Things I miss

I have been in Korea for 3 and a half weeks now and am starting to miss some ‘American’ stuff. This list is what all I miss most about being in Korea versus America.

1. My friends – I miss couch time in the hall and puzzle nights in our dorm. I miss being jumped on while lying in bed or at my desk. I miss getting to talk to my sisters and my brothers about anything and everything. I miss twizzler fights with my roommate and getting locked in my closet so I can never leave. I miss spastic squirrels who jump at us and give us heart attacks and watching squirrels try to carry a whole apple up a tree. I miss Phi Lamb worships every Monday and Prayer groups during the week. I miss all my friends from school and life.
2. My family – I miss my brother trying to show me the newest game he found on the internet or the latest battle he won on his computer game. I miss helping my little sister take care of my nephew and babysitting him so she can go to karaoke night. I miss IM talks with my older sister about her latest experiments and her life in Baltimore. I miss helping my mom cook and my dad showing off his latest gadgets he has gotten. I miss talking to everyone in my family and hearing their voice.
3. BOOKS – I miss having a basically unlimited library of books available at my own house to read and reread at my leisure. I brought 3 books with me to Korea and have read them all twice plus 3 books I borrowed from the library at the school. My list of books read in the last month is
i. The Best of Guideposts (1x)
ii. Montana Skies 4 books in 1 - (Healing Love, Compassionate Love, Love Remembered, Love Abounds) (2x)
iii. A Love Woven True (2x)
iv. Pride and Prejudice (on my computer)
v. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
vi. The Secret Garden
vii. Walk Two Moons
With the lack of internet at my apartment I spend the evenings reading and playing solitaire on my computer so I have had plenty of time to read. I just lack in books to read
4. Mexican Food – I love Korean food (I would even go as far as to say that I like kimchi) and get plenty of chances to eat that but you cannot find a Mexican restaurant in all of Asan. The other Texan here says that you also cannot find tortillas or any of the other essentials to make Mexican food here in Asan. There is rumored to be a Mexican restaurant in the Itaewon district of Seoul but I haven’t had a chance to go up and see if the rumor true. I have also heard that a grocery store in the Itaewon district sells American groceries (for the army ppl) and has tortillas and shredded cheddar cheese so that quesadillas and tacos can be made.
5. 24 hour Wal-Mart – Although Wal-Mart has its evils it has everything needed and in one place. I haven’t yet found out how to get to the E-mart in Asan (which is probably the closest thing to walmart in Korea) but there is one within 2 miles of my apartment. For now we just have to get what we need from one of the many convenience stores on the way home from school in the evening. The stores do have a lot but not all of the stores have everything that we need so sometimes we make multiple stops in search of Q-tips or laundry soap. I miss the ease of running to Wal-Mart whenever something was needed. I also miss late night Wal-Mart trips with my friends to play and goof off because we were bored.
6. Washing machine – Our apartment doesn’t have a washing machine so I have to hand was everything. Its not to bad to hand wash socks or shirts but hand washing my sheets and towels is a lot of effort. We are supposed to have a washing machine in the new apartment but no dryer. Koreans don’t do dryers. Everything is hung on the porch outside after it is washed.
Ok, that is about all I can think of that I really miss from America at this point. I’m sure the list will grow and shrink as I stay here and become used to Korea.

