Abbi Sonsaengnim

April 29, 2009


Waiting for the bus to Kid's College with Jonah and Sarah. I am obviously thrilled to be going to work.

Wow...it's been a REALLY long time since I have written last. Three weeks I think...so I have alot to catch you up on. By the way, "Abbi sonsaengnim" means "Abbi teacher." It is what all my kids call me. I have been battling a cold and bronchitis for 2.5 weeks (dang yellow sand), so I haven't really felt like writing after I get done at school. Also, I know this is pretty late, but I hope everyone had a Happy Easter.

Things about Korea (warning: these only have to do with bathrooms) -- 1) It is taboo for a woman to smoke in public...therefore the women's bathroom reeks of smoke and ashes are everywhere. It's pretty gross!! 2) Just because I don't live in a 3rd world country doesn't mean that I don't have to pee in a hole in the floor. Some of the women's bathrooms don't have "western style" toilets...instead they have these things that look like urinals in the floor. The first time I encountered on of these funny little contraptions I was in a subway station and I had to walk out TWICE to make sure I was in the right bathroom. It was really confusing and I didn't want to do it wrong. I thought it might be a little awkward if I asked someone to show me how to use it...so I decided I would just have to suck it up until I could find a REAL toilet. I have since figured out the hole in floor...however these are mainly found in bars. This seems like a HORRIBLE idea to me. I feel like I need to hold my jeans up so they don't touch the floor and I can barely hold myself up because I don't want to touch anything for balance. Needless to say I probably look as awkward as I feel.

Now...on to my crazy life in Korea!!! On Easter weekend Brett and I went to visit my friend Alisia and her husband Jared in Jeomchon.




I worked with Alisia for six months at the coffee shop in Dallas, and they came to SK to teach the same time I did. They live in the middle of SK and their town is really relaxing and much smaller than Incheon...and white people are a hit. Brett and I had to take a 2.5 hour bus ride from Seoul to get there, so we left right after school that Friday (the 10th I think) and we hurried to Seoul as fast as we could to catch the last bus. We made it in time, but the seats were sold out. SO...we had to find a place to stay. Our best plan....go to the expensive Marriott and ask the bus boys if they knew where any cheap motels were. We definitely looked like two hobos...waiting in line with a bunch of hoitie toities while the nice bus boys offered to get us a cab (which was expensive!!!) We found a love motel in the sketchy part of Seoul for about $60 (EXPENSIVE (for here)). We caught the bus the next morning at 6 and got to Jeomchon at about 8:30am. Then we caught another bus at 10:30 with Jared and Alisia and went to Andong for the day. This place is famous for its mask festival in September (we obviously missed that.) Oh, and the Queen visited Andong once too (if you care.) They are also famous for some traditional meal that I can't pronounce.





We ate it...I didn't like it...but I can say I've tried it. While we were there we also crossed the longest footbridge in SK.






It was really pretty and there were a ton of cherry blossoms blooming. (The cherry blossoms only bloom for 1.5 wks in the year and then they fall off and you don't see them until next year. So it's a really big deal to see them.)

That night we all went to a jimjilbang because Jared and Alisia hadn't experienced one yet....AND it only costs about $7 to stay there. It wasn't my idea...as I was starting to get sick and I would have rather splurged than to sleep on the floor, but I'm a good sport. After about 1 hr in the women's bathroom, we all met up in the common/"sleeping"/eating/noisy area. All the Korean kids found us in a heartbeat and followed us around shouting out all the English words they knew. They annoyed me at first...that was until they started to tell me how pretty and beautiful I was. I decided they could follow me wherever they wanted. The lights stayed on until 2am and the next morning (Easter morning) I wanted to die. I was SOOO sick, couldn't breathe, and I was dripping sweat because the floor heater was set somewhere around 115 degrees F all night. All in all though Easter was pretty nice. Alisia cut my hair, and we had a really good Easter lunch - Chicken galbi.



It's some sort of barbecued chicken that is in a big sauce pan with cabbage and sweet potatoes and sauce. It's my new fav!! Not sure if I've told you how Koreans eat, but it is always family style. I love it!!! Everyone eats from one big dish in the center of the table....and it's so much fun!! (I get the occasional hand cramp from chop sticks though...lol.)

The next weekend (4/17-4/19) was not very eventful for me. I was sooooo sick. That Friday Brett and I went to our Korean friend Yumi's birthday dinner (galbi)



...and afterwards Bill and Jess came to Incheon and went out with us.



All of the English teachers were supposed to go hike a mountain with our principal, but I felt so bad on Sat that I opted out. I saw pictures and it looked beautiful and like a lot of fun. Instead I stayed in bed all day and watched Mulan with Korean subtitles.

