im just warning you - nakedness is discussed in this passage, so if you dont want to read feel free to not read. hehe.
so this weekend i went with my coworker yanny to busan and we decided to save money we would stay in a 짐질벙 which is one of the notorious bathhouses that maybe you have heard about. so actually i went to a jimjillbang before with my bosses family and i was scared to death! i thought i was just going to be wondering around a building completely naked! oh my gosh! but actually it was really cool. anyways, so yanny has been wanting to take me to one of these since i came here. the bathhouse that is. anyways, so you go there and you pay $10 - and thats expensive! hahaha....and this is our order of operations for the evening - when you arrive you get a locker for your shoes and your belongings. they give you an outifit that everyone is wearing and some towels. then you just strip down and go upstairs to the bathhouse.(woman only - though in japan there are guy girl bathing adn most koreans think that is ludacris.haha) now there are showers all over the place and then there are like what look like vanitys - mirror and shelf and a shower head that you can take off and use however - and stools. you you just sit on the stool and scrub your body and wash yourself and stare at yourself in the mirror. sounds like fun eh? well we shower off and then there are 5 different like hot tubs - but bigger - each one a different temperature. some have massagers and some don't. so just go and lounge about in the hot tub completely naked. hehe! and there are tiny kids running around, old woman, young woman - everyone - and everyone is naked and it just felt so nice. even as a foreigner i wasn't really stared at which was great! at one point a woman stayed in the water too long and was dragged out by about 10 other naked woman and then put cold water all over her. hahaha. i mean she was ok. thats why its ok to laugh. um, i think. maybe not. hahaha...anyways. the best part -----so we are just walking around, and we take a dip in one pool adn then another. and then there is another pool out on the balcony!!! and its so hot we can't even get in it! but its out on this balcony and you can see the bridge - in my pics on facebook. and so we just stand up and im like - dude, were naked. this is normal for yanny. haha.. so we yell we are naked! and its december! and we are at the beach! and we are outside! it was the coolest thing! hahaha!!!! so we enjoyed that for sometime.hahahahah and i could think of about 3 or 4 other girls who would love that chance! so come to korea and its on me! :) so then i just start sharing with yanny all these stories of nakedness - always when you aren't supposed to be naked. interesting cultural study i think. nakedness, and view of sex adn all that jazz. kate did you ever do a paper like that? i would liek to read it.
stacy, you can remove that look of disgust from your face. hehehe....now you can and just enjoy the idea of jimjilbang. :) well after we lounge and bath we go back ot our lockers and put on our little outfits adn we go up 2 floors to the jimjil rooms - saunas! a hot room with some ginger sent. its made out of mud and looks like a hut and is abotu 150 degrees. we go there and sweat and then there are other rooms with different scents - herbal remedies - and different temps. then there is is a hot stone room, where you can lay on tiny stones on the floor. there is a hot salt room where its just salt rocks and you lay on them and sweat - bc yanny teacher says you are being cooked like kimchi. hehe. there is an ice room. a room of just little balls to lay on. there are computers to use. playgrounds to play on. tvs everywhere, restaurant, little snack shops. you can get scrubbed for like 15$, massaged for $20, i mean really anything. its like a spa but soo cheap! and there are rooms for sleeping on the floor of course but it was fine bc the floor is heated. (i actualy sleep on the floor in my apt because i relly do like it) and then we woke up had breakfast of kimchi soup, seaweed and rice. then we went back to all the rooms again. showered again and left well, whenever we wanted to. isnt that awesome? for $10..i mean we paid 5$ for breakfast. and these are everywhere in korea! so it is my new favorite place! yanny goes like every weekend to read and listen to music and relax. oh man. how awesome! so that was the highlight of my weekend. though it was just a great weekend in general. that was definitely awesome.
Monday, December 15, 2008
Sunday, October 12, 2008
pooh sticks
korean wedding - this is the first time ive seen strobe lights at a wedding! awesome! but after the white dress and black tux part they have "pyebaek" which is the traditional ceremony. the husband and wife come decked out in the traditional gear! its sooooooooooooooooooo gorgeous! then they pour i guess soju or something like that for each of the parents. then the husband's parents throw jujube beans and chestnuts to the husband and wife who have a fabric that they are to catch the nuts in. the chestnuts are baby girls and the jujubes are baby boys. so traditional thought, is that the amount of nuts you catch represent the children you will have. suzy and her husband...i only know him as space man.....um, they caught 7 chestnuts. hahaha his parents were not so happy. then her parents gave an envelope of money. and then i guess, i missed this part suzy and space man take some kind of nut...um, i dont remember, maybe chestnut and they both bite it and pull away - like a turkey bone - whats the name of that? you break it and the bigger piece gets good luck?!? oh man....anyways, whoever gets the seed in the nut they get the envelop with the money. wow. im sorry. english is my second language.
anyways, it was awesome! such a beautiful ceremony. and i just love the pictures i have seen :)
also interesting suzy and her family are very strong catholics and space man's parents are strong buddhists. so the ceremony was nonreligious. interesting. i think. so really i think this was my first nonchristian wedding. yeah i really think so. i know aunt gwen got married by the justice of the peace but i didnt go to that. it was a cool experience. and i just adore vivi and q so anytime with them is a blast - and insik and inhay. cool people.
at field day today one thing i had to do besides dance on command with anyone and everyone, but also they made a big circle of all the parents and they had to make one of those huge balls go around and around the circle. then they put a person in this circle and they have to try and hit you with the ball. so i ran as the parents tried to knock me down with a giant ball. how much fun is that. :)
and one of the guys working field day said that i am dancing queen- mama mia. i dance like the actress in that movie. so i guess i have to see that. im always intrigued when people tell me i look like someone. sometimes it makes sense. cameron diaz. i am come on. im hot. hahaha really what i meant is that i have a really big mouth, especially when i laugh. she does too. ok. then my boss said i look like the chick from wicker park. ive never seen it. but apparently i look like her. or maybe i just have brown hair and i sling my bag over my shoulder. i dont know. haha.
so Vivi asks me this riddle - you have a monkey, a snake and a bird. you need to get these 3 animals and yourself out to this bisland. how would you do it? don't be serious, and you can take each animal at a time. just use your imagination. think it in your head, and when your ready scroll down.
(sorry if my explanation is not very good.)
well, i said i would have the bird fly me to the island. then i would put the snake in my pocket and swim over. and the monkey i would put on my back.
each animal represents a part of your life. so the bird are your children, or future children. then the snake is money. and the monkey is your future or current spouse.
its really interesting to hear peoples responses and then what the animals mean. vivi put a rope around the monkey and dragged it to the island to make sure it didn't escape. hahaha...suzy had the snake around her neck to swim to the island. just thought provoking, i think. please share your results. :)
anyways, it was awesome! such a beautiful ceremony. and i just love the pictures i have seen :)
also interesting suzy and her family are very strong catholics and space man's parents are strong buddhists. so the ceremony was nonreligious. interesting. i think. so really i think this was my first nonchristian wedding. yeah i really think so. i know aunt gwen got married by the justice of the peace but i didnt go to that. it was a cool experience. and i just adore vivi and q so anytime with them is a blast - and insik and inhay. cool people.
at field day today one thing i had to do besides dance on command with anyone and everyone, but also they made a big circle of all the parents and they had to make one of those huge balls go around and around the circle. then they put a person in this circle and they have to try and hit you with the ball. so i ran as the parents tried to knock me down with a giant ball. how much fun is that. :)
and one of the guys working field day said that i am dancing queen- mama mia. i dance like the actress in that movie. so i guess i have to see that. im always intrigued when people tell me i look like someone. sometimes it makes sense. cameron diaz. i am come on. im hot. hahaha really what i meant is that i have a really big mouth, especially when i laugh. she does too. ok. then my boss said i look like the chick from wicker park. ive never seen it. but apparently i look like her. or maybe i just have brown hair and i sling my bag over my shoulder. i dont know. haha.
so Vivi asks me this riddle - you have a monkey, a snake and a bird. you need to get these 3 animals and yourself out to this bisland. how would you do it? don't be serious, and you can take each animal at a time. just use your imagination. think it in your head, and when your ready scroll down.
(sorry if my explanation is not very good.)
well, i said i would have the bird fly me to the island. then i would put the snake in my pocket and swim over. and the monkey i would put on my back.
each animal represents a part of your life. so the bird are your children, or future children. then the snake is money. and the monkey is your future or current spouse.
its really interesting to hear peoples responses and then what the animals mean. vivi put a rope around the monkey and dragged it to the island to make sure it didn't escape. hahaha...suzy had the snake around her neck to swim to the island. just thought provoking, i think. please share your results. :)
Saturday, October 11, 2008
things that make you move
so this morning at like 9am i was walking to rugby practice which is like 10 min from subway station to park next to a big road. and then i see this white car stop and the driver jumps out and tells the person around him to just go around. not the driver was an african american man with some miami dolphins gear on or something. and then an african american woman jumped out of the car decked out as well. now i contemplated what do to do as i slowly walked and watched the scene in my flipflops with my bags over my arms...i really wanted to go help these two - he was attempting to push the car now to do a Uturn as the oncoming traffic got the green light. i couldnt make it out there...and what would i do? horrible reasoning....
but i just (sadly) kept on walking and observing and i noticed a group of museum security guards watching the scene as well. about 10 guys. and i thought! go help them! haha, as i walk to practice...and i kept on walking, and then i turned around and saw the coolest thing. so a car coming in the opposite direction full of a bunch of i guess african american guys saw the guy trying to push his car. they immediately pulled over and all 4 of them jumped out, helped him move his car. and before i knew it they were on their way.
it almost brought a tear to my eye.i love random acts of kindness.
i need to work on including them in my regime.
but i just (sadly) kept on walking and observing and i noticed a group of museum security guards watching the scene as well. about 10 guys. and i thought! go help them! haha, as i walk to practice...and i kept on walking, and then i turned around and saw the coolest thing. so a car coming in the opposite direction full of a bunch of i guess african american guys saw the guy trying to push his car. they immediately pulled over and all 4 of them jumped out, helped him move his car. and before i knew it they were on their way.
it almost brought a tear to my eye.i love random acts of kindness.
i need to work on including them in my regime.
Monday, October 6, 2008
eternally optomistic
so i can't just leave my blog like that! so funny story...or maybe you have to be there. either way.
every morning when i go to panda class i usually just walk in but the students always say "amber teacher! knock knock!" ok, ok, so i go back to the door and knock, "whos there?" "amber teacher!" which then i either get "come in!" or "don't come in" which i allow because they used to say "no come in" and i told them too bad! learn better english! so i taught them "don't come in" and respect if they tell me that. good way to waste classtime - but also aren't we supposed to teach our children to say no and have adults respect our boundaries. :)
so its before classes start and im sitting at my desk organizing some papers and making sure i am ready for the morning classes and some of the students from panda class are getting some water to drink. so on of the students, danny, goes back into panda class he knocks on the door.
"knock knock"
"who's there?"
"amber teacher" and he cracks up! and me sitting there just about start rolling on the ground. he had no idea i was right over there until he heard me laughing. so now that is the on going joke and i'll hear that about 12 times a day.
as a nice rebuttal when i knocked on the door this morning and when asked "whos there" i said "danny." and we all had a good laugh. :)
every morning when i go to panda class i usually just walk in but the students always say "amber teacher! knock knock!" ok, ok, so i go back to the door and knock, "whos there?" "amber teacher!" which then i either get "come in!" or "don't come in" which i allow because they used to say "no come in" and i told them too bad! learn better english! so i taught them "don't come in" and respect if they tell me that. good way to waste classtime - but also aren't we supposed to teach our children to say no and have adults respect our boundaries. :)
so its before classes start and im sitting at my desk organizing some papers and making sure i am ready for the morning classes and some of the students from panda class are getting some water to drink. so on of the students, danny, goes back into panda class he knocks on the door.
"knock knock"
"who's there?"
"amber teacher" and he cracks up! and me sitting there just about start rolling on the ground. he had no idea i was right over there until he heard me laughing. so now that is the on going joke and i'll hear that about 12 times a day.
as a nice rebuttal when i knocked on the door this morning and when asked "whos there" i said "danny." and we all had a good laugh. :)
im not fat, im american.
i have decided that if i ever write a book about my cross cultural experiences that, that might be the title. unless its already taken. anyways, so i haven't updated this in awhile and i think maybe i finally have a solid reason to do so. this weekend i think was one of the most cross cultural experiences i have had maybe since ive arrived here.
now i guess i should explain how i am defining cultural experiences....well, i was just made very aware of my american-ness and my eyes were open to some issues that maybe others go through. i mean to be perfectly honest ive had a great time here. everyone has been absolutely amazing to me and i have had the blessing to meet the best people in korea! :) so i have had no complaints, no reasons to be upset, and everything blended so well. well i mean it still does, anyways...
so this past weekend my friend sanghoon planned on outing since we had a 3 day weekend. this kid has been talking about doing this since i first met him. only finally did we have the man power (and i mean enough guys and girls to not make it awkward) to take a long trip. so he picked out some places he loved and planned all the details. so sanghoon, me, nesbitt, toker and big mike headed out to a temple near Punggi in Yeonju. i was nervous about this only because i always get nervous when there is a minority, in this case sanghoon being such.
so we had to take a bus at 7:30 in the morning for two hours from seoul to punggi. once we get on the bus, we have some seats right in front of the very back row. sweet. so big mike takes a seat along the back row next to two ajummas (old ladies) and granted there is a reason we call big mike, big mike. he is very tall and very big. and cute and cuddly as a teddy bear. reminds me of my high school friend phil lewis. an awesome guy who's got your back in any sort of trouble! anyways, he takes a seat in the back row, leaving plenty of room, there is no problem. when one of the ajummas starts sputtering off in korean which i don't understand but then she gestures and i totally understand what her gestures mean. i read body language pretty well, and she wasn't being very subtle or nice about it at all. i could not believe what was happening. so she starts talking to sanghoon in korea and i know she is telling him that big mike is too big and needs to sit somewhere else. but she continues to do this COMPLETELY rude gesture -i dont care who you are! it was rude! i turn to her and im like, "ajumma? why? hes is a good guy." in my best korean. and she does the gesture again. and i was instantaneously fuming - im fuming right now as i write about it. what? what? are you kidding me?
and i know that i am in south korea where age is everything and you respect your elder. so maybe because of that this ajumma felt she could talk about my friend in that manner and not deal with anyone giving her any crap. and i tell you, shes lucky that sanghoon was there and i dont know more korean because i was, as i said, fuming. actually i think she would have gotten my point without any korean. i could told her straight up. but luckily for her sanghoon was there....(for those of you who know my zanizbar story - this ranks pretty close in my intensity. im not exaggerating, is what i mean) then sanghoon after chatting with ajumma turns to me and says that big mike can go sit in the front of the bus if there are some free seats once we get going. "what?" i know sanghoon was trying to help the situation but i quickly became more pissed off and my english became faster.
