The World Cup has officially begun!!!..oh yeah..and another week in Korea..

Well, I'm two days late but its still exciting...this past week has been busy!

Monday - Hit the gym in the morning and made a new friend! I met a girl named Kelly that lives and teaches in this area too! Very nice! Then I headed to school...Back to work..ugh. I hate Monday's for the pure fact that the weekend joy has to come to an end. It's sad. Monday's are also my busy day at work so that's no fun at all. The day flew by with 5 classes and 2 phone calls at the end of my day. After work I headed home and did some Spanish stuff before I just passed out.

Tuesday - Gym in the morning and then off to work. Nothing too exciting at work this week except for the fact that some of our co-teachers have moved classes so I had some new teachers and that created a bit of extra work for me but nothing too bad. After work I didn't do anything. I live too far away from everyone else to do stuff, it sucks sometimes and other times I like it that way.

Wednesday - Gym in the morning and then work again. Wednesday's are my favorites because I only have 2 80 minute classes and so much free time that I don't even know what to do with myself. I also got my first pay stub on Wednesday! Yay! I must say, it's pretty cool to be paid in millions! haha. We also had to work 2 holiday's this month so I got an additional 100,000 won! Altogether it turned out to be a pretty nice pay check and I am going to try to save the majority of it.

Thursday - Gym in the morning and then I headed over to Susung branch for work. Thursday was the official payday when our money gets deposited into our accounts so everyone was in a fabulous mood. I was pretty lenient with my classes too. I like almost all of my students but there's one or two that I would love to just have kicked out of school! After work I decided to skip TND this week to hang out with one of my other friends named Jon. We grabbed pizza downtown and it was delicious!

Friday - I skipped the gym in the morning because I just couldn't pull myself out of bed! It was pitiful! I headed into work, the day seemed to creep by so slowly and right before it was over I got an email from our boss saying that he needed to talk to Brendan and I. So, at 10 we headed to his office only for him to be at the other branch so we had to call him up on the phone and that is when he told us that the Beommul branch that I live by and work at is closing down due to the fact that the lease is up on the building and they think it would just be best to move all the teachers over to Susung. So, I will also be moving. Now, this is obviously a little bit of an inconvenience to me considering the fact that I have been here for like a month and I will have had to move twice within two months! I'm a little annoyed but at the same time, I'm happy to be back on the subway line and closer to the other foreign teachers. I will no longer have to pay 10 dollars for a cab ride home every-time I want to go out after work! It's exciting.

The downside is this...They gave Brendan the option of staying in Jisan, where we live now, or finding him an apartment in Susung closer to the school and they just flat out told me that I would be moving back to Manchon. I was excited about the move until they told me this. I do not want to move back into Manchon. Compared to where I live now, Manchon is like living in a closet and I would still have to take the subway to work everyday! Plus it's like living in a college dorm with people that live in the same building always knocking on my door and what not. Ugh, annoying. So I decided, after talking to Karissa and the other foreign teachers, that I was going to ask them to find me a different place too! It's only fair, even if they do favor guys here. lol It was alot of excitment within a short amount of time. It has it's downsides and it's upsides. I'm sad that I will have to find another gym and the fact that i finally know my way around here and now I have to leave! The move will be official on the 17th of July but I will probably be moving sometime before that. After working I got invited to do a couple of different things but instead just decided to stay home because I had to be up early the next morning to go to Costco! BTW, the World Cup officially started on Friday! WOO HOO! I'm so freaking excited for this! I am backing Spain all the way because I think they have one of the best teams in the world. I am also in favor of Portugal, Brazil, and Germany....in that order! All have great teams and it's going to be interesting to see who ends up in the final together. I think that soccer players have the best bodies of all athletes and this is one of the main reasons that I have started following this sport, plus, it's so much better than American football and all the other professional sports that are out there these days...So yea, if your a fan, let's hear who you are supporting! I'd love to know!

Saturday - I had to get up at 8:30 in order to meet everyone at 10:00 to go to Costco. I was going to pick up a few things for Brendan so I met him around 9:20, took out some money and caught the bus to meet everyone else. We taxied it to Costco and I was so excited when we got there! We started out on the bottom level where all the stuff is that isn't food. I didn't really get to look around much because I was with 3 other people and I felt really rushed. I did get a normal size bath towel though so I was pretty stoked about that! Here in Korea they only use towels the size of hand towels back home to dry off with when they get out of the shower. It is beyond me why they do this, I think it's strange and I don't see the point in depriving yourself of a luxurious bath towel if you don't have to! I think it's silly. I need normal towels, I like to be able to wrap up in a towel when I'm done with my shower!
After looking around in the home goods area we headed upstairs to the food. It was sample day but I didn't have time to try much like I said, I felt rushed. Overall we were there for about an hour or two, we shopped and then we had lunch at the cafe which was really good. We all spent a total of 360 dollars and each time I spend money I get a certain percentage of that back at the end of the year. So anytime someone wants to go to Costco and use my card I'm okay with it! Everything comes in bulk at Costco so I ended up with a substantial amount of things...here's what I got: Egg-o waffles, honey nut cherrios, fiber one bars, pace salsa, slices of smoked salmon, slices of turkey breast, a huge block of colby jack cheese, 6lb. bag of veggies for my lunch, and a 4lb. bag of trail mix! I saw so much stuff that I wanted but I'm just going to have to go back another time when we aren't in such a rush.
After I got back from Costco I headed to the gym, I love going to the gym on Saturday's because I'm never on a time limit so I always get the best workout. Got home around 5, showered, and then headed over to meet up with everybody to go to Druyu park, the huge park here in Daegu, to watch the South Korea vs. Greece match! We arrived at the park about 30 minutes before the game started and it was absolutely packed! There had to be, and I'm not even exaggerating, at least 20,000-30,000 Koreans there! It was insane! We couldn't even get close enough to see the huge TV screens. Honestly, you would have thought that we were going to a live sporting event the way that people were acting. They are really backing their team here and I think that's great. It was very exciting just to be there in that crowd. The game was obviously in Korean so not only could we not see the TV's but we also couldn't even understand what was going on...haha it was a bit of a waste and we probably should have watched it in a bar but nonetheless, it was a good time. Afterwards we had Galbi, or Korean BBQ nearby before heading home and calling it a night. We were all too exhausted from getting up early to stay out late.

Sunday - I got up around 11 and realized that I had no reason to be up so I went back to bed and got up again around 1:30. lol Sunday is my day of rest. After I got up I decided that I was going to go downtown and do a little shopping before I had to meet up with everyone for dinner. I found this great store called Basic House and they actually had clothes that fit me! I've been having trouble finding things that fit right. Here in Korea, the women do not have boobs and a butt so everything is like a "one size fits all" kinda deal and it literally does. Unfortunately for me..this isn't going to cut it. I need clothes for curves and this store just happened to have normal stuff! I was pretty excited and I ended up finding a skirt that I really liked. I bought it and then I later bought a shirt to go with it! After my shopping adventure I met up with the majority of the other foreign teachers and one of our Korean co-teachers. (his name is Soo-jin and he went to school and lived in texas for 10 years so he's very Americanized, it's great) We had decided about 2 weeks ago that we were going to get together the first Sunday after payday and go to this western place where you can BBQ! So, we arrived, and we ordered this huge platter of meats and stuff and then had a cook-out! Each table is equipped with it's own grill, an actual grill. It was sweet. We had squid, steak, shrimp, duck, chicken, pork, sweet potatoes, smoked salmon, roasted chestnuts, veggies, and of course no meal would be complete without some Korean salad! Everything was delicious! We will definitely go back . After dinner us girls headed downtown to do a little more shopping, we also grabbed a Coldstone Creamery ice cream and then had bag drinks later. We called it an early night and headed home around 11:30.
So one thing about Korea is that they have TV's in almost all their cars AND buses here! Talk about a distraction! If you think cell phones in America are bad...try having a TV in your car! Haha, so all of the taxi's have them of course and on the way back in the cab I was watching the World Cup while sipping my bag drink! Life doesn't get any sweeter than this! Someone is chauffeuring you around while you drink a martini in a bag and watch the World Cup! Life at this moment was grand! It was ruined when I was exiting the cab and accidentally spilt more than half of my drink the floor of this guy's cab! AH! I felt so horrible because he didn't even try to rip me off! I tried to say I was sorry but it just wasn't happening in Korean, but the good news is that he just waved his hand and basically said no worries! I was so relieved! After getting home I of course checked all the updates on the World Cup for the day, made my predictions for the next round of games and headed to bed.

