What a strange year.

A little over nine months ago, I thought I knew exactly where I was going to be today. I was going to be in North Carolina teaching my own class (hopefully). My boyfriend would find a job someplace and we would be living together for the first time ever. In 2 days, we would be celebrating our 7 year anniversary. Life would be everything I expected and hoped for.

Needless to say, I am not in North Carolina. I have 8 classes of students and I only teach them English. I live in a huge apartment by myself and hang out with friends instead of boyfriends. I even have a fake boyfriend at work to stop the Koreans from matchmaking. Life is not what I expected, but it is still what I hoped for. Every morning I get up and am excited to see what the day brings. My students make me laugh every day, and even though I am not teaching in the way I would back in the US, I still feel like a teacher. I don't have a boyfriend or a wedding in the foreseeable future, but I have made a lot of great new friends. I can't say I am dissatisfied with the way things turned out. In fact, I think life is going pretty great right now.

On another note, I am sick for the first time in SoKo. I woke up the other morning and was coughing and a little congested. The next day I had no voice and felt like death. The doctors visit my director took me on was so different from at home. I went into the open office, sat in a chair. The doctor asked if I had a fever and a cough and if I had any other symptoms. Then, he looked in my mouth, up my nose, listened to my heart and lungs, and swabbed my throat with something that tasted like black licorice. He told me I had a common cold and laryngitis, which I had already self-diagnosed myself as having. Then he made me breath in this weird green smoke that tasted like plastic. I think it was to rehydrate my throat. Anyway, the doctor gave my director a prescription and sent us on our way. Not only did the visit take about 5 minutes, but it cost about 3,000 won (under $3.00 US)!!! And the prescriptions (4 of them) cost a total of 6,500 won (about $6.00 US)!!! Now, I didn't feel like the doctor really knew me or cared whether I lived or died, but for those prices, who can complain!?!?! If I had a real life-or-death situation, then I would care, but a common cold does not require coddling.

Oh, and the prescriptions I got (remember there were 4), come in little bags. There is one for each time I should take the medicine. I also have been taking a bunch of other Korean drugs to get me through teaching. Here is a picture for your viewing pleasure!

Let's get a little more detail.......

..... shall we? The past month and a half has been a lot of fun! I am always busy and I don't mind that at all. Life here is so much different (for me) compared to when I was living in New York. I will try to explain.

At home, I would shop at the same stores and could find clothes anywhere. In Korea, it is VERY hard to find any plus sized clothing. Even in Itaewon (also known as the foreign Mecca of Korea), it is a challenge. Take for instance, my trying to find a Halloween costume. I decided to be a Native American for Halloween because I figured the clothes needed for such a costume would be relatively easy to come by, even for me. A simple tunic and cute brown boots, feathers, and some adorable makeup and accessories were all I really needed. I had leggings already. A brown tunic nearly drove me insane one day though. I spent nearly 2 hours going into every "big size" store in Itaewon. Eventually I found one, but it was a painful experience. The boots took 2 more trips to Itaewon before I finally settled on a pair I saw the first time out. Feathers seemed as though they would be easy to find. Koreans love ridiculous head pieces so I ended up finding a feather pom pom pin. I cut off a few of the feathers and glued them onto some leather string. My Halloween costume eventually came together, but overall the experience made me realize I am going to have to order in my clothes if I want to have new things. There is one amazing store that even has pants in my size, but the hassle doesn't seem worth it. And they don't even have jeans in my size.... Just slacks.

Regardless, Itaewon is a fun place to go on the weekends. I have been three times now. People from all over the world live there, but especially Americans because there is a base nearby. I have been to bars, tried to salsa and two-step, danced with a few strangers, eaten Irish breakfasts, gross burgers, and delicious kebabs. I even spent some quality time in a country bar, the Grand Ole Opry. Itaewon has yet to disappoint me! Another fun, although overly crowded place, is Myeongdong. This is a fairly upscale place with a lot of street vendors. I bought all sorts of accessories there. Hae Bang Chae is another area with a heavy foreigner population. It is right next to Itaewon. I was there for a little while one night and could not believe how many foreigners there were. I heard more English there than I have anywhere else in Korea. It was a little bit of culture shock all over again!

