Events of the Week

What a busy week! I was planning on checking out Costco Monday after work but it was a coworkers birthday so we went out for dinner. Same people didn't come out, but I wanted to be social and figured Costco could wait a day. So we headed out for spicy chicken at a restaurant nearby. The lady there was so sweet - normally the food gets cooked right in front of you and it can get quite hot being at any restaurant but since it was not too busy yet in the restaurant she cooked at an empty table and then brought it over to us. How thoughtful!

Tuesday was Costco day. I left right after work and was on the bus by 7:10 and didn't get back until 11:30! But it was worth it.

I was a little bit disappointed when I first walked in because I didn't realize it was two floors and couldn't find any of the food at first!! I did end up finding the bottom floor though and got chicken, lunch meat, cheese, peanut butter, whole wheat bread, pasta, pasta sauce, vegetables etc. It wasn't so fun carrying everything back but worth it. I stayed and had a Costco hot dog as well. I was so happy that my Costco card worked over here!

Thursday was Liberation Day here in Korea so we got the day off from work. I had signed up and planned the previous week to go to Daebudo Island. It was a really fun day, I would have loved to have gone swimming but there wasn't any good spots and the tide was out. It was beautiful though. Again, I took a lot of pictures so check out Facebook for all of them!

 

 

 

We stopped at three different places on the island and this one spot below reminded me a bit of the seawall in Vancouver.

 



The tour bus dropped us off at a subway station so we could all go our separate ways home and we got to witness a public proposal! It was so sweet. There was a crowd so we stopped to see what was happening. There was a small screen set up, with light ropes and balloons surrounding a girl. Then a guy was speaking on through a microphone (in Korean) and I was told at one point he asked "Will you marry me?" Afterwards he sang her a song then finally got down on one knee. PDA is not big in Korea, so they only hugged afterwards. Even when their friends chanted "kiss the girl" they only mustered a small peck on the lips. So cute.

A small group of us decided to get together Friday night, so that's what I did last night. We met at one of their apartments and ate pasta and had wine. I was convinced to try mussels, and did but don't like them. Weird texture for sure.

Tonight we are going out for Nate's birthday (co-worker), it will be interesting to see what a night out here is like, although I could stay in and watch movies all night.

I also managed to snap a few pictures of my classroom and one group of my students. This is my grade 1 class - Asteria, Aiden, Grace and Patrick. They are such quiet students, it can be a bit draining but I try to make it fun for them and get them speaking. I forgot to take pictures of my other students even though I had my camera with me - maybe next week!

 

I'm a few days shy of being here for 4 weeks already. The time has gone fast and I'm enjoying work but do miss home and everyone there quite a bit - love you all!

<3

Three Weeks

I am one day shy of being here three weeks already - the time does go by fast, but I still miss so many people dearly and am still adjusting. But I can say that I have finally started to make myself dinner - pathetic dinners, but dinners none the less! I am still experimenting with the ingredients I can find all while discovering new ones.

This past weekend was full of potential but sometimes the full potential of things are not reached! I am happy with the way it turned out. Friday night I went out for dinner with some coworkers and tried lamb for the very first time - I figure now is the time to be adventurous! Upon reaching the restaurant I did not feel good about eating there at all as these were the images all over the building:

Just looking at this picture again makes my heart break a little bit! But I did enjoy it for the most part. We were given skewers and each one had a prominent fat chunk on it that I could have done without. To me, it tasted similar to beef. I don't think its something I would go out of my way to eat again but I would eat it again if it were served (maybe, if my heart can take it).

I like that you generally always cook your own food at your table in Korean restaurants. We were also given an array of side dishes (kimchi, peanuts, onions, sauces) along with a cucumber & mushroom salad with vinegar dressing - I tried the mushrooms and still don't like them, although these ones had long stems with small mushroom heads (honestly, I only tried them because I thought they were noodles at first!)

I had many ideas for Saturday but nothing solid, as I wanted to wait until I woke up Saturday morning to decide what I wanted to do. I really like to just play off my current mood. But Friday night it was possible that I was going fabric and clothes shopping with Chris, or to Muui Island for the night with Jin (the organizer of the last hike I did and others through MeetUp) or to Insadong with Jess. Saturday morning quickly came and I woke up to this -

It lasted all morning through early afternoon - you can't see the rain very well in the video (aside from it flooding down the street) but it was crazy and the thunder was so close! Regardless, this made me want to have an inside day and I figured I would spend the day relaxing, watching movies. But as all things do, the weather changed and it became nice and sunny so I took a long 5 hour walk getting to know my neighbourhood a little bit better. In the picture below, you can see my normal path across the river. It's covered because it rained so much earlier that day!!

