Seodaemun Prison History Hall

Today was a relaxing day spent at home reading and writing.  The only thing missing was coffee from the ugly mug! ^_^  It was nice to not do much as this past weekend was a lot of fun.

Yesterday, I met Alex in Dongnimmun, a small city about an hour and a half away from here.  The day before, as I was writing down directions to the city (on my hand, at that) I misspelled Dongnimmun and so I missed my stop on the subway when I attempted to go there.  Thankfully Alex called about two or three stops past so I was able to quickly fix that mistake.  Anyway, I eventually made it there and so our adventure of the day started.

We decided to eat first and so a cute little "diner" was chosen.  The food was absolutely amazing.  I need to start eating more Korean food!  Also, I tried this side dish which were these little tiny fish-things that were salted.  It was pretty good, despite being fish.  

After lunch we headed over to the Seodaemun Prison History Hall.  An except from the brochure reads that "The Museum preserves and displays Seodaemun Prison signifying the suffering and pain of Koreans during the modern period.  Here, independence activists and pro-democracy activities were jailed and martyred."

Inside the museum it was completely fascinating and depressing at the same time.  I don't know much about Korean history and so it was interesting to learn more about the Japanese occupancy and their control over the country.  Inside the Underground Torture Chamber it was particularly disturbing just to read about the different methods of torture they would use.  Just like at the Eastern State Penitentiary in Philly, I tried to imagine what it would be like to be imprisoned in such a place with such conditions and I couldn't even begin to fathom what it would be like.  A lot of different things I have encountered since entering this country now makes a lot more sense to me that I know a little bit more of the history.  I am hoping to make it to a few more museums this week since I have it off.

Here is a picture of the Central Prison building.

The Central prison building and original prison building

After the tour of the prison, we decided to hop on the metro to a random city and get coffee.  Apparently our city choice wasn't the greatest, despite having "university" in its name, as we couldn't find a coffee shop anywhere!  We finally stumbled upon this Italian restaurant that claimed to have coffee so we went in there to get out of the bitter cold.  

The Italian restaurant was very cute but of course it was also very expensive.  My Americano was 5000 won and my chocolate mousse was 7000 won!  So for the two my bill came up to be around $12 usd.  It was definitely worth getting out of the cold for a little bit though--and the chocolate mousse was amazing.

On the way back to the metro, Alex spotted this gem of a place.  The "exciting beer" restaurant.  A little bit further it boasted at being a "happy place."  Love it. 

The only downside to yesterday occurred when I received a text from my co-teacher telling me not to use my sink or washing machine for two days.  Um...ok.  So I have a pile of dirty dishes and some articles of clothing I would like to wash so it will be dry by Wednesday...but I can't use the water?  Annoying.  But whatever.  I suppose it gives me an excuse to be lazy and not do the dishes/laundry.

Later this week (Wednesday, specifically) I get to see Corrie!  We are meeting in Seoul.  For those of you who don't know Corrie, she is a friend from my Uni.  The last time we saw each other was at a dollar theater movie (we believe it was Star Trek) so it's been a while!  I am excited to see her again!  Who knew then that we would be meeting up in Seoul.  I love life.  :) 

Basketball

This past Sunday I attended a Korean basketball game.  While the actual skill of the players still had much to be desired, the entertainment of everything else more than made up for it.  It was such a surreal experience watching people dressed up as advertisements dance on the court as the cheerleaders danced and cheered and a man (presumably) read off advertisements in Korean.  Just the sole fact that I didn't know any Korean made the experience 10x's more entertaining.

I am quite excited to attend a baseball game this spring--although I am hoping they can actually play.

The rest of Sunday was quite lovely as well.  I had great conversation with great people.  I also semi-learned how to use the subway here--we'll see how much I actually retained when I attempt to use it on my own for the first time!

Right now I am on a two week vacation which has been absolutely relaxing and fabulous.  I have been slowly learning my way around the grocery store here, so yesterday I was able to purchase enough to make the chicken and veggie soup that I love.  Tonight, I was able to make an amazing toasted chicken sandwich.  I found some delicious seasoning yesterday and took a gamble as I couldn't tell what kind it was.  It tastes great on food though, so a win.

