I'm writing this post without seeing Chelsea's blog because she wanted to write her blog and then have me write mine and kind of compare our viewpoints. I am positive I won't be able to remember everything and in the right order, but it will be fun to see her post after I write this one. I actually won't even TRY to list everything, I think that could be kind of boring!
Showing posts with label food. Show all posts
Showing posts with label food. Show all posts
Monday, November 26, 2012
Sunday, October 28, 2012
Halloween
Well, it's Halloween time in Korea! While this holiday is not exactly celebrated by most Koreans, the English academies take advantage of the day to throw a party and give candy to already hyper kids. Oh Joy! We celebrate on two days - Thursday and Friday - since we have different kids on those days. I was told on Wednesday around 8:30pm that I would need to be in costume for the next two days. Thanks for the heads up... *rolls eyes*
Saturday, September 15, 2012
Bars Don't Close Here
So much to talk about today, I'm not sure where to begin! So much has happened in the last 48 hours since I've written a blog. When I got home after work yesterday, I was tempted to write out a short quick blog before heading off, but time was my enemy and I had to run. So now that I'm actually sitting down, I'm not really sure what I had to write about yesterday. :(
So, I supposed we will start with last night. After work, I walked home and immediately started to pack a bag. I knew I was going to stay over at Tab's after we went out, so I put together some clothes and toiletries I would need. I used my shoulder strap bag, which would ultimately prove to be a bad decision, but alas, it's what I used. On the way to the bus, I realized I probably should have taken something easier to carry, but I don't really have anything so I just kept walking. I got on the bus, knocked into a few ajummas that gave me the stink eye, and headed to the subway. I felt like I was running late, so I hurried down to the trains. When I was waiting on my train, I realized I did not have my cell phone.
Analysis: was going to meet Tab, whom I would be with all night, and we had already determined where and when to meet at the subway. No problem not having cell phone. I decided to just stay my course, since going back to my apartment would be a 30 minute detour, and I was already running late.
I hopped my train and got to Euljiro station where I needed to get on another line. My route calculator on my iPad told me the train was leaving in 2 minutes, so I hurried to the platform. Just as I got there, the train was leaving. No big deal, I sat down and waited. Another train came along about 6 minutes later, and I boarded.
The whole time while I was waiting, and on the train as well, I was reading my book on my iPad and listening to music. This was a bad idea; while sitting at a station two stops into the train ride, I look up and realize my train was at a station in the wrong direction!! I jumped up and flew out the door, right as the doors were closing. When I finally figured out where to get on the same line going the opposite direction, I looked down and saw two sets of barriers between. Essentially, I had to "leave" the subway, and repay to go back in, only on the other side. Annoyed, I did what I had to do, since there was no real way to correct the situation without going back to where I should have been.
Once I finally got on the correct train, going in the correct direction, I had no seat and was packed like a sardine with my big shoulder bag knocking over anyone who got in my general vicinity (which, on a train packed like sardines, is everyone.) I was not popular on the train ride.
Finally we got to Tab's station, and I exit (along with about 200 other people on my car, and about 3,000 on the train itself) and follow the crowds toward the exit. Going down the escalator, I look up and see that the sign that says "Way Out" also says "Exits 8-12." I needed Exit 2. When I got to the bottom, I looked around until I found a little food stand, and asked where Exit 2 was. Thankfully they understood well enough to tell me how to get there. 10 minutes later and out of breathe from going up and down stairs, I had gotten a complete tour of Dangsan Station and finally found Tab waiting at the exit.
We headed out and caught a bus to her place, to drop off my duffle bag before heading to Hongdae for dinner, drinks, and dancing. The bus was crowded as well, and I was getting a headache. The whole trip over to her side of town was a headache, no wonder it was manifesting itself in my head. We finally got to her stop, and she warned me that her place was at the top of a hill. I said, oh, no big deal. And then I saw the hill. Granted, it wasn't that bad, but halfway up, it felt like the mountains that surround Seoul. Panting, out of breath, and sweating, we made it to her apartment. I took some Ibuprofen and we took a little breather. I met the little old lady that lives beneath her and watches out for her. Sweet old ajumma!
By the time we got to her place, it was around 10:20pm. I had gotten off work at 8:00. *Sigh...*
We headed out and towards the bus stop to go to Hongdae. Tab decided that since we are so hungry, we should just take a cab to Hongdae. It wouldn't be more than $8 ($4 each), so I agreed. For about 15 minutes, every cab that passed was full, and the two that weren't were on the opposite side of the road. We finally flag one down and tell him "Hongdae!" and he nods and repeats "Hyundai." I look at Tab suspiciously, and she repeats "Hongdae! Hongik University!" And again, he smiles, nods, and says "Hyundai." Tab just shrugs and gets in, so I follow suit. I'm fairly suspicious about this, but Tab seems confident that we will get there.
On the way, Tab decides to throw every Korean word she knows at this guy, who laughs and starts singing Gangnam Style. If this isn't the song of my trip so far, I don't know what is. He even brings up the music video on his oversized smartphone, and we jam out as we cross the Han River. It was a fun ride, those first 5 minutes....
Then, the trouble began. You guessed it, Hyundai is NOT the same as Hongdae. At $12, cruising down the strip by the Han River, I go "Tab, when are we going to tell this guy that we are NOT going in the right direction?!" I'm getting quite annoyed, since this is money we are wasting. I think the guy caught my upset tone, and calls the free translation number that everyone in the service industry in Seoul has on speed dial. Tab yells into the phone "HONGDAE. HONGIK UNIVERSITY!" ... "yes, HONGDAE!" She hands the phone back, and the guy listens a moment, puts his phone down, and goes "... HONGDAE!" and slams his fist down on the wheel, and pushes the windows down in the car, like he needs some air to cool down. Damn! He went from impersonating Psy to being a grumpy old Korean taxi driver in 2 seconds flat!
He turns around and starts yelling at us in Korean. Okay, maybe not yelling, but we both knew we were getting a talking-to! He starts pronouncing Hongdae with a nice hawking sound at the beginning, and then making us repeat it. Then saying "Hyundai!" with an emphasized "huuuun" at the beginning. Apparently we were getting the talk, and Korean lessons. I repeated him to appease him, and Tab just kept giggling nervously.
We finally made it, and the guy only charged us $20 ($10 each), rather than about $25 on the meter. Well, I didn't even expect that much, so we were grateful. He left us smiling, but I knew he was glad to be rid of us. Since we took a cab, my directions to the burger place I had researched were useless, as they directed us from the subway station. We looked around, and asked a group of girls behind us where it was. They had no idea, asked some other girls, and we got pointed down the alleyway behind us.
We crossed the street, and low-and-behold, there was Burger B... right there. We could not get over what great timing the taxi had to decide to boot us out at that exact spot (we hadn't told him anywhere specifically in that area...). By now, its around midnight. We order burgers, fries, and drinks and sit at this awesome bar overlooking the street and all the interesting people in it. We talked and waited for our food, got asked to take photos with some weird men from who-knows-where (not Korea, but not American either!) We laughed and made weird faces when they took the photos, and then tried to ignore them hitting on us from their table in another language.
