Thursday, September 23, 2010
Made a lil' trouble @ Osan
Soooooooo- I tried to take a picture of the front of Osan Airbase- and I had a guard yelling at me and Casey running at me- "Stop, Stop!" ummmmm yeahhhhhhhh can't take pictures of military bases from the outside- but you can from the inside out. Took my camera and deleted the photo- but did give it back. GEESE it scared the living daylight out of me! I'm a civilian!- I don't realize these things- but wow am I learning!!!
Seoulified
Time is precious in Seoul! It goes by so so so fast! I find myself rushing around everywhere- never can I just leisurely take a stroll!-anyways- It's hard to keep up on here also. I am finally used to the air here and I just cant wait for the rainy season to end and the cold to start! Somethings to mention-
I learned in Korea if you eat the "last" anything (because here no one eats alone- food is served for at least 2 ppl) it means that you will become fatter and fatter. It is bad luck to eat the "last" anything on a plate.
I discovered "Soju" it is a a rice wine, comparable to Vodka or Sake. It is native to Korea and very very cheap- like 1,200 won which is around a $1.00 in the States. Talking with Korean women--- a girl does not leave home "typically" until they are married- they live with their parents until they do and do not/can not live with their boyfriends. If you are unmarried still at 30- you will never get married- you are considered old and it's too late for you.
When eating- it is a sign that the food you're eating is delicious and you like it if you slurp- eat loudly and quickly- it's considered weird to them that we eat quietly.
They serve pickles with their pizza. Some pizza has potato on it- some have mayonnaise on it. It's interesting.
Today is Monday and I am off work Tues- Thurs. for "Chusok" "Korean Thanksgiving" It celebrates Korean's ancestors and is in the middle of what they call "harvest season." The whole country takes 3 days off and apparently everything is closed- like Christmas for us. People visit their hometowns and eat traditional Korean food- like Songpyeon ( a half moon-shaped rice cake) If someone can make a pretty Songpyeon, he or she will be blessed with a good marriage.
Just this past weekend Katie, Emily and I discovered an ON THE BORDER!!!!! I was in shock- I was what the hell is this place doing here!!!??? It has never tasted so good but was super-duper expensive.
I have eaten a lot of yummy Korean food, I love and crave Bi bim bap- it has no meat usually, but can be made with beef or octopus. Also, Kimchi mandu- which is like a dumpling- Ahhh so good!!! Kimchi is served with every mean in Korea.
In one of my special classes- some of my students and I were talking about eating octopus. "Teacher it is so delicious and fun to eat!" They would explain that they eat it when it's still alive and it wiggles all around in your mouth and it's fun to chew it and kill it- ew! One girl said her brother had a tentacle go up his nasal passage- he pulled it out and put it back in his mouth. OMG!!!! I am going to try octopus at some point- but not soon!
I have bought a lot of bright pretty things for my desk- and also have things I have brought from back home- and all my little girls gather around my desk and have to TOUCH everything. "Teacher what's this? Teacher you have strange things." They love the Bath and Body Works hand sanitizer I have! The school gave me a big box of my very own business cards- with my picture and everything- so cool!
I find myself racking my brain- because I am teaching what I have learned as a child and I don't remember learning it. To explain the meanings of words and how we use them is quite difficult. Teaching is exhausting but it flies by because I am immersed in what i am teaching. My students want to learn English so badly, I am taking my job very seriously and want to help them as best as i can. Sometimes, I explain a statement/saying/meaning of a word in 3-5 different angles before a light bulb turns on in their head and they can understand/translate the lesson I'm teaching. It can get tedious- it makes me want to go hug all my Spanish teachers I had in school, because I know how they probably felt, at times, when teaching English speaking students Spanish as a second language. One weird, annoying thing about my school- the principal is very old fashioned. She is in her 50's- never married- and a bit bitter- (this came from someone else's mouth- who has been teaching at the school a lot longer than me) She does not condone Korean and English teachers to talk freely. It is a bit segregated. There is an awesome Korean girl working on the first floor, she is pretty high up, her name is Lily- she wants to hang out and go out with us- but if she is SEEN out with us- oh no- she is in much trouble! Also, if she is seen talking to us she is given awful looks by the principal and a couple of other Korean staff members. It's very professional- no stepping over the "outside of school" line. It is simply a Korean cultural difference. They do not mix work and outside of work together.- Well at least at my school they do not. My partner teacher is AWESOME- she drinks with us after work sometimes, but I think it's very hush hush.
