We had our school end of year dinner on Wednesday night, which meant going to a local Korean restaurant which served eel. This was my first time having eel, and I have to say it was really delicious. I'd always thought that there was something a little offputting about eating eel, which is probably silly because it's just another type of fish, right? Well I am definitely turned around on the subject, because it's probably about my third most favourite dish that I've had here.
School dinners are always a bit of a challenge to be anticipated with a vague feeling of dread. This is mostly due to the fact that nobody speaks English, so I spend the two to three hours trying to look interested in a conversation that I can't understand whilst desperately trying to find ways to make the floor a more comfortable place to sit. There's also a lot of etiquette to be observed, mostly regarding the drinks. I haven't quite nailed it to be honest, so I have resorted to just drinking water, which means that I don't have to worry about toasting people just to take a sip, and I can pour for myself and not have to worry too much if other people's drinks are getting low although I should probably still pour them a drink if their glass is empty - it's a definite pheux pas to leave someone's glass empty.
Finally there's the difficulty of actually eating the food; don't get me wrong, I think that I have become fairly accomplished with the use of chopsticks, but there is nothing quite like having to reach across the table with your chopsticks to pick up some jelly-like morsel that will just not stay on your chopsticks. Time slows, and you start to sweat as you become convinced that the entire table is staring at you as you struggle to pick the damn thing up, but instead you're just mashing it into an unrecognizable lump that you eventually have to spear onto one chopstick and pray that it doesn't slide off on its way back to your plate. Korean style eating means lots of small dishes on the table that everyone shares, not your own meal, so I spend most of the dinner holding my breath each time I go for another bite. I probably shouldn't worry so much; the other teachers are incredibly kind to me and I doubt that they ever think a bad thing about my chopstick exertions. That's what I console myself with anyway.
On another note I got another care package from the library guys last night, so exciting! The box was already falling apart, so I pretty much ripped it to shreds to get at the goodies inside. Thank you so much guys, I was so happy to be able to put some Christmas cards up and I was getting pretty desperate for something to read. I will have to pace myself on the lollies as about half of them disappeared in the excitement last night :-)
Friday, December 24, 2010
Monday, December 20, 2010
Last week of school
Yay! It's the last week of school - can you believe they work right up until Christmas??? And who knew when we were at school that the teachers were looking forward to the last day as much as we were? The crazy thing about Korean schools is that the kids have all taken their final exams about 2 weeks ago, so they have been totally over school since then and have been a nightmare to do anything with. Pretty much every class starts with some kid asking "Movie??" to which I answer "Yeah right"; this causes some excitement until they work out that this means no.
The other strange thing about Korean schools is that this isn't considered the end of year; they will have five weeks holiday, then come back for two weeks, then the school closes again for Spring Break - and that's the end of the year, so goodbye grade six's then. I will be ecstatic to see most of them go, all except for this one class (in the photo) which for some reason is totally awesome. The other grade six classes are about as excited about English as I am to go to the dentist, but for some reason this class is a lot of fun. So in a ploy to get everybody's photo I made them make pretend yearbooks today and had everyone write each other messages in English in them (hey, it's kind of educational). We took a class photo and photocopied it and stuck it on the front of the yearbooks, which ended up being kind of cool. The kids totally got into it, and my favorites (yes, I'm not ashamed of it. I totally have favorites) all came and asked me to write something in theirs which was really nice. This does not mean by the way that I am in any way budging from my original opinion that kids are scary and ought to be kept away from, but some of the little buggers might be okay.
The other strange thing about Korean schools is that this isn't considered the end of year; they will have five weeks holiday, then come back for two weeks, then the school closes again for Spring Break - and that's the end of the year, so goodbye grade six's then. I will be ecstatic to see most of them go, all except for this one class (in the photo) which for some reason is totally awesome. The other grade six classes are about as excited about English as I am to go to the dentist, but for some reason this class is a lot of fun. So in a ploy to get everybody's photo I made them make pretend yearbooks today and had everyone write each other messages in English in them (hey, it's kind of educational). We took a class photo and photocopied it and stuck it on the front of the yearbooks, which ended up being kind of cool. The kids totally got into it, and my favorites (yes, I'm not ashamed of it. I totally have favorites) all came and asked me to write something in theirs which was really nice. This does not mean by the way that I am in any way budging from my original opinion that kids are scary and ought to be kept away from, but some of the little buggers might be okay.
Thursday, December 16, 2010
Layering up
We had our coldest day yet yesterday, something around -11 degrees. The kids were telling me it was even colder, but I suspect that they like to exaggerate even more than I do. I do know however that it was -9 when I left work at quarter to five in the afternoon. I've become completely obsessive about checking the hourly temperature here - kinda like us Darwinites in the wet season, checking the rainfall patterns. Except here it's "wow, -5!" "Wow! -8!" or "WOW! -10!!!" only I'm not saying wow (insert expletive of your choice).
