After Van Gogh, life has seemed normal and empty. Hehehe... no, I just felt like saying that to be melodramatic! ;P Actually things are going well. We have mostly just hung out with friends near or around home. We've been out with Jini and Sup a couple more times and Matt and Amber have graced us with their presence to keep us company. We even had a board game marathon in which Amber totally walloped the lot of us at "Taj Mahal".
We've tried to see more of Korea, really we have. The past two weekends in a row we were all set up and ready to see the Suwon Fortress. It's supposed to be a nice walk outdoors. We were rained out the first time and it's currently raining right now so we'll see if it holds up tomorrow.
Last weekend we went to church for the second time. The regular pastor was preaching instead of the youth pastor so it was good to know what that would be like on Sundays to come. Being that it was Easter Sunday, I expected a whole lot more ceremony. In fact, the pastor was in the middle of a series on salvation. I know it kind of fits with Easter, but doesn't Easter deserve it's own sermon? The pastor also talked about the "inner man". He referred to this part of all people that is their spirit essentially. It bothered me that he talked about it with a gender. I don't know what it is lately, but the more I attend church the more questions I have about my beliefs. I feel like all of my studying and past experiences is contrary to what some churches are teaching. Is it possible? Can a faith be so divided? I love God, I'm not the most diligent at disciplines - but I genuinely love God and want to follow Jesus example in our world. Is that not the call of Christians? I'm not sure whether I'm calling for help or just venting... bear with me on this one. It actually got to the point where I had to ask myself if I believe the same thing as the people around me. I'm tempted to say no, but does that mean that I deny my faith then? Always more questions than answers.
This blog is very quirky and jumbled. I hope it reminds you all of my and my quirky jumbled nature. :) Take care and I will update with more photos soon!
Saturday, March 29, 2008
Van Gogh in Seoul
Upon deliberating whether we should see the Van Gogh exhibit or play boardgames, I forced Curtis to promise me that we would see that Van Gogh exhibit the next Saturday. Since it was the last weekend I was prepared for it to be completely packed so I insisted that we head out early. Early for us meant out the door by 10:00, which is admirable considering on weekdays we're not out the door before 12:30. Getting ready to head out, I noticed my own excitement. I was especially thinking about how amazing it would be to actually set my eyes upon "The Starry Night" and the sunflowers series.
We got there and at first weren't quite sure which direction to head. We had been given the exit number to leave the subway, but other than that it was more or less just assumed that it would be obvious. Not 5 minutes later, we saw a huge banner with "Van Gogh" printed on it. Hehehehe, in hindsight it makes me feel silly for thinking it wasn't obvious even for 5 minutes. :) Smaller banners lined the small brick street leading to the museum. Other exhibitioners were walking the same direction so we kept going for about 10 minutes. We saw a line forming and followed suit.
Coming up to the museum, it looked more European than it did Korean. It was concrete with pillars and mouldings. The glass revolving doors gave it the modern twist. It was not a long wait before we were inside. The inside of the building looked so much different than the outside. Panels of light coloured wood and flat panel garage doors concealed the works of art and sectioned off each exhibit. There was a huge banner declaring the presence of Van Gogh's art, but then no other signs. As soon as we entered the building, there was another line up. There were black strap gates to direct and move the traffic through this museum and attendants pointing and directing people. Once we were ushered up a set of stairs, it seemed like the rest of the museum was fair game. No more lines, no more black strap ropes.
As we went on, we noticed a pattern from the other viewers. It was common not to stand in line actually, but instead to go to a painting you wanted to see and elbow your way to the front, stand there for a minute, and then shimmy your way back out again. It made the line incredibly slow and so after about an hour of being patient we decided to do as the Koreans did.
We found the first room displaying Van Gogh. They were mostly drawings and chalk sketches. Not at all what I had imagined. There were human subjects in the sketches doing farm work. He drew and painted a lot of people just being people. It was really interesting. Halfway through the second of three rooms we started to see the oil on canvas that Van Gogh was famous for. It was really breathtaking. None of the ones that we saw were particularly famous except "Vase with Irises". The colour that he used were vivid and the contrasts were stunning. I didn't get to see any of the sunflowers paintings or "The Starry Night", but I feel lucky to have seen the ones I did.
We got there and at first weren't quite sure which direction to head. We had been given the exit number to leave the subway, but other than that it was more or less just assumed that it would be obvious. Not 5 minutes later, we saw a huge banner with "Van Gogh" printed on it. Hehehehe, in hindsight it makes me feel silly for thinking it wasn't obvious even for 5 minutes. :) Smaller banners lined the small brick street leading to the museum. Other exhibitioners were walking the same direction so we kept going for about 10 minutes. We saw a line forming and followed suit.
