Lions and Tigers and Bears - Oh my!

Other things that you come to accept in Korea - the constant yelling in the grocery stores of what I assume is the workers trying to sell the different products (more common in the meat sections) and people trying to sell you things on the subway (they come on with carts and will play music, or talk about their product then demonstrate, followed by a walk up and down the subway car trying to get people to buy what they are selling).

Friday we ventured out into "downtown Suji" which is really just a few blocks of restaurants and bars. Underground (a place we went to last weekend) was having an official party and Chris wanted to check that out. I went out for galbi after work with Nate and Chuck first then the four of us met up later that night. I am slowly getting accustomed to drinking beer since it's cheap and most accessible. Our first stop was sitting outside of the 7Eleven having beer (I think I mentioned it before that they have chairs and tables for you to hang out at) where we met some new people. There was also a really awkward Asian man that kept walking by who clearly wanted to come up and talk to us but couldn't muster up the courage. We then went to Batman bar and played darts, then to Underground. I bought a new dress for the night since the theme at Underground was "sexy black." I find it interesting that in Korea its common/custom to be modest and covered up on top, but you could wear the shortest dress/skirt/shorts etc on the bottom. Which is totally opposite to what I'm comfortable with! I had the joy of trying to communicate with the lady at the store to determine if the dress I picked out was too short (cause I sure felt it was!) but she assured me that it wasn't and that I looked good. That night I got "you are what I think Taylor Swift would look like."

 

 

I had been entertaining the idea of going on a hike Saturday all week long, but come Saturday morning all I wanted to do was go to the zoo! And that is exactly what I did. Jessica and I ended up getting there around 3pm (and it was open until 7pm which I thought would have been enough time - apparently not!). Seoul Zoo is HUGE! They have so many animals and so many different types of each animal which was really cool. On the other hand it was a little bit sad because many of the enclosures were far too small for the animals they encaged. And honestly, it's sad to see animals caged up. There are four main paths and according to the map each one takes about 2 hours to walk. Needless to say we really only did two of the four main paths but managed to see all of the major animals. No only do they have these four paths, they also have a botanical garden, a forest bathing area path, sky lift and  dolphin shows. We missed all of these because we ran out of time. So it's definitely something I would like to go back to. I also like how they have a marine pavilion, as this is not something they have at our Vancouver Zoo. I was so excited to go there and see all of the animals and most excited to see the elephants. It was just a really fun day.

 

I have also realized more and more since being here how determined I am. When I want something, I generally don't stop until I get it. For example, we did not see the elephants or giraffes, despite going by their habitats at the zoo and I was quite disappointed. We figured they had been "put away" since it was almost closing time but I really wanted to see them. I couldn't accept the fact that I'd have to wait until next time. So much so that I went to customer service to ask where they were and why I couldn't see them (politely of course and in the best way I could with the language difference). I ended up talking to a translator over the phone who in turn talked to the customer service rep and myself back and forth and in the end I found and saw the giraffes and elephants - it pays off to be determined.

 

It was also a really pretty zoo, the paths were lined with trees and they have tons of wood carvings and beautiful resting areas. I was also really happy to enjoy some snacks that you'd find at the PNE since I was sad to miss the PNE this year. Here are some pictures of the day:

 

 

 

I love the carving below. So life like, I feel like he's looking into my soul.

This was an interesting yet good snack. It looks like a corn dog but wasn't. I'm pretty sure it was a hot dog wrapped in a pancake then coated in batter then deep fried to get crispy. An Asian man imitated me and laughed as I took the first picture.

 

I found it hilarious (but makes sense) that they have Canadian geese in their zoo (as well as skunks).

 

Beautiful paths and resting areas!

 

 

Soo excited about the elephants!

 

 

Sunday I met up with Emmalee to go shopping in Myeongdong to get some outfits and plan for our weekend at Korea Burn. It was a cool shopping area with a lot of stores and restaurants. We wanted to eat at Hans Deli but they told us they were closed even though their sign said they opened at 11 and it was 11:30 ... We ended up at an Italian restaurant (very fancy looking) for pizza and it was delicious. We got some great pieces for our outfits as well, so overall it was a success and fun day of shopping.

