MSG ME: Sweet and Spicy in South Korea

My Korean Taurus Party Event Invitation

2010-05-03T22:18:00.000-07:00

Start Time: Saturday, May 15, 2010

Location: Ju-Ang Park in Bucheon (near Hyundai Dept. store)

Description: There's a costume party in the park to celebrate the birthing day of a select group of individuals brought into the world under the astrological sign of Taurus, as it were, and you're invited to attend.

The May Babies: Jessica, Gra Ham, Fernando, and Buddha

The Theme: Zodiac (you must wear a costume as not to anger the bulls)

The (Satur)Day: The 15th of May

Where to Start: Ju-Ang Park in Bucheon near Hyundai Department store...and then perhaps a roof, and then perhaps a bar, and then well, only time can tell.

When to Come: At half past one in the sun

What to Wear: Anything Zodiac inspired...think Astrologically. You can choose any images from Western Astrology to Eastern Chinese Zodiac or a blending of the two to create your costume. If you need help, we can start a forum of comments below for ideas. Be creative, anything goes.

What to Bring: Snacks to share, drinks to drink (and maybe your own re-usable cup to appease the natural environment), badminton and musical instruments to play, blankets to lounge on, cameras to capture candidness, games to, well you see where this is going....oh, and bring your friends!

Presents: Expensive cigars, phone cards, hookers, won, booze, fried chicken and sidewalk chalk all make fine gifts, er, um, offerings to the Gods.

Soju Punch Provided! (but really, bring a cup)

Events and Activities include:
Make an Amusing Konglish T-shirt---bring your own T-shirt, paints provided
A raffle for profit, er, uh, Prizes rather
Hash Run (if someone else organizes it)
Hard-Boiled Egg Hunt---if you find an egg you get to eat it
Meet John Henke
Acoustic Karaoke

This ends with a link to Sonic Youth's "Bull in the Heather" mv...enjoy and see you in the park!
: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2T4BsnXmJaI

Child de Mayo a.k.a. Children's Day

2010-05-03T21:57:00.000-07:00

In the U.S. we like to celebrate the Mexican holiday Cinco de Mayo on May 5th. But in Korea, May 5th is a national holiday for children and it just so happens to be called: Children's Day. All of the schools will be closed tomorrow so that these estudient students get a day off racking their brains with school work. They even get presents! [There's also a parents' day, but I don't think they get a day off of work--it's probably just like Mothers'/Fathers' day except in one.]

Anywho, my school's Principle decided to be awesome and give all of us a 5-day weekend! I get May 5th, 6th, and 7th off of school! It couldn't have come at a better time. I really need to start cleaning, packing, and getting ready to get back to Florida. Plus, I think I'll do a few touristy things while I'm off. Perhaps a Palace tour in Seoul, or something like that.

Oh, and apparently one of the foreigner bars in Bucheon we go to called Rhythm and Booze (a.k.a. Seinfelds), is having a Quatro de Mayo party tonight that we might go to. Cheap tequilla shots and corona...I'm going to have to cut myself off early so I don't ruin my day tomorrow since there is no "last call" in Korea.

I love May! :)

DVD Bang

2010-04-22T22:07:00.000-07:00

I forgot to talk about all the different Bangs, or rooms, in Korea. There's Norae Bangs (singing rooms a.k.a. private party karoake), PC bangs (computer rooms for all your gaming needs), and DVD bangs.

DVD bangs are places that have a selection of movie rentals that you don't take home and return, but instead watch in a small, private room at the establisment. Apparently, according to some Korean friends, these places are sometimes used by people to fool around, especially younger adults who still live with their parents (or maybe the box of tissues in the room was just in case you wanted to watch a tear-jerker, who knows). So it may look odd for two girls to go into a room together, but Erin and I don't care about getting strange looks and we found the experience to be worth the wonder.

This particular DVD Bang we went to is on the north side of Yeokgok station on the fourth or fifth floor. It was clean and the Ajuma that worked there was nice to us. We went in and decided on 2 Days in Paris to watch. For 11,000won we got to pick out a drink and sit in our own private room to watch our movie on a big screen with great sound. The room was also very clean and cozy. Well worth the money and more enjoyable than going to a movie theatre, in my opinion.

Just like being at home, but with a better entertainment system. I definitely recommend the experience if you're ever in Korea. These places are plentiful, so it's not hard to find one.

We actually haven't been back there since, but I definitely want to go again before I leave. It'd be cool to open one of the in the U.S.

점심 맛있었어요! Lunch was delicious!

2010-04-06T20:45:00.000-07:00

Lunch is often my favorite meal of the day during the week. I never have to worry about figuring out what I'm going to eat, because I eat in the cafeteria with other teachers. Sometimes it's not exactly what I want, but usually it hits the spot. Today we actually had spaghetti with meat sauce (including mushrooms and corn) and vegetable/seaweed mixed rice patties (I don't remember the actual name of them) with orange juice. The spaghetti this time around was pretty good, not sweet like the last time. And it's funny that no matter how many carbs or starches lunch includes, you can always guarantee there will be rice. Some Koreans have told me if they don't have rice everyday their stomachs feel empty. Bread is actually thought of as an in-between-meals snack, not part of a meal like we eat it in the West. So if I tell Sun Jung that I had a bagel for breakfast or even just some yogurt or fruit, she thinks I'm not eating enough. She eats rice, soup, kimchi, and sometimes fried eggs for breakfast. After all, it is the most important meal of the day.

I'm getting side-tracked. My point is, yesterday's lunch was way better! There was 오의 김치 (cucumber kimchi--my fav), rice, orange halves, some kind of salty, brown-brothed crab soup with small crabs in it chopped in half, and my new favorite dish: 장조림!

장조림(jang jo lim) is tender chunks of beef and hard-boiled quail eggs cooked in a type of soy sauce marinade. This is the second time I've had it. The first, that I remember at least, is when Sun Jung's mom sent a package of her home-cooked food and Sun Jung gave me a plastic container of it. I love her mom's cooking so of course it was delicious then, and at lunch yesterday it was just as good.

Are you sick?

2010-04-06T18:46:00.000-07:00

The Korean word for sick, hurt, pain, and the like is all the same: 아프다 -- apeuda, or ah-ppuh. Whether you have a headache or a cold or you fell down the stairs and broke your ankle, they will ask, "Are you sick?"

I remember the first time I got my Asian hair extensions, the girl weaving them in didn't speak much English, so she kept asking me, "are you sick, are you sick?" I was confused as to why she would randomly ask me that until I figured out she was talking about my head. Luckily, I'm not tender headed and I already knew the word for hurt, so I told her it didn't hurt, in Korean.

This came to mind today when I saw one of my 4th graders in the hall about 5 minutes after her class let out, holding a bag of ice to her ankle while she hobbled down the hall. She saw me and said, "Jessica teacher, I'm sick!" and she pointed to her ankle. I thought it was cute. I mean, she's ok, her ankle isn't broken or anything, I wouldn't laugh at that. Language translation is just...interesting, sometimes.

Everland: October 18, 2009

2010-04-04T23:46:00.000-07:00

Everland is an amusement park in Korea, North East (?) of Seoul. Me, Erin, and a high school teacher we know, Fernando, decided to go since teachers could get in at half price before Halloween. The park was actually decorated for Halloween, which surprised me because most of my students didn't even know anything about Halloween back when I decorated the classroom at the beginning of October. Nevertheless, it was nice to be in a Halloween decorated environment and outside breathing the cool, crisp fall air in a mountainesque scene with Autumn colored leaves all around. It really set the spirit for the holiday. ;)

There was a pretty big animal section in the park. It was basically like a small zoo. Erin liked the cheetahs the best; they were behind a plastic cage/window so you could stand right next to it, and it was almost creepy because they look so viscious. I definitely wouldn't want to run into one of those in the wild. And there were baby lion cubs that were adorable. They were playing with each other and pouncing around. You could get close to them as well.

When we got to the bird sanctuary, Fernando decided he was gonna feed some birds. Then Erin decided to do the same, and just as I got my camera out, she said, "Jessie look, I got some bird food," and all of a sudden, all these birds swarmed to her, and as if she was getting attacked, she ran towards Fernando for help...and this is how the picture came out...I captured the moment a little too late because I was laughing, c'mon it was funny. :)

Sometimes you just can't pass up a funny photo op. :

Lots of animals at this theme park...kinda like Bush Gardens in Tampa.

This kid is cute, but he doesn't look real enthused about his parents forcing him to sit on the fake monkey.

Everland features the second fastest and biggest roller coaster in Asia that has a huge drop, which not only goes straight down, but also slightly inward. Erin really wanted to go on it, but I refuse to go on wooden roller coasters (they always give me a migraine headache) and I knew it would ruin my whole night if I did. So, her and Fernando were gonna go on it and I decided to just wander around to where the carnival/fair type rides were. Well they ended up not going on the roller coaster, and Erin was a little upset about it, especially after she saw that I was riding what she considers a lame kids' ride...I was just killing time, man. Anywho, we all ended up going on the smaller rollercoaster before we headed to the gift shops; it was ok, but nothing can top Islands of Adventure in Orlando...Incredible Hulk anyone? It's the best.

