
"Ooooooh, very handsome! Big guy!"
"Yes, he is very strong. What do you think my father's job is?"
"Farmer!"
"Good! Yes, my father is a farmer. This is my mother, Jane."
"Ooooooh, very pretty. I love Jane!"
"Haha, yes. What do you think her job is?"
"Farmer!"
"No, not a farmer."
"House-uh Wife-uh!"
"No, not a housewife."
"Model!"
"No, but my mother will love you."
That dialogue is for my mom. Hope you enjoyed it and want to come teach in Korea soon! :)

One more highlight: a student walked into the room this morning wearing a yellow t-shirt (they're supposed to wear uniforms) that said, "Everythings good! Everyone's singing black music," on the back, and on the front was a black guy with a fro. No joke. My response: laughter, and "WHHHAAAA??"

So there really are many bright spots during the day. It's sad that the frustrating ones are the ones you remember. I also wanted to say that I love my Level 1 students. I recently realized that Level 1=6th grade, Level 2=7th grade, and Level 3=8th grade. The Level 1 students are soooo sweet and just about the cutest little bugs you've ever seen. They also seem to have better English than the older grades, so I find that interesting. The class I saw this morning was especially sweet, so that was an excellent start to the day. I look forward to many more hilarious and fun moments.

Our First Korean Adventure!

Kat wanted Chaz and I to take a break from the depressing-ness of school and learn why Korea is so great. So she took us on our FIRST KOREAN ROADTRIP!

I'd heard so much about Korean Adventures from Kelly and Kat, so I was super excited about the getaway. As promised, Kat delivered a good time. We pushed back the roadtrip to Sunday because not everyone was available, so Kat came and visited us Saturday and took us to Nampo-dong, this great area with Jagalchi Seafood Market and a huge outdoor clothing/street food market. Ah, it was delightful.

Then "to bed to bed" because we had to be up and ready to go by 3:30 to meet our crew at 4 a.m. Our crew consisted of Gon and Ji. Yipee! We had heard so much about these two, so I felt like I already knew them. It was incredibly exciting to actually get to meet them. Gon had borrowed his parents' car, so he was our chauffeur for the day. First, we began the day with ramyun (ramen for you Americans) on the beach watching the sunrise.




We made a sand castle!

And then an old man walking backward along the shore (who does that?) not looking where he was going falls RIGHT OVER our sand castle. Granted, he was a bit distracted by Ji who was doing an impersonation of the man, but he also did not look behind him the ENTIRE TIME. Probably at this moment was when the ice broke, and we became fast friends with the Korean boys.

Well, the day wasn't over yet. We jumped back in the car and drove for three hours (it would have been two but traffic was bad) to GOEJE ISLAND! Assa! Good surprise. So we met a friend of Ji and Gon who lived on the island, and began that leg of the trip with a visit to the Korean POW camp on the center of the island. It was an interesting walk through the Korean War and also revealed great views of the city.

Awkward picture at the POW camp:


Fixing a jeep?


A very strange Korean tradition: Butt gun *shakes fist at Gon!*:

Then it was finally LUNCH! We went to this restaurant near the POW camp and had a DELICIOUS meal of bo-ssam, boiled meat with a bunch of vegetables wrapped in lettuce leaves (you pick and choose what you want). yum! Also, Gon and Ji's incredibly nice friend paid for the meal. So nice, especially because we just met him and couldn't talk to him very much because of language.


After full tummies, we drove to the south of the island to see the sea. We stopped at this great look-out point and got an incredible view of the island cliffs and the sea. Gorgeous! We hiked down the cliff a bit, and Chaz and Ji went all the way down to the edge. They became best friends after that because they did manly things together. Men are strange.


Also on the docket: we went to Windy Hill and checked out the view there. Not as impressive, but still incredibly gorgeous. Where else do you see this? Then, at a fishing village, we caught crabs with our hands and smelled the salty air.

It was a looong day, and we were incredibly tired afterward (especially during the FOUR hour trip it took home....tons of traffic going back to the city, ugh), but it was also very worth it. Memories and friends were made, and felt like they'd been around forever. Dancing, singing, eating, laughing, hiking, beautiful sites, pictures, and hugs: all the necessary components of a fantastic roadtrip. Korea, plus 100 points for being beautiful.