Ilsan has remained a fairly fun place to live, although from what I hear, it is no Seoul. The night life isn't always hopping, but I manage to have a good time. The big sports bar in Ilsan, Into's, had a big party this past weekend. A bunch of us were there, along with a million foreigners we had never even seen before. The drinks were ridiculously cheap and it was a pretty good time. There is also a dance club I have been to a few times now. Usually I don't dance there. It is not my type of bar, but this past weekend I danced shamelessly with a bunch of people. It was a lot of fun and completely unlike me. I can't wait to do it again.

This weekend is Halloween so I will be going to Itaewon and then another town called Hongdae. I haven't been there before, but everyone likes it and I am looking forward to it. Hopefully it will be fun.

In two weekends I am going to the east coast of Korea with a couple friends. We are riding a bus to the coast and then a train down the coast. I can't wait! We will ride an Ocean railbike, which includes laser light shows in the tunnels. This sounds like a lot of fun, except that it has gotten pretty cold now. Regardless, it will be fun to see some of the sights in a completely different part of Korean.

The last thing I will tell you about is my Korean language classes. I started taking a Korean language class nearly 2 weeks ago. The program is 4 weeks long and I am at the beginner level. I am taking it with 3 of my friends. So far we have been learning a lot of vocabulary. That was pretty boring, but now we are beginning conversational things. Yesterday we learned how to say "What is this/that?" and "It is a _____" or "That is a _______." Finally we are putting the vocabulary to work. Once this class is over, I will probably sign up for a second class. In a few months I am hoping to be able to really start experiencing Korea. On top of that, my coworker Justin and I have begun a language exchange. He talks to me about Korea (in English), with my occasional corrections, and he is teaching me more Korean. It's actually fun and it's a good reason to sneak out of the office.

I think I will give you just a few more updates from earlier posts. A while ago, I told you my students gave me a Korean name (Jung So Ra). A friend declared that it didn't flow very well and told me to change it to Eun So Ra. I took his advice once he told me that Eun means silver. Completely appropriate for my rocking last name. I also mentioned several things that were taboo in Korea. Remember this list?
Things not to do in Korea:
1. Blow my nose in public
2. Wear my shoes inside (including some restaurants and all homes/schools, etc...)
3. Expect a closed shower in my 250 square foot apartment
4. Introduce myself
5. Pour myself a drink
6. Eat my noodles first
7. Pass food, accept drinks, or offer gifts with one hand
8. Spear my food with my chopsticks
9. Lay my chopsticks across my plate or bowl
10. Hug, pat someone on the back, or physically touch people
It is much more flexible than I thought. I have seen plenty of people blow their noses (although I would say much less than at home). Most restaurants and my school allow you to wear your shoes inside. I have a fabulous closed shower. When I am with Koreans, they still introduce me, but it's in Korean so I try not to worry. I almost never eat with coworkers, so I always pour my own drinks. No one has said anything about eating noodles first to me, although I would never eat my noodles first because of all the other delicious stuff I could be eating. Passing food, eating, and offering gifts is easy to do with 2 hands. I essentially use 2 hands for everything now. My chopstick mastery has improved greatly, so there isn't a reason for me to spear food, although I have seen Koreans do this and lay their chopsticks wherever they want. I have even seen a lot of physical contact in Korea. Of course, families, couples, and friends are all about the hugging and touching here, but every now and again I am touched by someone and am a little surprised. It's pretty weird I think for a Korean to touch a foreigner.... but it happens more than I expected!

Korea has been wonderful to me so far. I love the adventures I have had and am looking forward to the ones in the future. I will try to update more often, but life is meant to be lived and that is what I am trying to do. Remember, you can always call me on skype or email me. I love to chat and won't mind telling you how my life has been these past 2 months. Pictures of Halloween will be up in a couple of days here and on Facebook! Check them out. I am sure they will be adorable and ridiculous!

Epic fail....

