Happy (Almost) New Year!

These next few days are going to be extremely busy so I thought I would post now as it'll probably be the last down time I have before being back in the States.

This past weekend I spent Christmas with some lovely people and I wasn't even homesick at all.  My first Christmas away from home.  But it probably helped to know that I would be home in two short weeks. :)

This weekend is NYE.  Tonight, I am heading into Seoul with my friend and co-worker, Miranda, to watch the Cats Musical! It should be fun.  Then, tomorrow we are headed back into Seoul to bring in the New Year! We are going to the traditional ringing of the bells which sounds like the thing to do while in Seoul.

Mon-Wed. I will be busy at school.  It's my last three classes teaching winter camp.  I get the 3rd grade students next week which is always a good time.  Then, after class my co-teacher and I will be busy closing my bank account, phone, internet, gas, electricity, etc.  This means my last 1-2 days in the country will be without phone or internet which is sad and definitely annoying but I'll figure out ways to get things done without it.

Since Wednesday is my last day at the school, Miranda is moving into my apartment bright and early Thursday morning. Which probably means I'll be pulling an all-nighter Wed. to get everything packed and cleaned in time for the movers to arrive.  I haven't bought my plane ticket yet (I'll buy it Monday) but I'll probably be heading back on Friday morning if I get the flight that I want. 

A lot to do and see and accomplish in only a few days so it will definitely be busy. It will be nice to get home and hold my new neice, though! And, of course, see everyone else.

Coming to an end

The classes are ending this week and so the students have started saying goodbye.  I have received some rather touching thank you and I'll miss you cards for the past week. 

One of my favorites says, "I remember the first day of our Korean class."  This made me laugh.  I hope he learned a lot of Korean in my classes as apparently that's what I teach now. :)

Another one that made me smile started out as, "Dear Mr. Jessica, I liked your class very much."  My students in America always called me Mrs. but Mr. is new for me. 

I also really liked this phrase, "Teacher you going to live in the soon."  She meant, "Teacher, you are going to leave soon." but I think I rather like the first sentence.  It's...almost like living in the now, right?  Only living in the soon? I'm going to live in the future? Wait, technically I'll be living in the past from here.

Even though the main classes are almost finished I still have winter camp to teach.  I have the 1st-2nd grade next week and then the 3rd grade Mon-Wed.  I think I will probably be flying out either Thurs. or Friday.

It's crazy to see how near it is for me to leave.  In many ways I still feel as though I just arrived and have so much more to explore and see. 

Jobs Jobs Jobs

Now that I have a little over one month left in Korea, the thought of where I will work next keeps entering my mind on a more frequent basis.  Do I want to come back to Korea for another year?  Overall, Korea has been a pleasant place to live, the money is great, and it's fun.  While I don't always feel as though I am teaching, I am sure the experience is invaluable.  That, and most of the really cool jobs that I want require 2+ years of teaching experience.
Or, do I want to move to a different country and teach English? The pay wouldn't be as good as Korea, but it would be a new place to explore. That's always a bonus.

Or, do I want to get a job teaching Social Studies in an International School?  That would be amazing (and definitely my first preference) but I feel as though once again I would probably need more experience.

I do know that teaching in the US has been ruled out. Not only is it boring to live in the US ;) but I would have to go back to get my Master's and well, I really can't be bothered with that right now.

I think about all of this now, but I really can't make any decisions one way or other until Jan. anyway.  I suppose it's always good to keep my options open.

Foreign Films

Have you ever watched a foreign film?  If you have, then you have probably noticed a time or two where the people are carrying on a minute conversation while all the subtitles only show something extremely short.  When that happens, I can't help but wonder what it was that I missed by not speaking the language.

Well, now that I have been editing papers that have clearly been translated directly from Korean (and not very well) I understand how a long statement is shortened down to one or two words.

For example, I just edited two paragraphs talking about the Independence Movement Day in Korea.  By the time I was finished, it was 2 sentences.  Short and to the point.  If I had to edit the subtitles (I wonder who has that job) I would probably do the same thing.

Warm weather

It's november 5th and 75 degrees.

I'll take it!

Tonight it's going to start raining and bring the temp down to the upper 50's/low 60's.  Still very warm for what I am used to.  

Strangest moment in Korea (thus far)

I know I still have 2 months left of being here but I thought I would share my strangest moment in Korea as I am sure nothing will trump it.

The evening started out normal enough.  It was the beginning of August and I was heading into Seoul for the evening to hang out with some friends and watch a play.  I got on the subway for the almost 2 hour trip in and sat back to enjoy my music and a book.  About 20 minutes into the ride, an older man stumbled onto the train, reeking of beer and soju.  Of course the only seat available was right next to me.

Although he sat down, he didn't lean back and stayed on the edge of the seat.  I could see that he was doing something but I couldn't tell quite what.  I look across from where I was sitting and I could see a look of horror on the man's face as he was watching the man sitting next to me slowly undress himself.  


First, he unbuttoned and unzipped his pants.  Then, he took his tie off and threw it over his knee.  Finally, as he started with the buttons on his shirt, another commotion caused us to shift our attention elsewhere.

Another man just entered into the car of the subway holding his hand over his mouth.  Right as he arrived in front of the drunk old man next to me he suddenly throws up all over the man's feet.  Thankfully, from the way I was sitting none of it got on me.

This made the drunk old man stop undressing at least as he leaned back and closed his eyes as the other man just kept walking.  I decided that it was time for me to get off this subway and catch the next one! I couldn't handle anymore excitement after all of that! 

Hey look, it's fall!

It's the last week of October and it feels like the first week of fall.  There is finally a chill to the air!  I might even turn my heat on tonight as it's supposed to get down in the 30's...

This is a busy week at school.  Picture day, story-telling contest, school hike and dinner, a billion lessons, and many other things.