The crew (Ji, Sang Moon, Kat, Gon, me, Chaz):

New Friends

Yesterday was a NO SCHOOL DAY! For me, at least. My school had a special day where the boys all took a field trip of some sort into the city. Eun-Ah, the teacher at my school who has been helping us, got it okayed for both of us not to go to school, and instead, to get some errands done.

So at 2:30, I met Eun-Ah and Chaz (he got out of school for the afternoon) in front of a hospital in Busan. We got check-ups needed for our arrival, and that included blood work. EEK! For those of you who don't know, I frequently pass out when confronted with a needle. I was prepared for the blood work, but that made me no less nervous. Fortunately, I made it through okay, but that didn't stop the nurses from laughing at my fear.

After the check up, Eun-Ah took us around Seomyeon, the center of the city. We had our first experience with Korean photography as we had to get more passport photos taken. Apparently, in Korea, they get photos taken, and then they alter them. Yes, even passport photos. Chaz and I were apprehensive to do this, but Eun-Ah insisted that all Koreans do it, so we should. They whitened our faces (no more freckles for me!), made our eyes bigger and brighter, and slimmed my neck and bulked up Chaz's shoulders. Crazy, I know.

Then Eun-Ah asked if we wanted to see Hong-Shi's house.
Meet Hong-Shi:


Hong-Shi is her maltese dog who is basically her sister. I said a definite yes, so we went to visit Hong-Shi. While there, we also met Eun-Ah's mother. She is an incredibly sweet woman, and she made me miss my mom. Especially when she brought out snacks for us to eat as we played with Hong-Shi.
Hong-Shi and Eun-Ah:


After playing with Hong-Shi, we went with Eun-Ah and her mom to Migliore, a big department store where Eun-Ah's mother works out. She wanted to show us her fitness center. Outside of Migliore, there was a dart game where you could win tickets to the movie Fame. Chaz, Eun-Ah, and her mom all tried their hand.
Eun-Ah's mother:


Chaz flirting with the beautiful dart woman:


Then, Eun-Ah took us for ice cream......at COLDSTONE!


Proof that everyone should come and live with us. :)

No worries...I'm not dead yet.

So Day 2....everyone has been anticipating this it seems. Yes, as predicted it was better than Day 1. There is still a lot of work to be done on my part, but today was much better than yesterday.

My main problem is that really for the first time the language barrier is a huuuuge problem. The students are able to hide behind it, and I am also clueless. They are free to say what they want, or ignore me, and it's okay (at least to them). So it's just frustrating. But we're working on it. It isn't just with the students, though. The dreaded language barrier also exists with the teachers. I long to have community with them, but mostly it can't exist because of, you guessed it, the language barrier. Friendships are slowly forming, but it's difficult and will be slow-going.

Always my wish has been to be able to speak every language. Always. When people play those silly "getting to know you" games asking you, "If you could have one wish, what would it be?" I say without a doubt I would want to be able to speak and understand all languages. That wish would really come in handy right now. Instead, I'll just have to work on learning the language (sllooooowww going).

In other happenings...Chaz and I went out to a movie with a big group of people from Canada and the US. Apparently, these people all met and every Thursday they go to a movie. Ellen, this great girl who lives down the hall from us, knocked on our door yesterday and said hello, helped us with some problems, and then invited us to movie night. She's also going to take us walking around our area and show us the places to go and things to do in our neighborhood. Sweet!

So tonight was great to get together with people we could talk to about our jobs, etc, and then just unwind to a movie. We saw 9, the new film produced by Tim Burton, and it was pretty good. Mostly, I was just entertained and happy to be there. I'm looking forward to more good times with those people...it's nice to be a little less lonely here.

(this post seems "bleh." mostly, i am exhausted and have no brain capacity for emphatic writing right now. sorry it's not more interesting! i'm really okay, i promise.)

The Day One Teaching Saga

I really didn't want to write this blog, but I know I should so I can look back on it and laugh (hopefully). Plus, my mom insisted I document my beginnings.

Today was my first day teaching in the Korean schools. Well, I guess it was also my first day teaching as an actual teacher as well. I was pretty nervous, but mostly excited to get to the middle school. I had been assured I just needed to introduce myself and that I didn't need to bring anything or plan for anything else. So I hiked the 20 minutes from our apartment to the girls' middle school where I was to teach. And everything is good, right?

