One Month Down

I've been in South Korea for over a month now...it's so crazy!  It feels like so long ago that I arrived here, almost like a distant memory.  Things have definitely calmed down a lot, I'm getting in the swing of things at work and I'm better at managing my time there so I don't have to stay late very often.  I'm really enjoying my second grade classes in the afternoon because there are some real characters in there, and I can actually have a conversation with them:)  We have a field trip this Friday for Kindergarten, so I'm really excited for that.  We're going to go to a farm, but that's pretty much all that I know.  

Besides work, I went to a beach two weekends ago.  We headed off to Muuido, which is a little island off of Incheon.  We had to take a bus to Incheon (the airport in Seoul), transfer to another bus, take a ferry to the island, and then take another bus to the beach on the other side of the island.  It was definitely worth the trip!  We stayed in little huts on the beach, and crammed five people in each hut.

The hut we rented out for the night

It was warm out but cloudy the first day, and we went swimming right when we got there.  Getting to the water was a hike, it probably took about 20 minutes to reach the water by walking over the mud flats.  The tide goes out so far during the day and leaves a wide expanse of mud to walk through, full of tiny crabs.  That night we made a fire on the beach and all the foreigners staying in the other huts came and joined our fire.  The second day was sunny and hot, and I got really sunburned.  We all had spicy instant noodle bowls for breakfast, and it was a surprisingly delicious breakfast.  An older Korean man tried to offer me some of his kimchi to add to my noodles, but I thought it was spicy enough haha.  

A family out exploring the mud flats

Last week one of my students (Amy) had a birthday, but nobody told me so I didn't bring my camera.  Birthdays are a big deal here.  Amy's mom brought in this delicious raspberry cream cake, clementines, bananas, juice boxes, and a cup full of candy for all the kids.  We finished up the cake really fast, and Amy got presents from her classmates to open at home.  I guess she was so excited about her presents that she couldn't go to sleep that night!  Last week was when I also went into Seoul all by myself.  I thought that it was about time that I rode the bus by myself here to see if I could do it, and it went just fine.  I just went to Myong-dong (to Forever 21 lol) to buy a coat.  I discovered that I should just have my camera on me at all times because there's always something that I want to capture.  For example, I walked by this fancy looking store, and there were three mannequins outside.  There was something about the mannequins that made me take a second look--they looked so real but looked plastic at the same time.  Then one of them blinked!  What a strange job that would be.  They were doing a really good job looking like mannequins though, I don't think I could stand perfectly still like that.  

Then this last weekend I took it kind of easy.  I was sick, the same as everyone else at LCI.  I think we're all probably going to get sick at the same time all year, that's just kind of the way it goes in the schools.  On Saturday we went to a soccer game in Seoul at the world cup stadium.  There were special tickets for foreigners, so we got a free hot dog and free tall beer with our ticket (just for being a foreigner).  I like the way they do sporting events over here because you can just bring in your own food and drinks and nobody cares.  Also, they don't jack the prices way up on food and drinks in the stadium; they just charge normal prices.

 Me and Meghan at the game

After the game we went out to a really nice bar in Jukjeon for one of our coworker's husband's birthday.  I found out that playing pool here is free, so I played quite a few games.  I mean, it's free so why not?  Then on Sunday I actually went for a little jog along the river.  I plan to exercise a lot here (starting now) and get in shape so I can tackle these crazy mountains!  Sunday night I went to a neighboring city, Suwon, to a bar called The Big Chill.  It was open mic night and one of our coworkers was performing.  We also did a poker run there, where we had to hike up to this fortress and find the four stations to pick a card from (and then pick the last card at the bar) and then the people with the best hand and the worst hand get a prize.  It was fun and really beautiful walking along the fortress with a view of the whole city.  I definitely want to go back to Suwon.  

Here's a random pic I thought I would share; this is LCI, the school where I work.  We're on the 6th floor and we only have an indoor play gym, which is really kind of sad for the kids I think.  

 LCI Kids Club.  We eat lunch out on the roof which is pretty sweet.

Observation of the day (from Saturday):  Don't try to take a picture of a cute box of baby bunnies in the subway station.  I attempted this, and an old woman grabbed a hold of my camera and pushed me forcefully away.  Lesson learned.  

This weekend coming up is a long weekend so we get Monday off, and I'm going to Seoraksan with a few of my coworkers to go hiking and maybe to the beach one last time.  I'm really excited!!  Three more days of work!  Oh yeah and I'm planning on getting a flikr account to add more pictures, I just haven't gotten around to it.  So I do have more pictures to share, it's just taking me a while lol.  I will try to post again soon!

Chuseok Holiday

Last Friday we celebrated Chuseok at school.  All the kindergartners showed up in their hanbok, the traditional Korean clothing.  They looked so cute!  Then they all made some Songpyeon, which is like a rice cake, and I believe they put raisins inside.  I didn't get to try any of those, but I tried some from the grocery store and they were pretty tasty.

