Wow! Another absolutely fabulous weekend! A couple weeks ago, the other girls from work and I set up plans to go shopping and see some sights in Seoul. As I am the only female foreign teacher, it was 3 Koreans and myself. It was great to have Koreans show me their national monuments and for some of them it was their first time to see them as well. The best part about the weekend is that it made me feel like I finally have friends here. It has been so difficult to make connections at work because we don't often have breaks together or when we do we are so busy marking that we hardly notice each other. Our conversations end up being more about grammar and word use than about our interests or histories.
Friday we went to bed early because Curtis had a headache. I got up on Saturday with enough time to laze about the house for a bit and get ready at a leisurely pace - ahhhh, just how I like it. Jinny and MK met me at the school and from there we proceeded to find the bus that would take us to Itaewon. By the time we got there (it was an hour and a half ride) we were all feeling a bit hungry. MK noticed this one burger place that she really loves called Kraze Burger. We went in and it's set up like a nice diner. We ordered a burger and a club and had them cut three ways so that we could all share them. I've shared a lot of food in my life, but this was something else. It was so organized. A lot of the food here is communal so it makes sense, but it still surprised me. The food was really nicely presented with artsy swirls of sauce on the plate, like a desert so we took pictures. We also took one of MK and I taking the first bite of our luscious burgers. It had hot sauce on it which I managed to get up my nose and it slowly started to get hotter and hotter and hotter! I had to go to the washroom to flush my nose with water! The girls were laughing so hard - it was nice to make them laugh.
Next we started strolling down the streets in Itaewon. I can't say that I'm overly impressed. I found the shops really dirty and full of really cheap - I mean trashy not low price. I know this is not typical for Koreans. Their shops are usually really clean I'm not sure about the quality of merchandise but I haven't seen anything quite that gimmicky in our area. There were all sorts of things too. It wasn't at all what I'd pictured. I had heard about one English bookstore I really wanted to find though so I asked a couple people where it was. It seemed that everyone was looking for it and almost everyone knew where to find it. When I got there I completely understood why. The place is amazing! Itaewon is saved by the few shops that provide imported goods you can't find elsewhere. I bought a Korean travel guide, a phrase book, a Thailand travel book and book with Korean myths translated into English.
From there we were trying to meet up with Erin who was already in Seoul since she had a massage appointment in the morning. We stopped an bought a little snack on the side of the street. It was like a mini muffin made with pancake batter and had red bean filling. Red bean is quite sweet actually - or the way they prepare it here it is. It was quite delicious. We hopped on the subway and make a transfer. On one of these rides I discovered that the subway seats are heated! No wonder everyone fights tooth and nail for them! When we stopped I figured out that we were actually meeting Erin at the Gyongbokgung Palace. We walked about 15 minutes and were there. It was so colourful and had so much detail in the painting and woodwork. In the middle of deciding weather or weather not to get a recording device the ticked window closed and we weren't allowed to enter anymore. Erin was already inside but said she didn't mind leaving since we weren't able to enter. Jinny was a bit disappointed that we couldn't get it as it was her first visit to the palace as well. I promised that we'd to together a different day.
The next place we were headed was called Insadong-gil. It was just another 15 minute walk back toward the subway. It was amazing! There were tonnes of little shops everywhere that were selling art - not just nicknack's. We looked inside one shop that had amazing artistic quilts on display and in the basement you could by a pack of coordinated fabric to make your own quilt. It really reminded me of how 1950's Korea really is. There were quilted aprons, baskets and cutlery holders. It was so "Betty Crocker" or "Martha Stewart". I really don't say that with any disdain though. It's just so much like a time warp and I haven't figured enough of the culture out to decide whether it's a good or bad phenomenon yet. The quilts upstairs were amazing though. They created pictures and abstract mosaics - there were ones like it at an art show in Peace River. Brooke - you would have loved it! I thought of you the whole time. :) There were lots of little artsy shops like this everywhere. Of course there were still your run of the mill tacky tourist souvenirs, but they were easy to weed out from the other cultural gems.
We ducked into a side street and had supper in a beautiful restaurant. The entrance had little mini lights on the trees and had wooden walls and beams to make it feel traditional. Their were even rooms where you could sit traditional style on the floor. A fireplace make the mood feel very cozy and inviting. We looked at the menu and bit our fingernails at the first glimpse of the prices. Luckily they serve lunch until 6 pm and it was only about 5! Our scrumptious food was filling and wonderful and it was only 7,000 won (about $7 Canadian). I had bulgogi soup. It's kinda like beef that's slices really thin and marinaded in a sweet almost teriyaki sauce. The broth was really nice and there were some veggies in it too. My mouth is watering again just thinking about it.
After we were satisfied we headed back to the subway. On the way, there was a courtyard type area off the side street where a man was making rice cake by hand. Rice cake is basically what happens when you put sticky rice under lots of pressure. It all gathers together and is this chewy mass of tastelessness. Hehehe... anyway, to make it by hand, you need a huge, heavy mallet and a big mortar (stone bowl). You basically whack the rice enough that it is all pressed together. We came right at the end of a batch and he was scooping it out of the bowl. I was about ready to leave when he pulled a fresh bag of hot rice out of an insulated chest. I was so amazed and speaking loudly as per usual. He gave me a taste of the rice and he began whacking it. I was taking pictures as this loud whacking noise was attracting onlookers. He make a motion with his hand which I mistook for step back - he was calling me forward! I put my camera down and handed my mitts to the girls. He showed me where to grasp the mallet and before I knew it, he had me swinging away! He didn't come rescue me after a few tries either! He sat there watching telling me to swing harder! It was hilarious! There was quite the crowd too. I got another couple whacks in and then he came back. I'm sure I didn't even put a dent in work that it takes to make rice cake!