I finally went to the doctor on the 23rd (after being miserable for almost 2wks). HA-HA-HA. AWKWARD. I couldn't really talk to anyone there, but I knew what cough and sneeze was in Korean...and I figured the Dr. probably knew green and yellow. So I figured those words, along with my newfound acting skills, could get the point across. They took me into what looked like the Dr.'s actual office and you sit across from him at a desk. Then you tell him/act out what is wrong, and in the middle of talking some strange woman just lifts your shirt up without warning from behind. Turns out the dr. wanted to listen to my lungs....but geez they could have acted it out to show me before they just did it. I would pay money to see the look on my face when that happened. It was nice though bc the Dr.'s visit and my prescription combined only cost about $15.

Last weekend (4/24-4/26) started out as a "we're gonna take it easy" weekend. That was just a curse. Brett got a call from Bill on Friday and the next thing I knew I was packing for 2 days. Friday we went out in Hongdae (party central in Seoul).






We met a lot of new friends and had a blast!!! Then Saturday, Brett, Bill, Dave and I went to Lotte World (this huge indoor amusement park) and went bowling. After 5 straight rounds of gutter balls I finally got in the swing of things. Dave ended up owing me 500 won (about 50 cents). Get this...they have a real shooting range in this indoor childrens wonderland...and you don't have to have a license - it's cheap - and you can pick from an array of handguns. Watch out North Korea!!!


The children's wonderland. (There were hot air balloon rides going around the top.)


We ran into Angelina at the shooting range.

The next day (Sunday) was sooo much fun!! Bill has a scooter (don't let the wimpy name fool you...those things can go) and I got to drive it (only in a parking lot of course.) I looked like an amateur. Lucky Bill and Brett didn't see me tump it over when I tried to turn, or accidentally take off when I tried to stop. However, one Korean man got a kick of it and he stopped his car and rolled down his window to laugh at me while I tried to lift the heavy thing back up. We also turned alot of heads when we all three piled on to ride to the subway station.



That day in Insadong, they were celebrating Buddha's birthday. We met up with a bunch of friends and went to enjoy the festivities at the "Lotus Lantern Festival."



They had tents lined up an entire street and you could do all sorts of things.



You could make all sorts of crafts such as a lotus lantern (go figure), these Buddhist bracelet things (made one but don't know the significance), or you could do stuff like tea meditation.


Tea meditation


A Korean tradional dancer


A really cool drum show

There were so many things to do that I didn't get to do it all. That night at 7pm they had a huge lantern parade. It was awesome. It was just like something you would see on Mulan or the travel channel. They even had those huge Asian dragon floats that spit REAL fire.






It was a huge step up from the Athens homecoming parade. It lasted 3 hours but we only stayed for 1. Last weekend was AWESOME.

We have off work May 4th and 5th because the 5th is Children's day. SOOOOO.....we are going to Beijing, China this weekend ( 5/2-5/5). Yay!!!!!!!

Korea's got Seoul

April 9, 2009

Just a note...as I write this I am watching the dreaded "Yellow Sand" roll in. Not sure if I mentioned about this before, but the yellow sand is really fine dust-like sand that blows in a few times in the spring from the Gobi desert in China. It's supposed to be bad for your health so when you walk outside you see everyone wearing those goofy looking masks. P.S.--I'm wearing one of those goofy masks now (even though I'm indoors...my throat hurts...better safe than sorry.)



I got the mask free with my KFC meal. That's right I have found the Kentucky Fried Chicken in Incheon!!!

Things about Korea: Stirrup pants are in style here. I see so many women wearing them. The only difference between Korean stirrup pants and those that were in style in the 80's and 90's is that the Korean ones are more like stirrup tights and less like pants. Everyone here is into "well-being." The advertising companies have a "hey day" with this word. Also, everyone is also really into looking at themselves. It is almost impossible to find an elevator that isn't completely covered in mirrors. It's funny to watch everyone fix their hair everytime they get in.

This past week was extremely busy. On Monday I had open class in Kindergarten. This is where the parents can sit in on the class and watch how their kids are doing. So I went to school on Monday dressed nice and ready for the open class to take place the last twenty minutes of my last class with them. I knew I needed to make extra sure that I had a good class planned at that time. Somehow I managed to spend all my time preparing for that class only and I didn't really prepare for my other classes. BIG MISTAKE!! When I walked into my first class (empty handed...planning to wing it), Jeney's mom was sitting in the classroom. Whoever thought that you could conduct a class with 3 and 4 year olds was crazy, and then if they thought you could do it with parents in the room they must have been on drugs. Jeney would not leave her mom's side and all she said was "no" when I asked her to do something. Then I had Peter doing whatever it is that Peter does (this usually means he is rolling on the floor, shouting spider man and doing the spider crawl, or hanging on my leg and trying to eat my pants. Jeney's mom stayed for 2 classes (guess she didn't get the memo about coming to the last 20 min. of the last class.) When she finally left, Jeney would not quit screaming. Why did I get stuck with the crybabies??