Wrong.

I was at the wrong school. Um, excuse me? Apparently, I needed to be next door.
At the boys' middle school.
Um, excuse me?
Me?
Boys' Middle School?
Teaching God knows how many MIDDLE SCHOOL, ADOLESCENT BOYS?
And ONLY boys?

Yes. That's exactly the case. So I march over to the BOYS' middle school to much staring and talking and, "Hello!" from said adolescent boys. As I'm going upstairs to the teachers' offices, a boy stops me and says, "Hello, teacher! Oooohhhhh!!! You beautiful! You beautiful!" I say, "I am married. I have husband. I am wi-fuh." He responds, "I love you!"

Great.

So I get to the teachers' offices, and what do I find out? I was supposed to bring slippers to wear while in the school. Whoops! So I get handed the frumpy, flowery, six sizes too big for me, grandma slippers (how big do they think my feet are?). Goodbye being stylish on the first day. There, I see the teacher I have been in contact with who picked us up from the airport. *relief* Someone who is familiar. I meet the principal and the vice-principal, get introduced to the other teachers, and then get taken upstairs to my office.

Wait, so all the other teachers are on the second floor, but I am ostracized on the fifth? Yes, lonely me, in my lonely English classroom on the lonely fifth floor. *sigh* okay. First period is free, that's a relief. Then second period comes. Apparently, I am in charge of the entire class period. Another thing that would have been helpful to know. So I introduce myself as long as I can, ask students questions about themselves, what they want to do in class, etc., and then they have free time. While talking, I get a paper wad thrown at me.

My first class period of my first day.
"This is my first day, and already you do this? I am very disappointed!"

After class, the student who had thrown the paper and another student who saw and felt bad came up and apologized telling me it was an accident that it had hit me. Ah, well, all is forgiven.

It's at this point I realize that I have different levels of students. Today was all Level 2 learners (meaning their English is so-so), but I did have one Level 1 class.

Ah, blessed, holy Level 1 learners come down from the heavens to bless my day with an angelic kiss! (You have no idea how excited I was to have these students). They sat down. They were quiet. They were respectful. They asked questions. All things I lacked (heavily) the rest of the day. Also, the co-teacher for that class told me it was a wonderful class and I was, "born to teach there." One bright, shining spot...

The period before lunch was much like the first. Now, you must be thinking, "This doesn't sound all that bad. Why were the Level 1's so different?"

Oh, ho, my friends. I have completely left out the facts that in BOTH Level 2 classes I have had thus far in the day I have had incessant talking, no listening, and the students touch each other, Lord, how they touch each other! Give them some time to stand up, and they're putting each other in headlocks, or slapping each other, or kicking each other. Enough to make me want to scream, "NO TOUCHING!" (I hope some of you get that reference...) Anyway, so I realize that this is going to be challenging.

Lunch was excellent (way better than school food in the US), and it was good to talk to the other teachers. I even met one teacher who had been to Iowa. So crazy! As I'm back in my classroom after lunch, I see boys' heads peeking through the windows and staring through the doors. Hmm....great. Also, a boy keeps coming in and saying, "Hello, teacher!" Yes, it's my friend who professed his love for me at the beginning of the day. Wonderful.

Then came the black hole of my day. The period which sucked all life and love and happiness and pretty things from me. After lunch, the students come in all hyped up because they've been running around and playing soccer. Good sign. These students did not stop talking. You think I exaggerate, but I don't. I yelled into a microphone SEVEN TIMES to get their attention. I repeated my number one rule (no talking when I'm talking) SEVEN TIMES. No-thing-sank-in. Finally, exacerbated, I let them read and chat amongst themselves (not like I had anything planned anyway). A group of students decided to mock me in the corner. One in the group came up behind me and gestured something (most likely crude). It's at this point I wrote in my journal, "WHY, GOD, WHY?"

After that horrendous class, my co-teacher told me that class is always like that. Um, no, we're going to do something about that. So I was done teaching class periods for the day, but then it turns out that I also teach an after school English Conversation program. Once again, I was told I was supposed to come up with something for it (20 minutes before it started). Hmm....right. Fortunately, my friend teacher came up with something and helped me implement it. Who should happen to be in my after school program? You guessed it. My obsessed friend. Every time he came to the front to tell us something in English, he would end with, "You're beautiful!" or "I love you!" Needless to say, way too exhausted, depressed, and dejected, I left as soon as I could to crash at home.

