Six Feet of Fire

God Bless Country Music

2012-01-12T20:40:00.000-08:00

I made it home safe and sound from Korea (after a 9 hour delay, but that's a story I don't want to relive). There was a fun and crazy Christmas with the whole family and I'm loving the 65 degree weather and sunshine that is California. I've been helping out the mom, trying to finish grad school applications, and being a little lazy too.

Last night mom and I went to a little concert with three awesome country singers: Aaron Tippin, Sammy Kershaw, and Joe Diffy. They're older guys, but they can still sing and it brought back some memories from junior high and high school. Enjoy a sampling of their work.

Crowded streets

2011-12-14T17:56:00.001-08:00

I've been taking the opportunity to visit my favorite places before I ship out of Korea. One of my favorite places is Myeong-dong; a highly overcrowded shopping area. But the shops and outdoor tables are fun, even if you get pushed and shoved along the way. And now there are Christmas decorations up.

Christmas decorations - and of course the ever present "missionaries." They just have a loud speaker and yell at people and sing.

Crowded streets and bright lights.

And crowded stores.

Hanging out with friends - Brandon and Jessica #2.

And no Korean shopping area would be complete without cutouts of famous Korean Boys.

Yum...dog!

2011-12-13T19:11:00.000-08:00

As part of one of my last cultural experiences, I told my Korean co-worker Tae-Hoon that I wanted to eat dog. It's not super common here, but they do serve it so he said he'd find a place. The other foreign coworkers came along for the experience. My verdict on dog - it wasn't bad, but it wasn't great either. So I got to cross it off my cultural list, but I'm not planning on eating it again any time soon.

Tae-Hoon and Sonja, enjoying some dog soup.

Robert, Christine, and me - holding some dog.

Happy Thanksgiving

2011-11-23T21:44:00.000-08:00

I just wanted to say Happy Thanksgiving everyone! I have to work - darn you Korea! - but I still have lots to be grateful for. Like today Hyeok Soo took me to meet his brother Seung Ha who works at the Korean Broadcasting System (KBS). Unfortunately there was no filming going on, but I did get to see some sets, which was pretty cool and then we went out for a yummy lunch that I didn't have to pay for and had some great conversation.

And I have another story too. On Saturday morning I got a call from a temple worker. He said that some Russian sisters were coming to the temple on Tuesday and they needed a translator. He asked if I would do it - I agreed but was really worried because my Russian is rusty. I woke up early on Tuesday morning and went to the temple to help. It was ... interesting. At one point the translation went from Korean to English to Russian. There was some lost words and a bit of misunderstanding, and it made my brain muddled. In the end I think it all worked out. But even though it was confusing and I felt frustrated with my lack of ability to explain perfectly in Russian, I walked out of there awed. Because there we were - women from three different cultures who speak three different languages but we were all inside the temple because we shared the same faith. That was pretty awesome and something to be thankful for.

So I hope you can all find something to be grateful for this year. Enjoy it, soak it in, bask in it, and then share it :)

Pure Talent

2011-11-06T03:11:00.001-08:00

I had a lovely time at our singles break the fast today, and one of the guys showed me this video on his smart phone. I was really impressed by this girl - she does something I'll call sand drawing. In the video she depicts when Germany conquered Ukraine during WWII. Truly interesting and in my opinion, amazing. Enjoy!

Birthday Bash

2011-10-25T19:52:00.000-07:00

My birthday consisted of meeting up with Hae Jin for lunch and a perfect autumn stroll around his old college campus, Korea University, meeting up with Chris for dinner and a stroll around a crammed packed shopping area, then meeting up with a group of my American and Korean friends for awesome bowling (I got a 157 and then a 126, but Roby schooled us all with a 207), all followed by noraebang of course. And cake eating too. It was pretty much the best :)

Pretty fall colors on Korea University's campus - with Hae Jin.

Lovely ladies at the bowling alley - me, Robyn, Katelyn, Jessica

With Hyeok Soo

With Alice - she is so short it's cute.

With Sang Hoon - he's kind of crazy.

Rain is coming down

2011-10-10T19:56:00.000-07:00

Ever wonder what a Korean pop concert looks like? Here's some Rain for you :)

Painting #3

2011-10-10T18:51:00.000-07:00

Painting #3: Hope you like it.

The painting

The picture

A little lame poetry

2011-10-06T23:34:00.000-07:00

Sometimes I get the urge to write a poem, and then I realize why I'm not a famous poet. But I'd thought I'd share my sad attempt.

The Coming of Fall

Fall is coming.
I feel it in the way
the trees bend ever so slightly
in the breeze and how the
leaves yearn to be tinged
with another color other than
green.

I see it in the faces of the
students as they walk home
knowing they have to study for
midterms, and wishing beyond
wish they could be doing anything
else.

I smell it in the crisp air
that blows past my face
and drifts up the mountains
cooling the evening sky
and calming the nerves of small
creatures.

And on a day like today I
want to be out there, soaking
up the late summer rays,
reveling in the perfect weather,
enjoying anywhere but where I
am.

Just some reasons...

2011-09-07T07:02:00.000-07:00

... why I love Korea.

Because I get to go to K-pop concerts with really awesome people like this:

And I get to go to baseball games with really fun people like this - and also the fact that Korean baseball fans are insane and I love them for it. Think super loud. And having a cheer for everything imaginable.

I get to go to the wedding of amazing people like this:

After church I get to walk along the river and hang out with people like this:

And like this - don't ask me what they are doing but it sure is entertaining.

And as we walk along the river we just happen to see Koreans learning to swing dance, and then we run into an international marching band competition. Sweet. And after the competition we get to see views like this:

And this - sigh, so pretty:

My Family in Korea

2011-08-30T20:53:00.000-07:00

My family came to visit and it was fun!

Cute Korean high school students stopped us to ask questions for their homework. They were super impressed with my knowledge of Korea.

Alesha was super excited to be in Korea!

And it rained...

We finally got a picture all together.

And of course a little family torture.

We went to the show Nanta together. It's a kitchen, chopping, drumming, comedy show. Trust me, it's much cooler than it sounds.

And no visit to Korea would be complete without the karaoke room!

Mud Fest

2011-07-27T20:32:00.000-07:00

I've obviously lost steam on this blog thing and I'm way behind. But I'd thought I'd post some fun pics of Mud Fest. Basically a fun weekend of playing in mud, followed by a painful sunburn. I never learn... but I even put on sunscreen!

Squeaky clean before the mud application.

And after...

And of course we had to go to mud prison - because why wouldn't we?

And my mom and sister are coming to Korea today!!! So excited to see them and ready to be the tour guide.

Just life

2011-06-01T20:51:00.000-07:00

I've keeping busy with work and play. Nothing too special but life is good. I did have one of my boy students ask me why I don't get my freckles removed. That led to a conversation about how freckles are not a skin disease or blemish, they're not bad - it's just some people, even a lot of people in the west, have freckles. He didn't believe me - he told me they were bad. I explained they couldn't be removed. He suggested laser removal. I said I'd be skinless and asked if he wanted a skinless teacher. To which he of course replied, "YEAH!" I love Korea, but sometimes they're lack of understanding and acceptance of other cultures is astounding. Anyway, it was kind of humorous.

I also went hiking recently. We may have gone up the wrong way because we ended up scrambling up some rock faces. But it was all good in the end - we made it to the top safe and it was fun. Here are some pics.

At the start of the hike is the largest man made waterfall in Asia. It was pretty...

Me and Robyn in front of the waterfall

View from the hike. It's pretty cool that you can go hiking in the middle of a huge city.

Painting #2

2011-05-11T19:40:00.000-07:00

I finished painting #2 yesterday. What do you think?

My painting.

The picture I painted from.

My life in pictures

2011-04-27T19:51:00.000-07:00

In Wonju, visiting Jessica. This is us walking around the college campus.

Jess was afraid of the bees so Katelyn is protecting her.

Spring in Korea. Walking around Children's Grand Park.

Cherry blossoms in Children's Grand Park.

Singles Pinewood Derby. This is my not so awesome car I made. But it was due to the fact that none of the saws they supplied worked... It was still fun.

The Pinewood Derby group.

I very interesting weekend

2011-04-12T04:05:00.000-07:00

I literally had the most interesting weekend in as long as I can remember. Saturday I decided to go makeup shopping - I really needed brown mascara. I went to this place with about five different cosmetic stores thinking one of them has to have brown mascara. I went to the first one and I have a half Korean half English conversation with the worker there - she said she liked my voice I finally figured out. Then she tells me they don't have any brown mascara. But she takes my hand, interlocks her fingers with mine, and starts pulling me along. I ask where we are going and she just replies, "brown mascara." She takes me to one of the other cosmetic stores and announces to the girls working there "this is my girlfriend!" and they all look at us like we're crazy. But they didn't have any brown mascara either. So one of those girls takes me to a different place and they didn't have any, so I finally said that's okay, thanks, and left.

I went to a subway shopping area and went to another cosmetic store (if you haven't noticed yet, there are about 30 different cosmetic stores in Korea). Anyway, they finally had some there and the sales girl tells me that "this mascara is very famous in Korea." I asked why and she said, "because the color is charming and you will look so charming in it." Nice.

After that I went to meet my friends for dinner - which I ended up meeting them at a dog cafe because they were running late. I'm not a huge dog person and it was a little weird. Basically it's a place with about 15 dogs wandering around and you can pet them and give them treats and you have to order a drink to be there. I guess people who like dogs but don't have the time to own one enjoy it. I kept thinking how it would never pass health codes in America... Afterward we went to a Greek restaurant, then noraebang (aka singing room), so that was fun.

On Sunday I met my Korean friend, Chris. We went to the movies and he brought his friend Hyun Chul (aka Luther, or Luter as he said). We saw My Name is Khan – it was really good. But also funny because the movie was like a third in English and the rest in Hindi with Korean subtitles. But I still enjoyed it. Then we went to dinner. Hyun Chul did not speak English very well but he tried and he was cute. He said that I look young and when he told me he was 26 I told him I was his noona (Korean for older sister), he didn’t want to believe me. Then he told me I look like Audrey Hepburn – totally not true, but sweet nonetheless. Then I see him sitting there for like 5 minutes moving his lips and concentrating really hard until he finally turns to me and says, “can I have your phone number?” Chris and I both laughed because he was just so earnest about it and he tried so hard. I said yes… Hyun Chul by the way, is like 5’7”.

After that we headed to this shopping street but they were cold so we went into a coffee shop, but we didn’t order anything. We just sat there kind of talking until I finally asked what we were doing. Turns out we were waiting for Hyun Chul’s friend. I asked what his friend was like and he told me he was a giant. Well, his friend turns up and he’s like 5’5” and super skinny. Nice joke. His name was Cha Yoon I think, or Van. Van’s English was better than Hyun Chul's but he was shy. We talked for a while longer – they decided I needed a Korean name, which is Hyun In-Na (Hyun is the family name). I'm pretty sure I was there to give a free English lesson - but I actually hadn't paid for anything so I guess that was my compensation. They then asked if I wanted to go to noraebang and I said sure, I love noraebang. But then Chris gets a phone call and says he has to go to his brother’s house. So he puts me in a cab with these two boys I just met, who only kind of speak English to go sing with them. It’s a good thing I’m not really shy. The noraebang was fun – I sang in English they sang in Korean. And I even helped sing a Korean song , that I kind of know. At the end of it they said “Noona Jjang!” – which pretty much means “Older sister is awesome.” And then Hyun Chul tells me he’s so happy because of me. And then I went home, but not before Hyun Chul told me that he will text me.

So yeah, pretty much a very entertaining and interesting weekend.

Coffee Prince!!!!

2011-03-27T05:57:00.000-07:00

I'm pretty sure that everyone that reads this blog is aware that I am a big dork. That being said, I shall admit my love of Korean drama. One of the first Korean dramas I ever watched was called Coffee Prince, and it also my favorite drama. I fell in love with it and the lead actor, Gong Yoo. I mean, behold the pretty:

Plus the fact that he's also a good actor and totally charming. Well, the coffee shop where they filmed this gem of a drama is in Seoul, so as part of Jessica's birthday celebration we found it. It was way over priced and slightly disappointing. But I really didn't care - I was in the same room the Gong Yoo had been in! Yeah, I'm that much of a dork. Soon he will realize is love for me and we'll get married. In the meantime, I have to content myself with the pictures we took of Coffee Prince.