 

Funny walking Tonkatsu (pork cutlet)

 

Today, Monday, was my kindergartener's birthday party at the school. Each class will hold a birthday party once a month (if there is a birthday in the month) to celebrate all of the birthdays in that month. Michael is the only one with a birthday in September so today we celebrated. I wasn't really sure what to expect or what was expected of me, but it went smoothly. The party is supposed to last a half hour which I did pretty good at keeping. Basically the Mother(s) will bring in a cake and fruit for the class to have and a member of the Korean staff will come into the class and set things up, take pictures, do candles and sing happy birthday. Afterwards you are on your own to cut and hand out the cake and clean up. The other students will bring presents but these are not opened in class, rather taken home at the end of the day. It's too bad that the party was scheduled for 10:30am considering the kids are super hyper from the cake the rest of the day. It was fun and Michael was so excited :)

 

 

And a video of him blowing out the candles, because it was super funny:

 

 

 

We are going on a field trip this Thursday to a power plant to learn about different sources of energy. It will be my first field trip, so I'm looking forward to that but also hoping that the kids aren't too crazy!!

 

 

4 more days until Korea Burn!

 

8 more days until Tokyo!

 

 

<3

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



Fun

I am having fun. So much fun. There are a lot of things I have come to appreciate about Korea, mostly just random little things. For example how they have bathrooms in every subway station - how nice is that? How many times have you need a bathroom at a skytrain station?!

I stayed late at work a few days last week but Melanie, our director bought us food one night which was awesome. We had mandu which is a Korean dumpling. So yummy.

Friday was Grace and Rachel's goodbye dinner. We all went and had galbi (Korean bbq) which was delicious. Then afterwards, most of us decided to head out for some drinks. Our first stop was what my coworkers call "Bottle Cap". It was a neat place because they stock all of their beer and other assorted bottled drinks in fridges at the back which are self serve. When you want to leave, you take all of your empties to the front and pay based on the empties you have. Very cool system. Darts is a very popular game here in Korea and you can find it in almost any bar you go into. We played that night and I rocked it. The first game I beat both Ben and Chuck and the second game we played (tequila darts) in pairs Chuck and I vs. Nate and Rachel. We lost but it was still fun and we had to buy the tequila - which I might add that limes don't exist in Korea, so the shots are always served with lemon slices (not even a wedge). Might I also add that the bathrooms here are co-ed. You could walk into a bathroom and have a guy standing at that urinal - I so far have no had to experience that awkwardness. From Bottle Cap we headed to a club called Underground (literally underground). The place was tiny!! I would say it was a little bit bigger than my apartment, but not by much. We danced for a long time here then walked in then right back out of the Batman Bar and headed to a Noraebong (karaoke). A Noraebong is an establishment that has several smaller private rooms for you and others to do karaoke in. It's just you and whoever you are with singing and having a blast - you can also bring in your own drinks (of any variety) and snacks. We finally headed back to our apartments around 3:30/4am.

Below: Self serve fridges and Grace and I (she is originally from Seattle)

 

All of our empties and not so lovely pictures of Nate, Rachel and Ben.

 

Batman Bar and Noraebong.

                        


The next day I lounged around quite a bit. The newest teacher at our school, Hayley was due to arrive in Suji during the day so Christine, Grace and I greeted her and showed her, her apartment. She is super nice, from London and her accent is excellent. We left her to settle in and went to Christine's apartment to hang out a bit before meeting back up with Hayley to have dinner. Grace, Christine and I all painted our nails then we met Hayley and Ben and went to a place where we ate fried udon noodles and donkatsu (deep-fried pork cutlet). I wish I took a picture of the donkatsu because it was huge! The dinner was delicious. Afterwards we made our way to Hongdae for another night out and Grace and Rachel's last big hurrah. We started with bag drinks (alcoholic drinks in zip lock bags that you buy for $3-5) in the park then headed to Thursday Party. I quite enjoy Thursday party, it's really relaxed and you can sit and drink and chat or dance or play darts, there is an outside patio, it's all around good. We decided to play tequila darts again against Nate and Rachel and won this time! It's such a fun game. We did a lot of walking that night and also went to a place called Gogos2 which was more of a club and just dancing (we danced on stage :) and from there Christine, Grace, Ben and Grace's friend headed back to Suji. Chuck and I (the two newbies) went off to reunite with Nate, Rachel and Elliot amongst others. With them we went to Zen III and eventually went home. I was in bed by 5am yet wanted so badly to stay up to see the sunrise since it wasn't too far away. I didn't make it. All of the places we went to did not have cover and it's interesting because a lot of places are free to get into for foreigners. Below is Chris (Christine) and I with my bag drink.

