My birthday was a week ago now, and it was the best birthday ever!
My friends, co-workers, and students were extremely thoughtful and caring. One little girl, whom I posted a picture of previously, gave me a gift bag with pens, sticky notes, and a pretty little card. I also got numerous "Happy Birthday" signs from my kids and friends.
The Monday before my birthday, my school threw a party for me, Cicero (a foreign teacher with the same birthday) and Ran, whose birthday was that day. It was by far the most interesting and DIY cake I have ever received. It was a stack of moonpies on the box, with unwrapped moonpies on top stuck with candles. Then, a cup of yogurt was dumped on top and we blew out the candles and devoured the moonpies.
So thank you to everyone who made my day so excellent :)
Friday, April 30, 2010
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
0
Adorable little devils
Some days you wake up and everything goes wrong, and yesterday was definitely one of those days.
As I'm walking to work, lost in my own head and begrudging the day, the elementary school next to Avalon was letting out. While I was crossing the pedestrian bridge, one of my youngest and earliest level students, Wendy, (and the most adorable human being in the world-- if you know of good ways to smuggle a child into your pocket, I would love to know) came running up to me with her arms outstretched. She held my hand and looked up at me with her little white glasses and when I asked her how she was, she said "I'm happy," and I knew in that moment that even though teaching children wasn't the real reason I wanted to come here, they are the reason I want to stay here.
Teaching kids of a different language can be really stressful sometimes, but it can be so rewarding. It's not often that you see proof that you are making a difference in one of their lives, but when you do get that proof, it's an incredible feeling.
I have two intermediate level classes of elementary kids. One is amazing, but with a boy named Mike who will never speak or participate and will shut down if I approach him or speak to him. In the other one, it's full of boys and it's mostly like herding cattle in class. There was one girl, Alice, who sat in the front and never spoke and looked on the verge of tears all class. The homeroom teacher of these classes decided to move Alice into Mike's class to give her a chance. So when she opened up with a smiling, happy face, I wanted to hug her. The same day, Mike also opened up and played a game with us, and I wanted to hug him, too. When I told the homeroom teacher, I got really emotional and had to turn away so I wouldn't cry.
So in conclusion, if you're having a bad day, chances are that teaching an adorable little Korean child will make your heart shine a little brighter.
As I'm walking to work, lost in my own head and begrudging the day, the elementary school next to Avalon was letting out. While I was crossing the pedestrian bridge, one of my youngest and earliest level students, Wendy, (and the most adorable human being in the world-- if you know of good ways to smuggle a child into your pocket, I would love to know) came running up to me with her arms outstretched. She held my hand and looked up at me with her little white glasses and when I asked her how she was, she said "I'm happy," and I knew in that moment that even though teaching children wasn't the real reason I wanted to come here, they are the reason I want to stay here.
Teaching kids of a different language can be really stressful sometimes, but it can be so rewarding. It's not often that you see proof that you are making a difference in one of their lives, but when you do get that proof, it's an incredible feeling.
I have two intermediate level classes of elementary kids. One is amazing, but with a boy named Mike who will never speak or participate and will shut down if I approach him or speak to him. In the other one, it's full of boys and it's mostly like herding cattle in class. There was one girl, Alice, who sat in the front and never spoke and looked on the verge of tears all class. The homeroom teacher of these classes decided to move Alice into Mike's class to give her a chance. So when she opened up with a smiling, happy face, I wanted to hug her. The same day, Mike also opened up and played a game with us, and I wanted to hug him, too. When I told the homeroom teacher, I got really emotional and had to turn away so I wouldn't cry.
So in conclusion, if you're having a bad day, chances are that teaching an adorable little Korean child will make your heart shine a little brighter.
Sunday, April 18, 2010
2
Our Apartment
Since I haven't really blogged about our apartment(s), I suppose it's time.
As many of you know, we lived in a wonderful apartment back home with our friends right across the hall and downstairs. Thus, moving into a tiny apartment with no one else in the same building was somewhat difficult. However, I'm trying my best to make it feel like home here.
We have two apartments, but because it's so obnoxious to go down the hall with the loud keypads announcing our every movement to the neighbors, we have only stayed in one of them. It's basically one room with some sliding doors marking off the kitchen and a door to the bathroom. So it's basically like living in the bedroom.