When I wear my hair up my students ask about my tattoo on my neck- what's this teacher (as they point to my neck) when I say a tattoo they don't know what that is- i have to explain. Tattoos are not prevalent at all in Korea. You can get a tattoo in one area I was told but cleanliness is a scary issue. I think I will wait to get my Korean tattoo back in the States. I walked down the streets of Seoul bare foot once and my feet were black black black and sore for days- if I didn't get anything from that- then I "maybe" I will be OK getting a tattoo here, LOL.
Two weekends ago I went to the Seoul Tower! It was so fun- got to see this huge city! and mountains! It was awesome! Got lost in the city afterward, stumbled across a cool market, went to the World Cup Stadium to watch FC Seoul play soccer- they won! It was a foreigner's game, which was fun! Then saw an AMERICAN movie, Killers.
My partner teacher took Katie, Emily and I to an art museum and the Deoksugung Palace near city hall in Seoul not tool long ago. We walked up just as the guards were changing. It was so cool to see their uniforms- they were so colorful! The art exhibit was marvelous- realism in Asian art- many pieces were from the Philippines. Inside the walls it was very peaceful and had a pretty and serene for being right in the center of a HUGE city.
This past weekend one of the other English teachers had a BBQ at his place and people from everywhere were there. England, Australia, Scotland, Texas, Oregon, Canada, MS, IN, Korea, and other places I'm sure- it was friends of friends- I haven't been to a party as fun as this in a VERY long time. There would be spurts of heated debates that would flare up- then it would die down- start back up- its like everyone had at least one moment. I'm not going to divulge the topic I went off on. I played a ukulele and was told i was good! ha! nevertheless i had a blast playing it and acted like i knew what i was doing but couldn't make but 4 sounds come out of it, so i started banging on it and made everyone else try to play.
I just love the human interaction that i have come in counter with. It's been amazing so far. It takes a special type of person to be able to move to a foreign country, work and live WILLINGLY. I share similar mindsets with the other westerners that are here. It's nice.
Today is Thursday, I have spent a couple of days at Osan Airbase which is in Songtan. I traveled by subway to a bus station, then took a bus down to the small city- in all it took 1 1/2 hours. It was fun but I was a little nervous- I did it on my own. I met Casey who is stationed there. It was SUPER intimidating at the front gate of the base. There was razor wire at the top of the walls which made it look haunting and forbidden. There were many Americans armed, and there were a Korean soldiers armed- but they were not armed like we were. They had BIG guns on a strap at their backs and were very scary just to look at. I have never been on a base before. It is so much fun! It's like a little American town with American things- it's just fantastic LOL! I saw many jets take off and wow are they loud! Helicopters, jets were flying everywhere. I was told they go south to train and practice maneuvers and have "practice fights"- like they did in Top Gun! Hahaha! Also, they sometimes go to the North Korean border and drop bombs just to say "Hey, we're still here!"
I am going to take a trip up to the DMZ very soon with Casey. I am very excited about it!!!
This past Monday, went to Iteawon, a big night life area with foreigners from around the world, and was out all night long! Bars do not close here- it's amazing!!!!! I love it! I also ended up at a casino at 6 AM in the morning and played roulette for the first time- who knew gambling could be fun!- I didn't win but it was fun! I met people from Japan out that night. You can most definitely tell a difference between Korean people and Japanese people. I also met Korean gangster rappers- OH BOY- was that hilarious. We talked to some Turkish men who made us Turkish kabobs, which I eat every chance I can because they are delicious, the guy was talking all serious and I couldn't stop laughing because his fly was down the whole way. I didn't want to tell him because I didn't know how he would react to it. There is a big I guess the word to use is "business" for prostitutes in Korea. I have seen many of these on the streets- they are referred to as "juicy girls." Oh oh- we also ran into some guys from Uganda- not in a good way- one of my coworkers Marty saw this guy push down a Korean woman really hard- he walked up to him and confronted him- "why would you push a woman!?" type talk- oh my- it started to get heated- then 3 of his friends came- I was the only one paying attention to what was happening (everyone else was in lala drunk land) i went and grabbed Katie to come stand with me by Marty because we could not abandon him- then the guys started talking to me asking me questions and saying they feel all disrespected and shit- I made sure the Korean lady was okay- i was acting all tough (well as tough as i could!!!) but OMG they were so big and intimidating and had such thick African accents. The initial guy then came at Marty and I kid you not- that's when this little Korean lady who was cooking mandu on the street came in between them and split us up- i got VERY scared because I just knew they could really do some damage to us if they wanted to. In retrospect- I think this was the scenario- The lady who was pushed down was a prostitute- and the African guy maybe was her pimp- that's why he was treating her the way he was- and when we got involved his friends flocked from like 3 different corners.
