Dear Mama.... Love from Korea (First Snow)

This is the first week it has really snowed! It's funny to see how excited the kids get when even a little bit of snow falls. They even make snow men with small patches of dirty snow from the street. ewww....lol. I am glad that last weekend I went on a bus tour around Seoul before the weather got bad. It was really cool to learn about the different neighborhoods within Seoul. I feel like now I know my way around. One spot in particular seemed really interesting, Dongdaemun.

 

 

This weekend I have pretty much stayed inside because of the drop in temperature. It's times like these that remind me of going to college in New Rochelle and wishing I knew someone with a warm car to drive me around!








P.S. - I wore my hair natural for the first time this week and everyone was sooo surprised. They all kept asking me, "Did you get a perm??" When I said, "No, it's my natural hair" they looked so confused!

Dear Mama.... Love from Korea (Busy November Continued)

November 23, 2013

Outside of school, many things have happened. I finally took my first Korean taxi ride, on November 8th, because I had to bring my extra large package home from the post office. I quickly learned how important it is to be able to say my own address in Korean. It was definitely a struggle trying to direct the taxi driver with random maps I found in my purse, the address written on the back of my ARC card and by shouting out random landmarks near my house (in english).  Finally, though, I made it home! The taxi driver was a bit of a rough driver but nothing compared to the craziness of the bus drivers. I almost fell off the bus one day when I was standing to get off at the next stop and the bus came to a screeching halt. The little dangling ropes they have are of no help either. The are not sturdy and serve no real purpose.

One day I wanted to go bowling around my house and invited Anakaren to come. Once she got here, I was so busy showing her around Art Center because she had never been. We didn't even end up bowling. We did try to eat a samgyeopsal restaurant but we were scared because we had no idea what we were ordering. Then we went to a trendy bar/lounge called White Angel where you can write on the walls. Of course, I had to doodle a little something.

Another weekend, we went to Hongdae for some delicious mexican food (oh how I miss Chipotle). Then, we walked around and explored an art market. We went to Gyeongbuk palace too but, unfortunately, we got there too late to walk on the inside of the palace. We walked around the museum instead where I learned a little something about placenta jars. After that, we went back to Incheon to eat at a sushi buffet. It was sooo good! Then, we stopped by the bar, Shelter, for a birthday get together for one of the other English teachers from orientation. That was a long fun day!

Finally, I decided to take action and look up used phones for sale on Craigslist. I found a white Samsung Galaxy SII that looked like it was in great condition for a good price. I decided to buy it, so me and Anakaren went all the way to Itaewon to get it. Before paying the seller, I made sure it could call and use data properly. When I got home, I started really looking through it and noticed there were hundreds of pictures of a Korean family on it. The seller was not Korean or in any of the photos so I started to panic because I thought I had bought a stolen phone! When I got to school the next day, I told my co-teachers that I was nervous that the police were going to track me down and come to the school to demand the phone back. They just laughed at me and said that it would not happen. One of my co-teachers' husband is a cop and told her that the phone would not operate at all with my SIM if it were stolen. So, for now, I am relieved.

Dear Mama.... Love from Korea (Thanksgiving Week)

December 1, 2013

This was a very non-existent Thanksgiving. It was a nice treat that Thanksgiving was on final exam day at school so I had no classes, just English Ninja, my after school class. It was nice to have that break. I decided to treat myself by going to Krispy Kreme to get a dozen doughnuts. They accidentally gave me 2 dozen. I will be eating doughnuts everyday for the next week. When I saw all the good food people posted on Facebook, though, I did get jealous. Even some of the other English teachers had a get together and cooked food...I was not invited. But I was still thankful!

This weekend, I went with Anakaren to the European Christmas Market in Seoul. It was small but a nice start to the Christmas holiday. I plan on buying tickets to see The Nutcracker to help me get more into the Christmas spirit with no family here. Christmas in Korea is more of a holiday celebrated with friends and significant others, and not so much with family. It will be interesting to experience Christmas away from home and see how into it Korean people really get.

On a side note, there was a cool grocery store in Itaewon that had American food products. I bought a box of really expensive hamburger helper ($7). I was excited about it though and is was worth it!

Dear Mama.... Love from Korea (Busy Busy Busy November)

November 23, 2013

Woow...it's been a whole month since I have blogged! It has definitely been a very busy time for me. Since Halloween, I have been on lesson planning OVerLoAd. On November 4th, I also started going to a beginners Korean language class twice a week. I also got an annoying email from EPIK that same week saying I have an additional online orientation to complete. I started teaching my after school class, English Ninja, on November 5th and started teaching my additional class, English Playground, on November 11th. I was told that I would have an open class a week after English Ninja started. An open class is a frightening concept to me because its when the teachers (and principals) can come sit in on your class. To have an open class so soon after starting the program was worrying and stressing me out. Luckily, I was told that it would be pushed back a week and because of the school Spelling Bee it would have to be at the end of that week. The only additional stress was having to plan the word lists for the Spelling Bee. November 12th was the school talent show! It was nice to have a day to see the students do what they like to do and perform what they had been working so hard on in their classes.

