This weekend...

Now that my open class is out of the way I can start thinking about what I will be doing on my long weekend ahead.  I am taking a trip with "Adventure Korea", this amazing tour group in Korea.  I am heading back to the place that I fell in love with last year (you can read about it here.)

Instead of describing what I will do be doing, I am going to take the description directly from Adventure Korea's homepage.  I highly recommend them if you're in Korea and want to explore areas that are harder to get to as a foreigner.

Summer is just around the corner, so it’s a really good time to hit the beach, before the crowds. We are offering you a great experience in sea rafting, deep sea fishing, cycling on some beautiful islands, as well as the famous Pumba Festival.

Sea rafting is a lot of fun and a great way to build up friendships with the people in your raft, and the Pumba Festival is a really laid back, entertaining while being an entertainer, type of festival.

On Saturday we will leave the big city and drive directly to the Pumba Festival (not from the Lion King). After the long-ish commute we will have the opportunity to travel back in time, and dress up like a pumba. These people would wear ragged clothes and often had dirty faces, but now-a-days they’re more like entertainers that often appear at market places, theatres and festivals. They would stroll around market places or villages seeking food, money or anything they could get. Pumba does not have a specific meaning but is a language mechanism for keeping rhythm. It was the word repeated in the songs of these street singers. These days, the word pumba generally refers to gakseori (a Korean tramp).

When we arrive, you’ll be given a costume to wear and your face will be painted, so you can really look and act the part. Then watch the pros as they mesmerize the audience with their acrobatic and musical skills. You will get the chance to join in the fun, and try your hand at various traditional Korean activities, as well as sample foods at the old market place. There are stalls selling yeot (Korean malt candy) cut with giant scissors that are also used to keep the pumba beat, taverns where you can sample makkolli, fortuneteller shops, rice cake shops where you can hear the echoes of rice pounding and rice cake songs, as well as a ceramics shop where you can make your own teacups and dishes. You will also find medicinal sales men who attract customers with their raucous sales pitch.

This is also a very good time to feel like a celebrity. The unique National Eumseong Pumba Festival, is one of the most photographed festivals in Korea. Many people from all over the country come to take pictures of the pumbas. So put on your best painted face and get posing. In the past our AK members have made the cover of the local magazine. It’s a lot of fun, and you get to pretend to be someone else for the day.

No wonder this festival is filled with energetic and exciting performances as well as endless laughter from the audience. Is there a better time to dress up as a beggar than now?

After the festival we will make our way to Seonyudo Island. This group of three islands, joined together by small bridges, are a great place to spend a weekend. The ferry over to the islands takes only 40 minutes and once there we will check into our hotel.

After we have checked in we will hike up Seonyubong Peak to watch the sunset, then hit the beach for some clam digging before dinner together.

On Sunday after breakfast, we will rent bikes and you can explore the three islands at your leisure, well, at least until 3pm. Make sure to grab some lunch from one of the restaurants, if you choose to try your hand at the deep sea fishing experience you will be out on the open water with no convenience store in sight!

When out on the local boats you will have the chance to haul in nets and various types of marine life, you can cut the live creatures up on the boat and enjoy sashimi, or bring it back with you. Deep sea fishing optional(35,000won extra), there will be a limited number of places on the boats, so let us know when you sign up if this is something you’d like to experience, and we will do our best to make it happen.

Around 6:30 when everyone has returned the bikes and have gotten off the boats again, we will have dinner together, if the fisher people caught a lot of fish we can have sashimi with our dinner.

Then free time until Monday.

We’ll have a quick breakfast together before we head off to explore more of the islands again, then we’ll return our bikes and make our way back to the mainland. Once back we’ll head to Boryeong where we will have lunch together before hitting the sea again, but this time on rafts. What better way to end a long weekend than splashing about with your new friends, dodging a few large rocks in the ocean, then playing games and racing the other rafts back to shore.

Once out of the water, we will board the bus again and head back to Seoul. This fun and action packed trip offers a bit of culture as well as some fun outdoor activities, so why not sign up now and get out of Seoul for the long weekend.

First weekend back in Korea

I decided to start my first weekend off well by being busy both days.  On Saturday, bright and early I headed towards Gyeongbokgung Palace to meet my friend Kevin.  He is new in Seoul so I thought it would be fun to see the changing of the guards there. 

While I was on the subway I made the mistake of making eye contact with a strange looking adjushi (respectful way to say older Korean man in Korean).  The next thing I know, he's standing in front of me and offering me some candy and gum.  Children, never take candy from strangers--and here's a story why.

I was confused and didn't know the proper Korean etiquette.  Did he want me to open the candy for him? Was he giving it to me? Looking around I could see sympathetic looks on the faces around me but clearly no one was going to offer assistance. 

