I just changed it so that anyone can post. For some reason it was set so that only registered users could post.
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Wednesday, March 30, 2011
my voice is dead
This happens to me every time I'm in this country! Actually, I lose my voice back home, too, but it never fails when I'm in Korea. No matter how well-armed I am with vitamin C, ColdFX, echinacea, oil of oregano. I always catch something. But, I have to say that the ColdFX is definitely helping BIG TIME. Before this stuff, my colds used to last a week, but ColdFX coupled with a litre or two of orange juice and the next day I feel 80% better. Yesterday at around 4pm it hit me during one of my classes. I sneezed 3 times and felt like garbage from that point on and for the remainder of the night. So, I watched an episode of The Wire in bed, did a bit of marking in bed, drank a bunch of OJ in bed, took my ColdFX pills and hit the hay. Today, I'm feeling better physically, but my voice is gone. Can't yell at my kids, so they don't listen to me (even more so). I pretty much gave up today.
Wow, that was boring. Sorry to bore you with all that, but I just wanted to let you know why I haven't posted anything in 3 days.
Dennis is watching Jackass 3 right now and it's really distracting. What a horrible movie!!! I've never seen any of them, but I think I'm going to publish this post so that I can cringe some more, smirk, and complain to Dennis how horrible this movie is. What fun! Haha! These guys are brutal!
There's a midget in this movie?
Wow, that was boring. Sorry to bore you with all that, but I just wanted to let you know why I haven't posted anything in 3 days.
Dennis is watching Jackass 3 right now and it's really distracting. What a horrible movie!!! I've never seen any of them, but I think I'm going to publish this post so that I can cringe some more, smirk, and complain to Dennis how horrible this movie is. What fun! Haha! These guys are brutal!
There's a midget in this movie?
Sunday, March 27, 2011
We made hoddeok!
Hoddeok are sweet pancakes filled with brown sugar syrup. We bought the instant kind from the supermarket. The directions were all in Korean so we just looked at the pictures and did what we thought we should do. They turned out alright. Didn't taste exactly how they do on the street, but they were edible!
Here's how they turned out and the link at the bottom of this post shows how you can make them at home from scratch! Should have looked this up before we made ours because we didn't let our dough rise!! Haha!
Make them yourself. Click here.
Here's how they turned out and the link at the bottom of this post shows how you can make them at home from scratch! Should have looked this up before we made ours because we didn't let our dough rise!! Haha!
Make them yourself. Click here.
Saturday, March 26, 2011
Went to COEX today
COEX is a mall in Gangnam. Crazy place! Lots to see, lots to buy and lots to eat! I need to get paid!
We ate at TGIFridays. I ordered the salad and Dennis ordered the boneless chicken wings and chicken fajita nachos. I think I ate more of Dennis' order than mine.
We ate at TGIFridays. I ordered the salad and Dennis ordered the boneless chicken wings and chicken fajita nachos. I think I ate more of Dennis' order than mine.
my classes
In the morning, I teach two kindergarten classes, New York and Oregon (this year they decided to give the kindergarten classes names of U.S. states), all 5-year olds. While I'm teaching Oregon class, my Korean partner teacher is teaching (in English) New York class. We switch after every 40 minutes. I have a break when the kids have science, P.E., outdoor activity, and music. The kindergarten program runs Monday to Friday from 9:40am to 2:40pm.
In the afternoon, after the kindergarten kids leave, I teach elementary age students (7, 8, and 9-year olds). The after school program runs from 2:55-5:30pm. Some classes are 2 days a week and some are 3 days a week. I have 4 after school classes, Stanford, Emory, New York, and Carnegie. I've never heard of Carnegie and Emory universities, but apparently they're American.
Now, onto how I feel about my students. At the beginning of the month, I hated a majority of my students. Now, at the end of the month, I hate them a little less. I think I spend about 25 of the 40 minutes of class wiping snot off faces, sending kids outside to get a band-aid because something ALWAYS hurts, telling them to shut up and raise their hand if they want to speak, taking kids outside the room to ask who hit who first and making them apologize to one another, and oh, telling them that it doesn't effing matter who is using what pencil, and finally, what I do most often... writing "X"s next to students' names because they don't know how to keep their butts in their chairs! Friggin' hell.
I do have my favourites, don't get me wrong. Actually, I'm wrong. Out of all 20 of my kindergarten students, I only have one favourite. One. Her name is Jayna. She's quiet when she needs to be quiet, never disruptive, raises her hand when I ask a question, and waits quietly for instruction. She never touches or distracts any other student and is just well-behaved all around. And, she's really, really cute.
As for my after school program students, they're much easier to teach because they're a bit better behaved. A bit. My Carnegie class consists of 4 nine-year old boys who are very hard to discipline. For some reason they don't respect me very much. That will change very soon. Thank goodness I only have them once a week. My Emory and Stanford classes have more boys than girls in them (8-year olds), which also makes it hard for me to control, but they have more respect for me than Carnegie. And my New York class consists of 3 seven-year old girls... heaven. They're my favourite class. I end every Friday with this class, it's awesome.
Here's a picture of Shawn from my Carnegie class:
In the afternoon, after the kindergarten kids leave, I teach elementary age students (7, 8, and 9-year olds). The after school program runs from 2:55-5:30pm. Some classes are 2 days a week and some are 3 days a week. I have 4 after school classes, Stanford, Emory, New York, and Carnegie. I've never heard of Carnegie and Emory universities, but apparently they're American.
Now, onto how I feel about my students. At the beginning of the month, I hated a majority of my students. Now, at the end of the month, I hate them a little less. I think I spend about 25 of the 40 minutes of class wiping snot off faces, sending kids outside to get a band-aid because something ALWAYS hurts, telling them to shut up and raise their hand if they want to speak, taking kids outside the room to ask who hit who first and making them apologize to one another, and oh, telling them that it doesn't effing matter who is using what pencil, and finally, what I do most often... writing "X"s next to students' names because they don't know how to keep their butts in their chairs! Friggin' hell.
I do have my favourites, don't get me wrong. Actually, I'm wrong. Out of all 20 of my kindergarten students, I only have one favourite. One. Her name is Jayna. She's quiet when she needs to be quiet, never disruptive, raises her hand when I ask a question, and waits quietly for instruction. She never touches or distracts any other student and is just well-behaved all around. And, she's really, really cute.
As for my after school program students, they're much easier to teach because they're a bit better behaved. A bit. My Carnegie class consists of 4 nine-year old boys who are very hard to discipline. For some reason they don't respect me very much. That will change very soon. Thank goodness I only have them once a week. My Emory and Stanford classes have more boys than girls in them (8-year olds), which also makes it hard for me to control, but they have more respect for me than Carnegie. And my New York class consists of 3 seven-year old girls... heaven. They're my favourite class. I end every Friday with this class, it's awesome.
Here's a picture of Shawn from my Carnegie class:
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
complaining
There are a few things people have to realize and really understand when it comes to teaching in Korea. At a hagwon, that is. A hagwon is not just a school, it's a business. Actually, it's way more of a business than it is a school, really. Parents (Korean mothers) pretty much run the school because they fund the school. If a mother doesn't like how her kid is being taught (as if she would know because she's never set foot in the classroom) then they complain to the Korean teachers who then relay the message to the foreign staff that things have to change drastically otherwise you're out... not them. Well, okay, it's not that dramatic and drastic, but that's basically what it boils down to.
Also, remember that being organized and planning well in advance is not the Korean way. It's always, "Do this, do that, now now now, but you can't because we're not organized enough to tell you exactly what you need to do and how to do it. And plus, we don't have any of the material ready, so right now it's impossible, but you have to do it now anyway." Seriously, this is what it's like.
And you're gonna have work to do. Just like at any other job you've had in the past, you have to work for your money. Some teachers have the mentality that "if I'm not getting paid during this hour, then I'm not going to do any marking or lesson planning in this hour." Suit yourself, but good luck telling that to your boss back in Canada or America or wherever you're from. Do you think certified teachers back home get paid for every minute of extra time and effort they put into their jobs? Do you think the CEO of any company only puts in the minimum amount of time into their work day? If you only put in the minimum amount of effort required at your job, you will likely only get a minimum amount of pay and gain a minimum amount of success (both current and future).
If you put in the tiniest bit of extra effort and your Korean peers, supervisors, or owners notice it... OMG, you'll be in their good books forever. And that means they won't pester you or hound you or micro manage you in any way. Just do what they ask, ask as many questions to get clarification, and put in a little bit of extra effort and you're golden.
Remember, you're not in your home country anymore. You're in Korea. Whatever made sense to you in your home country doesn't apply here. And I'm not trying to knock Korea in any way, I'm just telling you how it is from a foreigner's perspective/experience. Besides, your rent is paid for and so was the return flight, so try not to act like a spoiled brat. No company back home would do that for you.
So, be warned....the Korean way is very different. If you don't like it, go back home.
Also, remember that being organized and planning well in advance is not the Korean way. It's always, "Do this, do that, now now now, but you can't because we're not organized enough to tell you exactly what you need to do and how to do it. And plus, we don't have any of the material ready, so right now it's impossible, but you have to do it now anyway." Seriously, this is what it's like.
And you're gonna have work to do. Just like at any other job you've had in the past, you have to work for your money. Some teachers have the mentality that "if I'm not getting paid during this hour, then I'm not going to do any marking or lesson planning in this hour." Suit yourself, but good luck telling that to your boss back in Canada or America or wherever you're from. Do you think certified teachers back home get paid for every minute of extra time and effort they put into their jobs? Do you think the CEO of any company only puts in the minimum amount of time into their work day? If you only put in the minimum amount of effort required at your job, you will likely only get a minimum amount of pay and gain a minimum amount of success (both current and future).
If you put in the tiniest bit of extra effort and your Korean peers, supervisors, or owners notice it... OMG, you'll be in their good books forever. And that means they won't pester you or hound you or micro manage you in any way. Just do what they ask, ask as many questions to get clarification, and put in a little bit of extra effort and you're golden.
Remember, you're not in your home country anymore. You're in Korea. Whatever made sense to you in your home country doesn't apply here. And I'm not trying to knock Korea in any way, I'm just telling you how it is from a foreigner's perspective/experience. Besides, your rent is paid for and so was the return flight, so try not to act like a spoiled brat. No company back home would do that for you.
So, be warned....the Korean way is very different. If you don't like it, go back home.
Sunday, March 20, 2011
a typical night out with a Korean hagwon boss
Two Fridays ago, Dennis' boss, Andy, took his staff out for a good time because that's what smart bosses do. Happy staff equals, well, happy staff. I was invited, too!
I'm off earlier on Fridays than Dennis is, so I met up with him, his co-workers and Andy at their school. We ended up going to a Korean restaurant on the second floor of the same building their school is in. His co-workers are nice and normal, good people to hang out with in the future. When I finally met Andy, he kept apologizing about not hiring me. See, originally Dennis and I didn't want to work at the same school in order to save our marriage. But then when we realized how hard it was for me to get a job teaching in Korea because I'm Asian, Dennis tried to get his boss to hire me. He didn't want to hire me because of the fact that I'm Asian, so that was that. He actually told Dennis that it was his wife who was against it. Whatever the case, I wasn't hired based on my looks. And it is what it is. Frustrating as hell for me, but I eventually found a position and I'm here now.
Anyway, Andy was super nice to me all night, making sure I always had a drink in my hand and constantly asking me, "Miss Maryanne, are you okay?" As he got more and more drunk, he got more and more concerned for everyone's well-being. He's a really, really nice guy. I wish I could say the same for the owner of my school. He's a big meanie! On my first day of work, he was screaming at the Korean teachers because of how messy the staffroom was. Way to boost morale on day one, douche bag. So, back to the restaurant, Andy kept giving us soju, beer and more soju, and tonnes of barbecued meat, so our table kept getting louder and louder by the minute. The place was busy, mainly with families (one of the school's students was there with her family), so the staff kept on shushing us and telling us to keep in down. When Andy realized that one of students and her family were there, he immediately left the table to go brown nose them.
After dinner and many, many drinks later, we all went to a bar to (you guessed it) drink even more. Good times in there. I took video, but my computer is so old it's not able to handle the high quality format the video's taken with. I'll try to load it. Andy was so drunk at the bar, he excused himself twice to puke. Haha! What a crazy boss. I like him. When he got back from one of his puke fests, he told us that we're moving on to phase 3 of the night... karaoke! I hate going to karaoke bars, but if I have enough alcohol in me, I'm okay with it.
Once at the norae bang (karaoke bar), Andy ordered more drinks and a fruit platter. We belted out our worst versions of Spice Girls, Billy Joel, Toto, etc. and eventually called it a night. It was a very fun night, but that's something I could only do once a month at most.
Oh yeah, Andy told Dennis and I that I'm always welcome to join them during staff dinners and outings. Yay! I'm even invited to their overnight staff "workshop" where they apparently just eat, drink, go four-wheeling and other fun stuff like that! I guess he must really feel bad about not hiring me to invite me along. Whatever... more fun for me! The staff convinced him to have the "workshop" on Jeju island here! It's like Hawaii, but in Korea. Andy agreed to it, but he was drunk so we'll see what really happens. Plus, he made that decision without consulting his wife first... the real boss, if he knows what's good for him.
I'm off earlier on Fridays than Dennis is, so I met up with him, his co-workers and Andy at their school. We ended up going to a Korean restaurant on the second floor of the same building their school is in. His co-workers are nice and normal, good people to hang out with in the future. When I finally met Andy, he kept apologizing about not hiring me. See, originally Dennis and I didn't want to work at the same school in order to save our marriage. But then when we realized how hard it was for me to get a job teaching in Korea because I'm Asian, Dennis tried to get his boss to hire me. He didn't want to hire me because of the fact that I'm Asian, so that was that. He actually told Dennis that it was his wife who was against it. Whatever the case, I wasn't hired based on my looks. And it is what it is. Frustrating as hell for me, but I eventually found a position and I'm here now.
Anyway, Andy was super nice to me all night, making sure I always had a drink in my hand and constantly asking me, "Miss Maryanne, are you okay?" As he got more and more drunk, he got more and more concerned for everyone's well-being. He's a really, really nice guy. I wish I could say the same for the owner of my school. He's a big meanie! On my first day of work, he was screaming at the Korean teachers because of how messy the staffroom was. Way to boost morale on day one, douche bag. So, back to the restaurant, Andy kept giving us soju, beer and more soju, and tonnes of barbecued meat, so our table kept getting louder and louder by the minute. The place was busy, mainly with families (one of the school's students was there with her family), so the staff kept on shushing us and telling us to keep in down. When Andy realized that one of students and her family were there, he immediately left the table to go brown nose them.
After dinner and many, many drinks later, we all went to a bar to (you guessed it) drink even more. Good times in there. I took video, but my computer is so old it's not able to handle the high quality format the video's taken with. I'll try to load it. Andy was so drunk at the bar, he excused himself twice to puke. Haha! What a crazy boss. I like him. When he got back from one of his puke fests, he told us that we're moving on to phase 3 of the night... karaoke! I hate going to karaoke bars, but if I have enough alcohol in me, I'm okay with it.
Once at the norae bang (karaoke bar), Andy ordered more drinks and a fruit platter. We belted out our worst versions of Spice Girls, Billy Joel, Toto, etc. and eventually called it a night. It was a very fun night, but that's something I could only do once a month at most.
Oh yeah, Andy told Dennis and I that I'm always welcome to join them during staff dinners and outings. Yay! I'm even invited to their overnight staff "workshop" where they apparently just eat, drink, go four-wheeling and other fun stuff like that! I guess he must really feel bad about not hiring me to invite me along. Whatever... more fun for me! The staff convinced him to have the "workshop" on Jeju island here! It's like Hawaii, but in Korea. Andy agreed to it, but he was drunk so we'll see what really happens. Plus, he made that decision without consulting his wife first... the real boss, if he knows what's good for him.
technology brings douche bags together
Dennis is talking to a couple of his buddies over the Internet right now. I love how they act like idiots and make each other so happy while doing so. It's quite cute and very hilarious.
Friday, March 18, 2011
Insadong for Saint Patty's Day festival and other stuff like that
We also hope to go into Seoul so that Dennis can buy his Detroit hat that the wind stole in Vegas at Lake Mead. And I'm hoping to get myself a purse because for some reason I didn't bring a fall/winter one.
The festivities for the St. Patty's Day festival go from 11:30-5pm and there are 2 "after" parties, one in Itaewon (gross) and the other in Gangnam. We're going to skip those to do our shopping. We're too old for that getting publicly drunk stuff, anyway. ;)
The festivities for the St. Patty's Day festival go from 11:30-5pm and there are 2 "after" parties, one in Itaewon (gross) and the other in Gangnam. We're going to skip those to do our shopping. We're too old for that getting publicly drunk stuff, anyway. ;)
Thursday, March 17, 2011
medical check
So, there are new requirements to teach English in Korea. One of which is a medical check. You can't get an alien card without getting this done, and without an alien card you can't get a cell phone, bank account, HomePlus points card (haha), etc.
The main purpose for the medical check is to make sure you don't have any drugs in you and to find out if you have HIV/AIDS. It costs about $50 and the president of my school, Mr. Kim, (who drove me to the hospital) said it would just come out of my next pay cheque. The Bobang Memorial hospital is about a 3-minute drive from my school. During that time, I was able to find out that Mr. Kim plays tennis every Sunday, he and his wife argue about it often because he's gone every Sunday morning, but his argument is that she's lucky he's not into golf, which is extremely expensive in Korea and takes up more than half the day. Haha! I also found out that his kid, Gorden, is in one of my afternoon classes. Shit. Have to make sure I do a good job in that class. Damn.
Anyway, once in the hospital, I was told by numerous hospital staff, who speak very minimal English, where to go, what to do, and what's about to happen. First stop was the change room. I had to change into these pajama-looking things (keeping on only my underwear bottoms) and put on slippers, all for no real reason, really. Next, I had to get my blood pressure taken. They didn't tell me what it was, so I have no idea. Then I had to pee in a cup. The bathroom had this small metal cabinet in the wall where I was to put my cup o' piss. The lady opened it to show it to me and I kept it open while I did my thing. Little did I know, this was a two-way piss-keeping cabinet. The lady was on the other side of the wall, she opened up her side of the cabinet and saw me tinkling in my cup! Awesome. I didn't care at all actually. She was a lot more embarrassed than I was. Haha. She said sorry a bunch of times. Then I went into an office where a lady doctor asked me if I had any diseases, did drugs, smoked, drank alcohol, or had any allergies. I told her I had eczema, drank a bit on the weekends, and had seasonal allergies. And then I told her, "Smoking's for suckers." Haha. I'm kidding.... about me telling her, that is, not about smoking being for suckers because it is.
Next was my weight and height measurements, which were in kilos and centimetres, so I have no idea what I weigh and how tall I am. Well, I could easily convert it, but like I'm going to put that on here. After that was the hearing test. They put me in a booth, slapped big headphones on my head, and gave me a thumb clicker. Press the button when I hear a sound. And then... came the dreaded blood test. Dun dun duuuuun. I hate needles. But one of my co-workers is worse than I am. She actually came back to school after her medical check all red-faced and crying. The last time she got a needle she passed out because she's that terrified of them. Anyway, the nurse took my arm and for about a solid 5 minutes was looking for a vein. She kept poking my arm with her finger, tied this rubber thing around my arm, told me to pump my fist, untied the rubber thing, poked again, tied the rubber thing around my arm again, poked more.... I think she just pretended to find a vein and poked me with the needle regardless, hoping she would draw blood. I was fine AND grossed out at the same time. I watched her draw the blood out. The thought of it actually makes me feel all weak and jello-y inside, but when it's actually happening I toughen up some how. Before my medical check, Mr. Kim said, "Just please don't cry." Haha. I promised him I wouldn't.
After the blood test was my x-ray. They took a chest x-ray and then a hip/abdomen x-ray. The weirdest thing, I was lying on my right side for the abdomen x-ray and when they were done, a young man (I think he was an x-ray tech) in a white robe came out and asked me in about a million different English-type words if I was wearing "accessories" and he kept pointing to my lower region. He was asking if I was wearing underwear. I said "yes" and then he spoke to the Korean nurse and then he asked again as if confused. Again, I said "yes." He looked confused, but he also looked like he believed me. I was wearing underwear, but it was a thong. Do they not have those here??? And I thought the x-ray was for my bones, not for my undergarments! I'm still very perplexed by that whole episode. Ah, well, whatever.
The x-ray was the last of it all. So, now, if this medical check is just to test for drugs and HIV/AIDS, then why did I have to get my blood pressure, height, weight, and hearing checked, and why did I have to get x-rays done??? This country is still as confusing as I remember it to be.
The main purpose for the medical check is to make sure you don't have any drugs in you and to find out if you have HIV/AIDS. It costs about $50 and the president of my school, Mr. Kim, (who drove me to the hospital) said it would just come out of my next pay cheque. The Bobang Memorial hospital is about a 3-minute drive from my school. During that time, I was able to find out that Mr. Kim plays tennis every Sunday, he and his wife argue about it often because he's gone every Sunday morning, but his argument is that she's lucky he's not into golf, which is extremely expensive in Korea and takes up more than half the day. Haha! I also found out that his kid, Gorden, is in one of my afternoon classes. Shit. Have to make sure I do a good job in that class. Damn.
Anyway, once in the hospital, I was told by numerous hospital staff, who speak very minimal English, where to go, what to do, and what's about to happen. First stop was the change room. I had to change into these pajama-looking things (keeping on only my underwear bottoms) and put on slippers, all for no real reason, really. Next, I had to get my blood pressure taken. They didn't tell me what it was, so I have no idea. Then I had to pee in a cup. The bathroom had this small metal cabinet in the wall where I was to put my cup o' piss. The lady opened it to show it to me and I kept it open while I did my thing. Little did I know, this was a two-way piss-keeping cabinet. The lady was on the other side of the wall, she opened up her side of the cabinet and saw me tinkling in my cup! Awesome. I didn't care at all actually. She was a lot more embarrassed than I was. Haha. She said sorry a bunch of times. Then I went into an office where a lady doctor asked me if I had any diseases, did drugs, smoked, drank alcohol, or had any allergies. I told her I had eczema, drank a bit on the weekends, and had seasonal allergies. And then I told her, "Smoking's for suckers." Haha. I'm kidding.... about me telling her, that is, not about smoking being for suckers because it is.
Next was my weight and height measurements, which were in kilos and centimetres, so I have no idea what I weigh and how tall I am. Well, I could easily convert it, but like I'm going to put that on here. After that was the hearing test. They put me in a booth, slapped big headphones on my head, and gave me a thumb clicker. Press the button when I hear a sound. And then... came the dreaded blood test. Dun dun duuuuun. I hate needles. But one of my co-workers is worse than I am. She actually came back to school after her medical check all red-faced and crying. The last time she got a needle she passed out because she's that terrified of them. Anyway, the nurse took my arm and for about a solid 5 minutes was looking for a vein. She kept poking my arm with her finger, tied this rubber thing around my arm, told me to pump my fist, untied the rubber thing, poked again, tied the rubber thing around my arm again, poked more.... I think she just pretended to find a vein and poked me with the needle regardless, hoping she would draw blood. I was fine AND grossed out at the same time. I watched her draw the blood out. The thought of it actually makes me feel all weak and jello-y inside, but when it's actually happening I toughen up some how. Before my medical check, Mr. Kim said, "Just please don't cry." Haha. I promised him I wouldn't.
After the blood test was my x-ray. They took a chest x-ray and then a hip/abdomen x-ray. The weirdest thing, I was lying on my right side for the abdomen x-ray and when they were done, a young man (I think he was an x-ray tech) in a white robe came out and asked me in about a million different English-type words if I was wearing "accessories" and he kept pointing to my lower region. He was asking if I was wearing underwear. I said "yes" and then he spoke to the Korean nurse and then he asked again as if confused. Again, I said "yes." He looked confused, but he also looked like he believed me. I was wearing underwear, but it was a thong. Do they not have those here??? And I thought the x-ray was for my bones, not for my undergarments! I'm still very perplexed by that whole episode. Ah, well, whatever.
The x-ray was the last of it all. So, now, if this medical check is just to test for drugs and HIV/AIDS, then why did I have to get my blood pressure, height, weight, and hearing checked, and why did I have to get x-rays done??? This country is still as confusing as I remember it to be.
Happy St. Patty's Day!
We're going to Insadong this Saturday to celebrate the drink fest called St. Patrick's Day. We didn't care to go out tonight to get wonky on green beer because... well, we were just too lazy to leave the house. That, and our new couch came today! So we spent a bit of time putting it together and re-arranging the apartment. Pictures to come.
Have some green beer for me!
Have some green beer for me!
Monday, March 14, 2011
day four - first day of school... super shitty all around
First time taking the shuttle bus and I missed it. Taking the subway to the place where the shuttle bus picks us up was easy because it's only one stop over, but Scott told me that I had to go out exit #2 to get to street level, find the Hana Bank and that's where the bus would pick us up.
Well, I went out exit number two and looked around. Hana Bank was nowhere to be found. I though I was okay because I had about 13 minutes before the bus was to leave. I thought wrong. I used all 13 minutes asking random people where the bank was and I walked back and forth about 5 times until I finally found a Korean woman who could speak English quite well. I followed her directions, saw Hana Bank, and also saw my shuttle bus pulling away. All sorts of ugly words were spewing out of my mouth at that point.
Yet again, it took forever to get a cab and when I finally got one, knowing I didn't have the school's address on me, I mimed to the cabbie that he had to use his phone to call my school. Thank goodness I had the school's number on me. He was able to get the address, but when we got to the area, we overshot the school because I wasn't exactly sure where it was, but I knew we'd gone too far. So I motioned that we needed to go back in the other direction and about $3 and 15 minutes later I was at the school and, thankfully, not late. Phewf.
That horrible start to my first day paved the way for the remainder of the day. I had no idea what the frig I was doing with my students!!! We had a schedule and lesson plans laid out for us to do, but we were told not to do any of it because it was the first day of school. So all that I had prepared yesterday wasn't to be used today, which means I had nothing prepared. Crap. I asked all the other teachers what they were doing and they seemed to know what they were going to do, but me... no clue. I ended up doing the calendar and the weather for about 20 mins and then tried to remember my kids' names for another 10 mins and the rest of the time was spent watching YouTube clips of Tom and Jerry.
After lunch I was told by the vice pres, Ellie, that we had follow our regular schedule, but not really because it was still the first day. What the heck does that mean then?!!! Ugh!! I just ended up doing a bit of the lesson and then Tom and Jerry for the rest of the lesson. Eventually, it was home time for the kindy kids. Thank God!! But getting them out the door was chaos! Stuffing backpacks, putting coats on, zipping/buttoning up coats, putting on backpacks, taking off inside shoes, putting on outside shoes for 20 freaking kids while 40 other kids were doing the same thing in the same area!!! Thank goodness my Korean partner teacher and I had to do it together.
I am so not ready for kids.
When I got home, I was more than exhausted. I think that was the night I went to bed at 9:15. And rightly so! I also think Dennis' day was just as interesting. He wrote about it. I'll post it up here later because he's too lazy to create a blog and write entries on a regular basis.
Well, I went out exit number two and looked around. Hana Bank was nowhere to be found. I though I was okay because I had about 13 minutes before the bus was to leave. I thought wrong. I used all 13 minutes asking random people where the bank was and I walked back and forth about 5 times until I finally found a Korean woman who could speak English quite well. I followed her directions, saw Hana Bank, and also saw my shuttle bus pulling away. All sorts of ugly words were spewing out of my mouth at that point.
Yet again, it took forever to get a cab and when I finally got one, knowing I didn't have the school's address on me, I mimed to the cabbie that he had to use his phone to call my school. Thank goodness I had the school's number on me. He was able to get the address, but when we got to the area, we overshot the school because I wasn't exactly sure where it was, but I knew we'd gone too far. So I motioned that we needed to go back in the other direction and about $3 and 15 minutes later I was at the school and, thankfully, not late. Phewf.
That horrible start to my first day paved the way for the remainder of the day. I had no idea what the frig I was doing with my students!!! We had a schedule and lesson plans laid out for us to do, but we were told not to do any of it because it was the first day of school. So all that I had prepared yesterday wasn't to be used today, which means I had nothing prepared. Crap. I asked all the other teachers what they were doing and they seemed to know what they were going to do, but me... no clue. I ended up doing the calendar and the weather for about 20 mins and then tried to remember my kids' names for another 10 mins and the rest of the time was spent watching YouTube clips of Tom and Jerry.
After lunch I was told by the vice pres, Ellie, that we had follow our regular schedule, but not really because it was still the first day. What the heck does that mean then?!!! Ugh!! I just ended up doing a bit of the lesson and then Tom and Jerry for the rest of the lesson. Eventually, it was home time for the kindy kids. Thank God!! But getting them out the door was chaos! Stuffing backpacks, putting coats on, zipping/buttoning up coats, putting on backpacks, taking off inside shoes, putting on outside shoes for 20 freaking kids while 40 other kids were doing the same thing in the same area!!! Thank goodness my Korean partner teacher and I had to do it together.
I am so not ready for kids.
When I got home, I was more than exhausted. I think that was the night I went to bed at 9:15. And rightly so! I also think Dennis' day was just as interesting. He wrote about it. I'll post it up here later because he's too lazy to create a blog and write entries on a regular basis.
day 3 - training day #2
March 2nd. Spent 6 hours in meetings, preparing my monthly lesson plan and homework plan for my kindergarten classes, and 3 of those 6 hours were spent trying to figure out how to print and photocopy stuff because all printers/copiers didn't feel like working.
I spent a majority of the day very confused. But thankfully my previous Korean teaching experience has taught me that this is completely normal and expected. The only thing I was thankful for was that the 6 hours felt like 6 minutes.
When I got home, Dennis and I shared our interesting days and then headed off to do a bit more errand running, city touring, and galbi eating (yum!).
I spent a majority of the day very confused. But thankfully my previous Korean teaching experience has taught me that this is completely normal and expected. The only thing I was thankful for was that the 6 hours felt like 6 minutes.
When I got home, Dennis and I shared our interesting days and then headed off to do a bit more errand running, city touring, and galbi eating (yum!).
Sunday, March 13, 2011
day two
Our second day here was a Monday and a national holiday, Korean Independence Day. Unfortunately, Dennis had his training day that day, which means I spent all day in our apartment scrubbing the walls, washing dishes, and cleaning the shower stall. Lots of fun.
When Dennis came home, we took a $3 taxi ride to E-mart, which is like a Wal-mart. Taking a taxi back was annoying because, for whatever reason, there are barely any taxis in the area. Compared to the last city we lived in, Daegu, every third car was a taxi.
Then we watched more of The Wire, season one. Good little ghetto drama series. I recommend it, yo.
When Dennis came home, we took a $3 taxi ride to E-mart, which is like a Wal-mart. Taking a taxi back was annoying because, for whatever reason, there are barely any taxis in the area. Compared to the last city we lived in, Daegu, every third car was a taxi.
Then we watched more of The Wire, season one. Good little ghetto drama series. I recommend it, yo.