The one downside to the food, I am quickly learning, is how hard it is to find reasonably priced chocolate!  Perhaps I am just incredibly spoiled, but the thought of spending $5 for a hershey's candy bar makes me cringe.  This is why the Koreans stay so skinny.  ;-)  I did manage to find an off-brand that was only 1000 won (so a little under $1) for two candy bars.  Not the best quality but it was still decent.  It reminded me of cheap tasting Easter chocolate.  I have yet to see dark chocolate although I have heard of its existence.  I am keeping my eyes open for it.  I have also decided that since I don't have an oven (which is terribly tragic in its own right) I am going to make no bake cookies at first chance.  I have also found a few Korean "sweets" recipes I would like to try out, although they sound more healthy than actually good.  Yes, I am terribly addicted to sugar.  I will admit it readily.

Anyway. There really isn't anything terribly exciting to write about, so I will post some pictures from the game instead.  (Also, I keep getting requests to post pics of my apartment.  I promise I will get around to it.  Soon.)

Another week

It's hard to believe that I have only been here for two weeks.  I feel as though it has been much longer...but in a good way, I think.

The most eventful news of the week was also, unfortunately, the biggest pain.  It was brought to my attention during dinner that I had missed 5 calls from my co-teacher.  Finally answering her call (as I had my phone on vibrate and therefore didn't realize it was ringing.  I mean, who's going to call me, anyway?  ;-) she was frantic on the other end, and I could make out something about my apartment being flooded, the land lord being there, and that I needed to hurry home.

One of the perks for being unattainable is that by the time I actually made it home, the majority of the water was cleaned up and K had the owners whipped into shape and cleaning up the mess. (Originally, they called her and told her that SHE had to clean up the mess--but she told them what was what.)  So thankfully I didn't have to deal with the actual cold water clean up.

You wouldn't even believe the mess, however, that the water caused.  It leaked out the door and all the way out the front of the building.  Everything inside was covered with 3 inches of water.  Thankfully, all of my electronics were on the table and therefore safe from the water!  There doesn't appear to be much damage (I have only thrown a few things away so far) but there is a damp feel/smell in the air that hasn't gone away yet.  Who knew a broken pipe could cause so much mess!

So the rest of last night and tonight was spent trying to clean.  It's not quite done yet but I think I need to get some cleaning supplies from the store to do the rest of it.  It definitely could have been much worse so I am thankful that it was only what it was!  (I am also thankful that I wasn't the one to have discovered it...)  On the plus side, I was able to leave school at 1:40 instead of 4:30 to go home and "clean" (yes, I definitely took a nap instead!) on the last day before my two week vacation! :)

There's not much else note-worthy other than to say that tomorrow I get internet!  That'll be nice, although not having reliable internet has forced me to be semi-productive.  Or maybe it has just forced me to watch far too many episodes of "24" on DVD.  That's being productive, right?

Oh, and another plus to the flood--I now know how to turn on hot water!  Glorious hot water.  Mmm.  So really this has all been a blessing in disguise.  ;-) 

Yum, food

I don't have much to write about but I wanted to share my strange but good day today.

It began as normal.  I have 5th years from 9-12.  We studied the seasons today and it went well enough.  During their break they have taken up to playing dodgeball in the class.  I keep waiting for something to break (either on a child or off a desk) but so far everything has been fine.  I quite enjoy that class.

Something strange happened with the kindergarten and after-school classes.  They actually listened to me today!  And participated.  And behaved.  It was all rather strange although I am not complaining about it one bit.  In fact, the kindergarten class was so well behaved today that I actually ran out of material.  It normally takes twice as long to get through everything with them.

Now on to the best of part of the day week.  After school I consumed my first hamburger and fries in Korea--AND my first hamburger and fries of the year.  Oh my, how I have missed the amazing taste of hamburger.  It was absolutely perfect, too.  Then, to make perfect even more amazing, I had a coke with the dinner.  That's right, my first coke since coming here as well!  I didn't even realize that I wanted something like this until it was mentioned.  Now I am quite happy.  Although I have been eating extremely healthy since moving here, I'm still me...and nothing can replace a hamburger and fries.  Nothing.