The kitchen is maybe 7x4 feet. It has a washer that sings and washes clothes like nobody's business. There is also a small refrigerator and freezer coming up to my shoulders. On the other side is the two-burner stove, a sink, and absolutely no counter space. There is one cabinet above the sink and two below.
Then there's the bathroom. It's probably 4x3 feet. The size is manageable, but the shower is not. Most of the time, there is no water pressure and it comes out in a trickle. The temperature oscillates from really hot to really cold. There are usually 3 intervals during my shower when the water goes ice for a full minute. It happens so often that I know when to expect them: when I wash my face, when I shampoo my hair, and when I try to rinse out conditioner. The other apartment has a huge bathroom and a wonderful shower, but the size of the bedroom area is a bit smaller, and we already have Internet coming into this one anyway.
The main living area is taken over by our double bed with ugly lavender bedding. In it, there is a low table with the TV on it, my mirror, and the "closet." The Closet is some poles with curtains on them. The only good thing about it is that you can change the size of it to fit your needs.
Here is the entry area with the Langcon characters taking over the shoe cabinet. There is also a mirror we found in the alley behind our apartment which makes the place feel bigger than it is.
It's not easy fitting two people into an apartment this small, but it's starting to feel more and more like home. More plants should do the trick! :-D
As many of you know, we lived in a wonderful apartment back home with our friends right across the hall and downstairs. Thus, moving into a tiny apartment with no one else in the same building was somewhat difficult. However, I'm trying my best to make it feel like home here.
We have two apartments, but because it's so obnoxious to go down the hall with the loud keypads announcing our every movement to the neighbors, we have only stayed in one of them. It's basically one room with some sliding doors marking off the kitchen and a door to the bathroom. So it's basically like living in the bedroom.
The kitchen is maybe 7x4 feet. It has a washer that sings and washes clothes like nobody's business. There is also a small refrigerator and freezer coming up to my shoulders. On the other side is the two-burner stove, a sink, and absolutely no counter space. There is one cabinet above the sink and two below.
Then there's the bathroom. It's probably 4x3 feet. The size is manageable, but the shower is not. Most of the time, there is no water pressure and it comes out in a trickle. The temperature oscillates from really hot to really cold. There are usually 3 intervals during my shower when the water goes ice for a full minute. It happens so often that I know when to expect them: when I wash my face, when I shampoo my hair, and when I try to rinse out conditioner. The other apartment has a huge bathroom and a wonderful shower, but the size of the bedroom area is a bit smaller, and we already have Internet coming into this one anyway.
The main living area is taken over by our double bed with ugly lavender bedding. In it, there is a low table with the TV on it, my mirror, and the "closet." The Closet is some poles with curtains on them. The only good thing about it is that you can change the size of it to fit your needs.
Here is the entry area with the Langcon characters taking over the shoe cabinet. There is also a mirror we found in the alley behind our apartment which makes the place feel bigger than it is.
It's not easy fitting two people into an apartment this small, but it's starting to feel more and more like home. More plants should do the trick! :-D
0
Cheap Eyes!
After an unfortunate and hilarious accident Wednesday night, I was out of my only pair of glasses. Because eyeglasses and contacts are worn by nearly everyone here, it is relatively cheap. And even if it's not cheap, it's super easy. Back home, I had to pay for an eye exam, frames, and lenses, and then pick up my glasses a week later.
At the 20,000 Shop today, I got two pairs of glasses within 20 minutes after picking them out.
I chose two frames and communicated with the doctor, who knew only a tiny bit of English, that I wanted the frames with new lenses. So I gave him my broken pair, and they got my prescription from that. The lenses were 15,000 a pair (about $14) and one of my frames was 20,000, the other only 5,000!
While Andrew and I waited, they gave us super sweet, super delicious iced tea.
20 minutes later, I had two pairs of glasses for about $50. That beats my one $150 pair from back home.
At the 20,000 Shop today, I got two pairs of glasses within 20 minutes after picking them out.
I chose two frames and communicated with the doctor, who knew only a tiny bit of English, that I wanted the frames with new lenses. So I gave him my broken pair, and they got my prescription from that. The lenses were 15,000 a pair (about $14) and one of my frames was 20,000, the other only 5,000!
While Andrew and I waited, they gave us super sweet, super delicious iced tea.
20 minutes later, I had two pairs of glasses for about $50. That beats my one $150 pair from back home.
