Yum

My refrigerator smells like garlic and my apartment smells like coffee.

I love coming home at night.

:) 

Saturday was great.

Saturday alone more than made up for last weekend.  And yes. We are wearing bibs.  Yum. 

For my stalkers

I have made it decidedly harder for people to stalk me since moving to Korea.  I can't have that, now can I?  Here is my address for all of you lovely people.  I love getting mail.  Hey, even if you have just randomly found this blog through google, and feel like sending me something...by all means! Just...let me know who you are and how you have my address.  ;) One of these days I will make it to the post office, so you may even get something in return...eventually.  Maybe.  

Room No. 203, 949-6 Gwumchon-dong, 
Paju City, Gyeonggi-do 
SOUTH KOREA

I survived the week.

Ally mentioned that I needed to update my blog so that I had a more cheerful title than "Friday's are tiring." So, I thought I would update it to, "I survived the week."  Not only is it true, but I had my doubts that I would a few times this week. ;-)

Not only was I almost ran over by three different cars on my walk home today (oddly enough, all three were reversing in the middle of the road when I was trying to cross intersections) but I also survived a pretty gross cold that had me feeling horrendous for an entire week.  All of my plans last weekend were cancelled as I stayed at home in bed feeling more miserable by the moment.  Today, a full week later, I am only starting to feel semi-normal again.  As an added bonus? I have my voice back! All of the kids and staff at the school have gotten this cold and although I have felt so awful with no energy for a week, most of the staff have it much worse than I do/did.  Yay for my immune system? (I never thought I would ever be writing those words out...)

So yes. I survived the week.  Some highlights:

1) Two 2nd grade boys running up and hugging me before the after school class. They really can't communicate with me but the hugs said it all.
2) "Hello, Jessica-teacher!!"  I will never tire of hearing that, especially when I am walking down the street and I hear a tiny voice call that out to me.  I especially see the kindergarten/first grade students out of the school more often and that's pretty much the only English they know. It's beyond adorable.  Especially when they will run up to me, tug at my coat, say hi, and then run back to their parent(s).
3) Actually, all of my students are pretty great.  Even though I felt so sick this week, I still enjoyed teaching them and talking to them.  That is a great thing, indeed.

Friday's are tiring

Friday's are by far the most tiring but most rewarding days of the school week.  I was busy for every single moment of the day today, mostly with very energetic children running around not understanding a word that I say. I love it.

Friday's are also the day that I have kindergarten class.  These little buggers are the cutest.  Last Friday was my first day with them and they sat looking up at me with wonderment.  Today, the second class with them a few brave souls ventured over and poked me and then ran away giggling.  "Hehehe, I just touched the waygookin!*"  seemed to be the general attitude of the day with them.  Two brave girls reached up and touched my hair and then their own.  It's cute seeing them realize that I am different than they are and watching them discover something as small as the texture of my hair being different than theirs.

I am completely exhausted after today, however, and am looking forward to the weekend.  I believe I am going to rest my soul tomorrow by going to nature (I haven't decided exactly where yet but I need to get away from tall buildings and air pollution and into the mountains and trees), and shopping on Sunday! It's promising to be a fun yet low-key weekend. :)

I'll end this with some fun facts I realized today.
1) I have never had so much tofu in my entire life combined as I have in the past two months here.  It's starting to grow on me.
2) Jellyfish doesn't taste nearly as bad as I thought it would taste.
3) I'm starting to really like kimchi.

I believe that's all for now.


*waygook is the Korean word for 'foreigner.'  It holds no negative connotation such as the word 'gringo' might.

Just randomness

I am feeling pretty tired today and I have a lot of work to do so today is just going to be a blog about random things. I have started taking a course online for teaching English in Korea so that will take about an extra hour of my day for two weeks.  The information seems to be interesting though, so I am sure I will enjoy it.

Today I had an after school class--year 2's.  They are so adorable. We played Jeopardy and they were so excited when they got the correct answer.  I also was able to carry on a few conversations (like legit convo's) with a few of my year 3's today both in and out of class so today has been nice.  Then there was the random boy on the way home asking me where I lived and pointing to the building that he lived in and explained where he lived.  I am pretty sure he was one of my students... but at the very least he is a student at the school.  It's really nice that they feel comfortable enough to start talking to me more than "hello."  It has only taken two and a half months! My co-teacher said today that the 3rd years really like English class--all of their homeroom teachers keep saying how much they talk about it.  That made my day. :)

Now I just need to prepare for tomorrow. I have six classes on a Friday. :-/  I have already decided that I am rewarding myself with the bacon cheeseburger, fries and coke that I mentioned earlier this week, after I am done with school tomorrow.  Mmm. 