I hope to make it outside with my camera one of these days as the leaves are just starting to change.  

86 days...

There are only 86 days left in Korea.  I have so much to see and do before then.  This year is flying by.

Part III--climbing the final mountain...s.

I am now finally getting around to writing the third and final part of the series as I am going on yet another hiking trip this weekend.  I figure I should probably finally finish this before I head off to three days in the mountains!

So, after heading to bed at 7a, I finally crawled out of bed around 9:30.  There was a scheduled hike for that time but you know me and how much I hate doing things with a crowd, so I decided to go on my own walk with my camera in hand.  I was planning on going into the main village on the island and taking pictures of village life. 

David came with me and as we were walking we came across a cove of sorts near the water.  The large rocks were home to many different insects and sea creatures.  We took some time to explore the area.  I absolutely loved it and was reminded of my geology class because of the different rocks.

Eventually, we moved on and instead of crossing the bridge to head towards the village we noticed a little trail that went up the side of the mountain.  Deciding that we had enough time, and feeling a little adventurous, we followed this tiny trail.  It became more and more steep and you could tell that not many people used it.  It was perfect.

As we arrived about half way to the top of the mountain we were climbing, we came across an old water reserve.  It was rusty and absolutely beautiful! It reminded me of the old tanks that used to be at my grandparents house. 

We continued climbing (I only slipped on the rocks once or twice...) until we reached the top.  The view was more than worth it! It was absolutely breathtaking.  I was feeling quite proud of myself for having made it to the top when I saw that there were other people up there.  A few old people (think 60+) and a young boy (around 9 or so).  Suddenly, my accomplishment didn't seem so great. ;)  However, Koreans are hardcore with their hiking (actually, it would be more accurate to just say that Koreans are hardcore when they are old) so it made sense that they were able to do this hike with no problem--plus they had gloves, boots, and walking sticks to help them.  This made me feel a little better.

One of the ajummas (Older Korean woman) came up to me and started pointing at my legs and talking in Korean to me.  My legs were terribly scratched up from the climb up the mountain the day before and then today.  I just laughed and nodded as I knew they were defintely a sight to behold!

We eventually left the top and kept exploring.  We had no idea where exactly the trail would lead us but since we still had plenty of time before we had to head back we continued on.  We came to a part of the mountain that David recognized from before--we were at the part we would have arrived at if we would have taken the tour with the rest of the group--we just took the more fun and extended tour of the hike they did. 

Along the way down we were able to take some more fun pictures although I stopped as I was feeling rather tired from the lack of sleep the night before.

The rest of the trip was pretty much mundane and unnoteworthy. We took the 7ish hour ride back and arrived home at a decent time. While I had a lot of fun on the trip I was very happy to see my bed that night!

Oh no! (Why I have a love/hate relationship with Korea)

On Friday I was informed that I had not paid my electricity bill for 9 months.  It was supposed to have been deducted from my account automatically but something went wrong and it wasn't.  Since my banking account is written entirely in Korean, I definitely didn't notice that it wasn't being paid. 

Great. I thought. Nine months of electricity to pay TODAY or they're going to turn it off. This is going to be expensive. I hope I have enough to cover it.  Visions of eating nothing but ramen noodle for the next few months started floating in my head, as I have been using the AC 24/7 this summer.  I just assumed I had been paying it all along and since nothing terribly expensive had been deducted I didn't care that I kept my place cold.

Then I was told it would be 87,000 won.  That's about $72. 

"Wait.  87? For one month?" I asked.
"No. For the entire thing.  Plus 14,000 next week as a late fee for not paying."
"Um.  Sweet."

This is exactly why I have such a love/hate relationship with Korea.  I love that 9 months of electricity only comes to 87,000 won.  I hate that it took them 9 months to tell me that I wasn't paying my bill and when they did tell me it was "pay today or no electricity for you."

Part II: Enjoying nature

With the start of the trip starting off as wonderful as it did, I was afraid the rest of the trip would be a let down.  It wasn't!  These islands are absolutely amazing.  There is definitely a little bit for everyone no matter what you like.  Although, I was joking with Reuben saying the only thing missing was a massage palor for after the long hikes... 


After the swim and bike ride around the islands (the three main islands are all connected by these little narrow bridges.  This is nice as this essentially means the only vehicle that can cross is maybe a golf cart which adds to the feeling of actually being out in nature), we all headed in to shower before the sunset.  The sunset was an absolute blaze of glory as it lowered behind the mountain.  

After the sunset we enjoyed an amazing Korean dinner with the rest of the group and the ventured off to the beach again with fireworks in hand.  Between the guys in our group setting off the fireworks and the local men from the island with their boys setting off the fireworks, we had quite the display going on.  We had a very relaxing evening down by the water enjoying the stars and listening to music until we eventually wandered off to our beds.  


In pretty traditional Korean style, our room fit four people on floor mats.  It is pretty comfortable to sleep on the floor as it's a little softer than a normal hardwood floor.  Unfortunately, since I was outside all day near the trees, I had a tickle in the back of my throat that would not go away.  After coughing on and off for about 45 minutes, I decided to take a walk so I wouldn't keep everyone else awake.  


It was such a beautiful night out.  Since it was such a clear night and on the water it was a little chilly so I brought my blanket out with me.  The few locals I saw probably thought I was crazy walking around with a blanket wrapped around me, but I didn't care. :)  


I walked the shores from 3:30am until sunrise at 6am.  It was such a relaxing and peaceful time for me.  I was able to explore the other side of the island that I wasn't able to see the day before.  As I was walking down the trail, surrounded by dense woods on either side, I noticed something in the sidewalk.  Huge paw prints.  It looked like when they laid the cement, an animal walked the path before it had a chance to dry.  As I continued walking the trail I would notice that whenever the woods became dense on both sides the paw prints would show again.  