After Insadong, we decided to go to Nore-bang. I had no idea how talented my co-workers were. Jinny is AMAZING! I am not exaggerating. She sang songs from The Cranberries without the slightest effort. She sang a couple of really great Korean rock songs too. When I was talking with Jinny on the way home I found out that she used to be the singer of a Korean rock band. Oh the people you'll meet! Erin was really great too and she totally put me to shame on any English ballads. She hit some really high notes and was right with the music for every note. MK was really tired and didn't feel like singing too much but her and I did "Bohemian Rhapsody" with gusto and enthusiasm. This experience left me with one thought - I have a lot of practicing to do!
I got home at about 9:00 pm and at about 11:00 Curtis and I headed out to do just that!! There were a few songs that we'd noticed our first couple of times at Nore-bang that we didn't dare try in front of others. Some were really obscure which doesn't make for a fun time for others, and other songs we just weren't exactly sure if we remembered how they went. After about an hour we were hungry for more and paid for another hour. We forgot that they usually give you some bonus time so after about 3 hours of singing, we decided that we were a little over zealous. My favorite songs to sing at Nore-bang thus far are Black Velvet - Alana Myles, Angel - Sarah McLaughlan, and Bohemian Rhapsody - Queen! I'll try some Kelly Clarkson next time!
Sunday morning came and because we'd stayed out all night we forgot to set our alarm. We had arranged to meet someone at a bus stop so they could help us find the church we've decided to try out. With a quick apology note we set up plans for next Sunday and I'll let you know how it goes. The rest of the day was fairly lazy and ended with a movie the the theatre. We saw Sweeny Todd. It is seriously messed up. Part of the time you feel like you should be laughing, but you feel like it's also supposed to be a bit serious. They show lots of blood and corpses landing on their heads. It's also a musical - picture it, slashing throats with straight razors to almost campy Broadway style music. Yep, that sums it up - a bloodbath to over dramatic music.
It's Monday night. I've decided that Mondays are my favorite teaching days. It's because I really love the kids I get on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Wednesday isn't quite as enjoyable because of the book report marking rush and Friday we get more book reports in. It feels as though just after you've finished a big pile of marking another big pile of marking starts to form. I am getting the hang of it. My goal is actually to be finished by Tuesday night and have neither hide nor hair of book reports on Wednesday. I'll let you know how that goes too.
Once again - thanks for reading. Hopefully it's entertaining enough to keep you interested. If not, it will make a damn good personal record. Shalom!
Monday, January 21, 2008
Friday, January 18, 2008
It's been too long!
So yeah, you're all right! I don't post enough!! After something exciting happens I'm usually too tired to post and then I get busy doing something else exciting! Well... here comes a long one so hold on to your seats!
Last week at work was fairly normal. I'm starting to get the hang of marking thoroughly and quickly. It's going to be a handy skill in the future I can just tell. So work has seemed a little bit more relaxed because I'm not marking up until the second of my deadlines. I have a bit more breathing room. I have been having a bit of troubles with kids who don't do their homework though. There are the type that are so serious about studying that they fall apart bawl their little eyes out when they forget homework at home. Then their are the ones who know you're a bit of a softie and when they miss their homework they rub their eyes and I'm sure they are trying to think of sad thoughts the whole class just so they won't have a detention. ARGH!! Well then there are the ones that have stayed to finish homework everyday for the past year, so when they actually do their homework they are so astonished that they don't have to stay! hehe... They are also pretty relaxed about having to stay when they don't do it.
I'm starting to get to know my students more and more too. They are such interesting little people with amazing hobbies. One of Curtis' students absolutely loves robots. He and his dad applied for a robot making camp and they were selected out of quite few different applicants. He is so excited to go, he is always talking about it with Curtis. I'm really loving the teaching side of things. Sure I come home exhausted, but I get so much out of it.
Since the first weekend we arrived, our academic director, Rachel, has been tying to organize a good time for us to come to her house and have a meal with her family. First of all, it's so sweet of her to invite us to her home. We hear that it's really rare for a supervisor to be so personal. So last weekend was finally when things were settling down for her at home and she extended us an invitation for lunch on Saturday. She even showed me how to make Kim-bap! Curtis and I had been introduced to Kim-bap because it's basically the equivalent to a sandwich back home. They take it for picnics and eat it cold. It's a lot like a sushi roll except there is no raw fish. They put ham, fried egg, pickled radish, carrots and spinach in them. It was Rachel's mom who mostly showed me how to make it. Rachel's parents moved in with her after they retired so her mom does all of the cooking. I couldn't speak Korean too much, but it was still neat to see how it was done.I as pretty good at making my Kim-bap stick together too. All of the components were in the middle which they said can be tricky at first. It was great to see a real Korean family too. Rachel's son was really cute and shy. To get him to open up I pretended to tickle him. He giggled like crazy and skittered across the floor. A while later Curtis tried it too, but he really caught the poor kid off guard because he started to giggle at first and then he cried! He eventually emerged from the bedroom and was playing with his toys again, but I think Curtis is one guy he'll never forget!