The food was absolutely delicious. I ordered the BBQ Burger and fries (pictured left). I was so ravenous by the time the food came, I took a bite before I remembered to take a photo. You can see the view we had in the background. It was just fun to sit at a bar overlooking the street and hill below. Tab ordered a cheeseburger. We both enjoyed our burgers immensely, sitting in silence for about 10 minutes just soaking up the goodness. We chatted for a little while longer, trying to decide what to do and where to go for the night. Since we had spent much more than expected on the cab (Tab kept insisting it was like paying for a scenic view of the river), we decided to just stick around Hongdae. She's gone out in the area before, so I trusted her judgement and we headed out.
The great thing about Korea, or just about anywhere besides Houston, is that bars don't close. Actually, in Korea, many places besides bars don't even post closing times. Online, I've literally seen "Open: 9am Close: when the last person leaves" well... that's specific!
We walked around for a while before deciding to hit up a bar she'd been to before called Zen Bar. We went in and it was anything but "zen." It was raging! We navigated our way around the throngs of dancing Koreans and expats alike, and hit the bar. Tab had had a beer at the restaurant, but I had stuck to coke (both for financial and energizing reasons). We decided to start things off with a bang, and had a little shot. I won't say what, gotta keep my reputation classy. But, the liquor was so cheap! This did not lead to overconsumption, FYI. But it was great prices! We both got a beer and started doing some rounds.
I realized going out with one other person, to a place where you know nobody, and run a 0.0001% risk of running into anyone you know, is kind of awkward! We just danced with each other for a bit, and circled the bar aimlessly. At one point, a girl surrounded by Korean guys dancing on her grabbed my arm and mouthed "Help me!" I pulled her out of the crowd, and she looked a little freaked out. Well, maybe it was a mistake to help her, because the void she created needed to be filled and it seemed I was the closest thing. I got grabbed and pulled in; I tried to get Tab's hand, but we were separated. (Don't freak out, here, people. It wasn't that creepy, just weird as heck.) These guys were dancing on me, and one even tried to take my beer. I snatched it back and smacked his hand away. Finally, I ejected myself from the crowd and met Tab on the other side of the bar. What craziness!
We kept a low profile for a while, just dancing and sipping our beers. Apparently, we looked good enough because some Korean guys came over to talk to us. It was pretty awkward since only one of them spoke decent enough English to make conversation, and even that conversation wasn't the best. We hung out with them for a bit, though, just dancing in a little circle; being with other people is better than being awkward on the side of the room. At one point, a short Asian guy with two beers in his hands came by and, I'm not sure how, started talking to Tab. He was extremely outgoing and loud; he was American.
Long story short, apparently this guy, who was not hitting on us at all, intimidated the Korean guys we had been standing with, and they told him to back off. It was a super awkward situation, made only slightly better by the lubricating factor (alcohol). I gave Tab the lets-get-out-of-here-eye and we "went to the bathroom" aka snuck out the other exit. Finally out in the fresh(er) air, I realized how smokey it was in the bar. We sat down by another club entrance, which looked pretty awesome. We decided to try our luck there, but when we realized there was a $15 cover, and gave her the heck-no sign and we left. We sat in some plastic chairs by a closed convenience store, with about 20 other drunk people. Some were falling over, and no one seemed to care. Thus is Korean nightlife!
Tab said there was a cool park in the area, so after a little break, we set off to find the park. Somehow, on the way there, we ran into the short American guy from the bar. Good thing he was too drunk to remember we ditched him! He had a friend with him this time, who did not seem very drunk. He also kept looking at me, and I decided to play the drunk card. I was feeling good, to be sure. But I kicked it up a notch (thanks to my mad drama-skillz), and he thought I was quite past the point of inebriation. They said they would show us where the park was, so we followed them. I whispered to Tab that I was not that drunk, and she said she didn't think so.
We got to the park, and decided to be Korean and get some "mart beers" from the convenience store across the street. Inside, there was a line (which I strictly enforced to the pushy Koreans behind us), and Tab decided it was a great time to bust out with her extensive knowledge of Gangnam Style. She starts singing and we start dancing. The Koreans are laughing at us, but who cares. We walk outside, and as fate would have it, Gangnam Style is playing. Tab and I immediately start the dance. Within the 3minutes of the song, we had gotten about 10 people to dance with us in the middle of the street. We had cars stopped. It was pure awesomeness.
After it was over, we couldn't stop laughing for about 5 minutes. We managed to make our way into the park, still being tailed by the American guys. We sit down to drink our mart beers (I opted for mart wine), and about 10 minutes later, we hear loud music from behind us. I look over and see a crowd in a circle. Tab and I immediately jump up and rush over. And, of course, for the 3rd time in about 20 minutes, Gangnam Style is playing. As soon as it comes on, Tab and I jump in the middle of the circle and start dancing. I actually have a video of this (some guy behind me offered to video when he saw I was videoing just Tab), but I'm too embarrassed to post it. Plus, it's blurry... you guys don't want to see that... (hehe!)
After Gangnam Style, we sat down in the circle and watched. There was a black guy who spoke fluent Korean who break danced, a Korean guy with muscles who danced soooo well (and acted a little light in the loafers, but I don't think he was), a Russian girl who did Katy Perry dances, and other really talented people. By the time we left, I felt like maybe we shouldn't have partaken in the Gangnam Style dance because maybe we weren't really good enough! Haha! But it was so much fun, we didn't really care. :) We can blame it on being foreigners, like we do for everything else.
After a while, we decided to head out. We had finally ditched all the creepers, and decided that if we made it 45 more min, we could get some food then get the first subway back to Tab's place. It was about 3:45am. We headed into a coffee shop and sipped some water. As soon as we reached that point, I realized I could not make it much longer. We decided not to wait it out, just to get a cab. We walked out on the street and asked a cab to take us to Mokdong (Tab's neighborhood), he waved "no" to us. Okay, we tried another. Another "no". The third cab told us yes, but for $25. We knew the cab should only be $8, so we said heck no. Another 3 cabs all wanted between 20 and 25. We said no to all of them, and I was ready to give up and wait on the subway. Tab asked one last taxi, and he said yes. Tab made him put the address from her card into the GPS, so there was no excuse for taking the "long way." We got there in 6,300W (~$6). Awesome! We got in, and immediately hit the sack.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This morning, we woke up around noon. I was fairly impressed we did not sleep any later, having gone to bed around 5:00am. We got up and decided to get some pizza from Costco. We made our way there and ate lunch. Then we headed to Itaewon to help me get some things from my friends on base. Unforunately, this is where my phone being MIA hurt me. I wasn't able to communicate effective with them, and that was 100% my fault this weekend! I wasn't really frustrated, since it was my fault. We decided to get some Turkish ice cream we saw last time we were in Itaewon, and I'd read about this week.