So I am becoming quite the expert at layering up - there are exactly 6 different tops on under that jacket that I'm wearing in the photo, and although you can't see it I'm wearing two pairs of tights under my jeans, which is a very tight squeeze, let me tell you. Also I finally found the answer to my predicament of "do I go for the beanie or ear muffs today?" Both dammit!! But then of course it was only -5 this morning so I got hot on my walk to work. Yes I know there's something not quite right with that statement but things have been turned upside down here in Korea. Oh and still no snow since my last post, which is the equivalent of waiting for a storm in the buildup; you know the weather would be that much better if it would just storm (or snow) already. Sorry for devoting this entire post to talking about the weather, but it seems to be all I think about these days!
So I am becoming quite the expert at layering up - there are exactly 6 different tops on under that jacket that I'm wearing in the photo, and although you can't see it I'm wearing two pairs of tights under my jeans, which is a very tight squeeze, let me tell you. Also I finally found the answer to my predicament of "do I go for the beanie or ear muffs today?" Both dammit!! But then of course it was only -5 this morning so I got hot on my walk to work. Yes I know there's something not quite right with that statement but things have been turned upside down here in Korea. Oh and still no snow since my last post, which is the equivalent of waiting for a storm in the buildup; you know the weather would be that much better if it would just storm (or snow) already. Sorry for devoting this entire post to talking about the weather, but it seems to be all I think about these days!
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
School hike
This last weekend I had the end of year school hike with the other teachers from my school. As usual I'm not exactly sure of the details for exactly where we went - about 2 hours south of Seoul - but it was very pretty. The weather is kinda perfect at the moment - crystal clear skies most of the time, so nice for a hike even if it is freezing cold. It was a pretty easy hike too, given that we took a cable car for most of the way up there, something I definitely approve of where mountains are involved. I'd never been in a cable car before so that was lots of fun - although I'm sure they weren't originally designed to fit the 25 people that managed to squeeze in there. Kind of like taking the last train home from Seoul on a Saturday night; don't worry about holding on, you can't move even if you wanted to!
I was very amused to see how glamorous the other teachers were for a hiking trip - and slightly embarrassed for the "just-rolled-out-of-bed -wearing-last-week's-clothes-lucky-I-at-least-brushed-my-dirty-hair" look that I had going. I mean, I figured we're going hiking right? So yay, no make-up today, no point washing hair etc. Wrong. Not only did all the female teachers have full faces done, their hair looking like they just came out of a salon, and all wearing the latest in hiking fashion, they actually took every opportunity to duck into bathrooms or to pull out little hand mirrors to check their hair and make-up on the off chance that some stray hair might have dared get out of place. So there's some lovely photos getting around with all the teacher's of Maehwa elementary school looking great in the group shot taken on top of the mountain - and me, standing out even more than usual with my pale face, red nose and hair sticking out all over the place. Makes me miss the solidarity of the Ris cycling trips :-)
I was very amused to see how glamorous the other teachers were for a hiking trip - and slightly embarrassed for the "just-rolled-out-of-bed -wearing-last-week's-clothes-lucky-I-at-least-brushed-my-dirty-hair" look that I had going. I mean, I figured we're going hiking right? So yay, no make-up today, no point washing hair etc. Wrong. Not only did all the female teachers have full faces done, their hair looking like they just came out of a salon, and all wearing the latest in hiking fashion, they actually took every opportunity to duck into bathrooms or to pull out little hand mirrors to check their hair and make-up on the off chance that some stray hair might have dared get out of place. So there's some lovely photos getting around with all the teacher's of Maehwa elementary school looking great in the group shot taken on top of the mountain - and me, standing out even more than usual with my pale face, red nose and hair sticking out all over the place. Makes me miss the solidarity of the Ris cycling trips :-)
Thursday, December 9, 2010
Wednesday, December 8, 2010
Snow!
I was running late to work today, which means of course that when I got down to the ground floor and was about to walk out the front door of my apartment I noticed that it was SNOWING! Which meant going back up six floors and grabbing all my snow gear - boots, umbrella, ear muffs - and being really late for work. It was so pretty though I didn't care (hopefully the principal who greets me at the school's front gate every morning felt the same). I've never quite experienced snow like this - usually it's all fallen by the time I've seen it, and you just walk over it. Plus it's on mountains and stuff, not at your front door! Luckily my body's temperature control seems to have finally switched from 'summer' to 'winter', so for the past two weeks I haven't been completely freezing. I think I'm also becoming an expert in layering clothes which helps, so I might just survive the coming winter - bring on a white Christmas!