Mount Pisgah
is the name of the school I'm teaching at. During my phone interview I was told that the school was on a mountain, but really it's more like a hill.
So, we arrived on a Sunday at 2am, tired from our flight, and went to bed ASAP because I had training at 11am that same day. Sounds brutal, but it wasn't as bad as it sounds. I called someone named Scott (using the building security guy's phone) who was to pick me up and drive me to the school. I had no idea who Scott was and no one bothered to tell me who he was, so I just had to trust that this guy was going to take me to the school as promised and not do anything like kill me. Dennis got up with me because he wanted to make sure I was okay and ran errands while I was training. Scott picked me up and I found out he was the head of the after school program, went to high school and university in the States (his English was perfect, accent American), and is married with a 3-month old baby boy.
We picked up one of the other new teachers that just got hired, Kansas Allison, and went on our way. Once at the school (about a 20 minute car ride from my apartment) it was all rush, rush, rush for Scott. But for Allison and I, we pretty much sat there checking our email and Facebook for an hour and a half. Oh, and the school was an absolute mess!! Boxes, paper, piles of crap just everywhere! I was shocked because the first day of the new school year was starting the day after next.
Scott finally got his stuff together and "trained" us on how the after school/elementary program worked and gave us a super confusing schedule and even more confusing monthly lesson plan/homework plan. After all his explaining I still had no idea what to do. But I just let it go because from my experience before, you just nod your head and then figure it out later on by asking the other foreign teachers. After Scott's explaining came Ellie's "training". She's our Vice-President. She was supposed to train before Scott, but she came really late. She taught me how the kindergarten/morning program works. Again, I nodded and told her I understood what she was talking about. Then she got up, apologized and left for the day. Apparently she had a date. Haha.
After 4 hours of "training" Scott and our President, Mr. Kim (there's about a billion Mr. Kim's here) brought us to a Chinese Restaurant for some Korean style Chinese food. It was quite yummy. I wanted to take a picture of the food, but I didn't want to embarrass myself during my first day of meeting Scott and Mr. Kim.
I got back to our apartment at around 5:30 and was greeted with a huge hug. Our first day back in Korea. It's pretty crazy that we're doing this again.
So, we arrived on a Sunday at 2am, tired from our flight, and went to bed ASAP because I had training at 11am that same day. Sounds brutal, but it wasn't as bad as it sounds. I called someone named Scott (using the building security guy's phone) who was to pick me up and drive me to the school. I had no idea who Scott was and no one bothered to tell me who he was, so I just had to trust that this guy was going to take me to the school as promised and not do anything like kill me. Dennis got up with me because he wanted to make sure I was okay and ran errands while I was training. Scott picked me up and I found out he was the head of the after school program, went to high school and university in the States (his English was perfect, accent American), and is married with a 3-month old baby boy.
We picked up one of the other new teachers that just got hired, Kansas Allison, and went on our way. Once at the school (about a 20 minute car ride from my apartment) it was all rush, rush, rush for Scott. But for Allison and I, we pretty much sat there checking our email and Facebook for an hour and a half. Oh, and the school was an absolute mess!! Boxes, paper, piles of crap just everywhere! I was shocked because the first day of the new school year was starting the day after next.
Scott finally got his stuff together and "trained" us on how the after school/elementary program worked and gave us a super confusing schedule and even more confusing monthly lesson plan/homework plan. After all his explaining I still had no idea what to do. But I just let it go because from my experience before, you just nod your head and then figure it out later on by asking the other foreign teachers. After Scott's explaining came Ellie's "training". She's our Vice-President. She was supposed to train before Scott, but she came really late. She taught me how the kindergarten/morning program works. Again, I nodded and told her I understood what she was talking about. Then she got up, apologized and left for the day. Apparently she had a date. Haha.
After 4 hours of "training" Scott and our President, Mr. Kim (there's about a billion Mr. Kim's here) brought us to a Chinese Restaurant for some Korean style Chinese food. It was quite yummy. I wanted to take a picture of the food, but I didn't want to embarrass myself during my first day of meeting Scott and Mr. Kim.
I got back to our apartment at around 5:30 and was greeted with a huge hug. Our first day back in Korea. It's pretty crazy that we're doing this again.
Saturday, March 12, 2011
mother nature has attacked Japan... magnitude 8.9
Towards the end of my two hour break at work yesterday I noticed that a few people were posting things on Facebook about an earthquake and tsunami in Japan. I didn't really pay much attention to it because I thought it was just about the quakes they'd had in the past. But then I heard a phone ringing in the staff room and to my surprise it was my itouch. My brother was FaceTime calling me. I answered and he asked if I was alright and I was like, "Yeah, why?". He explained that Japan just had a magnitude 8.4 earthquake. This has now been changed to 8.9. I had to cut the conversation short because the last bell had just rung and if I didn't leave ASAP, the shuttle bus to the subway station would leave without me. They don't wait.
So far the death toll is around 300, but I'm sure it'll continue to grow. It's so terrible. Korea's fine because the earthquake epicenter is on the other side of Japan. There were tsunami warnings for surrounding countries. Don't see any updates for those yet.
My heart goes out to all those there!
So far the death toll is around 300, but I'm sure it'll continue to grow. It's so terrible. Korea's fine because the earthquake epicenter is on the other side of Japan. There were tsunami warnings for surrounding countries. Don't see any updates for those yet.
My heart goes out to all those there!
Thursday, March 10, 2011
apartment
Our apartment is about 85% clean. Hopefully, this weekend if we're not too lazy, we'll finish cleaning the bathroom and front entrance. The rest of the place is as clean as it an be. Rearranging the furniture made the space a lot roomier. Now, if we can somehow convince Dennis' boss to hook us up with a couch in place of the table and chairs we're owed, that would be great.
I know the apartment itself doesn't sound all that wonderful, and compared to home it's not, but it'll do for this year. Our building is pretty awesome. We live in one of three buildings, which all connect on the 2nd and 3rd floors. I think there are 34 floors. We have a security/door guy on the main floor, the second floor has a convenience store, dry cleaner, barber shop, coffee shop, computer store and a bank. The third floor has a Chinese restaurant, Korean restaurant, dentist, mini bakery, and member's gym. If I'm craving ice cream or a chocolate bar or some soju, 5 minutes later and a few floors down I'm satisfied without even stepping foot outside.
I'll try to post a video of the building sometime.
Eggplant on noodles, brisket noodle salad, lemon cheesecake, ovation stick, butter (bun came later)
Snack. I think this was an egg sandwich
Dennis' breakfast
My "breakfast" Seafood noodles. The squid made me cry because it reminded me of one of my nieces. She loves squid.
Shanghai airport restaurant. "Pork" fried rice and some bland broth.
Wonton soup, also quite bland.Wednesday, March 9, 2011
After we landed in Seoul
Dennis' school sent a driver to pick us up from the airport. He could not keep a steady foot on the gas, so the ride was pretty nauseating. Our city, Bundang, is nicely lit up at night. Big, tall buildings, rolling hills and a river, but it was hard to appreciate at 2 in the morning after 14 plus hours of traveling.
One of Dennis' (soon-to-be) co-workers, Jerry, greeted us outside our building. He didn't look too happy to see us, but who would be on a Saturday night (Sunday morning) at 2am? He gave us our key card to enter the building, which didn't work (typical). And there was only one key card for the both of us, which is very inconvenient (typical) since Dennis and I work at different schools and come home at different times. Once on our floor and outside our apartment door, Jerry asked us to enter our code into the keypad, "You guys were told your code, right?" to which we answered, "Nope." Also, typical. Dennis' soon-to-be boss never gave us our door code. But we were able to call him on Jerry's cell phone to get it.
Our initial impression of the apartment... freezing, small and dirty. The guy who just moved out did not clean, was not clean and he left the window wide open. The size, however, was not his fault. Actually, I was okay with the size because my last apartment in Korea was about 200 sq. ft. My expectations were exceeded. Dennis' last apartment was quite big for a foreign teacher's apartment in Korea, so he was pretty disappointed when he saw the size of the new place. I think the dude before us smoked because the walls were black in so many areas. Sick! Probably why he had the window wide open before we got here.
I'm stopping this post here on a count of heartburn... and another episode of The Wire.
One of Dennis' (soon-to-be) co-workers, Jerry, greeted us outside our building. He didn't look too happy to see us, but who would be on a Saturday night (Sunday morning) at 2am? He gave us our key card to enter the building, which didn't work (typical). And there was only one key card for the both of us, which is very inconvenient (typical) since Dennis and I work at different schools and come home at different times. Once on our floor and outside our apartment door, Jerry asked us to enter our code into the keypad, "You guys were told your code, right?" to which we answered, "Nope." Also, typical. Dennis' soon-to-be boss never gave us our door code. But we were able to call him on Jerry's cell phone to get it.
Our initial impression of the apartment... freezing, small and dirty. The guy who just moved out did not clean, was not clean and he left the window wide open. The size, however, was not his fault. Actually, I was okay with the size because my last apartment in Korea was about 200 sq. ft. My expectations were exceeded. Dennis' last apartment was quite big for a foreign teacher's apartment in Korea, so he was pretty disappointed when he saw the size of the new place. I think the dude before us smoked because the walls were black in so many areas. Sick! Probably why he had the window wide open before we got here.
I'm stopping this post here on a count of heartburn... and another episode of The Wire.
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
finally connected...
So, I’m sitting here watching season one of The Wire and drinking my green tea in the comforts of our 500 square foot apartment in Korea. It’s March 8th and I’m finally blogging. We got our Internet connection on Saturday, but I’ve been so busy cleaning, buying stuff we need for our place, going back for more stuff we need for our place because you always realize you need more when you’re actually back at your place… also busy working, trying to understand what the hell is going on at work, and eating out because no matter how much food we buy we’ve been way too tired/lazy to cook. And, for those of you who know me, I’m not a fan of cooking.
Alright, it’s day 10 for me here and this is how it’s been. The flight to Shanghai was long, but I’ve always been fine with long flights. All I need is a book, ipod, earbuds, and a comfy position to fall asleep in. Our four-hour lay over was spent trying to get a wi-fi connection, waiting, eating, and waiting. The 2-hour flight to Seoul sucked because we just wanted to get there. We ended up falling asleep the whole way, got woken up by dinner being served (not sure why because it was midnight), and woke up again when we landed.
Normally, I would continue this post, but it’s 11pm and I require a good, restful 7-8 hours of sleep. What can I say… I’m not 19 anymore.
To be continued…
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