This is me being really excited inside the cafe. In front of this wall is where the lovely kissing scene took place.

This is Katelyn and Jessica being really excited outside the cafe. After this we went and ate some yummy Indian food, sang our guts out at noraebang, and went to the book store to buy k-pop CDs. Happy birthday Jess!

Also exciting this weekend, I played basketball with four of my middle school students - all boys. They are adorable. We played 2 on 3, and the boys kept complaining that I was too tall and too strong. But surprisingly they were pretty good and fast. It was a workout!

I do stuff

2011-03-08T21:21:00.000-08:00

...sometimes. I haven't blogged in awhile, obviously. I told my friend it was because I am lazy, but also because I feel like I have nothing to say. But then I thought that was sad. I have stuff to say, it's just that sometimes it's hard putting it into written word.

I like art. A couple of weeks ago Katelyn and I went to an exhibit of Marc Chagall. I knew a little bit about him, but going to the exhibit was really interesting. The exhibit was called "Master of Color," and looking at his paintings it's obvious why it was titled that. He uses lots of vibrant paint; reds, greens, purples, yellows. It was pretty to look at. When we were walking around I noticed that some of the Koreans looked at the painting for a lot longer than I did and were discussing them; I'm more of an enjoy the pretty or strange of it and move on. Or if I do interpret them they are usually silly and way off base.

Take this painting for instance. I thought, "Hmmm, this is interesting. She must be full of hot air and is flying away." And then I laughed to myself. But then Katelyn and I talked and we thought, they're having a picnic, that's what the red blanket in the corner is for, and she is really happy about so she is flying away. But he doesn't want to lose her so he's holding onto her. We're probably way off base here. What do you think?

Lunar New Year

2011-02-06T17:17:00.000-08:00

Yay for Korea and giving us a five day weekend for Lunar New Year. Jessica, Katelyn and I ventured out of Seoul to Gyeongju, the former capital of Korea during the Shilla Dynasty. That means there was lots of historical stuff and lots of dead guys... i.e. kings' tombs. We walked a lot, looked at the historical stuff, and goofed off. As Katelyn said about a gazillion times, the weather was beautiful. It was a good three days.

Jess and Katelyn in front of some tombs

The oldest astronomical observatory in Asia

Bulguksa - an old temple

Me and Jess in front of the Anapji Pond

Walking through the park

What's been going on

2011-01-17T22:40:00.000-08:00

My mom mentioned that I haven't posted anything in two weeks. That's mostly because I'm pretty lazy as of late, and I didn't think anything particularly interesting has happened. Definitely no more pictures of Rain without his shirt, which is a total bummer.

So here's what's been going on:
- It's freezing here. Literally. And it reminds me how much I dislike winter.
- A couple of weeks ago we went to a professional basketball game and my dream came true; really tall Korean men. Unfortunately they were all on the court so I couldn't actually interact with them. On the bright side, Korean fans are pretty much awesome and super loud. I fit right in, except for the whole being white and redheaded thing.
- I ate some delicious Indian food on Saturday - yum.
- I went out with my Korean friend Chris (real name Sung Cheon). We met up with his friend Seun Cheol who owns this really fancy salon; we're talking rock inlaid entry way, and separate rooms for hair cutting, hair washing, and facial stuff. Seun Cheol took us to an equally fancy restaurant with cool chandeliers and water ponds. And he paid for the whole thing. I felt like I was in a Korean drama. He also told me I'd look better without bangs; he asked me to pull them back and then told me I have a beautiful forehead.
- I bought a jump rope in an attempt to get into shape, only to realize that the ceilings in my apartment are too low. I may pump myself up, bundle up, and go out side to do it, but like I said it's freezing. We'll see how it goes.

New Year's Rain

2011-01-02T17:24:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year everyone (a little late). My new year's here in Seoul started off with a lot of rain... But I don't mean precipitation. I mean the Korean pop star Rain. Jessica, her little sister Gail, and I went to a Rain concert to start the year off right - and boy was it right. Most epic new year's ever!!! He was cute (besides the oddly permed hair), funny, he sounded good when he sang, and the boy's got some moves - I need to learn some of his sweet dance moves.

Waiting excitedly for the show to start.

RAIN!!!! In some sweet army pants.

Rain in some even sweeter plaid pants. Just too cute. And I want his shoes...

Rain singing.

Rain without his shirt on (which he did a couple of time to appease the ladies). Probably the most epic part of the concert. And can you tell that his pants and shoes are sparkly? Awesome!

The concert ended at 2 am, and afterward we had to walk for an hour because the metro was closed and there were hordes of people trying to get a taxi. We finally managed to flag one down and he was kind enough to blast the heater for us. But it was all so worth it. Rain - I love you.

Christmas is approaching

2010-12-23T01:18:00.000-08:00

Because Christmas is on Saturday, the whole week at school I spent teaching my students Christmas vocabulary and why we celebrate Christmas. I asked them a lot of questions about what they were doing and what presents they wanted. And sometimes there were some really funny answers. These are the ones that made me laugh out loud.

Me: What would you want Santa to bring you?
3 girls: A boyfriend!
Boy: Superpowers!
Another Boy: The Universe.

Can you see a trend? All the girls want a boyfriend and the boys want supreme power. Awesome...

Me: Who was Jesus' mother?
Girl: Mary.
Me: Right, and Jesus was born in a stable.
Boy: What's a stable?
Me: A place where horses and cows live.
Boy: Mary was a horse?!?

After doubling over in laughter, I was able to explain that, no Marry was not a horse. But it was probably the best class, just because it was so funny. I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas and that my little stories have brought a smile to your face. Merry Christmas!

It still makes me laugh

2010-12-15T02:59:00.000-08:00

I had the following conversation with one of my male Korean coworkers -

Me: Hey Son Ho, have you found a place where we can play basketball?
Son Ho: Not yet, but I'm looking.
Me: Really? Because I asked you like a week ago.
Son Ho: I'm looking I promise. Don't worry.
Me: I don't believe you.
Son Ho: You SPICY woman!
Me (doubled over in laughter): Did you just call me spicy?
Son Ho: Yes, all you American women are spicy and scary.
Me: Am I scary?
Son Ho: No, you're cute.

I'm still not sure what to make of this conversation. It's the first time anyone's ever called me spicy. I'm going to take it as a compliment...

Sometimes I wonder...

2010-12-07T09:02:00.000-08:00

Sometimes I wonder if I'm cut out to be a teacher. For the most part I really like my job. It's a whole lot more interesting than the desk job I had in D.C. And I get to joke around with kids and ask them silly questions and call it work.

But sometimes I don't know what they're thinking or feeling. Today I made a 12-year-old boy cry, and I don't even know what I did. Okay, I do know what I did - I scolded him for talking in Korean and then playfully, and I mean playfully, tapped the brim of his baseball hat. And apparently that made him really upset because he told me that he wasn't the one that had spoken in Korean. I said it was because I liked his hat, but the next thing I know his head is down, with his hat brim covering his face and tears streaming down his cheeks. I felt awful! But I swear I wasn't being mean, I was just doing my job. So after that I took him out in the hall and apologized. But I'm pretty sure he was still mad at me. So I felt really bad, but then I thought, "I didn't do anything wrong! And he's 12, he should not be crying." And then I felt bad for thinking like that.

Ugh, it can be an ugly cycle. Let's just hope that when I see him again on Thursday that he won't hate my stinking guts.

Painting

2010-11-23T19:47:00.000-08:00

There is a really awesome and kind lady in my church branch, Susan Mortensen, who is also talented at painting. One day I was at her apartment and she was showing me her paintings. I said, "I want to learn how to paint. Will you teach me?" And she quickly replied, "Sure." So now, on Tuesday mornings I go over to her house and paint for a couple of hours. It's fun... and frustrating. Because painting can be frustrating. But I'm really enjoying it. Yesterday I finished my first painting. Here it is:

My artistic rendition.

Here's the picture I painted from. A few things in the painting were changed.

Sometimes I really love my students...

2010-11-19T01:02:00.000-08:00

... because they make me laugh. I have a couple of classes that are just a riot. Sometimes it's because they mix words up and what they end up saying is humorous. And sometimes it's because they're genuinely funny.

This was one of my conversations with a boy I've nicknamed Angel -

Me: What did you do this weekend?
Angel: I went to the angel.
Me: The angel? Did you see it in a museum.
Angel: No. Teacher, how do you say 'kyohwae' in English?
Me: Church.
Angel: Yes, I went to the church.

And then there was me laughing with the other student because it was just so cute. And then I said his new nickname was Angel and he was fine with that.

I have this one class that has two boys, Min Seok and Sung Hyun, who are totally hilarious. They are friends and feed off of each other and are basically the only ones that talk in that class. Min Seok is always telling me he's a fashionista and Sung Hyun is always making fun of him. Well, a couple of weeks ago they were both absent which made class kind of painful. I asked the class, "Where is fashionista and the other funny one?" (at that time I couldn't remember their real names...)

So yesterday I come into class and Sung Hyun asks, "Teacher, why am I the other one?" I think he was kind of miffed. I replied, "I said the other funny one. You're funny." Then he said, "But why the OTHER one?" I responded truthfully and said, "I'm sorry, I couldn't remember your name." He was like FINE, marched up to the board and wrote in really big letters, both in Korean and English, Won Sung Hyun. I don't think I'll forget his name now.

Also yesterday, Min Seok was wearing an Adidas jacket that was purple with hot pink stripes down the arm. It really looked like a girls jacket. He was also wearing skinny jeans. I was making the kids ask me questions to practice conversation and Sung Hyun asked, "Teacher, what do you think of Min Seok's fashion today."

Well, Min Seok likes to joke around so I know he can take some teasing. I responded, "Girls jacket, girls jeans." Min Seok rolled his eyes at me and replied, "Skinny jeans are fashionable, and I like pink and purple! Teacher, you don't know about fashion. I'm the fashionista." I laughed and nodded my head in agreement. Then a bit later Min Seok said, "Teacher, I have a new name. I'm the Fashion Bible." That made the whole class bust up. They're really too funny, and honestly you kind of have to be in the moment. But trust me, it's fun.

The good and the bad

2010-11-14T06:23:00.000-08:00

The good:
1. I have awesome friends in Korea.
2. My awesome friends like Asian pop culture as much as I do and we can spend many an hour rehashing stories about music and dramas and cute boys.
3. I have tickets to several upcoming Korean pop concerts that I'm totally stoked for.
4. You can totally see the back of my head in a Korean drama because they filmed a concert scene at one of the concerts I went to. My dreams of being a star are that much closer to coming true. It pays to be tall and redheaded in Korea sometimes.
5. My awesome friends also like to shop - which I did with them on Saturday.
6. The Fall here in Korea - the weather was perfect yesterday and not to bad today.
7. The fact that cute boys randomly hold up signs that say "Free Hugs" and you can totally hug them. (I still haven't figured out why they do this - and it's not just boys but girls too. Are they just really nice? Do they really like hugs? Is it a gimmick? Is it a service project? I have no idea)
8. The fact that I own a sweatshirt (bought in Korea of course) that says "Free Hugs" and that I was wearing it yesterday when I saw said cute boy holding his sign. I pointed at his sign then I pointed at my sweatshirt and smiled. We had a "heeeyyy" moment and then we hugged. And he gave a pretty darn good hug.

The bad:
1. That I have to go to Itaewon, aka the foreigner part of town, to find clothes that will actually fit me and then of course they can be expensive.
2. That there are hordes and hordes and hordes of people in Seoul - particularly Myeong Dong where we went after Itaewon. On the plus side there are lots of pretty lights, pretty advertisements, an pretty boys to look at. On the down side there is lots and lots of pushing and shoving.
3. The ahjummas. In Korean ahjumma basically means a married woman - but I tend to refer to ahjummas as the middle aged to over middle aged woman who have no qualms about pushing you aside in the metro or on the sidewalk because they think they're entitled to. I have been shoved by an ahjumma countless times (and yes it happened yesterday), and all I can do is shake my head and mutter in my mind, "AHJUMMA!"

Does the good outweigh the bad here in Korea? Definitely.

FT Island!!!!