Monday - I went to the gym in the morning and then headed to work. Like I said earlier, mondays are always my busiest day at work so I don't enjoy them. I got most of my grading done quickly and I had sent an email to my boss about my new living situation. He eventually called me into his office and I calmly and rationally explained to him that I would like the same option as Brendan was given to move closer to Susung and explained to him my reasons and why I did not want to live at Manchon. Long story short he said that he would see what they could do....I'm not sure if this means they are going to look for a place for me or what? Hopefully they do though because if not then I'm going to keep complaining until I get my way! After that discussion I proceeded with my classes and as my day was coming to an end I learned that 2 of the teachers, Robin and Karissa, had gotten into trouble for using the internet for personal use. So then we all got an email telling us that we are not allowed to use the internet for personal use, we are not allowed to use the printers at work for personal use (even if it's to print out one thing), and we are not allowed to have our MP3 players out at work listening to them. lol I just laughed out loud when I got this email...seriously...that's the dumbest thing, but whatever...rules are rules I guess. I'll follow them because I'd like to keep my job.

Tuesday - Today I didn't do much before work, I went to the gym and bought some awesome whole grain oat bread at the Dong-A department store. Work was pretty boring...most of my classes were good except for the last one. It's been predicted that we are going to lose some of our students in the move and I honestly wouldn't mind losing my last class! Haha, they are a group of those stubborn teenagers that think that everything you do is "uncool and lame." How did I get stuck with this class? I hate them probably as much as they hate me! Whatever..I laid out the rules and they have to follow them...and if they don't..I'll enjoy every minute of punishing them..! After work I came home and actually turned on my TV for like the second time since I've been here! I finally located the World Cup on some sports channel and even though it's in Korean and I can't understand what they are saying..I can still tell what's going on in the game. So, my day was made whole by this. I probably won't turn the TV off now until July 11th! I love World Cup fever...I'm so into this year!

Side-notes:

• I have been diligently practicing my Spanish! I love it! 
• Did you know that Samsung makes cars? A NICE car at that however, they do not export them!
• I found the one place that you can buy English magazines here. I wanted to get Travel and Leisure but it was 17 dollars! No thank you! - Crazy! Someone mail me one please!
• I want to go to the Philippines and Thailand but I'm too poor, at least for this vacay..I hate student loans, they might be the death of me...I wonder what would happen if I just didn't repay them? Could they take me to jail? Will I have to hide out here forever?
• It is very quiet here on the trains and on the buses. I was told there's like this unwritten rule that you don't talk on the trains, subways, or buses. It's creepy..I don't like the silence...this makes me reflect back on my train rides in Spain...always conversation, always song, always dance..I miss it!
• I bought some spa stuff, like face masks and an under-eye treatment thing the other day...I tried them out..and they work! They are crazy about their skin care here, there are so many products to choose from, it may take me a year just to try them all!
• They drive with absolutely NO CAUTION here in Korea...they are crazy drivers...if anyone thinks Europe is bad..you should check out Korea...they drive without even thinking that someone might be around the corner..no possibility at all! I'm surprised there aren't more accidents. I know pedestrians get hit a lot and if someone even TRIES to run me down with their car I'm going to beat the hell out of them if I am still standing! haha
• Something else I've realized this week...We all stereotype..it's just what we do as humans...but, I discovered this week just from teaching that we actually learned how to stereotype in school. It's inevitable. 
• Most days here in Korea...I feel like I'm living in a world of gay men and high class women. All of the men here are extremely feminine...and I mean..to the extreme's worse than Europe..except here..being gay does not exist whereas, the majority of the flamboyant ones in Europe are 50/50, straight or gay. They carry nicer handbags than me, wear tighter pants than me, and use more products in their hair than I do! It's just gross..I am completely repulsed by the majority of Korean men...it's sad...The women here are equally as crazy. They all wear high heels everywhere they go..to the grocery store, in the pouring rain, to the SOCCER GAME at the PARK of all places where there are dirt paths! In fact, while hiking I do recall seeing a couple of girls in heels. They are also crazy about their sun umbrella's here. Koreans refuse to let any light penetrate their bodies. They will wear turtlenecks and pants and visors even when it's 90 outside and THEN, in addition to all that, they will also carry around their annoying sun umbrellas and they will just hit you in the face with them and then keep on walking. I'd like to slap these *****. Don't these people know that you NEED 15-20 minutes of direct sunlight a day to get enough Vitamin D? The sun can be good for you in moderation. In western culture..we think tan and golden is beautiful but here they think that being as white as a ghost is attractive. They even have moisturizers and skin creams to help bleach your skin and keep it it's whitest! Crazy! I wonder if that's what Michael Jackson was using? lol Just wondering...
• They also do not sell normal size brooms here. They only sell short brooms, you can't buy a normal one at the store. Trust me, I've checked 6 different stores. I'm just going to go ahead and throw something out here...I think that I'm putting two and two together when I say this... I've noticed that the majority of old women here are hunchbacked...like bent all the way over..and I'm just taking my best educated guess when I say this..I think this is because they have been sweeping their floors all these years with brooms that are too short for them! Maybe, if they would have thought to make the handle longer..they wouldn't be in this positon...literally! 

Oh Korea...this week you and I have not seen eye to eye on everything.....I hope this week is better so that I don't have to buy my own sun-umbrella to take people out with.....

Annie

Oh Korea..Greek food should not be spicy!

As promised, it is Sunday…so here is another post!

Good news is that I have officially been here for a month! The bad news is that the humidity has arrived. It came suddenly and quietly in the night like a thief and I am in no way excited about it! Now, onto the goods….

Monday – I decided to venture out and find a gym! I had asked a Korean co-worker about a gym in my area and he suggested one for me. Well, I went there and signed up! I was pretty freaking excited about it. It’s 60,000 Won a month but that includes all the machines, showers and whatever classes are offered in the “stretching room.” I think there are yoga classes but this lady’s English was terrible so I’m not really clear on that subject yet. I’m just excited that I found a gym so easily!Work was good, nothing too eventful. After work we all got together for Chris’ birthday. We ate at this really nice Italian place and then afterwards we went to this place called Fun-Joy and then it got sloppy! This place serves what we call Soju cocktails. Now soju, as I have expressed, is not the best thing in the world but it’s about the only thing here to drink, it’s hard to find vodka, rum, tequila, etc. Soju is dangerous because when it is mixed with anything you can’t even taste it unlike a Vodka and cranberry you can tell how heavy the bartender’s hand was when he was pouring it. Soju, not so much! So, we had these delicious cocktails with Soju, almost like a fruit slushy, and then next thing I know we are all drunk. I didn’t get home till like 4 or 5 in the morning. What a night!

Tuesday – Hit the gym before work! It was excellent! Level tests begin! Yay! My schedule said that I only had to proctor one test and teach one of my classes so I was pretty excited. So I had a lot of downtime at work this day. However, during the last period, one of the Korean teachers came up to me and wanted to know why I wasn’t teaching her class. I pulled out the schedule and clearly showed her that she was supposed to be teaching and even though I know she understood me, she acted like she didn’t and I did not want to stand there and argue with her so I had to go into my new class that I’m not supposed to start until Friday and teach them. They were little hellions and I decided that Friday I was going to lay down the law after the way they disrespected me. I left work kinda mad that night because #1 if I was supposed to teach that class then it was my Team Leader’s fault for not telling me because the schedule is in Korean and it was his responsibility to tell me, I thoroughly went over it with him and he didn’t mention it and #2 I know that I wasn’t supposed to teach that class, it was the Korean teacher that should have taught it so I wasn’t very happy with her for putting me in that position. Oh well…there’s only so much you can do about this kind of stuff…

Wednesday – Hit the gym before work. Level testing again, I still got to teach my classes though. I now teach another class at 4, it’s just one girl so it’s a little boring. Hopefully this will change and she will get put into another class on a different day after the level tests have been calculated. I taught my favorite class this day also, I know I shouldn’t play favorites but I do! I also got invited to go on a Korean blind date! Haha One of the desk teachers asked me if I would like to go out with one of her friends. She told me a little bit about him, he bakes cakes, is 26, and likes foreigners. I asked her if his English was good and she said not really. Now, how does this guy really expect to be able to carry on a conversation with me? If he really likes foreigners that much then he should consider taking an English class or something. It sounds to me like maybe he wants a green card or something. (I’m just saying!) I said no thanks.

After work I came home checked my email and I had received a message from the US Embassy in Seoul. I registered with the embassy so that in case of an evacuation, they know where to find me. The letter basically addressed the high concern for war between the North and the South. It said that they didn’t see any immediate threat to the American community here but to stay up to date on the latest news reports and what not.

Thursday – I went into work today feeling a little drab. I didn’t make it to the gym because I didn’t have enough time and then when I got to work I just didn’t really feel like doing much. Thank goodness for level tests! My kids were pretty good so I let them play a game. We found out about our vacation dates. They are going to be from the 24^th – 27^th. So basically 4 days. Everyone else is already making plans and stuff but I don’t think I’m going to be able to afford to do anything. I really want to go to Barcelona and I found a good deal on a ticket but I soon realized that my friend won’t be in Barcelona until like the 28^th of June. Talk about bad timing. I also have another 4 day vacation at the beginning of August so maybe I’ll do something then. After work we headed over to Alexis’ because she was hosting Thursday Night Dinner. We actually turned it into a Thursday Night Breakfast and had breakfast instead. We had chocolate chip banana pancakes, sausage, fruit salad, scrambled eggs, toast and frozen mochas! It was great. It was fun to hang out with everyone even though I wasn’t feeling really social that day. Good day overall.

