Week in review (part two)

I have discovered from being here so far that Seoul is a very easy place for foreigners to live.  While several signs are exclusively in Korean, there are still many that are in English.  Almost all cab drivers also have a free interpretation hotline to call so that they can translate into Korean where you are going to the cab driver.  If I am just going home, though, all I have to do is show them my Alien Registration Card which has my address on it in Korean.  All the subway signs are also in Korean, English, and Chinese.  When you are riding on the subway, they announce the stops in Korean and English.  When I think about a Korean going to a big city in the United States, I know it must be so much harder for them.  Unless you go to a Korean part of town, hardly anything is in Korean, and especially with public transit, everything is in English.

I have also discovered from being here that it is indeed a small world.  On Saturday I met someone who was from Evanston and went to Evanston Township.  We talked about Evanston and my former summer (beach) workplace and all the places to eat.  It was crazy to be having this conversation with someone in Seoul!  Then yesterday, I met two people from Minnesota who both know people that I know.  The one girl I met knew someone who I was in choir with and lived next door to me last year!

My first three day weekend is in May, and I'm trying to plan a trip for that weekend.  I might be potentially going on an island trip then, we'll see.  Happy Sunday Western World!

Week in review (part one)

Another busy week, so I have a lot to write about!  Instead of doing one very long entry, I'm going to do two entries, one now and another one later.

The week was pretty good as far as teaching is concerned.  I have come across one road block.  In one of my afternoon classes, I have a student who is very young, maybe even too young to be at school.  At the oldest he is four, and is possibly younger.  He has been crying almost every class out of nowhere.  Now, dealing with a four year old with a temper tantrum is hard enough, but with an extra challenge added when you do not speak the same language as they do as a first language.  Thankfully, my supervisor has been very helpful in helping me deal with this kid and told him that he can't cry for no reason like that, otherwise we can't help him.  Hopefully he will be better next week.  The kids in my kindergarden class continue to be cute everyday.  In one of my other afternoon classes, the kids have decided that they are going to tell me happy birthday everyday, and on Wednesday they hid under the table and when I walked in the room jumped out and said, "Happy Birthday!" even though I had told them on Monday my birthday isn't until November.  That class also got a kick out of me saying some Korean words and asked me to say them over and over again.  I didn't comply with the request.

This week I also got to be a "doctor."  On Thursday, the kids spent most of the morning getting a mini-medical check-up from the teachers turned doctors. (They even had white coats for us and everything.)  We were in charge of checking height, weight, hearing and color blindness.  I was in charge of weight and used an impractical scale that made me enter their age, gender, and height before they could step on the scale.  The hearing test that was done was also kind of impractical, using tuning forks in wooden blocks, and since most of the kids don't really know the difference between left and right it didn't work too well. The color blindness test was also pre-dispositioned for failure, as the numbers like 74 and 85 the kids didn't know.  What the teacher ended up doing was blocking one of the numbers so they wouldn't have to try such high numbers.

This week I also finally transferred my phone to my name, so I could put money on it. (Had to wait until I got my Alien Registration Card to do this.)  The woman at the cell phone place didn't speak any English, but was dedicated to helping me and called someone who spoke Korean and English to translate for her.  I was really impressed with how helpful she was and she got everything done.

That's all for part one.  Part two coming later!

Yo-gi-oh!

Hello everyone!  The title is what you say when you want to get a server's attention at a restaurant.  Not to be confused with "Yu-gi-oh" the card game phenomenon that struck a few years ago.  I apologize for the lack of posting this week, but it has been pretty busy!  It's hard to believe that tomorrow marks a month since I got here. 

Things went pretty well at school this week.  No major speed bumps and I picked up a couple more classes, so I'm now teaching about 7 hours a day.  My hours at school are still the same, I just have less prep time, which is fine.