On a different note- I met a guy from Nigeria in the subway- he has been in Korea for close to 3 years. He buys used clothing here and sends them back home to his hometown in Nigeria. He told me he misses his home and mother so much but can not go back- he said it is very corrupted there and he likes how peaceful it is in Korea. He was very nice and helped Emily and I find our correct train.
Korea Korea- oh how I love thee. I hope the new does not wear off and you stay fun everyday!
CHEERS!
I learned in Korea if you eat the "last" anything (because here no one eats alone- food is served for at least 2 ppl) it means that you will become fatter and fatter. It is bad luck to eat the "last" anything on a plate.
I discovered "Soju" it is a a rice wine, comparable to Vodka or Sake. It is native to Korea and very very cheap- like 1,200 won which is around a $1.00 in the States. Talking with Korean women--- a girl does not leave home "typically" until they are married- they live with their parents until they do and do not/can not live with their boyfriends. If you are unmarried still at 30- you will never get married- you are considered old and it's too late for you.
When eating- it is a sign that the food you're eating is delicious and you like it if you slurp- eat loudly and quickly- it's considered weird to them that we eat quietly.
They serve pickles with their pizza. Some pizza has potato on it- some have mayonnaise on it. It's interesting.
Today is Monday and I am off work Tues- Thurs. for "Chusok" "Korean Thanksgiving" It celebrates Korean's ancestors and is in the middle of what they call "harvest season." The whole country takes 3 days off and apparently everything is closed- like Christmas for us. People visit their hometowns and eat traditional Korean food- like Songpyeon ( a half moon-shaped rice cake) If someone can make a pretty Songpyeon, he or she will be blessed with a good marriage.
Just this past weekend Katie, Emily and I discovered an ON THE BORDER!!!!! I was in shock- I was what the hell is this place doing here!!!??? It has never tasted so good but was super-duper expensive.
I have eaten a lot of yummy Korean food, I love and crave Bi bim bap- it has no meat usually, but can be made with beef or octopus. Also, Kimchi mandu- which is like a dumpling- Ahhh so good!!! Kimchi is served with every mean in Korea.
In one of my special classes- some of my students and I were talking about eating octopus. "Teacher it is so delicious and fun to eat!" They would explain that they eat it when it's still alive and it wiggles all around in your mouth and it's fun to chew it and kill it- ew! One girl said her brother had a tentacle go up his nasal passage- he pulled it out and put it back in his mouth. OMG!!!! I am going to try octopus at some point- but not soon!
I have bought a lot of bright pretty things for my desk- and also have things I have brought from back home- and all my little girls gather around my desk and have to TOUCH everything. "Teacher what's this? Teacher you have strange things." They love the Bath and Body Works hand sanitizer I have! The school gave me a big box of my very own business cards- with my picture and everything- so cool!