Kel had told me I just needed to say, "Oh, Korea," and roll with the punches. Today, however, I felt much more like saying, "WTF, Korea?"



So that's day one. Yes, it's angsty and angry and all that, but I'm not giving up. Oh, I also left out a lot that makes the day so much worse than it seems (it all adds up, you know). I talked to my mom (the queen of Middle School teaching), and she helped out a lot. I know that I will grow so much from this, and I know things will get so much better. The good/bad news is that I only see the same students once per week (meaning I have a TON of students). I already have some ideas on how I can improve the classroom behavior, and I also have ideas for activities that will hopefully garner their interest. I just needed to record my day, and I hope you got some enjoyment along the way. I'm looking forward to looking back on this and laughing. Someday.

Communication Desires

Well, the past couple of days Chaz and I have decided to take it easy. We've wanted to relax and enjoy the last moments before going back to work, so mostly we've read and watched LOST Season 5 on the internet. Enjoyable? Yes. I've also dealt with a small bout of homesickness, so I think that was one of the reasons for staying in as well. Regardless, we're very ready to start school tomorrow. We can't help but feeling it will be somewhat of a solution to some of our problems. The issues of not fitting in and feeling completely out of place. If we can make friends and find someone to help us out, our feelings of loneliness and lost-ness will somewhat dissolve.

Anyway...we did manage to find our schools, so we know where we're going tomorrow. Mine is not a bad 20 minute walk from our apartment. The awful part will be, yup you guessed it, coming home. As I said before, we live halfway up a mountain. The only place to go from here is down (and back up to come home). You know my rant about our mountain (which I'm sure won't be the last)? Well, I want to show you exactly HOW FAR we must walk up this cursed monstrosity to get home from the subway.


See those teeeeny tiny buildings in the background? Yes, the ones in the red circle? We live in one of those. Chaz is standing just a little ways away from the subway station. Ugh.

Today, after hours of LOST, we finally decided to emerge from our abode to get something to eat. It took us forever to find a restaurant that didn't seem too intimidating to order from (and it had pictures at which to point), so we went in. What did we end up eating? Fried chicken. Yes, fried chicken. It was Korean-style, so it included a side of chili sauce, but it was fried chicken nonetheless. Not very adventurous, but delicious nonetheless.


So, on a completely unrelated note, here's one thing I find frustrating about Korea, and one reason I'm desperate to learn the language and fit in as soon as possible. Today, we had a ring at our doorbell. Now, this freaks me out because we have yet to meet someone who knows where we live (besides Kat, but she's not in Busan). So we open the door to find these cute Korean women. They start talking to us, and I'm like, "Uhh....English?" Do they try to gesture what they want? No. They start talking more in Korean. Finally I established they were sent from my school to clean our apartment. So they come in, and one woman hands us a can of roach killer. "No, no," I say and motion that we don't have roaches. I had called my school to tell them about our mold, but apparently they didn't understand. So then I show the woman the mold. "Oh," she says, and then mutters something in Korean. Then, they leave. That's it. No solution to the mold. And we don't see them again. AHHH!! We need some communication!

Just another day at the beach

Today was a pretty chill day in Korea. Chaz and I decided to visit Haeundae again in the afternoon. This time, we brought our swimsuits.

Kat had shown us this great, tiny Mexican restaurant in the area called Taco Señora.


We decided we were in the mood for some burritos, so we checked it out. The place is barely big enough for four people to sit at a counter while this adorable Korean woman makes your burritos, tacos, quesadillas, and nachos in front of you. Apparently her story is that she has a friend from Mexico who taught her about Mexican food, so she opened a restaurant in Busan. People come from all around for her food, and it's surprisingly wonderful. Chaz and I had chicken burritos, and they were incredible! Who knew you could get such good Mexican food in Korea? In the place, we also met Justin, a graduate of Penn State who is also teaching English in Busan. He's been here about eight months, so he was giving us advice on what to eat, where to visit, etc. It was great to meet a guy from the States as most Westerners here are from Canada (Justin said apparently it's a "right of passage" for them to teach in Korea).