My kindergartners for Chuseok

During playtime the boys always play with blocks and make really intricate bikes or 'water guns'--these guys are creative!  Just thought I'd share a pic of that too:

They're all working together and not fighting!  Yay!

On Saturday I toured parts of Seoul with Meghan.  We first went to Myeong-dong, which is a shopping area.  I will go back there once I get paid, and maybe only go there once or twice this year haha.  Then we went to Namdaemun market which was a very large outdoor market that went on and on.  I bought a slice of cantelope on a stick...yum!  

Namdaemun market

After that we went to the Namsangol Hanok Village, which is a preserved village from a long time ago.  It was neat to see how people used to live.  There was also a Chuseok celebration going on, so there was a woman performing a traditional dance on the stage.

I was too tall for the entryways!

Then we met up with some people near Ewha women's university and had squid galbi which was delicious.

Squid galbi (closest), chicken galbi, and pork galbi

On Sunday one of my coworkers had a movie marathon so we all just chilled out the whole day.  Then on Monday I climbed Suji mountain (someone told me it's called brothers mountain i think) and it was a lot easier than the previous mountain we climbed.  It still had some difficult parts but it only took about an hour to climb.  

On top of Suji mountain

That night, we went out to Hongdae for one of my coworker's 30th birthday.  We had to all dress in black like we were going to a funeral because it was a "Death to her twenties" party.  And now back to work, but at least this week is only a three day work week:)  

First week of teaching

So far teaching has been pretty stressful.  I don't really know what I'm doing or how to go about doing it, but somehow I have been getting through the day.  I know it will get easier once I teach for a while.  And the days have been flying by!  Here's what my schedule looks like:  In the mornings from 10-2:20 I have kindergarten, with a one hour lunch break in there.  My Kindergarten class is the youngest, so they are four years old and are crazy but really cute.  I'll take pictures soon:)  One of the boys is named Winston (coolest name ever!) and then there's Yule, Serry, Amy, Eileen, Sohee, and then Anthony is the one that really likes me.  A couple of days ago he sat by me and then asked Yule if he was jealous that he got to sit by Rachel Teacher.  He said it all in Korean of course, but there was a Korean teacher in the class at that time so she told me.  And Yule is a funny kid, every time I say it's time to clean up, he yells out "YAY!!"  It makes me laugh every time.  I hope he never stops doing that.  The kids are all getting used to me so that's good.  Oh back to my schedule--after kindergarten I have reading club from 2:30-3:50 every day, where I just go through a very simple book with a small group of older kindergartners and try to make it last the whole time.  Then in the afternoons I teach older kids(like 2nd or 3rd grade).  On MWF I teach storytown, have a prep hour, then teach grammar/writing until 6:20.  On TTh I teach science/writing, then storytown, and then I get to leave at like 5:45.

That's enough about work--last Saturday I climbed a mountain!  It was an actual mountain, and I definitely wasn't prepared for it.  It was in some park north of Seoul, and I guess it's quite a bit larger than the mountain we have in Suji.  The hike started off fine, and then halfway up it started to get crazy where we were climbing up big rocks using both hands.  Then at the very top it was just a flat slab of rock you had to scale, but luckily there were railings built in the rock to hold on to.  I noticed all the Koreans were wearing hard-core hiking boots, gloves, and most of them had fancy metal walking sticks...I know why they had those things now!  Even though the hike up was really hard, I'm glad I made it because the view was absolutely amazing.

 The mountain we climbed

Finally at the top!

After the hike we stopped at a restaurant and I got some iced noodles.  They were really good, I just had a hard time picking up the slippery noodles with chopsticks.  

Saturday observation:  It is common for couples to dress alike here, as in they like to both wear the same exact outfit.  There was a younger couple on the subway in matching tracksuits.  That is something I would never want to do, but to each their own, right?

Sunday observation:  People seem to be very helpful and nice towards strangers.  Two times at LotteMart the employees actually walked with me to a different level because I was failing at finding something.  And then on Sunday I was looking for a good cucumber in a small grocery store and this older woman came up and took the one I had in my hand and showed me that the skin was bad on it.  She then looked through all the cucumbers and found me a good one.  I had no idea what she was saying but I trust that she was helping me out:)  

On Monday as I was walking back from work I heard screams of "Rachel Teacher!!" and sure enough the LCI (that's my school) bus was at the stoplight.  The kids love to scream our names at all times if they see us outside of the classroom.  Even if we are just having a five minute break and they see us in the hallway they will get excited and yell our names.  It's so cute!  Monday night one of my coworkers started movie monday and we watched the Korean movie 'Oldboy' which was really messed up but really good.  And we had pizza...yum!  The cheese pizza automatically comes with corn on it, and it was pretty tasty.

Other than that I've been exploring Suji and I plan to do more exploring.  This weekend is the Chuseok holiday so we get Monday and Tuesday off of work.  A couple of my coworkers and I are planning on being tourists in Seoul this weekend so that should be fun.