School days....

The topic today shall be about what I do here in Korea.  Kind of.  Actually, I won't really talk that much about what I actually do nor will I really talk about my students aside from vague generalities because this is a public blog.

So, instead I will talk about my schedule. Also, I will talk about what I love about Korean schools. Safe topics such like that. 

My day starts when I leave for school at 8am. It is a 15-20 minute brisk walk there which means when the heat and humidity comes I shall have to leave earlier...If I come straight back after school I will arrive around 5pm or so.

We have to be at the school by 8:20am but my earliest class starts at 9am. During the day I teach 4-6 classes (depending on the day) which totals 24 hours/week.  The other hours are spent doing lesson plans.  The nice thing about teaching in Korea (as compared to teaching in America) is that I have at the bare minimum 2 hours of prep time per day but most days I have three.  I only got one hour in America.  Also, since I don't have to grade papers I can actually use the prep time to create lesson plans which means that I don't have to bring any work home with me, for the most part.  It's really nice.

Another thing I really like about MY school (as I know it's not like this at every school in Korea) is the technology that I have to use. Seriously, the technology that I have is comparable (I think better) than the smart board. It makes teaching a lot easier and more interactive.  For example, today I have been creating a Jeapordy Game for my "special classes" on powerpoint.  This added technology just makes it easier to have a fun class.

I also really like the way the books are set up here. The students each receive their own book which is also a workbook. As we go along the student will write down answers and tear out activities in the book. This is a lot better than paper (it also saves a lot of paper) and the books are for the students to keep.  This is probably also pretty unique to this area as I know this school is on the upper end of wealthy.  It just shows what a little bit of money can do at providing a better education. Well, perhaps not better but at the very least it makes it easier to teach the students the material.

All of the teachers at the school have been very friendly although most are shy about speaking English with me. The principal and vice-principal are very important people (the most important in the school, of course) so when they enter a room we will stand. If I see them (or any teacher, actually) in the hall we will bow to each other. The principal's room (for the principal and vice-principal) is amazingly nice since they are the most important in the school.  It is the size of a large classroom in the states and is filled with leather furniture.  It is very classy and would be comparable probably to the office of a dean at a major university in the states.

The students, of course, are absolutely lovely. They still chatter away at me in Korean thinking I understand them which always makes me laugh.  They probably feel the same way when I speak to them in English.  "When will she learn I can't understand a word she is saying?!" ;-) They always bring a smile to my face, even when they are being mischievous, so it's a good thing I am not the one to discipline them!

Speaking of disciplining...The school has a no discipline policy. (Actually, I think it might be country wide?) It has only been a few years since the country has banned corporal punishment in the classroom.  Instead they went to the opposite extreme and the teachers are not allowed to punish the students at all. They're not even allowed to yell at them. It's all very interesting. We haven't had any issues where we would really need to use any form of punishment, however, so it doesn't seem to be a big deal. 

There are good days and bad days but overall I really enjoy teaching at this school.  I definitely love the area that I have been placed.  I really couldn't want it to be any better. :)

Yellow Dust!

I keep hearing about this awful thing called "yellow dust" that occurs in Korea (and elsewhere in Asia).  I had always thought that whenever people would talk about it, it was played up as being worse than what it actually was. I mean, how harmful can dust be from the desert?

Apparently, it can be pretty harmful.

In case you don't know what yellow dust is, I'll quote good ol' wikipedia: ..."The dust originates in the deserts of Mongolia, northern China and Kazakhstan where high-speed surface winds and intense dust storms kick up dense clouds of fine, dry soil particles. These clouds are then carried eastward by prevailing winds and pass over China, North and South Korea, and Japan, as well as parts of the Russian Far East."


This plum of dust contains, "Sulfur (an acid rain component), soot, ash, carbon monoxide, and other toxic pollutants including heavy metals (such as mercury, cadmium, chromium, arsenic, lead, zinc, copper) and othercarcinogens, often accompany the dust storms, as well as viruses, bacteria, fungi, pesticides,antibiotics, asbestos, herbicides, plastic ingredients, combustion products as well as hormonemimicking phthalates." 

Exciting stuff.  Maybe now I will listen when my co-teacher says to that we're getting yellow dust and to wear a mask and stay indoors... ;-) 

Food

Today is a foggy, damp, and dreary day.  While I love this weather I am afraid I have gotten used to the sun shining the majority of the time so I want it to come back! The good news is that my meal I had planned for tonight is perfect for this type of weather.  I made my spicy chicken and potato soup and it was absolutely delicious!