"no, big mike will not go to the front of the bus to sit just because she has a problem with him. no. do you think he wants to sit in the front by himself? really? no, she can deal with it. he's not bothering her."
some more korean was said back and forth and sanghoon and big mike switched seats. i went to writing in my journal as the steam continued to pour out of my ears.
some mistakes i did make in this situation i realized as i was discussing this with yanny today, is that the situation was not "korean culture" as i first labeled it. what a horrible thought that i said almost right on the spot its us versus them. what a terrifying thought. no yanny said that is not korean culture, that is rude. the reason i did make the assumption of korean culture is becuase of the age thing. in america we would have fought regardless of age. and in america many people have no respect for their elders. yes, yes. this i know. so its a give and take or a lose lose battle. i dont know.
but one thought that crossed my egotistical american mind, is that i don't care if you are old, or young, as long as you are a human there are basic rights that i respect and i try not to offend you and i do not have the right to offend you because of my place in life or age. on that same note, it doesnt matter how old you are or your place in life, i dont have to respect you because you are human and so am i. two ways of looking at the same coin.
i wonder how i would feel if i had these type of encounters frequently while living here in korea. or anywhere really....
this is not the end of my learning experience. and let me just say learning hurts. i am still hurting and sensitive because of some things that happened. and maybe i am overly so...i dont know. i guess i just compare my past times hanging out with koreans and then sanghoons time hanging out with americans and i just think....wow, (forgive me for saying this) but what a jerk i am! and granted again yanny said that this is not american culture as i decided to just label everything that way. american culture is not rude its just different. hmmm, well ill keep my hurts to myself and aim to learn what i can from my korean friends who make me feel good and safe when i am with them. i hope i can share that with others in my own american way.
i guess i have a lot more experiences from this weekend but for now this is enough. this was the biggest one, the hardest one that i trying to swallow. trying to look at again and again and pull out of it what i can. what can i learn? what can i see? what happened here? how do i feel? and remembering that one experience does not label the whole culture...and even if it did, really, ive had so many amazing occurences, that one makes no difference. :)
now i guess i should explain how i am defining cultural experiences....well, i was just made very aware of my american-ness and my eyes were open to some issues that maybe others go through. i mean to be perfectly honest ive had a great time here. everyone has been absolutely amazing to me and i have had the blessing to meet the best people in korea! :) so i have had no complaints, no reasons to be upset, and everything blended so well. well i mean it still does, anyways...
so this past weekend my friend sanghoon planned on outing since we had a 3 day weekend. this kid has been talking about doing this since i first met him. only finally did we have the man power (and i mean enough guys and girls to not make it awkward) to take a long trip. so he picked out some places he loved and planned all the details. so sanghoon, me, nesbitt, toker and big mike headed out to a temple near Punggi in Yeonju. i was nervous about this only because i always get nervous when there is a minority, in this case sanghoon being such.
so we had to take a bus at 7:30 in the morning for two hours from seoul to punggi. once we get on the bus, we have some seats right in front of the very back row. sweet. so big mike takes a seat along the back row next to two ajummas (old ladies) and granted there is a reason we call big mike, big mike. he is very tall and very big. and cute and cuddly as a teddy bear. reminds me of my high school friend phil lewis. an awesome guy who's got your back in any sort of trouble! anyways, he takes a seat in the back row, leaving plenty of room, there is no problem. when one of the ajummas starts sputtering off in korean which i don't understand but then she gestures and i totally understand what her gestures mean. i read body language pretty well, and she wasn't being very subtle or nice about it at all. i could not believe what was happening. so she starts talking to sanghoon in korea and i know she is telling him that big mike is too big and needs to sit somewhere else. but she continues to do this COMPLETELY rude gesture -i dont care who you are! it was rude! i turn to her and im like, "ajumma? why? hes is a good guy." in my best korean. and she does the gesture again. and i was instantaneously fuming - im fuming right now as i write about it. what? what? are you kidding me?
and i know that i am in south korea where age is everything and you respect your elder. so maybe because of that this ajumma felt she could talk about my friend in that manner and not deal with anyone giving her any crap. and i tell you, shes lucky that sanghoon was there and i dont know more korean because i was, as i said, fuming. actually i think she would have gotten my point without any korean. i could told her straight up. but luckily for her sanghoon was there....(for those of you who know my zanizbar story - this ranks pretty close in my intensity. im not exaggerating, is what i mean) then sanghoon after chatting with ajumma turns to me and says that big mike can go sit in the front of the bus if there are some free seats once we get going. "what?" i know sanghoon was trying to help the situation but i quickly became more pissed off and my english became faster.
"no, big mike will not go to the front of the bus to sit just because she has a problem with him. no. do you think he wants to sit in the front by himself? really? no, she can deal with it. he's not bothering her."
some more korean was said back and forth and sanghoon and big mike switched seats. i went to writing in my journal as the steam continued to pour out of my ears.
some mistakes i did make in this situation i realized as i was discussing this with yanny today, is that the situation was not "korean culture" as i first labeled it. what a horrible thought that i said almost right on the spot its us versus them. what a terrifying thought. no yanny said that is not korean culture, that is rude. the reason i did make the assumption of korean culture is becuase of the age thing. in america we would have fought regardless of age. and in america many people have no respect for their elders. yes, yes. this i know. so its a give and take or a lose lose battle. i dont know.
but one thought that crossed my egotistical american mind, is that i don't care if you are old, or young, as long as you are a human there are basic rights that i respect and i try not to offend you and i do not have the right to offend you because of my place in life or age. on that same note, it doesnt matter how old you are or your place in life, i dont have to respect you because you are human and so am i. two ways of looking at the same coin.
i wonder how i would feel if i had these type of encounters frequently while living here in korea. or anywhere really....
this is not the end of my learning experience. and let me just say learning hurts. i am still hurting and sensitive because of some things that happened. and maybe i am overly so...i dont know. i guess i just compare my past times hanging out with koreans and then sanghoons time hanging out with americans and i just think....wow, (forgive me for saying this) but what a jerk i am! and granted again yanny said that this is not american culture as i decided to just label everything that way. american culture is not rude its just different. hmmm, well ill keep my hurts to myself and aim to learn what i can from my korean friends who make me feel good and safe when i am with them. i hope i can share that with others in my own american way.
i guess i have a lot more experiences from this weekend but for now this is enough. this was the biggest one, the hardest one that i trying to swallow. trying to look at again and again and pull out of it what i can. what can i learn? what can i see? what happened here? how do i feel? and remembering that one experience does not label the whole culture...and even if it did, really, ive had so many amazing occurences, that one makes no difference. :)
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
moon worship
so here are some random thoughts and events:
-tonight i was running down by the river (yes i stepped out of my van for some exercise) and i saw this guy on a bike totally wipe out. like it looked bad! and there were 5 koreans standing around him and nobody said a thing to him. i contemplated just ignoring what i saw - even though i totally had that open mouth surprised face on - but as i jogged by i stopped and said "are you ok?" - in korean (i can't spell it) and he said yes he was fine. so then i spent some more time contemplating the event. i have to admit none of the koreans who were standing near by rubbernecked the fallen bike man. so i guess that is better, if you aren't going to ask if they are ok or help them then better not stare at them. and then i wonder if maybe this is part of saving face, you just ignore it like it didn't happen and it is less embarrassing. maybe i just really embarrassed him...hmmmm....im miguk saram. cheosong hamnida. (im american, im sorry)
-this morning one of my students came up to me and starts sputtering off in korean telling me i guess something about one kid cutting his finger or one kid cutting another kids finger and so i have my surprise face on as i am trying to decipher what exactly he is trying to tell me and then Sun, this hilarious kid runs up and says "OH MY GOD!" in perfect korean style with his shoulders shrugged and hands in the air. i just about rolled on the ground! it was the funniest thing!
-is it weird that im starting to think words are not so important. i mean we use them simply to convey ideas and if i can convey an idea without using words do words really matter? especially in the sense of cursing and telling people "i love you" i have come to find that phrases that i would never say or use in america freely flow from my lips such as "i love you" and sorry for the faint of heart "oh my god!" i never use it as a curse to God Himself. but rather i use it because i hear it so much and to me it unites me with my korean friends here and those in america. to me its a unifier rather than curse. plus i said oh my gosh before that. whats the difference really? should just stick with the "shitaki mushrooms" or "barnacles". but i never thought anything of it until my newly arrived friend called me on it. hmmm, live in korea for awhile. but he is a bit more against cursing in general. which i have not been raised in that manner. ;) but rather have chose it for myself...most of the time :)
-and i want to thank my athletic family and every woman in America who has fought for girls sports. both here and in costa rica i found an instant bond with my host fathers through sport. teaching american football in costa rica and playing soccer and basketball here with Mr. Bae. its just a unifier and it rocks! and even better we were outside playing at my directors apartment and his wife joined us!!! she came out and played soccer in high heels! and she was awesome! come to find out, she was a student athlete! she did the long jump! soooo coool! this soon lead to a soccer game against 4 10 year old boys as they all watched me shooting and yelled at me, "Where are you from?" "You good soccer play!" So Mr Bae invited them to join us and we had a fun game of 3 on 4. it was so much fun. can i say i felt like home? i loved kids again at that moment. i think i really like kids but i like kids to play with not to teach. hahha or at least not intentionally. :)
-and we went to this pension (guesthouse) this weekend and i really felt like i was at home! i had been close to there with mr bae and its all mountains and rivers. so great! but at the pension i took a nap outside in the afternoon in the sun then i walked around in the GRASS barefoot and shot the basketball for a bit. and then rode bikes for a bit. there was a pond and lots of christmas lights. it made me feel lik i was at home during the summer time. ahhhhhhh. thank God for that. it was beautiful. and i hope all yall who are home, and have a yard with grass and trees, that you go outside and enjoy it. after you get home from work, take off your shoes and take a little walk- just stand in the grass. its a beautiful thing.
-so i know im not soo good at keeping in touch but know that honestly i think of you much more than i write. :)
always, your amber
-tonight i was running down by the river (yes i stepped out of my van for some exercise) and i saw this guy on a bike totally wipe out. like it looked bad! and there were 5 koreans standing around him and nobody said a thing to him. i contemplated just ignoring what i saw - even though i totally had that open mouth surprised face on - but as i jogged by i stopped and said "are you ok?" - in korean (i can't spell it) and he said yes he was fine. so then i spent some more time contemplating the event. i have to admit none of the koreans who were standing near by rubbernecked the fallen bike man. so i guess that is better, if you aren't going to ask if they are ok or help them then better not stare at them. and then i wonder if maybe this is part of saving face, you just ignore it like it didn't happen and it is less embarrassing. maybe i just really embarrassed him...hmmmm....im miguk saram. cheosong hamnida. (im american, im sorry)
-this morning one of my students came up to me and starts sputtering off in korean telling me i guess something about one kid cutting his finger or one kid cutting another kids finger and so i have my surprise face on as i am trying to decipher what exactly he is trying to tell me and then Sun, this hilarious kid runs up and says "OH MY GOD!" in perfect korean style with his shoulders shrugged and hands in the air. i just about rolled on the ground! it was the funniest thing!
-is it weird that im starting to think words are not so important. i mean we use them simply to convey ideas and if i can convey an idea without using words do words really matter? especially in the sense of cursing and telling people "i love you" i have come to find that phrases that i would never say or use in america freely flow from my lips such as "i love you" and sorry for the faint of heart "oh my god!" i never use it as a curse to God Himself. but rather i use it because i hear it so much and to me it unites me with my korean friends here and those in america. to me its a unifier rather than curse. plus i said oh my gosh before that. whats the difference really? should just stick with the "shitaki mushrooms" or "barnacles". but i never thought anything of it until my newly arrived friend called me on it. hmmm, live in korea for awhile. but he is a bit more against cursing in general. which i have not been raised in that manner. ;) but rather have chose it for myself...most of the time :)
-and i want to thank my athletic family and every woman in America who has fought for girls sports. both here and in costa rica i found an instant bond with my host fathers through sport. teaching american football in costa rica and playing soccer and basketball here with Mr. Bae. its just a unifier and it rocks! and even better we were outside playing at my directors apartment and his wife joined us!!! she came out and played soccer in high heels! and she was awesome! come to find out, she was a student athlete! she did the long jump! soooo coool! this soon lead to a soccer game against 4 10 year old boys as they all watched me shooting and yelled at me, "Where are you from?" "You good soccer play!" So Mr Bae invited them to join us and we had a fun game of 3 on 4. it was so much fun. can i say i felt like home? i loved kids again at that moment. i think i really like kids but i like kids to play with not to teach. hahha or at least not intentionally. :)
-and we went to this pension (guesthouse) this weekend and i really felt like i was at home! i had been close to there with mr bae and its all mountains and rivers. so great! but at the pension i took a nap outside in the afternoon in the sun then i walked around in the GRASS barefoot and shot the basketball for a bit. and then rode bikes for a bit. there was a pond and lots of christmas lights. it made me feel lik i was at home during the summer time. ahhhhhhh. thank God for that. it was beautiful. and i hope all yall who are home, and have a yard with grass and trees, that you go outside and enjoy it. after you get home from work, take off your shoes and take a little walk- just stand in the grass. its a beautiful thing.
-so i know im not soo good at keeping in touch but know that honestly i think of you much more than i write. :)
always, your amber
Thursday, September 4, 2008
notes from my teaching log
so i just keep a record of what happens in my classes for my own sake, no one else. and here is a review of my morning from today.....
well my first class of the day was rabbit class - the youngest kids at the school. always a tough act. well we sang some songs and the whole time harry - this one tiny kid with a serious mullet - kept running up and hitting me. i dont know maliciously maybe just for attention. but i would be talking and he would just run up to me and hit me and then run and sit back down. then of course about 3 other kids would follow suit. so i told him, STOP and SIT DOWN! very meanly i might add. well it would just be totally sporatic. im finishing class - i start singing the goodbye song and all of a sudden he just runs up to me and starts pounding on me with both fists....i was like, Oh my God? what are you doing!?!? so i grab him and he immediately lets his legs go out from under him and i grab his chair and drag them both to the corner and attempt to put him in it. granted this is while classes are changing so somehow in the middle of this yanny teacher sees from the window what is happening and jumps in to help me get harry in his seat not knowing why i am putting him there. then rabbit teacher returns and i am still in shock and all the kids are rattling off in korean their version of the story. needless to say this story ends with harry crying and saying im sorry amber teacher as rabbit teacher holds her cell phone out in front of him threatening to call his mom. i leave in shock.
at lunch time when we return to rabbit class to grab some food kevin one of the other kids (who just apologized to me last week for hitting me) says that harry apologized so are you still angry? no its ok. i mean even harry was smiling at me and waving to me. so either he's psychotic and was like messing with my head and really wants to kill me or he has no idea about anything. maybe i watch too much law and order svu ....in this case i was definitely more shocked then anything else...what brought this on? maybe im naive but i dont think it was malicious just wacky. maybe its the weather...
well after rabbit tiger class goes great. then lion class. which was going very well...until we tried to line up to go back to lion class. aurora has broken her finger and has a metal cast on her pinky with some athletic tape. well i dont know what happened....i told them to line up so of course they all run and aurora falls down and terry trips over her becuase he is running and her cast comes off her finger and she starts wailing! so i scoop her up and run to the lion teacher...ohmygod! why? why? so i think lion could tell from my face that i was just like in shock...and shes like, amber its ok...its ok. as i watch her rewrap the finger. she even tells aurora - tell amber teacher, im ok.
but is amber teacher ok?
and just to add on to all this last week one of the rabbit kids while "dancing " to one of my songs - which in that class dance means run around like your rabid - either he got punched or fell but he ended up with a black eye. how the hell does this happen in my class? and if anyone wants to say its due to my teaching....welll
shut up.
well my first class of the day was rabbit class - the youngest kids at the school. always a tough act. well we sang some songs and the whole time harry - this one tiny kid with a serious mullet - kept running up and hitting me. i dont know maliciously maybe just for attention. but i would be talking and he would just run up to me and hit me and then run and sit back down. then of course about 3 other kids would follow suit. so i told him, STOP and SIT DOWN! very meanly i might add. well it would just be totally sporatic. im finishing class - i start singing the goodbye song and all of a sudden he just runs up to me and starts pounding on me with both fists....i was like, Oh my God? what are you doing!?!? so i grab him and he immediately lets his legs go out from under him and i grab his chair and drag them both to the corner and attempt to put him in it. granted this is while classes are changing so somehow in the middle of this yanny teacher sees from the window what is happening and jumps in to help me get harry in his seat not knowing why i am putting him there. then rabbit teacher returns and i am still in shock and all the kids are rattling off in korean their version of the story. needless to say this story ends with harry crying and saying im sorry amber teacher as rabbit teacher holds her cell phone out in front of him threatening to call his mom. i leave in shock.
at lunch time when we return to rabbit class to grab some food kevin one of the other kids (who just apologized to me last week for hitting me) says that harry apologized so are you still angry? no its ok. i mean even harry was smiling at me and waving to me. so either he's psychotic and was like messing with my head and really wants to kill me or he has no idea about anything. maybe i watch too much law and order svu ....in this case i was definitely more shocked then anything else...what brought this on? maybe im naive but i dont think it was malicious just wacky. maybe its the weather...
well after rabbit tiger class goes great. then lion class. which was going very well...until we tried to line up to go back to lion class. aurora has broken her finger and has a metal cast on her pinky with some athletic tape. well i dont know what happened....i told them to line up so of course they all run and aurora falls down and terry trips over her becuase he is running and her cast comes off her finger and she starts wailing! so i scoop her up and run to the lion teacher...ohmygod! why? why? so i think lion could tell from my face that i was just like in shock...and shes like, amber its ok...its ok. as i watch her rewrap the finger. she even tells aurora - tell amber teacher, im ok.
but is amber teacher ok?
and just to add on to all this last week one of the rabbit kids while "dancing " to one of my songs - which in that class dance means run around like your rabid - either he got punched or fell but he ended up with a black eye. how the hell does this happen in my class? and if anyone wants to say its due to my teaching....welll
shut up.