Coming up to the museum, it looked more European than it did Korean. It was concrete with pillars and mouldings. The glass revolving doors gave it the modern twist. It was not a long wait before we were inside. The inside of the building looked so much different than the outside. Panels of light coloured wood and flat panel garage doors concealed the works of art and sectioned off each exhibit. There was a huge banner declaring the presence of Van Gogh's art, but then no other signs. As soon as we entered the building, there was another line up. There were black strap gates to direct and move the traffic through this museum and attendants pointing and directing people. Once we were ushered up a set of stairs, it seemed like the rest of the museum was fair game. No more lines, no more black strap ropes.
As we went on, we noticed a pattern from the other viewers. It was common not to stand in line actually, but instead to go to a painting you wanted to see and elbow your way to the front, stand there for a minute, and then shimmy your way back out again. It made the line incredibly slow and so after about an hour of being patient we decided to do as the Koreans did.
We found the first room displaying Van Gogh. They were mostly drawings and chalk sketches. Not at all what I had imagined. There were human subjects in the sketches doing farm work. He drew and painted a lot of people just being people. It was really interesting. Halfway through the second of three rooms we started to see the oil on canvas that Van Gogh was famous for. It was really breathtaking. None of the ones that we saw were particularly famous except "Vase with Irises". The colour that he used were vivid and the contrasts were stunning. I didn't get to see any of the sunflowers paintings or "The Starry Night", but I feel lucky to have seen the ones I did.
Sunday, March 23, 2008
Trouble in the Henhouse
Some different issues started to come to a head two weeks ago about rules at work. The details are pretty boring honestly, but lets just say that we've been warned over and over again that employers in Korea will take all that they can get and push for more if they think they can get away with it. I understand that this is a generalization and may be grossly inaccurate, but I've experienced it and have had many other stories to verify it.
Basically, the rules at work had been getting stricter and stricter around out break times. They were pushing us to use our break times for work because there were little other options unless you find twiddling your thumbs amusing. They also have been piling on more and more work. We totally revamped our speaking course to include much more preparation on the teachers part. In short, we didn't want to end up in a stressful situation where we hated work and were constantly bombarded by changes and impossible requests.
The foreign teachers united and made a formal complaint at our meeting with our director. At first the air was pretty relaxed, but then the vice director kept repeating the same illogical excuse for the strict rules. We then mentioned that Korean law stipulates a free break period of so many minutes per so many hours working... yadda yadda. They panicked a little I guess because the next day, during a regular meeting with our academic director, we were told that there would be no changes to the rules, but breaking them slightly wouldn't get us in too much trouble. She also mentioned that the director and vice director consulted their lawyer and that as for a break time, they give us 5 minutes after each class which adds up to more than enough to meet the requirement of the law. BAH! I feel a bit like it's 2 steps forward and one step back, but at least we gained ground. The other thing I think we gained was a firm foothold. Our director knows now that we can't be pushed around.
In the past two weeks we have been fed more food and given more praise than ever. We still don't have free breaks, but some of the restrictions have been removed. Hurray! As for more work, we'll see.
Basically, the rules at work had been getting stricter and stricter around out break times. They were pushing us to use our break times for work because there were little other options unless you find twiddling your thumbs amusing. They also have been piling on more and more work. We totally revamped our speaking course to include much more preparation on the teachers part. In short, we didn't want to end up in a stressful situation where we hated work and were constantly bombarded by changes and impossible requests.
The foreign teachers united and made a formal complaint at our meeting with our director. At first the air was pretty relaxed, but then the vice director kept repeating the same illogical excuse for the strict rules. We then mentioned that Korean law stipulates a free break period of so many minutes per so many hours working... yadda yadda. They panicked a little I guess because the next day, during a regular meeting with our academic director, we were told that there would be no changes to the rules, but breaking them slightly wouldn't get us in too much trouble. She also mentioned that the director and vice director consulted their lawyer and that as for a break time, they give us 5 minutes after each class which adds up to more than enough to meet the requirement of the law. BAH! I feel a bit like it's 2 steps forward and one step back, but at least we gained ground. The other thing I think we gained was a firm foothold. Our director knows now that we can't be pushed around.
In the past two weeks we have been fed more food and given more praise than ever. We still don't have free breaks, but some of the restrictions have been removed. Hurray! As for more work, we'll see.
CONT"D
So... like I said, we were weighing the option of going to see the Van Gogh exhibit or going to meet up with some fellow board gamers. We called Gisela for directions to make sure Van Gogh wasn't going to be too far out of our way and she also mentioned that it was running until the next weekend. Being that we had an extra week to see it we decided to stick with the tenative plans of meeting these new people.