2010-11-07T03:07:00.000-08:00

I went to another K-Pop concert because I will thoroughly admit to being just a little bit obsessed with K-Pop. This time the concert was FT Island. And it was awesome! We had standing tickets and we were super close to the stage. FT Island is actual band, meaning they play their own instruments. All the members are adorable and can all sing really well. We had a rockin' good time.

Waiting excitedly for the concert to start!

Lee Hong Ki - the lead singer (we were really close, but my camera also has really good zoom :)

Song Seung Hyun - guitar, vocals, rapper.

Lee Jae Jin - bass, vocals and Choi Min Hwan - drums, vocals.

Choi Jong Hun, lead guitar and piano.

At the end of the concert Hong Ki said that his friend was coming out to sing for us. Turns out they were using us, the audience, to film a concert scene for a TV drama. So we might be on Korean TV!

This is Hong Ki with the actor Yoon Sang Hyun. We had to act like we were at an "Oscar" concert and wave our hands back and forth. It was kind of funny.

The guy in the middle is another famous Korean actor Hyun Bin. He's in the drama they were filming for, so that's why he was there as well. The girls screamed so loud when he came in.

FT Island saying they're final goodbye.

Kids are...

2010-11-05T01:35:00.000-07:00

I have a wide range of feelings towards these kids that I teach...

Some are funny (but not on purpose) - Me to boy: "Are you jealous?" Boy: "What? Am I jelly?"

Some have big egos - 14-year-old boy: "Teacher, I am the school fashionista. All the girls love me!"

Some are cute - Another 14-year-old boy: "I like Alice teacher." Me: "Why?" Boy: "Because she's pretty, and a good teacher, and pretty, and nice, and pretty."

Some are terrible listeners - Me: "What's your favorite fruit?" Girl: "Yellow!"

Some are complimentary - Super cute boy after I killed a mosquito in class: "Your skill is very good." Same super cute boy: "Teacher, you resemble Kelly Clarkson."

And some are little monsters - 10-year-old girl: "Teacher, are you a boy or a girl?" (really? really?!?); Boy: "Teacher, how old are you? I think you're 45!" (uh, thanks kid); a lot of students: "Teacher, why aren't you married?" (I wish I knew that myself...)

Halloween

2010-11-03T02:59:00.000-07:00

For Halloween I went to a small party, where there was a ton of really good homemade food, music, a costume contest, and some games. Sadly I did not win the costume contest - I went as a Newsie but not may people got it. It was the best I could come up with last minute and in Korea. But my team did win at Taboo. It was fun times. Then Amber, Robyn, and I went dancing of course, where we saw more costumes ans stayed out way too late.

Me and Amber at the party.

The singles at the party: Brooke the cat, Robyn the race car driver, me the newsie, and Amber the sexy cat.

The trio outside the club Monkey Beach. Sadly there are no monkeys and no beach, but a lot of fun. This was bittersweet as it was Amber last weekend in Korea :(

P.S. sadly I have not seen the flyer guy again. My days are now emptier.

The Flyer Guy

2010-10-28T02:53:00.000-07:00

The past couple of days I've been passing the same flyer guy on the corner as I walk back and forth between the elementary and middle schools. For a few days he'd hold out the flyer to me, but I'd politely demur as I bowed to him in passing. (I bow a lot now, and I'm afraid when I go back to America I'm going to bow to everyone and they're going to look at me like I'm a freak.)

Yesterday he held the flyer out to me and said, "Bicycle." I again politely bowed but refused to take it. I know that Korean alphabet but that doesn't mean I know what the words mean. And I don't really need a bike.

Today as I was walking to the elementary school, he held out the flyer to me and said in very good English, "Are you going to take it today?"

I smiled and said, "Anyeyo." (no in Korean)

He smiled back and asked, "Don't you know the Korean alphabet?"

I said no again - I didn't want to go into details.

He asked, "Not yet?" I guess he'd assumed I'd been in Korea for a long time. I replied, "A little."

For some reason I find our exchange humorous. I'm intrigued by the increasing level of communication. Maybe tomorrow he'll tell me I have to take the flyer.

It was my birthday!

2010-10-20T19:45:00.000-07:00

My birthday was October 18th, and in celebration I had a joint birthday party with my super awesome friend Amber on Saturday. About 20 friends got together for dinner - really tasty pork, yum! Ange and Young Soo brought cakes, double yum. After dinner about half the brave souls went to noraebang (aka the singing room) where we belted out tunes really off key for two hours. And then the really brave ones - me, Amber, Jessica, Robyn, Gina, and Aaron - went dancing. We danced a lot and probably stayed out too late, but it was a blast. Birthday = success.

Friends and food!

Our crazy table.

The birthday girls!

Korean Celebrities

2010-10-08T06:48:00.000-07:00

Seeing as how real guys I talk to and associate with are totally lame, I've decided to give my heart to someone who is completely unattainable.

Meet Kim Hyun Joong (this is a Korean name, so Kim is really his last name):

He's got a killer smile.

He's a decent actor.
He's a pretty good singer.
He's a pretty good dancer.
And well, he's just plain pretty.

This is really when I fell in love with him:

Plus he looks really, really good in a suit and even dances in it. Bonus points in my book.

My Korean friend Chris told me that Hyun Joong's not a real man - he looks too much like a girl. I told Chris he's just jealous and all the girls are envious of Hyun Joong's skin. But Chris also has connections. He has a quasi-famous nephew (he's been in a couple of movies), who introduced him to an actress, Kim Ok Bin. Chris taught Ok Bin English. When I was out to lunch with Chris yesterday, he called her and gave the phone to me saying, "She speaks English, talk to her." She did not say one word of English to me. Our conversation was broken bits of Korean, and then the called dropped. She texted Chris and told him she was in the middle of a photo shoot - NICE! I now feel truly special - I talked to a Korean celebrity, kind of. Chris said he'll introduce me to her. Now if only I can get her to introduce me to Hyun Joong...

Andong

2010-10-03T19:23:00.000-07:00

I like living in Seoul, but it's nice to get away every now and then. On Saturday I and five friends went to Andong - a smaller city three hours away by bus. The air actually smelled clean, and at one point there were absolutely no cars whizzing by. It was great.

Me and Amber - we are so adorable...

The Andong walking bridge we crossed over

Andong has an annual Mask Festival. This was to the entrance of the festival. At the festival we saw some performers, walked around the booths, bought stuff, ate, and enjoyed the activities.

Masks

One of many of the dancers we saw.

Epic Saturday

2010-09-27T18:47:00.000-07:00

Some of my dreams came true Saturday night when I went to a Korean pop concert with Jessica and Amber. We went to see Taeyang, a beautiful man who can sing and has some sweet dance moves. It just might have been the best two hours of my life...

So, this is where the concert was held. Despite that it looks like a church, it's actually not - it's a concert hall on a college campus. We kind of laughed as we approached it. I said, "So we're going to a pop concert in a church? Awesome."

Posing with Taeyang before the show. Yes, he's shorter than me, but does that really matter? He is hot, and do you see the abs in the cutout in the back? Yeah, they really look like that - he took his shirt off during the concert so I'm a witness.

Unforutnately we weren't allowed to take cameras into the concert hall, so I have no pictures from the actual concert. But in retrospect I'm glad because we got to appreciate Taeyang in all his glory without having a cameras in front of our faces. I don't know how to describe the concert other than EPIC. He has a great voice, he had awesome dance routines, cool costumes, etc. At one point he brought a girl from the audience onstage and sat her on a couch, sang to her, laid in her lap, brushed her hair from her face, and kissed her cheek. Amber and I were going into slight hysterics from jealousy, while Jessica sat in awe. AND, our seats were three feet from and aisle way where G-Dragon and 2NE1 (other famous Koreans) walked by. I know I'm sounding like a 15 year old girl, but I don't care. It was sweet!

After the concert, super excited and waiting to stalk Taeyang with all the other teenage girls. We never actually saw him leave, but we did see a van that possibly had him in it...

Japan Wins

2010-09-23T19:34:00.000-07:00

Why Japan wins:
1. People were nice and friendly, even when you can't speak Japanese. Take the nice bus stop attendant guy who helped us find our hostel - he spoke two English words to us "English" and "North". There was lots of pointing, hand motions, and map drawing - but he was sooooooo nice about it. And we did find our hostel.
2. The hair and fashion. Guys seriously have some awesome hair and fashion sense in Japan. We captured many with our stealth photo taking skills. It was nice to see people being individuals - here in Korea people tend to have the same style.
3. The vending machines. They were everywhere! There were drink vending machines, and beer vending machines, and even cigarette vending machines. Oddly enough we never saw a food vending machine.
4. The food. We had some good food - even though we didn't know what we were ordering half the time. It was an adventure that turned out well, most of the time. And it was nice to have something other than Korean food.

We of course did a lot of sightseeing and temple wandering. These were great as well - except for the gazillion stairs we climbed, and I don't think I'm exaggerating. There was an ill conceived idea to hike to the top of a mountain because on the map we had it didn't look "that far." The map lied - and it was pretty much vertical stairs the whole way up. And it was hot with I think 100% humidity. But these are slight things. We had a great time, walked a lot, and enjoyed being in another country for a short time.

View of Hiroshima with the Atomic Dome on the left

In front of the Shinto Shrine on Miyajima

Evidence of truly epic hair. Later we saw this guy driving a Mercedes with glow in the dark license plate - even more epic.

Sunset on Miyajima

The Golden Pavilion in Kyoto

Kyoto main drag

Fushimi-Inari Shrine. There were LOTS of orange pillars.

More orange pillars

Geisha!

Kiyomizu temple

Preparing to turn Japanese

2010-09-12T03:16:00.000-07:00

In one week I'm going to Japan on vacation with Jessica. In preparation we spent Saturday having a "Japanese Day." This is what we did:

1. Researched and decided what we wanted to see on our trip. We're going to Hiroshima and Kyoto. And at the same time, badly mispronounced Japanese temple names in a creepy, old man Japanese voice.

2. Looked up Japanese phrases in Jess's book - none of which I can remember.

3. Watched a really sad Japanese movie online. Jessica blames me for picking it - it made us cry. It was really, really depressing.

4. Went and ate pork cutlet - because technically it's Japanese - and kimbop, and pretended it was sushi.

I can't wait for Japan!!!

The view

2010-09-05T20:22:00.000-07:00

On Saturday Amber, Jessica, and I went to the top of the 63 building - one of the tallest buildings in Seoul - to check out the view. The elevator going up is glass so you can watch your progression, which freaked Amber out, but surprisingly I was fine. Then Jessica made some comment about how it was like the elevator in Willy Wonka and would fly out of the top and just keep going, to which Amber had to say, "Okay, stop!" Anyway, we picked a pretty good day to go, seeing as how it was sunny and you could see quite of bit of the city.

View #1

View #2

View #3

Jessica and Amber - oh how I love these girls!

It was also an art gallery of sorts at the top and you could take your "self portrait." I am cute. The End!

Weekend antics

2010-08-30T20:15:00.000-07:00

The weekend consisted of a Korean culture singles activity which included a Korean language lesson, listening to a Korean instrument called the Kayagum, learning the Korean fan dance (which was somewhat hilarious), and eating kimchi pancakes.

Young Joo playing the kayagum

Young Joo doing the fan dance

Us attempting to learn the fan dance

Following the activity a group of us went on a night cruise on the Han River. It was pleasant and nice to be out on the water.

Our group on our boat

Amber, Young Soo, and me - Young Soo wouldn't smile with teeth so I tickled him.

Relaxing with my new pirate boyfriend. Isn't he handsome?

Farewell Cindy Ford

2010-08-24T20:27:00.001-07:00

It's a sad day in the land of Korea, for Cindy Ford has left it. She's probably already in America as I type this. Korea will be a bleaker place without her presence.

What can I say about Cindy? She is a RIOT! She makes everything more fun. She takes amazingly awesome photos, like this one:

She can talk to anyone. She likes to touch guys' pecs. She convinced a really hot Korean guy to wear a couple shirt with her in public. I am in awe. I am envious.

She is up for any adventure. She buys some really interesting things - like candy that has a fist on it just so she can "pound it", and really ugly fake glasses.

But she can pull it off, as always. I shall miss you Cindy Ford. More than you will know.

Lions and tigers and bears, OH MY!

2010-08-23T22:45:00.000-07:00

And giraffes, and rhinos, and monkeys, and even skunks, raccoons, and armadillos. All at the Seoul Grand Park Zoo - which was huge. So huge in fact we got to ride a ski lift to the top and then walk down. It was hot, and humid, but also a blast. When you're with friends it's always a good time.

Amber and Gina (and Erin in the background)

Cindy G. and Jess

Me and Ben

Young Soo on the ski lift.

Mike and Cindy F.

The whole group after the dolphin show. Our photographer cut off the dolphins' heads :(

And Giraffes!!!

Why I'm a Cool Teacher

2010-08-19T00:08:00.000-07:00

I've had a conversation class with three students for the past month. These students, Kyung-Yup, Yeon-Seo, and Yu-Jung, were all very, very quiet. It was supposed to be a conversation class but it mostly turned in to me asking question after question in an attempt to make them talk. The thing is, they all had really good English - they just were shy or had no desire to speak. And this class was two hours a day, twice a week. So you can imagine me wracking my brain for new topics and questions to ask them. I usually ended the class playing some sort of English game, to give myself and them a reprieve.

Well, today was the last class with them, because it was just a summer session. I pretty much felt fresh out of ideas when it came to a game. So.... I taught them how to play Go Fish. I maintain that this is still an English game because they had to ask for cards in English and say "go fish". For some reason Yeon-Seo thought saying "go fish" was really, really funny and giggled every time she said it. I asked her if she took laughing pills, which may have only confused her.

But the real reason I'm a cool teacher is because at the very end of class I taught them all how to shuffle. And they all did it. This will come in handy for their future poker tournaments.

Yes ... I'm the best teacher ever.

A day at the races

2010-08-15T04:53:00.000-07:00

Friends, running horses, getting betting tips from old Korean men - what more could you ask for? Oh yeah, how about winning 8,600 won (about $7) on one of my horses. Booya! (I don't dwell on the fact that I really only made 50 cents because the rest of it went to betting). But it was fun!

The area where the racecourse was was pretty. We could hardly tell we were still in Seoul.

Friends!

And they're off!

Me with my winnings. That's right, be jealous.

Student quotes of the week

2010-08-13T04:04:00.000-07:00

It's Friday the 13th, and it sure feels like it too. I couldn't sleep well last night so I came to work exhausted and, I'll admit, grumpy. My students did nothing to help the matter. Because it's Friday they want to be here even less than I do. Thankfully, the day is almost over.

On a bright note there were some humorous student quotes of the week.

Me: If you could meet a famous person, who would you want to meet?
Boy: Optimus Prime

Me: I went to visit my friend.
Girl: You have friends? (the whole class erupts in laughter)
Me: Yes, I have friends.
Girl: I mean here, in Korea.
Me: Yes, even here in Korea.

Me: How was your vacation?
Girl: Dirty.

This and that

2010-08-09T01:57:00.000-07:00

On Saturday I had my first writer's group meeting with Denice and Christina. This will be really good for motivation, because we all know that's something I lack. We've dubbed ourselves "Write On!" (this was my idea, so everyone can blame me for the cheesiness). Seeing as how it's monsoon season, I waded through puddles and sauna like air to get there. But it was a good first meeting, so here's to motivation and Write On!

Later that day I went to lunch with Erin, Jessica, and our new friend Young Soo. Apparently Young Soo has been in our church branch for 4 months, but said he was too shy to talk to anyone. We quickly broke him of that. He's a pretty funny guy, even when he's not trying to be. This is what we found out about him - his favorite food is a sandwich, his favorite ice cream is vanilla with nothing in it, he got his master's degree in Wales, and he's really, really ticklish. We found other stuff too, but for time's sake I won't go on. I told him he wasn't allowed to sit in the back of church anymore, and he stuck by his word. New friends are a grand thing.

A little change

2010-08-04T18:57:00.000-07:00

In honor of summer and the oppressive heat, I've changed the blog background. I hope you enjoy it. It matches my hair so it should remind you of me :)

I've had the last three days of work off because the school was closed for "summer vacation." Not much of a vacation, but I guess I'll take what I can get. I spent most of the time relaxing. I read, I watched some movies on my computer, I went shopping, and I went to dinner with my friends. It was lovely. I'm kind of dreading heading back to work today - but the nice thing is that it's Thursday so I only have two days before the weekend.

Getting out of Seoul

2010-08-02T01:21:00.000-07:00

Over the weekend I went to visit Haejin, who had moved to Busan. It was really nice getting out of Seoul for a bit and to see a friend. It was insanely hot and humid, but also beautiful. All that humidity makes everything green. On Saturday, we went grocery shopping, went for a walk along a creek, got our hair cut, went for a walk on the beach where there were literally a million people, relaxed, and saw the night view of Busan.

On Sunday he took be to Gyeongju, which used to be the capital about 1,000 years ago during the Shilla Dynasty. We saw a Buddhist temple built in 751 A.D., we ate traditional Korean food, we walked around part of the old palace grounds, and we saw a lotus pond. Weekend = success.

Night view of Busan.

Lanterns at the Buddhist Temple.

View from the Buddhist Temple.

Part of the old palace grounds.

Haejin and some bamboo.

Lotus pond.

Beautiful Gyeongju.

He confessed

2010-07-28T05:49:00.000-07:00

Remember Myeung-Sung, the boy that loves me? Today he actually confessed. It went a little something like this:

Myeung-Sung: Teacher, give me candy?
Me: Why should I?
Myeung-Sung: Uh, Teacher, please give candy.
Me: Where is my candy? You never give me candy.
Myeung-Sung: I give you love.

So I gave him a piece of candy - after I made him ask politely and correctly. It's the first time anyone has ever told me they give me love.

Auguste Rodin

2010-07-25T08:05:00.000-07:00

Amber, Hannah, and I went to the Seoul Museum of Art on Saturday and basked in the glory of their Rodin exhibit. Rodin created well known masterpieces like The Thinker and The Kiss, but he also has a lot of other pieces. His sculptures are beautiful and unique. My favorite one is called The Eternal Idol which is below.
I find the pose and arrangement of this statue very intriguing. I also think it is tender and lovely. It was a day well spent at the museum.

Good things happen

2010-07-23T05:00:00.000-07:00

My "I hate Korea" moment did indeed quickly fade. The last couple of days at work have been long, but pretty good (except when I caught two girls listening to their MP3 players instead of me, but I won't dwell on that.) And it's Friady!! Wahoo!!

Yesterday in class I asked the students, "If you could go to any country on vacation, where would you go?"

Girl: England.
Me: Why England?
Girl: No, Chris.
Me: Who is Chris?
Laughter from students.
Girl: Teacher, not Chris, Chrisssss.
Me: What? I am so confused.
Girl: Not go to England - go to Chris.
Me: Ah, Greece.

I have one girl student, Na-Kyeong, who is probably the sweetest student I have. She listens in class, she answers questions, she comes to talk to me in my office, and she even let me have one of the anime pictures drew - it's hanging up in my office. Today I gave her a piece of candy (remember that post I made about the power of candy? It so true.) After I gave it to her, she hugged me, told me she loved me, and kissed me on the cheek. First time to be kissed by a student. I was taken aback but she's cute.

Um...

2010-07-21T17:24:00.000-07:00

I feel like I should post something because I haven't said anything in a week. Let's see - monsoon season has started. Which means it's hot, humid, and then randomly pours rain. Awesome. I've given up looking cute for the next two months and my hair will always be in a pony tail.

I'm exhausted. Summer session has started, which means because I work at an academy and there is no such thing as summer break I get to teach more classes. So now I'm teaching 30 hours a week - some days seven hours straight. It's tiring.

In one of my classes yesterday I was asking the students a whole bunch of questions; random things like "if you were stranded on a dessert island, what three things would you take?" and "if you could have a super power, which one would you want?" Toward the end of class I decided that they needed to ask me some questions - that is after all part of conversation. I'll admit I opened myself up for it, but I thought they would take note of the kind of questions I was asking. They did not. The first three questions were:

1. How old are you? (not that bad - I answered honestly)
2. When are you getting married? (slightly worse - I said I don't know)
3. Don't you want to lose some weight? (I was flabbergasted by this question. Sometimes Koreans have no concept of what the rest of the world is like - and it was just rude. I answered, "I'm not Korean," and moved on from there. After class I told the boy he should never ask that to non-Koreans because it's rude and they would get offended. I'm not sure if it sunk in or not.)

Luckily the rest of the questions were fine. But I had a "I hate Korea" moment when the third boy asked me that. Luckily it has passed. Here's hoping for more respectful students today.

Age is just a number

2010-07-14T06:24:00.000-07:00

On Wednesdays I have a conversation class at the elementary school with two girls - Julie, age 12 and Ju-hyung age 10. These girls are pretty funny. They've argued several times about who is cuter - Jacob or Edward - from the Twilight series. Julie is team Edward, Ju-hyung is team Jacob. But today they actually agreed about something. They agreed that a Korean actor, Kang Dong Won, is handsome. Here he is:
After they showed me his picture online the conversation went a little something like this:
Me: You are right, he is handsome.
Ju-hyung: Teacher, he is most handsome.
Julie: He is mine.
Me: How old is he?
Julie: He is thirty.
Me: Isn't he a little old for you?
Julie: Teacher, age is just a number.

Smart answer, kid, smart answer.

Excuse Me?!?!?

2010-07-12T23:07:00.000-07:00

Me: Okay class, I want everyone to tell me what you did over the weekend.
Most of the class: I played computer games, I watched TV, I didn't to anything, blah, blah, blah (they're always so excited to tell me things and expand so much... NOT).
One cute 12-year-old boy student: I slept with my friend.
Me: What?!? Oh, you mean you slept at your friend's house?
Boy student: Yes teacher, that's what I said.

I almost had a heart attack. But don't worry, I'm still alive.

Meet Myeung-Sung

2010-07-09T06:39:00.001-07:00

Myeung-Sung is on of my students and I'm pretty sure he has a crush on me. Examples: he once tackled hugged me (this was slightly awkward), he told me I have to stay in Korea until he graduates from college, he once wrote on the chalk board "Teacher I miss you," he's given me food on several occasions, and somehow he got my cell phone number and texted me on Monday night (this was pretty impressive seeing as how his English skills are not the greatest).

So there he is, the boy that loves me. But why is it that only a 14-year-old boy loves me and not an actual adult man? Hhmm, pity.

Beautiful Boracay

2010-07-04T20:52:00.000-07:00

My vacation to Boracay Island, Philippines went a little something like this: walked on the beach, read on the beach, swam in the ocean, went sailing, went horseback riding, drank a fruit smoothie every day, ate on the beach, got a massage, watched beautiful sunsets, star gazed, and basically just relaxed.

It was beautiful and I really enjoyed it.

Oh English

2010-06-24T18:11:00.001-07:00

I went to a university yesterday to help out three master's students of linguistics. They're doing research and needed native English speakers for test subjects. So I sat in a booth for an hour and a half reading and repeating sentences.

During one of our breaks, I was saying how Korean seems really hard because the grammar is so different from English - almost opposite. They laughed and said, "Now you know how we feel." Then one of the girls said, "English is the public enemy." I laughed; it was funny after all.

But now I'm starting to agree with here. For instance, how do you pronounce this word: banal. It was one of the words I had to read in the testing. Now, I pronounce is BAYnal. But then I was talking to my friend and she said it is pronounced buh-nal (buNALL). So I checked on the internet. Apparently there are three recognized pronunciations; the two above and also saying it like it rhymes with canal. And then I laughed out loud when I continued reading and saw this:
"Some Panelists admit to being so vexed by the problem that they tend to avoid the word in conversation." So there is your answer folks - avoidance.

Later that day at work one of the Korean teachers asked me a grammar question about using 'them' or 'themselves.' Do you know how hard that is to explain? Especially to a Korean whose English is not that great. He kept on asking why, until I wanted to scream "JUST BECAUSE." And honestly, sometimes that's the only answer I have. That's what they did to me in the MTC when I was learning Russian; "just because - now memorize it."

I have a love/hate relationship with English.

Warning: singing may cause injury

2010-06-20T23:39:00.000-07:00

Saturday was Rebecca's farewell party. We had Korean BBQ and then went to the noraebang. We were at the noraebang for two hours, and I pretty much sang along to every song. There were classics like "Girls Just Want to Have Fun" and "Don't Stop Believing" and new ones like "Empire State of Mind." There were even some korean ones. My favorites that I picked out were "Can't Help Falling in Love" and "Piano Man."

It was such a blast, even if the noraebang room was 100 degrees. But the noraebang can be dangerous. Granted my throat wasn't feeling top notch before the two hours of singing, but afterward it was painful. The next day at church I was squeaking, literally, when I tried to sing the hymns or speak at a higher decibel. It was quite amusing, especially when I squeaked particularly loud at Jon and he laughed at me.

I had to say goodbye to Rebecca yesterday as well. It was very, very sad. We gave each other a big hug goodbye, and I may have cried a little. Goodbye Becca - you made Korea fun and I shall miss you, your dance moves, and your outrageously loud and boisterous laugh.

My date

2010-06-16T20:24:00.000-07:00

One of my friends, Justin, from the branch here is leaving on Saturday, headed back to the USA. He called me up on Sunday and asked if I wanted to go on a date before he left. I said yes, but because of my work schedule (I work 2pm-10pm) we had to do a morning date.

We met up at 10:30 on Tuesday. We at breakfast/lunch, which was sweet potato pizza. It might sound really weird, but it was actually really good - if you like sweet potatoes that is. Koreans tend to put a lot of things on pizza that we would never think of, including corn. But it's not too shabby.

After food, we crossed the bridge over the Han River to go to the river park. It was so humid! We were roasting and dripping in sweat. As were were walking, Justin told me, "Here is the objective: we have to find something to give each other, but it can't be trash. I don't want trash." By the time we got to the park we decided to sit under some shade for a bit. Then Justin asked this middle aged woman sitting next to us to take our picture (he speaks Korean, he served his mission here). Anyway, it ended up being kind of funny, because she almost took a picture of herself instead of us. But it turned out okay.

Here's the result.

We took a stroll along the river, and I ended up giving Justin a flower that I'd picked, but he said it was a weed. Which really it was, but there wasn't much else to find out there. And we took some random pictures.

The flower/weed I gave to Justin. He loved it - can't you tell?

Us and the flower and a wall.

Under the bridge.

Justin ended up giving me a slab of rock, that perhaps may have been part of a counter top. We ended the date with some Baskin Robbins. All in all, probably the most random date I've ever been on, but we had a good time. Smile, life is good.

World Cup Madness

2010-06-15T19:57:00.000-07:00

Koreans are mad for the World Cup - really they're mad for anything that involves Korea and will bring them honor. On Saturday I, with some friends, joined the masses at City Hall in downtown Seoul to watch the soccer game on big screen TVs between Korea and Greece. Of course it decided to rain that day, so we bought some cheap rain slickers and joined in on all the chanting and fun. There were so many people there. We got pushed and shoved, until we finally moved back to the street so Christina could actually see the game (she was too short to see over everyone's heads - I don't have that problem).

We ended up standing in front of a bus load of riot police, with whom Jessica flirted. She's great at flirting through glass but not so much in person. About half way through the game a guy with a TV camera saw us, so his assistant turned a huge spotlight on us and they filmed us cheering. Then a little later some random guy gave us free Cokes. Oh, to be a foreigner in Korea - sometimes it's good. And towards the end of the game I may have gone up to a stranger that was cheering really loudly and cheered back at him. At first he gave me an odd look, but then he seemed cool with it, so we cheered together for a bit. And Korea WON! The night ended with us dancing in a victory circle.

Masses of Korean fans waiting for the game to start.

This is what we looked like the whole night. The soccer fans are called the Red Devils, hence the devil horns.

Korean fans in the flesh.

Jess and I with are matching Korean shirts. We are so cool!

The power of candy

2010-06-10T03:53:00.000-07:00

I teach middle school kids. Some of them are out of control and constantly talking, some of them are so shy and quiet it's like wrestling a bear trying to get them to talk, some of them fall asleep in class (I have one student who seriously falls asleep in every class - I think he may lack iron).

But there is one thing that gets them worked up about playing a game or participating in class. That is candy. The power of candy is amazing. Even one measly little piece gets them so excited. My teaching skills are nothing compared to the temptation of candy.

Oh sweet candy, you do wonders.

Pondering

2010-06-04T17:52:00.001-07:00

I learned recently that a guy that I went to junior high and high school with, Scott Snider, died of cancer. Scott and I were never great friends, but he was a good person. He was funny, and talented, and cute, and generally liked. When I heard about his death it made me sad, especially for those that were close to him. Out of curiosity, I looked at his Facebook page yesterday and saw how people are still writing to him, how they still want to talk to him because he had touched their lives in some way. I found it a rather bitter sweet thing.

This event got me pondering certain things. I live in a city of 11 million people, and even though I stick out I still feel insignificant sometimes. It can be crazy and chaotic here. There is pushing and shoving (they do that a lot here). It can also feel monotonous, especially at my job like I am a drone along with the other millions of workers. I wonder sometimes if I'm really doing any good - am I really helping these kids or teaching them anything? But after reading things that people had written to Scott, I realize that it doesn't much matter if you do something extraordinary with your life as long as you live it to the fullest and are kind to the people around you. Sometimes kindness is hard (especially in a city of 11 million people and when you work with junior high kids ;), but it is important.

Also, I try to take time to appreciate the little happinesses around me. I can get overwhelmed with all the tall buildings, mass amounts of people, and lessons I have to plan so looking for the little things keeps me grounded. Like seeing little kids hold hands or the 70-year-old man playing a game on his cell phone on the metro. Note: old dogs CAN learn new tricks. Like giving my students high fives and hearing them oh and ah over videos of volcanoes that I show them. Like hearing one of my students tell me to stay a long time because I'm a cool teacher. Like appreciating the green trees and flowers that I see. These things bring a smile to my face. Thanks Scott...

All American Pastime

2010-06-01T18:06:00.000-07:00

Baseball! In Korea... That's right folks, baseball is pretty popular here. There are two stadiums in Seoul, and about eight professional teams across Korea. We went to Mok-Dong Stadium to watch the Nexen Heroes and the LG Twins. The stadium wasn't that big, but it was a lot of fun. The game was exciting - it even went into extra innings because the Heroes tied it up in the bottom of the ninth. We were rooting for the Heroes because they were the home team, but they eventually lost. I'm starting to see a pattern, that who I root for ends up losing. It happened with professional volleyball and now baseball. Poor guys.

Up at bat

On first base

Korean fans. They all have these blow-up noise makers and they can get really loud. But that was part of the fun.

Famous Korean girl - her name is UEE. She's in a singing group and is an actress too. I found out her dad is the coach for the Heroes so she's the spokesperson for them.

Students are funny

2010-05-27T20:27:00.000-07:00

I had my hand on one of my student's desk because I was writing something for him. He pointed at my watch and said, "Nice-uh." (Note: if a word ends in an "e" Koreans either add an "uh" at the end or pronounce the "e", like orange-ee.)

The boy sitting behind him commented as well: "Teacher, watch style is good. Fashion of watch is delicious."

End result: An explosion of laughter from me and a few other students who realized what he had said.

The Tower

2010-05-25T17:40:00.000-07:00

On Saturday I climbed a lot of stairs. I have to climb stairs everyday, because I live on the third floor, or I'm coming out of the Metro station. But Saturday's stairs were a lot longer. I went with some friends to Namsan (or Seoul) Tower. It was humid, we climbed, we sweated, we finally made it. It was pretty, lots of green trees and foliage. Unfortunately it was cloudy and hazy that day so the view wasn't as great as it could have been. But it was still a good time.

Brendan, Jessica, and Erin taking a break on the way up.

The Tower.

Part of the view on a hazy day.

Mommy - I am far, far from home :(

There are these fences covered with locks - I think couples put them up to "lock" themselves together, or some such nonsense. I guess it's kind of sweet.

A conversation with my manager

2010-05-21T09:13:00.000-07:00

Manager Yang: They come to put in air con in your house tomorrow.
Me: Okay, what time?
Manager Yang: 1:00 p.m.
Me: So I need to be there at 1:00? Will I be late for work?
Manager Yang: No, Mr. Kim will come to help. You know Mr. Kim?
Me: Uh... (note: 80% of the Korean population has the last names of Kim, Lee, or Park - I wasn't quite sure who he was talking about)
Manager Yang: Mr. Kim, you know, the ugly one.
Me (laughing): Right, okay thanks.

Lanterns, Buddha, and Parades

2010-05-19T19:45:00.000-07:00

Last weekend they had the Lantern Festival in honor of Buddha's birthday. (I get Friday off for Buddha's birthday - so thank you Buddha, for being born!) I ventured out to a Buddhist Temple, saw lots of gold Buddhas, people bowing, and lanterns, lanterns, and more lanterns. Then we made our way to see the parades. What an amazing and interesting experience. I now want to learn how to make paper lanterns, and read up on Buddha. They had some information on him at the Temple, but sadly in was in Korean and although I can read the Korean alphabet, I mostly have no comprehension of its meaning. Sigh.

Bongeunsa Temple, adorned with many lanterns.

There was a super awesome lantern exhibit at the temple. This is just one of many, but probably my favorite - all made of paper!

More lanterns at the temple. They were everywhere.

Dragon - see the dudes legs. It was so cool.

Another of many amazing lanterns.

Enjoying the parade with Jessica.

Some things

2010-05-14T18:38:00.000-07:00

So, I've been lazy the last little while about posting. I was in charge of singles' conference and after it was over I heaved a big sigh of relief and then vegged. On the bright side, singles' conference was a success! It ran smoothly and everyone told us they had a great time and it was well planned.

I have been meeting with friends and exploring on the weekends. Here's some proof:

On May 5th was Children's Day here in Korea, which meant we didn't have to work! Some friends and I went to Suwon to climb the fortress - a big, old wall that surrounds part of the city. We had to climb about a billion stars but it was worth it. This is the view.

Friends on the Fortress.

Me and Ben - that's how we roll.

On Saturday, I got together with some other friends for bike riding along the Han River. It was a perfect day for it. The weather was nice and clear. We had a lot of fun.

Taking a break along the path.

Haejin managed to escape the office for a few hours and came with us. It was good to hang with him for awhile.

School dinner

2010-04-30T02:12:00.000-07:00

Last night the director of my school took all of the teachers and employees out for sushi. I'll be honest, I'm not the biggest fan of sushi, but you can't refuse a free meal. And besides, I'm always up for new things. The meal started out fine, I ate some raw fish, some was not too bad, some was really strange.

All was going well until the director put a plate right under my face, and whatever was on it was still moving. I may have squealed like a little girl - okay I really did squeal like a little girl. I couldn't help it. I wasn't expecting it, and really, how often do you see your food still moving? All the Koreans laughed at me and then I started laughing. It was funny after all. It turns out it was really fresh octopus. I refused to try it for a bit, but then I finally sucked it up and put a piece in my mouth. It was . . . interesting. That's the best way I can describe it. The moving on the plate settled down after awhile, until someone prodded it with a chopstick and the moving would start again. Disturbing.

It's also a phenomenon to see typically serious, straight-laced Koreans (including the director), come loose with some alcohol. The director even made the employees play a drinking game that I will call "down the beer in one gulp." He'd pour them a glass of beer and they'd have to drink it as fast as they could. He tried to talk me into doing it, but after I refused three times he finally said, "Okay, I respect your decision." Although I had a sneaking suspicion that he didn't really - more disappointed. Ah, life in Korea is grand.

My two boyfriends and my new roommate

2010-04-26T04:40:00.001-07:00

Introducing the two men that completely own my heart here in Korea.

My first love is Gong Yoo:
See how lovingly he smiles at me (please ignore the pretty, skinny, Korean girl in the background - she means nothing to him). I'm the only one for him. He just doesn't know it yet. I've had a crush on Gong Yoo for awhile now; I knew about him even before I came to Korea!

My new crush is Choi Si Won (pronounced Chay She Won):
He, apparently, does not know of my existence, but I'm hoping that changes soon. He sings beautifully, has a killer smile, and awesome abs. And I think he speaks English, which is highly beneficial for our soon to be blossoming romance.

I'll keep you posted on my progress with these two. Now on to my new roommate.

His name is Louis:
He's a manly man, but not afraid to wear purple (or pink, depending on the lighting). He brings color, youth, and vitality to my drab little apartment. Thanks Louis!

Noises

2010-04-19T19:42:00.000-07:00

A couple days ago my refrigerator starting making this weird gurgling noise, almost like someone's stomach growling. Truth to tell, my refrigerator is probably hungry - there's not much in it.