Tuesday, September 2, 2008
6 months and going strong!
so it has been 6 months...hard to believe. at this moment in time i am doing great! but its been a rocky road especially the past 2 months. my time here started out wonderful...fantastic! and granted it hasn't really changed, but attitudes always change, i suppose. i was told when i arrived here that the 3 month mark is when you get homesick. well for me i think it was more like the 5 month mark. i just remember one day it all hit, like a wall. and even though vacation was a blessing and just fantastic in itself, it gave me time to think and thinking causes problems. and pretty much since vacation i wake up everyday and feel something different. i mean mainly in terms of staying or going. one day i think that i would never want to go back to the states and the next day i think...yeah i could head home now. and not that i want to go home. OH NO! :) its not home i miss at all. its just the job. im not a teacher. i have no desire to be a teacher longterm or even longshortterm - does that make sense? its so nice to be with the kids, who really are wonderful! actually everyone is wonderful. but its hard work. it takes a lot of energy and time to do it well. and well, i guess i didn't really expect that. hahahaha...or im just tired of it. hehehe
so i just want to clarify that korea is amazing and wonderful....its just this particular type of work that doesn't quite light the depth of my soul on fire. but its a great job as well. so take this all with a grain of salt! :)
im seeing a big transition this month as well as many more of my university friends make their way here - which was their intention long before i had even thought about coming to korea. i stole their idea. now nesbitt, christopher marshall, big mike, carolyn and ryan are all here living. car and ry live pretty much on my street! its crazy! cool and different. it does take transition to think in the way that i do have people who know me here. crazy!
rugby...its gotta be the new love of my life. im not even kidding. i love being out in the freakin hot, running around, hitting boys and trying to figure out how to throw a rugby ball and be all tough at the same time! i simply love it!!!! great stress reliever...and so much fun and so interesting. just great. im pretty much in love with it, though i need to not kill myself. i leave practice and i am just so shot everywhere on my body! but its so nice. :)
what else what else....life is good. im sorry this is such a crappy 6 month evaluation. but at least its getting done. and thanks to my good friend minwoo i saw both the east and west coast this summer, as well as the south at busan. so i hit up most of the beaches here. amazing! maybe i could teach a year at busan...... :)
just kidding, if i stay in korea i will stay at my current hagwon - i can't remember how to spell that word!!!!!..., i really do love it.
i just finished reading "Mansfield Park" by Jane Austen and she talks about one of the main characters - Henry. Henry starts out as a player and then in the middle of the book tries to clean himself up as he falls in love with Fanny who is like the queen of righteous living. so he tries to impress her and she keeps refusing him. well during this process of him attempting to court her he ends up running away with a married woman.
now, amber teacher, what does this have to do with you? well Austen describes him as a divided man and he could have been that nice clean boy he was trying to be but he ended up resorting to his bad ways and running off with the woman. i feel divided like that. ( i still don't know if this connection makes any sense.....) not between such serious matters, but like in terms of staying in korea. like i could TOTALLY stay here and play rugby, teach, make friends, do crazy korean things, travel to nearby countries. and another part of me could go home and try to get on with my life's passion.....
the only problem is that i dont know what that is.
when i envision my life and i get excited about it - i see myself living in a ghetto of sorts. probably the wrong word because im not that hardcore. but i want to live in a poor neighborhood and bring it out - make it a community or help the community! thats what i see. and i like it. and i want it. but how? why? i dont know. thats the problem. alas, i await patiently to see the future unfold!
so, as my students say, amber teacher, how are you?
i'm incredible!
and i hope you are the same.
so i just want to clarify that korea is amazing and wonderful....its just this particular type of work that doesn't quite light the depth of my soul on fire. but its a great job as well. so take this all with a grain of salt! :)
im seeing a big transition this month as well as many more of my university friends make their way here - which was their intention long before i had even thought about coming to korea. i stole their idea. now nesbitt, christopher marshall, big mike, carolyn and ryan are all here living. car and ry live pretty much on my street! its crazy! cool and different. it does take transition to think in the way that i do have people who know me here. crazy!
rugby...its gotta be the new love of my life. im not even kidding. i love being out in the freakin hot, running around, hitting boys and trying to figure out how to throw a rugby ball and be all tough at the same time! i simply love it!!!! great stress reliever...and so much fun and so interesting. just great. im pretty much in love with it, though i need to not kill myself. i leave practice and i am just so shot everywhere on my body! but its so nice. :)
what else what else....life is good. im sorry this is such a crappy 6 month evaluation. but at least its getting done. and thanks to my good friend minwoo i saw both the east and west coast this summer, as well as the south at busan. so i hit up most of the beaches here. amazing! maybe i could teach a year at busan...... :)
just kidding, if i stay in korea i will stay at my current hagwon - i can't remember how to spell that word!!!!!..., i really do love it.
i just finished reading "Mansfield Park" by Jane Austen and she talks about one of the main characters - Henry. Henry starts out as a player and then in the middle of the book tries to clean himself up as he falls in love with Fanny who is like the queen of righteous living. so he tries to impress her and she keeps refusing him. well during this process of him attempting to court her he ends up running away with a married woman.
now, amber teacher, what does this have to do with you? well Austen describes him as a divided man and he could have been that nice clean boy he was trying to be but he ended up resorting to his bad ways and running off with the woman. i feel divided like that. ( i still don't know if this connection makes any sense.....) not between such serious matters, but like in terms of staying in korea. like i could TOTALLY stay here and play rugby, teach, make friends, do crazy korean things, travel to nearby countries. and another part of me could go home and try to get on with my life's passion.....
the only problem is that i dont know what that is.
when i envision my life and i get excited about it - i see myself living in a ghetto of sorts. probably the wrong word because im not that hardcore. but i want to live in a poor neighborhood and bring it out - make it a community or help the community! thats what i see. and i like it. and i want it. but how? why? i dont know. thats the problem. alas, i await patiently to see the future unfold!
so, as my students say, amber teacher, how are you?
i'm incredible!
and i hope you are the same.
Sunday, August 17, 2008
dust in the wind
wow, can i say that time flies because it really does. between my friend soon leaving for san fran, sarah arriving from america and all that comes in between, well i guess that is life. im sorry my updates have been pretty much nonexistant at this point. the pictures are going well, but i can't keep up with the typing. too hard. i barely have enough time to write down my own thoughts much less type up censored thoughts for your entertainment and enjoyment. hehehehe so here are random thoughts as they come to my mind. take it for what it is.
right now i am preparing for festival which i have to teach three open classes on stage in front of all the parents. this has meant a lot of artwork for me, which i like, and a lot of fear as the children don't really listen to me. we will see how this saturday goes! muhuhahahahaha
carolyn and ryan are arriving in nowon sometime soon as in this week and next week. the foreigners are taking over. where do i live?
i went to independence hall on august 15th which is korea's independence day from japan. im not sure what year. you think i would know that considering i spent the day touring the museum.oh well. it was most certainly cool though. i enjoyed it!
i was going to run in the nike human race a 10k but i missed registration. alas...i was actually training for it and everythign! running like an hour! hahaha...who would have thought? most certainly not i.
so my friend soon just left to do his masters in sanfran, my other friend minu leaves at the end of the month for sanfran for work for 3 months and sanghoon is going to university at the end of the month. i must reconnect and enlarge my korean friend circle....
in the meanwhile i move to fast for even myself. its just too much. im a psycho and i need to stop.
i had 5 different kids apologize to me on last thursday for their behavior in class....so i guess we all just need to slow down and start over. too bad with festival we will continue to cram new songs, chants and plays down their throats until they spit them out on friday and saturday and we all cheer for them as they garble through the english music.
i saw dark knight twice. what a great movie. actually, i take that back. what a GREAT heath ledger!!! freaking amazing! i was kinda like all that oscar buzz about him before i saw the movie made me think, thats lame. but really, he does an exquisite job with his performance!!! kudos! if didnt know it was him, i wouldn't know it was him. get it? ;)
it finally cooled off a bit these past 2 days...the temp has just been ridiculous. i would venture to say over 100 degrees. but now its chilling out and its comfortable. but who knows what tomorrow holds!
i dont know how i feel about staying for another year or not. i go back and forth everyday. im in deep contemplation with it, i mean as often as i an be when i am given the liberty of my mind. you know the problem is that when i do have free time i like to go run which is a 2 hour ordeal, or i like to read mansfield park by jane austen which is amazing! or i think about how much i should study korean. or i just stay at work till 7 or later and do my best to sell myself on my own ideas for the festival.
this post is a very cynical one. i apologize, but i think its nice to hear this side of me every once and awhile. haha. because it most definitely exists and it is most definitely a source of self defense that gets me through some days with a smile on my face. whether that smile is really a smirk or snicker, well thats just for you to decide.
sometimes its the simple pleasures of life such as giving a test that is much too hard for my students and not reading the directions in korean. youll listen in my class next time, wont you. hehehe...acutally i tried to do that and they still did well on the test. im just such an awesome teacher that i teach them everything...oh wait HAHAHAHAHAAH
but i love life. the never ending and untouchable joy that dwells in my soul. sometimes deeper or shallower depending on the rhythms of life.
today i finally went back to my church after missing for a month and a half...maybe two months and i was like, where have i been? why haven't i been coming here? i love it! i like these people, i like that i know these people and they know me! and they wonder where i have been! wow! and it was just nice. like a nice deep breathe of fresh air. quite fabulous it all is.
so thats amber's korea. my little chaotic corner of borderline catastrophe.
for in Him we live and move and have our being - Acts 17:28
right now i am preparing for festival which i have to teach three open classes on stage in front of all the parents. this has meant a lot of artwork for me, which i like, and a lot of fear as the children don't really listen to me. we will see how this saturday goes! muhuhahahahaha
carolyn and ryan are arriving in nowon sometime soon as in this week and next week. the foreigners are taking over. where do i live?
i went to independence hall on august 15th which is korea's independence day from japan. im not sure what year. you think i would know that considering i spent the day touring the museum.oh well. it was most certainly cool though. i enjoyed it!
i was going to run in the nike human race a 10k but i missed registration. alas...i was actually training for it and everythign! running like an hour! hahaha...who would have thought? most certainly not i.
so my friend soon just left to do his masters in sanfran, my other friend minu leaves at the end of the month for sanfran for work for 3 months and sanghoon is going to university at the end of the month. i must reconnect and enlarge my korean friend circle....
in the meanwhile i move to fast for even myself. its just too much. im a psycho and i need to stop.
i had 5 different kids apologize to me on last thursday for their behavior in class....so i guess we all just need to slow down and start over. too bad with festival we will continue to cram new songs, chants and plays down their throats until they spit them out on friday and saturday and we all cheer for them as they garble through the english music.
i saw dark knight twice. what a great movie. actually, i take that back. what a GREAT heath ledger!!! freaking amazing! i was kinda like all that oscar buzz about him before i saw the movie made me think, thats lame. but really, he does an exquisite job with his performance!!! kudos! if didnt know it was him, i wouldn't know it was him. get it? ;)
it finally cooled off a bit these past 2 days...the temp has just been ridiculous. i would venture to say over 100 degrees. but now its chilling out and its comfortable. but who knows what tomorrow holds!
i dont know how i feel about staying for another year or not. i go back and forth everyday. im in deep contemplation with it, i mean as often as i an be when i am given the liberty of my mind. you know the problem is that when i do have free time i like to go run which is a 2 hour ordeal, or i like to read mansfield park by jane austen which is amazing! or i think about how much i should study korean. or i just stay at work till 7 or later and do my best to sell myself on my own ideas for the festival.
this post is a very cynical one. i apologize, but i think its nice to hear this side of me every once and awhile. haha. because it most definitely exists and it is most definitely a source of self defense that gets me through some days with a smile on my face. whether that smile is really a smirk or snicker, well thats just for you to decide.
sometimes its the simple pleasures of life such as giving a test that is much too hard for my students and not reading the directions in korean. youll listen in my class next time, wont you. hehehe...acutally i tried to do that and they still did well on the test. im just such an awesome teacher that i teach them everything...oh wait HAHAHAHAHAAH
but i love life. the never ending and untouchable joy that dwells in my soul. sometimes deeper or shallower depending on the rhythms of life.
today i finally went back to my church after missing for a month and a half...maybe two months and i was like, where have i been? why haven't i been coming here? i love it! i like these people, i like that i know these people and they know me! and they wonder where i have been! wow! and it was just nice. like a nice deep breathe of fresh air. quite fabulous it all is.
so thats amber's korea. my little chaotic corner of borderline catastrophe.
for in Him we live and move and have our being - Acts 17:28
Friday, August 1, 2008
Freaky Dream
being the freudian that i am i like to keep track of my dreams and i had one weird dream the other night and i thought it would be a nice change of pace from my other entries. but i must warn you there is some strange content, but the significance will be explained. enjoy if you are brave enough!
so my coteacher Yanny and I were having a sleep over in my grandparents (Kirkpatricks) old house in VA. It was night time and we were just about to go to sleep when Yanny thought we should take a picture. (She really likes to take pictures of all of our events, which i adore!) so we are sitting on this couch getting ready to take a picture when all of a sudden my boss Mr Bae, his wife Sylvia teacher and a toddler walk in and they just jump in our picture. I was so confused as to what was going on, but whatever.
Then Yanny and I took our respective couches and went to sleep. Well as I'm sleeping I wake up because I hvae to go to the bathroom and I am walking by the spare room and Yanny is translating something. Then Lindsay (my sister) is sitting in the spare room at a table with my boss Mr. Bae.
"Hey Lindsay! What are you doing here?"
"Oh, I'm going to teach English."
"Oh really? Thats fantastic!!...Where are you going to live?"
"Oh i'm going to just move in with you."
"Wait, what? No, no! Trust me, you don't want to move in with me. You want your own space!"
i must note that my feeling in the dream was that i am so happy lindsay was coming but i was upset that i was given no warning and i wasn't asked if she could live with me.
"Lindsay, its part of the contract. You need to make him get you an apartment."
Then Mr. Bae says its too late. so I was shocked but whatever. I headed back to my couch to go to sleep. then all these kids from Kids Club were just roaming around the living room (where Yanny and I were supposed to be sleeping) in the middle of the night. I was so confused, but too tired to care. But as I looked in my bag I realized that all my tampons had been opened. (this is significant because tampons are not easy to come by in korea) Apparently the kids thought they were candy but when they found out they weren't they replaced them with half eaten lollipops. Every single tampon I had. I was so mad.
then i woke up. it was a freaky dream. maybe i am dealing with some frustrations....hmmm...i don't know. ;)
so my coteacher Yanny and I were having a sleep over in my grandparents (Kirkpatricks) old house in VA. It was night time and we were just about to go to sleep when Yanny thought we should take a picture. (She really likes to take pictures of all of our events, which i adore!) so we are sitting on this couch getting ready to take a picture when all of a sudden my boss Mr Bae, his wife Sylvia teacher and a toddler walk in and they just jump in our picture. I was so confused as to what was going on, but whatever.
Then Yanny and I took our respective couches and went to sleep. Well as I'm sleeping I wake up because I hvae to go to the bathroom and I am walking by the spare room and Yanny is translating something. Then Lindsay (my sister) is sitting in the spare room at a table with my boss Mr. Bae.
"Hey Lindsay! What are you doing here?"
"Oh, I'm going to teach English."
"Oh really? Thats fantastic!!...Where are you going to live?"
"Oh i'm going to just move in with you."
"Wait, what? No, no! Trust me, you don't want to move in with me. You want your own space!"
i must note that my feeling in the dream was that i am so happy lindsay was coming but i was upset that i was given no warning and i wasn't asked if she could live with me.
"Lindsay, its part of the contract. You need to make him get you an apartment."
Then Mr. Bae says its too late. so I was shocked but whatever. I headed back to my couch to go to sleep. then all these kids from Kids Club were just roaming around the living room (where Yanny and I were supposed to be sleeping) in the middle of the night. I was so confused, but too tired to care. But as I looked in my bag I realized that all my tampons had been opened. (this is significant because tampons are not easy to come by in korea) Apparently the kids thought they were candy but when they found out they weren't they replaced them with half eaten lollipops. Every single tampon I had. I was so mad.
then i woke up. it was a freaky dream. maybe i am dealing with some frustrations....hmmm...i don't know. ;)
Saturday, July 19, 2008
ehhh...