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
On singing and being naked in (semi) public
This has been an adventurous week for me as I have confronted two of my fears - singing and getting naked in front of people. Actually, I exaggerate a little - I'm pretty okay about the naked thing, especially after the hamman in Morocco and the gym here. The singing on the other hand... as I said to my friend Corrie, I'm happy to get naked with you, but I'm not singing! Okay, I did sing, and it was actually fun even, although I have a new found respect for people who can hit the right note at least once in a song; karaoke is hard! Plus it turns out that I have no idea what passes for pop these days, so I have to resort to the classics. But they have a cool set up here for it - instead of an open bar scenario you have your own private room, so you are free to sound as atrocious as you like and only your friends will care. Although it did feel a bit like I was walking into a brothel, as I entered this very flashy lobby area with young men standing around waiting to hustle you off to your room... I should say here that I have no actual idea what a brothel is like, I'm just going from books and movies :-)
Okay now the naked thing; last night I finally got around to visiting a jimjilbahn (spell check really doesn't like me) which is a Korean spa. Seriously, this idea needs to get picked up in Australia. First you scrub off, then you pick a spa to get into, there's about 3 with different temperatures. Oh and a freezing cold ice pool that I went into for exactly 4 seconds. So you loiter there (in the spas) until you're all nice and pruny, then get out and exfoliate all over. After rinsing you put on some lovely pink PJ's, and go to an area where both the men and women can hang out together. We just grabbed a mat to lie around on and ate something called Patbingsu, which is shaved ice with fruit and red bean and syrup and cornflakes (?!) and which is completely delicious (see above). Then we got into a sauna and sweated a little more, then finally went back to have a final rinse off and get dressed. I think it may actually be worth living in a cold climate if I get to do this often - anyone who ever lived with me in Melbourne knows how much I love my baths, and this is even better. I will definitely be a regular!
Okay now the naked thing; last night I finally got around to visiting a jimjilbahn (spell check really doesn't like me) which is a Korean spa. Seriously, this idea needs to get picked up in Australia. First you scrub off, then you pick a spa to get into, there's about 3 with different temperatures. Oh and a freezing cold ice pool that I went into for exactly 4 seconds. So you loiter there (in the spas) until you're all nice and pruny, then get out and exfoliate all over. After rinsing you put on some lovely pink PJ's, and go to an area where both the men and women can hang out together. We just grabbed a mat to lie around on and ate something called Patbingsu, which is shaved ice with fruit and red bean and syrup and cornflakes (?!) and which is completely delicious (see above). Then we got into a sauna and sweated a little more, then finally went back to have a final rinse off and get dressed. I think it may actually be worth living in a cold climate if I get to do this often - anyone who ever lived with me in Melbourne knows how much I love my baths, and this is even better. I will definitely be a regular!
Friday, November 26, 2010
Korean stuff
So this week was a little crazy, what with North Korea bombing South Korea and all that. Thanks to everyone for your concerned emails which were really nice to get - I honestly don't know any more than you guys, but I can assure you that if a war did break out I would be on the first plane out of here! The Korean teachers here at the school seem to be completely unphased; I'm just hoping it's not a case of the proverbial frog in the boiling pot, that doesn't notice how warm it's getting.
That aside, I have had a quiet couple of weeks, mostly just spent trying to find new and inventive ways to fit more clothes on top of other clothes. I am failing dismally at writing 50,000 words in a month - if I'm lucky I might hit 10,000. I shall pretend that what I actually meant was that I will write 50,000 words by the end of next November...
Tonight I am going to find some dutch courage and get into some noraebang (Korean karaoke) with my friend Corrie. I let it slip that I had never sung karaoke (by myself anyway), so apparently this has to be immediately addressed. At least they do it differently here - I don't have to sing in a bar, they have rooms where you go with just your friends and sing, which actually sounds pretty cool. I can definitely see Kylie and Rachel getting into that if it ever took off in Darwin. I shall post an update on how it goes if I'm not feeling completely embarrassed by the experience :-)
That aside, I have had a quiet couple of weeks, mostly just spent trying to find new and inventive ways to fit more clothes on top of other clothes. I am failing dismally at writing 50,000 words in a month - if I'm lucky I might hit 10,000. I shall pretend that what I actually meant was that I will write 50,000 words by the end of next November...
Tonight I am going to find some dutch courage and get into some noraebang (Korean karaoke) with my friend Corrie. I let it slip that I had never sung karaoke (by myself anyway), so apparently this has to be immediately addressed. At least they do it differently here - I don't have to sing in a bar, they have rooms where you go with just your friends and sing, which actually sounds pretty cool. I can definitely see Kylie and Rachel getting into that if it ever took off in Darwin. I shall post an update on how it goes if I'm not feeling completely embarrassed by the experience :-)
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
Lantern Festival
Seoul has been having a Lantern Festival this last couple of weeks, so I made it out there on Saturday night to have a look. It was pretty cool for the most part, all these huge 'lanterns' set up over a stream running through the centre of Seoul. Some of them were gorgeous...
Friday, November 12, 2010
Chocolate Stick Day!
Okay so yesterday was Chocolate Stick Day in Korea - otherwise known as Pepero Day, not sure of the Korean spelling. What is the significance of Chocolate Stick Day you might ask? If you think about the date yesterday, 11/11, it kinda looks like chocolate sticks if you squint really really hard... So I thought great, chocolate! That is, until, I was onto my third sugarhyped class for the day with two more to go. Seriously they were hanging from the rafters - one boy could literally not sit still in his chair, I was watching him actually vibrate.
I did have one major awww moment though; I think it was my second class, and I'd just gotten through my greeting for the day when one boy interrupted to say something in Korean to my co-teacher. My co-teacher told me he said that even though I was only new to Korea the boy felt really close to me and really liked coming to my class. Awwww! But it really shows the difference from Korea to Australia doesn't it? If an Australian kid said that in class I'm pretty sure he would be teased for the rest of his life. So that kinda made up for the rest of the day which was just exhausting. I wasn't sure of the etiquette either when I was presented with a plastic-wrapped sausage by one of the male teachers at lunchtime - apparently much to the envy of the other female teachers!??!