 

That night I spent eating my dinner, drinking wine and watching a movie. They seem to have a lot of Chardonnay but no Pinot Gris (or at least that I saw), so I opted for a White Zinfandel. Also a lot of bottles of white wine that just said "California" or "Sweet Wine", so I wasn't sure what to make of that. Either way, I enjoyed myself and my wine.

Sunday I had big hopes of finding Costco! The night before a girl on Facebook posted some things she was selling and I noticed she had a lot of Kirkland stuff so I messaged her about where the Costco was and it's not too far! I am and was beyond excited. I ended up buying this off of her so that I can cart my groceries from Costco (it's a little trek) although I do feel a bit dorky for having it.

I wanted to go today, but Korea has this thing called DIDA (The Distribution Industry Development Act) where all big box type stores must close a certain amount of days/times a month in order to give a fair chance to Mom and Pop stores. It's a good concept but a bit annoying when you try to go buy groceries. There has been a lot of resistance against this act but some have complied to differing degrees. It seems the big box stores in my area close every second Sunday. I realized today was a DIDA day (as I call them) and that Costco would be closed - so sad! But that will be my adventure after work tomorrow and I'm so so excited! When I first search for Costco when I got here I only found locations quite a bit south from me, so I gave up only to be pleasantly surprised. I hope that it's all that it should be :P

I also had plans today to check out a Korean academy today which I did do. I was supposed to be there before 3pm to talk with them, then do a trial lesson but it took me longer than expected to get there and then I couldn't find it. I knew it was close to the exit of the subway station and went into the building that I thought it was but all of the doors on the 6th floor looked like apartment building doors so I figured I as in the wrong spot. I went across the street to another building and walked around a bit. After feeling a bit lost, I asked the guy in the Mini Stop convenience store for help. He assured me (in the English he had) I was in the right building and that I needed to go to the 6th floor. So I did. Again, apartment looking doors, but they each had signs on them so I figured "Hey maybe these are companies". So I knocked on door 619 and sure enough it was an old Asian man's home. I felt pretty bad but I can only try!! After going back downstairs, I called the school and the director helped me find the school - it was in the first building I went into - apparently I should have had the courage to knock on that door instead of the other one! Even though I was super late, they still let me sit in on the class for a trial lesson. It seems alright and I think I'm going to give it a go for the next month. It will be Sundays from 3-550. Even if I go to a different school later on, I'm happy to be on my way to learning Korean as it is one of the goals I have while being here.

Lastly, in other exciting news, I bought a guitar! I figured I needed something to fill my time with and it's something I enjoy so I'm doing it. I found someone in my area that was selling his so I went and bought it off of him tonight and am in love with it. It's a gorgeous guitar and feels great. I can't wait to start playing more and learning again. It also came with some guitar accessories and homemade picks made from visa cards!

I love learning - anything. Now the only other thing I need to find is a dance school - something else that I love and haven't done in years, but that might not happen for a bit as I should probably take on one thing at a time!

Thinking of all of you in Osoyoos this weekend - miss and love you all.

<3

GWTF

One more day and I've made it through my first week of teaching in Korea! Honestly, it's everything that I expected it to be (in regards to the teaching aspect of being here). But what I am finding surprising is how much I miss teaching adults! The kids are cute and all but it is a different dynamic. That's not to say I'm not enjoying it, but I do find myself thinking and missing iTTTi - but that could change too. I will hopefully have pictures of my students soon - the classes are so full of work that there is little thought and time for much else. Plus we aren't allowed to bring our phones into the classroom and I have yet to figure out the digital camera - all in good time.

Today was a bit of a milestone for me - I cooked my own dinner! It wasn't much but better than skipping dinner which I do more often than not. Also, today for lunch I tried Kimbap, which is Korea's version of sushi. Except I had Kimbap with veggies, egg and ham in the centre. Best of of all, it was only $1.50!

The students are also very obsessed with coffee. I'm sure this is in part for two reasons: one, they are too young to be allowed to have it, and two, drinking coffee shows high status here. Yesterday, a lot of my students kept saying to me "Teacher coffee" - I guess they could tell I was super tired! Today one of my afternoon kindergarten students brought me a latte from Starbucks :)

More and more I have been enjoying my nightly walks along the river. As sketchy as it may sound to walk along a river in the dark of night alone, it's not. I could not feel safer and it seems the later I walk there more people are out! As well, I always walk through the forested park across from my apartment to get there - which also sounds sketchy but there are always so many people around of all ages. It's really quite nice, and I always feel so at peace there. I always so badly want to just sit on one of the rocks and stay there for hours just listening to the water. I have always loved being near water, it's so good for my soul :)