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2015436&l=c507e&id=100300061 - june jewels
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2015437&l=ff55c&id=100300061 - im off to everland
so i dont really feel like typing at the moment. but i know that i am trying to be more consistent with keeping in touch so, i shall. the good news is i have tons of new pictures for you to look at, thanks to mr bae giving me a cd of pictures from our last few meetings. :) so enjoy!
hmm, last weekend was craziness - pure craziness. i will modify an email i sent out the other day describing the past week and a half:
anyways, so lets start with last week... usually i dont go out after work its too hard on me. im lazy. but last wednesday i met up with one of my friends to see the movie the strangers and for some japanese food! then thursday night yanny and i went out for our "celebrate open class is over" party. we went and saw "wanted" with angelina jolie and then had some dessert. it was so much fun! then friday i went out with minu, soon and some other koreans because soon is headed to san franscisco beginning of august for 2 years to get his masters. so we went to noraebang and we sang some crazy songs! because we had to find the mixture of english songs they knew and i knew. soon knows and likes the music i like but the other koreans don't know as much. so we sang somewhere over the rainbow, all i want for christmas by mariah carey...oh man it was sooo funny! then on saturday i went with vivi and her friends to a photo exhibit for a photographer i met a few weeks ago - which really cool. his pictures were all using smoke...i think he used incense smoke so it was really thin and beautiful. and didnt look like smoke at all. really cool. then we had dinner, and coffee at sweet coffee shop on a mountain. and then we went to vivi's friends house and hung out all night and then went to noraebang again. i love it! again i was the only foreigner.
you think id know more korean by now!!!
then on sunday i went to carribean bay with the baes and i finally met my little brother - baejees brother who is in the army right now. there is no johnny depp at carribean bay...sadly....its a giant waterpark where everyone wears a bikini and you can walk around barefoot! it was a fun day.
then on tuesday i met up with sanghoon and we went to seoul forest and the han river because i love grass and water. it was so nice. just walking around and talking. he wants to be a sports agent and he has a connection and the connection told him he would take him to Turkey in December if he can improve his English. so now i give him homework and i am really trying to help him.
then wed i had to clean my apartment because as you can imagine it was disgusting. not that i dont know how to clean, but when its just me..i dont like to clean.
today was play doctors and nurses day at kids club. sooo much fun. i love it! those kids are so funny and we had alike a dentist, ear, eye and then obgyn. and some kids had babies!!! oh my gosh it was sooo funny! so thats my life. its going so rapidly.
then sarah arrived on friday so friday morning was work to find her because unlike what she was told, she doesn't live at nowon station - she lives about 2 stations away. but after some work we figured out where she was and met up before work started that morning. then friday night we went and found sally who is sarah's high school friend who is teaching in ssangmun - 2 stops away in the other direction. sally has got the hook up with a sweet apartment and has been here about 2 weeks. (don't you love how my writing has no organization or flow at all? wow!) so we hung out with her friday night after having some pizza.
saturday - sarah and sally were introduced to seoul stuff - my friends who you always see in the pictures. we had a great time with noraebang! oh how i love it! and a good night out in hongdae getting a feel for the artsy, college area.
the past few days have been filled with, wow, this is weird. yeah, this is weird. so weird. we are in korea and you are here. wow. i probably acted like a big dork because im not used to having first of all foreigners around, plus people i know...so i tend to just kind of act crazy and well not crazy, just normal for me. :) so its been a refreshing weekend...
but tomorrow is monday....
and life begins.
(i don't like this quote. because everyday is life. so then i thought lets say "and real life begins" but i don't like that either. the idea that my real life is determined by work. hmmm, but at the same time we have been living in a somewhat suspended reality this weekend going here or there with no thoughts or demands on our schedule...yet. so maybe the world enters the picture tomorrow. hmm, yeah, well go with that.)
but tomorrow is monday...
no longer shall we enjoy our suspended reality....
and the rising sun brings with it the demands and schedules of the outside world.
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2015437&l=ff55c&id=100300061 - im off to everland
so i dont really feel like typing at the moment. but i know that i am trying to be more consistent with keeping in touch so, i shall. the good news is i have tons of new pictures for you to look at, thanks to mr bae giving me a cd of pictures from our last few meetings. :) so enjoy!
hmm, last weekend was craziness - pure craziness. i will modify an email i sent out the other day describing the past week and a half:
anyways, so lets start with last week... usually i dont go out after work its too hard on me. im lazy. but last wednesday i met up with one of my friends to see the movie the strangers and for some japanese food! then thursday night yanny and i went out for our "celebrate open class is over" party. we went and saw "wanted" with angelina jolie and then had some dessert. it was so much fun! then friday i went out with minu, soon and some other koreans because soon is headed to san franscisco beginning of august for 2 years to get his masters. so we went to noraebang and we sang some crazy songs! because we had to find the mixture of english songs they knew and i knew. soon knows and likes the music i like but the other koreans don't know as much. so we sang somewhere over the rainbow, all i want for christmas by mariah carey...oh man it was sooo funny! then on saturday i went with vivi and her friends to a photo exhibit for a photographer i met a few weeks ago - which really cool. his pictures were all using smoke...i think he used incense smoke so it was really thin and beautiful. and didnt look like smoke at all. really cool. then we had dinner, and coffee at sweet coffee shop on a mountain. and then we went to vivi's friends house and hung out all night and then went to noraebang again. i love it! again i was the only foreigner.
you think id know more korean by now!!!
then on sunday i went to carribean bay with the baes and i finally met my little brother - baejees brother who is in the army right now. there is no johnny depp at carribean bay...sadly....its a giant waterpark where everyone wears a bikini and you can walk around barefoot! it was a fun day.
then on tuesday i met up with sanghoon and we went to seoul forest and the han river because i love grass and water. it was so nice. just walking around and talking. he wants to be a sports agent and he has a connection and the connection told him he would take him to Turkey in December if he can improve his English. so now i give him homework and i am really trying to help him.
then wed i had to clean my apartment because as you can imagine it was disgusting. not that i dont know how to clean, but when its just me..i dont like to clean.
today was play doctors and nurses day at kids club. sooo much fun. i love it! those kids are so funny and we had alike a dentist, ear, eye and then obgyn. and some kids had babies!!! oh my gosh it was sooo funny! so thats my life. its going so rapidly.
then sarah arrived on friday so friday morning was work to find her because unlike what she was told, she doesn't live at nowon station - she lives about 2 stations away. but after some work we figured out where she was and met up before work started that morning. then friday night we went and found sally who is sarah's high school friend who is teaching in ssangmun - 2 stops away in the other direction. sally has got the hook up with a sweet apartment and has been here about 2 weeks. (don't you love how my writing has no organization or flow at all? wow!) so we hung out with her friday night after having some pizza.
saturday - sarah and sally were introduced to seoul stuff - my friends who you always see in the pictures. we had a great time with noraebang! oh how i love it! and a good night out in hongdae getting a feel for the artsy, college area.
the past few days have been filled with, wow, this is weird. yeah, this is weird. so weird. we are in korea and you are here. wow. i probably acted like a big dork because im not used to having first of all foreigners around, plus people i know...so i tend to just kind of act crazy and well not crazy, just normal for me. :) so its been a refreshing weekend...
but tomorrow is monday....
and life begins.
(i don't like this quote. because everyday is life. so then i thought lets say "and real life begins" but i don't like that either. the idea that my real life is determined by work. hmmm, but at the same time we have been living in a somewhat suspended reality this weekend going here or there with no thoughts or demands on our schedule...yet. so maybe the world enters the picture tomorrow. hmm, yeah, well go with that.)
but tomorrow is monday...
no longer shall we enjoy our suspended reality....
and the rising sun brings with it the demands and schedules of the outside world.
Friday, July 11, 2008
im mellllllllllltinnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnng
ok, so some of you may say this is simply because i am a witch. ;) but really, its just the seoul summer. i often prided myself on the fact that it gets pretty hot in north carolina and i would still play soccer in the summer (often with a little bit of whining) and go outside and not let the heat bother me.
korea is another story...i take that back...kids club is another story....so originally at our school we were told that we could only use the air conditioner if it was over 29 degrees C - roughly being 90 degrees F. and we could only use it for 30 minutes for each class (i still don't know what that means) and it has to be set at 25 degrees C which is roughly 80 degrees F. i still don't quite understand the system or how i am supposed to teach or how kids are to be taught in that condition - so instead of wasting their electricity i just decided not to use the air conditioner. if it was up to me it would run constantly because im always hot.
i dont know if it was the sweat beads running down my arms, or the look of "i could pass out at any moment" permanently plastered on my face or my mentions of "man its hot." but now in every class in the morning as soon as i show up (because i rotate classrooms) the windows are shut and the air conditioner goes on. and in the afternoon classes i dont turn on the "aircon" because i dont know if im allowed to - mr bae comes in and turns it on. so its getting better. but its hot.
did i mention its hot? and yes north carolina is hot but you know those really muggy days when you just can't do anything? i mean some years we have a lot of them in NC but often its just a few days throughout the summer when you just can't move.
well thats what its like here almost everyday. and then imagine not many trees, traffic, cement from the sidewalk and roadside....it just kind of adds up. and yet i am always fascinated how the korean girls can endure this weather and still look good! more power to you!
i know its summer when...
my extra polar ice gum is melting to the wrapper, my purse...to me.
my candy i keep at school to give out as prizes is melted
my hair is constantly frizzy....and i don't care.
all the little hooks in my house that are hot glued to the wall are now laying on the floor.
my cheeks are perpetually a bright pink color from sunburn
i step into my office and break out into a sweat.
ahhhh yes, its summer time and the living is easy. :)
korea is another story...i take that back...kids club is another story....so originally at our school we were told that we could only use the air conditioner if it was over 29 degrees C - roughly being 90 degrees F. and we could only use it for 30 minutes for each class (i still don't know what that means) and it has to be set at 25 degrees C which is roughly 80 degrees F. i still don't quite understand the system or how i am supposed to teach or how kids are to be taught in that condition - so instead of wasting their electricity i just decided not to use the air conditioner. if it was up to me it would run constantly because im always hot.
i dont know if it was the sweat beads running down my arms, or the look of "i could pass out at any moment" permanently plastered on my face or my mentions of "man its hot." but now in every class in the morning as soon as i show up (because i rotate classrooms) the windows are shut and the air conditioner goes on. and in the afternoon classes i dont turn on the "aircon" because i dont know if im allowed to - mr bae comes in and turns it on. so its getting better. but its hot.
did i mention its hot? and yes north carolina is hot but you know those really muggy days when you just can't do anything? i mean some years we have a lot of them in NC but often its just a few days throughout the summer when you just can't move.
well thats what its like here almost everyday. and then imagine not many trees, traffic, cement from the sidewalk and roadside....it just kind of adds up. and yet i am always fascinated how the korean girls can endure this weather and still look good! more power to you!
i know its summer when...
my extra polar ice gum is melting to the wrapper, my purse...to me.
my candy i keep at school to give out as prizes is melted
my hair is constantly frizzy....and i don't care.
all the little hooks in my house that are hot glued to the wall are now laying on the floor.
my cheeks are perpetually a bright pink color from sunburn
i step into my office and break out into a sweat.
ahhhh yes, its summer time and the living is easy. :)
Saturday, July 5, 2008
open class
so i must admit that it does make me feel better when some people comment on how long it has been since ive published a new post. sometimes that is the encouragement i need. hehe...not that i haven't been doing anything, because i have but work has been pretty busy lately - make that very busy! and on top of it, i don't have any of the pictures from my travels because other people take the pictures and i must wait to have them emailed to me, thus kind of keeping me from posting because i like pictures to go with my stories.
so this post is really just going to be a random mix of whatever i think of and what i forget, im sorry. hehe...so yesterday was the 4th of july and that means nothing in korea. well duh. i knew that. but it really didn't mean too much for me celebration-wise either. i was quite surprised that i could find almost no events for americans to celebrate in seoul! i mean there was a st patty's day parade, there was a canada day festival...and where was the 4th of july fireworks? the best i could find was a foreign bar that was serving hotdogs, free shots of tequila to americans, fireworks and they were tolerating obnoxious american behavior. hmmm....wasn't worth the hour subway ride. plus it was a friday and its really hard for me to get excited to do anything on a friday night. i like to go home after work, sleep then maybe wake up and do something. but really just sleep.
so considering i have no pool, no bbq, and not much energy... i decided to settle for some ice cream, peach tea and a movie on my computer. hehehe...sometimes thats just good enough.
today is saturday. i was supposed to have a rugby game but the game was cancelled due to lack of participation and possibility of rain. bah humbug! i was so excited for that game! but it seems to me the touch rugby is much more established and popular whereas the actual rugby team is struggling to get off the ground...or at least from what i have experienced thus far. and to me waking up early on a saturday to ride an hour on the subway to practice touch rugby well sometimes i just can't bring myself to do it. especially when every day i have to wake up at a designated time and be somewhere. i like to not have to be anywhere. its kind of nice. :)
so instead i sleep in till i can't pretend to sleep anymore which is about 9am....:( so sad.... then i talk to my sister on the internet, do some reading and then move some furniture. this has actually turned into an addiction where pretty much anytime i am at home on teh weekend i have to move furniture. i dont know if my feng shu is off or what but its just something i do. and its kind of weird. needless to say i haven't gotten it right yet.
so work - this past week has been open class so for everyday for the past week here was the daily schedule:
9:30 arrive at work and make my little plan for the class and go upstairs and make sure everything is set up for the parents and my students.
10:10 the students come to hang out with me (which is only 10 students when usually i have 20) not for the next 20 minutes i am to entertain/practice what we will be doing when their parents come to observe. but i don't really want to "practice" what we will do when the parents come because then the kids don't care. (and we were supposed to "practice" all last week pretty much everyday having the same class as we would when the parents arrived. ok, so i did this maybe one day but yanny teacher practiced the same activities everyday and of course the kids were tired of it by the end of the week. im glad i didnt do that) but also yanny gets stuck with computer classes with the kids and having to be a bit more educational where all that is expected of me is games and activities. she has it much harder than i do.
10:25 the parents are supposed to arrive...we are still waiting...so i whisper things to the kids like are you ready? what do you say when amber teacher says good morning? the kids love this almost as much as i do. we are all somewhat nervous and i have no idea how they are going to respond when their parents walk in. so we make silly faces at each other and try to ease the tension sometimes just laughing at each other. :)
10:35 the parents join the class and we are able to start - but 5 minutes late which when you program your time to a T - causes a little bit of frustration. and remember don't start class until mr bae has the videocamera up and ready. oh dear. hahahaha
10:35 - 11:00 = and we go through a regular class day, we sing our songs right now the "ants go marching " you know the one that goes all the way up to 10....so amber teacher is sweating like a beast at this point....then we go through the day and the weather and we sing the silly song which we all love! and then review either with telephones or i toss a ball around the class. and then game time! for the younger kids we make a giant face - which i will post pictures of what i made! (the hours put into that :) a labor of love!) and for the older kids the bug game which they ADORE!
11:00 - 11:30then i have to be sure to stop EXACTLY at 11 or the whole system is thrown off...which is not true. but i follow their orders. hehe. the kids switch with the other half of their class the parents come with and we go through a regular class day once again.
11:35 - 12:30 after a 5 minute break to grab my notes and some orange juice yanny and i head back up stairs for the parent teacher conference. this consists of yanny explaining the classes and then we sit and make comments about every single student. oh yes and amber teacher speaks English and tried to act like the students so the parents understand and then yanny translates for them.
yanny told me afterward she would kind of drift off when i was talking and so she'd have to make up something to translate. i said that was great because i dont think i wanted what i said translated directly anyways. the parents got the jist when i would act out the enthusiastic kid, the distracted kid, the sad kid and the scared to death kid. though it was really funny because the last day we started the student comments and so yanny says 'eric" and his mom raises her hand and i started spouting off in english and everyone starts laughing! oh, they didn't know yanny was going to translate! hahahha oh they crack me up.
it was actually quite enjoyable. though mr bae said i needed to talk less...i dont think so. i never get to speak to these parents and here is one time i am allowed to tell them what i think about their kids and how much i enjoy teaching them and share stories! no, i will tell them what i think and experience...whether it gets translated is another issue. heheheh
12:30 - 1:00 eat lunch quickly
1:00 to 1:40 back to practicing for the next days class
2:00 to 2:30 prepare for afternoon classes
2:30 till whenever teach afternoon classes
and then working on grading tests, writing and typing evaluations and filing papers for the kids.
and that has been my week. long, yes, long. good, but long.
