Quick Birthday Post

Random photo I stole from Lexi of our school's building. That's us... SLP. We are on the 2nd floor.



I'm so sleepy! I've been so busy and can't seem to get in bed before 2 but tonight I'd like to! So I'm trying to get this blog up quickly!


For my birthday, well it fell on a Wednesday and its actually 1 of 2 longest work days out of the month due to having to stay an extra hour for phone teaching. So I actually worked 9:30 am- 8:00 pm on my birthday! But the good part was it fell on the same day as the celebration for all the kindergartner's August birthdays! Lots of cake and fun things. Lots of photos with the birthday kids and then a little singing contest in the play room that was adorable.



Birthday Part 1: Wednesday August 19th:



Montana Class (I have them once a day):


This girl wrote me an adorable birthday card. I might have to show it off in a video blog...


Very sweet class!

Michigan class (3 times a day!):
Don't let that shy smile fool you....



I think he thinks teacher has cooties. We could not get him to relax at all. Seriously. That awkward arm position is the best we could do.
They love doing this heart thing here in Korea... haha. This students are my trouble maker class but still so fun!

My kindergarten co-teacher Erica lighting the birthday candles in Michigan class. She's the best!



Guess who blew out all the candles?





Michigan and Montana class for the singing contest!




These aren't even my kids but they were just so cute!



In the teacher's room looking awkward for my cake.




At least Julie paid attention. :P haha... and the people on the other side of the camera you can't see.






So after school Marika had some people over for Australian style steak sandwiches and home made chocolate mousse... oh my god! So good! The dinner was for our 2 Korean co-teachers that are leaving our school for greener pastures! We will miss them! Marika lives in the same building I used to so her apartment is similar to my old one.


I had to bust out the camera for Marika's home made chocolate mousse feast!




Ivy Teacher and Allison Teacher. Ivy left the school last Friday (2 days after this meal)! :(



The group of us squished in! We did it!



Sean with all the ladies. We love his hair can you tell?


I love how Sean and Cindy Teacher are posing for another photo and I get Marika about to take a glorious bite of her creation. :) Oh, and so... Sean is the one that got me this job! And then Cindy is the other teacher who is leaving. She leaves the school tomorrow! Ahh!





Birthday Celebration Part 2: Itaewon dinner and Hongdae drinking Friday August 21
Lexi and Hee Jin were my photographers for the event since my camera is annoying to bring out!


Itaewon is like the foreigner area of Seoul. So my friend Katrina suggested a restaurant just one subway stop away that gave me one of the best sandwiches of my life. A good sandwich is pretty rare in Korea, and what's even more rare is cheese. And what did I have but the most awesome, feta, olive and salami sub! I was in heaven. Sadly we all totally spaced on taking photos in the restaurant and had to settle on a quick pick in the subway:

Lexi, Me, Katrina, Julie. Katrina and Julie had to get home early and couldn't go out with us so I was glad we got to have dinner together!!


So to kick off the night in Hongdae we went to "The" Park... basically its a small area with a playground. You are allowed to drink on the street here so some people love to sit at tables and chairs and drink cheaply from the convenience stores. The park is even better! The convenience store there is called "Good Times". Obvious jokes there! :) Sometimes there is live music but always people just hanging out and drinking. Sometimes there are funny foreigners doing theme parties, like last week a bunch of people were tied together. In any case most times I went there there was no live music but this time there was! The guys were really good too and were sitting right next to us! They played some Beatles and some Jason Mraz. Should have taken a good photo with them.

I believe the guy behind me has a black drum you can't really see:



Lexi, Hee Jin and I were the only ones that turned up at first but that was ok because these girls are so awesome!


So that's Soju! Nothing classier than dollar bottles of soju in the park! The cocktails just get too expensive! For those that don't know, Soju is a traditional Korean rice liquor that is had with meals. It's comprable to vodka but sweeter and about half as much alcohol. Should have taken a photo of the whole scene. It looks like we are just hanging out alone there but ther are actually tons of people all around!


Went walking to meet some friends and happened upon these fish with the 2 eyes on one side. They are gunna be someone's dinner! Mmm...


Finally found Sean and his friends!



So after we went to our usual bar but it was super crowded so we hopped across the street to this unknown (to me at least) hookah bar to chill out.





Looks like we are trying to convince Sean of something he simply is not buying.



So as is our new tradition in the spirit of being cheap, we wait til the subway runs again at 5:30 in the morning. Note for concerned parents: This is really the most responsible way to go! Because A. The subways stop at 12:30 am!! (way too early to have any fun!) and Hongdae is far so taxi fair is quite expensive. And B. It's pretty much best to stay out of taxis here... just saying. Crazy drivers!




The end.

Happy Birthday To Me!

