Thursday and Friday of our vacation were relaxing and amazing days. We spent them with Matt and Amber playing board games, eating, and going to nore-bang. Thursday night I had a little bit to drink and so Nore-bang was especially fun - wink, wink! I sang bed of roses like a real rock star. It sounded terrible I'm sure but I really belted it out and Matt, Amber and Curtis couldn't stop laughing. As per usual, when you're drunk and people are laughing at you, you do it more and bigger... so they laughed more and more. Good times.
Saturday we went to Erin's house at noon for a traditional Korean meal. We were a bit nervous because we weren't sure how much English her family spoke and we also weren't sure about what kind of food they would serve. We took the bus most of the way and were picked up by her dad and herself. We met them at a very large gate. It turned out to be the entrance of the state university. It didn't have doors but was more like a archway. It was made of marble with white stone carvings on both sides and on top. I'll post a photo when I get my pics developed. I'm starting to think that a digital camera would suit my needs a bit better.... hmmmm......
Erin's family was so great! They spoke quite bit of English and were so hospitable. They also invited another Korean-Canadian family for super so we had lots of people to talk to and lots of questions to ask! The food was amazing! The main course for the New Years meal is a soup called Duk-gook. It's a hearty broth with rice cake in it. Rice cake is not the little crispy cracker things we have. It's the result of rice under pressure - you know - hitting it with a huge heavy mallet over and over again. It becomes very dense and starchy - think of wheat pasta but instead of thin strings - lumps. It's quite chewy too, but I really like it. It's so different from anything I've ever eaten.
Besides Dok-gook there are a few different salads. One is iceberg lettuce with a creamy white dressing. Curtis and I love that one! One salad has clear noodles in it that are cold. The noodles are long and thin like spaghetti. There is sesame oil and spinach in it too. One other dish was these little cold pumpkin pancakes. You wrap fresh veggies in them and pop them in your mouth - delicious! Curtis' favorite were these little pork patties that were fried with an egg batter. They also had mushroom and fish ones. Needless to say we were fed like royalty.
After the meal, I helped Erin fold some of her wedding invitations. We got through 200 and then decided it was time to take a break. She's been pretty stressed out lately with all of the wedding plans so I wanted to help in any way I could. We took Erin's puppy, Money, for a walk. It was the cutest little dog I had ever seen. It was a Yorkshire terrier but not with wiry hair. They had a little dress on her. She had such huge eyes and they got bigger when you patted her under the chin.
We got back home at about 5 pm and relaxed around home for the rest of the night. We wanted to talk to some people back home so we decided to go to bed early and get up early on Sunday. We ended up only sleeping for 3 hrs and then after a couple hours of restlessness, got up and decided to see who was online. We had an early morning nap from 9:00 am to 12:00 and got up to a fairly normal day.
Jinny invited us to go out for supper with herself and her husband, Sup. We had tried to make plans at other times, but it didn't end up, so it was great to finally meet him. He's a really nice guy and we had a great time chatting through dinner. After dinner they wanted to show us a really neat area with shops and cafes all around a lake that was fairly close. We got there and couldn't really see the lake because it was dark, but the area looked really neat. The coffee shop had a really casual, rustic feeling. They served our tea in really nice pottery mugs. It was great.
Once again the evening finished with a round of Nore-bang. Geez... we're getting pretty predictable! Jinny has an amazing voice though so it was a treat to hear her sing some Korean songs for us. She also sang the song from the Mulan soundtrack "Reflection". I think it was sung by Christina Aguilera.
Monday rolled around and it seemed as if it was a regular weekend! Back to book reports, question words, and reading! Yay!
Tuesday, February 12, 2008
Wednesday, February 6, 2008
Shuperman!
