nothing much to say

I am on vacation this week, and one might think that I would be out exploring Korea, but one would be wrong.  With this job I have 2 real breaks, one this week, and one at the end of December.  The part that stinks about that, is that I have barely gotten here, I hardly feel comfortable going grocery shopping, let alone ordering at a restaurant, or worse, getting on a bus.  Also, having just gotten here, I am on a really tight budget, which doesn't allow for hopping on trains to the far reaches of Korea, and staying in cute hotels while I  explore.  Just as well.  I have been resting, reading, working out. Getting adjusted to life here.  My sleep pattern is completely haywire right now, but hopefully that will go back to normal when I have a schedule again.  

I have spent a bit of time checking out the Seoul area this week, and have found some places I really like.  I went to some mountains north of the city, and walked around a bit.  Hiking here is quite different from Colorado or Montana, but it sufficed.  The only real annoyance was the millions of people everywhere.  Not like Breckenridge on a sunny summer day, like 100 times that.  And I couldn't communicate with a single one of them.  Oh, well.  it was pretty, and I know how to get there now.  I also went for a walk to the Central Park area of Bundang, the town I live in.  It is nice park, has a lake and a big mountain you can hike through with trails everywhere.  It is only about 10 minutes from my apartment, so  I am sure I will head there often.  Very peaceful place in the middle of all the craziness that is Seoul.  Which, by the way, is the largest city in the world (depending on where you get your information).  People had said things like that when  I was moving here, but I didn't really know.  It was just REALLY big.  I looked it up online the other day though, and sure enough, most populated city on Earth.  That is pretty amazing.  Very easy to believe though.  The high rise apartments never end.  It doesn't matter where you go, there are people and apartments.  Everyday, I get the sense of just how small each of us really is in the world.  

Well, I just wanted to update.  I haven't really had anything exciting to write about, and my camera is dead.  Note to self, next time I go to another country to live, get an adapter and converter before I leave.   I have had the hardest time finding one here, so all of my American electronic devices are sitting, dead and unused, in a drawer.  Sad.  

I am going to try to venture into the city to do a city tour this afternoon.  I want to go, but I don't.  I have discovered that when you are by yourself in a country that you don't quite fit into, it is much easier to just stay in than to go out.  I have food, books, Tv, a bed - I don't really have to go out.  But I know I do.  So, more next time...

Venturing out

Today I woke up at 7:30, or at least I thought I did.  I was really proud of myself.  You see, since I have moved here I have not been able to wake up before about 9:30, which is a major frustration to me.  So this morning when I woke up nice and early I was really excited.  I would have so much time to do things today.  How wonderful!  Turns out, somehow during the night my alarm clock turned back 3 hours, and it was really 10:30.  So much for having a full day.  As it turns out I ended up having a really good day.  The rain held off for most of the day, and I was able to actually get out and check part of the city out.  I went to Insadong as I had planned to do last weekend.  It was the first time I have been out on the subways by myself, and it was a lot of fun.  The neighborhood, I suppose you couldld call it, is a really cute shopping district with little alleys and a ton of shops with everything from souvenirs to teas shops and really nice pottery stores.  It was a great way to spend the afternoon.  There is one main street lined with stores (see picture above) and many small alleys all along the street.  One of the alleys is pictured to the side here.  I will definitely come back here to buy things before I head home, and probably to try some of the restaurants.  There were several places that looked really good. 

I feel pretty comfortable with the Subway system here now.  After lots of research online, and then trying it out on my own, I feel pretty confidant in getting around the city.  Everything is labeled in English as well Korean, so once you get the hang of it, getting around is really quite easy.  The picture below is the sign that is at the subway line as I wait for the train.  It tells what direction the train is going in, what the next stop is, and what stop I am currently at.  I was really overwhelmed by all of this at first, but it just takes 

a couple of times to start feeling my way around.  The next thing I need to tackle is the bus system.  While it is a very organized system, it is still fairly overwhelming to me, and I am not sure it will be quite as easy to familiarize myself with.  

Tonight I went to dinner with some people from school.  I had Korean barbeque for the first time, and tasted Soju (a Korean alcohol)  for the first time tonight.   The greatest thing really was that I went out with people from work and felt like we started to bond a bit (that is I started to bond - they have all been working together for awhile, so I am just the new person).  It has been a tough couple of weeks here with only a couple of friends, all of whom have been out of town.  Not that I haven't been getting settled and enjoying my new city, but it was really nice to go out and actually talk to people out of the work setting.  The barbeque was great, the Soju - not so good.  I hear there are different flavors, maybe that will be more to my liking.  We will see.

Well, it is getting late here, and I am starting "intensives" this week.  That means that I will be going to work for 3 hours in the morning, have an hour break, then go back for my normal 8 hours.  I will be doing this for 4 weeks, and am not entirely excited about working all day.  I know that people all over the world work like that, but I really like the 8 hour a day thing.  The benefit is that I will be making a good amount of extra money, and I don't really have much of a social life right now, so at least it comes at a good time.  