The person sitting next to me exited the subway so the adjushi sat down next to me.  In broken English he started to talk to me.  I wasn't really in the mood to talk to him but at the same time I didn't want to be rude.  He kept asking me for my phone number and I kept telling him that I do not have a phone--unfortunately I had my i-pod touch out that looks like an i-phone.

As we continued talking he kept giving me more gifts.  First it was a red beaded bracelet.  Then it was a huge wooden cross necklace.  Finally I came to my stop.  As I told him that this was my stop he said, "Me too." And proceeded to grab my hand so I couldn't get away.  It was beginning to look like I wasn't going to be able to get rid of this man so easily.

As I walked up to the palace gates I could see Kevin.  As soon as he saw me hand-in-hand with this man he broke into a grin--I am sure we made quite the sight.  As it was every single Korean we passed stopped and stared at us. 

Meet Mr. Lee:

We walked around the palace for a while while Mr. Lee kept asking when we were going to leave.  He wanted us to go to Insadong, a traditional shopping area of Seoul.  The more we walked the further behind he trailed.  Kevin and I kept telling him that we weren't going to Insadong and whenever we would say where we were going instead, he would respond with, "Me, too."

Clearly it would not be easy to get rid of him.

At the end of the palace tour we went inside of the cafe to buy some water since the day was quickly turning to scorching hot.  Once inside, Mr. Lee went over and was doing something.  Kevin turned to me and said, "I wouldn't judge you if you left right now without him."  Even though I felt really bad and guilty about it that's exactly what we did--clearly there was no other way to get rid of him and I really didn't want to deal with him following me home when it was time.  As so that's exactly what we did--we lost ourselves in the crowd.

After the palace we eventually wandered over to the "Friendship Fair" in Seoul Plaza.  I never made it last year and I heard good things about it so we decided to head over.  If you're ever in Seoul when this is taking place I highly recommend it.

The friendship fair is an event that showcases countries around the world.  There are cultural booths, traditional costumes and food and places to see traditional dance.  It was very interesting and the food was delicious.  I managed to get a video of the traditional dance for Kazakhstan and Russia (of course :) which I found to be very fun to watch. 

On Sunday I met up with some more friends and we headed to an Italian lunch.  The food was absolutely amazing.  I was also able to meet some new people--two Austrians (studying here for the semester) and a Californian.  After the lunch the group headed over to the friendship fair to walk around for a bit.


All in all it was a brilliant weekend spent with amazing people.  Not a bad way to start off my second year in the country.  Next weekend promises to be just as fun.

Reading Korean

I am finally getting around to something that I probably should have done a year ago; read Korean.  Apparently it will make my life a million times easier...although I don't generally have problems getting around in the first place.  At the very least, perhaps it will make riding a bus a little easier as there are zero English words on the schedule.

So, today I started learning.  I have learned 8 letters so far and have been able to read the practice words without a problem. 

I think the reason why I have been putting it off for so long is because when I attempted to learn it with the Rosetta Stone it made absolutely no sense.  I found a free website online though and it makes 100% sense and is actually fairly easy to learn. 

Internet!

My co-teacher is a miracle worker and I have internet! Normally, I shouldn't have it until maybe a month or two after arriving in Korea, and I have it the first week.  Assah!

That being the case, my favorite quote of the day came because of the internet.

"Cheap internet...so, very slow.  America, fast.  Korea, slow."
"Ok, thanks!"

My internet is far faster than the internet in America.  Awesome.  And it's the cheapest package.  Although I haven't tried viewing anything on youtube yet so that will be the test...in any case, I am sure it will be faster than the school's computer so it's a step up.

In other news, my school is apparently a 35-40 minute walk away.  I walked there and back both today and yesterday, and on top of the 5 flights of stairs twice a day, plus a random flight or two during the day...I am definitely feeling it.  I could take the subway and then have maybe a 10-15 minute walk but I am cheap and can't see paying for something when I could potentially walk to it.  I am sure I will use it on rainy or very cold days though, so at least the option is there.

Arrival and all that jazz

Well, after 25 hours of travel I finally made it to my apartment.  The flight, although the smoothest I have been on, was a little tiring as I was seated next to a little girl that liked to randomly screech—needless to say I didn’t get much sleep on the flight.  

I was picked up by a driver at the airport.  I knew I was in for the ride of my life when he put on the gloves.  In Korea, I have learned that when taxi drivers put on the fingerless “racecar gloves” as I like to call them, that they take driving seriously and that I was about to be in for the ride of my life.  He didn’t disappoint.  We weaved in and out of traffic and went about 40km faster than the cars around us.  I probably would have been more concerned with how many close calls we had but at this point I was just so exhausted I sat back and enjoyed the ride.

Finally, we made it to the apartment! I live in an officetell which is just an apartment inside of an office building.  I also live in the heart of Yatap so right outside of my door are two huge grocery stores (I’m talking floors here…), a movie theater, McDonalds/Burger King, Starbucks and a million other coffee shops, and some really delicious Korean restaurants as well. The convenience of it all is a little overwhelming. 