Oh yeah and I booked my flight to the Phillipines for winter break!  I'll be spending Christmas on the beach! :)

First week in Korea

Hello!  So here's an overview of my first week in South Korea--I'm sure it would have been more detailed if I had actually written it closer to when it happened, but this will have to do:)

So I flew into Korea with one of my co-workers Meghan, another new teacher from Minnesota.  We took a two-hour cab ride into Suji from the airport (tons of traffic!) and were greeted by a couple of our co-workers.  We went out for beef galbi (meat you grill or cook at your table) and it was delicious!

Here's the beef galbi with a ton of different sides

Then we went to a bar called Batman bar and I found out that darts are very popular here.  I also found out that I have no skills at darts.  Hopefully that will change!  I also had my first experience with a squatter toilet.  It kind of took me by surprise because I was not expecting that here.  But I would say it's been about half and half, half squatters and half normal.  And some toilets are super fancy and have heated seats or spray your butt!  After Batman we hung out on the deck of Family Mart (a little convenience store chain all over the place here) and sat in plastic chairs with a bunch of other foreigners.  

The next day (Thursday) was my first observation day, and I woke up at 6am from jet lag so I felt like crap the whole day.  I ate lunch at school because we get to eat for free, and most of the time it's been pretty edible so I'm going to try to do that every day.  I think the most delicious thing so far has been hard boiled quail eggs...yum!  That night I went to a motel to stay for the week because my apartment wasn't ready yet.  It was a love motel complete with a jacuzzi!  I had fun watching kpop videos because the dancing is just ridiculous.  There were strips of material covering the entrance to the motel, I guess so that nobody can see your car parked in there since it is a love motel and that's kinda embarrassing lol.  

My motel called "Theme motel" complete with car privacy strips

So now I'm up to Friday--I had another observation day that dragged on forever.  That night I went out with all my co-workers for spicy chicken galbi, and it was even better than the beef galbi!  The owners gave us a few bottles of pop for free towards the end of our meal because I guess it's a polite gesture to give a large group of foreigners free pop, and pop is really expensive here.

Chicken galbi which also came with a side of mussels for each of us

On Saturday I went walking around Suji.  I met up with a few co-workers and went to a coffee shop called Cafe Benne.  They are all over the place along with a ton of other coffee shops everywhere you look.  

Nice big coffee shop that sells gelato!!

And here's a random pic of the day--a boy and his pet chicken:

That night we went to Hongdae in Seoul, which is like the arts district of Seoul.  Art is not big here, they put a greater emphasis on math and science I guess so it was cool to be in an artsy place.  When we first got there, there was a silent DJ party going on in the park.  Everyone was wearing these big headphones and the DJ was playing music through the headphones, so all of these people were dancing like crazy but we couldn't hear the music!

  

Silent DJ party

There was also a drum circle (Carly!) going on in a different part of the park.  As for street food...they had kabobs!!  And they were even more delicious and spicy than the ones in Italy!!  My coworkers probably thought I was a weirdo for how much I was enjoying that kabob.   Yum.  Anyways, everyone decided not to take a taxi back from Seoul cuz it's expensive, and the last subway runs at midnight.  So we ended up staying out until the subway started up again, which was around 6am.  Needless to say I didn't do much the next day, except break down and buy a subway sandwich.  

Monday was another observation day, nothing too exciting.  The other two new girls and I ventured out to E-Mart, which is a huge department store here that has anything you could ever need.  I usually go to Lotte Mart, which is also big (4 or 5 levels) because it's a lot closer, but E-Mart has better prices.  Here's Lotte, where I have been stopping almost every day it seems:

On Tuesday we had different orientations with all of our different Korean supervisors.  It was very overwhelming with a lot of information, since we have multiple different classes each day.  Then we went out for beef galbi and said bye to the three teachers that were leaving.

Wednesday was my first actual day of teaching.  In the mornings until 2:30 I have Kindergarten, which are four year olds who don't really know any English.  They are adorable, but I'm still struggling to figure out how to teach them the meanings of words.  Then in the afternoon I have various other classes that I will talk about later.  I finally moved into my apartment Wednesday night, and I guess it's the smallest one out of everyone at the school.  I think it's cozy, and I can always move to a bigger apartment in six months like the girl who lived here before me did.  

So that was my first week in South Korea!  I will try to get this blog up to date, I've been here almost two weeks and it feels like so much longer.  And yet time is going by really fast!  

  

 

Hello From Korea!

Hello everyone!  Sorry it has taken me so long to post, I finally moved into my apartment last night and just figured out my power cord adapter situation today.  For the past week I've been staying in a love motel and things have been super crazy!  I want to update from the beginning when I got to Korea along with pictures, but I'm way too tired tonight so hopefully I'll have some time in the next couple of days to do that.  Hope everyone is doing well and I'm off to bed so I'll be ready for the adorable kiddies tomorrow!