The above picture was taken with my cell phone.  They don't appear very large but they were about the size of the palm of my hand.  Dog or not, I was hoping that I wouldn't run into that animal during my walk! 


Eventually, I made it to the end of the trail--a beautiful (and long) deck leading out into the sea.  I walked to the very end of the deck and just soaked in the stars above me.  It was so dark that the billions of stars shown brightly down upon the water.  It was such a nice moment, especially since it's so rare to see a star where I live.  I stayed out there until it started becoming light and then searched for a place to watch the sun rise. 


I found the perfect bench around 6am and watched the sun come out greeting the morning with its happy rays.  I only had my cell phone with me (and can't figure out how to turn the picture right side up) so I only have a crappy upside down picture that doesn't even do justice to how beautiful it truly was--although I have to admit I was more of a fan of the sunset.  

After watching the first part of the sunrise, I decided that perhaps it was time to go inside and try to sleep.  


I shall write about the next day in part III. :) 

Seonyudo Island Part 1

Last weekend I took a trip to Seonyudo Island, located South West of South Korea.  I have finally gotten the time to sit down and write about the trip. I am going to write this in fairly long detail for myself.  It may be a little long for a casual reader though!  If you would like a summary of below, Seonyudo Island trip was positively amazing.  :)   


~ ~ 


Friday night, after school, four of us from Geumchon got together for a game night.  While the night was a lot of fun, I had to kick everyone out "early" (a little after 11) as I still needed to pack for my trip the next morning.  Since I had to be at the meeting point at 7, that meant I had to get up around 4:15 am to get there on time.  


By the time I finished packing and was in bed it was after 2am.  Which meant that when my alarm went off the next morning I definitely turned it off, rolled over, and went back to sleep.  Thankfully, at 4:55 I woke up realizing what I did, and jumped out of bed.  The absolute latest I could leave was 5:10 in order to make the 5:30 subway.  Since I still had to shower and pack a few things, I was seriously doubting my ability to get there on time.  


Somehow I made it (with a lot of running and weird looks from the locals out and about so early in the morning) and met up with David, who was also going on this trip, at the next stop.  Finally, the weekend in nature was about to begin! I was super excited about this trip as there is never enough greenery in Korea for my taste.  


Once I actually arrived at the subway station, the rest of the (long) trip was simple as we went with Adventure Korea, who organized everything.  From 5:45-a little after 1, we took the subway, bus, and finally ferry in order to reach our destination.  


I was greeted with the view of this mountain as the ferry came closer to the Islands:

While it's not a terribly high peak (only 370ish feet if I recall) it IS incredibly steep.  David informed me that this was the mountain I was going to climb.  I informed our new friend, Francis, that she wanted to climb the mountain with us.  Hey, if I was going to die, I might as well take others with me. ;) After dropping our bags off and recruiting one more person, Rueben, we headed off towards our adventure.      


At the foot of the cliff there is a rusty old sign, written entirely in Hangul.  I was convinced that it said we were complete idiots for attempting this climb and apparently I was correct; David later got the sign translated and it basically said something along the lines of "Extreme danger. Do not climb. It may result in serious injury or death." 


We were on our way.  First, we had to walk through thick weeds to even make it to the base.  We were joking about how at the rest stop before arriving David saw a machete that he almost got and decided he wouldn't need.  When in doubt, always purchase the machete! 


We finally made it to the base and it was time to start climbing.  As I mentioned earlier, although this wasn't a tall mountain, it was extremely steep.  So steep that the locals tied rope to help with the climb.  So, we started the climb up; David first, then me, then Francis, and finally Reuben.  


This was the view after climbing the first rope: 

At this point, I was pretty nervous.  I don't like heights at all.  As we are about to climb the second rope, David says to all of us, "Let me know if your arms or legs start shaking and we can find a place for you to rest."


"Um, mine haven't stopped shaking yet."


"I meant from muscle fatigue, not from fright. Let's go." 


And off we went again.  With each landing it became easier.  As long as I remembered not to look down.  This was fairly easy to do, however, as it was so steep it was important to only look exactly at where my hands and feet were located.  Eventually, we made it to the top! And we were greeted by this view: 

Reuben and I at the top! 

It was totally worth the climb.  The trip down was actually a little more eventful than the trip up as I definitely slid down using the bottom of my feet and hands at a few points since it was so steep.  Also, there was one point where (thankfully) I was holding on to two different tree branches where my feet slid right out from under me and up into the air.  That was fun.  But! This climb definitely helped me get over my hatred of hiking (I have decided that regular mountain hiking is too boring which is why I don't like it) and over my fear of heights.  