I find myself racking my brain- because I am teaching what I have learned as a child and I don't remember learning it. To explain the meanings of words and how we use them is quite difficult. Teaching is exhausting but it flies by because I am immersed in what i am teaching. My students want to learn English so badly, I am taking my job very seriously and want to help them as best as i can. Sometimes, I explain a statement/saying/meaning of a word in 3-5 different angles before a light bulb turns on in their head and they can understand/translate the lesson I'm teaching. It can get tedious- it makes me want to go hug all my Spanish teachers I had in school, because I know how they probably felt, at times, when teaching English speaking students Spanish as a second language. One weird, annoying thing about my school- the principal is very old fashioned. She is in her 50's- never married- and a bit bitter- (this came from someone else's mouth- who has been teaching at the school a lot longer than me) She does not condone Korean and English teachers to talk freely. It is a bit segregated. There is an awesome Korean girl working on the first floor, she is pretty high up, her name is Lily- she wants to hang out and go out with us- but if she is SEEN out with us- oh no- she is in much trouble! Also, if she is seen talking to us she is given awful looks by the principal and a couple of other Korean staff members. It's very professional- no stepping over the "outside of school" line. It is simply a Korean cultural difference. They do not mix work and outside of work together.- Well at least at my school they do not. My partner teacher is AWESOME- she drinks with us after work sometimes, but I think it's very hush hush.
When I wear my hair up my students ask about my tattoo on my neck- what's this teacher (as they point to my neck) when I say a tattoo they don't know what that is- i have to explain. Tattoos are not prevalent at all in Korea. You can get a tattoo in one area I was told but cleanliness is a scary issue. I think I will wait to get my Korean tattoo back in the States. I walked down the streets of Seoul bare foot once and my feet were black black black and sore for days- if I didn't get anything from that- then I "maybe" I will be OK getting a tattoo here, LOL.
Two weekends ago I went to the Seoul Tower! It was so fun- got to see this huge city! and mountains! It was awesome! Got lost in the city afterward, stumbled across a cool market, went to the World Cup Stadium to watch FC Seoul play soccer- they won! It was a foreigner's game, which was fun! Then saw an AMERICAN movie, Killers.
My partner teacher took Katie, Emily and I to an art museum and the Deoksugung Palace near city hall in Seoul not tool long ago. We walked up just as the guards were changing. It was so cool to see their uniforms- they were so colorful! The art exhibit was marvelous- realism in Asian art- many pieces were from the Philippines. Inside the walls it was very peaceful and had a pretty and serene for being right in the center of a HUGE city.
This past weekend one of the other English teachers had a BBQ at his place and people from everywhere were there. England, Australia, Scotland, Texas, Oregon, Canada, MS, IN, Korea, and other places I'm sure- it was friends of friends- I haven't been to a party as fun as this in a VERY long time. There would be spurts of heated debates that would flare up- then it would die down- start back up- its like everyone had at least one moment. I'm not going to divulge the topic I went off on. I played a ukulele and was told i was good! ha! nevertheless i had a blast playing it and acted like i knew what i was doing but couldn't make but 4 sounds come out of it, so i started banging on it and made everyone else try to play.
I just love the human interaction that i have come in counter with. It's been amazing so far. It takes a special type of person to be able to move to a foreign country, work and live WILLINGLY. I share similar mindsets with the other westerners that are here. It's nice.
Today is Thursday, I have spent a couple of days at Osan Airbase which is in Songtan. I traveled by subway to a bus station, then took a bus down to the small city- in all it took 1 1/2 hours. It was fun but I was a little nervous- I did it on my own. I met Casey who is stationed there. It was SUPER intimidating at the front gate of the base. There was razor wire at the top of the walls which made it look haunting and forbidden. There were many Americans armed, and there were a Korean soldiers armed- but they were not armed like we were. They had BIG guns on a strap at their backs and were very scary just to look at. I have never been on a base before. It is so much fun! It's like a little American town with American things- it's just fantastic LOL! I saw many jets take off and wow are they loud! Helicopters, jets were flying everywhere. I was told they go south to train and practice maneuvers and have "practice fights"- like they did in Top Gun! Hahaha! Also, they sometimes go to the North Korean border and drop bombs just to say "Hey, we're still here!"
I am going to take a trip up to the DMZ very soon with Casey. I am very excited about it!!!