Apparently, tons of Turks have moved to Korea in the past decade and have since brought a lot of their food and culture into Seoul. Specifically, their taffy-like ice cream has been a hit. They usually put on a show when getting you your order. We went to a low-key place tucked away behind other shops, so we didn't get as much entertainment. The guys getting us the ice cream did play around a little, but nothing compared to what I've read about (which basically consists of getting the entire tub of ice cream on a long pole and stringing it out and doing little tricks with it while getting your portion.)
So, I supposed we will start with last night. After work, I walked home and immediately started to pack a bag. I knew I was going to stay over at Tab's after we went out, so I put together some clothes and toiletries I would need. I used my shoulder strap bag, which would ultimately prove to be a bad decision, but alas, it's what I used. On the way to the bus, I realized I probably should have taken something easier to carry, but I don't really have anything so I just kept walking. I got on the bus, knocked into a few ajummas that gave me the stink eye, and headed to the subway. I felt like I was running late, so I hurried down to the trains. When I was waiting on my train, I realized I did not have my cell phone.
Analysis: was going to meet Tab, whom I would be with all night, and we had already determined where and when to meet at the subway. No problem not having cell phone. I decided to just stay my course, since going back to my apartment would be a 30 minute detour, and I was already running late.
I hopped my train and got to Euljiro station where I needed to get on another line. My route calculator on my iPad told me the train was leaving in 2 minutes, so I hurried to the platform. Just as I got there, the train was leaving. No big deal, I sat down and waited. Another train came along about 6 minutes later, and I boarded.
The whole time while I was waiting, and on the train as well, I was reading my book on my iPad and listening to music. This was a bad idea; while sitting at a station two stops into the train ride, I look up and realize my train was at a station in the wrong direction!! I jumped up and flew out the door, right as the doors were closing. When I finally figured out where to get on the same line going the opposite direction, I looked down and saw two sets of barriers between. Essentially, I had to "leave" the subway, and repay to go back in, only on the other side. Annoyed, I did what I had to do, since there was no real way to correct the situation without going back to where I should have been.
Once I finally got on the correct train, going in the correct direction, I had no seat and was packed like a sardine with my big shoulder bag knocking over anyone who got in my general vicinity (which, on a train packed like sardines, is everyone.) I was not popular on the train ride.
Finally we got to Tab's station, and I exit (along with about 200 other people on my car, and about 3,000 on the train itself) and follow the crowds toward the exit. Going down the escalator, I look up and see that the sign that says "Way Out" also says "Exits 8-12." I needed Exit 2. When I got to the bottom, I looked around until I found a little food stand, and asked where Exit 2 was. Thankfully they understood well enough to tell me how to get there. 10 minutes later and out of breathe from going up and down stairs, I had gotten a complete tour of Dangsan Station and finally found Tab waiting at the exit.
We headed out and caught a bus to her place, to drop off my duffle bag before heading to Hongdae for dinner, drinks, and dancing. The bus was crowded as well, and I was getting a headache. The whole trip over to her side of town was a headache, no wonder it was manifesting itself in my head. We finally got to her stop, and she warned me that her place was at the top of a hill. I said, oh, no big deal. And then I saw the hill. Granted, it wasn't that bad, but halfway up, it felt like the mountains that surround Seoul. Panting, out of breath, and sweating, we made it to her apartment. I took some Ibuprofen and we took a little breather. I met the little old lady that lives beneath her and watches out for her. Sweet old ajumma!
By the time we got to her place, it was around 10:20pm. I had gotten off work at 8:00. *Sigh...*
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| Waiting for a cab |
On the way, Tab decides to throw every Korean word she knows at this guy, who laughs and starts singing Gangnam Style. If this isn't the song of my trip so far, I don't know what is. He even brings up the music video on his oversized smartphone, and we jam out as we cross the Han River. It was a fun ride, those first 5 minutes....
Then, the trouble began. You guessed it, Hyundai is NOT the same as Hongdae. At $12, cruising down the strip by the Han River, I go "Tab, when are we going to tell this guy that we are NOT going in the right direction?!" I'm getting quite annoyed, since this is money we are wasting. I think the guy caught my upset tone, and calls the free translation number that everyone in the service industry in Seoul has on speed dial. Tab yells into the phone "HONGDAE. HONGIK UNIVERSITY!" ... "yes, HONGDAE!" She hands the phone back, and the guy listens a moment, puts his phone down, and goes "... HONGDAE!" and slams his fist down on the wheel, and pushes the windows down in the car, like he needs some air to cool down. Damn! He went from impersonating Psy to being a grumpy old Korean taxi driver in 2 seconds flat!
He turns around and starts yelling at us in Korean. Okay, maybe not yelling, but we both knew we were getting a talking-to! He starts pronouncing Hongdae with a nice hawking sound at the beginning, and then making us repeat it. Then saying "Hyundai!" with an emphasized "huuuun" at the beginning. Apparently we were getting the talk, and Korean lessons. I repeated him to appease him, and Tab just kept giggling nervously.
We finally made it, and the guy only charged us $20 ($10 each), rather than about $25 on the meter. Well, I didn't even expect that much, so we were grateful. He left us smiling, but I knew he was glad to be rid of us. Since we took a cab, my directions to the burger place I had researched were useless, as they directed us from the subway station. We looked around, and asked a group of girls behind us where it was. They had no idea, asked some other girls, and we got pointed down the alleyway behind us.
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| Menu at Burger B in Hongdae |
We crossed the street, and low-and-behold, there was Burger B... right there. We could not get over what great timing the taxi had to decide to boot us out at that exact spot (we hadn't told him anywhere specifically in that area...). By now, its around midnight. We order burgers, fries, and drinks and sit at this awesome bar overlooking the street and all the interesting people in it. We talked and waited for our food, got asked to take photos with some weird men from who-knows-where (not Korea, but not American either!) We laughed and made weird faces when they took the photos, and then tried to ignore them hitting on us from their table in another language.The food was absolutely delicious. I ordered the BBQ Burger and fries (pictured left). I was so ravenous by the time the food came, I took a bite before I remembered to take a photo. You can see the view we had in the background. It was just fun to sit at a bar overlooking the street and hill below. Tab ordered a cheeseburger. We both enjoyed our burgers immensely, sitting in silence for about 10 minutes just soaking up the goodness. We chatted for a little while longer, trying to decide what to do and where to go for the night. Since we had spent much more than expected on the cab (Tab kept insisting it was like paying for a scenic view of the river), we decided to just stick around Hongdae. She's gone out in the area before, so I trusted her judgement and we headed out.
The great thing about Korea, or just about anywhere besides Houston, is that bars don't close. Actually, in Korea, many places besides bars don't even post closing times. Online, I've literally seen "Open: 9am Close: when the last person leaves" well... that's specific!