American (or is it Korean) fast food

Yesterday and today (during my trips to Seoul) we had American fast food. Thursday for lunch we got McDonald's at the Seoul Train station. It tasted for the most part like McDonald's. They had a shrimp burger that i wasn't brave enough to try and the meat on their burgers was very pale... what type of meat is it really????? Friday we had KFC at the same train station. On the menu I didn't see any of the traditional KFC things so I ended up getting a spicy chicken sandwich. On the sandwich they had a hash brown (like McDonald's breakfast ones). I enjoyed the sandwich but it isn't anything that I could ever get in America.
The question is.... is it American fast food or Korean fast food?
I went to Seoul Thursday and Friday to take care of the criminal background check for my E2 visa. Thursday I asked the Korean going with us if we needed the checks that we had previously done and she said no because they had to do a new one. We got there and found out that they did need it and couldn't do the seal (which was really all we needed) with out it. So we went home and went out on Friday to do it all over again. Friday I did remember to bring my criminal background check and after sitting in the American Embassy for almost 2 hrs (it was very busy that day) we finally did get a seal put on it and signed and all that. To get back to Asan on time we had to get on the 11:18 train from Seoul station but didn't get finished at the embassy until 11:15 so we missed the train :( We finally did get back to Asan just after 2 and to the school around 2:30 (classes started at 2 pm).
So I have taken 2 trips to Seoul and seen nothing more then what I see through a taxi and the American Embassy. At the Embassy there were Korean police stationed all around it because of the riots over the American Beef. They had buses sitting beside the embassy with all the police riot stuff ready in case another riot happened there.
Maybe I will take another trip into Seoul this weekend and go see the city (no.. not likely I dont want to spend another 90 on the train each way so soon...)
Kay

June 15th 10AM - a weekend of exploring (and a doctors visit)

June 15th 10 AM
Yesterday I had to go with one of the Korean teachers to Chunan for a doctors visit. We left at 9 am and were back before 11 AM. I had to go do a checkup for my visa. They did height, weight, eyesight, blood pressure, chest ex-ray, blood drawn, drug test etc etc… The last thing we were supposed to do was a dental exam but when we got to that part of the building there was a line all the way down the hallway in front of the dental office. She talked to them and was told it would be a 2 hr wait to be seen but they just took our paper work and made a mark on it and let us go. We didn’t have to wait for in the line for a proper check up.
After we got back I decided to go out hiking. I got my GPS (and after stopping at a convenience store for fresh batteries). I walked over to the school because from there you could easily get to the mountain. I never did find the entrance to the mountain that I had been told about but I did explore up the mysterious stairs to nowhere. These stairs look like they lead to nowhere because from the bottom of the stairs you cannot see any paths just green vegetation. Once up those stairs though it is a beautiful little greenbelt park right in the city. Looking out on one side of the part is city but then looking out the other side is farm land and small personal houses. The park had lots of winding intersecting trails that I explored on and had a little workout section in the middle of it. When I came to a trail leading down to stairs I took it thinking it was the same set of stairs I had come up. Getting down it I realized it wasn’t but that it was a set of stairs a short distance down the road further. After that I did a little more exploring around the city near my school and got GPS coordinates for the school and apartment and church.
School coordinates N36*46.178’ E126*59.746’ Elevation 131 ft
Apartment coordinates N36*46.707’ E127*00.120’ Elevation 83 ft
Church coordinates N36*46.732’ E127*00.171’ Elevation 83 ft (also coordinates for kindergarten)

The Mysterious Stairs to nowhere

June 13th 9:30 PM - Field Trip with the Kindergarten

June 13th 9:30 PM

Today I got to go on a field trip with the kindergarten classes to a war memorial and cemetery. The first part of the trip I went with my downstairs classroom then went to my other classroom and helped out there for the rest of the trip. All the graves in this cemetery are Koreans that were killed in other countries then Korea and wanted to be buried in their home country. I took lots of pictures of the memorial and of my cute kids. As I was walking back to the bus with the kids one of the little girls accidentally stepped into a grate that was across the sidewalk and got her leg stuck. I was able to pull her out but her shoe fell of and was sitting at the bottom of the area the grate covered. I couldn’t get my hand down there to get her shoe but luckily the Korean teacher was able to reach down there and got her shoe for her. On the way across it the first time the teacher told the kids to be careful because they have such small feet it was easy for them to fall into it but coming back they weren’t paying attention to where they walked. No pictures of the kids posted here because I do not know the rules of the school as far as posting pictures of kids online.

Lots of graves at this memorial

The monuments on either end of the cemetery.
I am not sure what the specific meaning of the monuments are because I was busy chasing children and didn’t have a chance to read what was written about them.