Alright, so I never proclaimed to be a stellar blogger. In fact, I have 2 failed blogs from the past to illustrate that regularly updating is something I am not good at. I am also not good at taking pictures, writing letters home, or scrap booking. Living in the moment and brooding over a memory is more my style. Regardless, I promised an update to many a person, so I will try to cover the past month and a half in a few paragraphs.

Since the middle of September, I have left Ilsan. I have been to Itaewon, HaeBangChae, Myeongdong, and near city hall in Seoul. My sightseeing has been pretty limited, but I did manage to get some shopping done. Think cute accessories, an adorable brown tunic and sweater vest, cute native americany boots, and a purse. I hate big crowds. Nearly anyone I know will tell you that.... But, shopping or walking around in Korea means fighting big crowds. I wouldn't get anywhere if I couldn't walk through a crowd. Needless to say, I am getting over this phobia pretty well.

There are still a few trips I would like to make in the next couple months. First, I would like to go to the mountains. If possible, I will take a ski lesson or two. If the language barrier is an issue though, I will try to find a place to go snow shoeing. Second, I would love to spend a winter weekend near the beach. It's just starting to get colder here, and I think it would be great to see the coast dusted with a little bit of snow. Plus, the coast has the best seafood and I have been eating mainly pork for 2 months now! Third, I want to go on a trip for Lunar New Year! It's my other big break while I am in Korea and I want to go someplace warm. Hopefully Thailand or Cambodia are in my budget at that point.

Anyway, I will make a more thorough update later this week. At least now I can say I haven't neglected my blog completely. I am leaving you with this picture from my friend's roof. Her building is a little taller than mine so she gets a better view. The contrast in Korea between cold monotonous buildings and beautiful mountains is astounding. I can't get over it!

I am wiped out!

I am not sure if this is typical, but I am exhausted right now... and it is Monday morning. I adjusted pretty quickly to the time change when I got here, but there are just some nights when I cannot fall asleep or I could just sleep forever. Since being here, I have slept for 12 hours a couple times, and also slept for 4 or 5 hours a couple times. I do not enjoy sleep deprivation, and oversleeping is also something I am not a fan of. At home, I never even took a nap. Here, I sleep like it's my job.

Anyway, my gross oversleeping and the delicious breakfast that followed last week deserved this quick video for your enjoyment. You can watch it you youtube at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u7BPE58pM3Q

I am SO brave!

It has been raining pretty heavily for the past two days. I hate it. Everyone does. And the more it rains, the higher the humidity levels get. It's pretty terrible. What makes me hate the rain even more is the fact that I walk to school every day. The walk is probably one of the best walks anyone could ask for in a Korean city. It is a walking trail with trees, street vendors, and preschools. Unfortunately (when it rains), my beautiful 35 minute walk to school and then again back from school is torture. The path is paved but it is not even so there are often giant puddles. And it rains so much here that even a golf umbrella starts to leak after about 20 minutes. So, I get soaked. Which leads me to how I was so brave today. Today I rode in a taxi twice by myself! Yesterday I did not even know what to say to a taxi driver, but today I sucessfully got to and from school with no problems. I am so proud of myself. When it is barely raining, or nice out, I will still walk. But it is a relief to know that I know have the option to ride in a taxi if I need to. This might come in handy in the winter, and it will definitely come in handy during the next monsoon season.

On another note, my students gave me a Korean name today. It is Jung So-Ra. They thought it would be nice if I got to have two names too. I cannot write it in Korean with my computer, but here is what it looks like. Most of my students have English names in addition to their Korean names. What is nice is that the students can change their English names. They are so fluid. I think for now I will be Jung So-Ra and maybe later something else. A few of my students only have Korean names. They do not seem interested in having English names. I feel really bad because I can never pronounce their names correctly. Korean names, when written in English, are not pronounced the way they are written. I have tried writing the names phonetically, but I still suck. Eventually I will get their names, if they don't all leave the school before I do.