~ but as i told yanny the thing that makes me SOOO happy - is that i honestly missed the kids. we only taught one morning class a day so we didnt see some kids almost all week. and i missed them and they missed me! i was excited to see them! that makes me happy. sometimes i get bogged down with the classroom setting and being a teacher and all those shenanigans but really i love the kids. so that makes me happy.
~another funny story - so i was walking home around 6:30 and the bus taking the kids to school just left and it was sitting at the intersection waiting for a green light and i was standing at the intersection waiting for my green light and the kids spotted me. seriously 15 kids stuck their heads out the bus window and they are just screaming AMBER TEACHER! HELLO AMBER TEACHER!!! and not just once, but over and over and over... and the koreans walking around are staring at me and one old guy smiles and says something to me in korean...it was sooo funny. the kids are great. did i say that? because i meant it.
~and not just that but all us teachers went out for dinner on thursday night. such fun. we had gopchung which is the pig intestines. not bad. i can eat it and i dont think it smells bad though apparently lots of people do. i dont know. and then we went to starbucks. its so nice to be friends with my coworkers and know that it doesn't matter that i still dont speak korean very well. we are friends. and me and rabbit teacher are becoming pretty good friends. she found out i thought she hated me but i know she doesnt and she knows i don't think that. we are just limited by our language. hehe oh well...amber teacher! go study! :)
so this post is really just going to be a random mix of whatever i think of and what i forget, im sorry. hehe...so yesterday was the 4th of july and that means nothing in korea. well duh. i knew that. but it really didn't mean too much for me celebration-wise either. i was quite surprised that i could find almost no events for americans to celebrate in seoul! i mean there was a st patty's day parade, there was a canada day festival...and where was the 4th of july fireworks? the best i could find was a foreign bar that was serving hotdogs, free shots of tequila to americans, fireworks and they were tolerating obnoxious american behavior. hmmm....wasn't worth the hour subway ride. plus it was a friday and its really hard for me to get excited to do anything on a friday night. i like to go home after work, sleep then maybe wake up and do something. but really just sleep.
so considering i have no pool, no bbq, and not much energy... i decided to settle for some ice cream, peach tea and a movie on my computer. hehehe...sometimes thats just good enough.
today is saturday. i was supposed to have a rugby game but the game was cancelled due to lack of participation and possibility of rain. bah humbug! i was so excited for that game! but it seems to me the touch rugby is much more established and popular whereas the actual rugby team is struggling to get off the ground...or at least from what i have experienced thus far. and to me waking up early on a saturday to ride an hour on the subway to practice touch rugby well sometimes i just can't bring myself to do it. especially when every day i have to wake up at a designated time and be somewhere. i like to not have to be anywhere. its kind of nice. :)
so instead i sleep in till i can't pretend to sleep anymore which is about 9am....:( so sad.... then i talk to my sister on the internet, do some reading and then move some furniture. this has actually turned into an addiction where pretty much anytime i am at home on teh weekend i have to move furniture. i dont know if my feng shu is off or what but its just something i do. and its kind of weird. needless to say i haven't gotten it right yet.
so work - this past week has been open class so for everyday for the past week here was the daily schedule:
9:30 arrive at work and make my little plan for the class and go upstairs and make sure everything is set up for the parents and my students.
10:10 the students come to hang out with me (which is only 10 students when usually i have 20) not for the next 20 minutes i am to entertain/practice what we will be doing when their parents come to observe. but i don't really want to "practice" what we will do when the parents come because then the kids don't care. (and we were supposed to "practice" all last week pretty much everyday having the same class as we would when the parents arrived. ok, so i did this maybe one day but yanny teacher practiced the same activities everyday and of course the kids were tired of it by the end of the week. im glad i didnt do that) but also yanny gets stuck with computer classes with the kids and having to be a bit more educational where all that is expected of me is games and activities. she has it much harder than i do.
10:25 the parents are supposed to arrive...we are still waiting...so i whisper things to the kids like are you ready? what do you say when amber teacher says good morning? the kids love this almost as much as i do. we are all somewhat nervous and i have no idea how they are going to respond when their parents walk in. so we make silly faces at each other and try to ease the tension sometimes just laughing at each other. :)
10:35 the parents join the class and we are able to start - but 5 minutes late which when you program your time to a T - causes a little bit of frustration. and remember don't start class until mr bae has the videocamera up and ready. oh dear. hahahaha
10:35 - 11:00 = and we go through a regular class day, we sing our songs right now the "ants go marching " you know the one that goes all the way up to 10....so amber teacher is sweating like a beast at this point....then we go through the day and the weather and we sing the silly song which we all love! and then review either with telephones or i toss a ball around the class. and then game time! for the younger kids we make a giant face - which i will post pictures of what i made! (the hours put into that :) a labor of love!) and for the older kids the bug game which they ADORE!
11:00 - 11:30then i have to be sure to stop EXACTLY at 11 or the whole system is thrown off...which is not true. but i follow their orders. hehe. the kids switch with the other half of their class the parents come with and we go through a regular class day once again.
11:35 - 12:30 after a 5 minute break to grab my notes and some orange juice yanny and i head back up stairs for the parent teacher conference. this consists of yanny explaining the classes and then we sit and make comments about every single student. oh yes and amber teacher speaks English and tried to act like the students so the parents understand and then yanny translates for them.
yanny told me afterward she would kind of drift off when i was talking and so she'd have to make up something to translate. i said that was great because i dont think i wanted what i said translated directly anyways. the parents got the jist when i would act out the enthusiastic kid, the distracted kid, the sad kid and the scared to death kid. though it was really funny because the last day we started the student comments and so yanny says 'eric" and his mom raises her hand and i started spouting off in english and everyone starts laughing! oh, they didn't know yanny was going to translate! hahahha oh they crack me up.
it was actually quite enjoyable. though mr bae said i needed to talk less...i dont think so. i never get to speak to these parents and here is one time i am allowed to tell them what i think about their kids and how much i enjoy teaching them and share stories! no, i will tell them what i think and experience...whether it gets translated is another issue. heheheh
12:30 - 1:00 eat lunch quickly
1:00 to 1:40 back to practicing for the next days class
2:00 to 2:30 prepare for afternoon classes
2:30 till whenever teach afternoon classes
and then working on grading tests, writing and typing evaluations and filing papers for the kids.
and that has been my week. long, yes, long. good, but long.
~ but as i told yanny the thing that makes me SOOO happy - is that i honestly missed the kids. we only taught one morning class a day so we didnt see some kids almost all week. and i missed them and they missed me! i was excited to see them! that makes me happy. sometimes i get bogged down with the classroom setting and being a teacher and all those shenanigans but really i love the kids. so that makes me happy.
~another funny story - so i was walking home around 6:30 and the bus taking the kids to school just left and it was sitting at the intersection waiting for a green light and i was standing at the intersection waiting for my green light and the kids spotted me. seriously 15 kids stuck their heads out the bus window and they are just screaming AMBER TEACHER! HELLO AMBER TEACHER!!! and not just once, but over and over and over... and the koreans walking around are staring at me and one old guy smiles and says something to me in korean...it was sooo funny. the kids are great. did i say that? because i meant it.
~and not just that but all us teachers went out for dinner on thursday night. such fun. we had gopchung which is the pig intestines. not bad. i can eat it and i dont think it smells bad though apparently lots of people do. i dont know. and then we went to starbucks. its so nice to be friends with my coworkers and know that it doesn't matter that i still dont speak korean very well. we are friends. and me and rabbit teacher are becoming pretty good friends. she found out i thought she hated me but i know she doesnt and she knows i don't think that. we are just limited by our language. hehe oh well...amber teacher! go study! :)
Friday, June 20, 2008
links to pictures
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2014850&l=01f38&id=100300061 - Dreams do come true
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2014851&l=d3ce7&id=100300061 - connect the dots
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2014851&l=d3ce7&id=100300061 - connect the dots
cool days
so last monday my coworker vivi invited me to meet her friend who is a photographer. he actually needs some lip models for some pictures and vivi thought of me. so i got to meet this guy who has an exhibition in insadong next month. we ended up in a japanese pub in hyewa and had a great night of talking (Q and Vivi translating) and eating and just being people together. it was so much fun! the owner came and spoke to us (seeing i was the only foreigner in the little artsy pub) for awhile and he also gave us some free food! whoo hooo but we did end up staying out till 3am which hurts on monday morning - but totally worth it. he also gave me a set of his photos from his first exhibition which i think are sooo cool. he doesn't like them as much but i think they are pretty sweet, and they are awesome pay to model for.
...now when are we going to take those pictures?...
and just a note if you didn't check out the pictures, last weekend i got to go to a USA women's national soccer team game versus the Australian Women's team. we payed like $10 for 2 tickets for the game and we could have stayed to watch the second game of Brazil versus Italy. it was amazing, though there were only like 100 people there...pretty much unbelievable to me. but we got free tshirts and had a great day of sitting outside in the beautiful weather!
then if that wasn't good enough we went to Hwasong which is a Korean castle, or fortress. it was so beautiful because the sun was setting and it was breezey, and you could see the whole city! it was unbelievable...though my camera died before we got to the top. i was quite sad about that. butit wsa beautiful and wonderful and just a great day which ended with $12 sushi buffet at suwon station. it was dellllllllllllllllicioussssssssssssss. and cool.
so that is quite a summary of a wonderful time. but hopefully the pictures give you a peek...
...now when are we going to take those pictures?...
and just a note if you didn't check out the pictures, last weekend i got to go to a USA women's national soccer team game versus the Australian Women's team. we payed like $10 for 2 tickets for the game and we could have stayed to watch the second game of Brazil versus Italy. it was amazing, though there were only like 100 people there...pretty much unbelievable to me. but we got free tshirts and had a great day of sitting outside in the beautiful weather!
then if that wasn't good enough we went to Hwasong which is a Korean castle, or fortress. it was so beautiful because the sun was setting and it was breezey, and you could see the whole city! it was unbelievable...though my camera died before we got to the top. i was quite sad about that. butit wsa beautiful and wonderful and just a great day which ended with $12 sushi buffet at suwon station. it was dellllllllllllllllicioussssssssssssss. and cool.
so that is quite a summary of a wonderful time. but hopefully the pictures give you a peek...
friday night
so once again its friday night and i find myself so happy to be in my apartment watching tv, surfing around the internet and not doing anything. ahhhhh its so nice! this week and the next two weeks are going to be some of the busiest i think thus far. and the reason : open class! oh yes mommies and daddies come and observe english class!
i have to watch my attitude with open class because i kind of feel, hey, this is me, i do my best every class, so i pull out some of my best games and go forth to the intimidating open class. but my amazing coteacher yanny is freaking amazing and makes like the sweetest crafts ever. so she gives me ideas....so i make the ideas but i have no idea how i am going to use them. slightly frustrating...ok, really frustrating. and every night being up till 2 am....then next week we will have "practice" for open class. and we will have monthly tests and evaluations for the afternoon classes. and then june 30th we start the week of open classes. then each day that week will be open class. oh the joys of teaching. haha...luckily for me im the foreign teacher.
i actually went running monday night. amazing, eh? i really would like to start running again but i dont like walking 20 mins down to the river, so there is an elementary school with a track. but it is packed pretty much all day. and i was up at 1am so i decided to go and there were still like 4 people just hanging out there. but you know, sometimes you just have to put your earbuds in your ears and embrace the foreigner-ness. i dont really like to do that, but i feel like its kind of necessary at times.
for example (my foreignerness) i now wear these "samdidas" sandals - mock adidas flops for some of you - i love them, they are my style and so i wear them all the time. some of my korean friends like to give me crap for it because they are house slippers. people don't really wear them out in public - and especially to go out with friends! but yanny told me, it doesn't matter. you can wear them if you like. hmmm, i can wear them if i like. it doesn't matter. and i realized with that statement that i try so hard to learn about the culture and fit in that i never say, it doesn't matter...i always ask, can i wear this, should i wear that, can i do this, should i do that. and i think that is a great attitude to have - but as yanny said (sometimes) it doesn't matter. and so sometimes i pop my ipod on, put my head down and i embrace the fact that i am a foreigner and probably a little weird. thats ok.
side story: i told my friend Amy that i wore the samdidas sandals to gangnam and she just about died. You wore them to GANGNAM? thats like the biggest fashion area!!! and you wore those!!!! and you went to a club!!!!!...yes. they didn't want to let me in, but they did, after they asked me how much i spent on them. only 3,000 won....ok, you can go in. hahaha i dont know.
as my friend Q said, "Amber, you are like one of the 4400." Unbelievable but true. :)
i have to watch my attitude with open class because i kind of feel, hey, this is me, i do my best every class, so i pull out some of my best games and go forth to the intimidating open class. but my amazing coteacher yanny is freaking amazing and makes like the sweetest crafts ever. so she gives me ideas....so i make the ideas but i have no idea how i am going to use them. slightly frustrating...ok, really frustrating. and every night being up till 2 am....then next week we will have "practice" for open class. and we will have monthly tests and evaluations for the afternoon classes. and then june 30th we start the week of open classes. then each day that week will be open class. oh the joys of teaching. haha...luckily for me im the foreign teacher.
i actually went running monday night. amazing, eh? i really would like to start running again but i dont like walking 20 mins down to the river, so there is an elementary school with a track. but it is packed pretty much all day. and i was up at 1am so i decided to go and there were still like 4 people just hanging out there. but you know, sometimes you just have to put your earbuds in your ears and embrace the foreigner-ness. i dont really like to do that, but i feel like its kind of necessary at times.
for example (my foreignerness) i now wear these "samdidas" sandals - mock adidas flops for some of you - i love them, they are my style and so i wear them all the time. some of my korean friends like to give me crap for it because they are house slippers. people don't really wear them out in public - and especially to go out with friends! but yanny told me, it doesn't matter. you can wear them if you like. hmmm, i can wear them if i like. it doesn't matter. and i realized with that statement that i try so hard to learn about the culture and fit in that i never say, it doesn't matter...i always ask, can i wear this, should i wear that, can i do this, should i do that. and i think that is a great attitude to have - but as yanny said (sometimes) it doesn't matter. and so sometimes i pop my ipod on, put my head down and i embrace the fact that i am a foreigner and probably a little weird. thats ok.
side story: i told my friend Amy that i wore the samdidas sandals to gangnam and she just about died. You wore them to GANGNAM? thats like the biggest fashion area!!! and you wore those!!!! and you went to a club!!!!!...yes. they didn't want to let me in, but they did, after they asked me how much i spent on them. only 3,000 won....ok, you can go in. hahaha i dont know.
as my friend Q said, "Amber, you are like one of the 4400." Unbelievable but true. :)
Friday, June 13, 2008
just a day
so today was friday..is friday...friday the 13th. kkk..
anyways, so its my "Hell" day because every other friday in the afternoon i have 3 back to back classes of me with over 20 kids - and its just me and the kids. its tough stuff. but my attack is to play big games that instead of stiffling the kids personalities, rather lets them just be and try their hand at english at the same time.
so the week of those fridays i usually freak out because i need a really good game, or the kids will eat me alive. so this week i was thinking battleship but i couldn't quite get the logistics right. soooo instead, i found this sweet game online called "disaster" - i appropriately named it "Tornado." there are like 20 to 30 vocabulary words attached to the board and 2 teams. i call one student from a team and they can pick a word and they have to read it to me. then on the back of the vocabulary card is either point value or a TORNADO!!!!! if its a tornado i scream tornado (and i mean i scream tornado) and then i start spinning around like a crazy person. then i taught all the students what to do in a tornado drill - and so they all hide under their desks. if they don't get under and i get them, they lose their next turn. oh and the team that picks the card with the tornado loses all of their points. the kids LOOOOOVED it! they were screaming and yelling. when the other team had to pick a card, the other team would start chanting "tor-na-do! tor-na-do!" and their little faces of anticipation! and some of them were even praying! i have to admit, it was pretty intense because i didn't really know where the tornados were.
the reason i am sharing this story is because this week has been a little rough at the start and reveiw days are not my favorite. and even this morning was really slow and not so good...but this week ended on a GREAT note! though i dont konw if the other teachers appreciated how loud i was. i mean im like my own cheerleading squad. and they kids start screaming - it was awesome.
and today we were doing this computer program in the morning...and its so cheesey i am shocked the kids like it. so there is one little dance part and so we watched it and then the kids, in their usually fashion, "ONE MORE TIME!" and i looked at them, "really? one more time?"