Friday – Yay for Fridays! I went to the gym and it was great after that I headed into work and prepared for the day and taught my two classes and then I taught my two new classes that I got. I went in with Class Rules for both of my new classes because their old teacher Brendan, I have discovered, was a huge softie! So I had to lay down the law to these kids and they behaved pretty well for their first class but we’ll see how it goes this week. I was pretty excited when 10:30 came around and after work I headed downtown to go out with everyone. There was a billibow tournament at this place called Billibow ( what a coincidence!) Billibow is a mix between bowling and pool. It’s set up like a bowling alley but the pins are smaller and you shoot a pool ball down the bowling alley with a pool table stick. It actually looks really fun. Anyways, almost everyone from our group was in the tournament, 3 of us were not. It was fun to watch nonetheless and I got free drinks all night so it ended up getting a little sloppy. I made some new friends and then had Gim-Bop at 5 in the morning with Joel and Andrew. I got to see the sun rise in the cab on the way home! Hahaha Oh Korea! The sun comes up at literally 5 am here and sets at like 7:45. I hate it, there needs to be more sunlight, I can’t even being to think about what it’s going to be like in the winter months! Ugh!

Saturday – I went to the gym around 2 and spent about 2 hours there. I saw another foreigner at my gym so that was pretty exciting. I didn’t talk to him or anything but if I see him again I’m going to say hi and find out where he’s from. He must live in my neighborhood somewhere. After going to the gym almost everyday for a week I have already seen a noticeable difference in my sleep schedule, eating schedule, and my mood. I feel so much better about myself. I’d give it another week or 2 at the gym and my body will be back to what it once was. I can’t believe that I was just letting myself go like that, getting no exercise and just eating whatever I want. I guess I’m to that age now where I can’t do that anymore and it took gaining 10 lbs. to realize this! Haha But honestly I love the feeling that going to the gym gives me, it’s actually fun! I never knew that I was missing out on all this enjoyment! After the gym I headed over to the store and picked up a few grocery items to help get me through the week and then once I got home I made some lunch, got a shower, and then headed downtown. I decided just to take the 3 bus and fortunately I didn’t run into my favorite bus driver friend! Haha. Once I got downtown I just wondered around I went into a bunch of face and make-up stores, they are everywhere. The Koreans, like most Asians are really into make up and beauty products, these people will do anything to look younger, it’s crazy. They always stay out of the sun because they think it’s going to give them too many wrinkles and they also have these creams here that you can put on your skin to make it whiter! Creepy! I wonder if this was what Michael Jackson was using? Lol It’s seriously a little scary. It’s a good thing to be super pale. Over here it is considered beautiful. So as soon as summer is in full swing I’m sure I will be getting even more stares as I start to get darker. I don’t think that I’ll be laying out anywhere and tanning but I have noticed that I’ve gotten sun since I’ve been here and I’m already starting to get darker, I just tan so easily, I want to thank my Dad for these wonderful Fan-TAN-tas-tic genes/ability. I think we have the same skin. Chelsea didn’t get that lucky; she got Mom’s and burns easily. So anyways I checked out some of these girly shops and bought a few things to try out like some face masks and some blackhead things. Gross, I know, but I just want to see if they really work. I shopped around for probably 2 or 3 hours and that’s all I bought. I spent like 3 dollars. Lol It was fun nonetheless to kinda find my way around. After being there for a while I grabbed a quick bite to eat at this Greek place. I got what was supposed to be a Gyro and it would have been decent Greek food if it wouldn’t have been for the freaking red chili peppers that they decided to throw in there and RUIN it! Ugh, I was so mad, I didn’t know that it was going to be spicy. Hey Korea…GREEK FOOD IS NOT SUPPOSED TO BE SPICY! They make everything spicy here! I was so disappointed. After that I headed to Beomeo to meet up with Karissa, Joel, and Chris. We just hung out down by the river, they had some drinks, I had one and then we called it a night around 3. Pretty boring I guess.

Sunday – Today, I got up, headed to the gym and it was CLOSED! Ugh, I was sad. I was really looking forward to getting in a great work-out but instead I just ventured around the DongA looking at everything and then decided to do my workout at home. I made lunch and did some cleaning. I also watched the movie Precious today. Sad movie in it’s own way, a little disturbing in parts. I also broke out the Spanish stuff the other night and I have been diligently practicing and I spent a good 2 hours on that today. It was a pretty relaxing day.

Some side notes:

• I have found that everything in Korea is very high tech and I mean everything. It’s very modern here, the cars are amazing and the buildings are equally impressive.
• You can’t buy English magazines here unless it’s like Times or Newsweek. All I really want is a Cosmo but I’ve heard you have to go to Seoul to get a copy. L
• Dad and Auntie Joe are sending me a care package soon with all things that I love! I’m excited!
• I've also realized how much of a girly girly I am. I knew this somewhat already but it seems to be coming out full swing recently. I wouldn't have it any other way though! 
• I have become an amazing cook recently. I’ve been told that it runs in the family and I would like to also thank my Nan because she taught me a lot of things while I was home on sabbatical! Haha I now have confidence in the kitchen!
• I hate taking cabs here, they charge you based on how long it takes to get there and the RPM’s so they will purposely rev up the engine, go slow, and act like they are lost or try to carry on a conversation with you in what little English they know in order to distract you from what’s really going on. This is annoying and has happened to me like 4 or 5 times now and I’m going to ask my co-teachers what to say tomorrow when this happens again.
• I told a cab driver that I was from Canada when he asked and it’s a good thing I did because after that he said that he hated Americans. I think this seems kind of ironic but whatever.
• I want to travel to maybe a few places in Southeast Asia but honestly nothing is really jumping out at me, any suggestions would be appreciated!

Something else I realized this week.... here's some sappy wisdom..prepare yourself because I know this is out of the ordinary for me, but it's been an interesting week full of realizations.

Our lives are full of decisions. Good ones, bad ones, and sometimes it's hard to know if we are making the right decisions and sacrifices for the ones we love. At the end of the day it doesn't or it shouldn't matter how much money you have or how far behind you are on your house payment or how many cars you have in your garage ---- what should really matter is who you are sharing your life with, or who you are living you life for? Are you living it for yourself? For god? At the end of the day did you tell the ones you love how you really feel?

Truth is...these are the things that should matter, but in today's society it's a whole different ball game. 

Annie

Climbing Mt. Apsan!

Alrighty….as promised, here is another post!

Wednesday’s are always fairly slow at work. I currently only teach 2 classes and the are not until 8:35 so I have like 5 hours of planning! I will be getting two more classes on Wednesday next week though. After work on Wednesday I grabbed a bite to eat with Brendan. They have these places here referred to as “toasty” places and it’s where you can go in and get a toasted sandwich with a variety of different toppings. Now, it’s not like a deli sandwich, it usually has egg on it and is nothing like sandwiches back home. It was pretty good but I was also starving at the time.

Thursday – I had to get up fairly early to do some shopping and cleaning because everyone was coming over to my house for TND or Thursday Night Dinner. Work was good, exhausting, I did a lot for my 80 minute class and they were a handful! I also had to punish 4 of my students in my last class because they didn’t do their homework so I had to raise their dictation test! After work I took the bus home and then shortly after I got home everyone arrived. It was a great success. I made spaghetti, Chanel made curry, Karissa did cheese and cracker appetizers, Palmer rolled gimbap, and Andrew and Brendan brought desserts. After we ate we watched funny videos on Youtube and just chilled. Everyone left around 4:30. ß--This is another reason that I love working in the evenings! I can stay up late! I accidentally ended up staying up until almost 8 o’clock in the morning too on the internet talking to people!

Friday – I was excited that the weekend was almost upon us. Work was surprisingly boring and I was tired from being up so late. I had a lot of questions this day from the Korean teachers. Like I said, the Korean teachers or our co-teachers teach the students reading and grammar while we teach them listening, speaking, and writing. So whenever the Korean teachers have a question about the grammar or something in their books that they aren’t quite sure about they will always ask me or one of the other English teachers. I love this! It’s pretty cool to be such an expert at something! haha When 10:30 rolled around I was pretty excited that it was the weekend. I headed home and relaxed for the most part. Some people went downtown but I am trying to save money so I passed up the invitation. Plus we had planned to go hiking the next morning so I didn’t want to be too tired.

Saturday – I had to get up around 10 to meet everyone. We met up at the subway and took the subway to the mountain! We climbed Mt. Apsan. It was I think 770 km? Anyways, long story short, I almost died!!! AH!! I haven’t had any serious physical exercise or movement since last august, I did some walking while I was home but I haven’t done any cardio or anything serious since august. Needless to say, I’m a little disappointed in myself because I used to be really healthy. Yesterday was a serious wake-up call for me and I’ve been wanting to join a gym or a yoga place here anyways so I’m just going to do it! I think that it’s worth it, I need some exercise and I need to get back into shape! It’s pathetic!