This past Monday, went to Iteawon, a big night life area with foreigners from around the world, and was out all night long! Bars do not close here- it's amazing!!!!! I love it! I also ended up at a casino at 6 AM in the morning and played roulette for the first time- who knew gambling could be fun!- I didn't win but it was fun! I met people from Japan out that night. You can most definitely tell a difference between Korean people and Japanese people. I also met Korean gangster rappers- OH BOY- was that hilarious. We talked to some Turkish men who made us Turkish kabobs, which I eat every chance I can because they are delicious, the guy was talking all serious and I couldn't stop laughing because his fly was down the whole way. I didn't want to tell him because I didn't know how he would react to it. There is a big I guess the word to use is "business" for prostitutes in Korea. I have seen many of these on the streets- they are referred to as "juicy girls." Oh oh- we also ran into some guys from Uganda- not in a good way- one of my coworkers Marty saw this guy push down a Korean woman really hard- he walked up to him and confronted him- "why would you push a woman!?" type talk- oh my- it started to get heated- then 3 of his friends came- I was the only one paying attention to what was happening (everyone else was in lala drunk land) i went and grabbed Katie to come stand with me by Marty because we could not abandon him- then the guys started talking to me asking me questions and saying they feel all disrespected and shit- I made sure the Korean lady was okay- i was acting all tough (well as tough as i could!!!) but OMG they were so big and intimidating and had such thick African accents. The initial guy then came at Marty and I kid you not- that's when this little Korean lady who was cooking mandu on the street came in between them and split us up- i got VERY scared because I just knew they could really do some damage to us if they wanted to. In retrospect- I think this was the scenario- The lady who was pushed down was a prostitute- and the African guy maybe was her pimp- that's why he was treating her the way he was- and when we got involved his friends flocked from like 3 different corners.
On a different note- I met a guy from Nigeria in the subway- he has been in Korea for close to 3 years. He buys used clothing here and sends them back home to his hometown in Nigeria. He told me he misses his home and mother so much but can not go back- he said it is very corrupted there and he likes how peaceful it is in Korea. He was very nice and helped Emily and I find our correct train.
Korea Korea- oh how I love thee. I hope the new does not wear off and you stay fun everyday!
CHEERS!
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
chicken and beer
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| Our dinner table on thurs. |
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| Amy- 1 of my best students, always comes to talk before class |
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| JAMES! my recruiter- so fun he is! |
BY FAR these kids are 110% better than the American freshmen I taught (probably because they look at me in awe). They call me "Megan Teacher" and ask me at least 5 questions about myself every class. "Teacher, you are beautiful teacher." I can sooooooooooooooo get used to this!!! :) It's a different mindset, teaching in korea. In America, we get alot of info from our students on what works best etc. here, the TEACHER knows it all. All hail teacher. It's nice!!! LOL! I ask them alot of questions about their lives and I have learned about their schedules- typical day for my students---- wake up anywhere from 6 AM to 7 AM school starts at 8 or 9AM and goes to 3 PM- go home for MAYBE an hour break then to a specialized class (violin, piano,dance, etc.) then to Academy (which is what I'm a teacher in) and possibly more than one for the rest of the evening- they get home around 10 PM do homework and study and go to sleep hopfully by 12 AM and do it all over again the next day- except MWF may the same and T/TH they have a different schedule. WOW is right!!!! No wonder they are out beating Westerners. Some of my kids know 3 languages and they're not even 13 years old yet! One of my girls goes to Chinese right before she comes to me--ughhhh confusing! I went to school 8-2:45 as a kid and played outside until dark most days in my childhood- I'd take that lifestyle any day. Naturally, you can argue both sides. What is considered "fun" and "leisure" time to them is playing COMPUTER GAMES ughhhh thats all I hear!!! Only a handful of my kids have been to America and it's either to LA or NYC. They ask me about cowboys- "Teacher do you know cowboy?" I always say "yessssssssssss." - and laugh. My last class is what's called a "special class" I teach conversation/debate and a novel. I am teaching Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, and ughh can't think of the last one. It's a fun way to wrap up the night. Tonight I did my first round of "phone tests" tonight. I schedule a time with my kids and prepare questions and conversation- call them at home talk for about 3-5 minutes and grade them on comprehension, and speaking. To break it down- on Mon. I teach Reading to 4 different level of students (diff. comprehension levels, the lowest I have is A2 it goes all the way to A6) - on Tues. I have my advanced students and teach everything, Listening, Speaking and Reading- on Wed. Speaking to 4 different level of kids- Thurs. is the same as Tuesday- Fri. Listening to 4 diff. levels. I see the same classes MWF and the same on T/Th.