Last night the noise changed to a poing-poing sound, like someone jumping on a pogo stick in a puddle. Maybe I should be concerned?

And yet it only does it at night, when I'm trying to sleep. Suspicious...

There is also a cat outside my window (again only at night) that is either being murdered every night, or is in desperate need of company of the opposite sex. I would like to put this cat out of its misery, but I'm too lazy to go find it.

I like spring and my friends

2010-04-18T04:27:00.000-07:00

On Thursday morning I took a nice stroll through the Children's Grand Park. It's a lovely grand place with lots of walking paths, some zoo animals, fountains, playing fields, and a small amusement park. The sun was shining, the flowers were pretty, and the cherry blossoms were gorgeous. And it's only one metro stop from where I live. Pure bliss.

Behold the beauty. I forgot to mention the pretty statutes, but there they are.

Saturday was also a lovely day, which started out shopping in Insadong - this little artsy part of Seoul. I got a necklace, a skirt, and a hat. Then we headed to Myeong-dong - the fashion district of Seoul. We had tickets to Nanta. I'm not exactly sure how to describe this show other than AWESOME! It's about four chef's trying to get ready for a wedding banquet, so there's mass chaos in the kitchen. They drum and chop with real knives and other cooking utensils. And it was hilarious. I was laughing so hard my stomach hurt and my eyes were watering. Good, good times.

Korean Folk Village

2010-04-11T18:49:00.000-07:00

A couple of friends and I decided to get away from the city on Saturday, and headed down to Suwon to the Korean Folk Village. The weather wasn't the greatest, but luckily it didn't rain. It was so nice to away from the city, to see some nature, breath fresh air, and experience Korean culture.

Man on rope. He did some cool things like hop on one foot, sit down, and bounce on his bottom.

Drum group with super awesome hats. Really, I want one.

Friends on swings. These were kind of hard to use because you hand to stand up. It took too much arm strength.

Friends on rock in the stream.

Pretty.

My attempt at creative photography. I kind of like it.

Vicious warriors!

Cool horse stunt guys.

Pretty.

Korean kids say the funniest things in English

2010-04-06T20:00:00.000-07:00

I'm teaching the kids biology. First of all science is my least favorite subject (after math). Second, teaching science in English to Korean kids can be really boring. But every once in awhile it can be entertaining. For example the following exchange:

Me: We're going to talk about the parts of a cell.
Students: Okay
Me: What does the cytoplasm do?
Students: Protects the cell.
Me: What does protect mean?
Students: Uhhhhh???
Me: Protect means to keep safe.
Boy student: Teacher, so the cytoplasm is like a nuclear bodyguard?!?
Me (laughing): Yes, exactly like a nuclear bodyguard.

The funniest lunch ever

2010-04-05T19:12:00.000-07:00

There is a teacher at work, Mr, Soh, who seems very proper and reserved. So proper in fact that I don't even know his first name - hence I call him Mr. Soh. But Mr. Soh has a quirky sense of humor once you get to know him. I was eating lunch yesterday with Mr. Soh, Chriss, and Alice (all Korean teachers), when Mr. Soh started coughing. I told him, "Don't die." A little later I asked him how his weekend was and he said, "I was dying." He's good and picking up on things like that. Then Alice told me that Mr. Soh was sick. I turned to him and said, "Oh, you're sick?" To which he replied, "Yeah, I'm really SICK." But the way he said it and his facial expression implied that he didn't mean heath-wise, but personality-wise. I looked at him, and he blushed, started laughing, and turned his face to the wall. I was lost, I was laughing so hard I had to cover my face to try to keep it in. Retelling this story does not do it justice - you had to be there.

Anyways, the director Simson (aka my boss) and manager Yang also happened to be in there eating lunch. When my laughter subsided, Simson explained why pronunciation in English is so vital. He said, "For instance you want to say important man, not impotent man." I started laughing all over again. I then thoroughly explained that you do not want to say impotent man. That situation could get ugly.

I went to the DMZ...

2010-04-04T03:10:00.000-07:00

...and I survived. There was no shooting, but lots of soldiers and lots of restrictions. It was an interesting experience - one that is hard to describe fully. They say pictures are worth a thousand words, so enjoy the pictures.

Freedom Bridge (or Preedom Bridgee as our tour guide liked to call it), where North Koreans fled into South Korea during the war.

A bombed out train, evidence and effects from the war.

Wishes that South Koreans have made and posted on the dividing fence, in hopes of seeing family and friends from the North.

I'm in North Korea!!! With a South Korean soldier. Our tour guide says they wear sunglasses all the time so they don't "eye fight" with the North Korean soldiers.

The line dividing North and South Korea. Such a small barrier, but one that seems insurmountable.

Hannah, me, and Jess hanging out with some South Korean soldiers. I love a man in uniform...

My favorite students

2010-03-30T20:51:00.001-07:00

Okay, maybe I'm not supposed to have "favorites" - but come on, is that really possible. Some of my favorite students are the ones that hardly speak any English. Why you ask. It's because in attempt to "speak" English they end up using Korean, an English word here and there, and lots of hand motions, sound effects, and grunts. When they do this, I can't help but to laugh. Perhaps laughing at my students is a bad thing, but if you were there you would understand that it's just so cute and hilarious that you have to laugh. And the fact that all of the other students are laughing too. I have one student who, whenever I ask a question, raises his hand really high and says, "Teacher, I know!" And then proceeds to speak in Korean with the aforementioned grunts. It is frustrating sometimes, but I much prefer these students to the ones who sit in silence and say absolutely nothing.

Don't get me wrong, I also adore the students that can speak English and voluntarily answer questions, pay attention and read when they're asked. One boy, Fred (his English name), is probably my absolute favorite. He's super cute with cheeks I just want to pinch, he always wears a Boston Red Sox hat, and he is really smart. He always answers my questions. I'm surprised that all the girls in his class don't have a huge crush on him - but then again maybe they do.

How we entertain ourselves

2010-03-28T20:25:00.000-07:00

There's lots of things to do to entertain yourself here in Seoul. It is, after all, a city of 11 million people, so there's lots of options out there. This weekend, in honor of Jessica's birthday, several of us decided to go to Lotte World - an amusement park right in Seoul.

Our group at Lotte World - remind you of anywhere? The first ride we went on was the Gyro Drop, a big tower that drops you really fast so your stomach feels like it's in your throat. Why do human beings do that to themselves? I guess it's a rush. We had lots of fun despite the really long lines and cold weather.

This is how we entertained ourselves while waiting in the really long lines. The Koreans laughed during our escapades. Apparently they're not as comfortable making fools of themselves as we are.

After Lotte World we headed to dinner for some Kalbi - aka grilled pork that's super yummy. I took the group to the same place I had gone with Joanne, the one with the cute waiter. Hannah and Jessica had taught me some more phrases in Korean so I managed to tell him my name and that I liked him. When he asked why, all I could do was shrug my shoulders. Then Hannah told him I was his fan. We laughed a lot.

This was the non yummy part of dinner - anchovies. Still I had to try it. Conclusion: not a fan.

This is our group at dinner with one of our waiters. He is not the cute one - the cute one is taking the picture. But this one likes flexing his muscles, and I like feeling muscles...

Me, Kwang-Min (aka the cute waiter) and Jessica. He initially didn't want to take a picture, but when we told him it was Jessica's birthday he finally relented. It was a fun filled day, complete with lots of laughter.

The last couple of days...

2010-03-24T00:21:00.000-07:00

- I went shopping. This tends to happen too often here.
- I talked to a Chinese guy in English in Korea... life is funny like that.
- I ate lunch with all of the male teachers at the school. This NEVER happens as there are about twice as many women at the school (actually this seems to be a world phenomenon; where are all the men?) Anyway, it was slightly awkward.
- I over heard teachers talking about me at school, but I only understood my name. It sounded something like, "Blah, blah, blah, Corinna, nay, blah, blah, blah. Corinna, nay, nay." I'm amused.
- I started making flash cards for the Korean alphabet. I've got most of the consonants down, but those darn vowels are pesky.
- I wore an owl necklace to school, and one class told what it was in Korean. I attempted to write it in Korean on the board, but like I said the vowels are hard. The students ended up having to describe the letters to me. "Teacher, the one that looks like a soccer ball. Teacher, the straight line one." I eventually got it, after much laughter.
- I went to the jimjilbang again, and sweated out all my toxins.
- I finally figured out how to call the good old US of A through the internet and talked to my mom, sister and best friend. Bless you, Skype, bless you.

Huh?

2010-03-17T22:34:00.000-07:00

For the most part I love Korea and all the things that I've been experiencing here. But every once in a while there are things that make me lift my eyebrows in shock and think "really?", and there are some things I can't seem to get used to. Here are some examples.

1. Koreans apparently don't believe in paper towels. In bathrooms there are hand dryers, which is fine. But sometimes there are no hand dryers, just a big roll of toilet paper to use to dry your hands. This is highly annoying because the toilet paper falls apart.

2. People don't say they're sorry when they bump into you or cut you off. I don't think it means they're rude, it's just culture. Someone told me it's because there are so many people here and if you said sorry to everyone you bumped into, you'd be doing nothing but saying sorry all the time. I get that, but it's still hard to get used to.

3. There are trucks that drive around selling stuff (fruit, socks, etc.), and these trucks have a very loud speaker announcing what they're selling. I find the noise pollution aggravating. Maybe it would be better if I actually understood what they were saying. But when I was sick I got woken up by one, and I'm afraid I will hold a grudge forever.

4. The driving is crazy. Really crazy. The few times I've ridden in a taxi or taken a bus, I feared for my life.

5. They eat pickles with their pizza, and they're sweet pickles. I hate sweet pickles. They also put potatoes and corn on their pizza. This is actually not too bad, but slightly different.

6. When shopping the sales people tend to follow you around. This is their version of customer service, and perhaps they're trying to be helpful. But it feels like they're watching me because they're afraid I'll steal something. I really want to scream, "Leave me alone!" But I refrain.

7. Tons of people smoke. I heard 40% of the population smokes, and they can smoke in public places. I was spoiled by California.

Sports, Costco, singing, dancing, and Korean men

2010-03-15T23:55:00.000-07:00

What do all of these things have in common? I love them all, that's what. Saturday was a very full day. It started off with sports day at church. We played some basketball and some volleyball. It was muy fun until Maureen got hurt and had to go the hospital. She pulled a tendon in her foot - total bummer. Some of us that were not hurt ventured to Costco. Can I just say that Costco + Seoul, Korea + Saturday = insanely crazy. There were so many people, and Costco was two floors, so you have to ride an incline escalator with your cart. It was a new experience. But I got to eat a hot dog at the food court and I bought cheese! I made a grilled cheese sandwich for dinner. Hot dog + grilled cheese = me being one happy girl.

Later that evening I ventured out with friends to the Noraebang (aka karaoke), where we sang our guts out for an hour and a half. Then it was off to the club for dancing. It was fun, especially when a cute Korean guy asked me to dance and I said yes. He also asked if he could take me home, but I quickly declined that offer. But he did tell me I was pretty.

Today I went to lunch with Joanne - she's leaving me on Thursday to go back to the States. Boo! But lunch was good. The waiter was cute. When I asked him for more water in Korean, he was shocked because he didn't think I knew any Korean. A little later I asked him what his name was in Korean and he was shocked again. His name is Kwang-Min Lee. Then Joanne told him I thought he was cute and he laughed and blushed. He blushed! He said I was very generous - apparently he's not thought of as cute for Korean standards. Korean standards are harsh. He told Joanne she needed to come back with me again because he's shy and doesn't speak English, but alas she is leaving. I think I will visit this restaurant again for sure!

War

2010-03-10T18:01:00.000-08:00

I'm a little late posting about this, but I still wanted to share it. On Saturday Jess, Sarah, and I went to the Korean War Museum. The museum is huge and is filled with history and artifacts. Korea, it seems, is a country that has been constantly at war. From ancient history to modern times they have been invaded - countries like Mongolia, Japan, and even their own brother country North Korea have swarmed onto South Korean land to take what was not theirs. It might sound like a depressing place to go, but I actually found it very interesting. It is sad to think of the animalistic tendencies and selfishness of men, but at the worst times is when some people do extraordinary things to help others.