We walked around for a while before deciding to hit up a bar she'd been to before called Zen Bar. We went in and it was anything but "zen." It was raging! We navigated our way around the throngs of dancing Koreans and expats alike, and hit the bar. Tab had had a beer at the restaurant, but I had stuck to coke (both for financial and energizing reasons). We decided to start things off with a bang, and had a little shot. I won't say what, gotta keep my reputation classy. But, the liquor was so cheap! This did not lead to overconsumption, FYI. But it was great prices! We both got a beer and started doing some rounds.
I realized going out with one other person, to a place where you know nobody, and run a 0.0001% risk of running into anyone you know, is kind of awkward! We just danced with each other for a bit, and circled the bar aimlessly. At one point, a girl surrounded by Korean guys dancing on her grabbed my arm and mouthed "Help me!" I pulled her out of the crowd, and she looked a little freaked out. Well, maybe it was a mistake to help her, because the void she created needed to be filled and it seemed I was the closest thing. I got grabbed and pulled in; I tried to get Tab's hand, but we were separated. (Don't freak out, here, people. It wasn't that creepy, just weird as heck.) These guys were dancing on me, and one even tried to take my beer. I snatched it back and smacked his hand away. Finally, I ejected myself from the crowd and met Tab on the other side of the bar. What craziness!
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| American guy dancing on Tab |
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| Koreans at the bar |
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| Trash everywhere in the streets. Weirdly, no Asians in this photo... hmmm.... |
We got to the park, and decided to be Korean and get some "mart beers" from the convenience store across the street. Inside, there was a line (which I strictly enforced to the pushy Koreans behind us), and Tab decided it was a great time to bust out with her extensive knowledge of Gangnam Style. She starts singing and we start dancing. The Koreans are laughing at us, but who cares. We walk outside, and as fate would have it, Gangnam Style is playing. Tab and I immediately start the dance. Within the 3minutes of the song, we had gotten about 10 people to dance with us in the middle of the street. We had cars stopped. It was pure awesomeness.
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| found this art on a building, for Michael :) |
After Gangnam Style, we sat down in the circle and watched. There was a black guy who spoke fluent Korean who break danced, a Korean guy with muscles who danced soooo well (and acted a little light in the loafers, but I don't think he was), a Russian girl who did Katy Perry dances, and other really talented people. By the time we left, I felt like maybe we shouldn't have partaken in the Gangnam Style dance because maybe we weren't really good enough! Haha! But it was so much fun, we didn't really care. :) We can blame it on being foreigners, like we do for everything else.
After a while, we decided to head out. We had finally ditched all the creepers, and decided that if we made it 45 more min, we could get some food then get the first subway back to Tab's place. It was about 3:45am. We headed into a coffee shop and sipped some water. As soon as we reached that point, I realized I could not make it much longer. We decided not to wait it out, just to get a cab. We walked out on the street and asked a cab to take us to Mokdong (Tab's neighborhood), he waved "no" to us. Okay, we tried another. Another "no". The third cab told us yes, but for $25. We knew the cab should only be $8, so we said heck no. Another 3 cabs all wanted between 20 and 25. We said no to all of them, and I was ready to give up and wait on the subway. Tab asked one last taxi, and he said yes. Tab made him put the address from her card into the GPS, so there was no excuse for taking the "long way." We got there in 6,300W (~$6). Awesome! We got in, and immediately hit the sack.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This morning, we woke up around noon. I was fairly impressed we did not sleep any later, having gone to bed around 5:00am. We got up and decided to get some pizza from Costco. We made our way there and ate lunch. Then we headed to Itaewon to help me get some things from my friends on base. Unforunately, this is where my phone being MIA hurt me. I wasn't able to communicate effective with them, and that was 100% my fault this weekend! I wasn't really frustrated, since it was my fault. We decided to get some Turkish ice cream we saw last time we were in Itaewon, and I'd read about this week.
Apparently, tons of Turks have moved to Korea in the past decade and have since brought a lot of their food and culture into Seoul. Specifically, their taffy-like ice cream has been a hit. They usually put on a show when getting you your order. We went to a low-key place tucked away behind other shops, so we didn't get as much entertainment. The guys getting us the ice cream did play around a little, but nothing compared to what I've read about (which basically consists of getting the entire tub of ice cream on a long pole and stringing it out and doing little tricks with it while getting your portion.)
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| it was like a hybrid of ice cream and taffy |
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| I enjoyed my cone of Turkish Ice Cream! |
Well, after we ate our ice creams, we said goodbye and headed back to our respective neighborhoods. I did pretty well on the subways, managing to read and figure out when and where to change trains without getting lost. When I headed for the bus to head to my apartment, there were at least 50 people waiting. I just kept reading my book and waited. I got on the first bus that came, and headed down the road.
And suddenly, my bus turns. This is not correct. I live directly down the main road. Uh oh... I get off at the first stop on the side road, and realize I am quite far from my apartment and now have no bus. I decided to just start walking in the general direction I know my apartment to be. I ended up walking about 10-15 blocks. It was annoying at first, but it was such a beautiful day I couldn't be upset for more than 5 minutes. I got home around 6pm, and flaked out on the bed for a good 15 minutes before doing anything else.
Now, I've got my window open, been working on the blog/photos for about 4 hours, and I deserve a movie night. :) Tomorrow, I am heading to church in Itaewon with Tab and then to get my things from Itaewon. :) We are expected to get a typhoon Sunday night or Monday, and it looks pretty fierce on the radar. I'm not sure how this will turn out, since the last one was such a disappointing show. Work on Monday will be interesting... But for now, I'm enjoying my weekend!
Saturday, September 8, 2012
Shabu-Shabu
I'm starting to get really annoyed at Korea. Yes, I said it! I've been having issues with my door. Last night when I got home, apparently my door did not shut all the way (it usually closes by itself, and then has an electronic lock). Before I went to bed, thankfully I caught it. I had to fiddle with the locking mechanism for a minute before I got it to auto-lock. Then, this morning when I went to work, I sat there and made sure I heard the lock turn before I left. Apparently, I didn't wait/look hard/long enough, because my door was OPEN when I got home tonight. No, not wide open, but it was not shut. I think the lock did turn, but the door had not fully sealed. I pulled it open without having to punch in my code. This freaked me out! I checked all my things, and everything was still there. Thank goodness I live at the end of the hall, and Koreans are generally very honest with non-criminal tendencies. I'm starting to get pissed at this door situation.
But, in other news... IT'S FRIDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I literally did a happy dance when I woke up. Been waiting for this day alllll week! :) I woke up a little late, again, but no matter. I treated myself to a waffle for breakfast. When I got there, I decided I wanted the choco-nut waffle, but I wanted whipped cream. Last time I ordered this as well, but without whipped cream. It would have been infinitely better with whipped cream, so I asked for it this time. What I got instead, was ICE cream. While I'm certainly not complaining, it was hilarious. And absolutely delicious. Best lost-in-translation mistake EVER. On the way back to my apartment, I got a Iced Chai Tea Latte, but I don't think the girl knew what I mean by soy milk, and my latte tasted a little funny. Who knows what ended up in my drink?!
I finished getting ready, talked to mom and dad, and left for work. When I arrived, I got all prepared, even doing the things I don't usually like read over the lessons entirely, and made the extra things like laminated cards. The laminating machine was so fun!
Classes were fairly normal. I officially can't stand my youngest kids. They are WILD, have waaay too much energy, absolutely no attention span, and have the blankest looks on their faces when I speak. My next group of kids is not much better, but the class is smaller. One girl, Belle, sometimes I wonder if she has much more than crickets going on in her head. She just stares. Today, I asked her to do her work, did she understand, and why wasn't she working? She just looked at me. Then she dropped her pencil, and when I asked her to pick it up, she looked at me like I was speaking another language. (Oh, wait... I was...) I knelt down and asked her in my most patient, simplest words, to pick up her pencil. She sat there frozen. I finally had to grab a Korean teacher to ask her to speak to Belle. The teacher had to stay the whole class to help her. Extremely frustrating. The other kids all get it. It's like some kids just don't try, don't care to learn, don't give a you-know-what that their parents are paying out the @$$ for them to come to this academy to learn English to have a better chance at a successful future!!!! *heavy, angry breathing going on as I type* Well, actually, all that is probably true, unfortunately.
My other classes got gradually better after that. The kids were extra-rowdy today. I guess they were as excited about the weekend as I was. My 2SAP girls took a quiz, which they all promised me they studied for, but I still had to not only give them a word bank, but break it up into sections so there was only 3-4 choices vs. 12 choices. Does this make sense? Like, instead of 12 words as options for #1-12, I said "#1-3 has these words as choices" etc. I was quite frustrated. I feel like I really try to help these kids, and they can't even do well then. Ah, such is the life of a teacher. We feel like we fail when our students fail. Or maybe that's just a rookie mistake.
Well, my last class was great, as it usually is. The boys were pretty hyper, but they all got 100s on both quizzes I gave them (Hallelujah!), and I was able to sit down at the table with them to work on most of the lesson. It's nice to sit down, and it's nice to be on a level with them. Maybe in Korea, this is frowned upon because the teacher seems less of an authority figure to be respected (they're all about the hierarchy), but in America I think it's a good thing. Teachers don't seem so cut off from the kids, like they are there to help and can be approached for help.
By 8:00pm, I was dancing another happy dance! I decided to make a significant effort to be friendly with my fellow foriegn teachers, and asked if anyone wanted to get dinner. We decided to go downstairs to the bottom floor of the building to get shabu-shabu. This was described to me as a soup. I will take you through my culinary journey...
First of all, we sit traditional Korean style: on the floor. Now, I'm all for the fung shui and all that, but my legs fall asleep and my back starts to ache after about 10 minutes of this business. But, when in Korea....
Thankfully, we had a Korean with us at dinner. She was able to order for us and we knew exactly what we were getting. (Well, Erin and Brian Teacher already knew since they've been here quite a few times before.)
We ordered, and they brought a bowl of broth and turned on the burner. Once the broth was nearly boiling, we added veggies. Once these had shrunk down to a normal size, we added the meat. The meat cooked very quickly, so we had our first "course" - meat and veggies. We had been given 2 bowls of spices/sauces, and I found that I really enjoyed one of them. Don't ask me what it was, because I have no idea. I greedily ate as much meat as I thought was socially acceptable, being that the whole table shared the pot.
After this "course" was finished, we let the broth heat back up and added a plate of noodles (flour, not rice, thankfully). Those cooked a while, and the broth became more of a gravy consistency. It was absolutely delicious. The best really Asian dish I've had so far (I would say "Korean" dish, but I don't think it is Korean... I think it's Japanese...).
After the noodle course, the waitress added some more broth (we were all sipping it, so it evaporated quickly), and when it was good and boiling, added the rice and egg concoction. It got very thick and was actually quite nice as well.
All in all, it was an extremely good dinner, and I tried a sip of "sansachun" which is some Korean wine made from "red fruits of the sansas" - anybody know what sansas are? Me either... It wasn't bad, though. Almost like a cider... I only had a small cup (and by Korean standards, when I say small, I mean less than a shot glass size), but I would like to try it again.
I left a bit early, giving some money to Sean for him to pay my portion of the meal, and headed home. I had left my phone at home, and felt naked without some form of communication. Mostly because Tab and I had briefly talked about our weekend plans this morning, and we hadn't decided anything when I left, so I wanted to get back and make sure she wasn't expecting me to be over there or something. And then, of course, I discovered my door is a POS and I need to get it fixed.
I decided to just stay in tonight, and good thing because it's raining now. I love that I can hear the pitter patter on my window. :) I found a few really cool things while I was procrastinating writing my blog. I love/am addicted to Instagram (photo taking app which puts cool filters on your pics). I have previously used Postagram, an app that takes your Instagram photos and turns them into postcards. It's awesome, because the price is less than buying a postcard here and mailing it, plus I can put my own photo on it! I brought to Korea a few Postagrams I had sent to myself and also received. I put one of the photos on my desk under the glass top at school, and I loved looking at it all day. I decided I wanted some more photos! So, I found two awesome websites: StickyGram and Printstagram.
But, in other news... IT'S FRIDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I literally did a happy dance when I woke up. Been waiting for this day alllll week! :) I woke up a little late, again, but no matter. I treated myself to a waffle for breakfast. When I got there, I decided I wanted the choco-nut waffle, but I wanted whipped cream. Last time I ordered this as well, but without whipped cream. It would have been infinitely better with whipped cream, so I asked for it this time. What I got instead, was ICE cream. While I'm certainly not complaining, it was hilarious. And absolutely delicious. Best lost-in-translation mistake EVER. On the way back to my apartment, I got a Iced Chai Tea Latte, but I don't think the girl knew what I mean by soy milk, and my latte tasted a little funny. Who knows what ended up in my drink?!I finished getting ready, talked to mom and dad, and left for work. When I arrived, I got all prepared, even doing the things I don't usually like read over the lessons entirely, and made the extra things like laminated cards. The laminating machine was so fun!
Classes were fairly normal. I officially can't stand my youngest kids. They are WILD, have waaay too much energy, absolutely no attention span, and have the blankest looks on their faces when I speak. My next group of kids is not much better, but the class is smaller. One girl, Belle, sometimes I wonder if she has much more than crickets going on in her head. She just stares. Today, I asked her to do her work, did she understand, and why wasn't she working? She just looked at me. Then she dropped her pencil, and when I asked her to pick it up, she looked at me like I was speaking another language. (Oh, wait... I was...) I knelt down and asked her in my most patient, simplest words, to pick up her pencil. She sat there frozen. I finally had to grab a Korean teacher to ask her to speak to Belle. The teacher had to stay the whole class to help her. Extremely frustrating. The other kids all get it. It's like some kids just don't try, don't care to learn, don't give a you-know-what that their parents are paying out the @$$ for them to come to this academy to learn English to have a better chance at a successful future!!!! *heavy, angry breathing going on as I type* Well, actually, all that is probably true, unfortunately.
My other classes got gradually better after that. The kids were extra-rowdy today. I guess they were as excited about the weekend as I was. My 2SAP girls took a quiz, which they all promised me they studied for, but I still had to not only give them a word bank, but break it up into sections so there was only 3-4 choices vs. 12 choices. Does this make sense? Like, instead of 12 words as options for #1-12, I said "#1-3 has these words as choices" etc. I was quite frustrated. I feel like I really try to help these kids, and they can't even do well then. Ah, such is the life of a teacher. We feel like we fail when our students fail. Or maybe that's just a rookie mistake.
Well, my last class was great, as it usually is. The boys were pretty hyper, but they all got 100s on both quizzes I gave them (Hallelujah!), and I was able to sit down at the table with them to work on most of the lesson. It's nice to sit down, and it's nice to be on a level with them. Maybe in Korea, this is frowned upon because the teacher seems less of an authority figure to be respected (they're all about the hierarchy), but in America I think it's a good thing. Teachers don't seem so cut off from the kids, like they are there to help and can be approached for help.
By 8:00pm, I was dancing another happy dance! I decided to make a significant effort to be friendly with my fellow foriegn teachers, and asked if anyone wanted to get dinner. We decided to go downstairs to the bottom floor of the building to get shabu-shabu. This was described to me as a soup. I will take you through my culinary journey...
First of all, we sit traditional Korean style: on the floor. Now, I'm all for the fung shui and all that, but my legs fall asleep and my back starts to ache after about 10 minutes of this business. But, when in Korea....
Thankfully, we had a Korean with us at dinner. She was able to order for us and we knew exactly what we were getting. (Well, Erin and Brian Teacher already knew since they've been here quite a few times before.)
We ordered, and they brought a bowl of broth and turned on the burner. Once the broth was nearly boiling, we added veggies. Once these had shrunk down to a normal size, we added the meat. The meat cooked very quickly, so we had our first "course" - meat and veggies. We had been given 2 bowls of spices/sauces, and I found that I really enjoyed one of them. Don't ask me what it was, because I have no idea. I greedily ate as much meat as I thought was socially acceptable, being that the whole table shared the pot.
After this "course" was finished, we let the broth heat back up and added a plate of noodles (flour, not rice, thankfully). Those cooked a while, and the broth became more of a gravy consistency. It was absolutely delicious. The best really Asian dish I've had so far (I would say "Korean" dish, but I don't think it is Korean... I think it's Japanese...).
After the noodle course, the waitress added some more broth (we were all sipping it, so it evaporated quickly), and when it was good and boiling, added the rice and egg concoction. It got very thick and was actually quite nice as well.
All in all, it was an extremely good dinner, and I tried a sip of "sansachun" which is some Korean wine made from "red fruits of the sansas" - anybody know what sansas are? Me either... It wasn't bad, though. Almost like a cider... I only had a small cup (and by Korean standards, when I say small, I mean less than a shot glass size), but I would like to try it again.
I left a bit early, giving some money to Sean for him to pay my portion of the meal, and headed home. I had left my phone at home, and felt naked without some form of communication. Mostly because Tab and I had briefly talked about our weekend plans this morning, and we hadn't decided anything when I left, so I wanted to get back and make sure she wasn't expecting me to be over there or something. And then, of course, I discovered my door is a POS and I need to get it fixed.
I decided to just stay in tonight, and good thing because it's raining now. I love that I can hear the pitter patter on my window. :) I found a few really cool things while I was procrastinating writing my blog. I love/am addicted to Instagram (photo taking app which puts cool filters on your pics). I have previously used Postagram, an app that takes your Instagram photos and turns them into postcards. It's awesome, because the price is less than buying a postcard here and mailing it, plus I can put my own photo on it! I brought to Korea a few Postagrams I had sent to myself and also received. I put one of the photos on my desk under the glass top at school, and I loved looking at it all day. I decided I wanted some more photos! So, I found two awesome websites: StickyGram and Printstagram.
StickyGram is a website that you can turn your Instagram photos into magnets! It's $15 for a sheet of 9 magnets. They also offer free worldwide shipping (awesome!!!!) and if you fancy getting some, use the code FRIENDA771 and you can get $2 off! I am super excited to get mine in the mail. I already have some photos on the fridge, but these will really help my room look more personal.
Printstagram is a website that you can get simple prints of your Instagram photos. You can do regular squares, or minis! You can also make albums and other goodies. I wanted regular squares to put on my desk, so I got a set of 24 prints for the incredible price of $12!! Unforunately, you do pay shipping here. To a US address is $7. But, including tax, my total was still less than $20.
I am super excited to get all these photos in the mail! I am obsessed with Instagram, and I definitely see more orders for these prints in the future! **Sorry for the tangent about these companies, I am just so excited!**
I wonder what this weekend will have in store....
Thursday, August 30, 2012
Made It Out Alive... Day 1 of Being A "Real" Teacher
Today was my first "real" teaching day. Up until now, I've been shadowing and trying to learn everything about all my classes while watching Maggie Teacher run around like a crazy person. I've been taking notes every day, but I still feel like I've missed so much information. Around 6pm every day, it took a lot of effort to keep my brain powered on. Sometimes information would do the in-one-ear-out-the-other trick. I frequently asked Maggie Teacher to repeat what she said. There is so much to learn!
But, today was day 1. I am officially "Chelsea Teacher" to about 100 Korean kids. Since today was Thursday, I was actually meeting my classes for the first time. Three of the classes had exams, and another had a "pop" exam from Jackie Teacher (will get to this later...) I guess I'll go in order.
First block, I have free. I don't know how I managed this, but I am not complaining! It's only T/Th that I have this luxury, but I'm pleased. I prepped before class, making sure I had everything for the exams, and was prepared for the other classes. Maggie came in for a couple hours to finish up her paperwork, and helped me get ready.
Second block (my first class) was New Hi Kids and they had an exam. Since the class was large, about 10 students. The exam has 3 parts: Listening, Reading, and Speaking. Listening is done as a class, everyone listening to the computer read out the questions, and the kids marking in their test booklet. Reading is straightforward, normal test procedure. And Speaking involves the students coming into the hallway one at a time with the teacher to orally answer questions. Being a large class, I had to get some help. I did Speaking exams while Michelle Teacher also did some, and Phoebe Teacher watched the class. It was a bit overwhelming! We finally finished, and moved on to the next class, which was also New Hi Kids, but there were only 2 students in that class. Same procedure.
