And then...

Continuing from my last post...

Sunday another English teacher at my school (again a Korean teacher who teaches English) Ms. Chow, took me to Herb Island. This isn't actually an Island but instead on top of a mountain. Beautiful area with a huge green house, herbs, lavender, restaurants, a bakery, and Santa land that is there year round. We had a good time walking around, it was quite hot and standing among Christmas trees and listening to Silent Night in 80 degree weather was a it questionable. I bought some yummy herb mint tea, spent far too much money on some bread but enjoyed the day as it was a nice relaxing drive and we even had 15 minute chair massages.

I think the weekend tuckered me out as I began to get sick Monday evening and by Tuesday afternoon I had all the flu symptoms. I missed my first 2 days of work being ill in bed. Oi! I tell ya, there is nothing more fun than laying in an uncomfortable bed being sick for nearly 3 days. To top it off on Weds, I was finally napping when I heard a mans voice. I rolled over only to find a Korean man standing in my apartment! Yeah, had I not been so sick I think I would have freaked out a bit more. He was there to do some repairs, but hadn't told anyone that he was going to be there. A bit unnerving but I just rolled over and fell back asleep.

 Then later that day I had about 5 other people in and out of my place as I was finally getting the internet connection in my house set up. YAY!!! I have internet at home!!! It is sooo nice and fast and I feel like I am connected to the rest of the world again. Thankfully Annie was there talking to the service men. Both Annie and Lisa kept trying to get me to go to the hospital and were quite worried about me. Luckily I had plenty of water and crackers. I tell ya, this has been one of the greatest weight loss plans ever!!! hahaha

Playing catch up...

26 May 2012

I have been meaning to update my blog but things have been crazy. Last weekend was quite busy which led to me being very sick for 3 days last week, missing 2 days of school. I felt awful not going, but definitely could not go. The school was more than understanding and both Annie and my other teaching friend Lisa kept checking in on me wanting me to go to the hospital. All is good, was just a flu or something like it.

Now for the good stuff... last weekend was chock FULL of going places. Saturday Lisa met me in front of the school. She doesn't have a car so we walked to the bus stop and made our way to what is called Soyosan (Soyo Mountain). On our way to the mountain we took 3 different buses and the subway/ train. For the first time I heard English being spoken by native English speakers. I also met another ESL teacher from South Africa on the bus. We went to a town called Dongducheon (DDC according to Lisa) where there is an American Military base. The hike to the up the mountain was very interesting. Along the way we passed many people who had planted themselves along the side of the road with their homegrown veggies for sale. Kind of like our version of a farmer's market. There were also various food stands, one of the more interesting food items being sold were hot larvae. Mmmm yum! That's exactly like I want my larvae... HOT! haha

After our hike on the mountain we went back to DDC, this is the town that Lisa is from and her mother still lives there. First we went to a spaghetti restaurant. I was never so happy to have pasta! It was VERY good too! I had chicken, bacon alfredo. We also had garlic bread, the VERY strange thing they do to garlic bread here is put sugar on it. Soooo wasn't expecting that! In fact the sugar over powers the garlic which was disappointing.  It was nice though to have a meal that I need not question what I was eating! :) After that we went to her mom's apartment where I was given even more food. Apparently they are quite worried by the fact that I do not eat much at school and pretty much eat only pb&j or grilled cheese sandwiches at home. One thing is for sure, I have MANY people looking out for me here!

Tomorrow I will post about the rest of the weekend and some pictures too!

I'm a legal Alien now!

The end of week 3 has finally arrived and yesterday I received my Alien Registration Card (ARC)! WOO HOOO!!!! I can now finally go get a bank account so that I can cash my paychecks, get an ISP so that I can have my very own internet, and get a cell phone! This day could not have come soon enough. So yes, I am a legal Alien now. I rather like being an Alien... as someone on Facebook said, it's fitting seeing how much I loved the show "V" when I was a kid. haha :)

Having the ability to make phone calls will be great, although come to think of it... who am I going to call? While I do have the number for a taxi to take me to a store, I don't exactly speak Korean well enough to give them my address (which I am also very thankful to have finally gotten!). Hmmm... I could always call one of the 2 English speakers at my school to come translate for me I suppose. haha I guess I better get on the whole learning Korean thing. I am thinking that my rate of learning 2 words a day isn't going to cut it! ;)

I finally got to teach classes this week, not just the power point presentation about myself and getting to know each class. Each of the 3 teachers that I work with have very different methods for working with me as well as controlling their classes. The students here are very much like those in the States. There are the quiet ones who sit in the back taking naps and those who are eager to show me how much English they already know. There is a K-Pop (Korean Pop) band called Big Bang that the girls just LOVE, they are the equivalent of New Kids on the Block or N'Sync or any other extremely popular boy band. All I have to do to get the girl's attention is mention Big Bang and they perk right up.

The food at school continues to keep me on my toes. Tons of fish which I at least try. Kimchi and rice daily accompanied by soup and 2 other dishes. One day we had pizza... and I thought it was odd seeing people eat spaghetti with chopsticks... but PIZZA?! haha Then the other day we had spam burgers... first time that I know of having spam.