Back to the hike though, more like mountain climb – the ascent was difficult, it was very steep compared to other hiking that I have done but when we finally made it to the top you could see all of Daegu, it was a beautiful view. Daegu is a city of 2.5 million people and it’s surrounded on all sides by mountains so hiking and mountain climbing is very popular here because the Koreans are crazy about their fitness the way it is. I was told that the reason they hike so often is because they want to get out of the busy city and get some exercise while enjoying nature. This helps them to clear their heads so that they can focus on their studies and when they get to the top of the mountain they scream to let all of their frustrations out. Just a fun fact for you! I also had no idea how spread out the city was! I took lots of pictures on top of the mountain and I will post those sometime this week along with my other photos. The descent was pretty quick; it was so steep that we practically had to run down the mountain to avoid sliding on our butts! We also stopped at a Buddhist temple on the way down the mountain. We didn’t go inside but we took lots of pictures and walked around the grounds.

So after we got back to the city we were walking around trying to find the subway when all of sudden we walk past this restaurant and this guy comes out and starts talking to us asking us to come back. His English was very good and then he invited us in for a drink! We agreed and went inside. He was there with his friends, about 4 other older men, probably in their 40s and 50s and they were all shit faced at about 5 o’clock in the afternoon! I’m telling you…the Koreans could drink the Russian’s under the table. After seeing the way they drink here and knowing a couple of girls from Russia, I have no doubt in my mind the Koreans would take home the prize for this one! They drink all day every day here! So we go inside and they break out the Macali – rice wine. He said this was to celebrate us coming to Korea. He kept saying, “Welcome to Korea” even after everyone had told him that they had been here for 6 months! After the Macali they also brought out 3 40’s of beer and of course, no Korean meal would be complete without some Soju! So we had beer, liquor, and wine all within like an hour. They also brought out a few Korean snacks, all of which were fire spicy, I could only eat these kimchi pancakes, which were actually pretty tasty! It was quite the cultural experience. These guys were hammered so it was pretty funny at times. After all this excitement on my Saturday we headed home to shower and relax.

Sunday – Today, after realizing how poorly out of shape I am, I went for a run around my neighborhood. I’m trying to get to know the area a little better so I figured that a nice jog around town would help! It did! I also finally located a flower shop so I think I might check that out tomorrow. I got one plant for my house already but I’d like to get a few more. After my jog I had some lunch, showered and got ready to play ping-pong with everyone. We had a ping-pong tournament tonight Canada vs. USA. It ended up being an even tie. I had no idea how crazy there are about ping-pong over here though. It’s intense. I wish you could have seen the way these Koreans were playing! The ball was moving so fast that I couldn’t even see it and they have ping-pong places on every corner! It’s pretty cool. After that we had some Indian food, now I’ve never really experienced Indian food but I’d have to say that it’s not bad! I actually kind of enjoyed it even though it was a little too spicy for my taste buds. After that I had to run to catch the bus home.

This week we are doing level testing for 3 days at school so it should be a fairly relaxed week and then next week I will get more classes. I have also made it my goal to find a gym this week and a tailor so that I can get my pants hemmed!

Things I have realized this week…

• I might never learn as much Korean as I’d like. I have asked everyone, even my boss about taking some classes to learn Korean and no one seems to be able to tell me where to go to learn this crazy language…
• The Koreans have no sense of personal space whatsoever. I know some people think that this is an issue in Europe, I didn’t seem to notice it as much but people always tell me that I sometimes don’t keep a safe personal space “distance.” Well just a warning, they will literally stand on top of you, I mean shoulder to shoulder here when there is probably 4 feet of space on either side of you and they also don’t seem to think that it is weird to touch other people. (not in a bad way) They are a very touchy-feely culture I’ve noticed. It’s like they don’t mind other people getting in their way or running into them and none of this is because it’s crowded over here because it’s not!
• I also got my health insurance card this week. Everyone was telling me at dinner tonight that most of them got sick about their 3^rd week here and now I’m a little worried about getting sick, but hopefully I’ll be fine..
• Whatever is going on between the North and the South they need to work it out because I'm not ready to go back to the US just yet...

I’ll keep you posted….

My Students Are Trying To Bamboozle Me, Busan, and a Crazy Bus Adventure! What a week!

Finally a new post! Sorry it has taken so long, I have been so busy with moving and being a social butterfly this week!

Here are a few random things to get this post started, and yes it will take you a while to read this one but there is no rush! Just a warning though, another one will be out Sunday!

#1 -Everyone here is now calling me Annie Dukes – I’m not sure how I feel about this yet.

#2 – My snuggie is fabulous – thank you mom!

#3 – I’m slowly seeing the world one day at a time and I want to go to Seoul soon! Maybe in a couple weeks! I also want to do some hiking while I’m here in Daegu.

#4 – There are no street signs here in Korea, they identify everything by intersections in neighborhoods, not a good thing for lost foreigners!

#5 – I’m glad that English is my first language because it is one of the hardest languages to learn so be thankful that you already know it.

#6 – I want to join a yoga class after I get paid and I also want to learn Korea but haven’t quite figured out how to go about this yet. This is going to sound strange coming from me but I’m really considering joining a gym, it’s cheap and I hear they are fabulous, it’s just impossible to exercise indoors here, too small of an area.

#7 – South Korea needs to invest in some city planners to make this place smell better. The reason their air quality is terrible is because their sewer system needs some work! It smells like shit, literally shit, everywhere you go. These people are incredibly smart over here, you think they’d be able to figure this air pollution thing out! Sewer gas has to count for at least half of it!

We call it the Daegu “gu” and in Pusan or Busan this weekend we called it the Pusan “poo.” Next it will probably be the Seoul “shit.” I hear it smells about the same there.

Now on to the good stuff….

Last Friday – First day completely on my own! It was a pretty easy day. I had a few problems with having everything changed over in the computer system but it worked out and Justin came in to watch my classes over the camera system. Everything went well and Friday night after work we all went out for dinner. It was a traditional Korea dinner, we had to take off our shoes when we went inside and we had to sit on the floor at little tables on pillows. The majority of the food was pretty spicy but there were a few things that I could eat. I had this amazing egg soup? I’m not sure what it was called but it was so good! The main dish was tofu and beef in some spicy broth with cabbage and then they also brought out meat that was marinated and grilled in some spicy sauce. I tried everything even though it was spicy. There was plenty of Soju (rice liquor) flowing, it just kept coming and coming like water! I also tried macali? I’m not sure if this is how it’s spelled but it tastes like chalky wine, at first I didn’t like the flavor but by the end of the bowl that I was drinking out of, it started to taste pretty good! I also had to do a special drink with Justin since the party was for us! Lol We all know that I’m not a big fan of beer, I’ve tried tons of different beers but I just don’t like it. Well this drink was Korean beer mixed with soju, pretty much equal parts, and the goal is to chug it and whoever finishes first wins! Well, I couldn’t even finish half of it so Justin beat me and then finished mine too! It tasted so nasty. I got to see my Korean co-workers and my Boss annihilated so that was a fun experience also! After dinner everyone was a little drunk but we didn’t end up going to a noribong. Instead I just cabbed it home with everyone else and went to bed. We were all getting up early to go to Busan the next day so I don’t think anyone wanted to do anything too extreme.

Saturday (Busan) – I got up around 10, got ready and laid out everything that I needed to pack and then I headed out to find a backpack before Justin came to pick me up! I got the cutest pink backpack with gray accents with sparkly writing, it’s very girly but I love it! Justin came around 12 and we headed to the train station, we met up with everyone else here, there was about 10 of us altogether. We didn’t get seats on the train next to each other but it was only an hour on the train so it wasn’t a big deal. I was passed out while everyone else kept going around filling up each other’s beer cups.  They got a picture of me sleeping with my mouth wide open like Julie! I was a little embarrassed but it happens. I wonder how many people have pictures of me like this? I’m sure more than a few. We arrived in Busan at about 2 and took cabs to Haeundae beach, one of the 3 beaches in Busan. First, we had tacos and nachos for lunch at this western place. The tacos were alright but Patrick, he’s from a different school, brought his New Jersey white trash girlfriend with him and she was fucking CHAIN smoking at the table in this small enclosed restaurant. It was blowing directly in my face and 3 other peoples’ faces. I was so annoyed. I think she was also a little drunk and while we were all trying to eat she kept going on and on about how much she loves cigarettes, she was literally screaming it for everyone to hear, this only amused one other person and that was of course, her white trash boyfriend Patrick because he was also smoking. I really just wanted to let her know that smoking like that was in no way attractive and that it’s also not very funny to say that you love cigarettes like that, it’s really not funny in anyway shape or form, then I would have preferred to slap her like the New Jersey white trash that she is but I refrained for the sake of the group. I didn’t want things to get off to a rocky start so I decided to keep the peace. I’m sure everyone else probably would have appreciated it though. It could have been hands down one of the worst meals I’ve had just for the sole fact that I couldn’t breathe the entire time! After that fiasco, we headed out to find a cheap hotel for the night. I shared a room with Karissa and after we put all our stuff down we headed for the beach. We stayed out on the beach until after dark just drinking and having a good time. It was pretty cloudy and there wasn’t much sun so it was cold to say the least. A couple of us wanted to leave but when your with a big group it’s hard to please everyone, this is the only reason I don’t like traveling with other people, that and most of the time it doesn’t really get split evenly money wise. After the beach we headed back to the hotel, freshened up and then hit the casino! I played some slots but I lost more money than I won, only like 10 bucks though, it was fun. After the casino we tried to find something to eat and ended up at this Thai massage place instead? I’m not sure how this happened but I really wanted a massage and so did the guys, it was only 80 for 2 hours! That’s so cheap but instead we decided to eat and had burgers at some western place. They were really good even though I’m not a hamburger fan. After that we went to a bar and had a drink or two before calling it a night.