 

 

Sunday was surprisingly wonderful. I got up pretty early considering the previous late night. But I was out by 11:30. I had a wonderful Pho lunch by myself at Pho Bay by my apartment and then decided to go get my hair cut. My coworkers told me about the place they usually go to called Juno Hair so I figured I'd try it as there are English speakers there. It was such a great experience! I walked in and was robed and my hairdresser, Ray, was surprised at my simple request - a trim. My purse was taken and put into a locker and the key put in my robe. Then I was taken to get my hair washed and given the best head/neck massage! It lasted quite a while considering my time spent at Juno Hair lasted an entire hour. Also, since getting it cut the kids at school have been saying I look like Gwyneth Paltrow or if they don't remember her name - Iron Man 3's wife.

 

 

 



 

From getting my hair cut I went to my pole dance class which I'm really enjoying. It's a whole body work out that's for sure. But I definitely did not have as much energy as the previous week but still had so much fun and laughed so much. The class was almost full and it was cool seeing Emmalee again.

On my way home from the dance class, I got a message from MyAn (a girl I met when I went to Daebudo). A group of us talked about going out for Indian food and turns out that was the night it was happening. I called Ananth (a guy we met on the Daebudo trip from India) and we met up and headed to Hoegi where MyAn lived (an hour away - but everything seems to be an hour away, I'm so used to it!) I was super hungry when we got there so we headed straight to the restaurant and I was not disappointed! It as sooo delicious. The owners are from Nepal and it was very authentic. We started with samosas which I now regret not taking some home. Then I had garlic naan bread with a chicken curry dish that had a coconut milk and cashew base. Did I mention how good it was?

From there we walked around one of the major universities that was close by. The architecture was so beautiful and really reminded my of UBC. The university it ranked 6th in Korea and has very westernized architecture. Because we got there so late, none of the pictures turned out but I do plan to go back and spend a day walking around again! We actually just missed a K-pop fan meeting when we got there and totally could have met a famous K-pop group!

I was so exhausted by the time I got home but the day was so wonderful! Monday was nothing too special, I went to Lotte Mart with Chuck to show him around and cleaned my apartment. Tuesday night was spent playing cribbage with Nate and Chuck outide of a convenience store. It's cool that outside of most convenience stores they have plastic patio chairs to hang out in and this one had a plastic table too. We played cards and drank beer until midnight. Beer is most common here and super cheap so I'm slowly getting used to it, though don't love it by any means. And tonight (Wednesday night) Chris and I saw Snowpiercer at the theatre. It is a Korean movie but is in English. I think it was a little more hyped up than should have been but aren't all movies? I enjoyed going to the theatre and overall liked the movie. From what I know it's only played in Korea, but here is a trailer if you are interested to see what it is about.

 

And some images of the theatre and snacks for purchase (grilled squid). Movies are soo cheap here compared to back home (well, it's comparable to Tuesday movies). It's about $7 for a movie ticket and $5 for a large popcorn, $2 for a large pop. The seats are also soo comfy!

 

 

 

 

It's still very gorgeous during the day here but the weather has been cooling off. It gets cold enough at night now to wear a sweater. But it was super nice today and I took advantage of the rooftop patio at work during my lunch.