I know in a year from now I will have changed and grown (probably quite a bit) into a more wonderful person (not to toot my own horn, but I know I am a good person and I think that's okay to know and say). I say that only because even in the last few weeks I have noticed changes already. Going into this trip I tried to have the mindset of "go with the flow" and that's always been a bit of a struggle for me as I am always in need of a solid plan and follow all of the rules (yes, I do hate to even jaywalk). But over the last two and a half weeks I've been here I have already noticed myself "going with the flow" without second thought. Who knows, maybe it's because you just have to when you are in a new culture and country. Either way, I have absolutely no plan for a year from now (which does still totally freak me out) but everyday I feel more okay, little by little, with just seeing where life takes me (although there are some really hard days too). And I am happy to be continually changing and developing into a better me. I think we can all become better people than we are and I always want to strive to be better than I am today.

<3

Ashley Teacher

My first day of officially being Ashley Teacher is over. I didn't have any problems and everyone still continues to comment on how calm I am. I really think that has to do with my experience though as I do remember when doing my practicum two years ago my sponsor teacher did say that it was a bit obvious that I was nervous. Apparently I have overcome that. Really it's just a new set of students and a new set of textbooks - what is there to be nervous about? I even had my Korean supervisor observe me all day and that did not bother me a bit.

Here is my version of my schedule. I drew one up for myself as the one I was given was so chaotic and disorganized, it really was not helpful at all. I hope you can see it okay and make some sort of sense of it.

 

 

Basically Monday to Friday from 10am-2:30 I teach my kindergarten class (MK). They are a cute bunch, 8 in total and all have big personalities for the most part. A few are also quite sensitive which will be interesting - one of them started to cry today because the front cover of her book folded and bent, and this only happened because she threw it on the floor. The clock on the wall, made of glass, fell off the wall today and shattered - that was eventful. And we played duck, duck, goose for our 15 minute gym time. The kindergarten classes need the most focus and work (as they mostly work and don't do much play), and from what it seems they are the big focus of the school. I'm hoping to master the flow and schedule of this class in the next week - there is so much to remember and do!

 

For the rest of Monday, I have ILP from 240-4pm which is basically a drama class for some of the kindergarteners. There are only 4 students in this class. They just finished doing "The Wizard of Oz" and we are now starting "Ali Baba Jr. and the Four Thieves". They have four weeks to read, learn & memorize they play all while doing short activities about the play. Then on the final day they preform (in front of no one, so sad) the play. I have this class on Mondays and Wednesdays but it's a different set of students and a different play on Wednesdays - I will be doing Hansel & Gretel.

 

Next on Monday is PK 206 from 405-525, which from what I understand is a grade 2 class, and I believe PK stands for post kindergarten. (Kindergarten here is 3 years!!). This was the only class I had today that I really had no clue what I was doing in! For the first half, one of the students basically led the class while I learned and the second half I felt like I had a better understand of it all and felt more on top of things and in control. They basically just do grammar, reading and spelling/definition tests in this class from what I've seen so far. I have this class on Wednesday and Friday as well.

 

After this class on Monday and Wednesdays I have prep time for an hour until 630. I find it interesting that the prep time is unpaid yet we still have to stay at the school. I would probably stay anyways but still. Today my prep time was basically spent organizing my desk and all of the papers and textbooks I've accumulated. As well, I sat down with Lucy, my Korean supervisor and she gave feedback on my teaching. Nothing too significant there, but she did say that she thinks I'm going to be a very good teacher at LCI (my school).



Tomorrow I take on a new set of afternoon classes that I will have every Tuesday and Thursday - my longer days. I will have RC 101 from 240-4pm which seems to be just basic grammar and reading. Then AK (afternoon kindergarten) from 405-525, but this kindergarten class is the lowest level (my morning kindergarten is the highest level). So I'll be teaching basic instructions and writing and learning letters/numbers etc. Then I will have about a half hour prep time, followed by EIC/NIE from 555-645pm. This is the News in Education class where we do a few pages out of a history textbook and then read and discuss newspaper articles. These students will be my oldest (13-15 years old I believe). I will learn more about these classes tomorrow - it will be a learning day as I don't really know what's going on.

So, I'm at the school from 9:50 - 6:30/45 each day, and that's if I leave right away. It makes for a long day, but we do get an hour lunch and honestly I didn't feel exhausted when I left today - but that could change! One of the other teachers also mentioned to me that my schedule might be added to at the end of next month when two of the current teachers return home. Right now I am completely happy with the amount I have, but maybe by then I will be happy to take on more.

Yesterday I used my washing machine for the first time and all seemed to go well. Here is a picture of the buttons I get to decode.