So another exciting part of our lives here is Matt and Amber! Matt had made plans to celebrate Amber's birthday on Saturday and we hopped in when we were finished with out lunch at Rachel's. Amber, Matt, Eddie and Gisella went ice skating in the afternoon and we were all hungry by the time we caught up with them. We ended up deciding that Hooters... yes I said Hooters... would be the best place to celebrate followed with a good round of Nore-bang. Nore-bang is like Karaoke except you aren't in a bar. You're in this private room with couches that you rent by the hour! It's really great! There is no smoke if you don't want it, you don't have to wait and the song selection is deadly! Curtis even found some of his music on there!! We had an amazing night singing, clapping and playing the tambourine!! It was our first night out and we were both glad we saved the Nore-bangs till Amber and Matt could introduce us properly. :)
The subway here closes stops running at abou 12:00 so we wanted to make sure to catch the last train home. We were also getting a little hoarse too so we decided to head out at 11:15 giving us plenty of time to catch the last train. We needed to transfer and we got our route figured out and were on the last train. We relaxed in and started counting stops till we had to transfer again. When it was getting a bit closer to out stop we started to look at the map to see exactly how many more we had to go. None of the names of the stations we'd recently passed matched the ones near our transfer point... we had taken the train going the wrong direction!!! It was about 10 past 12 and we got off hoping against hope that another train would be comming soon. For the opposite direction. About 2 minutes later a man in a uniform came onto the platform and told everyone that there were no more trains and that the platform was closing. ARGH!!! We decided that since we didn't know the bus system very well, the best way would be to take a cab home. We figured that it might be as much as 70 bucks in Canada for that distance and we really didn't have any other options. We hailed a cab and asked for the nearest subway station to our house. We were in the cab and hour, and the cab driver was so far out from his usual circut that he stoped to ask another cab driver for directions!! We started to recognize signs again and sighed deeply. HOME!!! It's so funny to think of this place as home, but there is still nothing more soothing than knowing where you are! We got out a little ways away from the subway station and walked the rest of the way home. We were so surprised to find out that the fare was only 35 bucks! I couldn't believe it! So we were snug and safe at home and not even feeling too jaded about the money we'd wasted.
After all of this excitement... Matt and Amber decided to come visit our neck of the woods. I think they wanted to make sure we were well taken care of. Also, we hadn't really spent alone time with them in over a year and a half. The good old Camrose days are a thing of the past and we usually saw them for parties in Edmonton. It was so nice just to hang out and have them read our signs for us! hehehe... I learned more about my neighbourhood that night than I have in one month! We went to Nore-bang again - I think we're addicted - and then watched some of "The Office". We got up in time to have a real birthday breakfast for Amber - breakfast bagels... yummm! Curtis and I got ready for work and Matt and Amber got some information about busses in the area. We showed them our school and were really glad that they were impressed.
Sigh, another week has gone by of book reports and reminding kids about putting periods at the end of sentences. Sometimes I feel like it's really not life or death if this child doesn't ever right with periods or capitals or good spacing between words. Then I think of the communication aspect and how English relies so heavily on it's punctuation to be understood. ;) I'm changing the world one comma at a time.
Last week at work was fairly normal. I'm starting to get the hang of marking thoroughly and quickly. It's going to be a handy skill in the future I can just tell. So work has seemed a little bit more relaxed because I'm not marking up until the second of my deadlines. I have a bit more breathing room. I have been having a bit of troubles with kids who don't do their homework though. There are the type that are so serious about studying that they fall apart bawl their little eyes out when they forget homework at home. Then their are the ones who know you're a bit of a softie and when they miss their homework they rub their eyes and I'm sure they are trying to think of sad thoughts the whole class just so they won't have a detention. ARGH!! Well then there are the ones that have stayed to finish homework everyday for the past year, so when they actually do their homework they are so astonished that they don't have to stay! hehe... They are also pretty relaxed about having to stay when they don't do it.
I'm starting to get to know my students more and more too. They are such interesting little people with amazing hobbies. One of Curtis' students absolutely loves robots. He and his dad applied for a robot making camp and they were selected out of quite few different applicants. He is so excited to go, he is always talking about it with Curtis. I'm really loving the teaching side of things. Sure I come home exhausted, but I get so much out of it.
Since the first weekend we arrived, our academic director, Rachel, has been tying to organize a good time for us to come to her house and have a meal with her family. First of all, it's so sweet of her to invite us to her home. We hear that it's really rare for a supervisor to be so personal. So last weekend was finally when things were settling down for her at home and she extended us an invitation for lunch on Saturday. She even showed me how to make Kim-bap! Curtis and I had been introduced to Kim-bap because it's basically the equivalent to a sandwich back home. They take it for picnics and eat it cold. It's a lot like a sushi roll except there is no raw fish. They put ham, fried egg, pickled radish, carrots and spinach in them. It was Rachel's mom who mostly showed me how to make it. Rachel's parents moved in with her after they retired so her mom does all of the cooking. I couldn't speak Korean too much, but it was still neat to see how it was done.I as pretty good at making my Kim-bap stick together too. All of the components were in the middle which they said can be tricky at first. It was great to see a real Korean family too. Rachel's son was really cute and shy. To get him to open up I pretended to tickle him. He giggled like crazy and skittered across the floor. A while later Curtis tried it too, but he really caught the poor kid off guard because he started to giggle at first and then he cried! He eventually emerged from the bedroom and was playing with his toys again, but I think Curtis is one guy he'll never forget!