This weekend one of the other teachers native Korean but one of the English teachers I work with who lives close-ish to me is taking me to her home city via public bus as she doesn't have a car. We are going to a temple and then for Italian food. This should be interesting and fun! I hope to be able to post some pics of the week over the weekend.

Cheers! :D

So much to say..

I have a lot to report on but don't want to keep making these really long posts so a quick re-cap.
Last week: Introduced myself to classes on Mon & Tues, grades 1 & 2 (like 6 & 7) went on a 3 day field trip so I didn't teach any classes Weds- Fri. Friday, I went with the 3rd year students to Everland (http://www.everland.com/MultiLanguage/english/index.html) an amusement park near Seoul. Round trip bus ride on some pretty nice coach buses was about 4 hours, spent about 6 1/2 hours at the park taking pictures, went on a couple of rides but the one I really wanted to go on had an almost 3 hour wait sooo didn't go on it. Weather was quite nice and even managed a small sun burn.

The weekend was pretty quiet with spotty internet access which is why my blogs have also been infrequent. I will post pics of the trip to Everland when I can. This week I had my Thursday classes Monday and vice versa. I finally got my address and my two new friends Amanda and Ellen called a taxi and went with me to the grocery store. What an adventure! Also, wow is fruit expensive! So I stick with my pb&j, "cheese", and eggs as far as cooking at home goes. Yeah not being too adventurous yet with cooking at home. Then the girls rode home in the taxi with me and I made them pb&j sandwiches for the first time.. I believe their reaction was about like mine was to kimchi... Ohhh this is interesting. And we ALL know what interesting implies! hahahaha


Today May 15th is Teacher Appreciation Day which means no classes. Lots of activities that I will update tomorrow! :)

Finally an update...

The pics:  https://picasaweb.google.com/110803946883202819623/May92012?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCKjo_oyXjcK9zgE&feat=directlink

Link to pics from my birthday & apartment that I thought I put up... https://picasaweb.google.com/110803946883202819623/April302012?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCOaD8uSxlMKSmwE&feat=directlink

I haven't blogged much this week not because I have been too busy, nor because I haven't had much to say. I just don't want to bore you all too much with mundane details. This week has been going well after my emotional roller coaster of a weekend. As I was telling a friend today, I think it does us good to get a different perspective in life to understand that what you have isn't as bad as you may think. Basically you don't know what you have till it's gone.

This rang true over the weekend when I had no internet connection at all on Sunday. It's not that I can't go walking around and exploring, but ummmm.... NOBODY walks anywhere around here. I don't mean in my city, but in my village everyone has a car, not even bicycles are ridden. However the rest of the city both walking/bicycles are very popular. It is basically like I live in the country. 

I have begun having classes, though this week has not been normal. As mentioned I have about 35 - 40 girls per class and I teach 18 classes plus 4 hours of English Conversation per week. I have A LOT of students! So far in my power point presentation they LOVE Maggie. I guess that there is a type of fish in Korea that is called Maggie, though the spelling is different. They are very excited whenever a photo of her comes up and hope to see her on Skype.

The girls also think that both my mother and I are beautiful and very pretty, and my father is handsome! I think it is so cute when they say this. I have a photo with my cousins in it and MANY of the girls go crazy for my cousin's son. They ask his name (Zane) and how old he is. I had a girl yesterday ask me if she could have his phone number! haha So yes if he wants a Korean girl friend he has quite a fan base here! :)

As more people become comfortable with trying to talk to me I am having more visitors in my room. Yesterday a student brought me a delicious coffee flavored slushy thing that was quite tasty. Then today on my walk home a random construction worker that I have walked by the last 3 days, gave me a canned iced coffee drink. It was totally random and VERY nice. 

We have 3 student teachers in our school for a month. 2 of them have been coming to talk with me to practice their English. Today I had them talking with a friend of mine online. The wonders of the internet! Then I showed them pictures of my friends on facebook, etc. They really enjoyed that. They then asked for me to give them English names. I feel quite honored by this and will be thinking about that... Oh a couple of other cool things I was told that using chopsticks helps keep your brain active and is good for aging and several of the other teachers are quite impressed with my chopstick abilities. Woo hoo! hahaha

Cheers!

No matter what, I'm fine! :D

For those who are link clicking challenged and having an issue getting to my photos I will just put the link here... it should open in a new window. :)

https://picasaweb.google.com/110803946883202819623/May42012?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCPS8rtqAouCWsgE&feat=directlink

Ahhhh Friday, then end of my first full week here in Pocheon. It's definitely been an interesting week with ups and downs. The most frustrating part has revolved around getting my ARC (alien registration card), without which I cannot purchase a cell phone, get a land line, sign up for internet/tv, or open a bank account. Luckily I have had spotty bits of internet access at home via wireless connection and at school I have been able to chat/Skype/Vent with people so that has been a tremendous help! 