TODAY I encountered something surprising--- I walk to work right- I'm supposed to be at work at 3 PM- today I punched in at 3:01 PM- the day before 3:03 PM- back in the States with everything I have always struggled to be on time- anyways, Lily sends me an email saying do you know you have been late twice--- so I talk to her after classes and she tells me that the principal will deduct 10,000 won (equivalent to $10) every time I am late from my paycheck and it will go towards doughnuts for the teachers!!!! WOW!!!! She said since it is the first week- that will not happen but DONT BE LATE! GEESE-LOUISE you're not in American anymore- wake up! That's not even LEGAL in America I don’t think! Nevertheless I can’t be 1 MINUTE late- the funny thing is we cant leave until 10- well I am never out of there at 10- but rather 10:15- 10:30. ehhhh no biggie just another Korean quirk- they are very precise.
Anyhooo--- soooooo last Thurs. a big group of us from work went out after work- Korean teachers and English teachers. We went to "Kill Time" a bar and drank- then to eat dinner at a Korean restaurant- then to a night club and played drinking games. So So Fun! The female Korean teachers are so beautiful and love to party- they can totally outdrink this Texas girl. We got to talk on a personal level outside of work and get to know each other, gossip about the school's management- LOL. THEN, OMG, on the street we actually ran into the school's principal and Lily and the Korean teachers literally freaked out because its not good for here to see them with US- you know. She does not want them to mingle socially with any of the foreign teachers. I don’t know if anything happened- BUT tomorrow night I am going out after work with my Korean partner teacher for "chicken and beer" - yes that is THE thing to do here folks- chicken and beer, lol!
This past Saturday- Emily and I FINALLY got to meet our recruiter James after corresponding with him so much by phone and computer. We rode the subway to Seoul Station and he picked us up there with his roommate Troy. They cooked us dinner. Troy is in the American military- high up- not sure what though but in the Army. It was Emily, James, Troy and another friend, Kevin who is also in the American military and ME! Dinner has never tasted sooo good- I had actual crab legs for the first time in my life! A-M-A-Z-I-N-G! and some kind of shrimp stuff. We all went out in an area of Seoul called Iteawon which is an international area. There were so many white people I didn’t know what to do!!! it was freaky! LOL! I had sooooooooooooo much fun- I wish I could remember all of it- haha just kidding. I didn’t expect this to happen so quickly- but I met a very CUTE guy from Chicago- in the military- an air traffic contoller and is so nice. It was so cute because Troy (who I'd just met that night) was being so protective over me- he told "the guy" you better not mess up boy or I'll hunt you down" hahahahaha- Troy trains military dogs- yep that’s all I'm going to say about that. Saturday night was over-the-top SO much fun! I hope every weekend will be like that.
My apartment is still bare. I will post pictures once I get some decorations up. Oh- I survived a typhoon- my door to my apt is inside the bldg and it was rattling so loudly- the wind was so strong- the next morning the streets were littered with so much debris. A couple of people were killed and electric poles were down. I know Osan Air Base is still without air conditioning in some of their buildings.
Somethings I've learned about Korea since last post- there are NO copyright laws here, drivers are unbelievably talented fitting cars in super small spaces, Kia and Hyundae are Korean companies as is Samsung, a company called "Lotte" owns everything over here- literally it's a monopoly, there is a huge community of korean mafia that is still at it today, McDonalds delivers (i dont know that from experience fyi)
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| Katie and I with our 1,000 mm of Cass beer yum! |
Oh and the picture above me and the cat is of Emily, Kevin, me and Troy.
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| look closely! OMG they dye female cat's cheeks pink like they're wearing blush! so freakin cute!!!! |
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
busy day sep 1st
Hello from Seoul!