Sunday – Day 2 in Busan – Some people left early because there was a softball game going on in Daegu and some of the people played on the league and had to leave early, the rest of us headed out to the beach, I made a pit stop at Dunkin Donuts on the way(which btw is so much better here than in America, more selection, and better donut flavors and awesome teas and drinks!) It was really nice out, 73 and sunny with a light breeze. Perfect beach weather. The guys played frisbee and us girls just soaked up the sun. After that we all went to the Aquarium which is supposed to be the best one in Korea, I haven’t seen any others yet but I would agree that it was a really nice aquarium, they had pretty much everything you could think of but the penguins were the cutest! They had some type of African theme going on that didn’t quite fit with anything and at the end of the aquarium they had 2 lions and then 2 tigers in these small cages the size of a bedroom in an American home. It was so random and so sad all at the same time. Come to find out – this is “very Korean.” Like I used to say…it was a very Spanish thing to do”…this was a very Korean thing to do..only in Korea would you see something like this (I’ve already experience many of these things)! Next we headed over to another beach that was nicer in my opinion. We got some drinks and walked around. They had a huge bridge there and I took lots of pictures for some reason. We headed back to the train station after that and headed home. I was actually awake on the way back so I got to see the surrounding area and it’s very obvious that farming is still a really big thing here. I knew this already but seeing all the fields helped put that into perspective for me. I also got to see the mountains! They are like WV mountains but a little bit bigger. After we got back to Daegu we headed downtown to grab a bite to eat. We at at this place called Italy Italy where you can create your own pasta or pizza for like 8 dollars. It was so amazing. We also had a bottle of red Spanish wine so it was perfect meal in my opinion! After dinner we walked around downtown and they showed me this place where you can get “bag drinks.” Basically this is a drink in an extra large Capri sun pouch and you can pick your liquor and your mixer. It only cost 5 dollars and after you buy 4 you get one free! Another thing about Korea, they are CRAZY about their membership and loyalty cards here, every place is like this, they give you a card, you get stamps, you get free stuff. You all know how this works but, here you get a card like this everywhere you go! It’s pretty cool! Anyways, the bag drink was delicious and by this time there were only 4 people left in our group so we sat in the park and enjoyed our drinks before heading home.

Monday – Back to work. Monday I worked at the Susung branch with Karissa, Jeremy, and Robin. It was my second day by myself and my first class tried to bamboozle me! It was terrible. They were like, “Teacha, teacha, game, game, Justin always lets us play games on Mondays!” Such liars! I made them do work but I was definitely too nice! I also received a gift from Hanvit for Teacher’s day! It was Saturday and I heard that usually when it falls during the week they take all the teachers out for lunch and the kids bring gifts to school. We all received these really nice tumblers, you know a stainless steal cup or whatever to keep your drinks hot or cold. I originally got a black one but I switched with Brendan for a baby pink one which is obviously my favorite color! It was a very nice gesture, they love to give gifts here in Korea.After work I packed things up because I was moving into Justin’s apartment the next morning, Tuesday.

Tuesday – I woke up early so that I could move all my stuff, which isn’t a lot but, it was pouring the rain outside! I moved once suitcase and decided that I wasn’t doing any more moving in the rain! Work was good, my classes were really quiet so it was hard to get much out of them but the day went by pretty quickly. After work I headed over to Manchon, where I was living and went to this wine bar for one of my co-worker’s birthdays. I told you how we all have birthday’s in may so it seems like every couple of days I’m going to someone’s birthday party! I had one glass of champagne and then I headed back to my place to finish my packing so that I could move. It was like 2 in the morning but it wasn’t raining and Brendan offered to help me because he lives in the same area that I was moving too. I finally got everything in the door and then I started to unpack. I only finished unpacking my clothes before I went to bed that night, I was exhausted.

Wednesday – I worked at Beommul branch. Wednesday’s are my favorite because I only have 3 classes and they are the two very last periods of the day so I have all day to plan. Also, these students are my favorite group of students. I only see them once a week but when I do see them I get to teach them listening and writing, which is my favorite to teach. I’m not sure why I like teaching writing so much but I really love it! These kids are really smart and this class is well balanced when it comes to having fun and learning. I really enjoy this group. After work I was supposed to meet up with Karissa, Joel, and Chris to play trivia downtown. I committed to this a week earlier BUT, I had a problem catching a bus downtown. This was an adventure. Here in Daegu, a city of 2.5 million people, no public transportation runs after 11pm. I can’t quite understand this because first of all, most students don’t get out of school until 10, and second because, again, this is a city of 2.5 million people and I think it’s safe to say that everyone stays up pretty late here in Korea, not as late as Spanish standards, but pretty late. So I go to catch a bus, I had to wait 15 minutes so it was already 10:45, the bus finally comes, I get on, pay for the ride with my transport card, I take my seat and start reading my map to figure out where I’m going. Well three stops later and who knows how many blocks I look up because someone is yelling in Korean and I seem to have been the only person on the bus! I thought that maybe this was the last stop and low and behold I guess I was right. However, I didn’t go down or get off without a fight. I went up to the front, the bus driver didn’t know any English, I’d be surprised if he knew what “Hello” meant. I tried my best with sign language to tell him where I needed to go and how to get there and that I was angry because I had paid for a ride! He was practically screaming at me after a few minutes and being extrememly rude, he wasn't even trying to understand me, he eventually pulled up to the next bus stop and a group of younger adults helped to translate. Long story short they said, I had to take a taxi which I was not about to do. So I was like whatever and got off the bus after arguing with this annoying little old guy for 15 minutes. So I proceed off the bus and then once I’m off, I realize that I don’t even know how to get home! I also didn’t know what to say to a cab in order to get home! I wasn’t paying any attention to where we were going because I was busy reading my map so I just headed in the direction that I thought I was supposed to go! I have noticed that anytime you are in doubt to stop and ask a younger child because they know better English than any adult! I walked about 8 blocks and had to ask 2 different teenagers how to get back to a main area. I also had no cell phone to notify my friends that I wasn’t coming anymore. So, after I had eventually made it back to the main intersection where I started I had to use a pay phone to call my friends… only problem was that the phone I was using only took 10, 50, and 100 coins BUT, it just so conveniently happens that it wasn’t taking 100 coins that night and that appeared to be all that I had aside from a couple of 10 cent coins which was barely enough to make a 30 second phone call! OH KOREA! My friends were bummed but happy to hear that I had made it back safely after my bus adventure. I had to cool off for an hour after I got home, I was pretty pissed. This stuff happens, I know this and I have experience this type of cultural interaction many different times in my travels but oh my, this was my first angry Korean experience and it would have at least helped if I knew some basic phrases to work with! What a night!

Thursday – I worked at Susung and after being bamboozled by my students on Monday I really had to lay down the law. I wasn’t too strict but they could definitely tell that I meant business and I had to slam my hand down on this one kid’s desk who never seems to pay attention, ugh, he really annoys me sometimes! After work we all attended a TND which stands for a Thursday Night Dinner. I guess it’s something that all the English teachers do every Thursday so that all the teachers from all the branches can get together. Usually one person does the cooking and the hosting and then it changes the next week but this week Chris hosted and called a “potluck” so everyone brought something. After work I went to the store with Karissa to pick out something to make, we settled on Mondu with vegetables. It ended up being delicious and there was a variety of other things there also. It was a great night and it was fun to hang out with everyone that I don’t get to see from the other branch.

Friday –Buddha’s Birthday! I got up fairly early and headed downtown to meet Chris because he was going to help me get a cell phone! We picked out a store went in and were there for more than an hour trying to fill out all this paperwork, I was surprised that these young adults working there couldn’t speak hardly any English. It was a bit of a fiasco and by the time we left I was exhausted. I also didn’t leave with a cell phone because it was Buddha’s birthday and no cash register transactions could be made because all of the banks were closed! Ugh, it was fustrating so after spending all that time there I didn’t even get my phone! I met up with Karissa who had just had her hair cut, it turned out pretty good and I think when I need to have mine trimmed I might go to the same place. We had lunch at this place called Gorilla Burger, I have heard a lot about it from everyone so she decided to take me there to show me what it was all about. I’ve heard that it is the best burger in Daegu but honestly I wasn’t really all that impressed, it was just a burger. After that it was off to work! Most hagwons are closed for Buddha’s big day but Hanvit stayed open. All of my students showed up and I’ve found out that most of them are Christian. A few students didn’t come to the academy because they were Buddhist but only 3 or 4 I think. Many celebrations were happening around the city in the temples and I asked my students if any of them had plans for the weekend but as usual, they just wanted to sleep! After school I just went home, I was too tired to do anything else.