So another exciting part of our lives here is Matt and Amber! Matt had made plans to celebrate Amber's birthday on Saturday and we hopped in when we were finished with out lunch at Rachel's. Amber, Matt, Eddie and Gisella went ice skating in the afternoon and we were all hungry by the time we caught up with them. We ended up deciding that Hooters... yes I said Hooters... would be the best place to celebrate followed with a good round of Nore-bang. Nore-bang is like Karaoke except you aren't in a bar. You're in this private room with couches that you rent by the hour! It's really great! There is no smoke if you don't want it, you don't have to wait and the song selection is deadly! Curtis even found some of his music on there!! We had an amazing night singing, clapping and playing the tambourine!! It was our first night out and we were both glad we saved the Nore-bangs till Amber and Matt could introduce us properly. :)
The subway here closes stops running at abou 12:00 so we wanted to make sure to catch the last train home. We were also getting a little hoarse too so we decided to head out at 11:15 giving us plenty of time to catch the last train. We needed to transfer and we got our route figured out and were on the last train. We relaxed in and started counting stops till we had to transfer again. When it was getting a bit closer to out stop we started to look at the map to see exactly how many more we had to go. None of the names of the stations we'd recently passed matched the ones near our transfer point... we had taken the train going the wrong direction!!! It was about 10 past 12 and we got off hoping against hope that another train would be comming soon. For the opposite direction. About 2 minutes later a man in a uniform came onto the platform and told everyone that there were no more trains and that the platform was closing. ARGH!!! We decided that since we didn't know the bus system very well, the best way would be to take a cab home. We figured that it might be as much as 70 bucks in Canada for that distance and we really didn't have any other options. We hailed a cab and asked for the nearest subway station to our house. We were in the cab and hour, and the cab driver was so far out from his usual circut that he stoped to ask another cab driver for directions!! We started to recognize signs again and sighed deeply. HOME!!! It's so funny to think of this place as home, but there is still nothing more soothing than knowing where you are! We got out a little ways away from the subway station and walked the rest of the way home. We were so surprised to find out that the fare was only 35 bucks! I couldn't believe it! So we were snug and safe at home and not even feeling too jaded about the money we'd wasted.
After all of this excitement... Matt and Amber decided to come visit our neck of the woods. I think they wanted to make sure we were well taken care of. Also, we hadn't really spent alone time with them in over a year and a half. The good old Camrose days are a thing of the past and we usually saw them for parties in Edmonton. It was so nice just to hang out and have them read our signs for us! hehehe... I learned more about my neighbourhood that night than I have in one month! We went to Nore-bang again - I think we're addicted - and then watched some of "The Office". We got up in time to have a real birthday breakfast for Amber - breakfast bagels... yummm! Curtis and I got ready for work and Matt and Amber got some information about busses in the area. We showed them our school and were really glad that they were impressed.
Sigh, another week has gone by of book reports and reminding kids about putting periods at the end of sentences. Sometimes I feel like it's really not life or death if this child doesn't ever right with periods or capitals or good spacing between words. Then I think of the communication aspect and how English relies so heavily on it's punctuation to be understood. ;) I'm changing the world one comma at a time.
Thursday, January 10, 2008
Photos!!
I just had my photos developed!! Yay! These are the best of the best from my trip to Japan! ENJOY!
Sunday, January 6, 2008
Down by the Bay... Where the Watermelons Grow!
Wow!! That last one was a long one! Here's a break just to keep you up to date on things. New Years was pretty uneventful. Curtis and I went to a pub we've been to a couple of times before. We didn't really drink as it's not really our thing and then we went to see a movie. We saw "The Golden Compass" which wasn't as good as I thought it would be, but feel free to make up your own opinion. (Oh the title is because we've had that song stuck in our heads this past week.)
This past week, I've been trying to organize myself to help clean up the oil spill here in South Korea. The problem is it's about 3 hrs away, and while it doesn't seem like much, it's still the better part of a day off. We might go the week after next. The main things holding us up are the weather, it's been really cold here lately! New Years Eve we were down to a blustery minus 18 Celsius! I know that doesn't sound like much, but we'd been used to plus 5 and 10 in Japan! It was an incredible drop! I think we've readjusted again so it shouldn't be a problem anymore. The other issue is that the clothes we wear to clean up the oil spill will have to be thrown away after we use them. We didn't really bring any clothes we wanted to throw away since room was so tight in our bags. We are hoping to get to either a second hand store or a cheap, warm, clothing outlet to find something we don't mind throwing out. Also, it's really difficult to find train information in English here. Once you get on the train they have English signs and announcements, but we have to know the schedule in order to meet up with people that would take us out to the beach and gear us up. I'll keep you posted on our progress.
Something we've been waiting a month for has also just come to pass. Matt and Amber have touched down and are in Seoul!! I'm so excited to see them and have tonnes of amazing adventures with them. We were going to greet them at the airport, but their flight was getting in a little bit late and we figured that their school was picking them up. Also, if it was anything like us, our school showed us the school before they even showed us our place!! I imagine that we'll get much bigger hugs after they've both showered too!!