"Our nation honors its sons and daughters who answered the call to defend a country they never knew and a people they never met." - Korean War Memorial

This statue is entitled "Brothers." One brother is fighting for North Korea, the other South Korea - but on the battlefield they embrace is forgiveness.

A soldier on the lookout.

Touching the hand of a soldier.

This is called "Teardrop." It is made up of dogtags of people who served in the Korean War.

Change and happiness

2010-03-03T21:36:00.000-08:00

Lots of things have changed for me over the last two months, so I decided to change my blog background. I hope you all enjoy it. I feel that spring is right around the corner, and in my hopefulness of it I chose blue and green. I want blue skies and green foliage. I hope it comes soon.

At school we also started a new semester and a new book. I'm now teaching social studies, which I have to say I enjoy a lot more. Yesterday was a long day; I had a two-hour conversation class with one ten-year-old girl at the elementary school, then I had an hour to walk to the middle school and grab something to eat, and then I taught five classes of social studies. Most of the classes went well, but the poor lower level students had no idea what I was talking about when I was trying to explain Greek history. Toward the end of class I opted to play hangman. At the end of the day I was exhausted and my feet hurt from standing for almost 8 hours straight, but as I walked home I couldn't help but smile. Yes it was late and I was tired, but I'm learning that simple things can bring you happiness. Things like a full day of teaching, seeing a father holding his daughter's hand, catching a young man dancing at the bus stop when only he can hear his music, and smiling at the guy that sells me fruit (I love my fruit guy).

I'm realizing that my last couple of posts have been kind of sappy. Sorry! I'm not normally a sappy person, but I am happy. And I wanted to share it all with you. I hope you can smile at the simple things in life too. Have a super duper awesome day!

Why I love Korea

2010-02-28T04:09:00.000-08:00

Why do I love Korea? It's not so much that there is awesome stuff to see (which there is), or that there are a lot of cultural things to do (which there are) - but I love Korea because of the people. I get to hang out and work with some of the coolest, kindest, funnest people out there. They have made my move and transition into Korea as smooth as could possibly be. From my school director and manager who furnished my apartment and always ask me if there's anything else I need, to my Korean live saver Joanne who's helped with so many things they're too innumerable to count, to Haejin and Chris - Korean friends that I knew in the States and are still my friends, to all the singles in the English ward who befriended me without question. These people are amazing and without them I probably would have been huddled in the fetal position in a corner of my small apartment crying. But I'm not - instead I'm loving life and having a blast. So to all of them - 감사합니다 - or in other words thank you!

Haejin and I at Olympic Park

Chris Kim!

When you hang out with cool people, they tend to do cool things - like putting on "Bob's House of Blues" where lovely and talented people can perform. This is Bob's girlfriend, Young Joo playing a traditional Korean instrument.

BSB = Awesome

2010-02-25T04:48:00.000-08:00

That's right folks - in the heart of Seoul my lovely friends and I ventured to a Backstreet Boys concert. And it was awesome. It brought back so many memories to hear all the old classics, and it made me fall in love with them all over again. It helped that the venue was small and we were seriously, and I'm talking seriously, twenty feet from the stage. Some of you may mock me, some may think I'm lame, some may judge me, but I don't care because I had a freakin' wonderful time.

Amber and I waiting with excitement.

This Korean guy came to the concert by himself so we befriended him. His name is Jin-Hon. Mark is in the middle.

BSB!!!

Howie

Brian

AJ

Nick

Teaching quirks

2010-02-22T16:48:00.000-08:00

I had to post this because it made me laugh out loud - right in my teachers' office. I laughed because it is so true. My students say the exact same thing...

Korean men in short shorts

2010-02-21T04:54:00.000-08:00

And really, what more could you want besides that? Don't worry, the men's short shorts aren't a fashion on the street (at least not yet anyway, it is still winter). Instead it was fashion on the volleyball court. Jess, Cindy, Sarah, and I watched professional men's volleyball on Saturday - the Wooricapital Dream 6 vs. the Samsung Bluefangs. We were rooting for Dream 6 because they were the home team, but unfortunately they lost. Total bummer. But the game was fun to watch, and the cheering was extreme - especially from Cindy. And those guys have some major hops. Please enjoy the photo evidence of the day.

The men in their shorts.

Me giving the thumbs up to Korean professional volleyball - and the shorts.

The Samsung Bluefangs after they won - see number 12, the one that's a head taller than everyone else? That would be the one white guy on their team.

And just for good measure we had to take a picture with the whole team of Dream 6. Because they lost they needed some cheering up so I gave them some smooches.

I think I'm turning Korean...kind of

2010-02-19T06:01:00.000-08:00

On Wednesday after work, Joanne and I decided to de-stress so we headed to the Jimjilbang - aka sauna. They give you shorts and a t-shirt to change into, then we headed to the locker room. In the locker room I saw A LOT of naked Korean women. After sweating in the sauna they all take showers, and seeing as how Korea doesn't believe in full sized towels, everyone just walks around naked. They are completely unselfconscious about it. Part of me wished I could be like that, but I'm most definitely not. After changing, Joanne and I headed upstairs. The sauna is huge - there's a big main room that's nice and cozy warm, then there are a ton of smaller rooms that are hot; like the mud room (there wasn't really mud in there, just brown, brick walls), the salt room (there were actually little salt rocks in that one), the oxygen room (I'm guessing they pump in oxygen), and the silver cave room (everything was painted, you guessed, silver). The mud and salt rooms were 61 degrees Celsius, i.e. 140 degrees Fahrenheit,and the silver cave was 118 degrees. It felt nice to go in and sweat everything out. The other rooms were nice and comfy temps. It was a relaxing day. I think I'm a fan of the Jimjilbang.

Tonight I went to meet my friend Chris (Seong-Cheon) for dinner. On the metro ride over a Korean guy actually said hi to me. It was just too bad he happened to be kind of old and balding. Then when I was in the metro stop waiting for Chris this really tall (for a Korean, he was probably 6'1"), cute guy smiled at me! I smiled back - I was in heaven for about 30 seconds before his girlfriend showed up. Chris came and said he wanted to eat spaghetti, but I didn't feel like spaghetti. When I told Chris that he said, "Good, I was just saying that for you. I thought you didn't like Korean food." But because I love Korean food (well, some of it)we had a nice dinner of Sam Gip Some - grilled pork with lots of side dishes. It was a nice evening with a friend and good food. What more can I ask for?

The fun just keeps on coming

2010-02-16T01:29:00.000-08:00

I've had another fun filled weekend, and this one was even better because I had Monday off for Lunar New Year. It all started late Friday night when we got a bonus at work - some cash and a gift set with shampoo, conditioner, body wash, and like six tubes of toothpaste. I'll never have to buy toothpaste again during my stay in Korea.

Saturday we had a singles activity. The first part was a photo scavenger hunt. It was fun running around Seoul with our group taking random pictures of odd things and strangers. Like this guy:

After the scavenger hunt we had pizza, and then it was dance time! There wasn't a huge group but it was still a ton of fun. Everyone was dancing and goofing off and just enjoying themselves.

With having Monday off a couple of friends and I decided to explore some Korean culture. We headed to the National Folk Museum where they had tents for crafts and such. I refrained from making anything seeing as how the tents were crammed with Korean kids. But they also had drum performances outside as well. Like this:

After watching some drumming and even some break dancing we headed into the palace museum called Gyeongbokgung. It is really huge with a lot of buildings all over. Some parts look like this:

After awhile at the palace we had pretty much turned to popsicles because it was freezing. So we went to the bookstore and then to Starbucks for some hot chocolate. It was a lovely if freezing day. And I even found a boyfriend! Check him out, he's very tall...

More great experiences

2010-02-08T05:19:00.000-08:00

On Saturday I went to the Seoul Temple to do baptisms for the dead. I'd been to the Seoul temple when I was on my mission and had to do a visa run to Korea, so it was neat to be able to go back. And of course the temple is always a great place to go. Afterward, Sarah, Jessica and I all went to eat at a Mexican place called On the Border. It was actually pretty good and we had the most adorable waiter who whispered English to us and was probably all of 19 years old. Then we headed to the Seoul Arts Center to see an art exhibit titled From Monet to Picasso. There was some amazing paintings there. And I'll tell you that being 6' tall came in handy when I didn't want to stand in line; instead I just looked at the art over all of the Koreans heads.

Sunday was a very long day at church but it was worth it. We got to hear Elder Oaks speak at a fireside in our church building. It was amazing to see a sea of Korean members packed into the church to hear Elder Oaks, even though he didn't speak their language (but of course there was translation). It just goes to show the power of the gospel and the great blessing we have to have apostles. It was a very good day.

Me and Joanne - my Korean life savior.

Jessica and Sarah in front of the temple.

View of Seoul from the temple.

One Month Mark

2010-02-05T05:51:00.000-08:00

I've been in Korea for one month, and I can hardly believe it. The time has flown by, and it's been great and exciting and tiring and hard and fun. I'm so glad I came here and get to teach English to a bunch of middle schoolers (punks that they may be) and experience all this crazy stuff that is foreign and wonderful to me.

Things I'm grateful for here in Korea:

- Joanne: my coworker and friend and basic savior when it comes to all things Korean.

- The Church and the crazy group of singles that I get to hang out with.

- Korean food. Some of it is weird, but for the most part I really like it.

- The Burger King that is right by my work (because as much as I like Korean food, I must admit that sometimes I just feel like a burger).

- The metro system: it may be huge but it's super convienent and clean.

- Korean shopping: I like to shop and you can pretty much shop anywhere here in Seoul. Korea gets an A+ for their accesories. They have awesome earrings, rings, headbands, and hair clips. If I'm not careful I could overrun my tiny apartment with them.

- My tiny apartment: the fact that I have a warm place to live and I get to live there by myself. And even if it's tiny it makes it easier to clean.

- Kpop: I'm a converted fan of Korean music. In fact I just bought two CDs today, 2AM and CNBLUE. Check them out if you have a chance.

- Tall, cute Korean guys. The tall ones perhaps are few and far between but they do exist, and I love me some eye candy in the form of a well dressed Korean guy. And even though I can't actually talk to them, the looking is enough for me at the moment.

- The internet. I can write this blog and keep in contact with all my friends back in the dear US of A.

Kpop

2010-02-02T08:39:00.000-08:00

Korea has a musical phenomenon called Kpop, basically Korean pop music. Right now the "in" thing are groups - boy groups and girl groups. The more members, the younger and prettier they are the better. There is one boy group called Super Junior that has 13 members. 13!!! That's just crazy. Seeing as how I teach teenagers I thought it was important to learn about Kpop, and I have to admit that I kind of like it.

Right now, my favorite song is by a group called 2AM. It's called Can't Let You Go, Even If I Die. I have no idea what they are saying, but it is very pretty, and they are very pretty too.

There is another group called 2PM (yes that's right, one called 2AM the other 2PM), that has this song called Heartbeat. Their hair is really weird, but I like their dance moves.

Cultural Experience

2010-01-31T16:03:00.000-08:00

On Saturday a group of friends and I went to the ballet. They put on Cinderella and it was awesome. The stepmother and step sisters did such a good job making me hate them, through dance no less. And for 5,ooo Won (which is less than five bucks) it was an amazing experience.

Here we are with Prince Charming. We are pretty, pretty princesses and ballerinas!

Sunday: In honor of Brendan wearing a suit for the first time we took a picture. The Irishman flanked by the two redheads.

Me and my new friend Amber - we're like long lost sisters.

A Birthday Bash

2010-01-28T01:03:00.000-08:00

On Saturday was Rebecca's birthday party. The party went as follows:

Manicures at Pro Nails. This is Cindy showing off her purple nail polish.

Dinner at a Jordanian restaurant. There was lots of yummy food like saffron rice, pita bread, lamb, and chicken. We ate heaps and heaps.

Friends at the restaurant. This is my new friend Brenden from Ireland. He just got baptized two weeks ago.

A surprise belly dancer at the restaurant. She was pretty amazing.

Singing at the Noraebang (aka karaoke room). This is Jessica and Maureen partying it up with the tambourines.

We also went dancing at a club complete with tables and poles. I did not take my camera in the club - so I'm sorry I have no photographic evidence of this. It was a blast.

Cindy stayed at my apartment that night and we got in a taxi with a driver that spoke zero English. Cindy tried talking to him and he told her "Shut up girl," in Korean. It was highly amusing.