The Spelling Bee was November 20th and 21st. It was chaotic the first day but better the second day. I felt so bad for the kids when they spelled a word completely wrong and I started thinking it was me. "Did I pronounce that correctly?" I especially had trouble understanding them when they said certain letters like V or X. They were not allowed to ask for the word in a sentence so I also felt bad if it was a word that sounded like another word, like "there" and "their" or "right" and "write."

 

The day of my open class, November 22, was actual not as bad as I thought it would be. Only one parent showed up and sat in on the class. I also had planned a pretty good lesson that all the students were able to enjoy and understand. I could finally breathe a little better once that was over!

The co-teacher I was having particular issues with also did me a huge favor. Back when I hurt my eye from the fireworks show, he filed a complaint with some organization. After giving him my doctors note and bankbook, that company, not only reimbursed my doctor's fee, but also gave me pain and suffering money! Needless to say, now I like my co-teacher because he's making me money. Although, it was very awkward that they interrupted the Spelling Bee for me to sign some papers from an official in order to receive the money.

My co-teachers also told me that the bank called the school to notify me that I won a contest for opening an account with them and have two free movie tickets waiting for me. Yay! Unfortunately, I am not off early enough to go to the bank to pick them up. It would be nice though, especially since going to the movies when I am bored is my thing. I went to see Thor just because there was nothing else to do and I wouldn't mind being able to go see the Hunger Games for free if I could get those tickets.

Sometimes my co-teachers actively care about my well-being but others times they really confuse me. Last week, my head co-teacher scheduled me to have 5 classes back to back so I would have to eat lunch last. When I got to the lunch room the food was gone and they were mopping and cleaning up. I asked my co-teachers what time does lunch end and they said they didn't know. I told them I had not eaten all day and lunch was over when I got there. All they said was "oh, really?" So the next time my schedule was like that I ran to lunch! I learned my lesson with that. They really don't notice things I say or do unless it's direct and in their face. I came to school wearing a wig one day and they said, "Oh...did you perm (curly perm) your hair?" lol Yes, a perm would make my hair 7 inches longer and thicker. 

On a side note, it has gotten freezing cold. I am so thankful that I got my package with my winter coat and sweaters just in time! Thanks Mom!!!

Dear Mama.... Love from Korea (Halloween Week)

November 1, 2013

It was Halloween on Thursday so you know I had to dress up! My first Halloween in Korea was cool. I went to the dollar store (Daiso) to get some more props for my costume and was so excited to dress up for school. All the students loved it! It was great when they could actually figure out what I was...not an angel but a fairy. I called myself Tinkerbell's friend. I guess I was missing a wand now that I think about it. I tried to plan a lesson that related to Halloween but it didn't mesh so well with the lesson from the book so I played a Halloween song in the beginning of class and gave everyone candy. The song was a song that I used to sing in Elementary school and they seemed to like it because they started singing it. I found out they are in love with Snickers, it's like a delicacy. Probably because it's so expensive here.

At lunch the principal saw me and thought I was an angel. "Angel because you're Angel (my middle name)." I just nodded and said yes. Another teacher said to me "You are a fairy right?" I was surprised and said, "How did you know?" He said, "I know fairy." I said, "Yes, but everyone else thought I was an angel." He said, "No, angel's have bigger wings." lol

After classes, students came knocking on the office door. When I opened it they said, "Trick or Treat!" I was so surprised that they knew what to say so I gave them all candy. This set off a chain reaction because kids started popping by every two minutes. Some didn't know what to say so I pretended I didn't know why they were there. I'm not Santa Clause...you have to say the phrase that pays. One boy came and said "Give Me Candy." I said I didn't have anymore lol.

After school, I met up with some friends and we went to the Mexican restaurant, Taco Cielo. They never had tacos before so it was nice but they did not understand that it isn't like Korean food that you share. You order your own but we ended up sharing two Chimichangas and one taco lol. Then we went to Noraebang!!! The next day, people were passing out Halloween party flyers and wearing Halloween make-up. It's funny that when I dressed up on the actual day people looked at me funny but when people are celebrating Halloween after it's over it's ok. lol