The Magic Swing: the ride that ruined Erin's night

We hit up the gift shops at the end of the night to discover that the merch was very reasonably priced and marked down quite a bit. I bought all kinds of Halloween goodies.

I finished the night off with some 만두 (mahn-do=Korean dumplings) and we took the two hour bus ride back to Gangnam where we had to take the subway home. The whole day would've definitely been better if we would've got an earlier start and not woke up late from being hungover, but we've been to enough theme parks for it to not really matter too much. I mean, between Jacksonville and Yorktown/Williamsburg, I've been to enough theme parks to last me a lifetime ;)

Wake me up...when the winter ends

2010-03-17T00:19:00.000-07:00

Well, it's March 17th, St. Patrick's Day, and a very cold day indeed. Spring is supposed to start in 3 days, and it snowed again last week. They know nothing about St. Patrick's Day in Korea, and the best attempt I made for the holiday was painting my nails green. I entertained the thought of drinking green soju tonight, but I have to go to my dance class at 9:00; though, drinking green soju would make the "Single Ladies" dance by Beyonce a bit less hellish for me....hmmm.

I figured that before winter ends, whenever that is, that I should put up some pictures of my first time living on my own in the snow. I've managed to adapt, but I haven't mastered how to look cute like the Korean women do, when it's freezing out. I bought an over-sized, but very warm, man's coat from HomePlus for 20,000 won, and I wear about 3-5 layers of clothing under the coat, which makes me look pretty frumpy. But at least I'm warm! I can't imagine that the office girls that are walking around in mini-skirts with only one pair of tights underneath and high heels, for crying out loud, are very warm at all.

Without further ado, here are the pictures of the beautiful snow before it got all muddy and melted and unpleasant.

This is at Jung-Ang park in Bucheon. Lee and I went here with the silly intention of playing badminton, and then I convinced him to go to Rhythm and Booze for chicken tacos. He never had a taco before! Much better idea.

Pic. 1) In front of Yeokgok Stn.
Pic. 2) In front of my apartment

The School Parking Lot

sNOw God
The snow in Korea is like salt or sand
Unfit for making angels and men
Where's a Snow God when you need one?

칡 즙: "Good food tastes bitter."

2010-03-03T22:28:00.000-08:00

I went to my landlady's apartment last night to pay her mahn won ($10) for my monthly cable bill and in return she loaded me up with bags of Chi(l)k Jeup. It's a drink, or a juice, made from a kind of root and comes in a small, rectangular plastic bag. I smiled, thanked her, and carried the strange substances back down to my apartment. I decided to bring a few to school to share with my co-teachers (*co-teachers, plural, see foot note) and to get some info. about this brown concoction before injesting it.

Here is what I learned:
-old men really love this drink
-it's good for blood circulation
-it makes your skin healthy
-you can use it in a detox diet
-prevents bone problems when older
-boosts the immune system and helps with colds
-it's good for the bodies of growing children
-it tastes really really bitter, but is better with hot water and honey
-it might possibly help with b.m.'s judging from the gurgling in my stomach and the urge to use the 화성실...

Sun Jung thinks I should drink the rest, 1 a day, until they're all gone to see if it helps improve my body. I'm willing to try it, but I kinda want to make other foreigners try it too (ahem, erin, ahem) and see their reaction. My friend Lee always reminds me of the Korean saying, "good food is bitter," meaning that most things that are really good for your body, don't taste good. I'll let you know if I feel a big improvement by the end of next week.

*the footnote*

The new school year started this week. Monday, March 1st, was a holiday (Korean Independence Day?) so there was no school. Tuesday was the first day of school, which means new teachers. In Korea, teachers change schools every few years. I'm not sure of the exact logic behind this, but most teachers don't know where/what (grade) they're teaching until 2 weeks before school starts.

Luckily, Sun Jung is still the Korean English teacher and I get to co-teach with her. However, there are some changes being made by the school board and this school year we have 2 Korean English Language teachers, and 1 native teacher (me ;). I teach 3rd and 6th grade with Sun Jung 3 days out of the week, and I teach 4th and 5th grade with Young Ju 2 days out of the week. This year they want all grades to have English 2 times per week, but they can only work me 22 hours per week by my contractual agreement, so Sun Jung and Young Ju have to teach English with out me a couple times each week, as well as teach the students "Ethics/Morals" class. Young Ju is nice, but a bit nervous as it's her first time teaching English. So I'll help her out as much as I can.

In addition, I interviewed and helped pick the new native English teacher to replace me yesterday. The principle kept changing his mind about what kind of replacement he wanted, but I think we talked him into picking one of two girl I interviewed on the phone. I feel bad for leaving Sun Jung and my students; everyone really likes me here and many teachers have told me they are sad to here that I'm leaving in May. I just want to find a good native teacher to replace me and make the transition smoothe for the kids and easy for Sun Jung--she works so hard and is so stressed out from the principle and all the hard work she does for this school.

That was a long footnote. But I figured inquiring minds would like to know.

October: China Town in Incheon

2010-02-07T22:13:00.000-08:00

Way back in October, we (me, Erin and our friend Fernando) checked out China Town. It's off of the last subway stop on line 1...Incheon. It was the beginning of fall and the cooler weather, with a crisp breeze in the air, yet still sunny enough to not have to wear a jacket during the day.

We walked through the entrance gate and looked around at some of the China trinkets being sold on the street and in small shops. I was kinda hungry, and Erin and Fernando were, um, thirsty, so walked up the road to look for some food. We found these stairs and walked half way up them to chill for a few minutes and check out the scenery.

At the top of the stairs, there was an entrace gate that looked like a palace and more stairs leading up into the nature trail/park, if you will. Looking down the other way we just came from was the street lined with shops and restaurants. I decided I wanted to eat a Chinese restaurant before we started hiking around. Down one set of stairs to the left was a Chinese restaurant with outdoor seating on a balcony.

I ordered some kind of rice/vegetable/noodle dish that was pretty tasty and came with a side of spicy seafood soup. Of course, we were all thirsty by that point and Fernando ordered us a round of Tsing Tao beers, which are huge, so we had a good buzz going on the balcony. And our timing was perfect because while we were enjoying our food and drinks a parade started with dancing dragons and small fire crackers and some kind of royal court.

The dragon dancers were actually kids. There were 2 boys per dragon and when the dragon was at it's tallest you could see the one kid was on the other's shoulders. I'm not sure about the royal court bit, I'm assuming this guy is posing as some kind of royal figure and if I remember right there was a woman be carried on a tented platform...I have a video of the whole thing that is uploading for some reason, but I'm working on it.

When in China Town, do as this old Korean man does, and drink in the streets while enjoying a nice, stumbling, stroll.

After lunch, we grabbed a few more beers for the walk and continued looking around. I bought two "artsy" 3-D pictures of naked women, one for me and one for Erin. We walked around and up the other side to the hill that leads to the same park we wanted to go to earlier. There were speakers playing music in some parts of the park. I'm pretty sure I remember hearing a Micheal Jackson song at some point, it wasn't too long after his death, and it affected Korea a little bit. The nature park was nice though, and went well with our tall cans of Cass, or was it Hite? One of those Korean beers. All in all, a nice outing in China Town was had...

School Lunch

2010-02-04T20:10:00.000-08:00

Everyday, I eat lunch in the cafeteria with Sun Jung and a few other teacher. The lunch is very cheap (less than 2,000won per meal) and it comes directly out of my paycheck; not to mention that it beats the hastle of figuring out what to eat everyday.

We eat on tin trays that get sterilized everyday and we always grab a metal spoon and chopsticks for utensils. In the tray, there are 2 big, deep bowls (if you will) and 2 small ones along with one shallow, small bowl. One big bowl area is for soup, the other is for rice. The small shallow one is where I always put my kimchi, and the other 2 small areas I use for whatever meat/vegetable side options there are. Sometimes there's fruit or a yogurt drink, etc.

No one ever drinks with there meal. There is a water fountain area near the door where you can drink after you put your un-eaten food in the food trash and separate your chopsticks, spoon and tray in the bins provided.

Usually the food is pretty good. I've grown fond of Korean food and it's not bad for you. They think food should be like medicine and everything they eat, for the most part, they believe is good for our bodies. The soups are always delicious, except there's one spicy and sour cabbage soup that I don't like, but other than that, I can always count on the soup and rice. The kimchi they make at the school is not up to my standards, and that goes for most of the students as well. I've had some really good kimchi at restaurants and Sun Jung's mom makes some pretty spectacular kimchi as well. And the sides are usually pretty good as well. I always eat what ever vegetable or additional type of kimchi side that is made for lunch. This ranges from flavored bean sprouts to radishes or even fruit. The "meat" sides include chicken, duck, pork, beef, seafood, and other things that I'm not so sure of...