0
Suncheon Bay
After the weather decided to be kind enough on a Saturday, Andrew and I took a trip to Suncheon Bay. We'd heard about the reed fields and how beautiful they were, so we decided it would be a relaxing adventure after a couple really long days.
We got to the bus station at around 10:30, and buses to Suncheon leave every 15-20 minutes, so it didn't really matter what time we got there. Within minutes we were on the bus and on our way. The ride was only about 1 hour and 20 minutes. However, that's an hour and twenty minutes to the bus terminal. It was only about 50 minutes to where we got off.
For some reason, the buses occasionally stop at local bus stations and drop people off. We almost got off once in Gwangju on our way back from Gwangyang, but decided to stay on, figuring it had to go to the U-Square terminal we know. Since we were in Suncheon, an unfamiliar city, when the bus stopped, we got off with nearly 1/3 of the bus. We were afraid of going all the way to Yeosu, which is another 40 minutes away. After a few minutes, we realized we weren't anywhere near the actual bus terminal. Since I'd read somewhere that Suncheon has a decent bus terminal with no decent food, I knew it existed. And we weren't there.
So we began to walk in the direction of other buses like the one we came on. If we followed in that direction, we would eventually get there, right? Also, I really take for granted the amount of English around Gwangju. The most important bus lines have English translations, and a lot of people on the street will stop you and say "Hi, nice to meet you." Suncheon didn't have that. About 15 minutes later, we passed by a man in a sash who looked like he was running for a political office. When he said "Hello" I jumped on the opportunity to ask him if he spoke English and where the bus terminal was. In no more than one minute of him greeting us with a gigantic smile and upbeat attitude, we were in his smiling wife's car on our way to the terminal. She spoke little English, only enough to ask us where we were going. We thanked her gratuitously and checked out a gigantic tourist map on the outside of the bus terminal. We were directly north of the bay area.
Once we decided against taking another chance of getting lost on the local buses, we took a cab. And I'm so glad we did. Our cab driver was an insanely happy, ex-manager of a hagwon 20 years previous. He offered to tell us about Suncheon as we went. His English was much better than a lot of my students. He put on a Beatles CD and told us all we needed to know as we drove. When he dropped us off right in front of the Eco-museum, he gave us his card and told us we could call him if we needed a ride home between 1:30 and 2:30.
As soon as we started walking into the entrance, another man came running up behind us and dragged us over to a tiny little shop across the street. He gave us tea and rice cakes, all in the hopes that we would buy some tea or little souvenirs from the store. We didn't really like the tea and the products he was selling was something you would buy at Lake Michigan, so we told him we would come back later. (We never did...)
The bay area was gorgeous, just like we'd heard. We walked along the wooden paths throughout the swamps, looking at little, muddy crabs scuttle into their holes.
We then walked up the mountain nearby. It was a beautiful, windy day. We took a rest at the observation platform, then made our way back down. This woman took a moment to take it all in when she reached the top.
Also, I'm still trying to find a good website to host our pictures rather than Facebook and Flickr. Stay tuned.
We got to the bus station at around 10:30, and buses to Suncheon leave every 15-20 minutes, so it didn't really matter what time we got there. Within minutes we were on the bus and on our way. The ride was only about 1 hour and 20 minutes. However, that's an hour and twenty minutes to the bus terminal. It was only about 50 minutes to where we got off.
For some reason, the buses occasionally stop at local bus stations and drop people off. We almost got off once in Gwangju on our way back from Gwangyang, but decided to stay on, figuring it had to go to the U-Square terminal we know. Since we were in Suncheon, an unfamiliar city, when the bus stopped, we got off with nearly 1/3 of the bus. We were afraid of going all the way to Yeosu, which is another 40 minutes away. After a few minutes, we realized we weren't anywhere near the actual bus terminal. Since I'd read somewhere that Suncheon has a decent bus terminal with no decent food, I knew it existed. And we weren't there.
So we began to walk in the direction of other buses like the one we came on. If we followed in that direction, we would eventually get there, right? Also, I really take for granted the amount of English around Gwangju. The most important bus lines have English translations, and a lot of people on the street will stop you and say "Hi, nice to meet you." Suncheon didn't have that. About 15 minutes later, we passed by a man in a sash who looked like he was running for a political office. When he said "Hello" I jumped on the opportunity to ask him if he spoke English and where the bus terminal was. In no more than one minute of him greeting us with a gigantic smile and upbeat attitude, we were in his smiling wife's car on our way to the terminal. She spoke little English, only enough to ask us where we were going. We thanked her gratuitously and checked out a gigantic tourist map on the outside of the bus terminal. We were directly north of the bay area.