 

 

On Tuesday I also picked up my ARC (alien registration card). Luckily for me, Chris had lost hers and needed to pick her new one up so we headed to Suwon together at 8am (about a 30 minute cab ride). It's not as easy as calling a cab as you would at home since we don't know our own addresses, so we went to the airport bus stop and stood on the side of the road until we could flag down a cab going by. We got to Suwon and although it all worked out, there were some bumps. I was told I would be able to pick mine up that day (which is why I went) but when I got to the counter they said it would take another 10 days and that it was their fault and they were sorry. But because I can no longer just accept things (if that's what you want to call it) I questioned it. "Why? I was told it would be ready today." Besides I didn't want to go back in ten days and it would have been sucky to get up two hours early for no reason. The guy working there told me to hold on, then came back and said to wait 5 minutes. Then after some time passed he came back and gave me my ARC cards. So I'm not really sure what that was about but I'm sure glad I didn't just accept their apology and wait another 10 days. Besides, I will need my ARC to return back in Korea when I get back from Japan in a few weeks.

There has been a few changes at work since we got two new teachers. This means one of my classes now has 3 more students in it and one of my classes got changed. I am no longer teaching my grade 6 newspaper class, instead I'm teaching a grade 4 newspaper class. I'm pretty upset about this because I loved my grade 6 students, and it was a small (4 students) chill class. But I know that my ability will be more useful in the grade 4 class which has 8-9 students in it. But still sad to not teach the grade 6's anymore.

My kindergarten students have also started this new thing where they always hug and kiss me which is super cute and I always feel so loved. Today one of my students, Anie, made me a card and gave me a cookie too! I love my kinders and know it will be super hard to see them leave in February!

I leave you with a picture of Chris in a cutesy kimbap place we went to for lunch last week. As well as a picture of the river on the morning I went to Suwon.

 

<3

 

 



 

Overdue Update

I don't even know where to begin!

August is quickly coming to an end which is bringing about some changes. Two of my coworkers have their last day on Thursday. Which means on Friday we have a goodbye dinner, then on Saturday we are going out dancing as a last hurrah. I'm a bit jealous of their new adventures although I know it's going to be an emotional Thursday for them when they leave. They are headed to South East Asia to travel and then one of them will be going to Africa in the new year to do volunteering - very cool! I got a few things from them too - some clothes, a tennis racket, and hula hoop.

This also means that new teachers are arriving! Charles teacher arrived yesterday and had his first day at LCI today. I decided I should be social so I went out for both lunch and dinner today with him and other coworkers. For lunch we had Bibimbap and Mandu (dumplings - so delicious!) and for dinner we had Shabu-shabu (which is a spicy broth that you put veggies, noodles and beef in, then afterwards you get fried rice). It was so yummy! Then I later at night I went over to Jessica's to enjoy some honey dew and cantaloupe (which is green here when ripe) and we chatted about our Japan plans. Back to Charles Teacher - he goes by Chuck but Chuck in Korean means something similar to 'fake' or 'pretend' so they want him to go by Charles at school. A weird adjustment for him I'm sure! He is also from Minnesota and is friends with Nathan Teacher who has been here for maybe six months now?

The other new teacher, Hayley Teacher will not arrive until this weekend. I have been chatting with her on Facebook so it will be great to finally meet her in person! One of my classes will be changing in September since there are new teachers, things shuffle. I'm sad to say goodbye to my grade six class, but I will start teaching a grade four class instead.

I had a pretty low key weekend this past weekend. Friday night I stayed in and watched Mean Girls while painting my toe nails - which are already chipped. Then Saturday I spent the day trying to find an external disc drive without success. Sunday I went to my Korean class and tried pole dancing for the first time! I was a little bit discouraged with my Korean class because the textbook we use, also uses a CD and my laptop doesn't have a disc drive!! So I can't do a lot of the exercises until I find an external disc drive. So far I have taken two private classes with a guy named Jason. He has been here for 3 years already and has good knowledge of speaking Korean, but can't read or write very well. The classes have gone a bit faster for that reason than I'd like but it's nice to get started in the language. Unfortunately from this point on, we have to join a class and there are not enough people to start a beginner class so I have to wait to take more classes unless I pay for private classes which is more expensive. I will likely wait until October to start again (hopefully there will be enough people to start a class, Chuck seemed interested). I will be away for two weekends in September anyways so it's probably best to wait until October anyways. Plus I have the textbook so can study on my own in the mean time. I am learning the alphabet and am always practicing reading signs!