Which brings me to today's lunch:

된장찌게 - one of my favorite soups; basically a salty bean soup (almost like Japanese miso soup) with cubed tofu and chopped zucchini and cabbage and, today, potatoes.

밥 - rice, today it was a greenish color; this could be food coloring to make it look pretty or maybe some kind of her or sauce added for a little flavor.

김치 - always kimchi

Bean Sprout side dish - I don't know the Korean name, but I love this salty bean sprout salad dish.

순대볶음 - this side dish is the inspiration of my blog today. Soondae is pig intestines stuffed with clear noodles and this particular kind is mixed with cabbage, peppers, and a red pepper paste.

Usually, I don't ask what anything is. By lunchtime, I'm hungry, and fully prepared to eat whatever is ready and waiting for me. But today, I wasn't starving, and my stomach was a bit upset to begin with. I scooped a few pieces of Soondae onto my tray along with everything else and sat down without thinking as I do everyday. The students all say hi to me everyday at lunch so I'm usually distracted by them. I was excited about the soup and the sprouts that it took me awhile to contemplate the rest of my tray. After noticing, then examining the Soondae, I had a hunch that it was probably some part of an animal I'm not accustomed to eating. I decided to ask the school nurse what it was, thinking she knows body part in English and would tell me if it was that. She only replied with the Korean name and smiled and added that there were noodles in it. I decided to man up and just try it. And I didn't like it one bit. So I scooped the rest of it onto SunJung's tray while she wasn't paying attention and the school nurse saw and nodded approvingly and I excused myself. Don't worry. I didn't puke or anything. But I did call my Korean friend, Lee, and asked him about 순대. He laughed, of course, and told me that I just ate pig intestine and then said he was envious because he loves that dish.

So there you have it, my pig intestine tasting. I'm sure I've eaten other "weird" things, things that we might consider weird, that is, but I never wanted to ask about it before. Now I just figure, what the hell, might as well know what I'm eating so if ever asked, I can say, "yes, I've tried it." And to peak your curiosity, here's a pic I found on the internet of it:

찜질방 JJim Jil Bang: Dragon Hill Spa

2010-02-02T21:41:00.000-08:00

Last Sunday, I met up with Erin and 3 other teachers in Bucheon (Mel, Moira, and Jamie). The plan was to check out Dragon Hill Spa(jjim jil bang), which Erin and I have been planning to go to for months but never did...

What's a JJim Jil Bang you say? Well it's basically a Korean bath house. It has saunas, and steam rooms, and usually a common (co-ed) area with a heated floor that you can sleep on or just hang out and watch TV, etc. There are sleeping rooms too, and these places are abundant around Korea and very cheap. We're talking 12,000 Won at the most, and that's for 12 hours.

Erin and I stayed at a JJimJilBang when we first got to Korea and took a trip to Itaewon in Seoul. Which reminds me, I never wrote about our Homo Hill/Hooker Hill experience there. The point is, we slept at a jjimjilbang in Itaewon at 4:00a.m. when we were drunk and didn't want to wait for the subway system to open up. I think we paid 10,000 that time and they gave us an orange t-shirt/shorts outfit and we slept in a warm TV room on a bench because we weren't comfortable sleeping on the floor.

Getting back to Dragon Hill Jjim Jil Bang--it's amazing! I'm willing to wager that it's the best one in Korea.

So, we met on Sunday around 2:30 at Yongsan station and grabbed some lunch at Papa John's. (Yes, there is a papa john's pizza here and it was delicious--we got the spinach, alfredo, meaty, thin crust pizza and devoured it). After stuffing ourselves silly, we made way to Dragon Hill.

For only 12,000won on weekends and you can spend 12 hours there. You get a comfy pair of long shorts (which somehow ended up in my backpack ;) and a t-shirt; you know the really soft, worn and washed 1,000 times kind. There are 10 floors of things to do, including: a fitness center, an outdoor heated pool, a garden theatre, men and women only floors, a couple restaurants, and a common area. Anywho, we payed, and got our locker keys. The locker key is a plastic bracelet with key attached and a number disc that you scan on a turnstile to get in and use it as a charge card for any extra services or food you want while inside the spa. You pay for any charges you accrue before you leave the building. We put our shoes in the shoe locker, then made our way up to the 3rd floor-for women only-and proceeded to strip down to nothing and put everything in our big lockers.
(This is truly the Korean way, every woman of every shape, age, and type, walks around naked on the women's floor...I however, chose to wear my underwear and a top for reasons not worth mentioning. I actually felt more awkward wearing underwear around all the nakedness. Next time, I'll do it the Korean way...like Erin said, it's part of the whole experience.)

First, all the ladies wanted to hit a few hot baths/whirl pool spa type things. There were probably 10-12 different hot pools. Some were really really hot, and some weren't as scalding as the others. We started off in one that was around 40 degrees Celsius (they all have a temp. displayed above). Then I tried to move into the next one beside it that was maybe 45 C, but I couldn't do it. It burned and tingled.

Next, we decided to go to the outdoor section, which had a ginseng bath, a pine wood bath, and heated "walking pool" with jet currents that we swam in. I liked the ginseng bath. Maybe just because I like ginseng and the idea of bathing in it was titillating. It was chilly outside, so the hot spas felt nice.

We went back inside and tried out the 80C dry sauna. I couldn't stay in it more than 10 seconds, it's like sitting in your car in Florida during the summer with your windows up and no air. Why would anyone do it? Beside the dry sauna, however, there was an aroma-therapy steammy sauna and that was nice, but you instantly drip with sweat when you go in it. In front of the saunas there is a (freezing) cold swimming pool and there are 3 lines of sit-down shower stalls were you can scrub yourself with body scrub and whatnot. Additionally, you can pay to have a Korean woman in her bra and underwear, scrub you down from face to foot. Erin and Moira paid for this service and Erin said the amount of dirt and dead skin they get off of you is disgusting, but good. I'm definitely getting the scrub-down next time I go.

Erin and I wandered over to the other side of the floor and found more hot baths. We sat in a sea salt water bath for a bit, which is where we saw the scrub-down services--including a placenta massage...whatever that means ;P

I really wanted to get a facial, so I went back upstairs to the Orchid Spa and decided on getting the 2nd facial on the list. The first one was a basic facial and it seemed like it wouldn't be worth the money, judging only by the English translation. The 2nd was called a "Face Reduction" and I thought maybe it would be like a pore reduction type thing. It lasted for about 1 hour. First, she used this electric scraper thing on my face, which didn't hurt, it just sounded intimidating. Then, she massaged my face (really hard) with multiple gels/lotions. It kinda hurt at times, but I figured it was to really get deep down into my skin or something. She also massaged my neck and shoulders, which was nice. There was a little bit of face scrub, and then something like an ultra-sound, and more massaging and laying for a while with some kind of warm mask applied over a thin layer of tissue on my face, which hardened and was then removed. I felt good about the facial afterwards, like I got my money's worth. Later on though, my face was sore from the rough massaging. I asked my friend Lee about it and told him what it was called. Apparently, it's called a face reduction to help make your face smaller by massaging your facial muscles deeply. Most Korean/Japanese women desire a smaller face, so this is what they do to get it, well, this and plastic surgery. 3 days later, I don't think my face looks much smaller, but I think whatever she did is bringing everything to the surface because my skin has broken out a bit. Maybe I'll just go for the regular facial next time...or just shoot for the body scrub.

I came out of the room to see the girls laying in massage chairs. I put my Dragon Hill outfit on and we all went to the 1st floor/common area. The floor is heated everywhere and people are just hanging out. You can lay on the warm floor and watch Korean TV shows on a big flat screen, or you can go into one of the many warm sauna-type rooms all around the big room. There was a jade sauna, where the floor is made of Jade and I think there was some aroma-therapy happening in there, but we were finished sweating so we decided against it. Instead, we went ino an ice room and took a picture on Jamie's camera ;) There were also rooms that burned with charcoal and smelled like barbeque. We peaked inside a few and people were mostly laying down on the floor and resting, as the rooms were kinda dark. After a few more pictures, everyone was ready for dinner...except me, I just wanted a beer. And that beer hit the spot.

All in all, the Dragon Hill spa is the best place to go and relax. We want to make it a bi-monthly activity. Once I get the pics from Jamie, I'll post them ;)

July 19, 2009: From the Muddy Banks of Boryeong

2009-12-10T22:48:00.000-08:00

Over the summer, Erin and I went to the Boryeong Mud Festival with Sun Jung, her neice and nephew, Hyun June. I didn't get many pictures of the actual muddiness because I didn't want to ruin my camera, but here's what happened and what I did catch:

I woke up at 5:15 a.m. this Sunday morning to get ready to leave for Boryeong. Waking up that early sucks, but once I got ready and left my apartment, I began to enjoy the dawn. The walk to Yeokgok station was pleasant; there weren't many people up yet. I like cities, but sometimes I hate crowds...unless I'm drunk.