Now my stomach is full and content.  I can now say that I have eaten a hamburger and fries while in Korea.  (And don't tell anyone, but it was so much better than anything I have ever ordered in the US--minus the cheeseburgers from Resurrection Alehouse in Philly.  I believe those are the best in the world.)

exploring

Saturday

At last the weekend arrived! While I love teaching the students I felt as though this past week just dragged by. I was very happy to see 4:30 on Friday. I will have a bit of a break (maybe?) next week as I only have a class of around 9 students. They are 5^th year so more advanced. Mrs. K said that I could use my lesson plans I have created for this past week and just make them a little harder. The only problem I see if that I have these students from 9-12, so three hours instead of the 80 minute class period I had the other students (and the other lesson plans) for. I'm not quite sure how that's going to work out.

Anyway, I'll worry about it on Sunday.

Today was great fun. A friend came from the Seoul area to hang out so I found out where the subway is located. After leaving the subway we ventured around a bit to find a place to eat for lunch. We ended up at this little restaurant down an alley way. We were the only customers there the entire time and since neither of us spoke any Korean yet (we are both new arrivals as of a week or so) it was a little interesting to order! But, somehow we managed to order something (although at the time neither of us knew what it was that we ordered.

It is the type of typical Korean restaurant where you sit on the floor with the table in front of you and they cook the meat right there at the table. The woman brought the meat that we ordered and it was some sort of dark meat—although I couldn't really tell what kind. It ended up being quite tasty! Thankfully, I am becoming more efficient at using chopsticks so this meal was a little easier to eat than some that I had last week. Also, it wasn't a least bit spicy.

As we were talking and eating these two adorable little girls ( I later learned they were 7 & 8) entered the room. I hear, “Hello, how are you?” and knew they were talking to us. I responded with the typical school response which is, “I'm fine thank you, how are you?' The girls giggled and ran away. So cute. Later, they came out again. “What is your name?” So I responded and asked them what their name was. They told me, giggled, and ran away again. By the time we were ready to leave the girls were chattering away at us in Korean, not minding the least bit that we couldn't understand a word they were saying. Also, at one point they both whip out their cell phones and took pictures of us—smiling and laughing away.

After we left we explored around a little bit more trying to find a shop that sold gloves and scarves. Somehow we stumbled upon this amazing Korean Marketplace. There were vendors and food everywhere. Once I learn more Korean (especially the numbers) I would like to go there again and buy some food. It was just like Reading Terminal Market only not as many people. Wonderful. :)

While we were walking around we had a group of boys stop us on the street and ask us how we were doing. You could tell they were so proud that they spoke to us and they they were able to speak to us in English. That was great as well. I love talking to random people.

So today was a fun success as I managed to discover a whole new section of town that's right down the street from my apartment! I will definitely have to go there again soon, preferably when it's not so cold. It was freezing today and tomorrow is supposed to be even worse! The only regret I have today is that I didn't take my camera with me. There would have been so many awesome pictures! I'm sure I will remember it another time that I head over to that section of town though, so it's not a complete loss.

Week one

If I sit on my bed awkwardly I can steal some internet from the neighbors. I thought I would use this chance to post some of what I have written (at various times) this week here. Of course I am leaving a lot out but this will be long enough as it is.

~ ~ ~

Every day this week I have consistently woken up at 4am. This is fine, however, as I can never manage to stay awake past 7pm—I have no internet, no TV (it mysteriously stopped working...once I care I'll have to investigate further), and really nothing to do besides unpack. Unpacking is such a daunting task, I have chosen sleep instead!

The first day of class was rather hard, although manageable and fun. I was very tired after the flight and was trying to take in everything at hand. I had 1^st and 2^nd grade. I won't go into too much detail about that other than to say...I can see why I went into secondary education instead of elementary! I have forgotten so many games and songs, etc. but I am also quickly learning. It is good. Next week I have 3^rd and 4^th grade. I have also agreed to teach an after-school class starting next week. After the first day my co-teacher explained that the children called my “very pretty”. She then said that I looked young for my age and said I was very skinny and asked if I dieted. She said, “Normally the English teachers are fat and so they look older.” I had to laugh at that.