Had a pretty awesome day! It just happened to be the day at school that all the kindergarten students celebrated August birthdays so lots of cake to be had! Took some photos with the kids and at dinner with friends that I will post soon but it's late so here is a quick video!

Mini Concert, new friends

So I finally met another person from my language exchange web site I have been trying to meet for a couple weeks now. I went to see him play a mini concert along with some other acts at a small playhouse. The venue was really cool! There were sticky note messages all over the walls and little hanging lights on fake trees that were kind of mostly twisted branches. My friend's songs were by far the best of what I saw (I came late because I got out of work half an hour after it started), along with a band that was really cute. One song he did was a rendition of "What's Up" by the 4 Non-Blondes (him on the African drum and a friend on guitar)... with a small part of an opera song interjected in the middle. It sounds wacky, especially for a guy cus the song is so high and the opera was even higher but he totally rocked it. Met his roommate (a foreigner!) and went out to eat at a bakery and have awesome talks. He learned English in only a year and a half in Canada! He actually taught at an English school and that's how he knew his roommate! It's so amazing how some people can speak so well in such a short time and others can be learning a language for years and never quite grasp it.

So tonight gave me inspiration and motivation to play a show, or a few shows (one of main Korea goals), and to study hard to learn Korean (another main goal for Korea)! I can do it!


School is kinda... frustrating me at the moment. The schedule seems to just get worse. I don't even want to get into it... ugh. So I just gotta make the most of the time away from school and not get sucked into being tired and coming straight home all the time.

Gotta live! Gotta have fun! Even if I kill myself doing it! (she says blogging and playing mandolin at 1 am with work at 9:30 the next day).

Haha. Ah Korea...

New Apartment "Tour" :)

Excuse my goofiness.

Good and bad things! Mostly good...

So Monday I found out 2 things. I have one extra class Tuesdays that because of a gap actually makes me stay until 7 instead of 5:15. Also a kindergarten class I used to teach (a really bad one) wasn't on my schedule for whatever reason but I still have to teach Tuesday-Friday. So that's another 4 classes I didn't know I had plus the new one. Hugely, hugely bummed. Especially because it still doesn't put me into overtime due to it being within the 172 teaching hours/month. Yea... wish I had really understood what that meant when I signed the contract but I'll deal.

Basically I'm at school 9:30- 7:00pm M,Tu,W, F and 9:30- 5:30 on Th (though prob more like 6:00pm) and I'm not into overtime! (44 hour work week if I subtract 30 mins for lunch for those not paying attention). But I guess when I do phone teaching its overtime? Though I think I might have to stay later those days too? I'm still not really sure how phone teaching works... Guess I'll figure it out like everything else. All of us work a lot so it def isn't just me so I feel bad complaining. One teacher has 32 overtime hours a month! Oh my! I guess I don't have overtime because I have more breaks than a lot of the teachers but it hardly seems fair that I have to be at school so long and get paid the same as those going home early. Many of the teachers that start at 9:30 are done teaching by 6.

Trying to suck it up though and I figure I can just study Korean or read or go online during my breaks (when my work is done of course) like I'd be doing at home anyhow.

Oh the kicker to the story! That one extra class on Tuesdays that makes my day way longer... has my 2 WORST students. I thought I had escaped them but noooo! Oh dear god. They are the bane of my teaching existence. I walked into the class and they said "Oh why you!" I said it right back to them. I'm pretty sure I've mentioned them before. I'm gunna break them I swear it. If not I'll just send them out of class every day if I have to! It's my mission I guess. A challenge. Get them in line or out of my hair. Hopefully the first. This class is a worse dynamic I think because the last class I had these 2 boys in there were 3 girls that were really good students. Now there is the 2 bad boys, 1 boy how is a good student so far but will talk to the boys in Korean when they talk, and one girl who is painfully shy. I can't see that situation being a good learning environment for her...


So tonight I took a peak... ok a long gander and a nice warm shower since my hot water is off... at my new apartment! I am so totally pleased. It's not nearly as small as I anticipated and really nice. Huge window with a view... also no curtains though! You can just see clear into my place. That's first on the shopping list. The shower actually has a door. Hurrah! A really good AC! I think enough space to do my poi if I don't let myself clutter it up. Huge fridge, lots of closet space. Heater for the winter! A fancy door thingy where I have a camera I can see people out my door on a screen with. Oh and motion sensored entry light! (My entry light has been out so I'm pretty excited about not tripping in the dark)

One of the downsides was no water cooler but my boss said I could take the one from here! Not sure how heavy it is though? Hmm... we'll find out tomorrow. Not even half way done packing but I'm just so excited I had to write this!