Then Walter, one of my favorites, "Yes REALLY, Amber Teacher!" hahahahhahha these kids are too smart.
the other day i took some time and made a cool little wheel thing to use in class. well i was a little bit proud of it. so in tiger class, i pulled out my little contraption to review with the kids and harry (potter) yells out "wowwww" hahahahha...do you understand why i love this job? im like famous or something....the kids are great! frustrating at times, but i love 'em! and i think they deal with me pretty well!
a few weeks ago i was starting the tiger class with songs as usual and Vivi teacher left - so it was me and the 20 kids. so we were singing and then the song ended then they started chantin "one more time" but not just that. there is a very famous korean song "Baby One More Time" so the kids start chanting "baby one more time!" "baby one more time!" standing on their chairs and doing the dance move. it was kind of scary. i knew i couldn't fight them...so after i stopped laughin i played the song "baby one more time" kkkkk
anyways, so its my "Hell" day because every other friday in the afternoon i have 3 back to back classes of me with over 20 kids - and its just me and the kids. its tough stuff. but my attack is to play big games that instead of stiffling the kids personalities, rather lets them just be and try their hand at english at the same time.
so the week of those fridays i usually freak out because i need a really good game, or the kids will eat me alive. so this week i was thinking battleship but i couldn't quite get the logistics right. soooo instead, i found this sweet game online called "disaster" - i appropriately named it "Tornado." there are like 20 to 30 vocabulary words attached to the board and 2 teams. i call one student from a team and they can pick a word and they have to read it to me. then on the back of the vocabulary card is either point value or a TORNADO!!!!! if its a tornado i scream tornado (and i mean i scream tornado) and then i start spinning around like a crazy person. then i taught all the students what to do in a tornado drill - and so they all hide under their desks. if they don't get under and i get them, they lose their next turn. oh and the team that picks the card with the tornado loses all of their points. the kids LOOOOOVED it! they were screaming and yelling. when the other team had to pick a card, the other team would start chanting "tor-na-do! tor-na-do!" and their little faces of anticipation! and some of them were even praying! i have to admit, it was pretty intense because i didn't really know where the tornados were.
the reason i am sharing this story is because this week has been a little rough at the start and reveiw days are not my favorite. and even this morning was really slow and not so good...but this week ended on a GREAT note! though i dont konw if the other teachers appreciated how loud i was. i mean im like my own cheerleading squad. and they kids start screaming - it was awesome.
and today we were doing this computer program in the morning...and its so cheesey i am shocked the kids like it. so there is one little dance part and so we watched it and then the kids, in their usually fashion, "ONE MORE TIME!" and i looked at them, "really? one more time?"
Then Walter, one of my favorites, "Yes REALLY, Amber Teacher!" hahahahhahha these kids are too smart.
the other day i took some time and made a cool little wheel thing to use in class. well i was a little bit proud of it. so in tiger class, i pulled out my little contraption to review with the kids and harry (potter) yells out "wowwww" hahahahha...do you understand why i love this job? im like famous or something....the kids are great! frustrating at times, but i love 'em! and i think they deal with me pretty well!
a few weeks ago i was starting the tiger class with songs as usual and Vivi teacher left - so it was me and the 20 kids. so we were singing and then the song ended then they started chantin "one more time" but not just that. there is a very famous korean song "Baby One More Time" so the kids start chanting "baby one more time!" "baby one more time!" standing on their chairs and doing the dance move. it was kind of scary. i knew i couldn't fight them...so after i stopped laughin i played the song "baby one more time" kkkkk
Sunday, June 8, 2008
birthdays are awesome!
so my birthday was pretty great. my birthday fell on thursday but friday was a holiday! whoo hoo! work was hard this week too as the end of the month involves report cards and evaluations. so all week i spent trying to clean and scrub my house and fill it with food and stuff so my teachers could come to my house and party! so in my mothers style all week i stayed up till 2 or 3am working in the house and trying to prepare.
on thursday each class was a surprise as the students made me letters and sang happy birthday to me before i tried to teach them more english. it was so wonderful! they made posters, letters, cards and some of the teachers gave me gifts as well. yanny teacher gave me a moon heejun cd which is awesome! and janie teacher gave me some sweet bracelets - we have similar jewerly style. so it was a wonderful day and we all shared cake after work!
so after we all finished working we went to the grocery store and then to my flat! they made all seaweed soup which is traditional for bdays, then some cold soups and kimchi jjang...which is one of my favorite foods! they were amazing! they did the cooking and i learned a few things. then we just sat around and talked and watched tv and had a great time together! there were 7 teachers total plus me. then we all decided to go out dancing at a local club...which is a different type of club.
you pay like $30 and you get a table and food comes with it automatically. there is a dance floor which is small and the tables take up most of the space. then....waiters sporatically come around and try and get women to go and sit with other men. this is called booking and its a way to help people meet other people. yanny and michelle teacher both got dragged to another table but quickly returned! so it was a great "girls night out" and i had a blast!
so then on friday morning i woke up early...6am because i was supposed to be going to nami island with my friend sanghoon. but sadly enough we were unable to get sitting train tickets - there was only standing seats. so we decided we were both tired and we didnt' really want to go...plus i was having a birthday party at my house and was meeting my friend soon at 4pm.
so instead we went to the movies and we saw "kung fu panda" - awesome! so good. i could only think of lindsay as i listened to jack blacks voice! then we had lunch and went to my favorite tea shop in insadong! we even got to see a protest and went to a bookstore. it was a lot of fun!
then i met up with my friend soon to go shopping for food for the party! soon is pretty amazing because when i told him about my party he offered to take me shopping (driving his car) and also to cook food! i was just going to get some pizzas and ice cream! hahaha, so soon, sienna and i went shopping and i learned alot. hahahaha.
they made ddeokpokkee and kimchi fried rice which were great. and it was so funny because soon kept having to leave so some other korean would step in and start cooking. i didnt even feel like the hostess. i just supplied the food and place and everyone did everything else. it was a good combo of the koreans i know through different venues. it was awesome.
also, tristan bought a cake and 2 chickens. soon made soju fusion drinks (cocktails) with watermelon. no one really liked them but it was cool! i had about 12 people total throughout the course of the night. it was a lot of fun. and they even brought me birthday gifts! it was crazy! but so much fun and a great birthday!
then on saturday night i went to my directors house and dinner with Baejee, Sylvia teacher and Mr. Bae. they live pretty close and on the 20th floor! their flat is awesome! we had dinner and loooked at pictures and enjoyed being with each other.
so i had a great birthday weekend filled with love from new friends in korea and shout outs from my friends in america. i love you and miss you all so much and i can never forget you! :) dont worry!
on thursday each class was a surprise as the students made me letters and sang happy birthday to me before i tried to teach them more english. it was so wonderful! they made posters, letters, cards and some of the teachers gave me gifts as well. yanny teacher gave me a moon heejun cd which is awesome! and janie teacher gave me some sweet bracelets - we have similar jewerly style. so it was a wonderful day and we all shared cake after work!
so after we all finished working we went to the grocery store and then to my flat! they made all seaweed soup which is traditional for bdays, then some cold soups and kimchi jjang...which is one of my favorite foods! they were amazing! they did the cooking and i learned a few things. then we just sat around and talked and watched tv and had a great time together! there were 7 teachers total plus me. then we all decided to go out dancing at a local club...which is a different type of club.
you pay like $30 and you get a table and food comes with it automatically. there is a dance floor which is small and the tables take up most of the space. then....waiters sporatically come around and try and get women to go and sit with other men. this is called booking and its a way to help people meet other people. yanny and michelle teacher both got dragged to another table but quickly returned! so it was a great "girls night out" and i had a blast!
so then on friday morning i woke up early...6am because i was supposed to be going to nami island with my friend sanghoon. but sadly enough we were unable to get sitting train tickets - there was only standing seats. so we decided we were both tired and we didnt' really want to go...plus i was having a birthday party at my house and was meeting my friend soon at 4pm.
so instead we went to the movies and we saw "kung fu panda" - awesome! so good. i could only think of lindsay as i listened to jack blacks voice! then we had lunch and went to my favorite tea shop in insadong! we even got to see a protest and went to a bookstore. it was a lot of fun!
then i met up with my friend soon to go shopping for food for the party! soon is pretty amazing because when i told him about my party he offered to take me shopping (driving his car) and also to cook food! i was just going to get some pizzas and ice cream! hahaha, so soon, sienna and i went shopping and i learned alot. hahahaha.
they made ddeokpokkee and kimchi fried rice which were great. and it was so funny because soon kept having to leave so some other korean would step in and start cooking. i didnt even feel like the hostess. i just supplied the food and place and everyone did everything else. it was a good combo of the koreans i know through different venues. it was awesome.
also, tristan bought a cake and 2 chickens. soon made soju fusion drinks (cocktails) with watermelon. no one really liked them but it was cool! i had about 12 people total throughout the course of the night. it was a lot of fun. and they even brought me birthday gifts! it was crazy! but so much fun and a great birthday!
then on saturday night i went to my directors house and dinner with Baejee, Sylvia teacher and Mr. Bae. they live pretty close and on the 20th floor! their flat is awesome! we had dinner and loooked at pictures and enjoyed being with each other.
so i had a great birthday weekend filled with love from new friends in korea and shout outs from my friends in america. i love you and miss you all so much and i can never forget you! :) dont worry!
Sunday, June 1, 2008
WHOOOOOAAAAAA!!!!!
so i have an AMAZING set of friends who i thank God for constantly!!
Sarah Nesbitt and Andrea Schriefer - Thank you sooooooooooooo much for the AMAZING packages! they are amazing and i love you both soooooooooooo much!
You really really really really made my days so much happier!
thank you! kamsamnida!
Sarah Nesbitt and Andrea Schriefer - Thank you sooooooooooooo much for the AMAZING packages! they are amazing and i love you both soooooooooooo much!
You really really really really made my days so much happier!
thank you! kamsamnida!
june 1st? already?
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2014566&l=cc1b6&id=100300061 - im reaching
hello folks!
well this weekend was an interesting mix of different events that i really enjoyed! the main event being : RUGBY!!!!! oh yes! Seoul has a women's rugby team that plays real games and really practices! oh how i love international cities! so my body and spirit is in need of some of some competitiveness as well as some good old fashioned exercise.
so the team is made up of mainly australians, canadians, kiwis, brits and some american girls. the coaches are i think aussies. not quite sure at this point. but very cool set of people. and there is also a korean team but they didn't come out. i have never played rugby before and my only experience with it is a game i went to in australia. and i didnt do any research before i went either. hehehe. so easy enough to follow the drills which are just like soccer except you hold the ball and throw it.
the fun part came when we split up into forwards and backs. well appearantly the backs need to be fast and forwards are for the slower players. so of course i went there. so i ended up spending the rest of the practice hoisting a girl up into the air so she could catch the ball and begin the play. pretty much just like the picture, except that we didn't look as goofy. or so i think.
but the point of this, is i felt so alive! the weather was fantastic, it felt so good to run around and play. i feel like i found a piece of my life that has been missing! so i think this is something that i will keep in my schedule...but that will include running during the week and some kind of workout because i am soooo sore right now. and some other girl broke her collarbone a few weeks ago, so i have to protect myself.
then i signed up to take a korean language class which should be a great combination with my korean language partners. this class is 1 on 1 but the teacher is certified to teach korean and has textbook. so this i think will be a good start for me! :)
saturday night i spent hanging out with my korean friends in gangnam and just enjoying being in a big noisy group of people. so i think it was a good day.
this week is only 4 days as friday is a national holiday. this week has big promises...but i will reveal those later!
until next time!
Friday, May 30, 2008
budgeting for may
so for those of you who are interested in working in korea i will once again write about my spendings and some of my earnings. so really for those of you who want to come here...for others this is probably boring.
ok, so the things i have to pay for compared from april to may:
income tax - 3% which comes out to about $70
housing management fee - $25
gas fee - $12 down to $5
Water - $4
electric - $7 to $10
internet - $37
cell phone - $20
and i will have to pay insurance which comes out to about $75 a month.
now as for what i control as compared april to may:
food - $95 to $79
eating out - $61 to $51
school fee stuff - $20 to $59 (this increase is because of teacher's day gifts and bday parties)
transportation - $25 to $45
drinks - $38 (same both months and this is me paying for other people....and drinking western drinks....soju and maekju are much much cheaper. pick your friends wisely. :)
doing stuff - $13 - $106 (this increase is me taking people out and just overall doing a lot more than the month before... and doing it by myself or treating others)
shopping - $64 to $318 (i bought a digital camera this month for $300....so really i spent less but went clothing shopping more. but the way i shop i can get shirts and skirts for $5 each. i like it that way!)
So i think i can spend about $300 to $500 a month. i think that is understandable and not too much. granted, as i said before i dont keep food in my house. between eating at school and eating out with friends, well i dont really have to eat at home. so i hope this helps. please let me know if you have any questions. :) hahaha
ok, so the things i have to pay for compared from april to may:
income tax - 3% which comes out to about $70
housing management fee - $25
gas fee - $12 down to $5
Water - $4
electric - $7 to $10
internet - $37
cell phone - $20
and i will have to pay insurance which comes out to about $75 a month.
now as for what i control as compared april to may:
food - $95 to $79
eating out - $61 to $51
school fee stuff - $20 to $59 (this increase is because of teacher's day gifts and bday parties)
transportation - $25 to $45
drinks - $38 (same both months and this is me paying for other people....and drinking western drinks....soju and maekju are much much cheaper. pick your friends wisely. :)
doing stuff - $13 - $106 (this increase is me taking people out and just overall doing a lot more than the month before... and doing it by myself or treating others)
shopping - $64 to $318 (i bought a digital camera this month for $300....so really i spent less but went clothing shopping more. but the way i shop i can get shirts and skirts for $5 each. i like it that way!)
So i think i can spend about $300 to $500 a month. i think that is understandable and not too much. granted, as i said before i dont keep food in my house. between eating at school and eating out with friends, well i dont really have to eat at home. so i hope this helps. please let me know if you have any questions. :) hahaha
Monday, May 19, 2008
things i miss
i miss sitting in the yard at home in the sunny afternoon reading a book. then falling asleep in the sun and taking a nice afternoon nap.
ahhh.
ahhh.