I did have one major awww moment though; I think it was my second class, and I'd just gotten through my greeting for the day when one boy interrupted to say something in Korean to my co-teacher. My co-teacher told me he said that even though I was only new to Korea the boy felt really close to me and really liked coming to my class. Awwww! But it really shows the difference from Korea to Australia doesn't it? If an Australian kid said that in class I'm pretty sure he would be teased for the rest of his life. So that kinda made up for the rest of the day which was just exhausting. I wasn't sure of the etiquette either when I was presented with a plastic-wrapped sausage by one of the male teachers at lunchtime - apparently much to the envy of the other female teachers!??!
Monday, November 8, 2010
Music Cafe
This is where I've been coming the past couple of Friday nights. The owners of this cafe are keen to preserve traditional styles of Korean music, so every Friday they invite someone to come and play here. Last week it was drums, this week it was the 'gayagum' or something like that - it doesn't translate too well. It was very beautiful to listen to though.
Music Cafe
Before the small crowd piled in; they always have some sort of tea served, usually in glass tea pots. I never thought I'd say it, but I'm actually glad I broke one of these in Darwin - now I know how not to do it.
Music cafe
Unfortunately standing out as I do, I tend to get called upon for audience participation a lot. This is my awesome friend Corrie - she was born in California, so very much an American, but comes from a Korean background so she can speak the language, which is kinda like having a cool superpower here; needless to say when we eat out, she orders :-)
Friday, November 5, 2010
Insa Dong
Bit of a photo day today; this was taken at Insa Dong, a town in the middle of Seoul which sells a lot of authentic Korean goods and has a lot of old style restaurants. I only got about a quarter of the way through the place, which is just as well as I went a little crazy in the shops - so much fun stuff everywhere! I've promised myself a full day here when I've got a little more cash on me - don't ask me how I'm going to get all this stuff home; I've only been here two months and I've probably doubled my luggage already.
Buddha on rock
I went for a hike with the teachers from my school yesterday at a nearby mountain, where they showed me this. I'm not sure how well it comes up in the photo, but if you look closely you can see the outline of the Buddha carved into the rock. It was pretty amazing - over fourteen metres high, and it's been around since before the 1300's. Unfortunately the rise in pollution in Korea in the last couple of decades means that it may not be around for too much longer.
Foggy days
So this was the 'view' from my window this morning; it felt really weird walking to work, like fog was getting in my head, totally spacing me out more than normal.
Friday, October 29, 2010
Finally...
So I finally joined a gym last night, after a couple of months sitting around eating and drinking myself silly. I was a little apprehensive, because joining a gym can be intimidating even in your own country, and there's a few extra things to worry about here. For example, nobody runs on the treadmill. Or pedals fast on the bikes. Or does anything that involves sweating. So here I am, a big tall blonde woman pounding away on the treadmill, sweat pouring off me, going beet red in the face and huffing and puffing like there's no tomorrow. To say I got a bit of attention is definitely an understatement. Two people came and asked me if I was in a soccer team, which I thought was a bit weird, but not terribly unflattering if they thought I looked co-ordinated enough for that. I have pretty much gotten used to being stared at in the streets wherever I go, but when I work out at a gym I very much like to fade into the background - not gonna happen here! And then there's the group shower situation to look forward to afterwards - so after being stared at for 45 minutes whilst I work out I have to strip off and be the big tall naked white woman. Very white, I might add. But I have to say that I think about 2 months of stored up endorphins got released from all that exercise, so I am feeling great today and will have to drum up the courage to return asap.
On another note, I have given myself a rather strange project for the month of November. Ever heard of the National Novel Writing Month? It's an international thing where people register with a website to write their own 50,000 word novel - and it has to be done in one month, November. The theory is that you're made to just write down anything you've got, and not focus on being perfect, so it motivates you to finally write that story you've always been thinking about. There's a group doing it in Seoul, so I'm joining up for a bit of fun. Mostly it seems to be a good way to mix with other nerdy people like me, but it's also a good chance to get some of the crap floating around in my head down on paper, so here goes! I'm strangely excited about it now, but this may change once I grasp just how much 50,000 words is - I'm definitely not expecting anything readable either!
On another note, I have given myself a rather strange project for the month of November. Ever heard of the National Novel Writing Month? It's an international thing where people register with a website to write their own 50,000 word novel - and it has to be done in one month, November. The theory is that you're made to just write down anything you've got, and not focus on being perfect, so it motivates you to finally write that story you've always been thinking about. There's a group doing it in Seoul, so I'm joining up for a bit of fun. Mostly it seems to be a good way to mix with other nerdy people like me, but it's also a good chance to get some of the crap floating around in my head down on paper, so here goes! I'm strangely excited about it now, but this may change once I grasp just how much 50,000 words is - I'm definitely not expecting anything readable either!