Saturday – Karissa, Jeremy’s girlfriend (Chanel) and I had planned a girl’s day out downtown however the rain kind of hampered our plans! I slept in until 2 and it was awesome! Not that I can’t do that any other day but it was just nice waking up knowing that I didn’t have to get ready for work! Ah, I live such a hard life! Lol I finished moving into my apartment that morning just cleaning and organizing, pretty much what I do best! Around 6 I headed over to Karissa’s and we headed downtown on the subway. We tried to pick up my cell phone but as it turns out since I got my bank account with my passport instead of my ARC (Alien Registration Card) (which came Wednesday by the way – so I’m officially here legally!) I wasn’t able to get it until I gave my card to my bank! Ugh, again, I was frustrated and decided that if it didn’t work out Monday that I wasn’t even going to mess with it anymore. Next we did some shopping in the underground mall in the subway station. I didn’t buy anything because everything I tried on was too small for my boobs! Ugh, see people here in Korea are all very flat chested, I haven’t seen anyone bigger than a B cup and even that’s pushing it! If I wanted to buy a bra here I’d just be shit out of luck, so I guess I will have to spend the extra money to shop at the Gap and Zara because none of the dresses at the boutique shops are going to fit right. Kinda depressing because they have such cute things! After shopping we had dinner at this Italian restaurant, it was very good and the staff was very nice to us! We then headed over to met up with Joel and Chris who were at this western bar playing darts. We played a couple rounds, I did really good the first time but the second time I did terrible. It was happy hour so we had a drink or two and then headed home. It poured the rain all day and we just didn’t really want to be out in that weather anymore.

Sunday – It also rained all day. It was such a gloomy weekend, I’m not a huge fan of the rain and when Monsoon season gets here I might never leave my house if this is what it’s going to be like! I did leave once to go to the Dong-A which is this huge department store close to my house, it’s like 8 stories and 2 floors are strictly groceries, I wondered around in there for quite a while and bought some interesting items to try. I tried lots of samples again and ended up buying a few of the things that were on special!

Monday – Back to work! I had to go downtown early so I woke up at 8:30 probably the earliest that I have been up in months! I started with the bank, turns out I had to close my account and open a new one, the lady didn’t speak any English but we figured it out together! I’m telling you what, I’m pretty much an expert on communicating when you don’t speak the same language, you just have to think outside the box, speak slowly, and explain yourself in anyway possible! After getting things sorted out at the bank I went to catch the bus to go downtown. So the bus pulls up, the door opens, and low and behold it’s the same old, little, Korean man that I had the argument with the other night about making me get off the bus! Ugh, I couldn’t believe it. He said a few things to me like I could understand what he was saying and then a couple of times on the way there he was yelling stuff at me. I told this guy twice that I couldn’t understand him but he just kept talking like I was magically going to understand at any moment, I hate ignorant people like this and he was turning out to be one of them. As we were getting closer to the stop downtown he was yelling more stuff at me and looking at me to the point where everyone on the bus was staring at me as if they weren’t already amazed by me. I wanted to throw around swear words at this point but he probably wouldn’t have understood anyways so I just got off the bus and I think that I’ll just take a different bus to the subway and take the subway from now on. I really don’t like that guy. Once I got downtown I had to locate the cell phone store and as soon as I showed up they recognized me of course. I was finally able to get my phone and while I was waiting the cell phone guy tried to pick me up! He wanted to take me to lunch and kept asking me all these questions about if I had a boyfriend and what not, it was extremely pathetic, but I read an article on the way Korean’s date the other day and it’s very different from how we do things in the Western world. It was a little awkward because at this point the guy knows my phone number ya know but whatever. After getting my phone, which is also baby pink and super cute, I walked around downtown and went into some stores. I didn’t buy anything though and headed home. I stopped and bought 2 little rugs for my apartment and then went to work. Work was good for the most part, my classes were fairly well behaved and I made it through the day. I got reimbursed for my transportation and Min mi, a Korean lady I work with took the bus home with me to show me what numbers to take and everything. She’s so sweet! I downloaded and watched the Blind Side last night, really good movie, if you haven’t seen it you should rent it! The internet here in Korea is like high speed on crack compared to the internet back home. You can download an entire movie in 20 -30 minutes, a TV show in about 4-5, and one song, in less than 25 seconds. The download speed is great but the streaming quality is a little less notable. Either way, I love the Internet here, it’s great! It’s also only 20 dollars a month! Hahahaha Ahh, I might never come home! Also, cable is only 3 dollars too and it turns out I get like 8 English channels!

Tuesday – Today I slept in and when I woke up I did some cooking, I cooked three meals to take in my lunch this week and then headed to work. Work was good, we will be doing level testing for the first 3 days of next week and then I will be getting 3 of Brendan’s classes after testing so I will have a very busy week next week! After work I grabbed a quick bite to eat with Brendan. We ate at this toasty place where you can get a sandwich on toasted bread with a hamburger, a fried egg and cheese for 2 or 3 dollars! It was delicious and it’s cheap! They also have other combinations but I only get what I can see a picture of! Haha

Other Random things:

This week, Thursday night dinner will be at my place/house warming party. I need ideas for what to make! Suggestions please!

Also two of my fellow co-workers that are from Canada are in their late 20’s and have never owned a cell phone. I find this odd considering their demographics.

After teaching for a couple of weeks I’ve discovered how much I really like my job! Who would have thought that I would be a teacher? Not me! It’s also really cool to be on the other side of things in this world of education! It’s has it’s perks!

I’m slowly learning how this foreign community works, people are always coming and going, signing new contracts and finishing old ones. It’s always changing and everyone knows everyone. It’s also really cool how I already had like a set group of friends once I got here, I seem to get along with all these people really well and I’m so glad that it has worked out the way it has! If anyone is considering teaching in a foreign country, make sure they have other English teachers at your school and make sure the city has a good foreign community, I hear Korea’s is the best.

Again, sorry this post was so long, I definitely went too long between posts this time but these people here have been keeping me so busy! I promise a new one every Sunday at least!!

Annie

My First Week!

I have officially been here for a week as of Tuesday night around 10. This week has flown by and I have been so busy that it's hard to put into details everything that I have already seen and experienced. I'll start out with my flight here and my arrival to South Korea..

Arrival - My flight was scheduled to leave Pittsburgh early at 7:35 a.m. and arrive in San Francisco at 10:10 a.m. and then depart to Seoul at 11:02 a.m. to arrive at 3:20 p.m. Now 1 hour is not ideal for an international layover at all and the fact that it was a little less than an hour was not good however, I did not book the flight and I did not pay for it so beggars can't be choosers! The problem with this is that my flight from Pittsburgh was delayed almost an hour! There was some type of mechanical check that was going on and our flight was delayed by at least 40 minutes. I checked to see what other flights were going to Seoul that day and the next and only flight was through Narita in Japan and to Seoul at 1:00 arriving at 9:30 in Seoul. The flight to San Fran was a solid 5 1/2 hours, they said they would try to make up time in the air but I don't think that  happened. I was deplaning at 10:45-50 when we arrived in San Francisco. I was told that there would be someone out front at the gate to deal with rebooked flights and gate numbers for connecting flights however, the guy that was there was taking his time to talk to some couple and the line was long and I didn't have that kind of time to wait. I tried to find my flight on the monitor board but SURPRISE, it wasn't there! I panicked and tried to find a United crew member to help me but no one was in site. This pissed me off even more, I headed towards the international terminal, more like ran, finally found someone and she told me the gate and then told me to run, as I was running I saw the gate and some woman waving me down asking my name. She also told me to run that they were closing the doors. When I got down to the boarding area I asked about my bags and tried to explain to this woman that I didn't want to get on this flight if my bags weren't going to make it because I didn't know the address to send them to if I got there and they didn't! She could barely speak English which fustrated me even more, I just said whatever and got on the plane. I wanted to explore San Fran's airport, this is the second time this has happened to me at this airport, I'm sure it's nice but I've never been there long enough to find out! Then after I got on the plane I couldn't get my 60lb. carryon in the overhead bin because it was so tall that I could barely reach it! Some guy came up and wanted to know what I was doing, I explained myself and then he just looked at me and "Well, we don't offer baggage assistance." At this point, I could have knocked this guy out. FUCK united, these are my thoughts. I hate them, I flew with them once before and had a bad experience and decided that I would not fly with them again, I had kept my promise thus far but, I didn't get any choice in my airline carrier so I just had to deal with it. Then after getting settled into my seat while we were backing out of the gate I realized that they didn't have the TV screens in the seats in front of you! I almost died at this point, I was planning on that serving as my entertainment. I mean come on United, they need to get with the program DELTA has TV screens on 3-4 hour flights! Their business class is really nice but the difference between business and economy is too drastic. I was pissed. The food the served was ok, just airplane food and I tried to sleep most of the flight but the Korean woman that was sitting next to me decided that she wanted to get up every 15 minutes to do who knows what. Not ideal. Needless to say I was pretty excited to get off this plane. Incheon's airpot is really nice, very modern and high tech. I had to wait a looong time at passport control and then I went to get my bags. Luckily they made it! I was pretty surprised. I'm not sure how that happened! After getting my bags and going through customs, which was a piece of cake, they didn't check anything, I exchanged money and tried to work the payphone to call Justin to let him know that I had made it, I gave up eventually and went to the information desk to find out how to use the phone and the lady just asked for the number, dialed it up for me, and then I was talking to Justin! She was really nice and then she helped me find my bus. The bus ride to Daegu was long but it was probably one of the nicest buses that I have ever been on! It had huge seats that reclined and a big TV, it was perfect for sleeping, I was awake until we were out of Incheon and into the desolate countryside. I woke up just as we were getting to Daegu, the bus pulled up to this parking lot and just dropped me off! Justin was supposed to be there to meet me and after standing there for 20 minutes this taxi driver let me use his cell phone. He called justin for me, told him where I was and before I knew it there he was! I guess he was at the actual station but sometimes the bus drops people off in this parking lot nearby. So we caught a cab and he showed me the apartment where I am going to live for the next two weeks. It's small but it's nice, it has everything I need and it's pretty modern. Next we went to walk around the area and he showed me around and then I met some of my co-workers as they were getting out of work. Later I just went back and went to sleep because I was so tired and Justin said he would be by around 3 to pick me up to go to work the next day.