Sunday, May 18, 2008
teachers day
so the past two weeks have been cake. between working one day...by that i mean teaching morning classes two weeks ago and then last week working 3 days...and friday doing absolutely nothing. it was crazy. and now i am getting ready to enter into a 5 day week. but on the bright side, i only work two full weeks then we get june 6th off. hahaha. so no complaints. i do love these public holidays. :)
wednesday night i went to another FC seoul game with my friend sanghoon. it was enjoyable though the weather was pretty good.
thursday was teachers day which meant letters, flowers, crazy gifts and pizza! unbelievable! truly! then on thursday Sejong University was having its festival so baejee invited me to come hang out with her. so i got to see where she goes to school and met some of her friends. the two of us went to a ghost house which was cool. hehe, baejee screamed like a crazy woman the whole time -and we even had a male escort! haha! then we were watching DJ DOC perform and we ended up meeting some Italian guy which i had to interpret between Baejee and the Italian whose accent was so thick that i struggled to understand him. :) good, random times. haha!
so this weekend was crazy despite a slow start and a thoughts that it would be pretty chill, but somehow i have a way of not allowing that to happen....so friday as i said, i spent the day just making letter flashcards and random odds and ends i have been wanting to complete. taught 3 crazy afternoon classes which went pretty well.
on saturday i met up with my language partner lee and worked on my korean for 3 hours, which is coming along. slowly but surely. i am trying to get more serious about it. though i have great vocabulary deficiencies i can plan to meet people in korean and even text in korean. hopefully i will continue to improve. :) then i went to itaewon where i went to foreign world. and found TEXAS PETE!!!!! yes, im not even kidding! you can't get it in western new york, but i found it in SEOUL! i was sooooooooooooooooooooooo stoked! i mean, i am stoked! so i guess a party with some chicken wings is on the agenda for the month of june! yanny and baejee, prepare. i love party planning! :) anyways, so i jump from korean to texas pete to swahili. i met up with my friend mary and we had dinner in a cute irish pub.
speaking swahili in an irish pub. :)
then we moved to an african pub where they ate - and they even had the bowls of water to wash their hands before they enjoyed ugali. swahili was flying around. and actually i met a guy who is a professor of swahili at a korean university. is that sweet or what? so it was an evening of africana. i love cities! i love multiculturalism! loooooove it!
then sunday church and such great cultural convos. there is so much i am leaving out right now!!! but i will fill in the gaps. then lunch with church friends. then i met up with sanghoon to visit the museum to see korean art work (korean treasures) and then to a buddhist temples and then out for dinner. which, mom and lacie - you will remember soondae. i think we all do. well i think what i ate was a variation of that, soup style. so soondae which is either cow or pig intestine. i dont remember which. well yes, so soup of beef intestine. it was ok. hahaha. not soondae. which i am building up the guts to try again....:)
so thats my life in a nutshell. i hae been having some great cultural convos and i will fill those in. i think this entry is so lame because its like me listing my day events rather than how i am doing or what i am doing.
in case you were wondering, im doing great. i did today think of my family - my pastors parents were visiting - so i though of my sisters and family and i almost started to cry.
almost.
and i thought. ok, yes i would love to see my family! i would absolutely adore it! but then what? you know, a weekend would be great to eat, drink and be merry together. but then what? so i miss people and if i could pay money to transport them to see me for even just an evening, that would be amazing. but i do love what i am doing here.
your amber ;)
Monday, May 12, 2008
may day!
so i find myself wondering if there is any specific moment in time when i will feel like im not just visiting and i am really here. is it when my inbox has more new emails with korean characters than english? or is it when i get more text messages than email in general. or is it when i feel comfortable going to the grocery store? or when i can have a conversation in korean? haha, that might still be a long time but i am working harder.
lets see what have i not updated on....well saturday i met with 2 language partners. one who i met before and is really good because he is like a teacher and makes me work hard. the second one i met for the first time and he is so funny! he thinks i should learn sentences which is good, so we do more speaking together. problem is i really need everythign written. hahaha, so i think they will both help me out. they both have studied in australia so i think we have some afternoons in a pub watching footy in the future! :) but very good and very fun to meet new people.
work was soo easy last week only teaching one day and then taking pictures like america's next top model every other day. we went to a farm for field trip last wednesday, then made cakes for parents day on thursday and then friday is my easy day. then no school today! man, next week is going to be hard! but this week thursday is teachers day so that should be fun. we have a dinner together. and then next week we have a picnic. may is a great month!
hmm, i went to the world dj festival 2 weekends ago and found my home. :) hahaha, went to the lantern festival - these pictures are all posted on facebook. i got a camera so im back in business though i have to admit that i didn't even pull out my camera at the west coast because everyone had one and they all are so good at making people get in pictures and taking different pictures that i thought there was no point. so hopefully ill get a hold of those sometime soon. :)
hmm, thats about it for now. i know i have so much so i promise that the holidays are over, ill be back on schedule with my updates and entertainment news. :)
lets see what have i not updated on....well saturday i met with 2 language partners. one who i met before and is really good because he is like a teacher and makes me work hard. the second one i met for the first time and he is so funny! he thinks i should learn sentences which is good, so we do more speaking together. problem is i really need everythign written. hahaha, so i think they will both help me out. they both have studied in australia so i think we have some afternoons in a pub watching footy in the future! :) but very good and very fun to meet new people.
work was soo easy last week only teaching one day and then taking pictures like america's next top model every other day. we went to a farm for field trip last wednesday, then made cakes for parents day on thursday and then friday is my easy day. then no school today! man, next week is going to be hard! but this week thursday is teachers day so that should be fun. we have a dinner together. and then next week we have a picnic. may is a great month!
hmm, i went to the world dj festival 2 weekends ago and found my home. :) hahaha, went to the lantern festival - these pictures are all posted on facebook. i got a camera so im back in business though i have to admit that i didn't even pull out my camera at the west coast because everyone had one and they all are so good at making people get in pictures and taking different pictures that i thought there was no point. so hopefully ill get a hold of those sometime soon. :)
hmm, thats about it for now. i know i have so much so i promise that the holidays are over, ill be back on schedule with my updates and entertainment news. :)
west coast
sooo much has happened so far and the month is almost halfway over! can i start by saying that i can't believe it is already may! everyone in the states is getting ready for summer break and i can't even believe it because life goes on as usual, i feel like its still the beginning of school for me.
so yesterday i went to the west sea with one of my teachers, vivi. (she went to the folk village with me) once a month her and her 6 college friends - they are the 7 princesses - get together and go somewhere. this particular month marks 10 years since graduating from college. it was so cool to hang out with this group of friends who were so different in personality but each so nice and so welcoming! it was crazy to me, and actually trina mast told me before i left for south korea that it would be like that. i would feel like friends with them so fast! and so far that has been the case. i know that there are mean koreans here and i have no doubt they exist but at the same time i know there are mean americans. my point being that when i do meet a mean korean or have a bad experience i know that it happens no matter where you are. so just a random sidetrack for you.
so we stayed at a cute little guesthouse right on the west sea or the yellow sea - that which is between china and korea. we played around in the water and took tons of pictures! then we ate and talked and it was so nice! though vivi told me no one speaks english very well, that was not true. or at least i thought there english was fine. the way i determine if english is good or not, is what type of ideas are we able to share. i mean, last night we were talking about japan and korean relations, religion, friendships, relationships, pop culture - soo much! the fact that we can have conversations about important issues means that the english is fine! whether it is broken or not is not really important to me - if you have ever spoken to me in America, you know im not the best english speaker.
so this morning we went back out to the ocean and then we went to a small buddhist temple on a mountainside. this temple was much much smaller than the one in seoul and it was crazy because i was the only foreigner there. it was so interesting to see all these people celebrating buddhas bday in this beautiful location. quite majestic! then i slept most of the 4 hour ride home.
so i had a fantastic time!
here i will take a short interlude to talk about men in korea. ok, here is this get together for the 7 princesses but only 5 showed up. then one husband and 2 boyfriends. the guys cooked dinner, set up for dinner, cleaned up for dinner, took pictures the whole time we were there whether the girls asked or not....they treated them like queens! and from what i can tell this seems to be a reoccuring theme. (again i know this is not always true) actually vivi was telling me about her boyfriend Q who is from Pusan and he doesn't help clean or cook because thats not how he was raised. but in vivi's family her father always helped out. ...but i just thought it was amazing that these girls were free to just relax and have a good time and the guys just took care of everything around them. they didn't get mad when the girls drank too much or gave them crap for different issues. wow. hopefully i will get to hang out with them more in the future so i can see if this is always true. hahaha...soooo different than many of the men i have met in my lifetime. interesting. :) and there were 3 of them there! haha
so yesterday i went to the west sea with one of my teachers, vivi. (she went to the folk village with me) once a month her and her 6 college friends - they are the 7 princesses - get together and go somewhere. this particular month marks 10 years since graduating from college. it was so cool to hang out with this group of friends who were so different in personality but each so nice and so welcoming! it was crazy to me, and actually trina mast told me before i left for south korea that it would be like that. i would feel like friends with them so fast! and so far that has been the case. i know that there are mean koreans here and i have no doubt they exist but at the same time i know there are mean americans. my point being that when i do meet a mean korean or have a bad experience i know that it happens no matter where you are. so just a random sidetrack for you.
so we stayed at a cute little guesthouse right on the west sea or the yellow sea - that which is between china and korea. we played around in the water and took tons of pictures! then we ate and talked and it was so nice! though vivi told me no one speaks english very well, that was not true. or at least i thought there english was fine. the way i determine if english is good or not, is what type of ideas are we able to share. i mean, last night we were talking about japan and korean relations, religion, friendships, relationships, pop culture - soo much! the fact that we can have conversations about important issues means that the english is fine! whether it is broken or not is not really important to me - if you have ever spoken to me in America, you know im not the best english speaker.
so this morning we went back out to the ocean and then we went to a small buddhist temple on a mountainside. this temple was much much smaller than the one in seoul and it was crazy because i was the only foreigner there. it was so interesting to see all these people celebrating buddhas bday in this beautiful location. quite majestic! then i slept most of the 4 hour ride home.
so i had a fantastic time!
here i will take a short interlude to talk about men in korea. ok, here is this get together for the 7 princesses but only 5 showed up. then one husband and 2 boyfriends. the guys cooked dinner, set up for dinner, cleaned up for dinner, took pictures the whole time we were there whether the girls asked or not....they treated them like queens! and from what i can tell this seems to be a reoccuring theme. (again i know this is not always true) actually vivi was telling me about her boyfriend Q who is from Pusan and he doesn't help clean or cook because thats not how he was raised. but in vivi's family her father always helped out. ...but i just thought it was amazing that these girls were free to just relax and have a good time and the guys just took care of everything around them. they didn't get mad when the girls drank too much or gave them crap for different issues. wow. hopefully i will get to hang out with them more in the future so i can see if this is always true. hahaha...soooo different than many of the men i have met in my lifetime. interesting. :) and there were 3 of them there! haha
Sunday, April 27, 2008
everybody wants to be friends
...with a foreigner, and the good news is, this foreigner wants to be friends with you! :)
so this was the weekend of random meetings. those which have (and i hope will continue) to shape and color my experience here in korea.
then on saturday i decided to first meet up with a language exchange partner. once i first moved to seoul i joined a few websites to make friends and meet people. so one site i used was specifically for getting a language exchange partner they practice their english you learn korean. awesome. so i met lee who just graduated university and is working for verizon in seoul. he also lived a year in Melbourne, Australia! Go figure! He lived in South Yarra just doing maintenance work and you know what saddens me, I had no idea where I lived in Melbourne. I still even at this moment can not tell you where i was. Kingsley college...what the heck is the name of the town?!? am i getting old? am i getting stupid? i guess i need to go have another glass of ginseng tea....does that even help your memory? oh dear.....
anyways, the point of the story is that he is a very good teacher! so we sat in dunkin donuts and i worked on my korean alphabet, i worked on my pronunciation. he taught me phrases i wanted to learn for everyday life. he made me read korean. i felt like i was one of my students! hehe so great! so it was very helpful and i have to study and practice before we meet again next weekend!!!
so then later that evening another website i joined http://www.seoulstuff.com/ decided to have a group meeting just to give everyone the opportunity to meet one another. being amber i decided to invite along another girl Rachel whom i met from that other language exchange website. we had tried to meet before but had failed. so i figured hey im going to meet a bunch of people i dont know, i dont know you, so why dont you come along and this can all be awkward together! such a great idea! i was surprised because i thought the get together would be a lot of foreigners but it wasnt! i was pleasantly surprised. we went to hongdae which is like the cool young hang out area of seoul. all the universities are there and the clubs and all that jazz.
so at the meeting there was soon who is a korean who speaks english and is on his way to san francisco for grad school in december, yunju choi who studied in boston for a year, rayhee who is currently studying in boston but home on break, tristan - the organizer of the event and a southern brother from kentucky hes a cool kid, vincent who is korean studying english and actually studying at a british english academy so we spent alot of time comparing the accents of americans and britians - listen to a korean do that! its great! then there was his friend si-seun who doesnt speak a lot of english but is so nice and kind that it doesnt matter. your just kind of automatically friends anyways. then there was rachel who i brought who studied in toronto and in vancouver, skisk who is awesome wait till i get my camera she is just cool man. cool. and i think she draws japanese animation for her work. and she loves africa and swahili! hahaha! so i have to brush up so i can teach her the little i remember! there was also sraven who is from india and shaun from india both here working at a technology company. man we had an awesome time! we would hang out in one place and then move to the next and just talk about everything. soooooo muuuuuuch fuuuuuun. oh yes. oh yes.
one thing i found interesting is that most of the koreans said that they have trouble making foreigner girl friends. like other girls don't want to be friends with them. i dont understand why. so most of the korean girls i have met were really excited to meet a foreigner girl who wanted to be their friend. they also have trouble at times making friends with foreign guys because a lot...and i mean a lot.....of foreign guys just want to date them. not be friends. so there is sometimes a hard time to become friends with foreigners. interesting to me. (wow! can you tell that i am an english teacher! i told yanny the other day that she should teach the grammer and ill just teach the pronunciation. yikes! but this is how i start to talk when im talking with koreans. oy!)
then on sunday i went to church which again, i really enjoy. randomness! so we were walking to go get lunch after the service bc they serve lunch at the church (its huge) so we were walking up the stairs and im in a group of people talking and this guy stops me and starts talking to me. i believe he is iranian and he wanted to know if i could help him learn english. it was so weird. i was like, um, do you know me? the way he just came up to me and started talking to me i was slightly shocked, amused, befuddled. (ooo, hows that for an english word?) so i gave him my email address and said sure. hahaha...its scary though like so many people want to practice their english that i could probably spend a whole chunk of my life emailing and msn messaging with people so i am going to work hard to keep that all under control. but i have to admit that it is kind of nice to look in my inbox and find that about one third of my new emails are from koreans. is this part of the integration process? and i think the phone numbers in my cell phone doubled this weekend. hehe.
i also went and saw the movie the forbidden city with chris and another korean girl i have no idea who she is. can i just say jet li is amazing? yea, like the coolest.
this week will be somewhat busy as we have to do our evaluation forms for each of the kids. we just finished testing so we have to grade the tests and put them in their files. i think we will have the birthday party on thursday and sweet events like that. you know. oh yes and friday we have game time with the morning classes because monday is childrens day = NO SCHOOL ON MONDAY! whoot whoot! rock on kids! rock on!
so things are going well. life is interesting. and i hope it stays that way. but i think a big part of that is not always making big adventures where i am always trying to seek out new people and new things to do, but really seeking to make everyday life into an adventure. not allowing the schedule to ever become "the 9 to 5." reaching beyond that for the gift that each day is and truly enjoying it. that is my goal.
until next time!
so this was the weekend of random meetings. those which have (and i hope will continue) to shape and color my experience here in korea.
then on saturday i decided to first meet up with a language exchange partner. once i first moved to seoul i joined a few websites to make friends and meet people. so one site i used was specifically for getting a language exchange partner they practice their english you learn korean. awesome. so i met lee who just graduated university and is working for verizon in seoul. he also lived a year in Melbourne, Australia! Go figure! He lived in South Yarra just doing maintenance work and you know what saddens me, I had no idea where I lived in Melbourne. I still even at this moment can not tell you where i was. Kingsley college...what the heck is the name of the town?!? am i getting old? am i getting stupid? i guess i need to go have another glass of ginseng tea....does that even help your memory? oh dear.....
anyways, the point of the story is that he is a very good teacher! so we sat in dunkin donuts and i worked on my korean alphabet, i worked on my pronunciation. he taught me phrases i wanted to learn for everyday life. he made me read korean. i felt like i was one of my students! hehe so great! so it was very helpful and i have to study and practice before we meet again next weekend!!!
so then later that evening another website i joined http://www.seoulstuff.com/ decided to have a group meeting just to give everyone the opportunity to meet one another. being amber i decided to invite along another girl Rachel whom i met from that other language exchange website. we had tried to meet before but had failed. so i figured hey im going to meet a bunch of people i dont know, i dont know you, so why dont you come along and this can all be awkward together! such a great idea! i was surprised because i thought the get together would be a lot of foreigners but it wasnt! i was pleasantly surprised. we went to hongdae which is like the cool young hang out area of seoul. all the universities are there and the clubs and all that jazz.
so at the meeting there was soon who is a korean who speaks english and is on his way to san francisco for grad school in december, yunju choi who studied in boston for a year, rayhee who is currently studying in boston but home on break, tristan - the organizer of the event and a southern brother from kentucky hes a cool kid, vincent who is korean studying english and actually studying at a british english academy so we spent alot of time comparing the accents of americans and britians - listen to a korean do that! its great! then there was his friend si-seun who doesnt speak a lot of english but is so nice and kind that it doesnt matter. your just kind of automatically friends anyways. then there was rachel who i brought who studied in toronto and in vancouver, skisk who is awesome wait till i get my camera she is just cool man. cool. and i think she draws japanese animation for her work. and she loves africa and swahili! hahaha! so i have to brush up so i can teach her the little i remember! there was also sraven who is from india and shaun from india both here working at a technology company. man we had an awesome time! we would hang out in one place and then move to the next and just talk about everything. soooooo muuuuuuch fuuuuuun. oh yes. oh yes.
