Wake me up...when the winter ends

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."

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.