After the climb we headed to the beach for a little bit then took a long bike ride around the islands.


~~~ 


I'll finish the second part later!       

It's all fun and games

Within the past few weeks I (and we) have aquired Monopoly (the Korean version), Jenga, Chess, and a handful of other games that came with chess.

I have also been playing copious amounts of online scrabble and lexelous. 

I love games (and the people who will play them with me).

Remember when...?

Remember when I first decided I wanted to be a teacher?  Everyone would always ask me, "What grades would you want to teach?"  My answer was always, "Anything but middle school."

Then, I had to student teach for 7th grade students and I fell in love with middle school.  I would love to teach that age again. 

Remember when I said that I hated geography?  Then, somehow I minored in it because I fell in love with learning about different places and how it has been shaped (both physically and culturally) throughout the years.

I have a new "remember when..."

Remember when I said that I hated teaching little kids because I never knew what to do with them?  Well, teaching 1st and 2nd grade camp this week has made me realize just how fun little kids are. 

Birthdays in Korea rock!

While I didn't have any cake this year (which is ok with me as the cake here is SWEET) this may have been one of the best birthdays.  In fact, I think it wins that title by the sole fact that I was able to celebrate my birthday by an additional 13 hours. ;)

Friday, my birthday in Korean time, started with me teaching summer camp.  It was the last day for the 3-4 years.  Since it was the last day they behaved, I had an awesome lesson that they loved, and it all went well.  I love when that happens.  After school ended, my co-teacher, Miranda (the new English teacher) and myself went out to dinner! Miss Kim brought us to a place called "Tasha's Garden."  (http://www.tashagarden.com/)  This place is brilliant.  It is full of knick knacks from all over the world.  The vivid color was just overwhelming as there was so much to look at.  And the food was delicious.





There was so much of it!  When we thought surely we must have been on our last course...they start bringing out the traditional Korean food.  Yum.  After we ate we headed to the little room pictured about where I enjoyed some coffee and the ladies enjoyed some plum tea.

Overall, Birthday Day One was relaxing and very nice.  I throughly enjoyed every moment of it.

Birthday Day Two started early in the morning.  I was headed into Seoul to meet up with Alex and Kat to enjoy my birthday brunch!  Now, this wasn't an ordinary birthday brunch.  Oh no.  This was an authentic AMERICAN brunch.  Mmm...bacon.  We had brunch at one of the American Army bases in Seoul thanks to Alex.  I was in heaven.  From the moment we set foot on base it felt like I was back in America.  It was surreal.

I had three plates full of bacon and sausage with a side of hash browns and eggs. :-p  After we walked around the base a little bit we headed over to meet up with Jacob and Miranda.  Kat parted ways and the four of us headed over to Building 63.

I went to Building 63 with Corrie in February during my winter vacation.  When we went it was in the middle of the weekday and so it was busy but not dreadfully so.  I forgot that this was a Saturday and vacation for half of Korea so it was packed.  I still had fun though.  We went to an IMAX movie on surfing in Tahiti.  It made me want to surf and go to Tahiti...but not surf in Tahiti as the waves are pretty brutal there.

We went to "sea world" which is the aquarium there.  Then, we headed down to the Wax museum where I had entirely too much fun.  Jacob could attest to me giggling away as I took pictures with the wax figures.  I decided that I would take all of my pictures with the arm outstretched.  This place entertained me for a while.

After that fun ended the group split in half for a bit.  Miranda and Jacob headed out to say good bye to our friend that was leaving Korea and Alex and I headed over to pick up some tickets to a show we were seeing that night.  After we picked up the tickets we walked around until we found somewhere to eat.  As we were standing outside of this small Korean restaurant the owner came out and invited us in so we headed in and sat down.  After brief misunderstanding of what was on the menu and what we wanted to order we eventually got some food brought out to us.

Then more food.

And then more food.

And yet...still some more food.

I swear they eat so much food in Korea!

During the first serving (not realizing just how much food we were going to end up with) I told Alex that I hoped he was hungry as I was still full from brunch.   ...Three courses later, I was very happy but VERY full.  Korean food is so good.

After dinner we met up with Miranda and Jacob again and headed over to watch a show.  It was called "Breakout Dance Comedy Show" and was absolutely hilarious.  I enjoyed every single moment of it. So for 80 full minutes I felt like I was laughing the entire time.  A perfect way to end the perfect day.

And now I am on summer holiday for the week and a half.  Perfect. :-D

You never quite know... Part II

Along with the first post about not knowing eggs were already boiled when I bought them, I have had a few other surprises this week. 

First of all, the bread I bought this week was completely covered in mold.  Completely.  I suppose in the States I could return or exchange the bread but I am pretty much at a loss here.  So, my dinner I had planned for last night had to be changed as I no longer had bread like I thought I did!

Then, (and this was just me being careless) the mandu I bought this week was...seafood mandu and I think wheat.  Something healthy.  Blech. ;)  I can't wait to go back to the good stuff--but I still have two bags to get through!

Everything else here is going well.  Summer camp has been fun.  This week I have 3-4th grade students.  They're fun.  I seriously love third grade.  They are always smiling and happy.  The sweetest little things. 

I am getting sick (again) so maybe they're not that sweet!  I hope this cold thing is gone before this weekend, however, as it's my birthday weekend!  It doesn't even feel like July let alone the end of July so it's weird that it's already my birthday in three days. 

Why I have awesome friends

I received this lovely letter in the mail on Friday from Curtis! <3  It definitely made me laugh and made my day.  (Curtis and I were having a conversation the other day about ransom letters and how you never see letters like this any more because of computers--and so he sent me my very own letter!)  

You never quite know...

You never quite know what you're going to get when you buy something in Korea.  Or, at least I never quite know.

This morning I bought some eggs.  I was quite excited as I found a place that only sold three eggs instead of the typical dozen--I mean, what am I going to do with a dozen eggs?  And lately I have been wanting to make some super delicious omelets with cheese and tomatoes and other deliciousness added in.