The pole dancing class was a lot of fun too! And wow, what a work out! The girl who organized the Mt. Gwanak hike, Jin, teaches the classes so I decided to go. I always thought it would be fun to try! Here is a picture: I was surprised at my strength! The days at the gym have paid off!

I met a girl named Emmalee there and we ended up going out for dinner afterwards together for Korean BBQ. It was so much fun and talked about getting together to play tennis and basketball sometime.

I have also made plans to go to Korea Burn! If you don't know what that is please look at this webpage http://kbfront.wordpress.com/ there is a YouTube clip on the front page that sums it up well. It's a regional event based on Burning Man that happens every year in Neveda. It's completely based on participation, those who come create the event and make it whatever it becomes. It is also based on ten principles: radical inclusion, gifting, decommodification, radical self-reliance, radical self-expression, communal effort, civic responsibility, participation, immediacy, and leaving no trace. I think it's going to be an incredible experience. I am going to be going with a girl named Molly who I met when I did the day trip to Daebudo. And Emmalee has decided she is going to join us as well! Because one of the principles is gifting (there is no purchasing or sales the entire weekend, you have to bring your own food etc.), we have decided to make friendship bracelets to give out to people while we are there. People usually come up with costumes as well, so we are thinking bright hippies or something along those lines. I'm excited. It's from September 13-15th (the weekend before my Japan trip).

This past week, I also broke my camera :(. I dropped it at school and the screen was ruined. It would still take pictures but you could not see anything but white lines on the screen. I was absolutely devastated. Then I remembered that there is a Samsung store down the street from me so I went there (after Googling "fix" in Korean). They told me there is a repair shop above them that would be open the next day. So I went on my lunch and although they didn't speak English, a Korean customer helped explain to them what I wanted. They said they would have to keep my camera for two weeks. But I was willing to do anything to get it fixed. I got a call later that day to say it would cost 37,000 won (around $30) and that I could pick it up the next day! How amazing. It would have cost way more to get it fixed in Canada and taken way longer. Yet I paid $30 and they did it overnight. Just an amazing experience all around.

Here are some more pictures of my other students I haven't posted yet: This is one of my ILP (drama) classes.

 

My supervisor told met that she called all of my kindergartener's parents and have received nothing but good feedback about me. Because I have the oldest kindergarteners, they will be leaving to go to Korean school as they will start grade 1 in February (there school year starts in February here). But they will still come to LCI for the afternoon classes. Some of the parents have already requested that I be their kids grade 1 teacher come February. It's great to hear this.

I feel like I'm forgetting things, but I'm in need of sleep! Love and miss you all. Check out Facebook for additional pictures from my time in Daebudo! And lastly, I leave you with this cutie (Tyler) in her awesome hat that has wings:

<3

Four Weeks!

I have officially been in Korea for a whole month! It's flown by! I've been streaming The Beat online (they play great oldies while all of you are sleeping!) and I totally forgot about the PNE! That makes me miss being in Vancouver. It's crazy to think that summer is almost over!

I have been able to take a few more pictures of some more of my students for you all to see. I do still have more students than this - all in time :P Below is my kindergarten class that I spend the most time with (Monday-Friday 10-230). From left to right: Anie, Sungwon, Grace, Olivia, Diana, Tyler Michael and Sally.

 

And a close up of Tyler and I - What a cutie!

 

 

 

Here is one of my ILP classes (the drama class). This class is doing the play Ali Baba Jr. and the Four Thieves. I mentioned before that they memorize the play and preform (without an audience) but I don't think that I mentioned 'phone calls'. Every Thursday after work I have to call each of my ILP students (I believe there are 10 total) to practice their lines and practice talking on the phone. Each phone call has to be three minutes long, no more - not sure how effective this really is, but the parents love seeing their kids talk on the phone in English. Below left to right is Kate and Sohee.

 

 

Sally was absent this class, and Anthony left for soccer before we took pictures, but you can see him in the video! In the video they are practicing one of their songs for the play - Anthony usually does this hilarious dance, but he wouldn't do it that day. Regardless, he is equally hilarious in this video.