Today (Wed.) has been an eventful day- it was my first day to teach my students in my classroom and run the show. It was so fun. I am feeling like a regular "Seoulite". I have no problem doing anything I need to. I am learning my neighborhood very well and love the area- everything is close and it has many great places to go to eat and drink. I am doing alot of things alone- Emily has moved in to her apartment and we have been meeting up here and there to do things- but I love walking down the street and observing everything and everyone. My thoughts while observing people as I walk down the sidewalk- is just how cool it is to be on the other side of the world from what I consider to be "everyday normal" and finding it here too. Of course, it's different in a way- but there are underlying similarities that I notice and appreciate in the way Koreans interact, do business, and treat each other. People are so so so extremely hard working!!! They are diehard honest!!! They do things right and make things right if they're not no matter how LONG it takes- they dont leave anything until it's done- (I've already witnessed that at school) and also super gracious. Everyday I learn-live-love it more and more- and by it- i mean korea and the ppl. I feel all korean just by saying "kam sa mida"- thank you- to people, im so lame, i gotta lot to learn!!! :)
Today Emily and I had to meet Lily and go to the Doctor for a physical checkup and also to the Hana Bank to open up our Korean bank accounts.
The physical was an experience in itself. Each floor of the hospital was designated for a different part of the body. We first had X-rays done of our chests- I got to see mine- Ive never seen an X-ray of my lungs/chest- its was cool. Then we had an old school eye test-covering one eye and reading off a chart on the wall and GUESS WHAT- I had PERFECT eye sight! I was shocked- the nurse asked me "what do you eat" hahaha- I laughed and said carrots (not hardly) and she responded "ewww yuck" (like a little kid). We then had to go get our teeth checked, then pee in a DIXIE cup which was weird- and have blood drawn,ouch- lastly we sat down with a doctor who asked us general health questions- "do you have any pain anywhere"? things like that. It was super interesting- we had to go to a different flr for each thing we did. A huge group of female korean doctors exited an elevator right in front of us and all said "hello" to Emily and I.
At the bank we set up our bank accounts- debit cards just like in the states. We will get paid by direct deposit every month by our school- which is nice.
Before we met up with Lily- we were standing on the sidewalk waiting- and a grandmother walked up to us with her grandson in his stroller- she took him out and wanted us to talk to him and hold him- so we did- i guess also just wanted him to see us. She didnt speak just a bit of English but she was asking all kinds of questions and pushing her grandson to look at us- but he was just so scared- it was super cute.
After all that jazz we ran into one of the English teachers, Darrah from Ireland, that just finished teaching at our school and is leaving tomorrow to travel for a month- going to 5 countries then coming back to seoul- he recommended to us a FANTASTIC korean eatery and DANG it I didnt take a picture of my food but it was so pretty and so so so tasty. It was called Bi-Bim Bab and it had a fried egg on top and i put the famous korean pepper sauce or paste rather- and uhhhhhhhhhhhh so good. Korean food is under-rated- i just cant wait until my mom comes to visit so i can expose her to all this!!!!
ok ok this is getting long- to the first day- so school was frantic from 3 to 4 pm today!!! Emilys computer wasnt working and had all the male korean teachers running around like crazy- they had to fix my projector- last minute paperwork and copying of disks and just one thing after the other- it was so funny now in retrospect. All my classes are great- some more quiet than others- they all asked me 3 standard questions- where are you from? how old are you? are you married? hahaha. on my computer background is the CUTEST picture of my nephew Eli and at the beginning of every class i showed the picture of him and they were in awwwww of his blonde hair and blue eyes :) they like my blonde hair too and the fact that im from america- so many of them want to go there and study.
I have to be at school at 3 pm until 10 pm- i teach from 4 pm to 9 pm. I like the schedule. I have to alot of paperwork though each week, part of it.
I can barely stay awake for much longer- last night i was invited to a poker night with some of the other foreign teachers (thats what we're called here- obviously) but i could barely make it home after work- i was so exhausted. It is a 10 minute walk from my apt to my school which is nice. Tonight I met Andre (from ontario canada) as I walking home, he is also a eng. teacher and we got to talking- he lives right near me and has been here for 3 years! I think there are alot of foreign english teachers in the area. anyhooo- gotta get some sleep. good night from the heart of seoul korea 09-01-10 i hope for a wonderful september 2010.