It all started when Curtis put a note up on www.boardgamegeek.com. We wanted to know if anyone had Korean translations for our boardgames so that we could teach Jiny and Sup because they are really interested in playing. Boardgames can be a little bit complicated even in one language, so we thought it would be best to get a translation for them. We got a response the same day from a guy that Curtis has noticed on that site before. It turns out he is a major boardgame reviewer and has a massive collection and has boardgame events every couple of months at his house. He's a part time english teacher and part time pastor for an english congregation in the north part of Seoul. His name is Tom and his wife is Larua. They have 5 little girls and have been living in Korea for about 7 years.
The visit was fascinating for me for many different reasons. First, their large family surprised me. I haven't heard of any young families that big in a while. Second it was neat to meet people who actually had a house in Korea. Third, I hadn't really heard of anyone staying more than 3 years 'till that point. Lastly, his boardgame collection would be the envy of a museum! It's HUGE! I think he has over 1,000!
Besides the fact that I was taken by surprise by so many things, they were really nice people and very hospitable. They invited us to stay for dinner, but because of the long train ride we declined. Tom said he'd keep us posted on when the next boardgame event would be so we'll probably hear from him in the next month.
We were headed through Itaewon and decided that Matt and Amber should be made aware so that we could meet up. We called them and they were just headed out the door to meet Leah (a foreign teacher from New Zealand we'd met about a month ago) in........ Itaewon! Crazy coincidence. So we met up and we had Quiznos and Cold Stone. It was so delicious!
It all started when Curtis put a note up on www.boardgamegeek.com. We wanted to know if anyone had Korean translations for our boardgames so that we could teach Jiny and Sup because they are really interested in playing. Boardgames can be a little bit complicated even in one language, so we thought it would be best to get a translation for them. We got a response the same day from a guy that Curtis has noticed on that site before. It turns out he is a major boardgame reviewer and has a massive collection and has boardgame events every couple of months at his house. He's a part time english teacher and part time pastor for an english congregation in the north part of Seoul. His name is Tom and his wife is Larua. They have 5 little girls and have been living in Korea for about 7 years.
The visit was fascinating for me for many different reasons. First, their large family surprised me. I haven't heard of any young families that big in a while. Second it was neat to meet people who actually had a house in Korea. Third, I hadn't really heard of anyone staying more than 3 years 'till that point. Lastly, his boardgame collection would be the envy of a museum! It's HUGE! I think he has over 1,000!
Besides the fact that I was taken by surprise by so many things, they were really nice people and very hospitable. They invited us to stay for dinner, but because of the long train ride we declined. Tom said he'd keep us posted on when the next boardgame event would be so we'll probably hear from him in the next month.
We were headed through Itaewon and decided that Matt and Amber should be made aware so that we could meet up. We called them and they were just headed out the door to meet Leah (a foreign teacher from New Zealand we'd met about a month ago) in........ Itaewon! Crazy coincidence. So we met up and we had Quiznos and Cold Stone. It was so delicious!
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
Busy, Busy, Busy!
This post is dedicated to all of my loyal fans out there who post comments and tell me how much my blog rocks! I also love the questions! Keep 'em coming!
So, we resumed our rock lifestyle last weekend (March 8-9). What I mean is, we had plans all weekend and people invited us out and we met new people... Curtis and I were hot commodities!
Saturday morning we got up early to go to a wedding in Seoul. It was Erin's wedding. She is the Korean teacher that started at the same time as we did and she invited us to her house for Lunar New Year. I had gotten fairly close to her because we spent some time out of work together, so it was really awesome to be invited to her wedding. Since she was marrying a guy who's dad is an official in the Korean army, she had her wedding in a special venue that is reserved for military people. When we got there it didn't really look like an army base, but there were people walking on the roads with uniforms and there was noticeably less traffic than elsewhere.
We got there just in time to greet her parents at the door, find some standing room and get comfortable. There were men in uniform down the aisle at equal intervals. Erin was not hidden from sight but instead she was standing at the back of the room with her parents. The moms were called up first and they lit candles. When it came time for the bride and groom Erin kissed her dad at the top of the aisle and walked down with her fiance. As they walked, there was all this electronic fanfare, trumpets and timpani on a synthesizer. They also had fog and bubble machines pumping out the fairy tale effects. It was such a lot of hoopla!
Erin really sad as she walked down the aisle and at first I was concerned that she was not sure about what she was about to do. Then I remembered that Korean brides look sad because they are leaving their parents. There was about a 20 minute speech by a man at the front, but he wasn't done up in any special clothes. In fact, the wedding clothes looked very typical of a western wedding. She was in white, he was wearing a tux. Only the mothers were wearing traditional Korean outfits called hanbok. I learned later that this is the public ceremony and that there is a very small private ceremony after it where everyone wears Hanbok.