Once we decided against taking another chance of getting lost on the local buses, we took a cab. And I'm so glad we did. Our cab driver was an insanely happy, ex-manager of a hagwon 20 years previous. He offered to tell us about Suncheon as we went. His English was much better than a lot of my students. He put on a Beatles CD and told us all we needed to know as we drove. When he dropped us off right in front of the Eco-museum, he gave us his card and told us we could call him if we needed a ride home between 1:30 and 2:30.
As soon as we started walking into the entrance, another man came running up behind us and dragged us over to a tiny little shop across the street. He gave us tea and rice cakes, all in the hopes that we would buy some tea or little souvenirs from the store. We didn't really like the tea and the products he was selling was something you would buy at Lake Michigan, so we told him we would come back later. (We never did...)
The bay area was gorgeous, just like we'd heard. We walked along the wooden paths throughout the swamps, looking at little, muddy crabs scuttle into their holes.
We then walked up the mountain nearby. It was a beautiful, windy day. We took a rest at the observation platform, then made our way back down. This woman took a moment to take it all in when she reached the top.
Also, I'm still trying to find a good website to host our pictures rather than Facebook and Flickr. Stay tuned.
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
0
Diaries
Every week, the elementary school kids have to write diaries about a topic they are given. They can be pretty torturous. However, I found a gem yesterday. For your reading pleasure, I give you "Department Store":
I think department store is hell.
Because department store is too crowded for me to stay there.
I tell that sale is devil's temptation.
My mother fell into temptation for sale.
Deparmet store is like woman's paradise.
But For children is hell.
Children is feel that tired to follow their mother.
Mother's shopping is didn't end.
I think department store is hell.
Because department store is too crowded for me to stay there.
I tell that sale is devil's temptation.
My mother fell into temptation for sale.
Deparmet store is like woman's paradise.
But For children is hell.
Children is feel that tired to follow their mother.
Mother's shopping is didn't end.
Monday, April 5, 2010
1 comments
Weekends in Korea
Last weekend:
After getting paid, Andrew and I decided to go shopping for all the clothes and accessories and guitars we didn't bring to Korea with us. I got lots of clothes, and Andrew got a guitar which he's currently rocking. After shopping, we crossed the downtown river to the Land of Tiny Pets.
There is a street lined with pet stores, and each one looks pretty much the same. There are little glass cubicles lining the front windows with puppies galore. Many were sleeping, some were playing, but all were adorable. The stores themselves inside look like living rooms of homes, where puppies just go wherever they want. The employees inside all looked bored, either sitting on couches or chairs. We didn't go in, since Korean retailers have a propensity to surround you and hawk-eye you until you leave or buy something. There were also cats in big elaborate cages, but they were not next to the windows.
This weekend:
We kicked of Saturday with our academy's Sports Day. All four schools, Kumho Avalon (my school), Langcon English (Andrew's school), Bongsundong Avalon, and Reading Star, competed to win fabulous prizes.
(Unfortunately, there are no pictures, since we just figured out our camera is dual voltage and so the batteries just got charged.)
The day started off by us being shuttled on luscious tour buses which ajummas (old women) use for karaoke, complete with multi colored lights in the mirrored ceiling and a microphone that stretches throughout the bus. We were taken to a train village about 45 minutes away from where we live. It was a gorgeously sunny, but slightly chilly day. There were trains everywhere in the village, and pretty landscaping, and interesting statues. We were taken to an open area, and when we all lined up in our teams, a dancing display of fountain brilliance came out of the ground accompanied by some uplifting music. About 10 minutes later, we were moved to an adjacent open area because apparently, the music wasn't going to stop for another 30 minutes and no one could hear anything. Priceless.
Some highlights of the day:
Andrew and I and six other unlucky souls were made to drink vinegar to win points for our team. (No one felt quite so good in their stomachs after that).
Women's soccer proved that no one had any idea of what was going on save for maybe 2 people.
Andrew was one of only three out of about 50 people to kick a shoe into a bucket in a backpack on his back.