I have two really nice coworkers. One is a boy four years older than me. He helps me with everything! And he orders me dinner every time I don't bring something. Here is the soup I had for dinner yesterday. It was great, except I didn't have a very good handle on the noodles. If I tried to eat them with chopsticks, they were very sloppy and slippery. Eventually I just sort of cut the noodles with my spoon and ate them that way. The soup had noodles, half an egg, mussels, octopus, shrimp, crab, and some weird bread/fat like stuff that was fried. It was very good! The girls I work with have some idea that we will date, but I just started an office rumor that I am going on dates with someone else. I would rather them think that then get it in their heads I want to date my office helper. My other nice coworker is the girl whose house I stayed at. She gave me a ride home yesterday in the first downpour. I was so thankful! And we will be designing a speaking class that I will be teaching together. I am really excited about this speaking class. It should be a lot of fun because it is the highest level elementary students. I cannot wait (minus the extra work)!

On a final note for the evening, I thought I would tell you a bit about my classes. I currently have 8 classes, and have between 50-60 students total. My classes range from students who can read/write/comprehend/speak a little to students who are reading about evolution vs. creationism. My smallest classes have 4 students and the largest class has 14. All of the kids are a lot of fun, although a few of them drive me crazy! I will be taking pictures of them soon and maybe I will post a couple pictures here. My students have to write very strange essays sometimes for the book series that we follow. Here is the original version of my favorite essay so far (topic was - What animal is most misunderstood?):

Class: M302
"There are many misunderstand animals in the world. Wolves, snacks or human and etc. I think misunderstand animal is human. Other country people think korean people eat everything But. I think this it misunderstand.

First, the human never eat everyting. Human eat just pigs, cows, chickens and dogs. Not more eat. I think human eat everything is misunderstood. So, I don't think this is not true. And people almost don't eat dogs, too.!!

Second, the human don't like eat dogs. Ofcourse, human think eat dogs is health for we. But human don't like eat cute dogs. Don't you think so?? I think like that.

So, I think human is really misunderstood animal. I would tell another people human is not eat everything and not like eat everything. I hope another people known this truth."

This is my life folks! I love trying to decipher things like "So, I don't think this is not true." The students all work really hard, for the most part, and I think they do a great job. As long as I can figure out how to teach them, it will be a great year!

Oh SK... You amaze me!

There is so much stuff crammed into every nook and cranny of the South Korea I have seen so far. Apartment buildings are 10+ floors high. Stores go up as high as you can imagine in buildings, and people still go to them. Schools start on the second or third or fourth floor of buildings and huge beautiful parks spring up in the middle of it all. To this point, South Korea has presented itself to me as a country filled with contradictions. Some examples:

Koreans really do not like overweight people. The are (overall) a skinny nation, although more peole are overweight now than ever before. Contradicting the hate of obesity is the fact that processed, fried, and chain food can be found on every corner of my town. They even deliver McDonalds here! And because children are always at school or academy, they don't really get proper meals Monday through Friday. They eat cheap fried stuff from vendors by the school or chips and the like from the Buy the Way convenience stores. I think obesity will hit Korea like a ton of bricks... and probably sooner than they think.

Korea is a beautiful country. It is over 60% mountains, but so much of the country is developed that I have not seen a mountain or natural green space yet! My walk to work is between dozens of 20+ story apartment buildings. There are nice trees and a nice path to walk or bike on. Every block or so there is a little park for children. It seems quite peaceful, but it is impossible to escape the fact that the city is just beyond the trees. While in Lake Park today (largest man-made lake surrounded by a big man-made park), I was struck by just how close the city is. My apartment building was visible to me the whole time. It is nice to be surrounded by green, but depressing to think that reality and concrete are waiting around the corner.

The week went really well by the way! I taught "for realz" on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. The kids seemed to respond to me really well, although I am worried about the level of questioning I ask. I need to work on making my questions more open ended for the students so they really get the most out of them. For a while this will mean more planning for me, but I don't mind if the students are able to get more out of it. Teaching in SK is 100% different than teaching in the US though. In the US I had the responsibility of teaching and entertaining the students. Here it is straight business, although I cannot help but feel bad that the kids don't get much fun in their day. I introduced them to tongue twisters this week as a side note to the book we are working on. They were very excited and amazed when I read "Peter Piper" for them. I believe the tongue twisters will help them with their pronunciation of some words. Hopefully it will work.