Friends and Recordings

2010-01-21T00:48:00.000-08:00

On Monday I finally got to see my friend Haejin. He works for Johnson and Johnson Korea, and seriously he works like 80 hours a week, so he's very busy. But he texted me and said he wanted to take me out to dinner. He picked me up at 6:00 pm and the poor guy was sick. I told him he could have bailed but he said he didn't want to break his promise. He ended up taking me to this place that specializes in porridge (because he was sick). I know what you're all thinking - gross. It was not gross. It was actually really, really good. Mine had crab and vegetables in it. And one thing you'll learn quickly about Korean cuisine is that no matter what you order, you will always get several side dishes with it. The normal side dishes are kimchi and this yellow radish thing. With our porridge we got kimchi, some sort of spicy mushy stuff, and shredded beef. The shredded beef was delicious; so good in fact that I ate mine and Haejin's. He didn't mind. It was great catching up with him and just spending a meal with a friend. When we stood up to the pay the owner of the restaurant commented on how tall I was. I don't hear that enough it seems. But I was standing next to Haejin who happens to be one whole inch taller than me. Geez!

If you read my last post than you remember my traditional Korean meal with my co-workers and the Korean guy who sat next to me and said, "I'm very satisfied with my seat." I usually don't see him because he works at the elementary school and I work at the middle school. Well today he was here at the middle school. He's kind of cute (but not that tall). Anyway I said hi to him on my way to class, and then he came into my class and asked if he could take a picture of the class. I was like, um ... sure. I figure why not take a picture of the class? But it turns out that what he really meant was that he wanted to record the class, because he came in with a video camera. This was slightly nerve wracking on my part. A picture is one thing - a recording is a whole different thing. My class was on it's best behavior with him in there. He stayed about 15 minutes, and when he left my class let out a huge sigh of relief, literally. And so did I. He did not record me and my class because he has a crush on me (although he might, ;) I'm not sure). Turns out he's the manager at the elementary school and is in charge of AV stuff and recording some classes for review. I just thought it was kind of funny.

A week gone by

2010-01-18T02:42:00.000-08:00

Sorry for not updating sooner – I’ve had a very busy week! On Tuesday Joanne and I went out to dinner and then watched Avatar in 3-D. I didn’t really think it would be my kind of movie; sci-fi isn’t really my thing. But actually it was pretty cool, especially in 3-D. The only problem was when the Navi people spoke their own language it was subtitled in Korean. I didn’t think much of it until about half way through I realized it had probably originally been subtitled in English. I leaned over to Joanne and told her I didn’t know what they were saying – she laughed. And then translated for me.

On Wednesday my boss took me, the two other American teachers, and about seven Korean teachers out to dinner. We had a traditional Korean meal; we sat on the floor and they just kept bringing out more and more food. I ate fish, squid, seaweed, rice, soup, pork, and lots of other things I can’t remember or didn’t know what were. I sat next to one of the male Korean teachers who turned to me and said, “I’m very satisfied with my seat.” But then didn’t say anything else to me the rest of the night.

On Friday I got together with Cindy to hang out. We went into a restaurant where she pointed to a table trying to indicate that we wanted to eat that. Luckily there was a nice man who spoke English and translated for us. We ended up getting some sort of pork thing that you wrap in lettuce, and oysters. I ate one oyster – it was slimy and gross. The heap of oysters together looked like brains. After dinner we went to the musical stage play “The Wedding Singer” – in Korean. That’s right, they translated the whole thing. It was good we knew the story beforehand because obviously we don’t speak Korean. It was very, very amusing. Especially the club scene where there was some guy dancing in very, very tiny shorts and what looked like a leash, and Holly danced on a platform and got drenched with water. Water fell from the ceiling onto her, literally. That scene alone was worth the money we spent on our tickets.

On Saturday I got together with my friend Chris (aka Seong-Cheon). I tutored him at BYU-Idaho and I hadn’t seen him in two years. He took me to Gangnam (an area of Seoul) where we went to lunch and walked around. We decided it was too cold outside so he took me to Times Square, a really humongous shopping mall. There were a TON of people there. It was crazy, insane – welcome to life in Seoul, population 11 million. But it was fun to look around at the shops.

Cindy eating an oyster - yuck!

Me and some sort of food creation

In front of the Arts Center

Weekend Fun

2010-01-12T05:37:00.000-08:00

Saturday morning I was pretty much a bum. It was nice to sleep in and lounge on my bed. I messed around on the internet and read a little. But I did manage to clean my kitchen – the cupboards were kind of gross, I’m assuming from the previous tenant. But now they’re nice and sparkly. Okay, maybe not sparkly but clean. In the afternoon I ventured onto the Metro for the first time by myself. I went to a place called Gwanghwamun Square. It’s a square (obviously) that has two huge statues – one of Admiral Yi Sun-shin, and one of King Sejong, the inventor of the Korean alphabet. Under the statue of Sejong is an exhibit all about him, his reign, and the evolution of hanguel (Korean alphabet). It was all very interesting. Further down the square they had ice skating and some sort of ice sledding. It looked fun. Then I went into the Kyobo Book Center. It’s a pretty big bookstore and there were a TON of people there. People were all over, sitting on the floor reading, browsing the bookshelves – it was fun and crazy.

On Sunday I met up with Cindy (a friend of a friend, but now we’re friends) and went to church. It’s an English branch and it was actually really big. There are military people, English teachers, and regular workers. After church the singles all get together at this guy Mitch’s apartment to eat and socialize. Mitch is military and has a much, much bigger and nicer apartment than mine. There were probably 20 singles there and it was nice to get to know people. Thank goodness for the Church – I now know people in Korea! On the way home I accidentally got on a train going the wrong way. Luckily I noticed right away and got off at the next stop to get on the right train – no harm no foul. I have a feeling that might happen to me a lot while I’m here. Seoul is so big and the metro system is humongous.

Ice skating on the square.

King Sejong

The Admiral

Pretty

I survived the week

2010-01-08T00:39:00.000-08:00

One week down! It's been fun, and crazy, and exhausting. For the most part the kids are great, but they are teenagers so that says a lot about them. Whenever I asked them if they wanted to know anything about me the first question was always, "how old are you?". The second question was always "how tall are you?". When I replied 180 cm (aka 6 feet) there was always a collective gasp of disbelief. I mean, I know I'm tall but have these kids never heard of Yao Ming or his wife, who happens to be two whole inches taller than me (congrats to them by the way, they are going to have a baby - that kid is going to be huge). I think these kids need to meet some NBA players. And I will have you know that I have walked by at least four Korean men who are taller than me. Geez!

It's cold enough to see your breath here, and today on my way to work I saw the cutest thing - two little girls blowing air at each other to see their breath combing. It was just adorable. Also today on my way home from work I carried an ironing board. At least it was not a full size one. Here is the story; a couple of days ago one of the Korean workers/drivers and one of the Korean teachers (who speaks English, her name is Joanne) took me shopping to get some more things that I needed. Well, apparently the driver was in a very big hurry and Joanne and I literally had to run after him to keep up. He was a crazed man on a mission. We were done shopping in seven minutes. But it turns out I forgot to get an iron and an ironing board. So today the same driver comes in and hands me an iron and ironing board - hence I put the iron in my backpack and carried the ironing board as I walked home. Also, everyday when I get home I have a new takeout menu attached to my door. There are tons of little restaurants everywhere and I think they all deliver. If only I could read the menu and actually order something. Goal for the week - learn Korean alphabet!

The street I walk down to go to work everyday.

The street where I live. My apartment building is the one on the right with the white car out front.

View one of my apartment. Nice kitchen, heh?

View two of my apartment. Look mom, I made my bed! Still haven't figured out the TV though.

Me and my new ironing board!

Stupid American Tourist

2010-01-05T23:14:00.000-08:00

Okay, so I kind of feel like a really stupid American tourist (which I guess basically I am), but here’s the reason why. Remember how I said I couldn’t figure out the hot water, how to turn on my shower or how my stove worked? Well yes, I couldn’t figure these things out because I’m retarded – I fully admit it. So last night one of the Korean teachers came over to my apartment to help me figure these things out. I had figured out the hot water on my own, but the shower was still a mystery to me. So Yung comes in and turns on the shower in about two seconds. Turns out you have to lift the knob up, not turn it. Do you know how hard I tried to turn that knob? Really, really hard! For the stove he came over and turned the gas on – yes it was really complicated, let me tell you. But in my defense I’ve never had to do that at home. Also my refrigerator wasn’t working, so Yung opens it and turns the knob to “on”. Again in my defense the thing was in Korean. How was I supposed to know that’s what it said? I need to study Korean. So in the span of about two minutes Yung had solved all my problems that had plagued me for two days. When he left I could only shake my head at myself and laugh – they were definitely palm to forehead moments. But at least this morning I could take a decent shower and cook eggs – I thoroughly enjoyed it.

I’ve now finished three days of teaching. I see each class only once a week, so I teach the same lessons all week. There are two lessons depending on which grade they are in, and each class is at a different level. With some classes it’s like pulling teeth to get them to talk or answer questions; they are so quiet I get sick of hearing myself speak. The more advanced classes tend to be more talkative, and I really like that. When I told one of my students to explain in English, he told me to study Korean! Further proof I suppose, but so far so good. We’ll see how things progress as the weeks carry on.

Welcome to Korea

2010-01-04T23:12:00.000-08:00

My journey began at 5 am on Saturday morning. My very kind sister Alesha drove me to the Sacramento Airport. I checked in my bags, but was told that because of fog my flight to San Francisco was delayed. So Alesha and I sat and chatted. The airline decided it would just be better to shuttle us over to SF, so I got my luggage back and got in a shuttle to the SF airport. After a couple of hours of wandering around the airport I boarded the plane to Seoul for the 13 hour flight. I sat next to an American who has worked in Seoul for two years. She gave me some good pointers. I asked about the weather and she said it hardly ever snows in Seoul but it does get cold. The flight was long, but bearable. Watched a couple of movies, read, listened to music, and attempted to sleep.

At the Seoul airport I went through customs, grabbed my luggage and headed out to meet my driver. I met him in front of Dunkin’ Donuts – a little Korean middle aged man. The only English word he spoke to me was my name. The only Korean word I said to him was thank you. It took about an hour to drive into Seoul. Along the way I saw a lot of lights, the Han River, some awesome bridges, and the annoying GPS that kept dinging and flashing blue and pink. Don’t ask me why it did this – all directions were in Korean. When we reached Seoul it was 8 pm Sunday night. The driver dropped me off at the school I am working at, where I met the director, Simson, and two of the Korean teachers, Yung and Jennifer. Yung and Jennifer took me to my apartment to drop of my luggage then took me shopping. I had to get kitchenware, bathroom stuff and some food – all of which the school paid for. By the time I got back to the apartment it was 10 pm and I had been up for I don’t know how long and was exhausted. I went straight to bed, but my hours were all messed up so I kept waking up.

My apartment is one big room with a hard bed, a couple of dressers, a sink, refrigerator, stove, and a couple of kitchen cabinets. There is a small bathroom and a balcony with a washing machine. In the morning I woke up to a foot of snow. So much for it not snowing a lot! I couldn’t get the hot water to work and I couldn’t figure out how to turn it to the shower, so I washed my hair in cold water under the faucet. I was going to make eggs for breakfast but I couldn’t figure out the stove either, so I ate an apple instead. At least I have heated floors :). I walked to work through the snow, which I actually quite enjoyed. It’s about a 15 minute walk and there were a ton of people and it was just kind of fascinating and exciting. I got to work at 8:30, where they gave me a couple of science books and told me I had to teach at 9. I taught four classes that day, and winged all of them. It actually wasn’t that bad; but here I am, a girl whose least favorite subject is science, and I’m teaching 14 and 15 year old Korean kids about cells and DNA in English. I didn’t even remember what the mitochondria was or how DNA duplicates, but now I’m teaching about it in a foreign country. Life is funny.

Southern California

2009-12-06T15:10:00.000-08:00

I've been hanging out with my sister in Southern California for a week. Here are some highlights. A view of Santa Barbara from the tower on the court house.

El Capitan - an old movie theater in Hollywood.

The Getty Museum. The architecture is really cool and there is some great art here.

My hand in Jimmy Stewart's - at Graumann's Chinese Theater in Hollywood.

Ashton and Natasha battling Darth Vadar and the Hulk. They're tough!