One cool thing about going back to Taco Cielo is that I was able to find something I was missing for a week...my notebook. I carry a mini notebook in my purse that I just jot random thoughts in. One day I couldn't find it and I couldn't remember if I left it at school or at the restaurant. I panicked a little because I remembered writing in it that my co-teacher was lacking. I just hoped that I didn't leave it at school and someone picked it up and read it and would start spreading rumors or something. So, when I went back to Taco Cielo I just figured I would ask the waitress just in case I left it there and they miraculously kept it. Then she pulled it out from behind the bar! AMAZING...I was thrilled (and I learned my lesson). That made my Halloween, which is funny because you're supposed to be scared on Halloween. My losing streak did not end there because on Friday, I left my bag on the bus with all my lesson plans and my fifth grade book. My co-teacher helped me by calling the bus company and they said they would hold it. After school I went to the area they told me to go to, which was an hour bus ride from school. When I got off the bus the only thing I saw was a Ferry Terminal. I asked at the front desk if they had a bag. No one knew what I was talking about so I called my co-teacher (Yay for being able to have talk service on my cell phone!). He talked with one of the staff and they drove me a little further down the street to the bus terminal. That staff member helped me find the right building and drove me back to the bus stop. It's great how helpful Koreans are and how they would hold onto something someone lost. If it was America, my stuff would be long gone because someone probably would've thrown it away if it wasn't valuable. I will try not to lose anything else!

Dear Mama.... Love from Korea (Unorganization)

October 29, 2013

On Tuesday, my co-teachers finally started to take it seriously that I do not have phone service on my cell phone (after a whole month). We go to KT after school to try to sign up for the prepaid SIM card plan. The sales associate quickly sets it up but doesn't really check to make sure the data is working. He just assures us that it will work so after we leave, I check to see if I can get on the internet or use my apps. Of course, it doesn't work and I already paid extra for the data plan. It is a waste. The next day my co-teacher works really hard to make phone calls and try to get the data to work on my phone. I appreciate that she did try her best with it, but in the end it just doesn't work with my foreign phone. I can only use talk and text minutes now but at least I have a phone number. The next step is to find an inexpensive used smartphone...not the easiest thing to do. Who knows when I will finally have a fully functioning phone with service.

This week was the first week I had a full class load everyday. I found out on Tuesday that I will have to come up with the syllabus for the two additional teaching hours I am supposed to work a week. I have to teach 22 hours a week but the regular classes I have scheduled are only 20 hours, so there is an additional 2 hours that I had to come up with a teaching plan. I still don't understand it and it's frustrating. Why can't they just add two more regular classes and call it a day. The 2 hour "special" class is split between a class called English Playground where we just play games and somehow teach English and a 20 minute class I give in the morning for my co-teachers. They expect me to continue with the English Playground class that was set up before, which I am not excited about at all. Seeing that I am taking it over from what's already been set up, they could have at least given me the same syllabus or at least some sort of guide or direction for it. Nooo, they want me to come up with it on my own in two days. Weird...so I just made stuff up. I will have to teach English Playground on Mondays to fifth graders in November and fourth graders in December. I start November 11th...I have no idea what I am supposed to teach my co-teachers on Mondays and Tuesdays? Sometimes I really wish it was a little more organized and structured...I like order.

I also had to sign a contract for my after school class that starts on Tuesday, November 5th. At least that is a little extra money. The scary thing is that the second week of my after school class will be open class, which is when parents come to sit in on the class. Ahhhhh...Stress!!!

Dear Mama.... Love from Korea (School Dinner)

October 28, 2013

I officially have one month down as a Guest English Teacher in South Korea!
It feels like it went by fast.

Monday was the first school dinner I have been to where the principals and teachers got together to have dinner outside of school. It was definitely an experience. It was a sit on the floor "Indian-style" type of restaurant in a neighborhood called Sorae. The menu was sushi but not the kind of sushi I am used to. I am used to seafood (crab, tuna, shrimp, salmon) or vegetables in a roll with rice or seaweed on the outside. They take it to a whole other level. They lay sliced raw fish on top of cellophane noodles, have a WHOLE cooked fish on the table that you pick the meat out of and lots of side dishes like oysters and kimchi. I tasted a few of the side dishes but not that raw fish! The also had raw squid with the legs still moving around on the plate. Heck No! Later they brought out fishy soup with the head and other chunks of the body in it. I mainly just waited around for them to bring the shrimp. When they finally did I was a little surprised that the heads were still on them but I worked my way around that because I was hungry by that point. The principal made a toast and in the middle asked if I am enjoying the food...I was put on the spot so I said, "SURE!" Everyone just laughed.