Ok, back to the wedding. The man makes his speech but we don't ever notice any vow repeating or anything like that. We also don't see any rings being exchanged. They do announce them husband and wife and they kiss in front of everyone. This is a big deal because Koreans don't typically show affection in public. Everyone hooted and hollered just like in a western wedding. The happy couple stood at the front, Erin was looking much less gloomy. They were serenaded by some close friends. One was a group of 4 guys that did a really good version of a love song I've heard on the radio. Then the MC asks the groom to perform several feats of strength to prove his worthiness. I kinda thought it was too late for that after they had already been married, hehehe. He even is asked to do squats holding his new bride! Yikes! Poor Erin almost went down in her beautiful dress! On their way back up the aisle, the men in uniform raise their swords, also very fairytale. The bubbles and fog start up again, too. The funniest thing happened at this moment. Each pair of dudes with swords lowered their swords to block the way just before the couple passed. They then asked the groom to shout out all kinds of promises to his bride. My personal favorite was, "I'll treat you good tonight!" Of course my laughter was several minutes after the fact because it had to be translated.
After the public ceremony everyone stood around and had their picture taken with the couple, and I mean everyone! There was even a huge group shot with all of their friends. We then proceeded downstairs for a massive buffet including all the sushi you could ever eat! Yum! It was an excellent opportunity to try some Korean food so I loaded up! It was really delicious.
Curtis and I then hummed and hawed about our options for the rest of the day. We deliberated seeing the Van Gogh paintings as they were on exhibit in Seoul. We also thought about meeting up with some board gamers we met on line... TO BE CONTINUED!!!
So, we resumed our rock lifestyle last weekend (March 8-9). What I mean is, we had plans all weekend and people invited us out and we met new people... Curtis and I were hot commodities!
Saturday morning we got up early to go to a wedding in Seoul. It was Erin's wedding. She is the Korean teacher that started at the same time as we did and she invited us to her house for Lunar New Year. I had gotten fairly close to her because we spent some time out of work together, so it was really awesome to be invited to her wedding. Since she was marrying a guy who's dad is an official in the Korean army, she had her wedding in a special venue that is reserved for military people. When we got there it didn't really look like an army base, but there were people walking on the roads with uniforms and there was noticeably less traffic than elsewhere.
We got there just in time to greet her parents at the door, find some standing room and get comfortable. There were men in uniform down the aisle at equal intervals. Erin was not hidden from sight but instead she was standing at the back of the room with her parents. The moms were called up first and they lit candles. When it came time for the bride and groom Erin kissed her dad at the top of the aisle and walked down with her fiance. As they walked, there was all this electronic fanfare, trumpets and timpani on a synthesizer. They also had fog and bubble machines pumping out the fairy tale effects. It was such a lot of hoopla!
Erin really sad as she walked down the aisle and at first I was concerned that she was not sure about what she was about to do. Then I remembered that Korean brides look sad because they are leaving their parents. There was about a 20 minute speech by a man at the front, but he wasn't done up in any special clothes. In fact, the wedding clothes looked very typical of a western wedding. She was in white, he was wearing a tux. Only the mothers were wearing traditional Korean outfits called hanbok. I learned later that this is the public ceremony and that there is a very small private ceremony after it where everyone wears Hanbok.
Ok, back to the wedding. The man makes his speech but we don't ever notice any vow repeating or anything like that. We also don't see any rings being exchanged. They do announce them husband and wife and they kiss in front of everyone. This is a big deal because Koreans don't typically show affection in public. Everyone hooted and hollered just like in a western wedding. The happy couple stood at the front, Erin was looking much less gloomy. They were serenaded by some close friends. One was a group of 4 guys that did a really good version of a love song I've heard on the radio. Then the MC asks the groom to perform several feats of strength to prove his worthiness. I kinda thought it was too late for that after they had already been married, hehehe. He even is asked to do squats holding his new bride! Yikes! Poor Erin almost went down in her beautiful dress! On their way back up the aisle, the men in uniform raise their swords, also very fairytale. The bubbles and fog start up again, too. The funniest thing happened at this moment. Each pair of dudes with swords lowered their swords to block the way just before the couple passed. They then asked the groom to shout out all kinds of promises to his bride. My personal favorite was, "I'll treat you good tonight!" Of course my laughter was several minutes after the fact because it had to be translated.
After the public ceremony everyone stood around and had their picture taken with the couple, and I mean everyone! There was even a huge group shot with all of their friends. We then proceeded downstairs for a massive buffet including all the sushi you could ever eat! Yum! It was an excellent opportunity to try some Korean food so I loaded up! It was really delicious.
