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!