one thing i found interesting is that most of the koreans said that they have trouble making foreigner girl friends. like other girls don't want to be friends with them. i dont understand why. so most of the korean girls i have met were really excited to meet a foreigner girl who wanted to be their friend. they also have trouble at times making friends with foreign guys because a lot...and i mean a lot.....of foreign guys just want to date them. not be friends. so there is sometimes a hard time to become friends with foreigners. interesting to me. (wow! can you tell that i am an english teacher! i told yanny the other day that she should teach the grammer and ill just teach the pronunciation. yikes! but this is how i start to talk when im talking with koreans. oy!)
then on sunday i went to church which again, i really enjoy. randomness! so we were walking to go get lunch after the service bc they serve lunch at the church (its huge) so we were walking up the stairs and im in a group of people talking and this guy stops me and starts talking to me. i believe he is iranian and he wanted to know if i could help him learn english. it was so weird. i was like, um, do you know me? the way he just came up to me and started talking to me i was slightly shocked, amused, befuddled. (ooo, hows that for an english word?) so i gave him my email address and said sure. hahaha...its scary though like so many people want to practice their english that i could probably spend a whole chunk of my life emailing and msn messaging with people so i am going to work hard to keep that all under control. but i have to admit that it is kind of nice to look in my inbox and find that about one third of my new emails are from koreans. is this part of the integration process? and i think the phone numbers in my cell phone doubled this weekend. hehe.
i also went and saw the movie the forbidden city with chris and another korean girl i have no idea who she is. can i just say jet li is amazing? yea, like the coolest.
this week will be somewhat busy as we have to do our evaluation forms for each of the kids. we just finished testing so we have to grade the tests and put them in their files. i think we will have the birthday party on thursday and sweet events like that. you know. oh yes and friday we have game time with the morning classes because monday is childrens day = NO SCHOOL ON MONDAY! whoot whoot! rock on kids! rock on!
so things are going well. life is interesting. and i hope it stays that way. but i think a big part of that is not always making big adventures where i am always trying to seek out new people and new things to do, but really seeking to make everyday life into an adventure. not allowing the schedule to ever become "the 9 to 5." reaching beyond that for the gift that each day is and truly enjoying it. that is my goal.
until next time!
wae? (translated why but just like american "what?")
this past week in school seemed slightly to drag on...how i dont know...i think it was the fact that we had to go to school everyday. all 5 days. (i love that i have a real job as a teacher and i still call it going to school instead of going to work...) the past 2 weeks there have been holidays and field trips that seemed to make everyday seem like friday. also, after our teachers meeting i have been working harder at keeping the attention of the class and not allowing their misbehavior as much. but it seems to me that behavior problems are just part of being a teacher. so deal with it. :) and i shall.
on wednesday i went to the british embassy and joined some scottish dancing. i am hoping this will be a regular occurence for me. it changes things up. plus it was AWESOME!!!! though the room of 30 to 40 people consisted mainly of white foreigners i ended up with the group of Koreans and they were awesome! we were whooping and hollering between "yogi!" (go here) and go there. and set here and set there. sweet time. i have awesome been contemplating a belly dancing class. this has been something i have wanted to do for a very long time. there is a class with a canadian who has studied in India and several other countries. once a week, $60 for a month. so im seriously thinking about it. muhuhahahaah, so back to my weekend of pleasant surprises.
well on friday night baejee showed up at work with her boyfriend who i had never met but heard quite a few stories about. to celebrate their completion of exams the three of us went out for Mr. Pizza. baejee didn't know where to go to eat and thought i would not want to have pizza because we just had pizza. i told her, um, baejee that was like 2 weeks ago, and in america i eat pizza every friday night. its tradition. to which was her reply - i want to go to america. :)we had some great conversations about music, america, korea, oh everything. her boyfriend lived a few of his younger years in washington state as his father got his masters degree so his english was good and also he had some experiences to compare. i really enjoy talking to koreans about korea. ahhhh! the intercultural experience!
on wednesday i went to the british embassy and joined some scottish dancing. i am hoping this will be a regular occurence for me. it changes things up. plus it was AWESOME!!!! though the room of 30 to 40 people consisted mainly of white foreigners i ended up with the group of Koreans and they were awesome! we were whooping and hollering between "yogi!" (go here) and go there. and set here and set there. sweet time. i have awesome been contemplating a belly dancing class. this has been something i have wanted to do for a very long time. there is a class with a canadian who has studied in India and several other countries. once a week, $60 for a month. so im seriously thinking about it. muhuhahahaah, so back to my weekend of pleasant surprises.
well on friday night baejee showed up at work with her boyfriend who i had never met but heard quite a few stories about. to celebrate their completion of exams the three of us went out for Mr. Pizza. baejee didn't know where to go to eat and thought i would not want to have pizza because we just had pizza. i told her, um, baejee that was like 2 weeks ago, and in america i eat pizza every friday night. its tradition. to which was her reply - i want to go to america. :)we had some great conversations about music, america, korea, oh everything. her boyfriend lived a few of his younger years in washington state as his father got his masters degree so his english was good and also he had some experiences to compare. i really enjoy talking to koreans about korea. ahhhh! the intercultural experience!
Sunday, April 20, 2008
ahh yess
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2013798&l=45668&id=100300061 - random collection
so this is one of those weeks where i have sooo much to say and to describe and tell you about but i just dont want to sit here and type it all out. sorry, i hate times like that!
so this week i went on my first field trip! whoo hoo! we went to the Childrens Grand Park which was nice. we saw elephants, tigers, lions, water birds, etc. Good time. then i came back to teach my hardest classes. the planets align twice a month where i have to teach 3 classes of over 15 students the first class is split - two totally different levels put together. so those are always my biggest planning days because its hard to keep control of all those kids and keep them interested.
so friday i went to itaewon to go to an english bookstore! so dangerous for me as we know my love of books...and they order them from america but they cost as much as they would if you bought them in america! whoo hoo! so i will control myself though this will be hard...if you are bored the website is
www.whatthebook.com
then on saturday mr bae took me to Suwon to a folk village. i thought it would be mr bae, baejee and sylvia teacher, but actually friday night i got a text message that vivi teacher and her boyfriend and friends would be coming instead. baejee is in the middle of midterms...hell time for all the university kids...oh the days! don't miss em at all! :) vivi teacher made me food last week and is sooo nice though we have had a large language barrier and so most of our conversations consist of smiles, broken english and a small amount of broken korean....so i was really excited to get the chance to talk to hang out with her! so her boyfriend Q went to america for 4 months about 8 years ago so his english is pretty good.
we had soooo much fun! we all worked together to translate all the new things we were seeing and learning about. they were interested in learning about everything and had never been to the folk village either so it was all new! also vivi's friends came along - Princess Fiona and i believe his name is Chong Ho....forgive me if im wrong! so it was a quick photo tour with millions of pictures being taken....ok not millions but i would venture to say over 100. so funny! i learned soooo much and so much korean and so much history. and we watched a farmers dance which was AMAZING! they have these hats that have ribbon dancers attached and they make them twirl - sooooo cool! then there was the tightrope walker and the seesaw jumpers! and then we got to dress up and take pictures!
www.koreanfolk.co.kr
and we also went to the theme park and rode like the viking ship that usually goes upside down, this one didn't but it was so great! like i dont think ive done that for awhile! and we were all screaming and acting like kids. i mean they are all about 30 in korean years, but i felt completely comfortable. so nice. and not even awkward which you know when you hang out with couples it can be awkward - it wasnt.
and the 2 hour car ride there and back was great too! we talked about music, speaking english and learning korean, weird korean food, traveling, Africa, our families, working at kids club, music, clubs and fun places in Seoul, dialects...and so much!
i could go on and on with all i learned! it was great. it really was!
then today sunday, i went to church and i had to lead Bible study because Chris was not there. so that was fun. ;) then i walked around Lotte dept store with Shante and we talked about life and yeah, life. marriage, friends, living in a new country...so nice. then we all went out for lunch for Chris' bday and had a Dunkin Donuts cake and talked about difference between the american and english accent. haha...so much fun.
and now i think i am ready to get some sleep. i have cleaned and organized and i think i am ready for another week. :) always.
until next time!
so this is one of those weeks where i have sooo much to say and to describe and tell you about but i just dont want to sit here and type it all out. sorry, i hate times like that!
so this week i went on my first field trip! whoo hoo! we went to the Childrens Grand Park which was nice. we saw elephants, tigers, lions, water birds, etc. Good time. then i came back to teach my hardest classes. the planets align twice a month where i have to teach 3 classes of over 15 students the first class is split - two totally different levels put together. so those are always my biggest planning days because its hard to keep control of all those kids and keep them interested.
so friday i went to itaewon to go to an english bookstore! so dangerous for me as we know my love of books...and they order them from america but they cost as much as they would if you bought them in america! whoo hoo! so i will control myself though this will be hard...if you are bored the website is
www.whatthebook.com
then on saturday mr bae took me to Suwon to a folk village. i thought it would be mr bae, baejee and sylvia teacher, but actually friday night i got a text message that vivi teacher and her boyfriend and friends would be coming instead. baejee is in the middle of midterms...hell time for all the university kids...oh the days! don't miss em at all! :) vivi teacher made me food last week and is sooo nice though we have had a large language barrier and so most of our conversations consist of smiles, broken english and a small amount of broken korean....so i was really excited to get the chance to talk to hang out with her! so her boyfriend Q went to america for 4 months about 8 years ago so his english is pretty good.
we had soooo much fun! we all worked together to translate all the new things we were seeing and learning about. they were interested in learning about everything and had never been to the folk village either so it was all new! also vivi's friends came along - Princess Fiona and i believe his name is Chong Ho....forgive me if im wrong! so it was a quick photo tour with millions of pictures being taken....ok not millions but i would venture to say over 100. so funny! i learned soooo much and so much korean and so much history. and we watched a farmers dance which was AMAZING! they have these hats that have ribbon dancers attached and they make them twirl - sooooo cool! then there was the tightrope walker and the seesaw jumpers! and then we got to dress up and take pictures!
www.koreanfolk.co.kr
and we also went to the theme park and rode like the viking ship that usually goes upside down, this one didn't but it was so great! like i dont think ive done that for awhile! and we were all screaming and acting like kids. i mean they are all about 30 in korean years, but i felt completely comfortable. so nice. and not even awkward which you know when you hang out with couples it can be awkward - it wasnt.
and the 2 hour car ride there and back was great too! we talked about music, speaking english and learning korean, weird korean food, traveling, Africa, our families, working at kids club, music, clubs and fun places in Seoul, dialects...and so much!
i could go on and on with all i learned! it was great. it really was!
then today sunday, i went to church and i had to lead Bible study because Chris was not there. so that was fun. ;) then i walked around Lotte dept store with Shante and we talked about life and yeah, life. marriage, friends, living in a new country...so nice. then we all went out for lunch for Chris' bday and had a Dunkin Donuts cake and talked about difference between the american and english accent. haha...so much fun.
and now i think i am ready to get some sleep. i have cleaned and organized and i think i am ready for another week. :) always.
until next time!
Sunday, April 13, 2008
weekend warrior
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2013691&l=40dcb&id=100300061 - just like riding a bike
so this weekend has been busy, and wonderful in so many ways! so friday night i went to yanny's house for dinner. it was so nice to be invited to a korean home! her mom cooked so much food - and my favorite - kimchi pa'jang! we ate and ate. and she asked me if i called my mom lately, and am i eating enough at home and asked me if i am homesick. she said having me there reminded her of when yanny went to canada and how much she missed her! they showed me family pictures and then we watched her mom's favorite korean drama on tv. a note - korean tv shows have no commercials during the shows! how nice is that? and we had tea and fruit and i just enjoyed being in a family enviroment, relaxed. we took some pictures but yanny has not sent them to me yet...so ill post them once i receive them.
then she sent me home with so much food!
on saturday i went to Itaewon to meet my new Ugandan friend i met last week at church. she is living there part time with her brother. Itaewon itself was a culture shock to me. I got out of the subway exit and all i saw where foriegners! white people, europeans, black people....almost no koreans! i was standing there in awe! then there was starbucks, hard rock, krazeburger and pubs and diners and just overwhelming. seriously. then i met up with Mary and her brother Desire and we went to her place and had some African food! then we went out for a drink and hung out in this really nice pub named Gecko's. we talked for hours about teaching, Africa, what we want to do with our life, Korea, racism, America, Swahili. Yes I spoke Swahili in Seoul - not very well, but we were definitely conversing.
on the language note - on saturday i recharged my Tmoney card using korean! whoo hoo! "choong jon haejuseyo." whoot whoot. i was so excited...but then she said how much in korean and i went blank and handed her my 10. haha. oh well. little by little.
then sunday i went to church at 10:30 - which i really am enjoying it. then i went to World Cup Stadium for the soccer game which is really on the other side of the city. i pretty much rode the line 5 from one end to the other. then jason - whose real name is Seok-Ho - was late so he told me, just call my friend and meet him. haha ok. thats what so much of my life consists of, just being willing to meet random people. so i met up with his friend and his friends sister and we went and sat down. eventually SeokHo arrived haha. the game was ok, FC Seoul lost 2 -0 and frustratingly enough they had so many chances and just didn't finish them! then they got lazy in the second half. but it was a sunny warm day and it was just fabulous! and only cost $10. then SeokHo and i went out for some dinner which was some kind of soup made from oxknee bone. mashikke.
and now it is sunday night and i must refocus back to school and teaching and doing what im here to do. :) i enjoy it. i was telling my mom that i go to the grocery store and i see kids from class - they say hello and point and then run away. sometimes their parents are there and say oh amber teacher! yes, hello! goodbye! so really there is no awkward conversation because we can't really. hehe. but its nice. kind of like, living here you know. go to the store - see people you know. :) mr rogers neighborhood.
so this weekend has been busy, and wonderful in so many ways! so friday night i went to yanny's house for dinner. it was so nice to be invited to a korean home! her mom cooked so much food - and my favorite - kimchi pa'jang! we ate and ate. and she asked me if i called my mom lately, and am i eating enough at home and asked me if i am homesick. she said having me there reminded her of when yanny went to canada and how much she missed her! they showed me family pictures and then we watched her mom's favorite korean drama on tv. a note - korean tv shows have no commercials during the shows! how nice is that? and we had tea and fruit and i just enjoyed being in a family enviroment, relaxed. we took some pictures but yanny has not sent them to me yet...so ill post them once i receive them.
then she sent me home with so much food!
on saturday i went to Itaewon to meet my new Ugandan friend i met last week at church. she is living there part time with her brother. Itaewon itself was a culture shock to me. I got out of the subway exit and all i saw where foriegners! white people, europeans, black people....almost no koreans! i was standing there in awe! then there was starbucks, hard rock, krazeburger and pubs and diners and just overwhelming. seriously. then i met up with Mary and her brother Desire and we went to her place and had some African food! then we went out for a drink and hung out in this really nice pub named Gecko's. we talked for hours about teaching, Africa, what we want to do with our life, Korea, racism, America, Swahili. Yes I spoke Swahili in Seoul - not very well, but we were definitely conversing.
on the language note - on saturday i recharged my Tmoney card using korean! whoo hoo! "choong jon haejuseyo." whoot whoot. i was so excited...but then she said how much in korean and i went blank and handed her my 10. haha. oh well. little by little.
then sunday i went to church at 10:30 - which i really am enjoying it. then i went to World Cup Stadium for the soccer game which is really on the other side of the city. i pretty much rode the line 5 from one end to the other. then jason - whose real name is Seok-Ho - was late so he told me, just call my friend and meet him. haha ok. thats what so much of my life consists of, just being willing to meet random people. so i met up with his friend and his friends sister and we went and sat down. eventually SeokHo arrived haha. the game was ok, FC Seoul lost 2 -0 and frustratingly enough they had so many chances and just didn't finish them! then they got lazy in the second half. but it was a sunny warm day and it was just fabulous! and only cost $10. then SeokHo and i went out for some dinner which was some kind of soup made from oxknee bone. mashikke.
and now it is sunday night and i must refocus back to school and teaching and doing what im here to do. :) i enjoy it. i was telling my mom that i go to the grocery store and i see kids from class - they say hello and point and then run away. sometimes their parents are there and say oh amber teacher! yes, hello! goodbye! so really there is no awkward conversation because we can't really. hehe. but its nice. kind of like, living here you know. go to the store - see people you know. :) mr rogers neighborhood.
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