Curtis and I then hummed and hawed about our options for the rest of the day. We deliberated seeing the Van Gogh paintings as they were on exhibit in Seoul. We also thought about meeting up with some board gamers we met on line... TO BE CONTINUED!!!
Wednesday, March 5, 2008
First Swim!
Today was my first swim in Korea. I heard about a YMCA fairly close to me about a month and a half ago. I meant to start in February but I needed to buy a swimming cap. (They actually don't let you in the pool without it here.) Also there were a few holidays on which the pool was closed and I didn't want to have to pay for a month and not get as many days as possible.
So, I heard about rigorous cleaning before entering the pool, and I also heard about very friendly Korean ladies who are willing to help you through the whole process. Neither intimidated me as much as it should have. When I stepped into the ladies shower room, I saw more nude than I ever thought I'd ever see in my life. Women were talking to each other with no clothes on. Ok, I know... I've been to a gym in Canada, some people get nude to shower, then they wrap up to walk around. Occasionally a towel falls off a shoulder and there is some exposure. NOT IN KOREA!! They don't bother wrapping up! It feels a bit funny to get so descriptive about it, but it really shocked me. I felt like a pervert because I was staring a bit.
So I follow the same rigorous bathing patterns as I did in the public bath house in Japan. I have a good thorough shower, then I get in the hot tub and soak, then I shower again and scrub off any dead skin. I'm finally ready to enter the pool. Through this whole process I am being noticed. I don't even have to catch people looking at me, they aren't being shy about taking glances. One really kind lady said hello in the hot tub and we began to talk. I said I was trying to learn Korean and she said she was trying to learn English. She invited Curtis and I over to her house. We exchanged phone numbers and I'll update you about whether we go or not.
I get my suit on. I head out to the water and everyone isn't just doing lengths. They are doing warm up exercises with a guy on the deck - kinda like aqua size. I start to think I'm in the wrong place. Then because everyone has started and I'm late, a bunch of Korean ladies start to laugh at me. I obviously look very lost and confused. I ask if I can join their lane and they warmly accept me. After the stretching exercises, I learn that every lane is for a different level and each also has an instructor. We figure out that because I can't do the butterfly stroke, I'm not in the right lane and they send me to a different one.
First we practice kicking with a flutter board, then we practice the frog kick, then the breast stroke, we put them together and at the end of the lesson we were starting to learn how to do the butterfly kick. I felt so uncoordinated at first. After a length I felt really comfortable doing it though. I can't wait to try it again!
I left a bit early to have enough time to change and get home again. When I got to my locker I remembered that I put my key out on the deck of the pool! I'd have to go back in for it. I enter the pool and I think... oh good no one noticed. I get closer and closer to the edge of the pool and and slowly a giggle builds to a titter, then a guffaw, and then full blown laughter. Once again, I ham it up and I show my key and then sheepishly hide my face in my hand.
I really felt good there. I know they laughed at me, but I don't mind. They weren't being rude, it's just that they noticed me. Everyone knows I like to be noticed! It makes me feel really special actually. :)
So, I heard about rigorous cleaning before entering the pool, and I also heard about very friendly Korean ladies who are willing to help you through the whole process. Neither intimidated me as much as it should have. When I stepped into the ladies shower room, I saw more nude than I ever thought I'd ever see in my life. Women were talking to each other with no clothes on. Ok, I know... I've been to a gym in Canada, some people get nude to shower, then they wrap up to walk around. Occasionally a towel falls off a shoulder and there is some exposure. NOT IN KOREA!! They don't bother wrapping up! It feels a bit funny to get so descriptive about it, but it really shocked me. I felt like a pervert because I was staring a bit.
So I follow the same rigorous bathing patterns as I did in the public bath house in Japan. I have a good thorough shower, then I get in the hot tub and soak, then I shower again and scrub off any dead skin. I'm finally ready to enter the pool. Through this whole process I am being noticed. I don't even have to catch people looking at me, they aren't being shy about taking glances. One really kind lady said hello in the hot tub and we began to talk. I said I was trying to learn Korean and she said she was trying to learn English. She invited Curtis and I over to her house. We exchanged phone numbers and I'll update you about whether we go or not.
I get my suit on. I head out to the water and everyone isn't just doing lengths. They are doing warm up exercises with a guy on the deck - kinda like aqua size. I start to think I'm in the wrong place. Then because everyone has started and I'm late, a bunch of Korean ladies start to laugh at me. I obviously look very lost and confused. I ask if I can join their lane and they warmly accept me. After the stretching exercises, I learn that every lane is for a different level and each also has an instructor. We figure out that because I can't do the butterfly stroke, I'm not in the right lane and they send me to a different one.