Ahhh... the first day of holidays! Nope it's not Saturday, not even Sunday... heck.. it's not Friday or Monday! It's WEDNESDAY!!! We have five days off in a row!!! WOOT!!! We didn't even book it and we don't have to use vacation days to cover it. Sigh, holidays are beautiful things. So you may be asking yourself, what kind of holiday is it? Do they really love Valentine's Day that much in Korea? NO! They celebrate Seoullal, Lunar New Year. It's technically Friday, I think. For this holiday families travel to their ancestral home (where their parents live) and prepare special meals to offer to their ancestors. Many of our students were going to their grandma's houses and were really excited about it. A couple even said "Happy New Years" as they left school on Tuesday evening.
For us, Seoullal means less crowds to wade through in Seoul. Amber, Matt, Curtis and I (that's becoming a mouthful... I'm going to change it to the AMCI and AMEGCI when Eddie and Gisela come too) went to see a movie called "The Man Who Was Superman". It was so excellent. I expect all of you to check it out in your local video store. It should be in the international section. ;) Anyway - it is about a man who goes around the city helping people. Staving them from traffic, chasing thieves, walking elderly ladies accross the street etc. He even tells people he has a small piece of kyptonite in his head which deminishes his powers so that's why he can't fly or lift cars. It's so funny at times and touching at times.
After that we headed to the COEX mall to browse at the CD store and see what there is to be seen there. We have a few more plans for this week, but mostly we're keeping a low profile. I'll keep you posted!
For us, Seoullal means less crowds to wade through in Seoul. Amber, Matt, Curtis and I (that's becoming a mouthful... I'm going to change it to the AMCI and AMEGCI when Eddie and Gisela come too) went to see a movie called "The Man Who Was Superman". It was so excellent. I expect all of you to check it out in your local video store. It should be in the international section. ;) Anyway - it is about a man who goes around the city helping people. Staving them from traffic, chasing thieves, walking elderly ladies accross the street etc. He even tells people he has a small piece of kyptonite in his head which deminishes his powers so that's why he can't fly or lift cars. It's so funny at times and touching at times.
After that we headed to the COEX mall to browse at the CD store and see what there is to be seen there. We have a few more plans for this week, but mostly we're keeping a low profile. I'll keep you posted!
Our First Church Sunday
A month ago, I found a website for a church that I thought Curtis and I would enjoy. It looked pretty liberal and focused on the main ideas rather than the details. Afterall the main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing. I e-mailed the church for directions and the pastor gave my e-mail to a person from our area who attends. Her name was Naomi and we spent a couple of weeks making plans to meet her on Sunday and then breaking them. We decided to meet on a non-church day so she could tell us how to get there and there wouldn't be as much pressure on Sunday morning.
We had coffee on Wednesday Jan 30th and I really liked her right away. I wanted to make it a priorty to get to church the following Sunday as we had already missed two opportunities to go. We met Naomi at a bus stop and then walked a block and a bit to catch the next bus. It was about 35 min on the bus and a 20 min walk. We found out that the church is held in an international school. Basically, lessons in English for children of foreigners.
The main pastor was actually on holiday in Thailand so we heard the youth pastor preach. His message was about unlocking your calling. He translated alot of greek for us and really did a great job all in all. The music was really good too. In short we were really impressed and felt really comfortable. Somethings seem a bit weird sometimes though. I always find myself really analyzing everything on my first visit to a church. I note the songs that are really repetative (thanks Sharon!), the gender pronouns the speaker uses for God, or even the way the people in the church pray. This over critical view makes it hard for me to relax and enjoy church on any first visit, but incredibly enough I still felt renewed after this service. I think that's special.
There were also many people who wanted to meet us and greet us. It was great that so many people were welcoming, but it felt a little bit overwhelming too. Curtis was antsy to get back home as he had plans to meet up with his brother online and so it made conversation a bit awkward for him. The bus ride home was a bit tense because Curtis knew he was going to miss Clint. We often have troubles with the expectations either one of us has about our schedule. Oh no, I hear a Oprah voice in my head - COMUNICATION!!! Yes, yes, we know, but in practice it's so difficult so we are relying on forgiveness for now. Of course we never let it build up - but that doesn't mean everything is always peaches and roses.