The youngest teacher stood up and made a toast and sang a short happy song. When he sat back down the principal pointed to me and my co-teacher told me that he said I was next. "Me? Next? What do you want me to do?" So my co-teacher said they'll give me a few minutes to think of a song and then I should stand up and sing. "Whaaaaat?" So I pulled out my one "parlor trick", which is the Korean song "That Man" (그남자 OST by Hyun Bin) I learned before leaving the U.S. I sang a little bit and everyone was like "Whoa!" They were all surprised that I knew a Korean song and at how well I pronounced the words. I felt proud of myself at that moment, like "Yes!" The principal walked around and did another toast and asked if I have had soju. I said no and the teachers replaced my shot glass of water with soju. When it was time to drink I tried to do it in one shot and everyone was like "Oh no!" but too me is what not a strong alcohol. It was fine. After dinner, a couple of people were already drunk. I so wish I had my camera that day. They were asking me to go to Round 2 but I did not know where I was and how to get home so I left when my co-teacher left. Plus, it was a school night...how do they do it? I did feel sort of bad because I don't want to be anti-social and they asked me to go.

When I left, my co-teacher put me on the bus back to my neighborhood. For some reason, that night the bus driver said something that made most of the people on the bus get off after only a few stops. He kept looking at me asking me something, which I assumed was, "What bus stop are you trying to get off at?" I tried to say the street names but he definitely did not understand me. Luckily, there was one other woman on the bus that spoke a little English and tried to help me tell him the bus stop. I could tell he was not happy and it seemed like he wanted us to get off so he could go home or something. So strange....but at least I got home!

Dear Mama.... Love from Korea (Seoul Adventures)

October 26, 2013

On Friday night I went with my friend to buy a Halloween costume in Gangnam, Seoul. Needless to say we got lost because, as usual, I did not know the right stop. Fortunantely, in Seoul more people are likely to speak English and we were able to ask for directions. I bought some white fairy wings and elf ears for cheap. I was very happy and it was cool to see Gangnam since Psy has created this grand image of it in my mind.

Saturday, October 26, I decided to venture out on my own again to Seoul. While most other expats were out partying at Halloween parties, I really wanted to buy a wool coat or something like that. I figured that I couldn't lose by going to Forever 21. But guess what?….I got lost…again! I got off at the wrong stop but I was determined to find Forever 21 so instead of trying to find the one in Shinsa dong (which I originally intended), I went to Myeongdong in the end. It took me three hours of riding the train around. My feet huuuuurrrrrrtttt! But once I saw Forever 21 it was like Ahh Haaa…seeing the golden arches or a pool in the middle of a desert. I was so happy and I found a cute coat for a good price. It was worth it but took all day. I did get to see some cool sights along the way (like the 2PM band display in Apgujeong Rodeo).

Dear Mama.... Love from Korea (Phone Woes & Field Trip Week)

October 21, 2013

On October 21st, I decided to take it upon myself to go back to the KT Olleh phone store in Hongdae, Seoul.  I thought I remembered everything about how to get there from the last time I went with my friend. That was a FAIL! I only ended up riding the train for two hours because I did not know which stop to get off at. I was so sure that there was an actual stop called Hongdae so I looked all over the map for it but could not find it. When I got home I looked it up and realized that there is no stop called Hongdae because Hongdae is a nickname for the area, the actual stop is called Hongik University. The one good thing about the week is that my co-teacher finished helping me set up internet banking. Of course, as usual, I learned that I had to go back to the bank to get a special card in order to use internet banking on my Mac but when will I ever have time to do that? The bank is only open Monday through Friday from 9am-4pm while I am working. I have to be satisfied using internet banking at school for now. I have to say that I really expected Korea to be more tech savvy and not have you rely so much on face to face interactions. It turns out that this is not that kind of country…you would rarely, if at all, see an automated check out line or kiosk.

This week was a more relaxed week because I did not have class until Thursday. The sixth grade and fourth grade classes had a field trip. I did a lot of lesson planning for the next week and my syllabus for my after school program but, of course, some of it became a waste of time because at the end of the day on Friday my co-teacher tells me that I will be teaching a different lesson for next week. AHHH!!! On Thursday and Friday I only had fifth grade classes and I planned, what I thought, would be a fun lesson. When I tried playing it with the first class, I quickly realized how complicated it was and, therefore, not fun. Good thing I had a back up lesson for the next classes which was way more fun. I also changed the seats of my fifth grade problem class so they all faced the front. That worked a lot better and I was able to directly see the students who were not paying attention. It was just so much manual labor switching the desks and chairs around….PHEW!

I also returned a too small coat I bought and I realized that sometimes it's convenient to be a waygook (foreigner) and act like I don't understand. I think they were trying to talk me out of the return but I just kept making a confused face, saying I don't understand lol and they gave up and processed the return. On Friday, my co-teacher also took me back to SK to try to set up my phone service but of course, they did not have a plan where I would be able to keep my phone, so she told me we would go to KT next week…yet another weekend of waiting to get phone service. At least I have internet at home!!!!!!!!!!!