This recipe didn't come from Korea (or at least my variation of it), however, so I will talk about the different types of Korean food that I absolutely love.

One of my new found loves that I have discovered is seaweed.  I absolutely can not get enough of this stuff.  Whether it's in a soup, wrapped around rice, or just plain, I love it.  It's also low in calorie, naturally salty (so yummy), has an amazing amount of vitamins and other good things for you, and is all-around a great thing to consume.

My favorite are the ones cut into rectangular shapes.  I eat them like chips as they are so salty, crunchy, and delicious.  Whenever we are served seaweed soup at school I get super excited.  It is a good thing seaweed is so healthy as it would be a very bad thing otherwise.

Another favorite of mine would be mandu, or dumplings.  I like them boiled or fried (more like grilled--fried just sounds far more unhealthy than what it actually is) although I prefer the more crisp taste of it being grilled.

Fried Mandu

Boiled Mandu

The school lunches, for the most part, are always really good.  We have the serving of rice (of course), a soup (which if I don't like anything it will be the soup--you never know what will be floating in the bowl), kimchi, a meat of some sort (always good), and then a variation of different vegetable side dishes.  Apparently Wednesdays will probably always be my favorite lunch day as they try to have a kid-friendly menu on that day.  Last week we had corn dogs! We have also had pizza in the past and other delicious and not-so-healthy foods.  The other four days of the week are all relatively healthy (far healthier and tastier than the school lunches in the states, although I just can't imagine a single student eating these lunches there), so I am eating well.  It is very easy for me to find something that I like to eat.        

Another favorite of mine is the bacon cheeseburger and fries.  I mean, I can't be healthy all the time, right?  There is this amazing place semi-on the way home from the school.  For only 8500 won I can purchase the bacon cheeseburger, the fries, and the coke.  A little bit of heaven on a plate.  This thing is ridiculously delicious and even just writing about it is making me want one.  While this definitely isn't a Korean dish I feel as though it should be mentioned since it's so utterly amazing and I eat it a lot.  ;-) 

It pretty much looks like this minus the egg on the burger.

So there you have it.  These are just a few of the things I find myself eating a lot of. I will actually probably really miss Korean food when I leave.  For the most part it is always a very tasty and flavorful experience!

                                    

For my lovely grandma :)

I was talking with my mom this morning before school and she mentioned that my grandma was having surgery again this week.  She also mentioned that my grandma liked having my blog entries read out loud to her. So, I had the fantastic idea to write a blog entry per day for the entire week. That way, as grandma is recovering she has something to look forward to every day.  (Love you, Grandma! I hope this surgery will be with no complications this time!)

Since my life really isn't exciting enough to actually do this, I have to come up with something to write about. Therefore, this blog will be a compilation of the topics I will use. The following topics shall be (in no particular order):

1) Food.
2) March 14th. (White Day--not to be confused with Pi Day. Both are pretty important days.)
3) Yellow Dust!
4) My school day.
5) Currency--I mean, who doesn't like to talk about money? ;-)

The following blogs will be used so that you, the reader, will get a better sense of what living in Korea is like. Hopefully this will make your recovery time at least a little more entertaining, grandma!

The War Memorial Museum

This weekend has been the perfect combination of fun and relaxing. I love when that happens. I am only going to dedicate this post to one aspect of the weekend, however, and that aspect would be my trip to the War Memorial Museum.  I have a list of museums I want to see while in Korea (yes, I am pretty much the biggest dork I know and I actually enjoy museums...) and this was at the top of the list. I have only heard good things about it so I was excited to go on Saturday afternoon.  The museum is massive in size and took three hours to get through! I probably could have spend many more hours there but I was starting to get tired and hungry.

We started outside of the museum first. The grounds are covered with tanks, planes, submarines, and missiles! Also, there are nice monuments in honor of the fallen soldiers and victims of the Korean War.  Whenever I go to a place with historical documents or items I always get lost in my own thoughts.  I try to imagine what life must have been like for the person (or people) writing the document or reading the manual.  For the soldier wearing the uniform.  The mother trying to find food for her starving children.

The museums in Korea help with this visualization as they like to show life-size models to depict the story. It is really interesting to see.  During one point of the museum I walked through a "village" that was torn to shreds because of the war.  There is even sound effects to help with the visuals. It is impacting, to say the least.

It was also interesting to see a model of the soldiers preparing for battle on the palace grounds.  Since I had recently visited the palaces I was able to better picture what it must have looked like.  Another great connection I had was when I read about some of the men dying in the prison I had recently visited. I was able to put a face and story to the site.