Monday, October 25, 2010
Lake Soyangho
So I managed to drag my lazy butt on another hike this weekend, and I'm happy to say that it didn't kill me quite so much as the last one did so there's hope for me yet. I'm glad I did because it was a really beautiful spot I went to, about 3 hours drive out of Seoul. The autumn colours were amazing, my camera really doesn't do them justice unfortunately. These hikes are organized by a facebook group called Seoul Hiking Group, and it's a really great way to get out and do stuff and meet people. I don't know what I'd be doing without it - probably going on more traditional tours, which are way more expensive. So I had a great day of hiking and meeting other English teachers, plus a yummy dinner afterwards, tukgolgi, which is basically some sort of fried chicken, mmm... The 3 hours of karaoke on the bus home however was a bit extreme; one Korean tradition I have yet to embrace!
Friday, October 15, 2010
English Song Contest
We had an English Song Contest at our school this week for all the 40 or so schools in our region. Luckily for me I didn't have to judge, which I was originally supposed to do but I got bumped by an even blonder English teacher :-) I did watch however, and nearly overdosed on the cuteness of it all - not even Sarah could have watched these girls sing do-ray-me in their little pink outfits without thinking awww.... at least once. Maybe. The kids from my school were totally the best, but strangely didn't come anywhere near the top.
On another note I got my wonderful care package from the library this week - what can I say, wow! After weeks of deprivation I am positively jittering from the caffeine kick, and I am so looking forward to curling up with a book tonight with some chocolate to munch on. You guys really know how to make me miss the library!
On another note I got my wonderful care package from the library this week - what can I say, wow! After weeks of deprivation I am positively jittering from the caffeine kick, and I am so looking forward to curling up with a book tonight with some chocolate to munch on. You guys really know how to make me miss the library!
Korean medicine
So I guess as a result of my recent culinary adventures it was inevitable that I should get some sort of stomach bug - that's probably the most delicate way of putting it anyway. This meant that I got to visit my first Korean doctor, which was interesting - at least he spoke a little bit of English, 'cause I really didn't want to have to use charades to describe my symptoms! But this is how they give medicine in Korea - multiple pills all separately packaged in bags for breakfast, lunch and dinner. I guess the theory is that if one type of tablet doesn't work then one of the other 4 or five might. Whatever it was it worked so I'm not complaining!
Monday, October 11, 2010
Fish market
Okay so this photo was taken at the dinner I was talking about below; if I look a little stiff it's probably because I just watched my dinner die a slow death...
Sunday, October 10, 2010
Namdaemum Market
So I was loitering around Naemdaemum Market again this weekend and risked taking a few photos. Naemdaemum is a lot of fun to explore, although I tend to spend a lot of time wandering around in circles. It's also great for buying T-shirts and jumpers printed with nonsensical English sayings, which I am developing a strange fondness for. There is no way however that I am squeezing into the jeans, or, unfortunately, the shoes, thanks to my enormous (by that I mean average) sized feet :-( The street food alone however makes it worth the trip.
I have had quite the culinary exploits of late, including a shrimp restaurant on Friday night where they put a pot of live shrimp on a camp stove in front of you on the table and you watch them cook. They jump around so much the whole pot is rocking, at least at first; then there's just a lot of sizzling. I was a little disconcerted, mostly I think by the fact that they smelt delicious as they cooked. They were in fact amazingly delicious, and I don't normally like shrimp even when I don't have to watch them cook. I drew the line however at the silkworms, which are considered a bit of a delicacy here in Korea. I have promised myself that I will eat one while I'm here, but only if there's someone to take a photo so I can prove I've done it. My co-teacher was a little bemused by my emphatic refusals, as she thought she was offering me a treat :-)
I have had quite the culinary exploits of late, including a shrimp restaurant on Friday night where they put a pot of live shrimp on a camp stove in front of you on the table and you watch them cook. They jump around so much the whole pot is rocking, at least at first; then there's just a lot of sizzling. I was a little disconcerted, mostly I think by the fact that they smelt delicious as they cooked. They were in fact amazingly delicious, and I don't normally like shrimp even when I don't have to watch them cook. I drew the line however at the silkworms, which are considered a bit of a delicacy here in Korea. I have promised myself that I will eat one while I'm here, but only if there's someone to take a photo so I can prove I've done it. My co-teacher was a little bemused by my emphatic refusals, as she thought she was offering me a treat :-)
Saturday, October 2, 2010
Second attempt
Hopefully this works; it's the second half of my apartment! Wow, to think I live in a flat so big that it needed two videos... ;-)
Friday, October 1, 2010
Orientation
So I had my orientation this week - 3 weeks after I've started teaching, but since I didn't know I was actually getting any orientation I'm not complaining. It was rather surprisingly a lot of fun, and I learnt a lot - even came back a little inspired! I also got to meet a lot of other newly arrived English teachers which was great, as my social life was looking a little sparse. Can a social life be sparse? Anyway, you get the idea. So I'm feeling pretty happy about life in Korea this week - not that I wasn't before, but now it's starting to be fun and I'm liking my job more and more so all is well. I even came up with some games for class yesterday, and even better, the kids loved them! Sure there was an awful moment when I was explaining the game and a sea of blank faces looked back at me, but I persevered. We played a lot of games at the orientation - in fact it was like being back at school again. There was also a lot of the obligatory Korean enthusiasm for photos where we all do something stupid or make peace signs, but I'm adjusting - to my shame I actually made the peace sign without thinking about it the last time someone pointed a camera at me - nooooo!