Ok, on to the fun part. ^_^

After class on the first day, my co-teacher took me to “E-Mart” which is a very large Korean “grocery” store. It is like a Super-Walt-mart or a Meijer only it almost reminded me of being in a mall AND a grocery store. There were two different levels. As my apartment had nothing we shopped for the basics: plates, pans, etc. Then we started shopping for food. I can not even describe how large the fruit is here. A Korean Pear is the size of a large grapefruit (and also VERY tasty)! The carrot I bought was absolutely massive in size.

My co-teacher laughed when I asked for peanut butter at the store. She said that all the westerners ask for it. She also laughed when I paid for my groceries. Apparently the way I count money is very western as well. They have this system where they are able to quickly thumb through the money—it's very impressive to see and makes the western way look very clumsy. One of her students (I believe I will have him next week), was at the check out lane next to me and she pointed out to him to watch me. She said that she had a lesson on it the other week for his class and now he could see what she was talking about. Even out of class we are still teaching the students! ;-)

I bought a lot of food (including a LOT of meat as “it was a good deal”) and so my fridge is well stocked. Everything is so cheap here—with my entire bill (pans, new 'indoor' shoes and slippers, food, etc.) my bill only came to 180,000krw! Crazy.

I am very glad my co-teacher was with me at the market. She has helped me immensely since arriving. She reminds me a lot of Ally so of course I like her. :-p She has also taken me out to lunch when we went to the market and then lunch on Friday. On Friday we went to a Korean restaurant when she ordered me a “Korean chicken soup.” (Ally, she reminds me of you as she is super conscious of everything she eats and makes sure that I eat very well) The soup was a chicken (the entire thing) in a pot with herbs and rice. The rice was on the inside of the chicken—so you cut open the stomach and then eat some of the rice and meat at the same time. It was very good although hard for me to eat. We also had a cold tea (which was AMAZING) that she explained only a King was allowed to drink in the past. She joked that we were kings for the day. She also taught me proper pouring etiquette and how to hold my cup when someone is pouring. I hope I remember! Then, after pouring my drink she explained how to turn and hide the fact that I was drinking it and explained that is how to drink that type of drink.

The last topic I am going to write about is my apartment. I'll post pictures as it will probably be easier than describing it, so I won't talk much about it. The shower system here is actually quite nice—I have the hot water set for very hot like I like and the water pressure is just perfect. (At least, the water was nice and warm on the first day! Ever since...not so much. ^_^) The heating is also very nice. Everything is warmed through the floors which in turn makes all of the objects warm. I love it! My bed is always very toasty. Plus, the worst part of waking up in the morning is having to walk on a cold floor—well no more! The bathroom floor isn't heated, however, so it gets quite cold in there!

Speaking of the bathroom, the other day (Thursday) I saw there was a hair dryer left in the bathroom. Excited, as of course I didn't bring one, I plugged it in (yes, it was the correct watts to plug in) and turned it on. It made this weird humming noise and became really hot—and then the hair dryer caught on fire! Thankfully it was small enough that I could just blow it out! On Thursday morning I was also able to procure a nice hot shower. Ever since I haven't been able to get the warm water to stay on for more than a minute at most! I know I am doing something wrong, but as everything is written in Korean it has escaped me what. I don't know how many more cold showers I can endure, however, as it's also quite cold outside! Thankfully, I seemed to have managed to figure out how to keep it warm in here...

As for the food situation, I seem to be surviving quite well on one pan, one saucepan, one spoon, and a pair of chopsticks. The other day I made spaghetti and “meatballs” and the day before I had a simple dinner of “meat” and a sliced sweet potato. I put the “meat” in quotes as I am not quite sure what kind it is...It is a beef of some sort formed into a patty shape although it is unlike any meat I have ever tasted. It doesn't have a bad flavor, per say, but it's definitely a different flavor. It tastes good with A1 sauce, which apparently is quite popular here.