On a side note, I discovered some new favorite spots in my neighborhood, Taco Cielo, Misoya, Papearl and Kyobo bookstore. I can get my Mexican food fix, yummy pork cutlet and art supplies. It's exciting how every week I keep discovering new things about the neighborhood I live in. I also signed up for Korean Lessons at Talk House near my apartment. They start November 4th!

Dear Mama.... Love from Korea (I Have Internet!!)

October 20, 2013

It was here all along…now life can begin! I HAVE INTERNET!!!!

So, I know I haven't written in a couple of weeks but, as you can guess, I discovered I have internet. Now I am sucked back into watching K-Dramas and surfing the web. Here is my long overdue update on life in Korea so far. Well, the day I got my ARC card was also the day I got my first bill but it was for internet. I was a little confused about it because I thought I did not have internet. My co-teacher never said that I had internet when I asked her about it. I assumed I would have WiFi if I had internet, but that's what I get for assuming. The previous English teacher left me some instructions and notes about the school and the apartment, which were really helpful so far. I decided to look back over it and realized that she wrote "all you have to do is plug in the internet and you're good to go." I sat thinking and thinking and thinking. "Why would they send a bill for the internet if there is no internet service and what did she mean by all I have to do is plug it in?" Finally, I started unplugging and plugging in different cords that were in this little black box (that looked like a modem) into my computer and Voila…Magic! I had internet all along and didn't know it. When Monday came, I brought the bill to school and suggested to my co-teachers that they should communicate with each other so everyone knows that the school provides internet for the English Teacher's apartment because some other co-teachers knew about it but my head co-teacher did not. They handled the bill and told me what the monthly cost would be to keep the internet. So one thing was off my list. Check!

That Sunday that I found out I had internet had been such a bad and unsuccessful day that, at the end of the day when I discovered I had internet, it made everything better. The list of problems included:

1. I pulled too hard on the window shade chain and the whole thing fell half way down,
2. Having to drag my laptop to the coffee shop up the street to use the internet and sitting in there for 5 hours to do my work,
3. Trying to set up internet banking, which didn't work because I have a Mac,
4. Trying to buy a coat online, but they don' t let you pay with a credit card (you have to transfer the money from your bank account using internet banking),
5. Shopping at the department store for a wool coat but all the coats are too small for me, and
6. Trying to set up my new printer but it doesn't work with a Mac because they only have drivers for Windows.

Discovering I had internet made all those clouds clear away.

Eventually some of these problems were solved…slowly…one by one, except for being able to use my printer and fixing the window shade. I also still have a lingering phone service issue but patience is a virtue! Two things I have learned is that it's a PC world here and Macs are not very welcome…Sorry Mac…and how lacking my co-teacher has been, therefore, I definitely have to rely more on myself to figure things out.

Dear Mama.... Love from Korea (My ARC Card is Here!)

October 18, 2013

B          R          E           A          K          I           N          G                          N             E          W          S

I received my ARC card on Friday!!!!!
I got ahead of myself and tried to finish setting up accounts without my co-teacher. I went to the bank after school and set up my online/mobile phone banking. I think that went well even though there was the language barrier. But then….

I tried to set up phone service by getting a prepaid USIM card (the KT Olleh SIMple plan). The data(internet) and talk minutes were prepaid and would expire in 30 days. I did not particularly want something that would expire so soon because it would be tedious to keep reloading it but I figured it was a cheap solution and I could get it right away….or so I thought. After me and the rep had a long session of miming to each other and jotting down numbers, I finally decided which plan I wanted to purchase. Once he put the SIM card in my phone, the phone calls worked but not the internet. He basically said, "Sometimes that happens…It works for mostly every other phone but sometimes there is that one phone it doesn't work for and that's yours!" Whaaaat?! So, I ended up canceling everything and left with nothing after spending over an hour in there. The search is on to see what SIM will actually work for me.

Wednesday and Thursday I had so many classes. I taught the fourth graders for the first time and got to work with the other co-teacher for the first time. She seems like a very prepared person that has her own ideas about how she would like class to run so she changed things from class to class. It was a little confusing for me but I just went with it. I am starting to feel like my biggest role as a Guest English Teacher is to prepare games and Powerpoints for the lesson. Now I am appreciating the "shadow" teacher more and more because I can do whatever I want to do in his class and he doesn't change it. The fourth graders were not as bad as everyone was making them out to be…they just are more energetic than the sixth graders and some of the fifth graders. They are also waaaaayyy took competitive. If a team wins a game, the other students who lost gang up on them or shout bad words. I don't think they have learned "sportsmanlike conduct" yet! To be fair, my games are not that great. I don't realize how bad they are until I see them in action lol. Sometimes I think I have a game that will take 10 or 15 minutes and students finish it in 3 minutes. On the other hand, sometimes I have a game that I think will take 3 minutes and the students take 10 minutes. It's really hard to plan games.