This weekend, despite an intense desire to curl up on the couch and watch dvd's I am going to the Andong International Mask Festival, which should be fun - and at least I'm doing something cultural rather than just visiting another shopping centre. Oh and tonight I will try and post another video of the second half of my flat, seeing as only the first half of the original video successfully made it on here :-)
This weekend, despite an intense desire to curl up on the couch and watch dvd's I am going to the Andong International Mask Festival, which should be fun - and at least I'm doing something cultural rather than just visiting another shopping centre. Oh and tonight I will try and post another video of the second half of my flat, seeing as only the first half of the original video successfully made it on here :-)
Friday, September 24, 2010
My apartment in Korea
My apartment in Korea
Originally uploaded by kirijae
Sunday, September 19, 2010
Bukhansan National Park
I have of course done this completely back to front. If you read the post below it should all make sense!
Bukhansan National Park
A tiny part of Seoul; you can really see the apartment blocks in this shot though.
Bukhansan National Park
There were lots of spots like this where you literally had to haul yourself up using the rail. We - the group I was with - were all pretty freaked out - I think my hands were still shaking when I took this photo :-)
Bukhansan National Park
This is taken on the way up; I didn't honestly think we were going up there!
Bukhansan National Park
So I went hiking yesterday; today I'm not moving from the couch, or if I do, it's only to groan my way very slowly from the kitchen or the bathroom. Everything is very up or very down here! It was a good hike though 'cause I got a great view of just how enormous Seoul is. And it's all pretty much apartment blocks! I guess when 70% of your country is mountains, you have to make the best use of the tiny spaces available to fit 55 million people. Speaking of which, I've never been on such a crowded hike before; I think I was passing more people than I would on Mitchell Street in Darwin. I asked if this is usual, and apparently Sundays are even more packed, as a lot of people work on Saturdays. It gives you a real appreciation for how sparsely populated Australia is - and hopefully this doesn't make me a bigot, but I hope it doesn't change too much!
Friday, September 17, 2010
Foggy (?) Mornings
I woke up yesterday and it was really eerie - I could hardly see the hills in front of my place, the fog was so bad. I'm calling it fog, but I have a feeling that it's actually pollution - a feeling reinforced by the number of students coming to school wearing masks on their faces. It didn't actually burn off all day, so very creepy!
Chuseok gifts
It's the Korean holiday called Chuseok next week - from what I can gather it's like Thanksgiving, only this year it goes for the whole week, so no school for me :-) Also they give gifts to each other, like this one which the school gave to all their teachers. Each one came in a big briefcase, and so I was thinking oooh what's this? Well, it's tuna, canola oil, and SPAM! To be honest I've never tried spam before - the fact that we named our unwanted mail after it has sort of put me off, but I am willing to try anything I suppose....
I have spent the last two days trying to get my bank account up and running - not an easy thing when you don't speak the language! I am so proud of myself though for working out their online banking, 'cause it made ours look incredibly straightforward. Google translator is a very good friend of mine these days - if only I could use it in real life!
This afternoon I am getting my internet finally set up at home - yay! Soon I'll have a phone, and be a regular citizen - or alien, I suppose I should call myself.
I have spent the last two days trying to get my bank account up and running - not an easy thing when you don't speak the language! I am so proud of myself though for working out their online banking, 'cause it made ours look incredibly straightforward. Google translator is a very good friend of mine these days - if only I could use it in real life!
This afternoon I am getting my internet finally set up at home - yay! Soon I'll have a phone, and be a regular citizen - or alien, I suppose I should call myself.
Sunday, September 12, 2010
Seoul
Okay so I finally made it into Seoul this weekend - or a tiny section of it anyway. To do that I had to catch a bus to a nearby city called Bucheon, then take the subway into Seoul. Id already made a couple of trips into Bucheon, mainly because there's an enormous shopping centre there where I've got most of my basic items - plus i can buy cereal there, which is a bonus. I hadn't taken the subway in Korea before, so when I got to the station I spent a fair amount of time wandering around trying to figure out how to buy a ticket, which train to take etc. Eventually an American English teacher (there's a few of us around) took pity on me and showed me the ropes. He had some time to kill, so he came with me into Yongsun, which is where they have a huge (there aren't enough superlatives for the shopping centres in Korea) electronics market. The term 'market' is quite misleading, because it's set out all shiny and bright, like a David Jones or something but even brighter, and has about 6 floors of just computers, tv's, phones, cameras etc - electrical stuff. I even found a section on digital pianos, which was pretty exciting. It turns out I can pick one up for about $600, so I might do that next weekend, give myself something to work on while I'm here.