Well that's it for now. Thanks to everyone who is reading, whether you're just signing in now or have followed the whole trip. It feels like writing into a big empty cavern and sometimes I just feel like I'm waiting for an echo. Your messages are like the echo that lets me know I'm not a crazy person talking to herself! ;) Love you all! Thanks for your thoughts and well wishes!
This past week, I've been trying to organize myself to help clean up the oil spill here in South Korea. The problem is it's about 3 hrs away, and while it doesn't seem like much, it's still the better part of a day off. We might go the week after next. The main things holding us up are the weather, it's been really cold here lately! New Years Eve we were down to a blustery minus 18 Celsius! I know that doesn't sound like much, but we'd been used to plus 5 and 10 in Japan! It was an incredible drop! I think we've readjusted again so it shouldn't be a problem anymore. The other issue is that the clothes we wear to clean up the oil spill will have to be thrown away after we use them. We didn't really bring any clothes we wanted to throw away since room was so tight in our bags. We are hoping to get to either a second hand store or a cheap, warm, clothing outlet to find something we don't mind throwing out. Also, it's really difficult to find train information in English here. Once you get on the train they have English signs and announcements, but we have to know the schedule in order to meet up with people that would take us out to the beach and gear us up. I'll keep you posted on our progress.
Something we've been waiting a month for has also just come to pass. Matt and Amber have touched down and are in Seoul!! I'm so excited to see them and have tonnes of amazing adventures with them. We were going to greet them at the airport, but their flight was getting in a little bit late and we figured that their school was picking them up. Also, if it was anything like us, our school showed us the school before they even showed us our place!! I imagine that we'll get much bigger hugs after they've both showered too!!
Well that's it for now. Thanks to everyone who is reading, whether you're just signing in now or have followed the whole trip. It feels like writing into a big empty cavern and sometimes I just feel like I'm waiting for an echo. Your messages are like the echo that lets me know I'm not a crazy person talking to herself! ;) Love you all! Thanks for your thoughts and well wishes!
Monday, December 31, 2007
Happy New Year!
What a busy couple of weeks! In the past two weeks we've had to prepare monthly tests, do regular grading, book report grading, test grading, posting comments about our students, and go to Japan to finish up our Visa paper work. Japan was amazing, the rest however was not. I still hold firm to the fact that we are enjoying ourselves, but the work of it all is becoming increasingly more difficult. Curtis and I also have extra classes for two months starting this week. They put it in our regular schedule, so we have more marking and preparation to do and less time to do it in. They really try to squeeze every pennies worth that they can out of you.
Ok... so that was the bad news... here's the good news. We had such a great time in Japan. Our flight was delayed so the first hour on the ground was a bit rushed because we needed to be at the Korean Consulate by 3:00 pm in order to get our visas the next day. We got turned around a couple of times but finally headed in the right direction and got there with only 10 minutes to spare! Phew!
With the bulk of the stress out of the way, we went to the Osaka Aquarium (Kaiyukan) which boasts the largest fish tank in the world. Now... I think they are only counting ones that actually hold fish... or non-mammals, because it's not as big as some of the ones at Sea World or other aquatic parks with mammals. It had a really neat set up though because you enter and right away you take an escalator up 8 floors. From there you see otters, some shore birds, and some turtles. You never actually see steps again because the whole thing continually spirals down for 5 floors. As you spiral down the tanks get deeper and deeper and you see what happens below the waters surface. The main central tank doesn't start until about 3 floors down and near the surface of the water you see a large whale shark - about 4 meters in length. The next floor you see a couple different species of fish and the last two floors you see rays and sharks. It's quite amazing, without nets or guides, these animals are behaving much the same way they do in the wild.
We got back to our hotel, The Dormy Inn and I decided to try the public bath. There was a separate tub for the women and the men and I couldn't figure our why until I read the English information sheet that said, "Please do not wear your bathing costume in the public bath." I was a little bit scared, but made my way there determined to experience the culture. I used a key code to get in the room and the entry way blocked the view of the rest of the room. I was certain naked people were right around the corner so I froze. The next thing I knew I could hear the key pad beep as someone else was trying to enter the room! Another young woman had just entered but looked alot more confident about what she was doing. She walked right past me a proceeded about her business as I stood there motionless. After she had removed her shoes and was about to enter she turned to me with a puzzled expression. I said, " It's my first time." She was so empathetic that she told me the proper ettiquette and regime for public bathing and had a good conversation with me. It turned out she was a Korean visiting Japan for the week and was very interested in what I was doing in Japan and Korea and just really friendly and helpful. I don't know if I would have made it past the entry way without her!
The next day in Osaka it was rainy and we didn't have anywhere to leave our bags so like heavy burdened camels we headed off to see more sights before departing for Kyoto. We saw the Osaka Castle (Osaka-jo) and were so drenched and tired that when we got to the entrance neither one of us was interested in walking through it so we admired it from afar and then headed to the train station to get out of the rain. On the way we saw an Apple store, and since we hadn't ever seen one before we did the tourist thing and took pictures of something completely normal to locals. Curtis picked himself out an Ipod for Christmas as well.