 

 

I am a little bit worried about hang drying my clothes as the air is so moist and muggy I'm afraid they won't actually dry fast enough before smelling bad cause they've stayed wet. Another teacher said she uses a fan to help dry them faster.

 

The last two nights I have also been going on walks along the river by my apartment - I love hearing and seeing the water. Here is a picture of some paintings underneath one of the bridges.

 

 

 

And lastly, I leave you with a picture from the packaging of a pot holder. I find it so amusing all of the sayings that you find on random items here. But so much truth.

 





<3

Mt. Gwanak

About a week ago, I signed up to do a hike through the website 'Meetup'. After waking up this morning and not feeling well, I wasn't going to go but with just enough time to get ready and pack a bag I changed my mind and headed out for another adventure and I'm glad I did!

To give you some background - I had been messaging the organizer throughout the week to get more information about the hike. There wasn't too much information on the page and what was there seemed a bit odd. For instance "bring thick socks, or two pairs of socks, gloves and a scarf" - I can't think of a single hike I've been on where I've needed a scarf, maybe that's just me though. I asked if this was a beginner hike as I didn't want to get in over my head and she told me that it was. All I can say now, is to never trust when someone says its a 'beginner hike' or 'its a walk' when you're in Korea. Their take on 'beginner' and 'walk' is so far from it's reality - perhaps that's because Koreans love to hike and their perspective is skewed by that?

I set off on the subway and headed to Sadang, our meeting spot. I didn't see anyone at the 'spot' when I arrived but slowly began noticing other people wearing clothing that you'd wear on a hike, so I approached some of them and asked if they were there for the hike and shortly after we had formed a small group of people. I will also add that as we waited it down poured and I was really hoping that that would stop so we wouldn't get drenched - at least not right away. (There was also a thunder storm last night!!)

Jin, the organizer, a Korean local, guided us towards Mt. Gwanak and just before reaching the start of the hike we stopped at a store as some wanted to pick up fruit. In the end we all pitched in for fruit as it is expensive here and you can't really just buy one piece at a time. Even pitching in it was expensive but worth it - $2 for one apple and one orange.

The hike was intense - but looking back at the few pictures I took, it looks super easy, but please keep in mind that I only took pictures during the easy parts as all other times my whole body was occupied trying to get up this mountain! Think of the Grouse Grind, Lynn Valley, and all 3 peaks of the Chief combined but ten times worse/more difficult with more peaks! But just as beautiful.

Here is a picture of the very, very beginning. There was eight of us total, again both genders, but probably all in our 20's and had people from the US, Nepal, India, and Korea.

 

Below is one of the first views as well as Jin and I taking a break. I could not be more happier to have Jin on this hike as we both needed breaks more often than the rest of the group - I'm glad I wasn't the only one!!

 

 

 

 Below is when we got to the first peak - great views! Most of us thought that this was the end of the hike and that we'd head down after resting and eating. The most wrong assumption ever. While we were eating here, we also got down poured on. It was brief but welcomed since we were so hot and sweaty by this point, the rain cooled us off temporarily but quickly.

 

 

 

 

Off we went to the next peak while Jin pointed out the funny rocks along the way. On the left, they actually call this the poop rock, and on the right ... well, you can use your imagination!

 

 

 

Kinda of made me feel like I was in Vancouver :)

 

And at the next peak - more gorgeous views.

 

 

For a lot of the hike, we had to use rope to help get us up and through the pathways.

 

This was the next big feat to face - literally scaling the side of the mountain finding footholds and holding for dear life onto rope.

 

This was the very top of the mountain. I was not able to take pictures at every peak, as my phone eventually died but I think there were 5 in total.

This was the beginning of the way down, I liked that they placed lanterns along the way.

A temple on the mountain - there were a few of these! We stopped at one and again it started to down pour!

 

 

On the way down we followed a stream/waterfall type thing. We found a spot that water had pooled and took a break, all shoes were taken off then we jumped into the water - so refreshing and cold! I have pictures of this but on the camera which I am still working on figuring out how to take the pictures off of. When it was all said and done, the hike took a total of 7 hours and was no where near a 'beginner' hike!

 

We all opted to go for Korean BBQ to end the day which had turned to night and it was delicious - much better than the BBQ place I was taken to my first night here and the meat was generally lean!! :) Here is a group shot at the restaurant:

 



 

Two things I keep forgetting to mention - when the train is approaching at the subway station they play a funny trumpet soundtrack over the speakers which I find funny every time. Also there are cicadas everywhere in Korea. If you don't know what they sound like, please YouTube it - they are sooo loud! I'm getting used to it now, but man oh man was it annoying at first! Also days like this make me miss protein powder. So much.

 

<3