This past week was spent mostly getting to know my surroundings both at school and within my little community. The walk to school isn't quite as difficult as the walk home as it is much warmer during the peak heat of the day at 4:30 and I am walking right towards the sun. We had a nice bit of thunder and lightning storm Thursday with huge amounts of rain. I was really dreading my walk to school this day. Luckily for me I was standing under the covered area where my landlord parks his car talking and playing with "Fuzzy" when my landlord came out. We somehow communicated with one another, he speaks no English and I have about 7 words mastered (non of which were helpful in this case), that he wanted to give me a ride to school and wondered what time I left. What a savior! Not having to walk in a downpour was heaven.

As I prepared yesterday for my first 3 classes Friday I became more used to my room. My schedule has me teaching 22 hours a week and each class is 50 minutes ( which they equate to one hour). The other 15 hours a week I spend as a desk warmer. Basically what it sounds like, sitting at my desk surfing the web, preparing for class, etc. I don't really go to the workshops or meetings as they don't apply to me and are conducted in Korean only. 

Thursday afternoon Annie came racing into my room, no kidding, in an almost panicked rush telling me that we had to leave, she had just gotten my "vet check" ie; medical tests back and I passed. Yippeee! I honestly felt like an animal going through the process as being spoken to I had no idea what they were telling me to do, sit, stand, breath, etc. Again Annie to the rescue! Anyway off to another city about 45 mins away to apply for my ARC card. Pocheon is a large city, probably like Beaverton, and is quite spread out. I live on the outskirts not close to the more developed areas. ARC application paid and applied for, now I just have to wait about 17 business days which puts me around the last week in May before I can get anything.... thus the frustration.

My co-workers have all been very welcoming and friendly as are most of the students. I will be teaching 18 different classes every week, so I only see each class once per week.  I had 3 classes today where I basically spent the whole class period introducing myself and where I come from. Students really like Maggie, they all giggle and love to say her name whenever a photo of her comes up on the screen. I think part of the reason for this is because there is a type of fish here that is called the same thing with a slightly different pronunciation. One of my students' American name is Amy, she was really excited to know that is my name.

The students here are a lot like working in a class at home. There are the shy ones, those who love to get the teachers attention and ask/ answer questions, those who are falling asleep, and those who would rather be anywhere than in class. Huh, think I can relate to most of those! ;)

I had several students as well as a couple of teachers stop by my class to get some extra help with their English. Almost everyone knows "hello", "how are you" and "fine". Not a single person has said anything other than "fine" when I have asked how they are doing. They ask me and I usually say fine too but today I was hot and tired towards the end of the day... but whattya say? I'm fine! (with a smile) :D

A new surprise every day...

 No one can accuse the Koreans (at least those that I have had the pleasure of coming in contact with) of being stingy. Thus far on both trips to the market I have been given something. The first trip was a 3 pack of Kleenex Tissue (the big boxes too!) and a tube (for lack of better word) of bean curd (which I will not likely eat...). Annie, as I have mentioned previously, bought me plenty of groceries and items for my house before I even arrived as well as a house plant and continuously bringing me items from her house. She even made rice cakes for me upon my welcome. These are not the rice cakes us Americans are used to, they are made with (quite obviously) rice and red beans. They are almost rubbery in texture and lack in taste... very bland, but the gesture was so very nice. Not to mention the party she gave me yesterday. Today I was given some "pastries" by one of the other ladies in my office.  

Garlic Biscuit

For those not following me on Facebook, you missed out on a couple of my more fun posts of today. One being lunch we had today. The usual items which come as no surprise: Kimchi (there are oodles of different types), rice, a dish of some sort and a broth/stew with fish of some sort. The biggest laugh (to me anyway) came when I was served spaghetti with red sauce. Really? REAAALLYYY?! Spaghetti?! Wow, yeah ok sure why not. the fact that I bought pasta and Ragu/ Prego yesterday just made it that much funnier to me. Oh right, did I mention that I had to eat it with chopsticks??? Yeah... CHOPSTICKS! And I didn't spill ONE drop! Trust me I am impressed with myself. ;) It was actually pretty tasty though much sweeter than what I am used to and a nice bit of spicy heat. Then there was this odd garlic biscuit thing that tasted as though it had been doused in powdered sugar and garlic... I tossed it. 

Again all of the birthday wishes were wonderful. Thank you to everyone. It really does help knowing that half a world away (quite literally) ya'll are thinking of me. Today was my first walk to and from school. I believe the temp as I was walking home was right around 85f and such a dry heat too.... That is said with as much sarcasm as sweat from every fiber of my being... Never had a better cold shower. I have a feeling that I will be experiencing quite a few of those! haha :)

Don't get me wrong, I am not being negative, just passing along the experiences I am having. Even today I had students coming up to me saying happy birthday. One truly does feel like a celebrity as a Westerner here. As I was walking home, the boys from the school across the road from my school were hanging out and about a dozen surrounded me saying hello, asking where I was from, and trying to use as much English as they could. It really impresses me that these people try so hard to learn about us (again over generalization, just the people I have been in contact with and seems to hold true for many others in my position.)

On a sad note, BAB left my apartment today... I hope he makes it out there. lol :P

Cheers to you my friends and family. I love you all! 

 :D

The entry to the "English Zone"

My Classroom

May 1, 2012 More pics: