My First Thanksgiving (in Korea)

This is my first Thanksgiving in Korea. It was different celebrating it here. Since Korea doesn't celebrate Thanksgiving, we worked on Thursday. It made it feel like it was just another day even though your head is telling you its a holiday. It was kinda of a strange feeling. I did talk to my family back home though. But we couldn't just let Thanksgiving pass by without celebrating in some way. So a group of us went to TGI Fridays. It guess that was as American as we could make it. It was a fun night.

But the Saturday after Thanksgiving was our real celebration. Our church had a big dinner for everyone in our English church. There are a lot of foreigners there and Koreans too. We even got to eat Turkey, stuffing, pumpkin pie and Popeyes mash potatoes and coslaw. There were even some Korean food like Kim-bop (which is rice and meat wrapped up in a seaweed) and spicy rice cakes. For dessert we had pumpkin pie, cheesecake, apple pie and lots of other stuff. There was so much food!!! But the fun thing was we ate with chopsticks. Let me tell you, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauces and coslaw were not made to be eaten with chopsticks.

Like I said before, there were lots of foreigners there. A few go the church but others were just invited but people from the church. We had Jenny and Robert's friends up from Daegu (which is about 2 1/2) hours away) there too. It was fun to get to meet fellow teachers and find out how long they had been in Korea and where they taught. There is something about being strangers in a foreign country that creates a comraderie. Its like we understand the frustrations and joys of living away from our home countries. We also have stories to share about things that have happened or humerous things kids say. It was nice to enjoy that company tonight.

I have to say that this felt more like Thanksgiving than the actually Thanskgiving day did. Our pastor even talked about doing a Christmas dinner for expats since this one went so well. We will have to see. But enough about holidays and food for now.

LotteWorld

So we had another fieldtrip at the kindergarten today. We had originally been told that we were going to a farm. But it turns out that plans changed and we went to Lotteworld. Lotteworld is a huge amusment park. We traveled by bus about 45 minutes to get there. The kids were super hyped about going. Once we got there I was totally amazed. This place was huge. It had three levels below the main floor and three levels below. It also had three different nice sized rollarcoasters, a waterride, a 3-d theater, all sorts of kiddie rides, a Viking Swining Boat Ride, restaurants,a  huge stage and an ice skatting rink to name a few.


Once we got there, we rode a few of the kiddie rides with the kids. There were alot of other schools there too. Everyone with each school group had a matching (very bright) outfits on. It was crowded but we had passes so we got on the rides pretty quickly. The kids were hilarious to watch. They are so dramatic anyway but on these rides they were overly dramatic.


Then lunch time came. The kids brought thier lunches just like any typical fieldtrip. Except, here in Korea, kids don't bring sandwiches they bring "kim-bop". Its like the Korean version of a sandwich. Its actually seeweed with rice and a variety of other things in teh middle. So you can have kim bop with ham, or cheese, pineaple, shrimp, veggies etc. And guess what? The teachers had kim-bop too for lunch. It might sound weird but its actually really good.  But one thing doesnt change about lunches. The kids brought their desserts. Soon, the kids were trading snacks and arguing over who won rock-paper-scissors to get the last snack,


After lunch is when the fun began. We we got to go on the fun rides like the Viking Boat (which a gigantic boat that swings like a pendulum pretty high in the air), a 3-d movie ride through a Pharoah's tomb, a spinning cup ride and several others. I wanted to take some of the older kids on one or two of the bigger rollercoasters but Hannah veto'd that. Too bad, though. I think the kids would have liked that.


It was a fun day. One things, I was was really shocked at (and happy to see) that kids never once begged for treats, candy or toys. (And there were plenty there). They didn't complain about not getting to ride something and were very well behaved. I was pretty proud of our kids.


But we did wear them out. On the way home, a lot of the younger ones fell asleep. I think I even saw some of the teachers nodding off, too. I took some pics of all the sleepers but unfortunately my picture card was corrupted and I only saved a few pics. But it was fun but I am exhausted from all the fun of today. I think I'm ready for bed.

Pics of Family Hiking Day with the Kindergarten

 This is our English Friends Banner. We had a bit of trouble getting

a spot because lot of other Kindergartens had the same idea

we had. But we got a spot and the day went well.

We brought projects from each class and hung them 

up for everyone to see 

The kids and there parents were split into teams. Each team

started up the mountain at different times. The hike was split into courses.

At each course the team had to do an activity such as play a game,

recite a tongue twister or sing a song. This game was "dibi, dibi dib"

which is like our Rock Paper Scissors. 

Eric, one of my fellow teachers, being his usually

self- a clown....

We let the kids in several songs.

The kids singing

Jenny Black and Ben ready to give the speed quiz

at the 3rd course

Noah wearing a leaf crown that he made for one of the courses

Molly just resting

Alex and his grandma writing an acrostic for the

word Hiking for one of the courses

Jack is just adorable and full of life. He was grinning

after getting his face painted

The end of our hike was at a large open area where

we had a picnic and games. Here Jack is attempting to

hula hoop. He was so funny because he didn't know how. He

would just wiggle his body like a snake.

Can't say I would do much better, Jack!

Picnic Time! Korean picnics are great! The food is wonderful

and nothing like we would have in the states. We all laid out

these mats to sit on. Then we took off our shoes and sat down to eat.

Taking off the shoes is common here in Korea. We had beef bulgogi

(a beef mixture with spices and onions) over rice

which was wonderful!!!!

Game Time! This was a true or false game. The teachers

would read questions and the team had to run to the X if the anwer

was false or O if the answer was true. The questions were about the teachers.

For example, I think one question was "Are Jenny and Kristin sisters?"

A balloon stealing game

For being so little, Mel was sure good at

stealing balloons

I think this was the game that two people had to pop

a ballon by hugging it between them. The team that popped

their ballons the fastest one.

The teachers and Rainbow Class

Yellow Class

Red Class

Ocean Class

The Fast Life

Wow, its been a while since I have blogged. I was inspired by my friend Jenny (who just recently blogged- www.thriftstoredress.blogspot.com) to write again. Life here has been busy. A lot has happened in the last few weeks. Let start with a church picnic. I attend an English service at a local church. They have outings once a month. We went to Incheon which a suburb of Seoul. It was gorgeous. We went to a recreation center of sorts. They small huts to drink coffee and relax in and a large picnic area. We were surrounded by the gorgeous mountains. We grilled out Korean style. Its different than our American style but the food is wonderful. We roasted pork and duck. We also ate kimchi, fruit, and rice. It was a nice relaxing day surrounded by new friends.

Another thing that has happened recently has been a family hiking day with the kindergarten. This past Saturday we went to Dobong Mountain and met the families there. The hiking is a bit different than in the States. There are large unpaved paths up the mountain. Lots of people hike here, so you join the crowd moving up and down the mountain. It is absolutely gorgeous!! Unfortunately, I forgot my camera but I hope to get pictures from Jenny. We even walked by a large Buddihst temple. It was large and ornate. You could go in and get pictures. It was amazing. The scenery was great. The leaves are changing here so it made for a great hike.

The hike was split into courses. The kids and their parents were split into  teams. Each teams hiked a bit then stopped at each course. At some courses, they had to play a game, recite tongue twisters or sing a song to complete there "mission". Then they got a stamp on a card and continued up the mountain. Then after 5 courses we stoped for lunch, played more games in a big clearing area and took pictures. It was so fun. The teachers and parents had as  much fun as the kids did. We also brought the kids class projects. We hung them along the hiking trail so everyone could see their work. It was a lot of work making them and then lugging the stuff up and down the mountain but it was worth it.

Overall, I am starting to adjust little by little to Korean life. Life here is starting to fall into a routine. I keep pretty busy with various projects and work from the school but I can't complain. Its hard to believe that I have been over a month. A new teacher arrived just last Saturday and moved in with me. I have been trying to help her out. We will be moving to our other bigger apartment this weekend. I am so excited!!!!! I will try to post pics as soon as I can. Well, its about time for me to head home so thats all for now.

School of Thought

So I am here to teach. What is school like in South Korea? Well, kinda different than in the States. I teach in a Kindergarten/Hogwan. Children can enroll in Kindergarten at age 5 which is really like our 4 since they count ages differently. We have four levels that kids can be. They can be in our school four years. Each class is called something different. From youngest to oldest, the classes are Rainbow, Yellow, Red, and Ocean. There are both English teachers and Korean teachers. Usually every English teacher has a Korean counterpart. I teach Math, pictionary (vocab), listening, phone/situation English, and story. The kindergarten classes run from 10:00am to 3:00pm. They include a lot of other classes like phonics, gym, music etc but I'm not sure what all they are since I don't teach those.

I come in about 9:30 every day. Since I am not a morning person, this is great for me. Our classes are 35 minutes long for each session. The kids usually stay in one classroom and the teachers just rotate. We usually to three classes in the morning and lunch at 11:35. At lunch, the directors wife's mother cooks the food for us. Its great food. I think this is why I love Korean food so much. We get great homecooking every day. Each child brings a tin tray. It looks like a miniature cafeteria tray chopsticks. (Yes everybody eats with chopsticks! I am learning how to use them but it can be well... interesting at the best of times) We serve the food in the classroom. After lunch and playtime, we have what they called Mother Goose Time. This is just story time in each classroom. We read books to the students for about 10 minutes. Though recently, we have been practing English stories and speeches for a local English contest coming up.

In the afternoon, the kids have about 4 more classes before they leave at three. After three is what we call hogwan. Kids from different schools in the area come for English lessons. They are in a variety of different subjects and levels. There are a lot more teachers both English and Korean that work here. I would say there are about 10-13 or more teachers in the Hogwan. Where as in the Kindergarten there is only about 5 teachers and 20 kids. I teach several classes ranging from 2 first grade boys to a group of 6th grade boys to one private student who is a college student. These classes are 45 minutes long. We do everything from English diaries, read newspapers, phonics work, workbooks etc to learn English.

On Tuesday and Thursdays, I do one Kindergarten class at another school. Its about a 25 minute walk to the schoool. Its a beautiful walk through back streets and a tree covered park and pathway. The school its huge. I've never seen a elementary school/middle complex so big. I teach a small afterschool English class to kindergarten. They are adorable but unfortunatly don't speak a lot of English. So they mostly repeat what I say or just stare at me. But they love to sing. So we sing lots in English.

My day ends at 6:00. Its a busy day but fulfilling. I love teaching the kids. They are energetic but very loveable. The kindergarten kids are the best. The stuff they come up with sometimes can be funny sometimes. For example, I was drawing stick figures of the class to teach the kids the word "most". I drew a stick figure of myself along with them. One child said very innocently "Teacher, why did you draw yourself small like that. You are very wide." and then spread his hands out to show me. I just had to laugh. Kids are still kids no matter what side of the world your on. Well, thats all for now folks.

Being a "Way-Gook-En"

Living here means waking up everyday to a new adventure. It can be exciting, frustrating, overwhelming, and then just plain ordinary. I really think I am very lucky to be living here and getting to experience Korea. Here, foreigners are considered "Way-Gook-En". Foreigners tend to stick out like a sore thumb especially where I live. There are not many foreigners living in northern part of Seoul where I am teaching. People here don't stare at you directly but you can feel them looking at you. If you look at them, they will be looking in another direction. But turn back around and you can feel them looking at you again. Sometimes I try to catch somone looking at me. Childish, I know but but amusing. There will be people who stare openly at you but those are few and far between. This is a very polite society.

To get places there a few modes of transportation but mostly you walk. I walk everywhere I go except if its really really far. The school where I work is about 5 minutes walk. The grocery store, and open marker about the same. To get some of the bggere stores like Home Plus, Lotte, or Cosco (which are like a JC Penny, a K-Mart and Wal-mart) can take anywhere from 20-30 minutes. We can also take a taxi or a bus. The bus costs about 900 Won (.90 cents) and a taxi starts around 2,400 Won ($2.40). For the transportation, you can either pay in cash or you can get a T-money card. Its a card that you fill up with cash and you can use it to pay for tranportation. You swipe the card in the cab or bus and it takes off what you use. I thought that was so cool.

I hope to you be able to use the transportation soon but I'm still a little scared too. I don't know any Korean yet. You have to be able to understand the stops or tell the cabbie where to go. I don't feel very confortable doing this yet. But Jen told me that it was very easy to learn and very safe. I'm not very confortable trying it yet. I really don't want to end up at the other end of Seoul quite yet.

One of things I have been learning here is how to get around. This neigborhood has lots of high riser apartment neighbors. It also has street after street crowded with neon lights, restaurants, salons, stores etc. To me, everything looks the same. So I get lost a lot and I do mean a ton. The probably is the street signs are in Korean, everything looks the same, and its very easy to get on a wrong street and get turned around. Robert keeps assuring me that I will eventually get a grid in my head and be able to find things but I'm not so sure.