On St. Patrick's Day, I had my class color rainbows and pots of gold during our free time.  I also gave them little treat bags with M&M's and chocolate gold coins at the end of the day.  I of course didn't say anything about them until five minutes before they had to leave, otherwise they would have wanted to eat them during the day.  After school, all of the teachers got together and had pizza and celebrated Laura's birthday. (A fellow teacher.)

Thursday we had an all staff dinner to celebrate the March birthdays.  (Considering there are 9 teachers and 7 Korean staff, having 5 birthdays in one month is a lot!)  We went to a buffet called Seven Springs that had pretty much all western food and was pretty good.  We also got a discount, so it wasn't as expensive as we were initially told.

Friday I went to a jazz club with some of the other teachers that was excellent.  There was no cover charge either, so it was a good way to spend a Friday night.  Saturday I also had traditional Korean Barbecue for the first time which was really good.  We ordered beef and what we were told was pork.  When the "pork" came out we were pretty confused.  It looked nothing like pork.  We then asked another person who worked there who spoke decent English and he told us it wasn't pork-it was pig skin.  We got more of the meat we were supposed to get, but did end up trying the pig skin.  It wasn't all that appetizing, but at least we can say we tried it.  It was also a pretty cheap meal, lots of meat, rice and side dishes for under $5! (5,000 won.)

Yesterday was also the first yellow dust storm I have experienced.  I was really confused as to why it was so dark outside and then the sky was yellow later in the afternoon.  It apparently comes from China's deserts and pollution.  It's advised to not spend too much time outside when these hit.  Thankfully it was gone by today.

I remain amazed at how clean the streets and subways are here.  It's actually difficult to find a trash can sometimes, but yet you never see that much garbage everywhere.  One of the other teachers said it's because Korea employs so many people to take care of it that it's not a big problem here.

I'm also amazed at how sometimes I can understand exactly what Korean people are saying to me even though I don't know a word of what they said.  Hand gestures and facial expressions can sometimes tell a story alone.  Obviously knowing the language would be the most helpful, but in the meantime I'm just improving my charades skills.

Happy Sunday Western World!

Friday's, White Day and Warhol

Hello everyone!  I had a pretty good weekend over here.  On Friday night I went out to eat at TGI Friday's...yes, just like the one in the US.  The menu was slightly different, but had a lot of the same stuff on it, including my favorite brownie dessert.  (Which was, however, slightly different than the one in the US.  I don't think they used Ghiradeli Chocolate.)  The mall where I ate, the COEX, is a huge mall that is kind of like a maze.  They have Friday's there as well as Uno's (with "Chicago style" food,) Pizza Hut, Quizno's, Subway, and several other Western places.  I wanted to see a movie at the theatre there too, but they were all starting way too late.  They release American movies here, usually at a later release date than in the US, and then they have Korean subtitles.  I was happy to know that I can find movie theatres here!

Saturday was a pretty relaxed day.  I spent quite a bit of time on Skype with friends and family, and then I went to Itaewon to meet up with one of my friends who is currently in Korea.  She doesn't live in Seoul, but she was up here for the weekend to go shopping and visit some other people.  Then Saturday night was a dinner party with all of the other teachers from school.

Yesterday I went to Insadong for the first time.  It's a pretty cool area with a lot of little shops and great street food.  I got this thing similar to a pancake with cinnamon sugar inside.  I keep forgetting what the Korean name for it is, but it was really good, and less than 1000 won. (Which is less than $1.)  I also caught my first sight and smell of a street vendor with silkworms, a delicacy in Korea that I'd probably rather not venture to try.  After that I met up with Greg and Danielle, two Gustavus graduates who are living and teaching right outside of Seoul.  We went to the Andy Warhol exhibition at the Seoul Museum of Art and then out for some Korean food.  It was the best Korean food I had so far!  I have not had any good Kimchi yet, as my only experience with Kimchi has been the school lunch, but last night at dinner the kimchi was really good, as well as the mondu, beef, and noodles.  Delicious!  It was also really great to spend time with them.