After burritos, it was time to hit the beach. It is still so incredible to me that we can just go to the beach whenever we want to (in season, of course). I've never been able to do this in my life, being from Iowa, and I'm excited that I now have this opportunity. It was great to just soak in the sun and the sand and take a dip in the sea (also, I've never been in salt water before....crazy, I know).




Busan just keeps getting more and more wonderful, and I know we have so much more to see in the city. We've had a great time site-seeing, but we're pretty ready to get into our schools. We feel a bit out of the loop since most people meet friends (Korean and Western) in the schools. We have a couple more days of relaxing and traveling, and then we'll finally be teaching.

There's so much to see in the city

One thing that will definitely take some getting used to is the trek to and from our apartment. Our building is a good thirty minute walk from the nearest subway stop. This means that Chaz has to walk it every day as he will need to take the subway to commute to school. I'll also most likely have the trek as my school is a thirty minute walk away (in what direction? no idea...yet). Now, this thirty minute walk is no ordinary walk. Thirty minutes. That's nothing, right?

Wrong.

Walking to the subway stop is no big deal because it's all downhill. Unfortunately, that means the walk back to our apartment is all uphill. And I'm talking no ordinary hill. I'm talking halfway up a mountain. We are the last set of apartment buildings before there is no more development on the mountain. On the upside, we have a gorgeous view, but the walk is proving difficult to get used to. We always return home exhausted and sweating as a result of our trek. We could maybe find a bus to take us up the hill, but we are far too intimidated to try the all-Korean bus-system. At least the subway has stops in English.

Besides the awful trek up our mountain, the subway is incredibly wonderful for getting around the city. Today, Kat took us to Centum City and the Shinsegae Department Store, the 2009 Guiness World Record for largest store in the world. And it was huge. 10 floors (including a basement food court) full of brand-name boutiques selling everything from clothes and shoes to computers and stationary. We found an Apple store (amaaazing! Called A# Shop).



But probably my favorite was the stationary store. Kat said we could find stationary stores that sell cheaper items, but we did splurge on a few cute things. I wanted to buy just about everything! I'm definitely going back for more.

In the stationary area, we also found a friend!



It's Totoro! I remember watching this Japanese movie as a kid starring Totoro, a magical creature who befriends some children. So wonderful!

Then, on the rooftop of the department store, there's a garden/grassy area with a phenomenal view of the city and coastline.



After that, it was the ride on the subway (where we met Drew, a guy from England who is teaching in a new school in Busan) and then the tiring trek up our mountain.

Beachin' Times

Sooo....we spent most of today cleaning our apartment. I knew I couldn't be happy until we cleaned our filthy apartment apparently previously inhabited by a very filthy person. So finally, we have a clean place, and it looks so much better. Still moldy, but we'll take care of that later.

After a day of cleaning, we left our apartment to meet Kat (hooray hooray hooray) at Haeundae Beach. Our first big outing. For those of you who may not know, Kat is my long-lost (for 10 1/2 months) friend from Iowa State who has been teaching in a nearby city (Ulsan). On our way, we snapped this great pic near our apartment of the center of the city at night.



After a 30 minute walk to the subway, and a 30 minute subway ride, we made it to the beach and found Kat. Assa! Right away we checked out the beach which was gorgeous at night. Kat said it just revealed the vibe of the city, and she was right. It was wonderful and energetic and calming all at the same time.



Chaz even stopped to get a picture with a local beach-goer.



(Yes, that man is wearing a thong. He throws a frisbee and poses. In a thong.)

Then, on to the main event: FOOD! Kat helped us get some amaaaaazing Korean food, and I am absolutely in love! We had samguypsal which is pork, and you fry it on a grill at your table along with kimchi, and garlic cloves. Then you pile it on a lettuce leaf, add a radish and some more kimchi, wrap and eat. Delicious!





Fortunately, we had Kat, the Korean pro with us, so she knew what was up! We ended the meal with rice (bop) and dwen jon jighe (bean soup). All very very very delicious! We ended up missing the last subway, so we had to grab a taxi, and we had a very friendly cab driver. Kat, being the pro, was able to communicate quite a bit to the guy, and he kept laughing, probably cause he thought it was fun that an American knew Korean. Then, a 30 minute walk halfway up a mountain later, we got back to our apartment. First great Korean adventure: check!