First we practice kicking with a flutter board, then we practice the frog kick, then the breast stroke, we put them together and at the end of the lesson we were starting to learn how to do the butterfly kick. I felt so uncoordinated at first. After a length I felt really comfortable doing it though. I can't wait to try it again!
I left a bit early to have enough time to change and get home again. When I got to my locker I remembered that I put my key out on the deck of the pool! I'd have to go back in for it. I enter the pool and I think... oh good no one noticed. I get closer and closer to the edge of the pool and and slowly a giggle builds to a titter, then a guffaw, and then full blown laughter. Once again, I ham it up and I show my key and then sheepishly hide my face in my hand.
I really felt good there. I know they laughed at me, but I don't mind. They weren't being rude, it's just that they noticed me. Everyone knows I like to be noticed! It makes me feel really special actually. :)
More Photos!! I know this is what keeps you all coming back so here are a bunch more!!
Ok so top to bottom. The top left hand corner is a photo of the clothes I ordered before I left Canada. I was so excited when they finally arrived I took a pic!
Next is the gorgeous gate at the Kueungi University where we met
Erin and father for Lunar New Years.
The next is just a picture of a small shack style convenience store. I love this one because in the "O" of "OK" you can see a little cartoon octopus. It's so cute!!
Next we have some kids from school on the school bus. I caught them one day as I went out to get my lunch. They're so great!
From time to time new parents come to enrol their students in our school and they bring along little ones. This particular one was so adorable. I had to be sneaky with the camera because the instant she saw it her smile turned into a frown. I remember her particularly because she was little imp! She make the cutest low voice and was trying her best to speak, but even the Koreans couldn't make out what she was trying to say.
The next is a pack of stickers that I got here. It's so amazing how cheap stationary is. The bigger sheet is double sided and cost me &1.50. The smaller one has larger stickers and they're all glittery and fancy and it cost 80 cents. Shocking!
Curtis and I are making a heart at Nori-bang because I've had a couple of drinks and he's humoring me.
That next one is Amber Matt Curtis and I at the movie theaters. At this one theater in COAX mall they set up displays that have props from the movie in them. You can sit in them or stand by them and then wait till someone who looks nice walks by and ask them to take you picture! At first it seems really cheesy and then you see that it's something people do here - it doesn't quite feel so touristy.
The amazing gift we got from our boss follows. Now think - not one of those but two.... sheesh, I mean we won't have to buy soap or tooth paste for the year! Ferd and Chris will have to testify when they come in May that we still have over half of it!
The next one I'm actually really proud of. Before arriving to Korea, I heard that Seoul had an amazing recycling program and that there is hardly any waste because everyone has to buy special bags and if you don't use them you can get fined. Well, none of my Canadian co-workers knew about them and the Koreans just kept saying ask at the till. I couldn't figure out how to say garbage bag for the longest time. After 2 and a half months of hoping we don't get caught and using shopping bags, I finally remember how to say "Shuraygi bontu!" Those are the ever so special garbage bags!
The other four tell their own story of us devouring frozen yogurt. MMMMMM.....
The End
Lazy Saturday
After some not so careful financial planning we transferred money back home to Canada and left what we thought would be sufficient for two weeks and a weekend. Well - on Wednesday we realized that it would be a staying home weekend as there was only about 30 bucks left to our name in Korea. We still have about $20 in the bank - but we'll keep it there for an emergency.
So yep - no crazy adventures this weekend. I'm glad though. I woke up late, went to e-mart to get essential groceries had a great lunch and then finally connected with Erin on her cell phone! It was amazing! I haven't heard her voice in so long! I shrieked when she said, "Hello?" I've been able to speak with quite a few people so it was bumming me out that we were having such poor luck connecting. She's doing well and is living like a free spirit. She has so many amazing plans and is really enjoying herself. Just for an update - she's now in Melbourne and will probably stay there for the next few months. After that she's travelling with some friends around Australia and then she's going to learn to scuba dive on the Great Barrier Reef!! Yeah- I'm just a bit jealous! After that she's headed to Scotland and England to work and her parents and sister are going to meet her there. From there, only the wind knows where she goes. :) It's funny - but hearing about her adventures make me feel like I'm traveling the boring way! I know, I know it's ridiculous! It's just so nice to hear that she's well and enjoying herself.