Anywho, I met up with Erin, Sun Jung and co. at City Hall in time to catch our bus to the South East coast of S.Korea. Sun Jung made baked sweet potatos for all of us and we ate them on the bus for breakfast. She also gave Erin and I straw hats--which we never wore.

First stop, a miner museum of some sort in the outskirts of Boryeong in the mountains. At first I thought it was pretty boring. It was just about the land the was mined a long time ago and anyhow, everything was written in Korean. But then, we get in an elevator to go to another floor, and the lights go out and then the numbers on the elevator start go (down?) to floor, like 400 or something, and there's a stobe light effect and it was awesome because we were in there with some random Koreans who looked freaked out at first...but it was obviously a gimick, I wasn't scared at all, nope. Yeah. So we emerge into a "mine shaft" and there were dummies mimicking mining and whatnot. Now for some pictures...

We hopped back on the bus and headed to the beach! The weather was nice, and by nice I mean it wasn't humid and it didn't rain. First, we were famished, so we had a nice, traditional Korean lunch with Sun Jung and the kids.

Then, Erin and I split and let them do their thing while we walked around and to check out what this mud fest was all about. Apparently, the mud from Boryeong is famous for it's skin beautifying properties and the city has spas and world renowned mud products. (We got some free mud soap for being foreingers.) The mud fest started as a way to advertise their mud and once all these foreigners starting teaching English over here, it took off and is now a huge event. There were mud games, mud slides, mud painting booths and a stage for entertainment. Oh, and beer ;)

Erin and I layed out on the beach, wadded up to our waists in the Yellow Sea, painted some mud on our bodies and talked to a few foreigners. And then had more beer. All in all, a good day, worth the 3 hour bus ride. Next time, we'll go for the weekend!

Snow!

2009-12-06T23:21:00.000-08:00

I woke up early-ish saturday morning to "volunteer" in Songnae. My room felt rather chilly and it had been raining all night, so I decided to pile the layers onto my body and wear my rain boots just in case it was wet outside. I walk down the stairs and out of my apartment building, and saw some stuff floating in the air, which I first thought was trash or some kind of flower pollen. Then I realized it was snow! I had to take off my mittens and feel it to make sure it was real. It looked like little clumps of fluffy, shaved ice. It changed my morning mood to a pleasant one, even sans coffee, and I became distracted from the harsh cold weather and delighted to be walking in the big snow flurries. I know it sounds cheesey, but it was exciting to me--being from Florida and all.

Yes, it was magical and beautiful the whole way to the neighborhood I was due to teach at...that is until I got off the bus and had to walk to their apartment in it. The wind picked up and the snow began pelting me in the face and I was completely covered from head to foot in it by the time I got to my tutoree's apartment. It stopped snowing during my class, but I got to admire it from their balcony window for a little while longer at least. I didn't get any pictures of it, but next time, I'll try to be more prepared.

Korean Style American Pizza

2009-11-12T23:02:00.000-08:00

I just finished eating pizza with the 5th grade teachers (for some reason Sun Jung and I are grouped as 5th grade teachers) and since I'm on a blog kick, I thought I'd share the experience.

What's so special about the Korean version of pizza you ask? Well here are the toppings on the 2 slices I just ate:

cheese (of course)

mushrooms

red and yellow peppers

onions

bacon

...sounds normal so far, but wait, there's more...

potato wedges

corn

crab meat

shrimp

crumbled up nacho chips

something that tasted like salsa perhaps

yogurt sauce drizzled around the pizza near the crust

and speaking of crust, it was stuffed with sweet potatos

그래요? 네.

This probably sounds completely disgusting and extravagant to you, but being a girl who loves to mix all of my food together, I thought it was pretty good. Maybe I'm just getting used to Korea. Who knows. But I'm sure if these Koreans ever had American pizza in America, they would probably think it to be pretty boring.

In-ploo-en-ja chim (flu shot)--침'chim' actually means needle...I don't know the word for shot.

2009-11-12T16:25:00.000-08:00

This has been the most chill week ever at school!

Monday--I taught the adorable, little 3rd graders, that I love so much because they actually pay attention in class and do everything I say.

Tuesday--I was under the weather, the cold weather that is, and got sent home to "take a rest" in hopes that my cold wouldn't turn into the Swine flu, or H1N1.

Wednesday--Still not feeling spectacular, but it didn't matter because the 6th graders had to study for another upcoming test so no English classes that day. (Not to mention the Pepero I received from some students who I encourage to suck up to me ;)

Thursday--Had a very light English class for the 5th graders, half of which revolved around a game that they played by themselves in pairs.

Today--Friday! I love Fridays and all the students know it. So I was already in a good mood when I got here (and the Cappucino from Paris Baguette also helped). Then I just found out that ALL of the students have to get their Flu Shots today. And it just so happens that the English room is next to the Nurse's room, so English classes are cancelled today. Why? I'm not exactly sure, but I think the kids all get to leave after lunch, too. I kinda feel bad for Sun Jung; she's running around crazy out there helping with this flu shot distribution while I get to sit in here and blog. But I don't think there's much I can do. And I offered to help.

In other news, I'm flying home for Christmas and New Years! The tickets basically cost me a whole month's salary, so you guys better plan an awesome New Years Eve celebration, and not just because it happens to fall on a Blue Moon this year, but also because I'm coming all the way from Korea to be there for it! I will get to celebrate 2 New Years this year because in Asia they celebrate the Lunar New Year. Jealous? ;P

Pepero(배배로) Day

2009-11-10T20:59:00.000-08:00

Today is Pepero day. A holiday this huge company called Lotte invented to sell their chocolate covered cracker/cookie sticks. Usually they are long and thin and come in a box of about 20, I think. But today I've received 2 big Pepero sticks from 2 of my good students. I didn't have to teach any classes today because the 6th graders were reviewing and preparing for some more tests. So it was sweet of these students to come into my office after lunch and present me with the gift of Pepero. I'm sure Lotte is banking this week. Damn corporate giants and their cute holiday schemes. They are pretty tasty though...pictures to come.

So I seem to have caught some kind of cold and my school, being paranoid of H1N1 and all that jazz, sent me home yesterday. And today I had no classes; holiday for me! I am a little worried ab0ut my lungs though. I don't know how my asthma will react to the winter here and I don't want a stupid cold to make them weak ;( But alas, I have Albuterol, so I'll be fine.

Anywho, I hope that this decreasing temperature allows (forces) me to blog more, because there are so many things I want you to know. "You," as in whomever happens to be reading this. Anybody out there?

Stranger Encounters

2009-10-04T20:48:00.000-07:00

The Subway Platform
So, I'm waiting on the train at Yeokgok station to go to Erin's house late one evening. There aren't many people around. I sit on one of the many empty benches to wait for the last train of the night. Then I hear this shuffling sound and I look over to see this very old Korean man slowly making his way toward me. I mean, very slowly. He's shuffling his feet and taking very small baby steps to advance. He finally stops right in front of where I'm sitting. He tries to mumble some Korean words to me and he looks like he's foaming at the mouth with spit. I was so afraid he would accidentally spit or drool on me I immediately got up and told him that I don't speak Korean (hanguk mal motayo) and motioned for him to sit down at my bench. He tried to baby step close to me and I backed away and just said "I don't speak Korean!" one more time before I hauled ass to the other side of the platform where there were some other people. I stand over near a bench with a couple sitting on it and then I hear that foot shuffling sound again. The little old man is pushing his feet in my direction! I start getting annoyed and wonder if any of the other people think it's strange that I am circling around these benches and he's slowly following me. Finally, I walk down around this vending machine, and when I hear him get to the side of it to go around behind it, I take off to way down the other end of the platform just as the announcement for the next train fills the air. I lost him. There's no way he could catch up with me before the train leaves. It's like a really cheesy horror movie, I feel like any second while I'm sitting on the train, I'll hear that shuffling sound and the scary old rabies man will come to get me...

The Crying Boy
This time I'm on my way to Itaewon to play pool on my pool league. I decide to get off at Yongsan station and take a cab from there to save time, not thinking about the potential traffic jam caused by the Korean Thanksgiving(Chuseok) weekend travelers. Yongsan is a pretty big subway station with a huge electronics mall attached to it. I'm not too familiar with this station, though, I thought I was when I decided to get off at that stop. So I get lost trying to find my way out and I start walking around the outside perimeter of the 3rd floor looking for a way down and head towards a parking garage. I get the feeling I'm being followed by this Korean boy behind me. It seems like he's trying to make it obvious because when I stopped to look down and see what's below me, he stopped and did the same in a mimicking way. After walking toward an obvious dead-end for pedestrians, I decide to turn around away from the parking garage and head back to the crowd inside. The boy turns around and does the same. So I stop, turn back and call him out.

"Are you following me?"

"Oh, I, uhhh, I just thought you were so beautiful I couldn't take my eyes off of you."