Being broke in SK really sucks. I love the idea that when I get paid I will be able to eat out with my friends, go any place in the country (for the most part), and not think about money. Unfortunately, until October 10 I am completely broke. It is even more stressful than being broke at home because at home I know I have people I can turn to.... Here it is just me. My parents are sending me a little money (which I feel terrible about) and I have a feeling I will be eating an awful lot of ramen in the next 4 weeks. Once I get paid though, it will be VERY nice!

I cannot think right now of other things to update you on, but if you have any questions put them in the comments and I will try to answer them. Talk care of yourselves!

A time for firsts......

As mentioned in my previous post, my coworker and her mother encouraged me (cannot say no here) to do a whitening face mask... I was pretty terrified I would look like a chubby pale leopard when I pealed the mask off. Can't you see the fear?

On a less dramatic note, I have moved into my apartment! It is so nice and spacious..... but before I tell you about that, let me tell you about all of the firsts I had this weekend. Saturday was move-in day. My coworker, her boyfriend, and I all came over to the apartment with cleaning supplies in hand. The former tenants left and we cleaned fairly quickly. Then we went back and got all of my bags. It was nice to officially be in my apartment, although I miss my coworker's mom and really appreciated how well she took care of me. I spent several hours unpacking my belongings before venturing out onto the streets alone in search of food. I managed to get some and headed back to my less confusing and intimidating apartment. A couple hours later the former tenants returned and took me out to La Festa (the large shopping/nightlife area outside my apartment) for drinks and to meet other foreigners. It was a lot of fun just talking and drinking and not wondering what people were saying! I left to go home around 3 am and much to my dismay it was POURING rain. I didn't bring my purse so of course I did not have an umbrella. Within 5 minutes I was soaked from head to toe. That was fine except that I am already pretty tired of the humidity, so my clothes sticking to me when they were wet made it even worse. Regardless, Saturday was very fun and I was glad to meet some fellow foreigners. It might sound bad, but I think they will keep me sane here. Sunday I was woken up by the phone. I nearly died creeping down the steep stares. The former English teacher and her fiance invited me to Sinchon with them for the day. I was all excited until I found out that I had to get the bus by myself. My knowledge of the Korean language is essentially non-existant so this was a very intimidating exercise. Luckily I was given great directions and managed to meet up with everyone in the right place. We had delicious Chinese lamb and lots of beer and soju for supper and then headed off to a theme bar for hours. We left Sinchon around midnight and took a cab back to Ilsan. It was nice to not think about where we were going. Everyone agreed that "hangover soup" was necessary at that point, so we went to a 24 hour soup restaurant across the street from my apartment and ate the bone soup. It was pretty good and I didn't have a headache when I woke up, but I don't know how well it cures hangovers.

So over the weekend here were my firsts:
- saw my apartment for the FIRST time
- got food by myself for the FIRST time
- rode in a bus alone for the FIRST time
- rode in a taxi in south korea for the FIRST time
- hung out with BUNCHES of Canadian and British people and of course a kiwi and a few Americans and Koreans ...... for the FIRST time

Today was the biggest first of all (or so I thought). I was to become Angela Teacher today. The students were going to be taught English by yours truly. It was so exciting I could barely stand it. Once I got to school though, they asked me to write 10 essay questions about Toy Story 3. They decided that the students deserved a day off and I needed a day or two to get my affairs in order. I was a little disappointed I did not get to teach really today and won't get to tomorrow either, but at least now when I do get to teach I will not look like a fool. I did have a nice and sweaty walk to and from school between huge apartments. It was pretty calming even though sweat was dripping in my eyes every now and again. So I recently have had several big firsts. The last first I will show you is the video I took of my apartment. It is a beautiful apartment and I am terrible at taking vido. Regardless, I hope you enjoy the insight. The link is below for you to enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDZ46G-aOVw