It was still raining when we arrived in Kyoto so we found our hostel and stayed in most of the night. We went out to get Ramen noodles and found out that it's nothing to write home about. It's really fatty, rich broth with fatty fried noodles in it. Nothing like Sapporo Ichiban as I had hoped. We spent some time in the common room of the hostel and met a woman from Belgium named Sofie and talked about everything from science to music. It turned out that we were headed to many of the same sights so we agreed to keep each other company for the day. She had been to a few of them already and knew some Japanese so, I have to admit, we got the better end of the stick on that deal! She was a really amazing travel companion though and we shared similar values and sense of humor so the day was really relaxing and fun.
We went to a famous path system with red tori gates, called Fushimi Inari. It was in a forest so the walk was amazing and it was also really neat to see these red pillars like a tunnel over a few hundred meters of pathways. Next we went to Kiyomizudera Temple. We were interested in it because it was a UNESCO World Heratige Site and because it looked really neat in the pictures. The walk to the Temple was almost as much of a highlight as seeing the temple itself. On the way, it's a really traditional part of the city and most of the buildings are made out of wood and have sliding bamboo doors and the whole nine yards. They also have the tiled roofs and the wooden carved details that are characteristic of traditional Japanese architechture. We were lucky enough to spot about seven maiko which are geisha apprentices. We asked to take their photos and they graciously accepted and posed for us. It was really amazing to see though, I did not know that geishas were still around. It was like walking though another time. The women are also strikingly beautiful - not beacuase they are any ideal on a glossy magazine either, but because they are elegant and mystical.
After seeing the temple we went to the Golden Pavillion (Kinkaku-ji). It is an old shrine that is completely covered in gold. At first I thought the concept was tacky, but seeing it is something else. There is a small lake in the foreground with little islands of small trees (I'm pretty sure they were bonsais with the way they were only 4 feet tall and how they were manicured). The shrine was about 3 stories high and even on a cloudy day it radiated. It was really amazing and I didn't think it was possible, but the shrine beautified the nature as the nature itself beautified the shrine.
The next morning, we met up with Sofie again and went out to a place called Arishyama. It was a Monkey reserve. At first we did not know what kind of monkeys we were going to see. It turns out that they are Japanese Macaques. I read a case study on them in an animal behavior class in university which was about their mimicing of humans. In the winter, these monkeys actually go into the hotsprings to warm up. The babies have also been seen rolling and throwing snowballs. It was so great to be able to see them in the wild and be so close to them. We actually were able to feed them as well.
When we finished up there we had to get to the airport to catch our flight so we said goodbye to Sofie and promised we'd visist her in Belgium one day. Two buses, one train, and one flight later we were back home. We worked New Year's Eve and we will have New Years Day off. It is currently 1:30 am so.... HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!
Ok... so that was the bad news... here's the good news. We had such a great time in Japan. Our flight was delayed so the first hour on the ground was a bit rushed because we needed to be at the Korean Consulate by 3:00 pm in order to get our visas the next day. We got turned around a couple of times but finally headed in the right direction and got there with only 10 minutes to spare! Phew!
With the bulk of the stress out of the way, we went to the Osaka Aquarium (Kaiyukan) which boasts the largest fish tank in the world. Now... I think they are only counting ones that actually hold fish... or non-mammals, because it's not as big as some of the ones at Sea World or other aquatic parks with mammals. It had a really neat set up though because you enter and right away you take an escalator up 8 floors. From there you see otters, some shore birds, and some turtles. You never actually see steps again because the whole thing continually spirals down for 5 floors. As you spiral down the tanks get deeper and deeper and you see what happens below the waters surface. The main central tank doesn't start until about 3 floors down and near the surface of the water you see a large whale shark - about 4 meters in length. The next floor you see a couple different species of fish and the last two floors you see rays and sharks. It's quite amazing, without nets or guides, these animals are behaving much the same way they do in the wild.
We got back to our hotel, The Dormy Inn and I decided to try the public bath. There was a separate tub for the women and the men and I couldn't figure our why until I read the English information sheet that said, "Please do not wear your bathing costume in the public bath." I was a little bit scared, but made my way there determined to experience the culture. I used a key code to get in the room and the entry way blocked the view of the rest of the room. I was certain naked people were right around the corner so I froze. The next thing I knew I could hear the key pad beep as someone else was trying to enter the room! Another young woman had just entered but looked alot more confident about what she was doing. She walked right past me a proceeded about her business as I stood there motionless. After she had removed her shoes and was about to enter she turned to me with a puzzled expression. I said, " It's my first time." She was so empathetic that she told me the proper ettiquette and regime for public bathing and had a good conversation with me. It turned out she was a Korean visiting Japan for the week and was very interested in what I was doing in Japan and Korea and just really friendly and helpful. I don't know if I would have made it past the entry way without her!
The next day in Osaka it was rainy and we didn't have anywhere to leave our bags so like heavy burdened camels we headed off to see more sights before departing for Kyoto. We saw the Osaka Castle (Osaka-jo) and were so drenched and tired that when we got to the entrance neither one of us was interested in walking through it so we admired it from afar and then headed to the train station to get out of the rain. On the way we saw an Apple store, and since we hadn't ever seen one before we did the tourist thing and took pictures of something completely normal to locals. Curtis picked himself out an Ipod for Christmas as well.