We spent the rest of the day hanging out at home - I think Andrew may have stopped in. Nothing too exciting. The next week we knew would only be two days long!! We were both looking forward to the break ahead.
We had coffee on Wednesday Jan 30th and I really liked her right away. I wanted to make it a priorty to get to church the following Sunday as we had already missed two opportunities to go. We met Naomi at a bus stop and then walked a block and a bit to catch the next bus. It was about 35 min on the bus and a 20 min walk. We found out that the church is held in an international school. Basically, lessons in English for children of foreigners.
The main pastor was actually on holiday in Thailand so we heard the youth pastor preach. His message was about unlocking your calling. He translated alot of greek for us and really did a great job all in all. The music was really good too. In short we were really impressed and felt really comfortable. Somethings seem a bit weird sometimes though. I always find myself really analyzing everything on my first visit to a church. I note the songs that are really repetative (thanks Sharon!), the gender pronouns the speaker uses for God, or even the way the people in the church pray. This over critical view makes it hard for me to relax and enjoy church on any first visit, but incredibly enough I still felt renewed after this service. I think that's special.
There were also many people who wanted to meet us and greet us. It was great that so many people were welcoming, but it felt a little bit overwhelming too. Curtis was antsy to get back home as he had plans to meet up with his brother online and so it made conversation a bit awkward for him. The bus ride home was a bit tense because Curtis knew he was going to miss Clint. We often have troubles with the expectations either one of us has about our schedule. Oh no, I hear a Oprah voice in my head - COMUNICATION!!! Yes, yes, we know, but in practice it's so difficult so we are relying on forgiveness for now. Of course we never let it build up - but that doesn't mean everything is always peaches and roses.
We spent the rest of the day hanging out at home - I think Andrew may have stopped in. Nothing too exciting. The next week we knew would only be two days long!! We were both looking forward to the break ahead.
The Day of Eating - Feb 2
Since my lovely head massage nothing too much happened at work. I do seem to be getting an influx of students though. It's nice to have a few more students in some of my rooms because then I can make teams for games and we can have a bit more fun. The problem is that I'm getting students in the classes that are already loud and require extra attention anyway, so it makes it a bit more difficult to get their attention and be effective. We'll see how it goes.
The best part of the week was Wednesday. I arrived at school to see a large box sitting on my desk!! I present!!! Well kind of. I ordered some clothes online from American Eagle about two weeks before we left Canada. Things happened so fast right before we left, I honestly thought they'd arrive at Curtis' parent's house before I left for Korea. They arrived two days after we left... argh!! Anyway- Curtis' mom being the sweet woman that she is sent them for me, but the most economical way was going to take 8 weeks! 8 weeks later to the day - here there were sitting on my desk! It's such a relief. I packed with those clothes in mind and have been living with less these past two months. I'm not really a clothes horse, but I definately like having options. :)
My second favorite part is that we were successful in getting tickets to "We Will Rock You!" I'm so excited! MK decided to come with too so on Sunday February 17th we will be dressing up to go out. I'll let you know how it all goes.
February 2nd, last Saturday, Matt, Amber, Joi (Matt and Ambers roomate from last year), Curtis and I made arrangements to go to Itaewon to see a hockey game at the Canadian pub there called Rocky Mountain Tavern. We wanted to get good seats for the 5 pm game so we decided that if we arrived at 3:30 pm that should give us time to nab good seats for all of us. We also wanted to look around Itaewon as it was Curtis first time there. The plan was to meet at the subway exit at 2:00. It takes about an hour and a half for Curtis and I to get there on the subway so we figured we should leave around 12:30.