Not knowing what to do from that point, and trying to assess the situation and possibility of fighting with a potential cereal killer, I decide to ask him to show me to the taxi stand while picking up a rapid pace back inside. He asks me if I'm a tourist. I say no. Am I a student? No. But he is. So I turn the questioning towards him. What are you studying? What school are you going to? What are you doing hanging around the subway station stalking pretty girls on a Wednesday night?

He seems really nervous. He tells me how black my hair is, and other obvious comments. He thinks I'm half Korean. But I'm not. We walk down the crowded stairs and toward the taxi area while more small talk ensues. He assumes I have a boyfriend; I comply. I ask him his name.

"I, uh, um...I don't know."

"You don't know your own name!"

"I, I, can't remember it...I think I'm going to cry."

And with that, tears start rolling down his face. I didn't know what to do. He wasn't sobbing, but he obviously had issues. I try to ignore the crying to not make him feel more embarrassed. I say that I should cross the street and catch a cab on the other side. He walks with me, wipes his tears away, and he says, "What's your name?"

"Jessica."

"That means wealthy."

"How do you know that?"

"I know a half Korean girl named Jessica."

"Interesting. Well thanks for your help. I'm gonna catch this cab."

He tells the cab driver where I'm going, in Korean, and then he remembers his name. I've forgotten it. Something that sounds like thank you, but not thank you.

"Nice to meet you and thanks for your help."

And that was that. Stalker averted.

June---School Dinner Outing

2009-08-25T22:50:00.000-07:00

My school's principal, Dong Hee, decided we should all have a dinner outing at one of his favorite restaurants, Jangwong Garden. Not all of the teachers here are fond of him, so not everyone came, but I'm always up for new experiences so I decided to go (but mainly because Sun Jung was going). We had Korean bbq, also known as Sam Gyup Sal, which means 3 layers of pork. They bring the marinated slabs of meat out raw and cook it in front of you and then cut it up with scissors in small pieces. With your chopsticks in one hand and a lettuce leaf wrap in the other, you take a couple pieces of meat and place it in the center of your leaf. Then you can add some of the condiments they have already brought out to your table, including: garlic slices, kimchi, red pepper paste, onion salad, or any other house specialty side items. Then wrap it up and enjoy. This particular restaurant was one of the best places I've been for Sam Gyup Sal so far. Their meat must have been marinated differently, not to mention the great outdoor atmosphere. We sat on raised, covered wooden platforms. You have to take your shoes off first and sit Indian style (or Korean style, rather) on the floor. It was very beautiful outside and I enjoyed the natural setting closer to the mountains. If I knew where this place was, I'd take Erin there. But we all went by carpooling.

Sun Jung, flipping the meat, and Young Joo observing.

I like to sit next to Hyun Joon, he has no idea what's going on too.

Some of the teachers at my school that I talk to.

The principal is standing on the left and giving a speech in Korean. He doesn't speak English and he's very peculiar.

Foods

2009-08-25T21:51:00.000-07:00

Street vendor stuff: I'm not sure what it is, but I think it's balls of dough with squid and some veggies in it and then he put some fish flakes and sauce on top of it and wrapped it up for me. They weren't bad, but I coulda done without the fish flakes or whatever it was...

MMMM. Chicken skewer/kabob things that we get from the open market acrossed the street from my apartment. They're pretty tasty, if you don't think about how long they might be left out for and if they really are made with chicken meat or not.

Some breakfast options from Paris Baguette. They have lots of breads and pastries and cakes and coffee, etc. I frequent the place quite a bit as there aren't many breakfast options in Korea. I think she had a glazed pastry of sorts with almond slivers on it along with a cheesy onion stuffed bread.

Um, yeah...I hope you realllllly like zucchini.

Free waffles with apple jam and whipped cream and some coffee or tea at the Star Billiards pool hall---one of our top 5 hangouts, especially since we became friends with the owner and his family.

Korean style Japanese restaurant near Yeokgok Station (where I live). We think it's pretty delicious. Some would say it's too salty...but we like it that way. Erin and I usually share one dish, because as you can see, it comes with plenty of food. We had a chicken cutlet with cheese on it, rice, cabbage salad, kimchi, and delicious miso-type soup. Oh, and each table has a morter and pestle and they grind up some kind of seeds and squirt some sauce in a bowl with the grinds and you dip your chicken in it. I've yet to determine what it actually is, but I'll find out eventually...

Before.................................................... After

Window Shopping

2009-08-25T21:43:00.000-07:00

It will be mine, oh yes, it will be mine...

Actually, I just like it because it has mermaids on it. I didn't even try it out. So that might not be the one...but I need to get a guitar soon. I miss playing.

The Fancy Train: In June this train was decorated...we don't know why

2009-08-25T21:38:00.001-07:00

Seeing the Deftones!: Pentaport Rock Fest July 25th

2009-08-06T23:55:00.000-07:00

"You move like I want to. To see as your eyes do...and tonight, I feel like more."

I'm going to start jumping around in my blog now. I feel like I'm waiting too long to write about an experience and I'm afraid that I won't have the same thoughts about it in hindsight. Though, this would be the case regardless, I'm sure, unless I were to write my feelings during the actual experience. A recollection or memory can already be "colored" or embellished perhaps within 10 minutes after it happened. But this is the way I remember it:

After a late Friday night of drinking and playing pool at King Bar(where our pool league is) in Itaewon and staying out longer than we should've under the influence of Dewey(King Bar owner and Erin's team Captain) along with the adorable Fillipino cocktail waitresses there, we had to get up and get ready for the Pentaport Rock Festival. We slept until about 11:30 or noon, but we didn't get to our apartments until about 7, so it wasn't much sleep at all. Needless to say, we were hungover and not moving at a rapid pace.

Erin and I were to meet at the Bucheon station E-Mart so we could get some things for our camp out. We knew we could rent our tent at the festival. I stopped at the dollar store (technically, Cheun store as 1 Cheun Won is about $1) and I found a kind of wicker floor mat thing to sleep on, that folded out to be a decent size and two plastic, wicker looking pillows stuffed with some unknown material. Anywho, we grabbed some snacks and some lunch at Lotteria(fast food-I had this delicious shrimp burger that Erin recommended) and then off on the sub train to Incheon.

Directions are never easy in Korea. All we knew was the station to get off at and the bus number to take along with the name of the bus stop. We got lost...just a little. I mean, we knew where we were but we didn't know how to get where we were going. This is usually the case, isn't it? Anywho, we got off at sort of the right bus stop and then what? I noticed this Korean boy that got off the bus when we did and I asked him if he was going to the Festival. Luckily, he was. And he was really cool about helping us get our tickets when we got there and we even ran into him later where he gave us a schedule lineup of all the bands. Everyone is so nice here. It's almost unbelievable and strange, but refreshing.

We got our wristbands and our tent and walked over to the campgrounds. We found a plot and tried to start figuring out how the hell to put the tent up. Just as Erin was about to go ask someone way up at the front, these guys from the "raver tent" ran over and in their broken English, told me to relax and they would do it for us. So I yelled out to Erin and we looked over this flier they handed us to a secret rave party out on a beach in the southeast part of Korea. Then we gave them a hand.

Once our tent was up, we snacked on our chips and dip and ventured out into the festival area. Oh, and there was a hole in our tent that we were paranoid mosquitos would find and get into our tent through...so being the resourceful former girlscout that I am, I fixed it:

(Yeah, that's right, it's a pad...with wings. It did the trick too ;)

We made our way to the music to catch the end of the performance by an Australian band that I can't remember the name of. We also watched the Korean 80s hair metal band Next perform. It was awesome! They were kind of like Iron Maiden/any 80s hair metal ballad rockers you can think of...except in Korean, and they looked pretty old. They have definitely been around for a while.

Sorry, it's a really bad picture, but maybe you can
get an idea of what they were like...(and don't forget to click on the pic to see it better)

Now for the Deftones! I noticed at the Jager tent that JagerBombs were only 4,000 won (a bargain), so we had a couple of those and put our bags in a locker. We went over to the stage when they started the sound check and it was already crowded. We pushed our way up pretty close, but when the show started, everyone got rowdy and jumpy and Erin had her camera and was getting claustrophobic, so we backed out a bit to the right and energetically watched from there. The energy at the show was unbelievalbe. It was a much better vibe than I've had at metal shows in America. The Korean kids at the show were just so happy and almost innocent in their rock demeanors. Everyone was jumping around, having fun, and truly enjoying the moment. There were a few moshpits, which when I examined I realized that they weren't very intimidating, so I convinced Erin to move up closer again. This time it was better; I think some of the early spaz dancers wore themselves out and were a bit more mellow. We got up to the front right of the stage and stayed there. Erin and I were smiling and dancing the whole time. They played for quite a while, old and new songs. There were maybe 2 or 3 crowd surfers the whole time and everyone was just being really cool and friendly in this shared sea of energy. The security would pass out bottles of water and someone would pour a little of it in his mouth withouth touching his lips and pass it around to whoever else was thirsty. Concerts are so much better here. That's why you should move to South Korea...just sayin.