After Yongsun we went to a part of Seoul called Itawae (not sure of the spelling), which is where all the foreigners hang out because there's a whole lot of western shops and bars. The bonus for me was an english bookshop, which was insanely expensive unfortunately. It was really strange seeing so many westerners after being the only one around for a while. Itawae has a pretty bad name among Koreans as being dangerous, I guess 'cause a lot of the westerners - including army guys from the nearby base - hang out and get drunk and agro there. From the few English teachers I've met, going out and getting excessively drunk every weekend seems to be the norm here. I guess if I'd come here 5-10 years ago I'd be doing the same, but these days I'm more interested in the food, and seeing stuff - which I haven't done much of yet, but I'm determined to do something cultural next weekend, even if it's just to visit the military museum or something. I've got in contact with a few hiking groups, but I can't do much until I get my Alien Registration Card, so that I can get a Korean bank account. Hopefully that will happen this week, and I can say that I am officially an alien :-) By then it might have stopped raining too - it has been non-stop. It's still pretty humid, but nowhere near as hot as Darwin. I'm looking forward to fall, which is supposed to be cool but beautiful clear skies. Everything is very gray and dirty at the moment, which is making me pretty lazy.
The good news is that I did manage to find my way home from Seoul by myself, so I think I'm okay to get around now. Just have to keep getting out there!
After Yongsun we went to a part of Seoul called Itawae (not sure of the spelling), which is where all the foreigners hang out because there's a whole lot of western shops and bars. The bonus for me was an english bookshop, which was insanely expensive unfortunately. It was really strange seeing so many westerners after being the only one around for a while. Itawae has a pretty bad name among Koreans as being dangerous, I guess 'cause a lot of the westerners - including army guys from the nearby base - hang out and get drunk and agro there. From the few English teachers I've met, going out and getting excessively drunk every weekend seems to be the norm here. I guess if I'd come here 5-10 years ago I'd be doing the same, but these days I'm more interested in the food, and seeing stuff - which I haven't done much of yet, but I'm determined to do something cultural next weekend, even if it's just to visit the military museum or something. I've got in contact with a few hiking groups, but I can't do much until I get my Alien Registration Card, so that I can get a Korean bank account. Hopefully that will happen this week, and I can say that I am officially an alien :-) By then it might have stopped raining too - it has been non-stop. It's still pretty humid, but nowhere near as hot as Darwin. I'm looking forward to fall, which is supposed to be cool but beautiful clear skies. Everything is very gray and dirty at the moment, which is making me pretty lazy.
The good news is that I did manage to find my way home from Seoul by myself, so I think I'm okay to get around now. Just have to keep getting out there!
Thursday, September 9, 2010
Classes
So I guess I should say something about my job! It's not too scary, at least most of the time. I have a co-teacher called Judy who is with me most of the time. I say most of the time because she seems to enjoy torturing me by coming later and later for each lesson - probably her way of making me stand on my own two feet, when I'm actually pretty happy letting her do all the work ;-) I have six different grade five classes, and five different grade six classes, which I teach twice each every week. Each class gets the same lesson, so we do the same lesson six times for the grade fives, and five times for the grade sixes, if that makes sense. It generally turns out that the first lesson is a shocker, but we (by that I mean I) improve with each one. It can get pretty repetitive, hopefully it doesn't do my head in after a couple of months.
On Monday and Thursday afternoons I have the grade one's and two's, which definitely wakes me up. Seriously, these guys are pint-sized energizer bunnies, that barely speak a word of English, which doesn't stop them from yelling whatever words they do know as loudly as they can at me. But there's nothing like a rousing tune of A - a - apple to break the monotony :-) They are completely cute, although I suspect there may be a few little monsters amongst them as well. It turns out that the younger the student the better; I like my grade one's better than my grade two's, and my grade fives better than my grade sixes, who are way too cool for school.
I don't think teaching is for me in the long term, but it's a good experience. I'm not huddling under the desk with my hands over my head at least, so that's definitely progress, right?
On Monday and Thursday afternoons I have the grade one's and two's, which definitely wakes me up. Seriously, these guys are pint-sized energizer bunnies, that barely speak a word of English, which doesn't stop them from yelling whatever words they do know as loudly as they can at me. But there's nothing like a rousing tune of A - a - apple to break the monotony :-) They are completely cute, although I suspect there may be a few little monsters amongst them as well. It turns out that the younger the student the better; I like my grade one's better than my grade two's, and my grade fives better than my grade sixes, who are way too cool for school.
I don't think teaching is for me in the long term, but it's a good experience. I'm not huddling under the desk with my hands over my head at least, so that's definitely progress, right?
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
School teachers and me
So this was taken last night when I went out for dinner with the grade six teachers. The woman I am sitting next to is my very wonderful co-teacher, Judy. We went to a duck restaurant, which was incredibly yummy, and I seem to be finally mastering their chopsticks - or at least I thought so until my co-teacher gave me a bib ;-) Actually even harder than the chopsticks is getting used to sitting cross-legged on the floor - and getting up again afterwards! Tall people aren't designed to be flexible I swear.
In addition I am trying to learn all the many little points of etiquette that come with Korean dining, such as making sure that everybody else's glass is filled before filling my own, and (I think) only drinking when everybody raises their glass together, which they do a lot. I can't quite remember what they say when they raise their glasses, but it means 'To everything!', which I liked.