First day on the job, and my birthday - This was an eventful day, I had to ask my neighbor how to turn on the hot water, he is also another teacher that I work with. I got ready and Justin picked me up and showed me how to take the bus to work, once we got there I met everyone that I would be working with, we tried to get my bank account set up but the bank was closed because it was a holiday here in Korea, Children's Day. On holiday's that I have to work I get paid an extra 50,000 Won or 50 dollars, so it's pretty sweet that I'll get paid an extra 50 bucks to work on my birthday! The first day at work seemed to drag on endlessly, I haven't had a job for so long and I think I just need to get back into the swing of things. I watched a bunch of instructional videos and met my two classes that I will teach on Wednesday and learned about how the school is set up. After work I got to meet all the other English teachers that I will be working with and we went out for my birthday/welcome party. We had galbi or Korean BBQ, which was really good, and I learned how to use chopsticks! I also had my first experience with soju here, not very good, it tastes like watered down vodka. After getting pretty drunk we headed over to a "Nori Bong" which is a place where you can go to karaoke. You get your own little private room with your friends and you can sing your heart out while they bring you pitchers of beer and other drinks and it's pretty affordable! We didn't stay long because we all had to work the next day but, I had a great time and overall it was a fabulous birthday.

Thursday - I met justin a little early to get my bank account set up, I am now officially a member of KB Bank and no this doesn't stand for Korea Bank it stands for something else that I can't remember but, they are everywhere and my cash card is pretty cool and I also got a special book that I have to take in anytime I want to transfer money or anything. It's pretty easy so I've heard. After getting my account set up, the school went ahead and gave me 300,000 Won or 300 for my visa and relocation fees. 1 dollar is equal to about 1,150 Won, however this changes a little bit day to day. After the bank we stopped to pick up some food, today we had bonjuk, which is amazing, it's traditional Korean porridge and it's extremely healthy for you and after Wednesday night, it was just what I needed. It's a little pricey at 8,000 but it's enough for almost two meals! I have a feeling it will be my guilty pleasure since it's not spicy and I really like it! We worked at the other branch today, this one is located in Susung. It's on the 7th floor and it's much more modern and new compared to the other branch, it's also a little bigger with more students so it has more of a school atmosphere. Here there are also 3 other English teachers while at the other branch that I work at there is only 1. Again, I met all my classes that I will teach on Monday/Thursdays and watched Justin teach. After getting home from work I pretty much went to bed, I was exhausted.

Friday - Last day of the work week! We worked at the other branch and it is located in Beommul. This is the one I have to take a bus to because the subway doesn't go in that direction. I met all of my students for Tuesday/Friday classes and watched Justin teach again. Everyone wanted me to go out on friday night and two of the English teachers stopped at my apartment to try to convince me but, I declined, I was tired and just needed some alone time. I have pretty much been surrounded by everyone since I got here, they all want to help me do everything which is really nice but, at the same time I need to learn how to do things on my own because I'm going to have to soon! But, they really are great people. I like all of my co-workers.

Saturday - Free day! I made it my goal this day to go to the store. It's called E-Mart and it's a lot like a Walmart but much bigger and much nicer! I walked there because it's really not that far and decided that I would take a cab back. I probably spent 3 hours in there easy! I just wondered around looking at everything. On the grocery store level they have a sample stand at the end of every row and come to find out, it's not just on Saturday's it's everyday they have that! So, if I'm ever starving I can just go to Emart for a variety of bite sized snacks! I've learned not to eat anything that is red because that is the spicy stuff, anything without red is ok. lol I tried as many things as I could, all of the teas they had that day were awesome! After getting some basic nessacities like dish soap, laundry soap, some hand towels, groceries, and a mirror I ventured over to the hair dryers and straighteners and picked up a MATCHING Hello Kitty blow dryer and straightener! Ahh, they are soo cute! They are pearly pink with white trim and they really work well. I love them! Together they were about 40-50 dollars but it was well worth it because I can use them here for a year and I can also take them to Europe now when I go because they have the same outlets and voltage here so it was a wise investment plus, they are so freaking cute. I'm not a "to die for" hello kitty fan but I couldn't resist. Everything they have here in Korea is very "cute." I love it! My friend Stephanie would love it here too for this reason. After buying all this crap, the exact total ended up being the exact amount of cash I had on me so I gave them all my cash and when I got outside I realized that I didn't have any money for a taxi home!! I was so mad at myself, so I had to walk home carrying all this stuff. It took me probably 15 mins. to get there but probably an 1 hour to get back because I had to keep stopping and taking breaks because my arms were going to fall off! Later I found out that I can also use my debit card in taxi's and I can use my transport card in some taxi's! I learned my lesson. After I got home i put away all of my stuff and cleaned my apartment and finished posting pictures and blog posts from my trip in Europe so that i could get started on this new chapter. lol Please don't even ask why I am just getting some of that stuff up! Everyone wanted me to go out again but I just wasn't feeling it.

Sunday - Justin emailed me early and wanted to know if I wanted him to show me around downtown. I agreed and we took the subway downtown and explored all day. We met up with Karissa, another teacher, and had brunch at this western style restaurant. It was really good and then afterwards they showed me the bookstore that I can buy English books at and all the good places to shop. ATTENTION EVERYONE - they have a Gap here and a ZARA so I'm going to be okay! haha Downtown is great, they have so many different western restaurants and bars. I've been told that this is where everyone hangs out so I don't think I'll have trouble meeting people if I want too. Plus, it's only a 10 minute subway ride to the center from where I am located. The shopping is equally great and Karissa tells me that I will be able to find shoes my size because she wears 7-8's too. We also ventured over to the black market area which was interesting and after that we headed to the Novatel, a hotel, and had happy hour drinks on their 8th story patio, it was a nice day out and you could see almost all of Daegu from up there. It's very interesting because it's this big city with skyscrapers surrounded by HUGE mountains on every side. It's a beautiful view. We spent some time there and then I left with Karissa to go back home.

Monday - This was my first day of teaching! I taught one of Justin's classes and he taught the other two. I also got to watch the teaching styles of the other English teachers which was helpful. I was so nervous to teach my first class but it went really well and the students were great. It's hard to learn all of their names!! I taught a listening class because those are easiest, the computer does the majority of the work for you. We have a pretty good software system at our school however, I've been told that it gets updated often and can become a nuisance. Justin gave me some great feedback and work was pretty enjoyable. I had an omelette filled with rice and vegetables for lunch, it was ok. I also tried this pastry with what looked liked chocolate in the middle but turned out to be MUSHY bean paste or something, Ewwww! I don't like anything mushy so now I know, like Caroline said... stay away from anything mushy! lol It was actually pretty chilly when we came out of work on Monday night, the weather has been really nice, it the mid to upper 70's during the day but recently it has been getting gown into the mid to low 50's at night. I'm not a fan of that because when I leave for work at 3:00 I don't think to take a jacket but, when i get out at 10:30 it's cold!