It's kind of funny... along with the other fancy things there is a card/code key to unlock the door. Meaning I type in a code or tap a card and there is no hard key! Kind of funny to me with all my moves I've had this running gag about having no house key meaning I'm homeless. I've taken photos of myself with my "Wizard of Oz Ave" key chain (thanks Val!) in various states of keylessness in LA, Philly, and Orlando. Now I will be back to no keys for it again!


Found a scale under my bed while packing. It says I lost 7 pounds. Can't be right! Then again I heard people lose weight in Korea. Hi-Jin said she had a friend that lost 20! I'd be dead if I lost that much. Seesh! I was actually hoping to gain some muscle weight from all the stairs I've been walking! ;)

Can't wait until the move is over and I stop being so confused about my classes (still running to them blind having the kids show me what books they use, what page they left off on, etc).

Then it's time to get back on track with my Korean lessons, being the awesome teacher I want to be, making friends, being fit, eating right, saving money, playing music and travelling!


Also still have to edit my photos from the folk village and write about them!

Good things. So happy. Sooo happy. :D

Ulsan Trip Mega Post!

Ok so finally got around to editing all the photos from my trip to visit Hi-Jin in Ulsan. Bear with me... Oh man. And I have another post after this with more photos from the Folk Village I went to yetsrday... who knows when I'll do that!

Anyhow, on to Ulsan!


Soo... I went on Sunday the 26th until Tuesday the 28th.



So I arrive in Ulsan after a beautiful 6-7 hour train ride and meet Hi-Jin and her sister at Lotte Department store. Then off to eat... I think there was chicken and Octopus tentacles in there along with some veggies. It was really good! And of course cold buckwheat noodles on the side (the dish I showed before with ice and spicy stuff!) which is becoming one of my favorites here for the summer.



This is Beth, the kind woman that let me couch surf with her! Really cool gal, met her friends and this is actually her boyfriends couch. His place was pretty swanky. She teaches and he's an engineer. That's the dog she was dogsitting for the weekend. Sweet little scragly pup named Chaio that followed us along the city with no leash. She used to be a stray and had puppies right after her friend took her in!



The view from the apartment!

At a famous Chinese restaurant. But apparently it's actually a Koreanized Chinese food that they don't actually eat in China.



The dish is called 짜장면 (Jajangmyeoh). Was weird to eat something not spicey in Korea. It was pretty good!


The guy behind me is making the noodles by hand. I tried to get a better photo but it was hard with the dirty glass window. He stretches them and then spins and stretches and so on!



The steps entering into 울기공원 (Ulgi Park)


So the following photos are odd sites up in an around the park. This one is just a little side street.

The scragly dogs.


Lots of places here were closed down and broken.




Ready for this one??? I have no idea what these are or what they are called but you eat them. They were in the salt water tanks in front of some seafood restaurants that have fish and snails and other such things fresh. The little holes opened and closed like fish mouths only way creepier. I don't think I'm adventurous enough to try these little suckers.

Please. Click it. Have a closer look!

Another side street.


Heading into the most beautiful thing I've seen in Korea so far...


Listen to the Dolphin!



Getting closer....
Wowow. Here we go!






So these women in their wet suits dive into the water and catch things to sell fresh. The one bellow is calling to the people approaching to go check her stuff out... in Korean of course. You can't see in the photo but the 3 people in the front are heading down some stairs. This is right next to the summit like area in the above photos.


Sorting and cleaning I guess?

This woman came up to the top of the stairs to sell up there.



Climbed up some stones to this little summit where the other tourists weren't going. What a view!





Hard to get the best shots just balancing my camera on rocks...



Trying to look serious. The rest I look like a major goofball and I have enough of those photos.





These trees are so cool I had to be a goofball again.




So heading over to that cool place in the above photographs.


What does it look like?


Mostly goofed around with this at the top of that summit cus the view from the other one was better anyway.


The walk back through the park as the sun is beginning to set.


Walking back to the beach we happened upon all this abandoned fair-type stuff!



Possibly the cutest and most patriotic dog in Korea... is it called patriotic here?


So unlike back home. Beachfront property isn't really a thing. At least not here at Ilsan Beach. These are the vegetable gardens of the poor folks that live in front of the water. Their homes were pretty sad to see. I didn't really get a good shot though.



First time in the East Sea! 일산해수욕장 (Ilsan Beach) This was actually right by the park but we did the park first.




So people in Korea don't really do the towel and bathing suit thing. Many bring tents or sit under the ones that are already on the beach like this one on these covered platforms. They wear normal clothes. There is one platform just like this outside my building where the ajimas (older women) sit and hang out together or clean vegetables.


Thinking of Val. Found a bunch of heart shaped rocks...




So after the beach we met up with a few of Hi-Jins friends.