It was still raining when we arrived in Kyoto so we found our hostel and stayed in most of the night. We went out to get Ramen noodles and found out that it's nothing to write home about. It's really fatty, rich broth with fatty fried noodles in it. Nothing like Sapporo Ichiban as I had hoped. We spent some time in the common room of the hostel and met a woman from Belgium named Sofie and talked about everything from science to music. It turned out that we were headed to many of the same sights so we agreed to keep each other company for the day. She had been to a few of them already and knew some Japanese so, I have to admit, we got the better end of the stick on that deal! She was a really amazing travel companion though and we shared similar values and sense of humor so the day was really relaxing and fun.
We went to a famous path system with red tori gates, called Fushimi Inari. It was in a forest so the walk was amazing and it was also really neat to see these red pillars like a tunnel over a few hundred meters of pathways. Next we went to Kiyomizudera Temple. We were interested in it because it was a UNESCO World Heratige Site and because it looked really neat in the pictures. The walk to the Temple was almost as much of a highlight as seeing the temple itself. On the way, it's a really traditional part of the city and most of the buildings are made out of wood and have sliding bamboo doors and the whole nine yards. They also have the tiled roofs and the wooden carved details that are characteristic of traditional Japanese architechture. We were lucky enough to spot about seven maiko which are geisha apprentices. We asked to take their photos and they graciously accepted and posed for us. It was really amazing to see though, I did not know that geishas were still around. It was like walking though another time. The women are also strikingly beautiful - not beacuase they are any ideal on a glossy magazine either, but because they are elegant and mystical.
After seeing the temple we went to the Golden Pavillion (Kinkaku-ji). It is an old shrine that is completely covered in gold. At first I thought the concept was tacky, but seeing it is something else. There is a small lake in the foreground with little islands of small trees (I'm pretty sure they were bonsais with the way they were only 4 feet tall and how they were manicured). The shrine was about 3 stories high and even on a cloudy day it radiated. It was really amazing and I didn't think it was possible, but the shrine beautified the nature as the nature itself beautified the shrine.
The next morning, we met up with Sofie again and went out to a place called Arishyama. It was a Monkey reserve. At first we did not know what kind of monkeys we were going to see. It turns out that they are Japanese Macaques. I read a case study on them in an animal behavior class in university which was about their mimicing of humans. In the winter, these monkeys actually go into the hotsprings to warm up. The babies have also been seen rolling and throwing snowballs. It was so great to be able to see them in the wild and be so close to them. We actually were able to feed them as well.
When we finished up there we had to get to the airport to catch our flight so we said goodbye to Sofie and promised we'd visist her in Belgium one day. Two buses, one train, and one flight later we were back home. We worked New Year's Eve and we will have New Years Day off. It is currently 1:30 am so.... HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!
Friday, December 14, 2007
Getting into the Swing of Things
Well, we just finished our second week of classes. I was amazed at how quickly some things are becoming routine. I thought I'd never figure out my class schedule or where I was supposed to be and when. I do still end up starting a class that another teacher interrupts five minutes in to let me know that in fact I am in the wrong place at the wrong time... but they usually just laugh or brush it off.
I've given 5 vocabulary quizzes, 6 detentions, about 100 pages of homework and one extra assigment. I've marked 50 book reports and that doesn't count the ones sitting on my desk. They really do know how to get their money's worth in work! I still feel really lucky though. They haven't asked me to work outside of 40 hrs a week and I have two 40 minute breaks a day. Six times a day when I walk into a classroom I'm a heroine rock star! The kids in school today thought it was really cool when I tried to speak some Korean with them on break time. Korean is a big no no in the class room and what kind of teacher would I be if I broke my own rules, so I tell them they can teach me but only on break times. I love the kids so much and they really do make the job worth it. I don't have to get up to an alarm... well unless I don't go to bed until 3am. Life is good.
In terms of life outside school, there are some experiences that are definately making me feel like we're not in Kansas anymore. Which is exactly why we moved to a different country in the first place! There are some confusing moments everyday but you'd be suprised how much food pointing and nodding can get you! We found these vegetarian rice roll type of things... think sushi without any raw fish. We also learned how to say hello and thank you very quickly. There isn't a lot of english here surprisingly. Some people look at you funny when you try it with them... but the kids go ape when you talk to them in english! The kids on the street that is! You say hello and they giggle and cover their mouths and then one of them gets the courage to say "Hi" back!
I imagine that this is the "honeymoon phase" and that soon, the cute things are going to get tiring and the communication barriers are going to get frustrating. Stay tuned!! It's sure to be exciting! :)
I've given 5 vocabulary quizzes, 6 detentions, about 100 pages of homework and one extra assigment. I've marked 50 book reports and that doesn't count the ones sitting on my desk. They really do know how to get their money's worth in work! I still feel really lucky though. They haven't asked me to work outside of 40 hrs a week and I have two 40 minute breaks a day. Six times a day when I walk into a classroom I'm a heroine rock star! The kids in school today thought it was really cool when I tried to speak some Korean with them on break time. Korean is a big no no in the class room and what kind of teacher would I be if I broke my own rules, so I tell them they can teach me but only on break times. I love the kids so much and they really do make the job worth it. I don't have to get up to an alarm... well unless I don't go to bed until 3am. Life is good.