Work has been kinda topsy turvy lately. For starters, we're finishing one semester and starting a new one. That means three months have past. Erin we knew was leaving, and MK told us about a week ago she's be leaving too. She is going to university and won't be able to have a full time job. Yesterday was their last day as well as Jin. We just found out for sure that Jin (our male Korean teacher) is leaving! I haven't talked about Jin much because we haven't hung out too much outside school. He's a crusty bun really. He's got a tough exterior but the inside is warm and soft. It takes a while to get through that exterior too but in the last month we've had some great moments. I'll miss them all for sure. It's really sad to see them go.
Also, because it's the end of the term many kids will change levels and I won't be their teacher anymore. It's difficult. They'll still be at my school but they won't be my students. I have a few students that don't get to level up but then my schedule is changing too so I may not get to teach them either way. Then there are kids who are moving or who can't come back to school next semester or who are changing schools. It's a lot of goodbyes all at once!
Mixed in with all this sad is a bit of happy too. In one of my classes I let the students choose what they want to write about in their journals. One student has the privilege of picking for the rest so that they all write on the same topic. The student that day was Jenny and she has no shame about being the most adorable teachers pet you ever did see. She tries her best all the time and she's always practicing her English with me. She thought it would be good to write about me in their journals. These kids are all really good so I didn't worry about too many bad comments from them. When I was marking the journals this week I almost cried! All the kids were so sweet and honest! One said " Dana teacher has a big body" another said " Dana teacher is a clear English teacher" and "Dana teacher loves her students". (I'm really glad they know it) One of my best students wrote about how he usually plays tricks on teachers but how Dana teacher is a hard English teacher and he works very hard for her and she is a good teacher. It was really great. I won't teach any of these students next semester. The bitter and the sweet always seem to come together.
So yep - no crazy adventures this weekend. I'm glad though. I woke up late, went to e-mart to get essential groceries had a great lunch and then finally connected with Erin on her cell phone! It was amazing! I haven't heard her voice in so long! I shrieked when she said, "Hello?" I've been able to speak with quite a few people so it was bumming me out that we were having such poor luck connecting. She's doing well and is living like a free spirit. She has so many amazing plans and is really enjoying herself. Just for an update - she's now in Melbourne and will probably stay there for the next few months. After that she's travelling with some friends around Australia and then she's going to learn to scuba dive on the Great Barrier Reef!! Yeah- I'm just a bit jealous! After that she's headed to Scotland and England to work and her parents and sister are going to meet her there. From there, only the wind knows where she goes. :) It's funny - but hearing about her adventures make me feel like I'm traveling the boring way! I know, I know it's ridiculous! It's just so nice to hear that she's well and enjoying herself.
Work has been kinda topsy turvy lately. For starters, we're finishing one semester and starting a new one. That means three months have past. Erin we knew was leaving, and MK told us about a week ago she's be leaving too. She is going to university and won't be able to have a full time job. Yesterday was their last day as well as Jin. We just found out for sure that Jin (our male Korean teacher) is leaving! I haven't talked about Jin much because we haven't hung out too much outside school. He's a crusty bun really. He's got a tough exterior but the inside is warm and soft. It takes a while to get through that exterior too but in the last month we've had some great moments. I'll miss them all for sure. It's really sad to see them go.
Also, because it's the end of the term many kids will change levels and I won't be their teacher anymore. It's difficult. They'll still be at my school but they won't be my students. I have a few students that don't get to level up but then my schedule is changing too so I may not get to teach them either way. Then there are kids who are moving or who can't come back to school next semester or who are changing schools. It's a lot of goodbyes all at once!
Mixed in with all this sad is a bit of happy too. In one of my classes I let the students choose what they want to write about in their journals. One student has the privilege of picking for the rest so that they all write on the same topic. The student that day was Jenny and she has no shame about being the most adorable teachers pet you ever did see. She tries her best all the time and she's always practicing her English with me. She thought it would be good to write about me in their journals. These kids are all really good so I didn't worry about too many bad comments from them. When I was marking the journals this week I almost cried! All the kids were so sweet and honest! One said " Dana teacher has a big body" another said " Dana teacher is a clear English teacher" and "Dana teacher loves her students". (I'm really glad they know it) One of my best students wrote about how he usually plays tricks on teachers but how Dana teacher is a hard English teacher and he works very hard for her and she is a good teacher. It was really great. I won't teach any of these students next semester. The bitter and the sweet always seem to come together.
Jinny and Sup Visit (Feb 29th)
Last weekend Jinny (one of the female Korean teachers I've been writing about) and Sup, her husband came over for super. We planned it about a week in advance and I thougt about what I would make them to eat for dinner. It was such a weird experience for me! I usually go all out and plan a huge fancy meal, but without an over I wasn't sure how much I could make. We had just bought groceries, so I used only what I had on hand. Unimaginable! Looking back I'm realizing just how uncharacteristic is was of me. It really turned out well no matter what. I made herb roasted potatoes with butter chicken (a mild curry dish) and for a vegetable we had carrots and canned corn mixed.