Yesterday was White Day in Korea.  Here, Valentine's Day is a holiday where the girl gives a guy something, and White Day is a holiday where the guy gives the girl something.  Both are considered romantic holidays.  There is also Black Day, which is single's day, and I'm not entirely sure when that is.

That's all from me for now.  Happy Monday, Western World! (Also note:  Daylight savings is NOT observed in Korea, so there is now only a 14 hour difference between here and Central Standard Time.)

Emily Teacher! Mamma Mia! Mamma Mia!

The week before I got here, the school had a festival performance.  In this, all the students had dances and songs (one of them being a medley from "Grease.")  The teachers also had a dance performance to ABBA's "Mamma Mia."  Since my students found out that I have that song on my iPod (please hold back judgments) they request that I play it every day.  However, we also colored spiders this week, during which I played "Spider Man" a la Michael Buble.  Now they request BOTH of these songs every day.  I didn't play either today, but I am discovering a theory that if you play a song enough times on repeat with younger children they will begin to like it and ask for it again and again.

Tonight I had my first experience with a Korean spin class.  For those of you who don't know what spin is, it's a group cycling class on stationary bikes, and in the United States, you adjust resistance and bike harder and simulate hills during your workout.  I have done spin in the US and I really enjoy it, and I heard that the spin class here was quite different, and wanted to try it.  I think the best way to describe it is this: if Richard Simmons were Korean and led a spin class, this is what it would be like.  There are flashing lights and spinning disco balls in the spin classroom.  There was club type music playing and the instructor would turn the music down every so often and have the class sing along. Then, you don't do much with the resistance, but you do dance moves while on the bike.  This includes fist pumps, shimmying, quick head turning and booty shaking.  All while riding a bike.  It was pretty crazy but fun.  The instructor also during one song came and gave feedback to everyone on the bike.  Or he just stood there and did dance moves.  I have never laughed so much during a fitness class.  Who knows, I just might sign up to take it every week.

That is all from me for now.  Happy Thursday, Western World!

Figuring things out

Every week, I send home comment books to the parents of my kindergarten students.  Last week, I just introduced myself, and said a little bit about each child.  Some of the parents responded in English and others responded in Korean, and my supervisor translated it into English for me.  Some teachers find this tedious, but I actually really like doing it!  I think it's a great way to communicate with the parents who I don't always see, since most of the kids take the bus to and from school.  The general consensus so far is that my students told their parents that I am pretty and kind. (Thought it was kind of odd to mention physical appearance, but it is perhaps another cultural thing.)  Let's hope they at least continue to think the latter! Also, one thing I really appreciate about Korean culture is that the parents are not in denial when their kid is bad.  The one (kind of) troublemaker I have in class had their parent write that she knows that he can cause trouble sometimes and that I can let her know about it and what I think she can do at home to help.  This is not only my class, either.  Several other teachers have been brought presents or treats from parents as apologies for their children behaving badly.  I have found to be the case with several of my misbehaved students in the US that parents are in denial that their child could be doing wrong, and I am glad that is not the case here.

Today I left school a little early to go apply for my Alien Registration Card.  This will enable me to travel outside of Korea once I get the chance and open my bank account.  Right now, the Visa I have is single entry, so I can't travel outside the country until I get the card in a couple weeks.  It was a lot like going to the DMV...except a little worse in terms of wait.  I picked number 661, and they were only on number 580 when I got there.  Thankfully it only took about an hour and a half, but I was a bit frightened when I saw where my place in line was.  With all that done, they should be getting me my card soon!

I got my first piece of mail today from my friend Karen.  Apparently it took only a little over a week to get here.  She didn't use stamps, but went to the post office and only paid about $1.  It was card sized, to give you a point of reference.  I think if you just use stamps it takes longer.

That's all from me for now, it's my bed time.  Enjoy your Tuesday everyone!