I just went to make this super delicious dinner for myself.  As I attempted to crack open the egg, I saw that it's hard boiled.  Not only was that super disappointing but it's not even the edible hard boiled egg.  In Korea, they like to over boil the eggs until all you have left is a rubbery hard mess of what used to be an egg.

Sad.

I suppose it's time for me to go to the store and actually buy some real eggs.  I still really want that omelet.  :) 

Day two of summer camp

My fifth grade students played dodgeball today.  If you know anything about Koreans then you'll know that they (especially the women) hate the sun.  Not only does it age you but pale is beautiful.  So the mean teacher that I am made them play a game in 96 degree heat.

Student: Teacher, the sun will kill me!
Me: It's ok.  You're going to play anyway.

Just call me "heartless teacher" instead of "Jessica teacher."

Of course I received a slight sunburn in my very short time that I was outside.  That'll teach me, but not really as tomorrow they are going to play soccer.  Maybe I'll stand in the shade to watch them. ;)

Summer begins today

It finally feels like summer in Korea, both physically and mentally.  Today is the first day of heat and sun since...well, a month or two.  It has pretty much been raining non-stop minus a day or two of sun.  It is also the first day of "summer camp" which means that it finally feels like summer vacation.  I don't know if I will ever get used to teaching in a year round school. 

I teach two weeks (5-6 grade this week and 3-4 grade next week) have nine days off, then I teach 1-2nd grade for four days.  Then the new semester begins. 

Today was the first day for the 5 and 6 years.  I think this shall be a decent week.

Two blogs in one day? Unheard of!

I love my students.  Some days more than others.  I always feel slightly envious of my friends who get to work with the older students, however, as I remember fondly upon my time working with middle school students in the States.  In fact, my "least favorite" classes are the ones with the youngest kids--partly because they don't know any English at all, and partly because I feel at a loss as to what to do with them.  

Today I was teaching a first grade class.  The students know random words in English (like hamster and guitar) but in no way can they understand a sentence.  This makes communicating very interesting, and they often just talk away at me in Korean, asking many questions.  Of course I can't answer a single one.  

There is a particular student in there, a girl, who has been very shy.  When I first started teaching, she wouldn't talk to me.  Eventually, she discovered that I would play "rock scissors paper" with her (a Korean favorite--they do this with everything) and would run up to me in the hall to play.  Then, today, when I came in she ran up to me, wrapped her arms around my leg, gave me a big hug, and then followed me around for most of the class clinging to my skirt, smiling up at me.  

My heart melted into a pile of mush.  

I suppose there are some upsides to teaching little kids, after all. 

Right then

I should probably update this.  It's been a while! (Ok, so I don't feel like it's been that long at all but that's only because time flies while in Korea.) 

First of all, I realized today just how PC everything is in America now.  I was writing up a lesson plan for the kindergarten class here and I thought about how they like to sing, "10 little Indians" to me.  The Korean Kindergarten teacher actually had to remind me how the song went as ...well...it's been a while since I have heard it.  It would definitely no longer be sung in an American school.  It's always very interesting to see small little things like that--it reminds me that I am indeed, no longer in America as sometimes it's easy to forget!

Anyway. 

I could write about my trip to the DMZ.  But, that would probably take a lot of time and I don't have any pictures to post on here at the moment.  They are on facebook though, so you can see them there.  So, I'll just say that it was very interesting.  I went in the tunnel that the N. Koreans dug to "mine" which goes into S. Korea (that was pretty cool...and very long).  I also went into the building where they (N and S Korea, along with the various other officials) meet to discuss diplomatic issues.  Which means that yes, I was technically in North Korea. 

That was a fun and interesting day.  And the weather was actually nice enough to stop raining so I could enjoy it! Don't worry though, the rain is back.  Lots and lots of rain.

So the DMZ tour was two weekends ago.  This past weekend on Saturday I headed into Seoul to meet up with some friends.  We went to the "Secret Gardens" which are these awesome gardens behind one of the main palaces.  Absolutely beautiful.  And green.  And once again mother nature was kind and it didn't rain.  Although it was incredibly hot and humid.  After we took that tour, we went in search of peanut butter, as our Russian friend has never tried it before!  We found some, bananas, and then went in search of a chocolate cafe where we consumed the yummy chocolate, peanut butter, bananas, and played euchre! 

I felt like I was back in Michigan again. :)

I also have pictures from that day, but I haven't posted them yet. 

Right now at school we are on our last week of classes.  Next week is week one of summer camp!  I am especially excited for this week as it's 5th and 6th grade.  I think we'll have a lot of fun.  Also, I managed to get my hands on some American candy thanks to an awesome friend so they should be very happy.  I teach summer camp for two weeks, have two weeks off, and then teach one more week of summer camp before the new semester starts.

I am excited for the two weeks off! I don't have anything in particular planned (my plans to go to SE Asia fell through because of having to change my dates for summer camp) but I am sure I'll find something to occupy my time with. 

And.  That's everything.  Nothing exciting to report!

Been meaning to update this...

Today, a student (that I don't have in any of my classes) came up and said hello to me.  Then, in a concerned voice,
she said, "Your name is Jessica, right?"
me, "That's right."
her, "Sometimes, do you cry?"
me, "...um.  Sure.  I cry sometimes."  (?)
her, "Oh. Yeah..."
me, "why?"
her, "I mean, because you are so sick. Does it make you cry?"
me, "...oh.  I'm not sick anymore.  I am ALL better."
her, "that's good! bye!"
me, "bye..."

This may explain why my 3rd grade students have been asking me lately, "Are you ok?!"  I'm pretty sure they think I am dying or something.

In other news...

It's monsoon season in Korea!  While so far it's been a little disappointing (one typhoon which was pretty weak if you ask me), the season is still young.  And I already miss the sun.  I did get adorable rainboots (which have heels--only in Korea) and a rain jacket for the occasion.  Although they don't really do much for keeping me dry.  And the shoes (like every other pair I own) make my feet bleed. :(  Somehow I still end up drenched.  It's a good thing I like rain! :-p