Curtis and I stayed up late Friday night. I was playing fabulous Scrabulous on Facebook and Curtis was on Warcraft. We didn't think we'd have problems waking up at about 12:00 to leave by 12:30... We didn't actually wake up until 1 pm!! I woke up with a start remembering that I had forgotten something! Isn't that always the way a memory works??!! Anyway - we call Matt and Amber on Skype as my cell phone has no munites left on it. They are extremely disapointed and have to wait an hour wandering around Itaewon waiting for us.
Curtis and I find our way to the pub. While we're walking we are taking in some of the ambiance that is Itaewon. The closest way to describe it is that it's an excellent resource - but not an accurate view of Korea. I know this may seem a bit judgemental - but we saw so many people that we didn't ever picture leaving the comforts of home so to speak. B-boys with their hats twisted sideways, high maintenence girls who never leave home without their billions of beauty products, and other people we could tell weren't in Korea for more than a week. Another analogy that kinda works for this area is that it's like a seedy colledge campus where kids go more to party than to study.
So we get to the pub and order a burger and some drinks - just relaxing and waiting for the game to start. 5 pm rolls around and nothing is happening - nor has the place gotten any busier. Talk about the things that make you go Hmmmmm..... We decide to ask the waitress about it. She brings the question to who we think is the proprietor. They talk back and forth for a minute or two and then we approach him to ask what is going on. It turns out his sling box in Canada is down and he's been working on it for a week. He appologizes and says it should be good tomorrow. Grrrr... Oh well at least the burgers were good.
We wandered around Itaewon some more and then before long ended up feeling hungry again. We made plans to meet up with a girl that Amber met on the subway. They had chatted a little bit though Facebook and she wanted to meet some of Amber's friends. Her name is Hokunani and we also met her friend Leah. They were awesome! They are also foreign teachers but they teach at public schools. We had a great time together and couldn't believe how fast time slipped by.
Curtis and I had made a deal that we wouldn't push our luck with the trains again, so at about 10 pm when supper was wrapping up we decided that we'd head home. Hokunani and Leah were heading home as well so we didn't feel too much like party poopers. The only sad part is that Matt and Amber continued on to meet up with John and Jess and Jon and Julie to Nore-bang with them. These two couples are Augustana Alumni so it would have been great to catch up and sing a song or two with them. Curtis cried the whole way home because he missed out on Nore-bang... (hehehehe not really).
The best part of the week was Wednesday. I arrived at school to see a large box sitting on my desk!! I present!!! Well kind of. I ordered some clothes online from American Eagle about two weeks before we left Canada. Things happened so fast right before we left, I honestly thought they'd arrive at Curtis' parent's house before I left for Korea. They arrived two days after we left... argh!! Anyway- Curtis' mom being the sweet woman that she is sent them for me, but the most economical way was going to take 8 weeks! 8 weeks later to the day - here there were sitting on my desk! It's such a relief. I packed with those clothes in mind and have been living with less these past two months. I'm not really a clothes horse, but I definately like having options. :)
My second favorite part is that we were successful in getting tickets to "We Will Rock You!" I'm so excited! MK decided to come with too so on Sunday February 17th we will be dressing up to go out. I'll let you know how it all goes.
February 2nd, last Saturday, Matt, Amber, Joi (Matt and Ambers roomate from last year), Curtis and I made arrangements to go to Itaewon to see a hockey game at the Canadian pub there called Rocky Mountain Tavern. We wanted to get good seats for the 5 pm game so we decided that if we arrived at 3:30 pm that should give us time to nab good seats for all of us. We also wanted to look around Itaewon as it was Curtis first time there. The plan was to meet at the subway exit at 2:00. It takes about an hour and a half for Curtis and I to get there on the subway so we figured we should leave around 12:30.
Curtis and I stayed up late Friday night. I was playing fabulous Scrabulous on Facebook and Curtis was on Warcraft. We didn't think we'd have problems waking up at about 12:00 to leave by 12:30... We didn't actually wake up until 1 pm!! I woke up with a start remembering that I had forgotten something! Isn't that always the way a memory works??!! Anyway - we call Matt and Amber on Skype as my cell phone has no munites left on it. They are extremely disapointed and have to wait an hour wandering around Itaewon waiting for us.