The Deftones also did an encore song of 7 Words, the song that Erin really wanted to hear, so you can imagine her enthusiasm. We jumped around together and threw our fists in the air in harmony with the crowd. Oh, and everytime I would shout an "Ow!" or a "Woooooo!" after a song, other people would start doing it to. It was cute. We had high hopes of finding the Deftones afterwards and hanging out with them, but that didn't happen. Maybe next time...

We headed back to the tent to eat some more snacks. We wanted to go hang out with the Korean ravers who helped us put up our tent, but we were so exhausted we just tried to sleep. Our tent was not far away from the rave tent, so we hear loud techno and acoustic guitar songs in between until 5a.m. It was hard to sleep, but it was also hard to get up. At one point I could here a big group of them singing What's Going On by the Four Non Blondes, you know, Kumbaya style. It was really funny because you could tell they didn't really know the words to the song, just the "Hey yeah yeah yeah yeah, What's goin on?"

We woke up at 9 and decided we should just go. We took the tent down ourselves while the ravers where doing yoga and meditating (confirming our suspicions that they DON'T do drugs). Then we went home.

Our 1st Korean Subway Train Experience

2009-07-29T21:17:00.000-07:00

We had no idea what we were doing and those seats we are sitting in are actually for the elderly, disabled, or pregnant folk. Ooops.

I think after I leave Korea, I will have no problem using public transportation anywhere in the U.S. At least it's in English there.

Things you should know when you come to visit me: a.k.a. Korean Etiquette

2009-07-27T06:24:00.000-07:00

Pedestrians Do Not Have the Right of Way!
Be careful when walking on the street and sidewalks. Even if you are at a crosswalk and the little green walking man appears and the light is definitely red, there is still a chance you might get hit. I've been in taxis and buses that run red lights all the time and it's a little un-nerving. However, this doesn't stop the fearless Koreans for they will start walking across a huge intersection just before the walking sign appears. And the sidewalks aren't safe either. People on motor bikes and scooters, especially those who are delivering food, will constantly be riding down a crowded sidewalk and you just have to move out of the way. And in Korea, everyone delivers; not just Pizza and Chinese places. Watch where you're going and you'll be fine.

Loogeys.
And speaking of watching your step...keep a lookout for huge, hocked up loogeys all over the place. It's considered very rude to blow your nose in public or mess with your hair too much while dining, however, it it perfectly acceptable at any given time outside to hock up a huge loogey and make the loudest, most disgusting sound possible and then spitting it out anywhere on the street or sidewalk. I find this to be gross! I can hardly stand it; I might flip out on somebody one day. And supposedly, it gets worse in the winter. EW!

Never trust a picture.
It's really helpful that most Korean restaruants have pictures of most of the items on their menu or even fake food displays of what it really looks like. However, that doesn't mean it is what it looks like. Pretty much every time Erin and I say, "oh, let's get that breaded chicken looking thing with the cheesey stuff and those mashed potatos with gravy," the result is nothing close to what we thought. Solution: forget everything you know about food and don't try to compare Korean food to anything remotelyWestern (except for the fried chicken, which is delicious!)

Take Cover.
You can show your legs, but not your collar bones. Girls rarely wear tank tops here, even in the hot summer. It's just one of those things. The fashion is weird here. They will wear these long baggy shirts that cover their chest and shoulders, but often wear short shorts or skirts with high heels...or they will wear jeans, but always with heels. Coming from Florida, I'm all about some tank tops and bearing my shoulders. This causes people to stare; but they stare anyway since I'm one of the few white girls around this area, so what's the difference. Anywho, if you are a girl with big boobs you better stay covered up because they are not used to that here and they might even ask if you are Russian implying that you are a prostitute. Luckily, I don't have heaving bosoms for anyone to gawk at.

No shoes, service.
In the traditional Korean restaurants, you eat on the floor and you have to take your shoes off when you come in the restaurant. I also have to take my shoes off at school and put them in a locker at the teachers' door and I wear some cheap Korean slipper/flip flop type shoes that are pretty comfy. (Oh, and the word "service" means "free" in Korea. If I buy some nail polish, I might get some free beauty samples and they will say "service." This also goes for food and pretty much anything you buy. It's awesome! I love getting free stuff!)

Unsuspecting Compliments.
Here are some of the sentences I hear from my students, co-workers, and Koreans in general that are supposed to be compliments:

*Teacher, you have a perfect S-shape ~or~ You have a cola bottle shape.
Translation:You have great curves.

*Your skin is very pale/white.
Translation: The paler, the better in Korea. Most Koreans, especially women, strive to be as pale as possible and they even buy make-up with skin whiteners in it and carry around parasols to shield the sun from their skin. This is probably one of the reasons they all look so young...and never get skin cancer.

*You have a small head/face. ~or/and~ You have big eyes.
Translation: I'm sure you've seen Japanime before and noticed that they all have big eyes and small faces...another desired trait amongst Koreans. Some women even get surgery on their eyelids to make their eyes appear bigger.

Most of these compliments are just statements in general about the way you look and it's hard to tell when they are meant to be a good comment or just a comment. A lot of my students are fascinated by my arm hair and will randomly rub my arms if I am close enough to them.

Also, a lot of people will try to talk to me and they always ask, "Where are you prum?" This is probably one of the few countries I actually admit to being an American in because they LOVE Americans here. Especially teachers. They look at me and see their childs ticket to Harvard or something. I like to reply in Korean: Me-guk aesuh whasayou (I came from America). But it gets a little ridiculous at times and sometimes I'm just tempted to say I'm from France (Koreans also love the French style and there are lots of French cafes here) so that no one will try to speak the 5 words they know in English to me or ask me if I can hang out with them and help them improve their English.

Other things people will ask you:
*How old are you?
This might seem rude or like a faux pas in our society, but in Korea the way you speak to a person largely depends on their age. You must speak polite to everyone, but there are different levels of this and they are much higher and different when you are talking to someone older than you. Korea is definitely all about the fillial piety, if you will.

*Are you married?
This is a big deal as well. Most men will ask me if I'm married before they proceed to talk to me, I don't know the details on this one. But I've noticed that not a lot of women wear wedding rings that are married. The younger married couples definitely do though. Traditionally, the woman keeps her name in Korea as well, but the kids always take their father's last name.

Erin and I have become friends and language exchange partners with this cute Korean girl named Soo. So we try to help her with her English and she helps us with learning Korean. We will probably try to take an actual Korean class in the fall because we can't expect her to teach us everything, but she is trying.

I'm sure there will be more things to add to this blog, but this is a good start, for now.

Bucheon Yangji Elementary: The Kids in Korea

2009-07-16T04:10:00.000-07:00

My school is pretty nice; and the kids are pretty good, you know, for kids ;) Ha ha. I'm not complaining at all, I don't know if I could teach the kids in America, but my job here in Korea is easy. I teach two after-school classes a week (in addition to the 20 classes per week I teach in the morning) where I can do and teach whatever I want. I usually just make them sing songs I remember from childhood and play games like musical chairs (which the 3rd graders are absolutely mad about.)

I think I almost relate more to the kids here in Korea more than the adults. I mean, I'm probably at the level of a one-year-old in terms of my Korean conversational skills, but still, I understand how it must feel for these kids to try and learn English while I'm trying to learn Korean. It's a bit annoying after a while of sitting with all of the teachers at lunch or in whatever situation, where they just speak Korean and obviously talk about me and don't explain what they're talking about because they don't speak English. I stopped asking...and caring for that matter. It just makes me feel horrible for not knowing Korean. At first, I didn't care, and it's still not a big deal, because this way I don't have to make pointless small talk with these other teachers about where I'm from, what I like to do, etc. But nevertheless, I'd much rather eat lunch with the Kindergarteners who don't rely on speech to talk. They don't even have to make sense of things. They use gestures, giggles, nonsense and as few words possible.

Sun Jung's son, Hyeung Jun (above), is adorable. He's a typical, cute, little boy with a raspy voice and a playful attitude. He's always laughing and getting into things in a cunning way. He showed me his Korean workbook and I said he should tutor me or practice with me, since we both don't understand the language fully. I definitely need help with the vowels. They all sound the same to my ears.

Erin and I were talking about how we always see big sisters and little brothers in Korea, but never the other way around. I was thinking, or wondering, if it's because if they have a girl first, they will try again for a boy, but if they have a boy first, they don't have anymore kids. I see a lot of boys with only child syndrome... Oh, and in Korea when two people get married, no one changes their name. However, the kids always get the father's last name. Interesting, huh.

These are my 3rd/4th grade after-school students. [Oh, and minie Vrenlie is the one on the left front in the light pink and yellow.] Ever since we first played musical chairs, that's all they ever want to do. "Jesshica teacher, let's play the muzhic chairs game!"