I was also able to get two "normal" sized towels at the same place I bought my rainboots!!!!! (yes, this statement deserves that many exclaimation marks. Trust me.)  They use tiny hand towels here, so it was like I struck gold when I found a standard sized towel.  That was a few weeks ago and I am still quite happy about it. :)

There's not much else to update on other than to say I am going to North Korea this weekend.  0:-)  I promise to behave.  (So, technically I am going to the DMZ and there is a place where if you stand on one side of the room you are officially IN North Korea.)

That's pretty much everything. 

Maybe a little weird

I keep meaning to tell this story for weeks now and only just now thought of it again.

Since being in Korea I have been asked many times if someone could take my picture--either alone or in a picture with them.  Then, sometimes, I will hear a *click* look up, and see a camera phone pointed in my direction.  I have grown accustomed to this as much as anyone possibly could, I suppose.

The other day, I fell asleep on the subway.  Suddenly, I awoke with a start and felt as though I was being stared at.  I looked up and everyone in the subway car was looking at me.  I realized why when I saw a man with a camera trying to take my picture.  The moment I looked at him, he put the camera away.

I then closed my eyes again, with intent of resting.  Suddenly, I felt eyes on me again.  Sure enough, he had his camera back out.  I spent the rest of the trip home glaring at him.

As I got off at my stop he followed me off.  Great, he lives around here. I thought.  Nope.  He got off the train to take a picture of me walking away and then hopped back on before the doors closed.

It is moments like this that make Korea interesting...but at times living in this country can be strange. 

It's finally weekend!

After school on Friday I headed over for my doctor's appointment where I was declared...still sick, given more medication, and was told to come back on Monday.  Apparently the "I feel MUCH better" doesn't work on this doctor.  Cost of visit and medicine--$4.87.  At least it's not breaking the bank to be sick.

I do have to say that this whole "eating food three times a day so I can take my medicine" is getting old real fast. It's not necessarily the amount but it's the fact that I *have* to eat in the morning, afternoon, and evening even if I am not hungry.  I am very rarely hungry in the morning.

After the appointment, I headed home, hoping for a relaxing evening as I was pretty exhausted. When I arrived at home, my electricity was not working.  I called my co-teacher who called my landlord and just as it was starting to get dark he came over to try to fix it.  

Looong story short, he ended up almost electrocuting himself, almost falling off a chair, and kept talking to me in Korean even though we both know that neither of us understands the others language.  Two hours later the power was restored after he changed...a battery looking thing, so probably the fuse.  

After he left I finally had my quiet evening that I was promising myself all day.  Hopefully after this weekend I shall be declared "well" by the doctor and I will have my energy back, I will no longer cough and etc. etc.  

Now it's time to go search for breakfast so I can take my medicine and then go back to bed.  

Well then

It's been a long, long week.  


Friday night I took a nap after school and woke up with a tickle in my throat.  As there was a cold that was going around the school, I figured I was probably coming down with it and went to bed early. 


Saturday morning I woke up with a full-fledge cold.  Both times now that I have come down with a cold in Korea, it has surprised me just how fast it goes from nothing to full assault.  As I have an open class on Thursday (I will explain what that is later) I figured I would go against my nature and buy some medicine to help the process along even though there's really nothing you can do to cure a common cold.  


I bought some medicine (the "magic pills" is what I call them) and proceeded to spend the rest of the day in bed as they were extremely strong for my system.  They made the world a fuzzy but colorful place, to put it mildly.  


Sunday, I was able to get my hands on some cough syrup--which lasted 24 hrs as the bottle was tiny.  I still slept all day due to the magic pills. 


Monday, I called in sick (as mentioned a pretty big deal in Korea), took my medicine and went back to bed.  I was feeling so lethargic and absolutely no better than the day before.  I slept the entire day, waking only to cough and blow my nose.  I have never had a cold effect my daily life as much as this one has in terms of energy and being able to do things.  


Monday night around midnight I woke up not being able to breathe.  I was wheezing so much from my cough and couldn't seem to get enough air.  At this point I was just sick and tired of the magic pills that weren't working and the cough that was progressively getting worse instead of better (and the fact that I couldn't breathe) that I went to the ER.  I figured at the very least they could give me cough medicine so I could stop coughing so much so my throat would stop closing and I would be able to breathe again.  


Instead, they gave me a chest x-ray, antibiotics ("I think maybe your tonsils are swollen." You...think?  Maybe?), and a shot to reduce the swelling in my throat.  He said that the reason why my throat was swollen was because of my coughing--at this point, I am starting to feel like I could be a doctor here.  


The shot did help me breathe better though.  It also kept me awake until 5am and then I had to get up for work at 6:45.  That was fun.  (Also, as a side note: the ER visit, x-ray, shot, AND drugs cost me 14,000 won.  About $13.  Go Korea!)


Tuesday I went to work.  I had to talk about American foods so I did quite a bit of talking despite not really having a voice and coughing every other word.  They sent me home after I was done teaching as I looked and sounded so horrible. 


When I asked why I couldn't get cough syrup here, I was told that it doesn't work.  I was also asked if the medicine made me dizzy, feel sick, and generally very not myself.  When I said yes, I was told that this was Korean style and it meant it was working.  


Today, I once again went in feeling the worse yet this week and having very little voice.  My co-teacher was lovely and did the majority of the teaching, but I still had to ask some questions and have them repeat a list after me.  That very little made my throat despise me.  After class, my co-teacher brought me to the clinic (an ear, nose and throat specialist--who incidentally graduated from UM in A2! So we had much to talk about) to be checked out.  


He suctioned out my nose (which HURTS) saying that he couldn't believe how much I was able to hold in there (heh, he should see the two rolls of tp I have gone through at home and the countless tissues at school :-p) and poked around at my tonsils (yeah, that hurt, too :( ) and then declared that I had tonsillitis, gave me some MORE meds to take (I am now on 5 pills 3times/day and he actually gave me cough syrup!) and told me to come back on Friday for a check up.  They then hooked me up to a nebulizer for a bit and then sent me on my way.  