Curtis and I find our way to the pub. While we're walking we are taking in some of the ambiance that is Itaewon. The closest way to describe it is that it's an excellent resource - but not an accurate view of Korea. I know this may seem a bit judgemental - but we saw so many people that we didn't ever picture leaving the comforts of home so to speak. B-boys with their hats twisted sideways, high maintenence girls who never leave home without their billions of beauty products, and other people we could tell weren't in Korea for more than a week. Another analogy that kinda works for this area is that it's like a seedy colledge campus where kids go more to party than to study.
So we get to the pub and order a burger and some drinks - just relaxing and waiting for the game to start. 5 pm rolls around and nothing is happening - nor has the place gotten any busier. Talk about the things that make you go Hmmmmm..... We decide to ask the waitress about it. She brings the question to who we think is the proprietor. They talk back and forth for a minute or two and then we approach him to ask what is going on. It turns out his sling box in Canada is down and he's been working on it for a week. He appologizes and says it should be good tomorrow. Grrrr... Oh well at least the burgers were good.
We wandered around Itaewon some more and then before long ended up feeling hungry again. We made plans to meet up with a girl that Amber met on the subway. They had chatted a little bit though Facebook and she wanted to meet some of Amber's friends. Her name is Hokunani and we also met her friend Leah. They were awesome! They are also foreign teachers but they teach at public schools. We had a great time together and couldn't believe how fast time slipped by.
Curtis and I had made a deal that we wouldn't push our luck with the trains again, so at about 10 pm when supper was wrapping up we decided that we'd head home. Hokunani and Leah were heading home as well so we didn't feel too much like party poopers. The only sad part is that Matt and Amber continued on to meet up with John and Jess and Jon and Julie to Nore-bang with them. These two couples are Augustana Alumni so it would have been great to catch up and sing a song or two with them. Curtis cried the whole way home because he missed out on Nore-bang... (hehehehe not really).
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
This is photographic evidence that Curtis really is addicted to Nori-bang!
These are some of the photos of my Saturday with the girls. Aren't they cute!
I wanted to catch up on some photos but also do a small mid week post.
Last Sunday after Taebeksan, I went to E-Mart and bought way too many groceries for one person to carry home no matter the distance. I toughed it out with 4 - 10 minute breaks. When I got in the main door of our apartment building I yelled for Curtis. My arms were so sore!! They felt like they were being ripped from their sockets. After about 10 minutes I felt fine so I didn't think much about it. The next day I could barely lift my arms to put deodorant on! My shoulders clear down to my forearm muscles - yeah even those tiny ones in my forearms!- were so stiff and sore with knots. It was almost work time so I had no choice but to suffer the first day. I went to bed early to get up early and seek out a massage of sorts. I was feeling a bit nervous because I didn't want to accidentally request a "top secret massage" or a "sensual massage". I just wanted the therapeutic type a good set of strong hands. The first place I went to I had noticed one day on our way to Nori-bang. It was 10:00 am and this place was completely dark. I'm not sure exactly what that meant, but I decided to try somewhere else.
I thought my best bet might be the place Curtis got his hair cut. I mean, in Canada - most salons also have masseuses, right? I get there and ask if they have someone who can do a massage and when you ask for something in Korea the people are bound and determined make what they have work for you - or at least try to convince you that it will. The closest thing they had was a scalp treatment with neck massage and the girl was going to rub my shoulders as a service. It wasn't exactly what I was looking for but it definitely took the edge off. They blow dried my hair as well so I went to school looking like a rock star. All in all a great experience.
This week at school has been really different too. It's the first time we've had to administer tests. Test days are great - for teachers that is. They are so quiet and mellow. I mean, I wouldn't want class like that all the time, it would be too boring. I do, however, love it as a break for a couple of days.