My apartment is beyond adorable.  Exactly what I was hoping for.  I was placed in a loft apartment which is amazing for space.  I’ll post a video of it soon.  I also actually have counter space this year although as a whole my kitchen may be a little smaller.  The previous English teacher left my cupboards well stock with food and a lot of pans to cook with.  This has saved me a LOT of money.  The bathroom is more of a western bathroom—I actually have a shower stall this year! This will help keep down mold, I think.  Down the entry hallway, I have ample closet space for all of my clothes with room to spare—motivation to go shopping! ;)

My bedroom is in the loft.  I don’t actually have a bed.  The room is set up as a melding of the eastern and western culture.  Instead of just a pad on the floor (eastern culture) I have a mattress on the floor.  Perfectly ok with me.  I also have a couch and a bench up there that I have to figure out what to do with.  Downstairs I have a really nice couch and coffee table.  I am not even quite sure what I am supposed to do with all of the space that I have, but I am fairly certain I will be motivated to host at my apartment to share the space!

I can only speak well about my new school, as well.  So far it seems everything is just slightly different from what my school was like last year.  I am also teaching more grades.  Last year I taught 3^rd and 6^th grades while this year I will be teaching 3^rd-6^th.  More lesson planning but that’s fine.  My co-teacher is absolutely lovely as well.  The students also have a huge court yard here.  If you recall any videos or pictures of it last it was just a fenced in place with dirt.  This year they have a track, football field, along with various other nice things.  It’s pretty impressive.

I haven’t gotten lost yet, although I also haven’t ventured too far from my apartment.  Tomorrow I will attempt walking to school for the first time…we’ll see how that goes.  While it doesn’t seem terribly difficult, it’s also not the straight path that I had last year so hopefully I remember all of the turns.  

I think that’s all I have to update with for now.  I don’t technically have internet in my apartment yet, although sometimes I am able to pick up a signal. I probably won’t have internet until next month some time. Once I have internet I can post the video of what my apartment looks like.

Procrastinating from packing

The last blog I wrote and this blog share the same title because, well...I am procrastinating from packing. Since I am running out of things to procrastinate with, I thought I would try by writing in here.

I leave bright and early tomorrow morning to fly back to Korea. I will leave the house at 4:30 Eastern time and fly out of Chicago at 12:45 Central time. Then, I will arrive in Seoul at 1620 Sunday.

Then, my driver will drive me to my apartment (maybe another 2 hour drive with traffic) where I will meet my co-teacher. I will start work bright and early the next morning.

I was supposed to start work two weeks ago but because of a delay in paperwork and the post office not being able to locate my passport/visa I am arriving a little behind schedule. I hear that I have missed a lot of rain and will be flying in to warm and sunny temperatures now so I am not too upset! ;)

This year I will be working at a public elementary school (again) about 2 1/2 hour subway ride away from where I lived last year. I will be working in Bundang (imae-dong) which is a really nice area directly outside of Seoul. It's basically the convenience of living in Seoul with really awesome parks and mountain trails to hike. The best of both worlds!

This year, I am going to try to use this blog as more of an informative tool for people trying to find out information about living in Korea. I noticed when I was trying to search for information about the area I will live in, etc. that there really isn't much on the internet from people who actually live there. At least, not in English! So, I will post a video of my apartment and try to be more mindful of information that may be of use for someone who is looking into teaching in this area.

But for now, I should probably stop procrastinating and start packing again.

Procrastinating from packing

I hate packing.  So I am going to write in here about my last day of winter camp, instead.

I had 3rd grade this week.  All of the students were definitely students that I talked to a lot during the school year when I had them in class.  We had a perfect class dynamic so this week went great.  On the first day of camp they convinced me to have a party on Friday.  So party it was, complete with Angry bird pencils and lollipops as presents for them.  And food.  A lot of food.

One of the things I love about Korea (ok, so I have grown to love it recently--and I still think about all the germs in the back of my mind every time it happens) is when the children will hand me food from their grubby little hands to eat.  And I have to take it.  And eat it.  Today, one of my students was literally handing me one chip at a time to eat.  Adorable.

I also received going away presents from some of them.  A cute letter.  A cup of coffee and cookies (I swear she knows me better than most people--perfect gift).  A traditional Korean wallet thing that is absolutely amazing.

Then we played games.  These kids absolutely love my variation of "Mother May I?" and "Simon Says." (I add a slight spin to them to make them more ESL friendly and educational).

I couldn't have ended my last day on a higher note.

PS--all of the teachers at the school is going to hate me as there will now be 7 students with pencils that has a whistle make bird noises and clinks when the slingshot at the top (yes, slingshot) hits against the pencil.  :)