On Wednesday, I also went to the eye doctor. It was the first time I ever had an eye doctor say, "I'm going to cut into your eye." Huh? That sounded like major surgery to me but I guess it wasn't. He cut a really small area to make sure the spot that was on my eye did not have something lodged in it. Luckily, it was just a surface reaction to whatever got in my eye from the fireworks.

The two fifth grade classes I had on Friday were soooo bad. They are even less mature than the fourth graders and they yell, scream, talk over the teacher, all sorts of rudeness. The co-teacher does not have too much control so I end up being the bad guy…I don't think those classes like me very much. They hurt themselves by not paying attention because they fall behind the other fifth grade classes (I teach with the main co-teacher). They make me want to pull out my hair lol and I don't really know what I should do to get them to behave. I changed some students seats because they were disturbing the other kids in their group and they haaaated it. Oh well….

I learned that the sixth graders are going on an overnight field trip next week so I do not have any classes Monday and Tuesday. The fourth graders also have a field trip so I do not have classes Wednesday. All I have are Thursday and Friday classes with the fifth graders…Yay!! That gives me time to set up my internet and phone service at home and try to get my after school program approved. I really want to set up a pen pal program but my co-teachers are not being much help when it comes to getting my after school program approved by the after school director and on its way. If I could speak Korean, everything I wanted and needed would have been done by last week! It's so hard to rely on others, especially when you are in another country.

On a side note, I did not realize how helpful strangers in Korea can be until Friday. I was trying to find the phone company and asked a woman passing out flyers if she knew where the address written on my paper was. Instead of just saying "No" she actually walked me to the office. SO NICE. Then, because of my frustration leaving the phone company, I left my school bag. The sales rep ran to catch up to me to give it to me and I had already walked pretty far way. I had a little happy me time Friday where I went to Caffe Bene and had a scrumdeliumptious strawberry dessert. I also went to see Kick Ass 2. I thought the Korean subtitles would be distracting but surprisingly I didn't even notice them by the end of the movie!

Dear Mama.... Love from Korea (Seoul)

October 20, 2013

Yesterday was FUN! I finally got to go to Seoul. I went to try to get phone service at the Olleh store in Hongdae because they speak English but they did not sell the service I wanted on the weekends, so I just hung out with Anakaren (who I met in orientation). She was able to buy a new phone at the store but I am stubborn and want to keep my phone at all costs...well almost all costs. After we finished at the phone store we walked around Hongdae which is really cool. I thought Incheon was cool but now I KNOW Incheon has nothing on Seoul. In Incheon, I would get excited if I saw another "Westerner" because it was so rare, so I would always get excited and wave and shout "Hi!" In Seoul there were so many that it was pointless to get sooo excited. There was something happening on almost every street and musical performances on the sidewalks. I DEFINITELY will have to go to Seoul more often!!!

 

Dear Mama…. Love from Korea (Another Holiday!)

October 15, 2013

I have realized that my fellow co-teachers have the ability to change the schedule as they please….OK. Monday was a long day because instead of teaching 4 classes and finishing by 12pm, I had 5 and the last 2 classes were pushed back so I didn't finish until 2:40pm. I got a very special personalized gift from the female vice-principal, a handmade traditional fan! I went to say thank you but felt awkward to say thank you to only her because the male vice-principal also gave me a very nice gift the week before (a manicure set). I said thank you, left, told my co-teacher I felt awkward, then went back to say thank you to the male vice-principal too. My co-teacher said that it's better that I did that because now the other vice-principal won't hold a grudge against me! I could see that situation happening in, not only Korea, but also America. Tuesday, is yet another holiday, but it's the school's anniversary holiday so not everyone is off. Wednesday will be my first time teaching fourth grade since I have only taught fifth and sixth so far. Friday, is supposed to also be a special day because it is the Teacher's Club Day where we will go out to the Central Park and walk around and eat lunch. I am looking forward to interacting with the other teachers and principals outside of school but I am also a little nervous. I don't want to do or say anything that will be viewed as bad manners like pour drinks with the wrong hand. My co-teacher already told me that I will be eating fish that day so I am a little scared of how I will eat it. I am worried my facial expression will give away that I hate fish! I did not know I was coming to the land of soup and fish, my two worst enemies lol. Plus everyone has limited English skills. It will be interesting. My head co-teacher will, unfortunately, not be able to go so I will be with another co-teacher. I wonder if there will be drinking and if we will go to Norebang?!

On a side note, I have started cooking homemade meals and finally bought a CD so that I don't have to listen to Korean talk radio all day! I am so happy about my expensive CD purchase, Primary and the Messengers. It was worth it!