When you do get lost, you can't always find someone to help you. People here, especially the older people, don't speak much English. Somtimes you can find a place or a word that helps them to understand and help you. Many times communication is pointing, sign language and body language to get understood. A couple of days ago, I was going to Home Plus (a large store) and I got terribly lost. I just went up to people and startings saying "Home Plus?" They would point me in the right direction. But one guy started waxing eloquent in Korean. He must have been giving me detailed directions but I didn't understand a word. I just nodded and smiled, then nodded and smiled some more. At the end, smiled and thanked him. I had no idea what he told me but I understand he pointed straight ahead.  I guess that part of adjusting to life here. Ahh the joys of being a "Way-Gook-En"

Welcome to Seoul

So I decided to start a blog for everyone who wants to know what it is like to live and work in a foreign country. Can't say how regularly I will update this but I will try. So how would I describe this experiences so far. In one word, INTERESTING!!! I love it here in Seoul. I have only been here about three days so far but my experience has been a great one.


The flight here to Seoul takes about 14 hours. Luckily, the flight wasn't too crowded and it was a smooth flight. An interesting note though, to fly to Korea you fly north to the Artic then over the sea to Russia. Then you fly south through Russia, China and then down into Korea. The temperture in the air was -80 degrees. The plane was just a bit chilly.


After I got here, I met with the driver who spoke no English. He was a nice man who seemed to want to talk with me but we just lacked the communication. That was a very strange feeling not being able to talk to someone. But we drove the hour trip into Seoul. Where I am staying is the very, very northern tip of Seoul. We are almost out of Seoul actually. The lanscape here actually reminds me of Tennesse a bit. Its very hilly and beautiful. There are some georgeous mountains that I can see from my house. I told my mom that its a lot like Tennesse except with out the rednecks. (Sorry, all my friends from TN. Just couldn't help that one :-) )


The city is very modern, lots of skyscapers everywhere. Its kind of a cross between the modern world and the old world. There are lots of restaurants and shops along with open air markets. There are mom and pop shops next to Burger King and Starbucks. Its a very lively place and lots of people walk everywhere. The neighborhood where I live reminds me a lot of an old neighborhood in New York City. Its has that feel to it. I live in an apartment just a few blocks from where I am teaching at English Friends Academy. My next door neighbors are Jenny and Robert Black. They are fellow Americans and teachers where I work. They have been very kind in showing me around and helping me get the hang of stuff.


The school where I teach is a Kindergarten/Hogwan. In the morning, I teach Kindergarten classes. The kids range from 5-7 years old, Korean ages which is like 4-6 in our ages. They count the time in the womb as living so when a baby is born they are 1 years old. I teach a variety of classes such as story, conversation, picture dictionary (aka vocab), and phone English (how to understand English when talking on the telephone which can be very different than talking to someone in person. In the afternoon, I teach the "hogwan" which literally means classes. In Korea, there are hogwans for everything like swimming, piano or sports. Parents send their kids to these afterschool classes. I teach in the English hogwan. I teach a variety of subjects to different level classes,


At lunch, we eat with the kids. I love Korean food. I had never tried it till I got here. Its very, very spicy. They eat lots of rice, seaweed, and seafood (like squid). Before you get all grossed out, its actually very good. Seaweed is usually dried and salted so its like eating a very thin salty cracker of sorts. They also eat kimchi which is a spicy cabbage in a sauce. Its very very hot!!! I mean like burn your mouth, make your nose water hot. It reminds me of a spicy coleslaw. The Koreans also love pork. Lots of their restuarants they have low tables with a burner in the middle. You fried your food on the burner at the table. Also, when you sit on the ground to eat usually. The tables are very low  and you sit indian style. You also have to take off your shoes when you enter a restuarant (or many places like a home).


The people here are very nice, polite and helpful. They don't overtly stare at you because you are a foreigner but you do kinda feel them looking at you. The Korean word for foreigner is "Way-gook-en". You do here that a lot when you pass by. Where we live there are not a lot of foreigners. Though in Seoul, there a lot of ex-pats (Americans living abroad) here. I really stand out here because of my dark skin and hair. This is the first country where I stand out so much because of my looks. Its kinds of funny/weird at times but I am starting to get used to it. You can talk with people here. Most people speak at least a little Engligh. English is very big here.


There are so many things to talk about but for now I will leave off. I will try to post pics both here and on my facebook so check them out. Until then, 안녕 (goodbye) from Korea!