Today (Wed.) has been an eventful day- it was my first day to teach my students in my classroom and run the show. It was so fun. I am feeling like a regular "Seoulite". I have no problem doing anything I need to. I am learning my neighborhood very well and love the area- everything is close and it has many great places to go to eat and drink. I am doing alot of things alone- Emily has moved in to her apartment and we have been meeting up here and there to do things- but I love walking down the street and observing everything and everyone. My thoughts while observing people as I walk down the sidewalk- is just how cool it is to be on the other side of the world from what I consider to be "everyday normal" and finding it here too. Of course, it's different in a way- but there are underlying similarities that I notice and appreciate in the way Koreans interact, do business, and treat each other. People are so so so extremely hard working!!! They are diehard honest!!! They do things right and make things right if they're not no matter how LONG it takes- they dont leave anything until it's done- (I've already witnessed that at school) and also super gracious. Everyday I learn-live-love it more and more- and by it- i mean korea and the ppl. I feel all korean just by saying "kam sa mida"- thank you- to people, im so lame, i gotta lot to learn!!! :)
Today Emily and I had to meet Lily and go to the Doctor for a physical checkup and also to the Hana Bank to open up our Korean bank accounts.
The physical was an experience in itself. Each floor of the hospital was designated for a different part of the body. We first had X-rays done of our chests- I got to see mine- Ive never seen an X-ray of my lungs/chest- its was cool. Then we had an old school eye test-covering one eye and reading off a chart on the wall and GUESS WHAT- I had PERFECT eye sight! I was shocked- the nurse asked me "what do you eat" hahaha- I laughed and said carrots (not hardly) and she responded "ewww yuck" (like a little kid). We then had to go get our teeth checked, then pee in a DIXIE cup which was weird- and have blood drawn,ouch- lastly we sat down with a doctor who asked us general health questions- "do you have any pain anywhere"? things like that. It was super interesting- we had to go to a different flr for each thing we did. A huge group of female korean doctors exited an elevator right in front of us and all said "hello" to Emily and I.
At the bank we set up our bank accounts- debit cards just like in the states. We will get paid by direct deposit every month by our school- which is nice.
Before we met up with Lily- we were standing on the sidewalk waiting- and a grandmother walked up to us with her grandson in his stroller- she took him out and wanted us to talk to him and hold him- so we did- i guess also just wanted him to see us. She didnt speak just a bit of English but she was asking all kinds of questions and pushing her grandson to look at us- but he was just so scared- it was super cute.
After all that jazz we ran into one of the English teachers, Darrah from Ireland, that just finished teaching at our school and is leaving tomorrow to travel for a month- going to 5 countries then coming back to seoul- he recommended to us a FANTASTIC korean eatery and DANG it I didnt take a picture of my food but it was so pretty and so so so tasty. It was called Bi-Bim Bab and it had a fried egg on top and i put the famous korean pepper sauce or paste rather- and uhhhhhhhhhhhh so good. Korean food is under-rated- i just cant wait until my mom comes to visit so i can expose her to all this!!!!
ok ok this is getting long- to the first day- so school was frantic from 3 to 4 pm today!!! Emilys computer wasnt working and had all the male korean teachers running around like crazy- they had to fix my projector- last minute paperwork and copying of disks and just one thing after the other- it was so funny now in retrospect. All my classes are great- some more quiet than others- they all asked me 3 standard questions- where are you from? how old are you? are you married? hahaha. on my computer background is the CUTEST picture of my nephew Eli and at the beginning of every class i showed the picture of him and they were in awwwww of his blonde hair and blue eyes :) they like my blonde hair too and the fact that im from america- so many of them want to go there and study.
I have to be at school at 3 pm until 10 pm- i teach from 4 pm to 9 pm. I like the schedule. I have to alot of paperwork though each week, part of it.
I can barely stay awake for much longer- last night i was invited to a poker night with some of the other foreign teachers (thats what we're called here- obviously) but i could barely make it home after work- i was so exhausted. It is a 10 minute walk from my apt to my school which is nice. Tonight I met Andre (from ontario canada) as I walking home, he is also a eng. teacher and we got to talking- he lives right near me and has been here for 3 years! I think there are alot of foreign english teachers in the area. anyhooo- gotta get some sleep. good night from the heart of seoul korea 09-01-10 i hope for a wonderful september 2010.
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