My cell phone has been super handy lately - I text people and send them little faces. It's pretty fun and it really does keep you connected with people. Speaking of which - we met Naomi today. She is the person I was connected with in order to help us find the church we're interested in. She's so cool and nice. It was great to talk to her and know another person here. It also turns out that we have similar quirks like wearing our heart on our sleeves and telling people our emotions right away. I like her lots. :)
We've been planning to see the musical "We Will Rock You". It's coming to Seoul and I love Queen so I thought it would be amazing. Gisela told us about it when we first met her at Amber's birthday party. I was on line and ready to buy tickets today - MK was helping me as everything was in Korean - and it turns out you can only purchase them if you have an Korean credit card because it asks for this crazy pin number that my credit card didn't have. I'm going to wake up early to see if I can go down there and purchase tickets at the venue. Other than that, I'm not sure what we can do. I hope it all works out. Cross your fingers for me!
Sunday, January 27, 2008
Six vs Mt Taebek!
This weekend was amazing! But before I get to that, on Wednesday I finally got my cell phone set up. We bought a second hand cell off our academic director for a really reasonable rate. I had a suspicion she was going to give it to us, but I insisted that we pay something. This is the same woman that gave us a rice cooker and showed me how to make the yummiest Korean food. I really feel grateful that she's been so generous, accommodating, and helpful.
Having a cell phone is really great. Especially here where everyone has one and plans are made spontaneously. We've felt so much more connected and I've been able to call up coworkers and hang out with them more frequently. Not to mention that if we're meeting people, they are so much easier to find when you can talk to them. I don't know if I'll get one in Canada yet - I think it's a novelty we could live without there. Here it is definitely more like a necessity. Maybe I feel that way because I didn't even have a land line for almost 2 months.
Ok, on to the main event. Gisela and Eddie, friends of Matt and Amber, found out about this amazing Winter Festival that was going on at a famous mountain and that there would be ice sculptures from artists around the world. We thought it sounded amazing and said that we would go with. We were supposed to meet at 8:00 and the bus was going to leave at 8:45. Curtis and I arrived at 8:20 and Gisela and Eddie arrived at 8:30. We headed to the bus station with plenty of time to catch our bus. We asked when the next bus headed out and they said 10:30. The one we'd hoped to catch had sold out and that was our next option. So we bought tickets and killed time at a coffee shop nearby. Matt told some stories about language learning that made us all cry and we just had a great time.
It got closer to 10:30 an we headed for our bus. We found it pretty easily and the next 3 and a half hours we spent between sleeping, listening to music and chatting more. I found out that Eddie and I have a similar sense of humor and we both made each other cry with silly little jokes. We got there at 2:00 and decided to buy return bus tickets so we didn't run into the same problem on the way home. Our choices were to leave at 6:00 or 11:00 so we decided it would be best to leave at 6:00 and be back in time to have a nice meal together and get the train back home.
To get to the festival we had to take two taxis, 3 people in each. When Matt told him where he was taking us he started to raise his voice and and was talking really fast and shaking his head. Matt understood from some hand gestures that there was terrible traffic and that the cabbie didn't really want to go up that direction. At first we didn't really understood what he meant until we got much closer. Traffic was a stand still and we were constantly stopping for pedestrians. The cab let us out when it looked like we'd get where we were going much faster on our own two feet. We walked the rest of the way - almost an hour through snow and ice paths with crowds of Koreans. It honestly felt like a pilgrimage because we had no signs of the ice sculptures or any neat sights until we got to the very top.