Total visit, 6,000 won for doctor and 14,000 won for medicine (+ bug spray and Vitamin C tabs).  I just can't get over how cheap health care is here. I'm pretty sure if you combine everything I have paid together it would still be less than a visit to the doctor back home, let alone anything else.  Hopefully these pills will do the trick.


Tomorrow I have the open class.  This is basically when the principal/vice principal, teacher from our school and other schools all come in and evaluate a class that we teach.  It's the fourth class (in a row) that I teach and if I feel anything like I did after today's 4th period, it's not going to end well.  But I don't really care.  We have 4ish of these a year.   


But hey, I think I am already maybe sort of starting to feel better.  I have been awake since 5:30--and it's now 9:30!  Pretty sure this has been the longest stretch of awakeness since Saturday. I am definitely crashing soon though. 

Cute kids

Student 1: Teacher, he is crazy.
Student 2: What are you talking?
Me: What are you talking about.
Student 2: What are you talking about?

Student: Hello!
Me: Hello!
Student: Don't copy me.
Me: Ok.  Bye.
Student: Bye.
Me: Now YOU are copying ME.
Student: Teacher! No!

I know I walk a lot...

I was walking home today and my shoe literally fell apart.  I know I walk a lot but it seems to have happened rather soon after buying it.  The sad thing is, I actually paid more for this shoe, hoping that it would last longer.  I still have my $8 pair of shoes, however, that have been holding strong for over a year now.

Apparently I need to once again go shoe shopping tomorrow.  :-/  

(at least it was a little humorous to be walking down the street and have your shoe literally fall into pieces.  I mean, how does that even happen?)

Where to go next?

I am starting to narrow down where I would like to go after I leave Korea in January.  So far on the list, I have found decent (ok, amazing) jobs & benefits at the following countries:

1. Kazahkstan
2. Kyrghistan
3. Taiwan
4. Hong Kong
5. UAE
6. Brunei (I believe I may need another year experience before getting into this one)
7. Saudi Arabia

So many options! :)  Maybe too many options...

*cough cough* *achoo* *cough*

I made the mistake of leaving my window open yesterday and last night.  Ok, so it was purposefully left open because it's gorgeous weather and I didn't feel like turning on the air quite yet.

This morning I woke up barely able to breathe from all of the dust in my apartment! Not only is this country ridiculously dusty and it covers everything, but of course they were doing construction this morning that helped blow some more into the open window.

I literally had a dust bunny floating in the air... *sigh*

So the first goal of today, before I am allowed to go out and play in the sun, is to clean this apartment from top to bottom and make it dust free once again (haha, like that will ever happen in this country! At least as dust free as possible--for the day. Tomorrow will be a whole new battle.)  It's another warm day but I have decided to keep the windows closed for the time being.

I'm sure my lungs will thank me for it.  

Flooding

The other day my students and I were talking about weather and I mentioned that back home in the States there were many tornados and a lot of rain lately.

"How much rain?"
"This much."  Showing a large amount of rain with my hands, clearly exaggerating.
"Woooow.  Do they use a boat?"
"Yes." 
"Cooool.  I want to go to school in a boat!"

These students are about as easy to tease as Kayleen was when she was younger... :) 

What I find fun about all of this is when I was teaching my 7th grade students about Monsoon season in Asia, a student said, "Cool! I want to go to school in a boat!" 

Make a story

Today, the students had to make their own story up after listening to a story.  The dialog had to follow something along the lines of,

___________?
I'm ________.
___________?
___________.

I heard,

"Who are you?"
"I'm a monster."
"Do you want to die?"
"I will bring you to hell with me."

and when we told them they weren't allowed to say "Do you want to die?" they said,

"Do you want to go to heaven?"

Also, during "American Culture Minute" I taught them how to say, "What's up?/Sup?" complete with the head nod.  Oh yeah, bringing back the past one student at a time! ;)  

I need to think of some more fun slang words to teach them. 

So cute

Today, my after-school year 3's were learning about body parts.

Me: "What's this?"
Them: "Arm!"
Me: "What's this?"
Them: "Fingers!"
Me: "What's this?"
Them: "A leg!"
Me: "What's this?"
Them: "....    ........   ...foot fingers?"

Love them. 

Pretty certain

I am pretty certain my students were laughing at me today.  In almost every class I had students looking at me with a glint in their eyes and their hands over their mouth, trying to hold in a giggle.  I'm not entirely sure what would cause this reaction, as I looked in the mirror and I don't look any more silly than normal. 

Then again, maybe they weren't laughing at me.  This is generally the same reaction I receive when I say hi to them in the hallway or street. 

Speaking of students, today they learned that hitting in America is not only considered to be impolite but you could end up in jail if it's serious enough.  They also learned that you would more than likely be suspended from school if you hit another student--and your parents would have to talk to the principal (this is possibly the worse thing that could ever happen to a student in Korea).  I could see a few of the trouble making boys torn between loving the idea that the hogwon (private after-school schools) teacher wouldn't be able to hit them and hating that they wouldn't be able to hit each other anymore. 

I swear, all day long during every class all you see if one student punching another. It's a wonder they're not all black and blue.  Walking down the hall I will see students rolling on the ground wrestling each other.  The part of my mind that's still in the American culture mindset always starts to try to break it up but then I realize that they're not serious and I just keep walking. 

Oh, Korea

A woman just came to my apartment and waved a wand (much like a radiation detector) around my stove and washing machine.  She then bowed and left.


...?

How old are you? Part II

This morning for first period we had a bit of a technical difficulty which resulted in a delay of using the computer (and since the entire lesson is on the computer...) for an entire class period.  My co-teacher told me to delay and "review" the lesson.

Um, ok.  Sure.

I had to review the key words, "Happy birthday", "thank you", "this is for you", and "how old are you."  Right, that took all of maybe a minute to review as they had this material down three lessons ago. Since they aren't at the English level to actually converse yet, I had to come up with something and hope they would understand me enough. Eventually, I became desperate and started asking every student how old they were even though I knew they were all 10 yrs old. We made it into a slight game and the kids were giggling as they answered "one million years old!" or "I am 65...an old man!"