This was another step in helping me understand the history behind the people living here. It was an interesting experience and if anyone is ever in the ROK, I highly recommend this.  Also, the fact that such an amazing and interesting place is FREE makes it top on my list of recommendations.

Outside the museum. 

It would really suck to be the soldier that dropped the live
grenade...

  

It was really cool to read about the history of people that fought in different wars. For instance, this man was honored for saving the lives of many under his command by throwing himself on a live grenade during the Vietnam War.  

The highs and the lows

If anything could make me feel bi-polar, living in this country would do it.  This week has been filled with highs and lows.  One moment I absolutely love the country and the next moment I am beyond frustrated with everything in it.  Thankfully, by the end of the day I have a quiet feeling of contentment towards it.

One of the frustrations of living in this country is the fact that everything is either written or spoken in a different language.  Obviously.  Simple things such as going to the grocery store becomes 100x's more difficult.  For example, trying to find broth to make soup turned into this huge ordeal where I had three workers helping me and I still ended up with the wrong item.  Also, since the directions are all written in Korean, half the time it's a complete guess on my part on how to actually prepare something.  Thankfully, I have a knowledge of how to cook to stem off of, so nothing has turned disastrous (yet).

Common sense would tell me to boil water and then add the contents into the water.  It seems to work. Don't ask me what it is that I am eating, however, as I couldn't tell you. 

I DO know the name of this--Mandu! Or dumplings. Thankfully, most items have pictures on it so I just go by the picture.  It works well 90% of the time.  Sometimes you end up with something like the congealed blood in intestines though.  I have learned to expect the unexpected.  Especially when it comes to the grocery store.  

Another thing I am still getting used to is how I am constantly being stared at and having my picture taken. I will be sitting on the subway and I will hear a camera go off.  Looking up (usually from the book I am reading) I will notice a camera pointed at me.  Or, I will be out and will have people stop and ask if they can either take my picture or be taken in a picture with me.  I have a small taste of what being a celebrity would feel like, and honestly I don't envy them their life one bit.  There is also the element of somehow everyone knows everything about you despite living in a rather large city.

I am also getting used to being talked about while I am standing there.  Although sometimes it will be done in English, generally it will be in Korean.  A long conversation with my name scattered in here or there will be had while I stand there with a smile on my face wondering what is actually being said.  Or, I will overhear people on the street talking about me with the one or two words of Korean I have picked up so far (and the fact that they are trying to covertly talk about me by whispering behind their hands while staring at me is generally a dead giveaway).

Then there are the frustrating moments when I will be standing in line and will be completely ignored or cut in front of.  Whether it is from the fact that I am a foreigner (there is still a bit of racism in some parts towards foreigners) or from the fact that they don't feel like trying to communicate with me, either way it's frustrating.  (Mostly the frustration comes from me not being able to communicate with them in their own language though.)

Then, there is the flip side to all of this.  There is the side of Korea that I am certain you will have a hard time finding anywhere else in the world.  For the most part the people I run into are so kind-hearted and amazing.  Despite the language barrier, they try so hard to understand me and to help me out in anyway possible.  It is "Korean style" to share everything they have with others and to make sure that one does not need anything.  I can walk down the streets and feel far more safe than I would in America.

For example, the other week I was trying to find the subway station in a city that I had never been in before.  After wandering around for a while I eventually asked a woman around my age for help as she was about to enter into her apartment building.  She didn't speak any English at all but once she figured out where I was trying to go she motioned me to follow her and took me to the station. It was about a 15 minute walk and then she turned around and headed back home afterward.  Just the sheer fact that she took 30 minutes out of her time says a lot about a person.

Then, there was the time that my card didn't work when I was getting food.  Since I already mentioned it in here, I won't go into much detail other than to say that it was really nice of him.  He didn't have to pay for my food.  He didn't even have to talk to me at all in English.  He went out of his way to be nice to me.  This is "Korean style."

It is little things like this that make me love this country, despite the small frustrations and annoyances.  The friends I have made here in this country have been absolutely amazing as well.  I know that they understand everything that I am going through, as they too have experienced it and are still experiencing it.  We all become frustrated with Korea and the way things are but by the end of the day, somehow the country always manages to win our hearts over once again.  

I am hesitant to post this, lest people think that I hate it here or something.  It's the exact opposite.  There are downsides to living here, however, and I feel it's important that I embrace and remember both the good and the bad of living in this country.  At the end of the day I know how good I have it to be living in a place like this.  Everything is probably super easy compared to some other places I could have ended up at.  I have decided, however, that the next country I teach in (yes, there will be a next if all goes according to MY plan) will be a cheese eating country.  I really miss good cheese.  :)