Third class was my 2SAP kids, 4 little girls whom I see every day, and they had a test AND a quiz as well. The girls are so sweet and cute, but they are talkative and have so much energy! We got through listening, and I began speaking. I sat by the door window to keep an eye on them while doing speaking with the individual students in the hallway. These students have more work and higher standards. They have to verbally answer questions, sight-read a paragraph, and recite a memorized summary of the book we've been reading.
By the time we finished the exam and the speaking, they could only finish part of their Word Quiz. We will have to finish that up tomorrow. Like I said, the girls are precious and dead smart, but hyperactive and I think one may have a touch of ADD.
My fourth class was 3SAP (similar to 2SAP but much larger class of 10 students and I only see 2 days per week). We were already 2 days behind; one day was taken up from a speaking contest last week, and the typhoon day put the class even more behind. Today was supposed to be those 2 days combined, and next class have another 2 days crammed to be fully caught up. Well, the best laid plans... 3 minutes before class, Jackie Teacher tells me we will be having an unplanned placement exam. It should "only" take about 20-25 minutes. Awesome... But, gotta go with it! So, we give the exam which ends up taking 35 minutes, and barely get through 1 days worth of work, and still had to assign extra homework. :( Poor kids... Jackie Teacher and I went over the lesson plans and decided we should rewrite them tomorrow. It was a bit overwhelming. Not only am I new to teaching, I've never had this class before, and now I'm having to modify what was already planned. Stress!!
My last class was the only class of the day without an exam. *Phew!* We did "Reading Engine" which was basically reading an article and doing a ton of questions together. One students didn't have her book, and protocol is to make copies of another student's book for her to work on. Since it was my first day with these kids and I've already gotten so behind in my last class, AND I'm also behind in this class, I decide to skip taking 5 minutes to make the girl copies. I tell her to read along with her neighbor, write down her answers, and copy them into her book when she gets home. I hope I don't get in trouble for this, but I wouldn't have gotten through all the material if I had taken the time to leave the classroom.
That last class also had a problem child. In Korea, it is very rude to eat or drink in class. Extremely disrespectful. So, kids are not allowed to have snacks, water, or candies during class. Well, when I walked in they were still snacking from Break. I told them to put everything up, and 5 minutes later I see Alicia just munching away. I tell her again to put it up. We do some more work and then I see her get some candy out of her bag. I tell her "Alicia, put the candy away. If I see it out one more time, we will go in the hall and have a discussion." Side note: apparently being pulled out of class for bad behavior is super embarrassing. She finally put it up, but I can tell she's going to be a handful.
After classes, we had an hour to work on things before we could leave. I graded a lot of my tests, but still wasn't done by 9 o'clock. I will have a few hours of prep tomorrow to work on them, and I feel moderately prepared for tomorrow's classes. I really can't wait to get the hang of the classes, I feel so flustered!
On a slightly different note, okay, a totally different note: this morning I had a minor meltdown. Staying in the motel is really hard, not just because it is gross as hell, but there is NO way to cook or reheat anything. I have no stove, no oven, no microwave. Nothing! So, I must eat out. Well, no one has explained anything to me. I know of 2 restaurants and I don't really like either. Breakfast is hard, because there is only bakeries around me. So, I've been having rolls and pastries every morning. They are good, but when all you eat the rest of the day is the rice that the school makes and maybe some crackers, it is not too great. I never thought I'd say "I'm so sick of all carbs!"
So, this morning I set out on yet another attempt to find some semblance of a hot breakfast. Of course, nothing. Plus, it's raining cats and dogs. I get home and talk to mom. And I completely lose it. I am so frustrated by the situation! I don't know what the signs mean, so I'm too scared to go in places. They don't speak English, only half have pictures of the food, and even then I dont actually know what goes in it! I am scared to ask the other teachers where to go, for fear of looking like the princess of the group.
My mom, of course, wants to try to help me fix it so she's telling me to ask the teachers or go to this neighborhood or that place. Well, obviously I've thought of those things before and they don't work! So, I'm frustrated and so hungry it hurts. I hang up and call Michael; by this time it's certifiably sobbing. He gets me to calm down eventually, and I decide to go to the Lotteria in my neighborhood (remember Lotteria, McDonald's ripoff from this weekend?). I mean, it's not very good and it's greasy, but I can get protein in the form of chicken strips. So that's something!
Well, then I get to work and see that in addition to the rice, the lunch lady made some kind of marinated pork. My Korean friend, Michelle, told me to try it. I got some, and with the hot rice on it, it heated up (for some reason, Koreans like a lot of weird things served cold... I'm confused but it seems to be the case...), and it was actually good! I had a whole bowl. I was so proud of myself for trying something new and actually liking it!
By the time school was over, I was hungry again (my stomach is being so greedy now that it's actually getting some nutrition!). I asked Michelle would she mind maybe showing me some places in the area to eat, or what common signs on restaurants mean. She was so sweet and agreed. But, we wouldn't be able to meet until next week, because of timing conflicts. I was just very happy I asked and she didn't think I was some crazy white girl.
On the way home from work, I mentioned to Erin that I'd like to know where restaurants in our area were, and what they served. I mentioned that I kind of liked the kimbap the school served on Friday (I mean, not really, but I forced it down.) She said, "Oh! Yea, there's a kimbap place right next to us! I'll show you!" I could hear the heavens singing Hallelujah!! She took me on the way home, and I got a kimbap roll. It was the equivalent of a little over $1! **The server is down or I would be adding photos of my kimbap :) will add soon!**
Kimbap looks similar to sushi rolls, but it does not have any fish! Usually they have tofu or ham (or both) plus some veggies and other bits and bobs. I honestly don't know what all was in mine, but I picked out the large yellowish blob because I didn't care for the texture. It was hard like a carrot.
I just think it's so amazing that when I get so down about something here, God really looks out for me. I knew this trip would be good for me, help to grow. But I didn't realize the lessons would be so quick. I know God doesn't always give us exactly what we want when we want it, but He provides! I was so hungry this morning, I cried out to Him, and He answered my prayers. It wasn't BBQ or mac and cheese, but it was food I could eat, and my stomach doesn't hate me anymore (or at least quite so much...)
One more amazing thing before I end this one... Michelle, my Korean friend, is awesome. Uploading a photo of her wall post to me today. I love her! I can't wait to be better friends with her. Hehehe!
But, today was day 1. I am officially "Chelsea Teacher" to about 100 Korean kids. Since today was Thursday, I was actually meeting my classes for the first time. Three of the classes had exams, and another had a "pop" exam from Jackie Teacher (will get to this later...) I guess I'll go in order.
First block, I have free. I don't know how I managed this, but I am not complaining! It's only T/Th that I have this luxury, but I'm pleased. I prepped before class, making sure I had everything for the exams, and was prepared for the other classes. Maggie came in for a couple hours to finish up her paperwork, and helped me get ready.