I think I managed to horrify a good portion of the people in my neighborhood on Friday night by going into the restaurant at the bottom of my building and eating by myself. The restaurant owner kept saying "no no, you won't like the food, you shouldn't eat here", but I was hungry and sick of eating my own cooking so I persevered. Maybe people don't eat in restaurants by themselves here? Everybody turned and stared when I was eating, and had a good giggle about my limited ability with the chopsticks, but I persevered and had a great meal that only cost me about $4.00, so I think they'll just have to get used to me there :-) My own cooking by the way is TERRIBLE. I can't work out what is what when I go shopping, so I thought I'd experiment, which hasn't worked out too well. Twice now I have had to throw out what I made and resort to vegimite on toast, which is becoming a dietary staple of mine. I'm firmly sticking to salad for a while I think.
In addition I am trying to learn all the many little points of etiquette that come with Korean dining, such as making sure that everybody else's glass is filled before filling my own, and (I think) only drinking when everybody raises their glass together, which they do a lot. I can't quite remember what they say when they raise their glasses, but it means 'To everything!', which I liked.
I think I managed to horrify a good portion of the people in my neighborhood on Friday night by going into the restaurant at the bottom of my building and eating by myself. The restaurant owner kept saying "no no, you won't like the food, you shouldn't eat here", but I was hungry and sick of eating my own cooking so I persevered. Maybe people don't eat in restaurants by themselves here? Everybody turned and stared when I was eating, and had a good giggle about my limited ability with the chopsticks, but I persevered and had a great meal that only cost me about $4.00, so I think they'll just have to get used to me there :-) My own cooking by the way is TERRIBLE. I can't work out what is what when I go shopping, so I thought I'd experiment, which hasn't worked out too well. Twice now I have had to throw out what I made and resort to vegimite on toast, which is becoming a dietary staple of mine. I'm firmly sticking to salad for a while I think.
View from flat
Ok so this is the view from my window; it's mostly vineyards, which is handy because there's a little market stall set up right across the road that sells fresh grapes and occasionally wine. I haven't tried the wine yet - I must confess that I am a little suspicious of Korean wine, as what I've tried so far tends to be very sweet. It looks pretty picturesque, so it's a little strange that if I was to stand on the other side of the road to take the picture all you would see is high rises! It's very nice to have some green right outside my window though.
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
About the food
I really have to start taking photos of what I'm eating, a) because it's so amazing, and b) hopefully somebody can tell me what it is. On Monday night I went to a Duck restuarant, where you bbq your own pieces of duck over the coals. It came with numerous side dishes, most of which were yummy but I didn't get to eat as much as I would have liked because duck grease and steel chopsticks don't go well together for beginners. Last night I went to another restaurant, and here I really couldn't tell you what I was eating. I sat on the floor at a really long table which the waitress proceeded to fill up with small dishes - I counted 32 before I gave up. Again most of it was pretty nice, but I have to say that there were more than a few times where I put something in my mouth and instantly regretted it - and I'm pretty open about trying anything!. Eating has definitely become an extreme adventure here. Tonight is my first night at home by myself, and I am looking forward to vegimite (big thanks to my library friends!) and toast.
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Continuing;
I've spent two days at school so far, and tomorrow will be the first time i have to take the classes by myself. Not quite sure what i'll be doing yet... hopefully inspiration will strike when i'm standing there in front of them all. I have to say, Korean kids are incredibly cute. Any ideas i had about them being quiet and shy however have been completely dispelled. They are really well behaved though - i think they have to be because the class rules are so strict. And when they're naughty they have to clean the school; it is really strange to see all these kids scrubbing and sweeping everywhere at lunchtime.
So I'm in Korea...
Yay I'm finally here! Actually I've been here for two days now, but this is the first time i've been able to sneak onto the internet here at work. I won't have internet at home until i can get my alien registration card (about two weeks), so these posts may be somewhat brief and occasionally interrupted for a while.
First thing, I've got to say I love my apartment. It's at least twice the size of what I was expecting, and everything is pretty new and nice. It also looks straight out onto rice paddies and hills; I'm told that I live in a rural area of Korea, but it's not quite what we'd consider rural. Yes there's rice paddies and vineyards across the road, but I live on the tenth floor of a high rise block of flats that looks tiny compared to the ones surrounding it, which must be at least 20 floors. There's a restaurant and a little market on the ground floor, which pretty much has all the basics. For some reason everything is sold in bulk, so instead of buying one tube of toothpaste I got ten, not to mention the biggest bag of toilet paper I've ever seen. I'm a little scared to order takeaway from the restaurant because apparently it arrives uncooked, and you have to cook it yourself, which kind of defeats the purpose of takeaway in my mind!
First thing, I've got to say I love my apartment. It's at least twice the size of what I was expecting, and everything is pretty new and nice. It also looks straight out onto rice paddies and hills; I'm told that I live in a rural area of Korea, but it's not quite what we'd consider rural. Yes there's rice paddies and vineyards across the road, but I live on the tenth floor of a high rise block of flats that looks tiny compared to the ones surrounding it, which must be at least 20 floors. There's a restaurant and a little market on the ground floor, which pretty much has all the basics. For some reason everything is sold in bulk, so instead of buying one tube of toothpaste I got ten, not to mention the biggest bag of toilet paper I've ever seen. I'm a little scared to order takeaway from the restaurant because apparently it arrives uncooked, and you have to cook it yourself, which kind of defeats the purpose of takeaway in my mind!
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