Peter's mom and grandad came like they were supposed to...during the last class. I was prepared. It was story time so I had planned to read The Very Hungry Caterpillar and then we were going to do a caterpillar craft. My nerves were calm and I was relaxed. Then in walks Peters family.......with the camera. All I could think was "oh CRAP." (I'm a little camera shy). Peter thought that this was great though and he was hamming it up. He kept laughing and he said everything he knew English. He made me so proud. Jeney was pretty quiet, but she spoke when I asked her to say something. By the end of the class (thanks to the camera) I was suffering from a severe case of dry mouth (the kind that makes your lips stick to your teeth), and my chest was all red and splotchy. I was very pleased with how everything turned out though.

This past week I have lost two kids...Peter and L-King....but I have gained 4 new kids. Peter left because there is a new after school English program at his Korean school, and L-King told his parents he needed to take a couple months off because he was too stressed out from the vocabulary tests they have to take each week....lame. I got a new girl in that class (primary 4:05-5:30) named Jenna.


(Kelly's on the left...Jenna is on the right.)



She actually went to Kid's College before and she is coming back. In my beginner class I got a new student named Marcus.


(Bruno, Alice, Marcus)

He is way ahead of my other students. He is already reading...so I am not sure what he is doing in my class. In my kindergarten class I got 2 new students, Luke and Brian.


Luke


Brian

They are very smart and know some English already. Luke is the quiet sensitive one and Brian is the goofy bully-ish one. (So far!)

I am torn about getting new students in my kindergarten class. One the one hand I think it is good for Jeney and Peter because there is more of a classroom structure now, and they see the new two kids and they want to act like they can do the same things as Brian and Luke. However, Jeney and Peter won't get as much attention and as much one on one time as they were. It makes me sad too because Peter is always off in Peterland and sometimes he tries to play with the new kids but he is kind of rough. Brian and Luke then try to retaliate and swat Peter away but in doing so it trips something in Peter's head and he has one of his freak out moments. It's really alot to deal with, but I think I can manage.

Brett and I started a gym this week too. That's right...started a G-Y-M. As much as I like Paris Baguette, I don't like to look at it every morning in the mirror. I guess I can't brag about it too much though because I have only been 3 times. I figure chasing kids around all day counts for some kind of exercise.

We went to Itaewon (the foreigners ghetto in Seoul) this past weekend and did a LOT of walking.


(The subway ride there.)

We went to the N. Seoul Tower with is located on Namsan Mountain and is kind of like the Space Needle and Empire State building.



You take a big elevator to the top and look out over Seoul.




(It was a hazy day, but this is the view from the top!!)





We got there during the day and decided to stay and look at everything at night when it is all lit up.




Cool picture I took. (It's some man made out of wire hanging from the sky by the tower)

I must say that night was much more entertaining. We decided a good way to entertain ourselves while we waited the hour for the sun to go down would be to sing all the rap songs we knew....COOL!! (Really we probably only KNOW a total of two rap songs...so we made up the lyrics to the ones that we weren't sure what they say.)

That night we went to a bar and stayed to late and that subway closed so we were forced to find a place to stay in Itaewon. All the hotels were full so we had our first experience with a jimjilbang. These are public bath houses that you can stay the night in for approx. $7. Here is the gist of it.....Girls go one way and guys go the other. You better not be modest because you walk into a room with a bunch of naked people and there are a bunch of different mineral baths for you to get in. We got to the jimjilbang a 3am...and there were still a bunch of bare butts getting in the big bath tubs. It's an experience. When you are finished bathing or whatever, you have to put on this awful uniform jumpsuit thing to walk around in. The guys and girls all have the same uniform. Its a big t-shirt and short set...kind of looks like scrubs. I was soooo tired that night and I couldn't wait to get to sleep, but you only get $7 worth of bed. I had to sleep in a big room with EVERYONE at the jimjilbang...on a straw mat on the EXTREMELY hot heated floor. Some people were lucky enough to get a huge hard as a rock, square foam pillow. I wasn't one of them...I woke up with straw line marks etched in my face. They were probably etched in my face for a good half of a day.


Store sign in Itaewon. Good example of Konglish (Korean attempt at English).

It was a fun weekend though....definetely an experience. This weekend Brett and I are going to see my friend Alisia who used to work with me at Saxby's. She and her husband are here teaching english as well. Can't wait to see her. I will send you an update after we get back!!! I love you all! Happy Easter!!