I do have a new favorite drink here. On the first day, while I met the principal, my co-teacher, and one other person that I have no idea who it was or what their position was, I was served this amazing yellow liquid in a cup with things that floated at the bottom. I tasted it and it was utterly delicious! It had a very strong yet sweet citrus taste. Later that afternoon while at the store I asked the co-teacher what the drink was and she said it was honey citron tea. We found it and I bought a large jar of it. Mmm. Aside from it's amazing taste it's really good for you and full of vitamin C. I don't know, but I am hoping it will taste good cold as well as I would like to continue to drink it during the summer months. I'm sure if I prepared it the way I would ice tea it would taste decent enough. Also, as I quickly discovered, the citron still has flavor even if I pour more than one cup of hot water onto it. While it's a little more faint in taste it's still good.

~ ~ ~

I have been able to go out and meet some really cool people a couple of nights this week thanks to Daniel, the other English teacher at the school. He has been great at explaining things and is just a regular fountain of knowledge.

I still haven't figured out the shower thing yet, although I have improvised in a very creative way. I'd tell you what I do but then you'd just laugh at me so I'll keep it to myself. :)

My sleep schedule is pretty stable now—no more waking up at 4! Now it's 6 am but so far that has been by choice.

I think that's about all for now.  Sorry it's so long and boring.  I promise something better once I have internet access. 

For my mom ^_^

I don't really have much time to update with everything.  Nor do I have internet yet (I am using the school's computer during my lunch), but I thought I would quickly jot down some quick answers using the questions my mom sent me in an email.

Is there a public internet anywhere?  Yes, there is one right down the street from my apartment.  No, I have not gone yet.

 Do you like your apartment?  Yes. It's really cute.  Despite it being so small it's really hard to keep clean as it always looks cluttered!  On the first day I figured out how to use the hot water...but somehow lost that knowledge.  I shall have to rediscover the secret soon, as it's too cold out to have cold showers!

 Is it near the school?  It is a 15-20 minute brisk walk.  I definitely get my exercise in as the roads are much more hilly here as we are surrounded by mountains.

Were you able to get groceries yet? I got a lot of groceries on my first day here.  I am needing to go to the market again.  It's a little intimidating as everything is in Korean and it's hard to tell what some of the items are.  Shouldn't be too hard to find bread though, which is basically what I need.  ;-)

I shall expound upon this later when I have internet.  I don't believe I will be getting it until AFTER the 24th so don't expect any large posts before then!  Just know that I am getting settled in, learning my way around (ok, so to the school and back) and slowly growing accustomed to everything here.

I bid thee farewell, my friends.

My adventure finally starts tomorrow!  I shall leave my parents house with my dad at around 10:30am eastern time.  I shall arrive in Chicago where I will pick up my visa at 3:30p Central time.  Then dad and I will kill some time before I am dropped off at the airport (around 9:00p central time).  I depart at 1am central time (2 eastern) and arrive at 6am Seoul time Wednesday (4p Eastern time Tuesday.)

Is your head spinning yet with all of the time changes?  I know mine will be!

Once I arrive there and leave the airport I will eventually make it to the school by 9am Seoul time to start my first day of class.  I will be teaching 9a-5p (so 7pm-3am eastern time) before heading back to my apartment to unpack and head to the grocery store/tour of the city with Hero.  Then my day starts all over again in the morning teaching.

It's going to be an extremely busy week, to say the least!

On top of all of the craziness of jumping right into everything without any time to really prepare myself mentally--I have been told that the next two weeks are a special "winter camp" for the students.  This means that my co-teacher is on vacation (Korean is her first language and English her second) and I get to teach the students all by myself.  While this wouldn't have been a big deal had I started teaching in December as I was supposed to, it will be especially interesting now as apparently some of the students don't know any English at all.  


Say what?


I am hoping the fact that I will be extremely sleep deprived will work for my advantage.  


I have decided that if I can survive the next two weeks then really I can do anything in the world.  Maybe my next task will be to take over the world?  Create peace between North and South Korea?  All a piece of cake compared to this.  ;-)