We were given a great Korean barbecue (which is only barbecued meat, without sauce).
By the end of the day, we were exhausted and passed out at around 10 pm.
Yesterday, we cleaned the apartment, did laundry, and went on a long hike to find Angel-in-Us iced tea. After we enjoyed our deliciously sweet tea, we took a walk around Pugnam reservoir.
It was such a beautiful day out. We then caught a bus to go to U-Square (the bus terminal and shopping area) on a mission to find me a new iShuffle or iPod, since I forgot the dock to my shuffle back in the states. We didn't get one, but I did get myself some fancy new shoes. We then explored E-Mart, eating all the samples in the food area. Yum! As it was at Target back home, we left with more than we intended to, so we got a fancy E-Mart tote to carry it all in.
We dropped our stuff of and checked the Internet for an English menu of a chain restaurant nearby: http://maryeats.com/2006/11/16/kimbap-nara-menu/
Finding this extremely useful, we went to try something new, and I found my new favorite food: DUMPLINGS! Mmmm... gogi mandu is what it is, and it's served with soy sauce, which makes everything taste delicious.
In conclusion, we had a great couple of weekends, and hopefully in 5 more days, we'll have another!
After getting paid, Andrew and I decided to go shopping for all the clothes and accessories and guitars we didn't bring to Korea with us. I got lots of clothes, and Andrew got a guitar which he's currently rocking. After shopping, we crossed the downtown river to the Land of Tiny Pets.
There is a street lined with pet stores, and each one looks pretty much the same. There are little glass cubicles lining the front windows with puppies galore. Many were sleeping, some were playing, but all were adorable. The stores themselves inside look like living rooms of homes, where puppies just go wherever they want. The employees inside all looked bored, either sitting on couches or chairs. We didn't go in, since Korean retailers have a propensity to surround you and hawk-eye you until you leave or buy something. There were also cats in big elaborate cages, but they were not next to the windows.
This weekend:
We kicked of Saturday with our academy's Sports Day. All four schools, Kumho Avalon (my school), Langcon English (Andrew's school), Bongsundong Avalon, and Reading Star, competed to win fabulous prizes.
(Unfortunately, there are no pictures, since we just figured out our camera is dual voltage and so the batteries just got charged.)
The day started off by us being shuttled on luscious tour buses which ajummas (old women) use for karaoke, complete with multi colored lights in the mirrored ceiling and a microphone that stretches throughout the bus. We were taken to a train village about 45 minutes away from where we live. It was a gorgeously sunny, but slightly chilly day. There were trains everywhere in the village, and pretty landscaping, and interesting statues. We were taken to an open area, and when we all lined up in our teams, a dancing display of fountain brilliance came out of the ground accompanied by some uplifting music. About 10 minutes later, we were moved to an adjacent open area because apparently, the music wasn't going to stop for another 30 minutes and no one could hear anything. Priceless.
Some highlights of the day:
Andrew and I and six other unlucky souls were made to drink vinegar to win points for our team. (No one felt quite so good in their stomachs after that).
Women's soccer proved that no one had any idea of what was going on save for maybe 2 people.
Andrew was one of only three out of about 50 people to kick a shoe into a bucket in a backpack on his back.
We were given a great Korean barbecue (which is only barbecued meat, without sauce).
By the end of the day, we were exhausted and passed out at around 10 pm.
Yesterday, we cleaned the apartment, did laundry, and went on a long hike to find Angel-in-Us iced tea. After we enjoyed our deliciously sweet tea, we took a walk around Pugnam reservoir.
It was such a beautiful day out. We then caught a bus to go to U-Square (the bus terminal and shopping area) on a mission to find me a new iShuffle or iPod, since I forgot the dock to my shuffle back in the states. We didn't get one, but I did get myself some fancy new shoes. We then explored E-Mart, eating all the samples in the food area. Yum! As it was at Target back home, we left with more than we intended to, so we got a fancy E-Mart tote to carry it all in.
We dropped our stuff of and checked the Internet for an English menu of a chain restaurant nearby: http://maryeats.com/2006/11/16/kimbap-nara-menu/
Finding this extremely useful, we went to try something new, and I found my new favorite food: DUMPLINGS! Mmmm... gogi mandu is what it is, and it's served with soy sauce, which makes everything taste delicious.
In conclusion, we had a great couple of weekends, and hopefully in 5 more days, we'll have another!
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