 



Grace Teacher and Rachel Teacher both leave next Thursday (totally jealous of their planned travels!) but that means that the two new teachers will be arriving this Sunday! We already know that one of the teachers is Nathan Teacher's friend from Minnesota and the other teacher is a girl name Hayley from London, who has been teaching in Daegu (South Korea) for a year. I actually stumbled upon Hayley on a Facebook group, so we have been chatting a little bit already. New teachers means that there could be some changes in classes/schedules so we will see what happens in the next little bit.

Tonight I bought a crock pot from a guy in the area that is leaving. I'm so excited about it! It will be super nice to be able to not fry everything that I eat and it will be super useful come Winter to make soups and stews (although I'm not sure how considering I haven't seen any chicken/beef stock/broth). He also gave me a few packs of seasonings that he won't be using up before leaving. Here is my crockpot:

 

 It will also make cooking dinners easier for me (I hope) because most nights (especially my longer days, Tuesdays and Thursday) I am so tired when I get home, making dinner is something I don't ever want to do. So if I can have something cooking in the crockpot ready for when I'm home, that would be awesome. Feel free to pass along any recipes with simple ingredients! Tonight I was really craving cheesy rice (what we call it - no idea what the Korean name is) but a lot of the teachers stayed late at school to finish progress reports (like report cards). I don't have to do them since I haven't been here long but will likely have to do them in a month or so. Regardless, I didn't go out for cheesy rice, rather made my own version at home - but I need to find the red pepper paste! Also if you have tips for making hard boiled eggs, please let me know! The last one I made the egg shell was really hard to peel (so many small pieces) and when I hit the egg to crack the shell to start peeling it, the whole egg broke in half which I thought was odd. The membrane also stuck to the egg which was gross.

 

Finally, here is a quote I'll leave you with that I read today and liked:

 

 

Nobody can go back and start a new beginning, but anyone can start today and make a new ending." -- Maria Robinson

 

<3



 

Thursday Party & Korean Classes

Going out last night with my co-workers was a success! I really enjoyed myself. Most of the group headed into Itaewon around 4:30 which was just way too early for me. So I tagged along with Chris and we left Suji around 8:30 which gave me time to blog and watch two movies before leaving! (Thanks again to Carmen for sending me a huge movie list!) We met up with Ben in Hongdae (or near Hongdae... maybe?) and walked through many streets that looked like this:

 

 

I had not eaten dinner (typical), so they decided to take me to a home-style pizza place which was delicious. Then we decided to get bag drinks from a place a few doors down. It's a small tiny drink place but is mainly for people to pick up and buy drinks from the "window" and they are made and served in a Ziploc type bag with a straw. The drink menu was also basically paper with hand drawn pictures of all the drinks you could order. I had the Blue Hawaii.

 

 





We then met up with the rest of our co-workers in a park nearby that was packed with people. As it always is here, super hot and muggy, so we headed to a place called Thursday Party. So weird to see so many white people all in one place! (I know how horrible  that sounds.) It was a fun place and just being able to dance the night away was so fun. We were supposed to go to an event called Shindig next but we lost the Birthday boy, Nate, and opted to go to a traditional Korean bar. A little less dancing there and the decorations were so all over the place (including palm trees) but it was fun. Eventually we headed back to Suji and I was back in my apartment just before 4am. So fun!

Today I also took my first Korean class. The beginner class had already started but there was another guy that wanted to start classes so the director offered to do some private classes with us until we are caught up with the current class. We learned the alphabet and a few words and phrases. I really enjoyed it and am excited to keep taking classes and being able to speak and read more. Here is my first sentence "I am Ashley":

Other exciting news: Jess and I book our flights to go to Japan!! We are going over Chuseok, the Korean thanksgiving that's in September. We also bought our tickets for Disneyland and Disney Sea which I am even more excited about! We will be staying in Tokyo the whole time so if you have any suggestions of things to go see, please let me know! It's too bad that we won't have more time to explore other areas in Japan, but I am just overly ecstatic to go to Disneyland there.

<3