It was 4:00 by the time we reached the main attraction and we decided that we should start walking back at 4:30 to make sure to catch our bus. With half an hour to buzz around seeing all there was to see - we took pictures and posed with the white snowy background. The sculptures were pretty neat. They were mostly of characters though - like Optimus Prime from Transformers and Davey Jones from The Pirates of the Caribbean. We started to head back down. Everyone was starving because we hadn't had time to look for food. At every little tent or kiosk we were looking for things we could carry and eat. We found some barbecue chicken on a stick. I'm sure anything would have tasted like heaven, but I've never had chicken that good I swear!! We kept walking and walking and walking. We passed the point where the cab had let us out and weren't seeing many cabs going back toward town. We probably walked another hour until we saw our first cab. It was loaded to the gills with people who were waving at us as they passed. Cheeky buggers! We waited what seemed like forever waiting for an empty cab. By that time more people were crowding around and they were flagging cabs before we could. We thought we'd never catch a cab to make it to the bus station in time let alone two. A little while later - I flagged an empty one that was headed the other direction. It signaled and attempted to turn but traffic was too blocked. He turned up the road a bit and came around to get us! We all sighed a huge breath of relief. Since none of us were willing to stay behind and wait for a second cab we all piled in and promised the driver double of what we were charged on the way there. He agreed and we got to the bus station with 10 minutes to spare. None of us could believe we actually made it on time.
We were back in Seoul by 9:45 and were hungry enough to turn cannibal. We decided that close to Matt and Ambers would be a good place to have a bite since we were all headed that direction and wanted to see their appartment. We stopped at a place that served sangupsal which is a pork cut similar to bacon but not as salty. It was really good. Some of the side dishes were salads with different dressing or spice on them. We missed our train and ended up taking a taxi home. Matt came with us and spent the night so he and Curtis could play Magic together. I went to bed right away.
The next day Amber joined us and we played boardgames in the afternoon. I cooked curry for supper and we had homemade chocolate chip cookies for desert. We headed out to Nori-bang and had a great time there as well. It's so nice to have people around you don't have to explain your jokes to! When we pick a retro song to sing - Amber crinkles up her noes and gives us a huge grin and thumbs up. We sang "I would do anything for love" all together at the end, just to maximize our time. All together an unforgettable weekend.
Having a cell phone is really great. Especially here where everyone has one and plans are made spontaneously. We've felt so much more connected and I've been able to call up coworkers and hang out with them more frequently. Not to mention that if we're meeting people, they are so much easier to find when you can talk to them. I don't know if I'll get one in Canada yet - I think it's a novelty we could live without there. Here it is definitely more like a necessity. Maybe I feel that way because I didn't even have a land line for almost 2 months.
Ok, on to the main event. Gisela and Eddie, friends of Matt and Amber, found out about this amazing Winter Festival that was going on at a famous mountain and that there would be ice sculptures from artists around the world. We thought it sounded amazing and said that we would go with. We were supposed to meet at 8:00 and the bus was going to leave at 8:45. Curtis and I arrived at 8:20 and Gisela and Eddie arrived at 8:30. We headed to the bus station with plenty of time to catch our bus. We asked when the next bus headed out and they said 10:30. The one we'd hoped to catch had sold out and that was our next option. So we bought tickets and killed time at a coffee shop nearby. Matt told some stories about language learning that made us all cry and we just had a great time.
It got closer to 10:30 an we headed for our bus. We found it pretty easily and the next 3 and a half hours we spent between sleeping, listening to music and chatting more. I found out that Eddie and I have a similar sense of humor and we both made each other cry with silly little jokes. We got there at 2:00 and decided to buy return bus tickets so we didn't run into the same problem on the way home. Our choices were to leave at 6:00 or 11:00 so we decided it would be best to leave at 6:00 and be back in time to have a nice meal together and get the train back home.
To get to the festival we had to take two taxis, 3 people in each. When Matt told him where he was taking us he started to raise his voice and and was talking really fast and shaking his head. Matt understood from some hand gestures that there was terrible traffic and that the cabbie didn't really want to go up that direction. At first we didn't really understood what he meant until we got much closer. Traffic was a stand still and we were constantly stopping for pedestrians. The cab let us out when it looked like we'd get where we were going much faster on our own two feet. We walked the rest of the way - almost an hour through snow and ice paths with crowds of Koreans. It honestly felt like a pilgrimage because we had no signs of the ice sculptures or any neat sights until we got to the very top.