Second block (my first class) was New Hi Kids and they had an exam. Since the class was large, about 10 students. The exam has 3 parts: Listening, Reading, and Speaking. Listening is done as a class, everyone listening to the computer read out the questions, and the kids marking in their test booklet. Reading is straightforward, normal test procedure. And Speaking involves the students coming into the hallway one at a time with the teacher to orally answer questions. Being a large class, I had to get some help. I did Speaking exams while Michelle Teacher also did some, and Phoebe Teacher watched the class. It was a bit overwhelming! We finally finished, and moved on to the next class, which was also New Hi Kids, but there were only 2 students in that class. Same procedure.
Third class was my 2SAP kids, 4 little girls whom I see every day, and they had a test AND a quiz as well. The girls are so sweet and cute, but they are talkative and have so much energy! We got through listening, and I began speaking. I sat by the door window to keep an eye on them while doing speaking with the individual students in the hallway. These students have more work and higher standards. They have to verbally answer questions, sight-read a paragraph, and recite a memorized summary of the book we've been reading.
By the time we finished the exam and the speaking, they could only finish part of their Word Quiz. We will have to finish that up tomorrow. Like I said, the girls are precious and dead smart, but hyperactive and I think one may have a touch of ADD.
My fourth class was 3SAP (similar to 2SAP but much larger class of 10 students and I only see 2 days per week). We were already 2 days behind; one day was taken up from a speaking contest last week, and the typhoon day put the class even more behind. Today was supposed to be those 2 days combined, and next class have another 2 days crammed to be fully caught up. Well, the best laid plans... 3 minutes before class, Jackie Teacher tells me we will be having an unplanned placement exam. It should "only" take about 20-25 minutes. Awesome... But, gotta go with it! So, we give the exam which ends up taking 35 minutes, and barely get through 1 days worth of work, and still had to assign extra homework. :( Poor kids... Jackie Teacher and I went over the lesson plans and decided we should rewrite them tomorrow. It was a bit overwhelming. Not only am I new to teaching, I've never had this class before, and now I'm having to modify what was already planned. Stress!!
My last class was the only class of the day without an exam. *Phew!* We did "Reading Engine" which was basically reading an article and doing a ton of questions together. One students didn't have her book, and protocol is to make copies of another student's book for her to work on. Since it was my first day with these kids and I've already gotten so behind in my last class, AND I'm also behind in this class, I decide to skip taking 5 minutes to make the girl copies. I tell her to read along with her neighbor, write down her answers, and copy them into her book when she gets home. I hope I don't get in trouble for this, but I wouldn't have gotten through all the material if I had taken the time to leave the classroom.
That last class also had a problem child. In Korea, it is very rude to eat or drink in class. Extremely disrespectful. So, kids are not allowed to have snacks, water, or candies during class. Well, when I walked in they were still snacking from Break. I told them to put everything up, and 5 minutes later I see Alicia just munching away. I tell her again to put it up. We do some more work and then I see her get some candy out of her bag. I tell her "Alicia, put the candy away. If I see it out one more time, we will go in the hall and have a discussion." Side note: apparently being pulled out of class for bad behavior is super embarrassing. She finally put it up, but I can tell she's going to be a handful.
After classes, we had an hour to work on things before we could leave. I graded a lot of my tests, but still wasn't done by 9 o'clock. I will have a few hours of prep tomorrow to work on them, and I feel moderately prepared for tomorrow's classes. I really can't wait to get the hang of the classes, I feel so flustered!
On a slightly different note, okay, a totally different note: this morning I had a minor meltdown. Staying in the motel is really hard, not just because it is gross as hell, but there is NO way to cook or reheat anything. I have no stove, no oven, no microwave. Nothing! So, I must eat out. Well, no one has explained anything to me. I know of 2 restaurants and I don't really like either. Breakfast is hard, because there is only bakeries around me. So, I've been having rolls and pastries every morning. They are good, but when all you eat the rest of the day is the rice that the school makes and maybe some crackers, it is not too great. I never thought I'd say "I'm so sick of all carbs!"
So, this morning I set out on yet another attempt to find some semblance of a hot breakfast. Of course, nothing. Plus, it's raining cats and dogs. I get home and talk to mom. And I completely lose it. I am so frustrated by the situation! I don't know what the signs mean, so I'm too scared to go in places. They don't speak English, only half have pictures of the food, and even then I dont actually know what goes in it! I am scared to ask the other teachers where to go, for fear of looking like the princess of the group.
My mom, of course, wants to try to help me fix it so she's telling me to ask the teachers or go to this neighborhood or that place. Well, obviously I've thought of those things before and they don't work! So, I'm frustrated and so hungry it hurts. I hang up and call Michael; by this time it's certifiably sobbing. He gets me to calm down eventually, and I decide to go to the Lotteria in my neighborhood (remember Lotteria, McDonald's ripoff from this weekend?). I mean, it's not very good and it's greasy, but I can get protein in the form of chicken strips. So that's something!
Well, then I get to work and see that in addition to the rice, the lunch lady made some kind of marinated pork. My Korean friend, Michelle, told me to try it. I got some, and with the hot rice on it, it heated up (for some reason, Koreans like a lot of weird things served cold... I'm confused but it seems to be the case...), and it was actually good! I had a whole bowl. I was so proud of myself for trying something new and actually liking it!
By the time school was over, I was hungry again (my stomach is being so greedy now that it's actually getting some nutrition!). I asked Michelle would she mind maybe showing me some places in the area to eat, or what common signs on restaurants mean. She was so sweet and agreed. But, we wouldn't be able to meet until next week, because of timing conflicts. I was just very happy I asked and she didn't think I was some crazy white girl.
On the way home from work, I mentioned to Erin that I'd like to know where restaurants in our area were, and what they served. I mentioned that I kind of liked the kimbap the school served on Friday (I mean, not really, but I forced it down.) She said, "Oh! Yea, there's a kimbap place right next to us! I'll show you!" I could hear the heavens singing Hallelujah!! She took me on the way home, and I got a kimbap roll. It was the equivalent of a little over $1! **The server is down or I would be adding photos of my kimbap :) will add soon!**
Kimbap looks similar to sushi rolls, but it does not have any fish! Usually they have tofu or ham (or both) plus some veggies and other bits and bobs. I honestly don't know what all was in mine, but I picked out the large yellowish blob because I didn't care for the texture. It was hard like a carrot.
I just think it's so amazing that when I get so down about something here, God really looks out for me. I knew this trip would be good for me, help to grow. But I didn't realize the lessons would be so quick. I know God doesn't always give us exactly what we want when we want it, but He provides! I was so hungry this morning, I cried out to Him, and He answered my prayers. It wasn't BBQ or mac and cheese, but it was food I could eat, and my stomach doesn't hate me anymore (or at least quite so much...)
One more amazing thing before I end this one... Michelle, my Korean friend, is awesome. Uploading a photo of her wall post to me today. I love her! I can't wait to be better friends with her. Hehehe!
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