Tuesday - I met up with Justin at his apartment on Tuesday so that he could show me his place and so that he could show me around the neighborhood. The difference between the two areas is that the place where Justin lives feels more like a neighborhood with more living areas and high rise apartment buildings then where I currently live, right now I'm surrounded by more businesses. It's more of a community feel where Justin lives. We ate at this great little Italian place. I'm not gonna lie, it's a little weird to see Korean people cooking your Italian food in an Italian theme restaurant but, it was great! I had some pasta with a cream sauce and shrimp and it only cost 5,000! After that we headed to work, I taught one of Justin's classes and observed some other ones. It was a pretty so-so day.

Wednesday - Yesterday I met Justin at the hospital to get the results of my medical check, after that we headed to immigration to get my Alien Registration Card. Supposedly it will come in the mail in a week or two, then I can get a cell phone. At school, I taught a full day of classes! I was all on my own. It went great though. The students that I teach on Wednesday are higher level and it was a fun class. I discovered that I really love teaching writing! I had my first rewarding experience yesterday while teaching them how to write a conclusion. It was a good day and after work I went out with everyone for Karissa's birthday. We ate at the same place that we ate at the other day downtown, it's called Helvetica and it's western style food. It was really good and afterwards we went to a popular bar and I had one drink. I met some other foreign people that are here teaching and then I left with two of the other girls that live next to me.

Today - I will be teaching all of the classes by myself again, today is also Justin's last official day so I will be completely on my own on Friday! Ahh, I'm so nervous but at the same time, I'm kind of excited!
Friday - Will be a party for Justin's going away and for my welcoming and then Saturday the majority of us are going down to Busan for the day/night/Sunday morning because almost all of the English teachers here have a birthday in May, how weird is that!? Mine was the 5th, another on the 12th, one on the 14th, and 3 more towards the end of the month, so we are just going to go hang out on the beach this weekend to celebrate everyone's bday! It should be fun and plus I'm excited to already be traveling somewhere! AH!! I love it!

Below is an outline of how my school works or what my schedule is like and all the great benefits to this job! I'll keep you updated!



 It's sorta confusing but I will teach the same classes on Monday and Thursday and then I will teach another set of students on both Tuesday and Friday and then the kids that I teach on Wednesday only come to the academy once a week. I teach mainly middle school students and most of them are very smart. I have some classes that are lower level and then others that are higher level. I work with a Korean co-teacher who teaches them Grammar and Reading and then I teach them listening skills, speaking skills, and sometimes writing. Our main goal at this academy is to prepare them for the TOEFL entrance exam which any student that is not from a country that speaks English must take in order to attend an International University. Since education is the highest priority here, getting into University is a big deal and they spend pretty much all their time preparing for it so, this test is really important. All of the books are provided for me with the lessons and I am also allowed to put my own spin on things as long as I am improving their English skills.  I also get my own classroom, computer, and work area in the staff room which is pretty cool. This job comes with many benefits, free housing, free airfare, and a reasonable salary at 2.1 million Won a month which is equivalent to about 2000  a month U.S. Dollars. I do have to pay for things like water, electric, gas, internet, and cell phone but after talking to my coworkers these are pretty reasonable and will vary from season to season for example, my gas bill will be more in the winter and my electric will be more in the summer because of air conditioning. The nice thing about all these bills is that, when they come in my mail all I have to do is just take them into work and drop them off at the front desk! I don't have to worry about paying them myself, they pay them for me and then deduct what I owe out of my paycheck! Also, when I'm at work and get hungry I can just ask the front desk to order me food, I tell them what I want and then 20 minutes later it's delivered, I also don't have to pay for it right then, they keep a running tally of what I owe and after we get paid, we have 3 days to pay our bill. So, if I'm really broke at the end of the month and have no food, I can just eat at work and then pay them after I get paid! I really like this set up. I also get health insurance through my job they pay 50% and I pay 50% which is about 50 dollars a month. However, one of my coworkers went to the dermatologist the other day for a bug bite and she forgot to bring her health card and the whole visit only cost 33 dollars and her prescription cost 2 dollars! The other day I had to have a physical when I got here and it only cost 50 dollars without health insurance and I will get reimbursed from my school. So, the health care here is pretty cheap even if you forget your health card. Korea is a big country for medical tourism, all of their facilities here are just amazing, full of high tech machines and very friendly staff, going to the doctor really isn't all that bad, much nicer than in America. Many people also come here for plastic surgery, it's cheaper and some say it's better! Aside from all these benefits I also get a pension, something like a 401K, they take a certain amount out of my paycheck every month and they then match what the take out. For example, if I pay in 90 Won a month they also pay 90 Won a month and then at the end of my contract I get all of that money along with an additional month's pay. It's a pretty sweet deal. According to all my coworkers, and from what I have experienced so far, the cost of living here is considerably cheaper than America, even in a big city like daegu. You can live a very comfortable life while still being able to afford to pay all those student loans back home. There aren't many negative factors that come with this job, I only have to work 7 hours a day and I'm not really doing anything physically exhausting, just mentally, and during those 7 hours I get the first hour for planning and another 40 minute break for lunch. So typically I can have up to 7 classes a day I currently only have about 2-3 each day at each school and I still get paid the same! Pretty soon once I get in the swing of things though I will have more classes each day but still, I will only really be working about 5 1/2 hours everyday! In case you haven't caught on yet, this is a pretty sweet deal!
Two other things about my job, they send us gift baskets twice a year with all the hygiene products you could ever need, tons of toothpaste, soap, shampoo, etc. and also anytime teacher comes or goes from our branch the whole branch goes out to a dinner. For example, this friday they are having a dinner for Justin and I. So the whole company is going to go out to dinner and get really drunk and then go sing karaoke. I am pretty much taking over Justin's life, I'm taking his job and I'm moving into his current apartment when he moves out this coming Tuesday.

South Korea - My next adventure!

I've been here for almost a week so I will post about that tomorrow however, here is a quick intro to exactly how I ended up here! 

So after being home and looking for work for about 2 1/2 months with no luck, that got old really fast and one day while job searching on the Johnson & Wales website I came across this company's ad for teaching English in South Korea. I applied, they called me within the next 2 weeks, and 2 months later, I'm living in South Korea!

Now, while I was abroad this last time, I ran into many people teaching english and I thought, hmm, that would be cool. The idea had crossed my mind a time or two and I thought, ''Add that to the list of things I want to do before I'm 30 or settle down." The economy is in a shit-hole right now, it's hard to find a job, and especially in my industry(the one I don't want to be in anymore!), the pay is just terrible for the amount of work you do either way you look at it when it comes to customer service/hospitality (at least starting out) so, i decided what the hell? I'll do it, and here I am! I would definitely put this up there with one of the craziest things that I have ever done but the more that I look at it, it's really not that crazy for someone like me! I mean, don't get me wrong, I was enjoying my 4 month sabbatical at my mom's tucked in the hills of west virginia. It was practically a vacation from my recent vacation! I read books, I slept in till 1 sometimes 2 o'clock everyday, I ate good, it was practically heaven. It gave me ample time to reflect on what my next move should be because I could do just about anything right now! I have no commitments, except for a car payment (which hopefully I won't have much longer!), and no serious real life responsibilities YET! However, the clock is ticking and my student loan payments are right around the corner PLUS, I haven't had a job since last August, TRUE STORY, and it's been great don't get me wrong but, I hate waking up everyday and thinking about the vast amount of debt that I owe to the government and Sallie Fucking Mae (I really hate them.) Wells Fargo and Chase are still cool with me but like Bank of America, I'm sure they'll screw that up soon enough. 

So anyways, one thing lead to another, one interview, then two, then lots of paperwork, I got a job offer, turned that one down, got another job offer, took that one, made a trip to DC to get my visa (where I got to see one of my good friends Mike Luu!), they booked me a flight, I packed my bags, said my goodbyes, and jumped on a plane to South Korea! Now, I've received a lot of skepticism and negative remarks from many different people that I thought really supported me. I've done my research and South Korea is actually a pretty good place to be. I will be teaching at a school called Hanvit Language Academy here in Daegu, South Korea. Daegu has about 2.5 million people (about the size of Barcelona) and the climate here is similar to that of West Virginia except that it has very hot, humid summers and less snowfall in the winter. It sits in a valley surrounded by mountains on all sides yet, it's about 1 hour on the train to the beach near Pusan or Busan!

So, this will be my adventure for the next year, I hope to travel to some other places in Asia and South Korea however, my first priority is to pay down the majority of my student loan debt. That is the goal! Therefore, I would like to invite everyone to read my blog while I am away. I started this almost 2 years ago while in Greece and I've found that it's a great way to keep in touch with me and read all about my daily life, as we all know, it can be pretty exciting at times! haha Feel free to send the link to anyone you may know who might be interested in a good laugh every once in a while! I love getting comments from my readers so please leave me as many as you would like, they can be pretty encouraging on days when I'm having "writer's block." 

Here is a copy of the link in case you would like to send it to anyone else.....honestly, send it to anyone!

http://www.anniesworldtravels.blogspot.com/

Thanks everyone, Happy Reading, and I look forward to your comments!! 

Annie