Dear Mama…. Love from Korea (Teaching and 1st Impressions of Korea)

October 12, 2013

Drama misconceptions:
Not everyone is really pale and skinny. They all have different looks. The people are not as prude as their TV shows make them out to be. They are extremely touchy-feely and there are couples everywhere exhibiting more PDA than I have ever seen in my life. Everything does not stay open late and food is not cheap (at least where I live)! Even the train stops running at 12am.

Recycling:
It's seems like people just leave their trash in the street. I have yet to see a garbage truck…I don't think they exist! They are really stingy when it comes to using paper or plastic. They separate food trash from other trash and you have to put it in a special bag. It's so confusing for me. Where do you put something like dog poop. It must confuse Koreans too because they just leave poop in the street. I don't think the system makes the city any cleaner (at least by looks).

Smells:
One minute you could walk past an area that smells like sweet bread and the next minute it smells like butt. Every other block will smell horrible. I am still shocked by what I will smell as I walk. I don't think there is a way to prepare for it. You can't even avoid smells from other buildings or apartments seeping into your room (but it's usually Korean food smells which can be good or bad).
 
School Lunch:
School lunch is surprisingly really good! There was only one day so far where they had fish and I just couldn't do it (It had to be on a day where a skipped breakfast and had a lot of classes before lunch).

Co-teaching:
I was hoping for a co-teaching experience where we either teach together and help each other out or one person teaches half the time and the other teaches the other half. What I got was totally different on my first day. One of my co-teachers has a "shadow" co-teaching style, which means he does nothing (like a shadow). He either sits in the back doing something else or he leaves the class or only stays for half. He also doesn't mind interrupting me while teaching….
The other teachers have a more co-operative teaching style, which allowed me to feel more relaxed and have more fun with the class.

Students:
All the students were eager to learn about me but the sixth graders were much less enthused about the lesson and showed less excitement, so it got boring with them. The fifth graders, on the other hand, show too much excitement at times and get unruly. Some are really funny but there are some students that stay with a blah face. The previous English teacher made it very hard for me because it's like I have to live up to her position. She did things that as a new teacher I find a little tedious like change the students seats every month. So students keep asking me to change their seats and I'm like "why?" lol I guess she was also more outgoing so the co-teachers keep comparing my personality to hers. There was nothing in the rule book that said I had to be "outgoing" to teach. Luckily, I used my design skills to prepare an intro video to sort of shield me from the students' glares. My Intro Video


So I slowly started realizing all the time left over after class to do nothing and stopped being scared to check my personal email and FB. I finally realized there was a FB group made for the Korean Horizons teachers. Once I joined that, I started getting more information about events that the other english teachers were having or going to. Why didn't anyone give me a heads up sooner?! Wednesday, was another holiday, Hangul Day, so a bunch of teachers were planning to meet up in my neighborhood Tuesday night. Unfortunately, that night I fell asleep early and missed it. That was the last time I heard from Mr.H on Kakao asking me if I was going to that. My Ramada roommate also said she was going to be in my neighborhood on Wednesday but when I went to meet up with her I could not find her because she did not answer…until the next day. Oh well, I guess I really need to start joining other groups where I can meet more people and make some friends.

Fortunately, the teacher I ran into over the weekend asked if I wanted to go to dinner Thursday and we met up. Although I don't think we clicked, it was nice to get out and eat with someone I could actually communicate with. I also was able to get in touch with Hyewon through FB and we planned to meet up Friday. Another guy from our tour group came and we had a nice dinner, drinks and NOREBANG! My first norebang experience. It was a fun night and Hyewon is really nice and fun. She invited us to hang out with her in Seoul the next weekend. Saturday, I met up with some of the english teachers from orientation to see a "musical" fireworks festival in Songdo. Before the show started, I decided to get a fat corn dog…and stood in line an hour to get it. Once, I got to the front of the line there were no more corn dogs so I had to get something else. After I got my food I ran over to where the other teachers were because the show had started and, of course, it seems like strange stuff always happens to me! The ash from the fireworks blew right in my eye. My eye was killing me the rest of the night into Sunday so I went straight home after the fireworks. It was still a great weekend…much better than the first one!

Once I got to work on Monday, I realized after checking my FB and email that a couple of teachers had come to my neighborhood for drinks. I missed them yet again!

Dear Mama…. Love from Korea (First Weekend)

October 5, 2013

When I got home from school, I tried to Kakao my Ramada roommate and Mr.H (and whoever else I could think of) to see what they were doing for the weekend. I was invited to meet up with my roommate, but once I got to the location I had no WiFi, so I could not find out exactly where to meet her. Mr. H invited me to another party but I wasn't too enthused by who was hosting it so I said I would pass. I even FB Messaged Kathy (my schoolmate from the College of New Rochelle). Unfortunately, I did not answer her in enough time on Saturday because she decided it was too late to meet at that point. She said she was going to be too "busy" and she would contact me when she had more time…ummm hmmm. I also sent a Kakao message to the tour guide Boram but she said she had a cold and would show me around when she felt better. So much for the Korean love. Needless to say, I spent my first weekend alone…and what do I do when I am alone? SHOP! Luckily, my school had already deposited my entrance allowance. I did not need to know how to speak Korean, all I needed to see on something I liked was the price. My eating situation wasn't as easy though! After orientation ended, my meals became few and in between. I even figured out how to ride the train which was really easy and I went to Bupyeong to do more shopping! I wanted to go to a jazz festival but was afraid I would get lost since I could not really read the address of the lounge it was at (it was in a brochure written in Korean) so I had to pass. Surprisingly, I ran into another teacher from orientation while walking on the street and added her to my Kakao. That summed up my first weekend.

I found a cute little cafe called Cafe 1450 (or 1950 because it has two conflicting signs) and it gives free WiFi. I really like the space but every now and then it smells like cigarettes because a lot of people come to smoke and drink coffee outside. I also feel obligated to buy something if I spend hours there using the internet so I don't go too often since the cheapest thing is iced tea for 3500 won (kinda pricey). While I was web surfing on my laptop I went on FB and realized that all the english teachers from orientation hang out together…I felt very left out! Somehow they can all communicate with each other, no problem, enough to meet up and hang out. So I know I missed two parties…but no one messaged me about anything else. Mr. H just invited me when I would reach out to him…in sort of an after thought. It's interesting that my situation in America is the same in South Korea.

Dear Mama…. Love from Korea (My Apartment and School)

October 1, 2013

The last day of orientation, we met our head co-teachers, played ice breakers, and left with them to our new apartments…Yay (or so I thought)! My co-teacher is an older mother of two who just started back teaching this year after being a stay at home mom. I really wanted a co-teacher around my age to hang out with but oh well. Most of the other english teachers didn't get that either so I didn't feel so bad. My apartment is in a wonderful area of Namdong-gu, surrounded by big department stores and lots of nightlife, bars, restaurants, etc. It's great, especially if you have friends or a lot of money, which I had neither of at this point. The area is really expensive, especially American products (for example, a bottle of Aveeno lotion is about $15)! I walked in the apartment and got smacked in the face with a foul smell. I opened the fridge and freezer and it smelled even worse. It was like a pile of dirty socks that someone poured vinegar on. I dropped off my luggage, we went to Lotte Department store next door to eat lunch and then, we took the route that the previous english teacher laid out for how to get to school. I had to take a bus…what! Not for just 10 or 15 minutes but for 25-30 minutes.

 When we got to the school I met the vice-principals and the male vice-principal gives me a tour with my head co-teacher. He is a very nice man and he said I remind him of his daughter because she went to America alone to learn English and I am here alone. After the tour, I met my other co-teachers who are generally nice. I have some mixed feelings about one (AKA not my favorite person)…

My first day, I recorded some audio clips and then my co-teacher gave me a ride home. Once, she dropped me off I really felt like I was in South Korea. I had no phone service, could not communicate with people to order food and did not know where certain stores were. I really wanted to clean my dusty smelly house but I did not know where the grocery store was. After further inspection, I realized I had seen this apartment before in a video blog (it was later confirmed that I had seen the previous teacher's videos and blog before). It stood out because the drain was under the sink outside the shower stall and I remember hoping I did not get an apartment like that. Congratulations to me! I also later realized that the window faced a brick wall lol…kind of a pointless window. To top it off, I had to go to work the next day. I tried cleaning up a little using the supplies the previous teacher left (Thanks so much Jen!) and then unpacking a little. I did not really sleep before heading off to school. That day, I did nothing until my co-teacher took me to apply for my alien resident card (ARC) and to go grocery shopping. I still came home and cleaned like crazy. Luckily, the next day was a holiday so there was no school and I could concentrate on cleaning and unpacking. I got it to a place that I am happy with (no really bad smell)!

On a side note, whenever I went outside and ran into FREE Wifi (iptime) I could Kakao with the teachers from orientation, talk to mom on Viber or Skype and check email. I would ask Mr. H questions and he would not really answer the question but instead start talking about going to some party. Ain't nobody got time for that….especially since I am new and don't know how to get around, can't really communicate with people because there is no stable WiFi (and forget about asking strangers for directions) and I wanted to get my house straight. This is where the drift really started. The next day, I figured I would not come to school as early as I did the first time because I was way too early (1 hour early). Unfortunately, I should know that doesn't work for me and I ended up being 10-15 minutes late. Late on my second day! When will I get it right smh. I learned my lesson and now come an hour early everyday! Luckily, that day most of the students were on a school trip so there was nothing to do. I still had not met my students but next week I would have to start teaching.