Seoul Searching

I find the blog post title appropriate for a couple reasons.  I also titled my photo album the same thing.  You can click on the link below to see my pictures so far!   

Seoul Searching

 I really am just beginning to search around Seoul, and kind of figure out the city.  But also, I am reaffirming through this experience my soul decision to be a teacher.  One of my friends asked me what the best thing about being here was so far and I said teaching and having my own classroom.  I love that I get to work with kids every day and help them learn.  It's so much fun!

Outside of that, however, I really love living in a big city again.  I loved when I lived in Chicago (not around it, in it, though to be clear I do like the Chicago suburbs as well) and was excited for the opportunity to live in another city.  There are so many places to walk to and so many things to do!  There are a lot of foreigner friendly places as well, which is nice.

I went for a long walk around Olympic Park on Saturday.  It is so cool, and I can't wait for everything to start blooming and for the dreary brown of winter to be gone.  It is a HUGE park and a really great place to go for a walk, jog, etc.  My favorite things I saw so far (didn't even see all of it!) were the World Peace Gate and the Olympic Swimming Pool. (Surprise!)  I also got to go to Itaewon (American/Non-Korean part of town) on Saturday and ate a burger and fries at Kraze Burger, which were pretty good.  I guess now I know where to go when I get a craving for a burger!

It is a bit past 11 here, so I am about to head to bed.  Happy Sunday everyone!

-Emily

First few days

Hello everyone! It has been quite the busy week for me. I met up with Brandon and Lisa on Monday for lunch in Itaewon (American part of town) and walked around there for a while. There I discovered that Korea can be a place for haggling as well. Brandon wanted to buy a backpack and she originally told him 65,000 won. He said no, he would only pay 30,000. It was clear she really wanted to make a sale, so they kept bargaining until he got it for 35,000 won. They also had a lot of fake Coach and Luis Vuitton purses there too, and a lot of American sports gear. I also got ice cream from Coldstone, which was very good!

I spent all day on Tuesday setting up my classroom, and also went to the hospital for my medical exam. Part of the deal with coming over here is getting a medical exam to make sure I'm not carrying infectious diseases. One of the supervisors came with me and translated everything so it was no trouble at all.

Yesterday was my first day with the kids. I have six kindergarden students. Sam, Uni, Kelly, Eddie, Joseph and John. These are their names that they picked for the school. These are not their "real" names as their real names are Korean names. However, to make it work with the school policy of no speaking Korean they have to choose English names. The kids seemed a little scared of me at first, but now are starting to warm up to me. I was told before I came here that kids might be scared of you at first because they don't see that many people like you in general. Since the population in Korea is 95% Korean, that makes sense. The book that we were supposed to use at the beginning of the day yesterday hasn't come in yet, so instead we started coloring flowers for our classroom garden. There is a wide range of English abilities. The student in the class with the best English can read and write without problem. The student who is struggling the most has to have things repeated several times before he gets it. I try to speak very slowly and clearly so that they can understand what I am saying. They are doing pretty well so far. They have been at the school for a year, but somehow some of them missed learning the alphabet, so I am doing some review on that now.

I also have two afternoon classes, one with nine 8 year olds, and another with 4 4 year olds. I really like both of those classes, and I really like that one of my 4 year olds comes in with a faux hawk everyday. He also likes to sing and after we did "Head Shoulders Knees and Toes" he kept singing it while he was getting ready to go home.

So far so good! I also found a website to download American TV shows, so I can keep up with my favorites from back home. Additionally, I set up a Skype phone number. It is (630) 303 9875. You can call this number from your regular phone, and if I am signed on to Skype I can answer, and if not you can leave me a voicemail. Also, when I make calls from Skype to a phone, that is the number that will show up.

There are so many things to do in Seoul! There are definitely plenty of different activities I can do to keep me entertained.

Well it is about time for bed, so have a good day everyone!

-Emily