The one thing that was similar to when most people visit is we needed to clean the house. Curtis and I also moved around some furniture to make out seating more comfortable. While we were cleaning we realized how much we like our house when it's clean. Unfortunately, it probably won't make much of a difference because we're both too lazy to keep it that way! The truth hurts.
I started to cook super and Curtis was finishing the cleaning when they arrived. Jinny was wearing a dress and at first I felt like I didn't tell her we were just relaxing. I realized a couple minutes later that Jinny often wears dresses and that she was probably more comfortable to over dress than to under dress. We had met Sup before and we knew we could keep conversation going so it wasn't awkward too much. Jinny was interested in what I was doing in the kitchen and she helped me chop a few veggies. We chatted and she made lots of compliments. I'm not sure how it started but Sup and Curtis started talking about video games (I think they saw the Wii in the corner). It turns out that Sup really likes video games too, not only that but he plays some of the same ones as Curtis! I was really happy and relieved to know that they found something in common.
Jinny and Sup had brought us a little styrofoam present that said Baskin Robbins that they put in the freezer. It could only mean one thing... ICECREAM! We waited patiently until one of them suggested opening it...
We ate supper and mentioned that we have board games and Jinny and Sup were both really interested in that as well. Curtis is going to look into getting some rules translated into Korean so that he can teach them. The activity we planned for after super was to watch Juno. Click the purple bit to read more about it. It was great and when it comes out to video you should all see it.
Finally we got to open the stirofoam box! I had no idea what to expect. I though mini cups of different kinds of ice cream or maybe ice cream cones. It was an ice cream cake! It was so scrumptious! It was similar to Dairy Queen except it didn't have the fudgy layer that makes their cakes famous. The top was really gorgeous and Jinny and I took pictures. I'll add them when they're developed.
Just before we finished having ice cream Andrew popped by to say hello. We invited him in and told him about all the fun we had the previous day with Matt and Amber at Namdemun. Oh yeah - So, Jinny and Sup came over Sunday night and we went to Namdemun and watched a movie with Amber and Matt on Saturday. The movie we watched was Jumper. I'm not going to bother posting a synopsis because there wasn't muh of a plot and I thought it was a terrible movie.
Shortly after Andrew appeared, Jinny and Sup decided they had better head home. All in all a great evening.
The one thing that was similar to when most people visit is we needed to clean the house. Curtis and I also moved around some furniture to make out seating more comfortable. While we were cleaning we realized how much we like our house when it's clean. Unfortunately, it probably won't make much of a difference because we're both too lazy to keep it that way! The truth hurts.
I started to cook super and Curtis was finishing the cleaning when they arrived. Jinny was wearing a dress and at first I felt like I didn't tell her we were just relaxing. I realized a couple minutes later that Jinny often wears dresses and that she was probably more comfortable to over dress than to under dress. We had met Sup before and we knew we could keep conversation going so it wasn't awkward too much. Jinny was interested in what I was doing in the kitchen and she helped me chop a few veggies. We chatted and she made lots of compliments. I'm not sure how it started but Sup and Curtis started talking about video games (I think they saw the Wii in the corner). It turns out that Sup really likes video games too, not only that but he plays some of the same ones as Curtis! I was really happy and relieved to know that they found something in common.
Jinny and Sup had brought us a little styrofoam present that said Baskin Robbins that they put in the freezer. It could only mean one thing... ICECREAM! We waited patiently until one of them suggested opening it...
We ate supper and mentioned that we have board games and Jinny and Sup were both really interested in that as well. Curtis is going to look into getting some rules translated into Korean so that he can teach them. The activity we planned for after super was to watch Juno. Click the purple bit to read more about it. It was great and when it comes out to video you should all see it.
Finally we got to open the stirofoam box! I had no idea what to expect. I though mini cups of different kinds of ice cream or maybe ice cream cones. It was an ice cream cake! It was so scrumptious! It was similar to Dairy Queen except it didn't have the fudgy layer that makes their cakes famous. The top was really gorgeous and Jinny and I took pictures. I'll add them when they're developed.
Just before we finished having ice cream Andrew popped by to say hello. We invited him in and told him about all the fun we had the previous day with Matt and Amber at Namdemun. Oh yeah - So, Jinny and Sup came over Sunday night and we went to Namdemun and watched a movie with Amber and Matt on Saturday. The movie we watched was Jumper. I'm not going to bother posting a synopsis because there wasn't muh of a plot and I thought it was a terrible movie.
Shortly after Andrew appeared, Jinny and Sup decided they had better head home. All in all a great evening.
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