Today I also had a breakthrough in my advanced class. The lesson for the day was on money and buying and spending. The lesson started like normal with minimal participation from the students but at the end when they were doing some out of their work book I took out some American money I had and passed it around the classroom. I had a 20, a 10 and a handful of change (including state quarters). All the students were looking at the money and asking me questions about it – they wanted to know which presidents were on it (and I hate to say it but I didn’t remember on all the coins which president it was), why the state coins all had different backs, the buildings on the front of the bills (white house and US treasury). They also pulled out Korean money and we were comparing it. One thing I saw that was interesting was that the 10 won (which has the same value as a penny) was a copper coin like the penny (although it was a little bigger). Today is the first day that the students have actively asked questions and wanted to learn more and really the first time they have talked and held a discussion in the class.

June 6th - first week finished

June 6th I have survived my first week of classes. My daily schedule is to wake up at 8 AM or so, lazy around my apartment till about 9:15 then I walk to the kindergarten to check email before I start teaching at 10AM in the downstairs kindergarten class. I help out in that class and teach an English lesson then go upstairs at 11 AM for another 5 year old class. There I teach from 11-11:30 then help out in the classroom until lunch at 12:15ish. After lunch I walk ~15 minutes to the Language School where classes start for me at 2 pm. I teach from 2-3 pm a starter English class then have a break until 4 when I teach level 2 English class. I get another break after that class (5-6) then teach one more class at 6. My last class is the most advanced class at the school and is composed of 15 and 16 year olds. I leave school at around 7:15 and walk home to lazy around w/o internet or TV until I go to bed. For dinner I usually stop at a little bakery called Paris Baguette for a sandwich (and I also pick up something for breakfast the next day) so I am usually only eating Korean during lunch each day
My classroom at WMLS





My daily schedule and classroom name.

June 2, 2008 - Korean Barbeque and Silk Worms

June 2, 2008 9PM

Korean Barbeque and Silk Worms

Monday Evening the pastor took me and my roommate home from school because it was raining. He insisted on stopping somewhere and getting us dinner and took us to this nice Korean barbeque place. The barbeque was cooked right in front of us on a circular grill in the middle of the table. Almost everything with the meal was good, almost….. One of the sides that they had (other then many different varieties of kimchi) was silk worms and earlier that evening I had told the pastor that I would try everything at least once so he made me try a silk worm. It wasn’t horrible but it is defiantly not something I will eat if I am cooking. After the beef cooked we dipped it in a soybean sauce and wrapped it in lettuce leaves to eat. Although not quite the same as a Texas barbeque with a big old steak on the grill with A-1 steak sauce it was a wonderful meal.
Monday was also the first day of classes at the school. In the morning I am supposed to go to the kindergarten at the church and teach English for 2 hours but the lady in charge of the school was not there and so we didn’t know which classes we were supposed to go to and when. I did end up observing another English teacher as he taught in the 3 year old class and then just sitting in the office until lunch time which I ate at that school and then walked with the other teachers to the Wesley school for the afternoon classes. The afternoon classes were a little hectic (but that is expected with the first day of classes). Class is pretty easy to prepare for because we have a group set of lesson plans so all the students will be at the same spot in the books which means I don’t have to really prepare for any but my last class which is the advanced middle school class. My class sizes ranged from 9 students to only 3 students. The class with only 3 students was SO quiet. They didn’t talk out of turn or whisper to each other (in fact they only talked if I asked them a direct question). Overall my first day of classes went pretty good – there were times it could have been better but tomorrow is another day and I’m sure the classes will go better then.

14 hour flight +2 hour drive = arrival at my new home (well almost my new home)

I have landed in Korea. The flight was long (14 hours) but uneventful and then from the airport we drove about 2 hours to get to the hotel that I am staying at for a few days. On Saturday I meet all the other teachers at the school and we found out our schedules. I will be teaching a total of 5 hours every day with kids ranging from Kindergarten (about 4 yrs old) to middle school students and all ranges of english knowledge. Jetlag definatly hit saturday afternoon and I fell asleep while planning my lessons for next week but the nap refreshed me and I was still able to get a good night sleep that night. Hopefully that is the end of my jetlag and I am not going to experience any more nights like the first one where I woke up at midnight and couldnt fall back asleep because it was 2 pm home time. But I have arrived safely and will update yall more when I get to my appartment and get internet working there.