The 5th/6th grade after-school class is a little more shutter shy than the younger ones. I could only convince these 4 5th grade girls to pose for the pic...

Yeah, that's right, I have my own entrance ;p

Here's the classroom after the kids have left for the day. There are actually 4 students that come in and clean the room everday before they go home. I found that to be pretty amazing. I don't know how it's decided on who has to come clean the English room, but I dig it.

Sun Jung in our office inside the classroom:

"All I want is a [school] with view...doo doo do."

2009-07-16T03:50:00.001-07:00

English Village: May 23rd

2009-07-11T21:28:00.001-07:00

*Note: The blog above this one is a video of Koreans imitating Native Americans at the English Village.

After Pizza Hut, Sun Jung and her family drove us to this place called English Village. I don't know why it's called that, something about art and architecture and they have little coffee shops. But they also have a huge kids section with Sanrio characters. Dalki is the main one. Dalki means strawberry. I really thought Erin was going to steal one of the cute little Korean babies and bring it home with us. They way she would watch these kids play was something slightly predatory. And then she would have this look of disgust on her face, almost, like she was annoyed at how stinkin adorable these kids are. I had to keep a close on her... ha.

I don't know what kind of flower that is and I have no idea what this guy is doing...

Erin wanted to steal the cute girl with the rainbow socks, but I convinced her to adopt the cute little blonde one instead ;)

She's trying so hard not to snatch her up ;p

<--- My co-teacher, Sun Jung, her son, her neice, and her nephew.

Ilsan: Medical Exam and Pizza Hut (May 23rd)

2009-07-09T05:51:00.000-07:00

My co-teacher, Sun Jung, scheduled Erin and my medical exam for the same time Saturday morning at a hospital in Ilsan where her sister works as I'm not sure what and her brother-in-law works as a doctor.

Sun Jung, her husband, and their son picked us up in front of my apartment in their car and drove us 35 minutes to Ilsan. Ilsan is a nice city. It was my top pick, but we got Bucheon, which is probably a cooler city to live in for the convenience of being near Seoul. Anywho, we get out there and walk into the clinic where we have to take off our shoes and wear their special slippers. We were also shown to a locker room to leave our stuff in and change into the pink pajama-like clothes. They took our blood, urine, and xrays. They also did an EKG, which surprised Erin because she went in first and the nurse didn't warn her that she would be sticking suctions cup things all over chest. She even told me when she came out to be forewarned that she will open my shirt and stick them all over me...

Also, the staff couldn't speak English, so we had no idea what was going on the whole time and they kept laughing with us about the whole situation. Afterwards, we saw the doctor, who said we were healthy and then we met back up with Sun Jung and co. for lunch.

They took us to Pizza Hut. It was a nice gesture, but we would've gladly ate Korean food. Besides, the pizza here is not the same. Some of the crust was stuffed with cheese and the rest was stuffed with potato. They put weird toppings on the pizzas, like hash brown things, or squid, or crab or ramdom vegetables, but it wasn't bad. Erin got excited about the salad bar because she spotted nacho cheese and tortilla chips from our seats. But she was soon dissapointed to discover that the cheese was served cold in a container surrounded by ice. Weird.

Sun Jung's husband paid for the whole thing, including her sister's daughter and son and two other relatives that were in town. They also let me pick out a pasta dish to share and it was some kind of creamy alfredo-ish chicken pasta. Delish! We stuffed ourselves silly, and then walked through an exersise park, conveniently, and back to the car...

Things To Do Near My Home ~ week 1 of Korea

2009-07-02T23:37:00.000-07:00

Eat in random Korean restaurants that bring you a ton of food and allow Erin to smoke:

Fancily decorated restaurants that is....

...with Soju or Beer, of course...

Or we can always grab a drink called "Death" at the Golden Age bar.

Mornings can be spent at Paris Baguette for a pastry or some coffee. But don't get the cheese and "marinara" sandwhiches, unless you really like ketchup. Ew. In this picture, Erin ponders the way in which we shall find a roof to sunbathe upon...

And of course, we can always do what we do best, play horrible games of pool sober. Why don't they have alcohol at pool halls in Korea? Don't they know we need alcohol to play well. Pshaw!

Look how the balls magically rack themselves. It's truly amazing. Don't you agree?

First couple days in Korea: May 19 ~ 21

2009-06-21T23:03:00.001-07:00

If you want an actual account of the long, grueling, 24 hour traveling time plane ride to South Korea, then read Erin's Blog: http://www.krwmillionaire.blogspot.com/ (in the May section, titled The Flight) I'm eager to get this blog going and get it caught up, and the plane ride wasn't that exciting. Oh, except for the scare of missing our flight from Japan to Korea when we were being held on the plane to get infra-photographed by people in masks to make sure no one had a fever and would possibly transmit the Swine Flu to Japan or Korea... They also checked our temperatures when we landed in Korea and my school checked my temp. a few times during my first two weeks! They are pretty paranoid over here...

Anywho, we arrived in Korea on May 19th around 9:30p.m. and dragged our luggage out to the front of the airport to be greeted by my co-teacher, Sun Jung, who graciously picked us up after our agency informed her that they would not. She is really, really nice! She's already done so much for us, I don't even know how to show her my appreciation.

We got to my apartment around 11. I had been in contact via e-mail with the English teacher (Asif) I replaced and he gave me the code to get into the apartment building, but not the code to get into the apartment. Luckily, my co-teacher went up to the 4th floor and talked to the land lady who gave me a electronic key and a code to get into my apartment. The apartment itself is pretty small. I knew I would have a studio, but some of the more modern apts called "officetels" have a loft and I thought I might get one of those. But alas, I did not. It's not so bad now. At first glance though, I was a little bummed, especially since Asif told me the apartment would be clean and it wasn't my idea of clean at all. Boys! Hmph.

So, we put the t-shirt sheets I brought on the bed, hit the shower, and went to bed. I had to start work the next morning at 8:40 a.m. Because of the 13 hour difference between Korea and Florida, Erin and I were wide-awake at 6 a.m.! This lasted for about a week, and we finally knew what being a "morning person" must feel like. It wasn't bad. We got up and walked around my area, ate breakfast, and then came back to the apartment where Sun Jung, her husband Jinho, and their adorable 7-year-old (Hyun Joon) picked me up to take me to school.

The first day was not too bad. I just basically introduced myself and let the students ask me question. The questions I got from just about all of the classes were as follows:

Where are you from?

How old are you?

Are you married?

Do you have boyfriend?

Do you like Korean food?

Do you like Kimchi?

What's your favorite movie/color/music group/food?

What kind of boyfriend do you want?

Why you come to Korea?

Are you famous in U.S.A.? (which, of course, i answered "yes" to)

How tall are you? (The measure height in cm. so they couldn't grasp inches)

The kids are cute, I'm not gonna lie. I teach 3rd ~ 6th grades, but the kids start school at 7 here so the ages range from 9 or 10 ~ 13. But they still act and look like they would be around 8 ~ 11. I think the mentality of the students is different here and they are respectful, for the most part.

I have my trouble-makers in each grade level (5th grade being the worst), but on the whole, they do what they're told. I'm currently thinking of ways to punish bad or disruptive students and I'm open to suggestions.... Right now, the students who don't bring their books to class have to write this sentence 15 times:

Next time, I will bring my textbook to English class and be a good student.

I've seen some teachers here make the bad students sit in the hallway with both arms raised straight up until the teacher tells them to come back in. My co-teacher doesn't do that, she's nice. Sometimes she has them stand up and she yells something in Korean to them and you can tell they feel ashamed or embarrassed and they remain quiet.

Anywho, back to the first day of school. After the 4 classes were over for the day, the Principal, my co-teacher, and another teacher came back to my apartment with me and helped me move around some stuff to make room for the brand new sofa and vanity that he bought for me. He also took us to the local market, where we went in this random shop that sells bed spreads and pillows and whatnot. So I picked out a "padded" (not really) sheet to put on my rock-hard mattress, with matching blanket and pillows. [Later, my wonderful mother sent me an egg crate pad to put on my mattress. It helps, a little.]

By the second day of school, the jet lag started to catch up. We woke up early and got breakfast. This time I walked to school. It takes about 10-15 minutes, depending on how sluggish I feel. And I have to walk up-hill, which better do something in the way of slimming down my thighs or I will just start taking taxis in the winter!

My teaching schedule is not bad. I have 4 40min. classes a day and 2 afterschool classes a week totaling 22 classes. So I pretty much just work 22 hours a week and get paid a montly salary of 2.1 million Won and the only bills I have are internet, electric, and cable. Not bad at all...

Birthday/Going Away Party: May 16th

2009-06-16T04:49:00.000-07:00

Day Time:
My 27th Birthday was on May 16th. I conveniently told the agency we went through that I couldn't leave Korea until the 18th because I wanted to have a big bash before I left. Also, not only were Erin and I moving to Korea, but my brother J.C. was also leaving the same day we were to move to Orlando and start UCF.