It was 4:00 by the time we reached the main attraction and we decided that we should start walking back at 4:30 to make sure to catch our bus. With half an hour to buzz around seeing all there was to see - we took pictures and posed with the white snowy background. The sculptures were pretty neat. They were mostly of characters though - like Optimus Prime from Transformers and Davey Jones from The Pirates of the Caribbean. We started to head back down. Everyone was starving because we hadn't had time to look for food. At every little tent or kiosk we were looking for things we could carry and eat. We found some barbecue chicken on a stick. I'm sure anything would have tasted like heaven, but I've never had chicken that good I swear!! We kept walking and walking and walking. We passed the point where the cab had let us out and weren't seeing many cabs going back toward town. We probably walked another hour until we saw our first cab. It was loaded to the gills with people who were waving at us as they passed. Cheeky buggers! We waited what seemed like forever waiting for an empty cab. By that time more people were crowding around and they were flagging cabs before we could. We thought we'd never catch a cab to make it to the bus station in time let alone two. A little while later - I flagged an empty one that was headed the other direction. It signaled and attempted to turn but traffic was too blocked. He turned up the road a bit and came around to get us! We all sighed a huge breath of relief. Since none of us were willing to stay behind and wait for a second cab we all piled in and promised the driver double of what we were charged on the way there. He agreed and we got to the bus station with 10 minutes to spare. None of us could believe we actually made it on time.
We were back in Seoul by 9:45 and were hungry enough to turn cannibal. We decided that close to Matt and Ambers would be a good place to have a bite since we were all headed that direction and wanted to see their appartment. We stopped at a place that served sangupsal which is a pork cut similar to bacon but not as salty. It was really good. Some of the side dishes were salads with different dressing or spice on them. We missed our train and ended up taking a taxi home. Matt came with us and spent the night so he and Curtis could play Magic together. I went to bed right away.
The next day Amber joined us and we played boardgames in the afternoon. I cooked curry for supper and we had homemade chocolate chip cookies for desert. We headed out to Nori-bang and had a great time there as well. It's so nice to have people around you don't have to explain your jokes to! When we pick a retro song to sing - Amber crinkles up her noes and gives us a huge grin and thumbs up. We sang "I would do anything for love" all together at the end, just to maximize our time. All together an unforgettable weekend.
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
Reality Bites
Today we had a bit of a reality check about teaching in Korea. I guess this one was more like a reality smack in the face. Curtis has been having a difficult time getting responses from one of his classes and asked our Academic Director for some guidance. She sat in on one of his classes and afterward told him that he was speaking too fast and therefore could not be understood. One problem with this is that the class should be at the level to understand him well. Another one is that the class answers some days and doesn't answer others - the inconsistency doesn't lead to the only conclusion being that Curtis speaks too quickly.
Our supervisor admitted that these students were low for their level and were actually about two levels behind. This means that they are being expected to answer questions about books they aren't able to read. No wonder it's been so frustrating for Curtis! The kids here are often moved up because their parents want them to be, not because they have that skill level or because their skill has improved. After looking at this situation a bit further we realize that it's because these schools are run more like businesses and the satisfaction of the customer is the bottom line. It's sad to realize that we are not educators - we are sales associates. Sigh - I'm just going to keep pretending like I am a teacher. It's more fun that way. :)
Our supervisor admitted that these students were low for their level and were actually about two levels behind. This means that they are being expected to answer questions about books they aren't able to read. No wonder it's been so frustrating for Curtis! The kids here are often moved up because their parents want them to be, not because they have that skill level or because their skill has improved. After looking at this situation a bit further we realize that it's because these schools are run more like businesses and the satisfaction of the customer is the bottom line. It's sad to realize that we are not educators - we are sales associates. Sigh - I'm just going to keep pretending like I am a teacher. It's more fun that way. :)
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