Finally, one of the students said to me, "Jessica Teacher--I think you are 30."

"Oh, no!" I said.  "Not thirty!"

This brought us to an hilarious new game of "guess Jessica-teacher's age."  I received anything from 20 years old (said the boy that likes to give me compliments) to 68 years old.

The Koreans are trying to pre-maturely age me.  They never did guess my age and therefore they still have no idea if I am 20 or 68.    

Long Holiday weekend

This past weekend was a long weekend.  I had Thursday off for Children's Day, worked Friday, and then had Sat-Tues. off for Buddha's birthday.  Since I had four days off in a row I decided to go all the way south to visit Corrie!  If you look at the map provided, I live north of Seoul up next to the border and Corrie lives all the way in the south of Korea near Taegu...kind of.  I think.  


In any case, it took 6 hours almost exactly (ok, 6 hrs and 4 minutes plus a 20 minute walk to the subway station) to arrive.  I took a subway and then a four hour train ride but finally I arrived! 


Visiting with Corrie was fun.  On Sunday we headed into Daegu where I went shopping! I had to get some make up and ended up getting a brand I have recently started to hear about--BB.  Apparently all the concealers in Korea has skin whitening stuff in it as Koreans are all obsessed with looking pale.  So now the fair-skinned me is a proud owner of a "Whitening Duel BB Cream."  Heh.  While I doubt my skin could actually become any lighter than it already is, it does cover up my freckles pretty well so that's nice.  Plus, it's 35+ sunblock which is always an added bonus.  


While in Daegu, Corrie and I met her friend Joo Ock (Rachel), her cousin, Jae Woon (Ethan), and her cousin's friend which I don't remember his Korean name so Jake.  The five of us spent the day together and it was a lot of fun! Apparently we were Ethan's first foreign friends.  ^_^  We had dinner at Holy Grill where I ate an enormous burger.  Pictures of said burger is posted on the earlier post.  


Monday was spent traveling back to my apartment.  On the subway I encountered the sweetest old man. Not only did he offer me his seat on the subway (which I didn't take because he was old and needed it more than I did), but he also got my attention again when a new seat opened and saved it for me, AND helped me carry my bag (a rolling suitcase full of clothes) down the subway stairs. 

All of this without a word being spoken between us aside from me saying thank you in Korean and bowing. :)  

Today was spent with most of it traveling to Itaewon, a section in Seoul.  There is an English bookstore there, What the Book?, that I went to and picked up a copy of "The Seven Storey Mountain" which is an autobiography of Thomas Merton.  I am pretty excited to read about his story of becoming baptized as a Catholic and then becoming a Trappist Monk.  

It's sounds delightful.  

So yeah.  That was my "exciting" weekend.  It was just like any other weekend I would have in the States. :-p 

This is why I am joining a gym...

My before and after pictures of "Holy Cow!" from the Holy Grill.  Be amazed at my eating abilities. ;-) 

How old are you?

This week my 3rd grade students are learning about birthdays and age.  As a review at the end of the lesson I asked a few students how old they were.  "I am 10 years old."  Then, the students asked me how old I was.  "I am 26 years old."

"ooooooooooh." They all responded, the girls squealing and the boys laughing.  I assumed it was because they thought I was "old."  One of the students said something to my co-teacher in Korean and she translated for me.
"It's time for you to get married!!"

Seriously mom, I know you want me to get married...but bribing cute Korean children to remind me is a little much, don't you think? ;)

New friend; new name.

Today, I made a new Korean friend.  Her parents are the owners of a coffee shop I like to go to quite a bit. She came over and introduced herself and said that her mom thought we would get along. We do have a lot in common and she seems like a very sweet girl.  We are planning on getting dinner later this week or next. It will be nice to start making some Korean friends here! :)

While talking she asked if I had a Korean name yet. When I told her that I did not she gave one to me. My new name is "HaYan" which means "white and pure." :)  I like it. 

North Korea, English Village and shopping, oh my!

If you squint real hard through the fog you can see North Korea in the distance. 

This is common food they eat in North Korea. It was made by a refugee now living in South Korea. It's basically the same that you can find here (bread filled with bean paste) only it's not as sweet.  They don't use any sugar and the bread has a weird texture to it because of their lack of ingredients they have available. 

"English Village."  This is a "village" that kids will come and learn English. The village is made to copy that of a city in England. It's actually a great idea and was thought up because so many parents sent their kids to live overseas to learn English. This is a much more affordable option.  

This was in a green house in the English village. There is no significance and you could really see this anywhere but I really liked it.  

Kids blowing bubbles in the English village.

Saturday was spent at the DMZ (kind of--more of an observatory that over looks N. Korea across a river), an English village, and shopping with my co-teacher and another teacher at my school.  While I know N. Korea is close to where I live, I never realized just how close! We got in the car Saturday morning and then about a half hour drive later we were there! Canada is farther away from Ypsi then N. Korea is from Paju.

The day was very foggy still in the mountain so it was difficult to see N. Korea but they showed a video of the view and gave a brief history. It was very interesting to see and learn about.  We also tried some food that is common to eat in N. Korea (when they have food) and saw what a typical classroom and house would look like.

Afterwards we went to the English Village and wandered around a little bit there. That was fun and while I have never been in England I felt as though they did a good job with making it feel like I was in an English town.

Then we went shopping. I have to admit that I had fun there and bought many things for the spring and summer.  $700 worth of clothing for only a little over $200! Sweet.  My only impractical purchase was actually bought the day before--a pair of tennis shoes.  I will probably very rarely actually wear these shoes, esp. now that spring has arrived but I didn't have practical shoes to wear for my day out. So now I own a pair of shoes that I can't wear with my dresses and skirts that I bought. Since I only own one pair of jeans in this country I will probably never wear those shoes.  Maybe this gives me even more incentive to join the gym...I keep trying to convince myself that I want to.

Overall it was a very fun but tiring day.