P.S.--the Cherry Blossoms are blooming!!!!!!

Kimchi and Pickles

March 29, 2009



I guess I'll start like last time by telling you some of the different things I have noticed about Koreans. One thing (as I think I have mentioned before) is that there are pickles everywhere. Everytime you sit down to eat you get an unlimited amount of pickles (they taste like the American equivalent of bread and butter pickles). If you don't get pickles then you get pickled something else...like pickled radishes and such. Funny thing is, they throw pickles at you like there's no tomorrow, but they are EXTREMELY stingy with the water!! If you go in a restaurant and ask for a coke, then you get a normal size cup FILLED UP to the top. If you ask for water, then you get a kiddie cup and they only fill it up halfway! WHAT'S UP WITH THAT?!? Many restaurants have a self serve water looking thing (like the Ozarka office jugs), but the cups are still kiddie size. We usually take a few for each of us and fill them to the brim. Koreans must not like to wash their food down when they eat!

Another thing that I have noticed is that EVERYONE (men & women) spit!! This means you better watch where you are walking...even inside buildings and down in the subway. Today I had a duck and cover moment when I heard some man behind me hawking away.....GROSS!!

I was talking to Brett last night, and I pointed out that Korean/Asian men don't really grow facial hair. (this is a bummer for me because I find it fairly attractive.) He responded by saying, "Apparently they don't grow arm hair either because my students are fascinated with mine, and they always want to pet it." I could not quit laughing! I'll check out their legs this summer and let you know if they have leg hair.

This past Monday, Brett was REALLY sick. He went to the doctor and took Monday off from school. I found out at 9:30 am, as I was walking into my class that I was going to have to take over Brett's kindergarten class (10 6 yr. olds) and combine my Primary class with his. I had NOTHING prepared. Turns out Kid's College made a promise to the parents that only foreign teachers will teach the kids. As there are only five of us, it really isn't easy if someone misses. I have filled in for Brett now twice (once when he had his physical) and Laura once (when she was sick). They owe me BIG!!!

Last week was ALOT better with my Kindergarten class (Peter & Jeney). Peter only had one crying fit (Fri.), and I have noticed a difference in him. I think he is really trying. He has opened up a little more, and for some reason he has gone the complete opposite way and is soooo clingy. He always wants to do that thing were they sit on your foot and hang on to your leg so you can't walk. Annoying. Jeney continues to taunt Peter too. She is constantly bossing him around and saying "aegi, aegi" (which means "baby, baby.") This obviously doesn't help anything, so I have been working on making her call him by his name. She is really cute though because when Peter gets upset she is always trying to help him and she repeats exactly what I say to him. Also, there is a little spider thing that we give him and it helps him calm down...Jeney is always the first to run and get it when Peter gets upset. She has caught on to "okay" and when I ask her to do something she says "okay, okay, okay" repeatedly.

On Wednesday, my Korean helper told me that Peter's mom was going to come up to the school to talk to the manager and to look in on the class. I wasn't sure if I should be worried about this or not. I went to talk to Michelle at the end of the day to find out what his mom said, and apparently she was so pleased with how far he has come in one month that she wanted to personally tell them. She said that when Peter gets home he says things like "see you tomorrow," "good morning," "yummy," "good," etc etc. Oh, and I forgot to tell you he can kinda sing the ABC song and he really loves the eentsy weentsy spider song (surprise surprise.)


This weekend Brett and I had a BLAST! We went to Insa-dong on Saturday, which is a district in Seoul that has a lot of traditional Korean stores.



We saw Buddhist temple (Jogyesa Temple)



...and we also saw one of the largest royal palace in Seoul called Gyeongbokgung Palace.











(Don't ask me to pronounce it.) It was pretty cool....completely different from anything I have ever seen. We took a lot of pictures. I also tried some street food......grilled baby octopus (kinda gross...tasted like the ocean)!!!




My other option was larvae.



I might be adventurous, but I wasn't that adventurous...I opted for the safer of the two!!

Today (Sunday), we went to Chinatown in Incheon.






It is the only official Chinatown in South Korea. While there we went to a lookout and saw then Incheon Port



(...which happens to be where General MacArthur landed during the Korean War), and we saw Jayoo Park ("The First Korean Park of Western Style" <---whatever that means). The park had a really big statue of MacArthur.

We had a really good time this weekend....lots of laughs. Oh, and we met Jolynn (the teacher we replaced). She's really nice. She goes back to the U.S. tomorrow. Anyway, keep in touch. I love you all!!!

P.S.-- the kimchi is growing on me!!!!