There was a day party in my parents' neighborhood at the pool house. They rented it out for the day and my mom, gramma, and aunt mary cooked way too much food, as usual, but it was great. A lot of people showed up and we just hung out around the pool, ate, and drank some of my champagne punch ;) Meredith made a video of it and got it edited in time before I left for Korea. It's nice to be able to see everyone whenever I want on the video.

Anywho, my uncle Phil and uncle Barry also came up for the party so I got to see everyone pretty much. It was soon time to rap things up and head back to the house. Erin went with Rachel, Nick, and Lily to go to the store for some last-minute necessesities and then off to their hotel. Kristina also got a hotel for whoever wanted to crash, downtown after the night party at The Pearl. It was so nice! The nice, gay boy at the front desk noticed that we got a good deal on the hotel through Hotwire or something, and asked if we would like to upgrade to riverfront for just $20 more. Why not? Best $20 I ever spent! The view was great and the sliding window even opened so that you could smell the good ol St. Johns. Kristina, J.C. and I were extremely giddy about the whole thing and it made getting ready to go out that much more exciting...

The Pearl:

I had a blast at The Pearl, at least, that's what everyone told me. I got pretty wasted, no thanks to everyone who bought me raspberry lemon drop shots ;) I remember the first half of the night, but the end is a little fuzzy. What's more is that I thought I didn't even get to talk to some of the people that came to say goodbye to me, until I looked at the pictures on my camera the next morning and found that I had taken pictures of myself with just about everyone. At least my camera could fill in some of the gaps! I'm pretty sure I passed out not long after we got to the hotel, even though people came to the room afterwards to hang out. I didn't want to get that drunk, but it's too late for that now. Oh well. At least we all had a great time, and I've got the pictures to prove it!

Atlanta and the Korean Consulate: May 13th~May 15th

2009-06-13T07:02:00.000-07:00

I left Aunt Mary's on Wednesday evening and headed to Atlanta to meet up with Erin. Her sister, brother-in-law, and neice drove her to an exit off of the highway where I picked her up. It was so sad to see her say goodbye to her family, I almost felt awkward witnessing it. The sadest thing was see her adorable, little neice (Annabel Leigh) with a sad face and tears streaming down her face as she waved bye bye to Erin when we drove off. It made me think of how emotional I would likely get when it was time for me to say goodbye on the day we would fly off.

When we finally get to Mary Frances' house, I had a detailed list of directions on how to get into her 3 story home. MF wouldn't be home until the next day. She travels constantly for her job, currently to Tennessee. After finding the key inside the lock box in it's special hiding place and opening a door and entering a code and opening more doors, we got our crap and settled in. After I called her and fed the kitties, we soon discovered that there was no running water. MF called her neighbor and we walked next door with whatever pots and large containers we could find to fill up with water to be able to flush the toilets, wash our faces and whatnot. Erin and I discussed how convenient it is to have running water. I really don't think I could live without it; it's a bitch.

The next morning, we got up early and found our way to the Korean Consulate downtown.

Thank whoever came up mapquest, otherwise I'd never find my way around. Anywho, we had a group interview scheduled and the Korean man who interviewed us just basically talked about himself and how great Korea was the whole time. The first girl to be questioned had a degree to be a Principal at a public school and tried to kiss ass a little, but it didn't really work out for her. I mean she got her Visa, but he ignored her attempts to show off what she researched about Korea and all her qualifications. When it was my turn to be questioned, he quickly noted my English degree (I think he was happy about it) and asked me why I wanted to go to Korea. I used my bartending experience at Kan-Ki to get out of the question. (For those of you that don't know, I bartended at a Korean owned Japanese restaurant for 4 years and that's one of the main reasons I chose to come to Korea.) I told him I got to know my Korean co-workers and about their culture and all he wanted to know is what kind of restaurant it is. When I told him it's a Japanese Steakhouse he suddenly went into this long tangent about the time he spent working in Japan, etc. Then I was off the hook and he moved onto Erin. He pretty much breezed over her as well and went on about himself some more. She even took a picture with him after the interview was over, knowing that he would gladly do it.

Needless to say, we got our Visas. We went back to MF's, still no running water, so I thought we should just go hang out in Little 5 Points (way bigger than the 5 Points in Jax. btw). We get out there and walk around, have a shot, buy some books, etc. Erin wanted to find Tropic of Cancer by Henry Miller, and she did. I bought Venus in Furs by Leopold Von Sacher-Masoch (whom the term Masochism came from). I thought this book would compliment The Story of O, which I just bought from Chamblin Bookmine the previous week. [Oh, and speaking of O, at the Foodcourt in the mall where the Consul was, one of the meun items was called Story of Oreo. Ha!] We then had another drink and played some expensive pool because Erin and I will pay whatever cost to play pool, apparently. We went back to MF's to meet up with her and go grab some sushi. When MF caught her "second wind" we went down to Highlands for some drinks...which turned into a lot of drinks equaling drunken pool and a taxi ride back to MF's where the driver played Everclear and we drunkenly sang along to it. Eh, what can ya do.

Girls' nights are always good nights. MF said she will come visit us in Korea. I hope she does. After all, it's the perfect opportunity ;)

The next day, we left Atlanta and on the way back home we stopped in Hilliard so Erin could say hi and bye to her Nanny and Papi. They seemed worried about us going to Korea. They said a prayer for us and told us to be safe. It was cute.

When we got back to my house, my Gramma and Aunt Mary were already there. They decided to come to my Birthday/Going Away Party....

...to be continued in Birthday/Going Away Party

Blue Ridge Mountains: May 11th - May 13th

2009-06-13T06:17:00.000-07:00

Erin and I had to go to Atlanta to get our Visas to work in Korea. That's where the closest Korean Consulate is to Florida. Luckily, my friend Mary Frances lives in Atlanta, so we stayed with her, but more on that later. Erin's sister lives in Monroe, Georgia, and my Grandparents along with some of my other family on my mom's side lives around Blue Ridge, Georgia. So we decided to visit our families and make a little road trip out of the whole thing.

We woke up around 9:30a.m. and hit the road about 10-ish. The drive wasn't bad, partly because Erin and I talk a lot and also because the weather was nice. We stopped at a trucker stop along the way and I got one of those chicken twister (taquito) things. Deep fried to perfection. We also stopped at an Adult Novelty store along the way that advertised free coffee. When I inquired about the coffee the nice, southern girl behind the counter offered to brew me a fresh pot, which I accepted kindly. We walked around, etc. And went on our merry little way.

The way to Erin's sister's city was long and in the middle of nowhere, but it was still a nice drive. It took me about 3 hours longer to get to my Aunt Mary's cabin than usual, but I didn't mind. At least we both got to visit our relatives for a bit before we headed off to Korea for a year, ya know.

When I arrived to Blue Ridge, well actually McCaysville, I was so excited to be able to visit with my family for a couple days. It's so beautiful up there. My Aunt lives in a valley with mountains all around and a spectacular view on a large plot of land. I was lovingly greeted by my Aunt Mary, my Gramma, and my cousin Shannon along with the cats and dogs. Aunt Mary had my favorite dinner she cooks for me ready. Penne pasta in a vodka cream sauce with fresh, succulent shrimp. It was delicious! She makes it specially for me whenever I come visit. We had a great time eating and drinking wine and talking, us girls. The next day I was treated to a pedicure for an early birthday present and we went out for breakfast at a quaint little cafe in Blue Ridge. I enjoy being around my family. I got to hang out with my Papa a bit too, but unfortunately I didn't get to see my Uncle Mark and my little cousins.

My grandparents live in an apartment above a barn that was built on my Aunt Mary and Uncle Phil's property. They had a goat named Dolly and a pig named Arnold while I was there, but their menagerie has since been expanded with two mini horses and a donkey. By the time I get back from Korea, it will be an actual farm for sure...

*See the Atlanta post next for a continuation of this story...

The First Blog: An Introduction and Overview

2009-06-13T05:22:00.000-07:00

So, as most of you know, I"m a procrastinator. It's now June 13, and I've been in Korea for about 3 1/2 weeks now, so I have a lot of writing to catch up on. I want to make sure this blog gives everyone a good look at what life in Korea is like, as well as capture the essense of this time in my life so that I'll remember it well. Luckily, I have 4 hours a day of "planning" at my school. As long as I get my lesson plans done, I can do whatever I want (except sleep ;).

I don't know if these blogs will be automatically arranged by date or what, but I'll try to title them appropriately. And I also don't know how detailed I will be on any events from the past few weeks, even though a lot has happened. If you would like to read a more detailed account of everything from going to Georgia a week before Erin and I came to Korea all the way up until now, then check out Erin's blog: KRW Millionaire (also on blogger). Just remember, you're getting Erin's side of the story when you read her's, and anything bad she says about me is probably just a dramatic exaggeration. ;P Haha.

Anywho, feel free to comment on any postings or ask questions to both of us about our experiences. And don't forget to come visit us! See ya on Skype...