In terms of life outside school, there are some experiences that are definately making me feel like we're not in Kansas anymore. Which is exactly why we moved to a different country in the first place! There are some confusing moments everyday but you'd be suprised how much food pointing and nodding can get you! We found these vegetarian rice roll type of things... think sushi without any raw fish. We also learned how to say hello and thank you very quickly. There isn't a lot of english here surprisingly. Some people look at you funny when you try it with them... but the kids go ape when you talk to them in english! The kids on the street that is! You say hello and they giggle and cover their mouths and then one of them gets the courage to say "Hi" back!
I imagine that this is the "honeymoon phase" and that soon, the cute things are going to get tiring and the communication barriers are going to get frustrating. Stay tuned!! It's sure to be exciting! :)
Tuesday, December 4, 2007
Official Korean Welcome
We arrived in Korea Friday November 30th, a whole day after we left Canada. It was a 12 hour flight from Vancouver but with the crazy time changes it felt more like we had travelled for 24 hours straight. When we got to the airport we already knew that we would not be greeted and that we would need to take a bus. It's crazy how you land in another country and all of a sudden your native language becomes broken and you start dropping articles and all kinds of important parts of speach which make one sound eloquent. We asked people "Ori Station?" hoping that they had at least heard of it. We founds our bus fairly effortlessly, with all credit going to the well labeled airport doors.
We were very unsure of where Ori station was but were so completely exhausted that we fell asleep on the bus, never for more than 10 minutes at a time due to paranoia. People filtered off the bus and before we knew it we were the last people on the bus and it was stopped. We looked around and all of a sudden a young woman boards the bus and approaches us and asks, " Dana?, Curtis?". To which we replied, "YES!!"
It turned out that the young woman was a secretary at our school and has been sent with a school bus to come and fetch us. PHEW!!! She took us to the school first to meet the other teachers and directors. We then took our things to our humble abode and chatted with the teachers we were replacing as they packed the last of their things. It was such a tearful goodbye for them, it definately had a lasting impression.
Today was our first full day of classes after one day of observations. At times I felt completely comfortable and at others I felt like I was disorganized and unprepared. Luckily for me the former was more so than the later. After the long day, Curtis and I decided to be adventurous and try some authentic cuisine by ourselves. We walked by a couple places and looked at the picutes displayed outside. We stopped at a Japanese food restauant and a head poked out the window and said, "Come on in!" The cook was trying to tell us what kinds of food he could make and then a lady from inside close the the door chimed in as well trying to help a bit in English. We decided to take the plunge seeing as they were so welcoming and friendly. The lady was sitting at the bar with a friend and invited us to sit with them. We did, thinking, hey, we don't want to be rude. The night was amazing !!! It may have had something to do with the whiskey she was drinking, but she was trying to ask us what we liked and helped us order a few different dishes. Curtis got a really good steak dish and I got a couple of different soups and an egg dish with squid. Everything was an experience! The steak was excellent, the egg and squid was good, and the soup was alright. The best part was just trying to communicate with this lady and the cook who were all trying very hard. Huge hand guestures, expressive faces, simple words. It was perfect. When we got up to leave we discovered that when the ladies had left about 5 minutes prior, they paid our bill. I was shocked. The cook looked at me and said " Korean heart" and made a big heart shape over his chest.... wow!!! There couldn't have been a better way for anyone to say "Bienvenidos!"
We were very unsure of where Ori station was but were so completely exhausted that we fell asleep on the bus, never for more than 10 minutes at a time due to paranoia. People filtered off the bus and before we knew it we were the last people on the bus and it was stopped. We looked around and all of a sudden a young woman boards the bus and approaches us and asks, " Dana?, Curtis?". To which we replied, "YES!!"
It turned out that the young woman was a secretary at our school and has been sent with a school bus to come and fetch us. PHEW!!! She took us to the school first to meet the other teachers and directors. We then took our things to our humble abode and chatted with the teachers we were replacing as they packed the last of their things. It was such a tearful goodbye for them, it definately had a lasting impression.
Today was our first full day of classes after one day of observations. At times I felt completely comfortable and at others I felt like I was disorganized and unprepared. Luckily for me the former was more so than the later. After the long day, Curtis and I decided to be adventurous and try some authentic cuisine by ourselves. We walked by a couple places and looked at the picutes displayed outside. We stopped at a Japanese food restauant and a head poked out the window and said, "Come on in!" The cook was trying to tell us what kinds of food he could make and then a lady from inside close the the door chimed in as well trying to help a bit in English. We decided to take the plunge seeing as they were so welcoming and friendly. The lady was sitting at the bar with a friend and invited us to sit with them. We did, thinking, hey, we don't want to be rude. The night was amazing !!! It may have had something to do with the whiskey she was drinking, but she was trying to ask us what we liked and helped us order a few different dishes. Curtis got a really good steak dish and I got a couple of different soups and an egg dish with squid. Everything was an experience! The steak was excellent, the egg and squid was good, and the soup was alright. The best part was just trying to communicate with this lady and the cook who were all trying very hard. Huge hand guestures, expressive faces, simple words. It was perfect. When we got up to leave we discovered that when the ladies had left about 5 minutes prior, they paid our bill. I was shocked. The cook looked at me and said " Korean heart" and made a big heart shape over his chest.... wow!!! There couldn't have been a better way for anyone to say "Bienvenidos!"
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)