2 of the girls worked at the Hyundai department store. We waited for them to get off work and it was amazing to see how fast they shut the place down. I was just studying my Korean book and I look up and all the products are being covered, employees are scurrying around to get changed and then out the door! It was so crazy. The for dinner we had some chicken that was sooo spicy with 3 of her girlfriends. None of them spoke but the basics in English so the conversation was mostly them talking in Korean and then Hi-Jin trying to get them to ask me questions with what little Korean they knew. Then giggling at what little I knew in Korean. Then one girl said "your face is small". Which isn't the first time this statement has been made by a Korean to a foreigner (happened to my coworker!!) It's really funny how blunt Koreans can be about age and looks.

Then after dinner we met up with this friends boyfriend and had some dessert. He spent a year and a half in Australia so I thought we could talk but he was too shy! She didn't speak much English but tried.




This is what we ate! There is ice on the bottom and a creamy sweet sauce for all of it. I got to mix it up because I was the guest and Hi-Jin's friend helped me. :) It was so yummy. In case you didn't know, those are red beans on the top. They are used in all kinds of desserts here from ice cream to pastries. Depending on how they are made they can be really tasty!



Then the 3 of us girls walked back to Hi-Jin's parents house to have a sleep-over. It took about an hour but didn't feel so long aside from my new shoes killing me. It's amazing that it was 1 am and I felt totally safe. Ahh Korea. I decided they should name me. So my Korean name is 누리 (Nuri) short for 온누리 (Onnuri) which means "whole world". It took a while and many vetos on names I didn't like to get to it but I'm quite pleased. It's a really sweet name. We named Hi-Jin's friend Summer. Which unfortunetely is the only name I can remember though her Korean name does start with an S.. I still have such a hard time remembering Korean names (not to mention I was already bad at names in English).

Came upon this view on the walk home:


So the night was supposed to be a cute girly sleep-over (which it was!) but I got super sick! I threw up 2 times. I'm not really sure why. I was really scared my stomach problems were starting again. Hi-Jin thinks maybe the chicken from dinner was just too spicy. It was pretty spicy, even for me and I kept feeling like I was tasting the gas or propane or something. But I didn't get sick til hours later! In any case I'm totally fine now, was just a little tired and worn the next day. I finally fell to sleep to the sound of them whispering in Korean, thinking about the complexities of language. Realizing it would be the same feeling if I was whispering in English with a friend in front of a foreigner. They would be lost as we communicated in a way they could never understand. I fell asleep in awe despite my wretching stomach, wishing I could conquir so many languages and just have the words of the world flowing from my tongue with the ease of a native...


Didn't take any photos at Hi-Jin's which is a shame cus it was really nice! But I was so out of sorts from getting sick. The next morning she made some breakfast which consisted of fried... squash I think? White corn, and hot cakes. Koreans don't really do breakfast like we do in the states though our breakfast foods are gaining popularity. In class I asked my kids what they ate for breakfast and most of them said rice and kimchi. It took me a second to realize they did know what the word breakfast meant but that its just different here! The hot cakes Hi-Jin made were kind of like pancakes but actually tasted good! (sorry pancake lovers!) They don't use butter or syrup so I was a little skeptical and then I took a bite and was so pleased. No toppings requires. Just so good alone.

So then we headed out to Summer's house. Her mom whipped a lunch in the blink of an eye that was absolutely delicious. Or to use a new vocab word... 짱 (chang) which is slang for "the best" or "really good" or "cool". Speaking of which, Summer and Hi-Jin made me a whole list of slang and curse words and the like on the bus on one of our journeys, can't remember which. Really useful stuff you don't find in books!

Anyhow here is us eating the lunch! The most delicious seaweed snack I've had in Korea is in my hand (and on the table). It was a prepackaged kind. I have to get the brand! They serve them in the bars but they aren't as tasty. Then fried rice with veggies and I think pork? A light egg soup and fresh tea. Afterwards we had a really good coffee that almost tasted like tea and coffee mixed. Really sweet and good! I wanted a photo with her mom but she was too shy! She gave me a couple small gifts. So sweet!




After this I caught the bus back home and crashed out! I was so tired. The bus took less time (4 hours) than the train but the view wasn't much and it didn't have a bathroom. I made the huge mistake of not going to the restroom when we stopped in hour 2 and when we arrived in Seoul frantically ran around trying to find one unsuccessfully in the subway station. Also totally blanked on the Korean word for bathroom when I needed it most and had to pull out my book to ask. Then the lady told me no. So I hopped on the subway to 2 stations down and went up and down a million stares and around in circles (with all my stuff mind tou) to find the further bathroom because the closer one was under construction or something. Ok... It was a pretty close call and I was really really mad and tired and more mad and about to cry. Wow... never going to do that ever again. Between that and getting sick, kind of a downer ending to a beautiful trip! Haha. But I survived!