More next weekend probably.  I have next week off, so I should have lots of time to write about all of the fun things I am doing!  :)

Rain, rain, go away...

It has been raining all day.  I wouldn't mind if it was a school day, but it is Saturday, and I really wanted to go somewhere - anywhere really.  I just wanted to really be able to get out and explore.  No such luck.  So, after talking with some friends this morning, and messing around on the computer a bit, I am contemplating a nap.  I figured that since I haven't really written much lately, I would take a few minutes to update the blog before trying to sleep off the rain.  

You see, this is the rainy season in Korea, which means that you pretty much have to take an umbrella everywhere you go, and there are at least 3 days a week that is just rains - all day.  For some people who have lived in the pacific northwest, or some other typically rainy place, this might not sound so strange. For me, however, having grown up in more arid climates where it rained maybe 3 times a month, this is a whole new experience.  I don't mind it too much, the rain cools the hot summer temperatures nicely and I am usually working when it rains anyhow.  It is only on days like this that I don't like it.  A part of me says, put your raincoat on and get outside.  Go do something, don't just lay around all day waiting for the weather to clear up.  The other part of me says,  I don't have sufficient rain gear, and there is nothing wrong with laying around watching the rain come down all day.  So, I opt for the latter.  Maybe I will make it out later, but not right now.  

Issue...hard bed; resolution...none in sight

So, those of you who know me well, know that I really love my bed.  My bed that is currently sitting in a storage unit in Colorado.  It is wonderful.  It is soft.  It is not here.  I'm not really complaining, I mean there are a lot of things that could be worse than sleeping on an AWFUL bed.  The bed I have here is new, I believe.  But...it is a twin, and it is soooo hard.  The first morning I woke up I looked under the sheets to check that it wasn't just a box spring.  Serious.  The reason that I am writing about this is that it is 1:00 am, and I can't sleep, so instead I have been perusing the internet trying to find cheap things to do in Seoul.  

Cheap because I am on a VERY strict budget until the end of the month.  The whole moving across the world thing does a real number on the bank account.  But, thankfully, with the help of an amazing subway system, I can travel pretty much anywhere in the entire city and back home on about 5,ooo Won (about $5 US).  With this in  mind, I think I will be visiting an area called Insadong.  

When I first started looking at the opportunity to teach in Korea, in like October, I circled this area in my Lonely Planet.  So, now on my first real weekend here, I am going to try to brave the city and check it out.  The area is well known for shopping, with lots of antique shops with traditional items.  Well, at least that is what I have read.  We will see. 

Also planning on just walking around Bundang some this weekend to get a better feel of the area.  I went jogging this morning and then tried to find a health food store, and while I didn't find the store despite walking right in front of it,  I did get a good tour of some of the nearby "neighborhoods".  It seems strange for me to call an area in which I am surrounded by high-rise apartment buildings a neighborhood - but what other word is there really?  There are just a LOT more neighbors in a 1 block radius than back home.  

Well, I think  I am going to try to give this sleeping thing a go again.  Surprisingly, hard mattress and all, I have been sleeping fairly well here so far.   Here's hoping sleep finds me soon!

My school

Well, after working for a whole week, I suppose it is time to weigh in on what I think of my Korean school.  First off,  I am not teaching at a public school, and I am not teaching Spanish. I teach at an English academy, which is called a hagwon in Korea.  It is basically an after school English language school.  I get to work at 1, and students arrive at 3.  I then teach until 9.  There are a lot of positives and some negatives, but overall, I think I am at a really good school. 

 In my research before coming here, I found a plethora of negative information about hagwons.  The reason for this is basically that these are private businesses, and like any business there are good ones and there are bad ones.  The problem is that these schools are dealing with people from other countries who may or may not have ever taught before, and many of whom are just out of college with little to no experience away from home.  This just means that you have a lot of people who are really out of their comfort zone.  Added to that, most schools have nice little perks like free flights, free rent, etc.  So, some places figure that in order to save some money they will just let a teacher go early for a made up reason, and then they don't have to pay for the return flight home.  I certainly hope that I will never have to deal directly with a situation like this, but it has happened.  So, the stability of my job is a bit more in question than at home with a public school; but these schools are a dime a dozen, so finding a new job is not that hard to do.  

My school has 5 other teachers at my campus, and everyone is really relaxed and seems to get along.  After 1 week, I feel like I have the schedule down, although actually remembering the kids is a totally different thing.  I have 8 classes every day that last for 40 minutes and there are anywhere from 3-12 students in each class.  My schedule is pretty much the same on M, W, F and then again of T, TH.  So, total that is about 16 different classes that I teach, so I have about 150 students or so.  That is pretty comparable to home, but I see them everyday at home and have them for a longer period of time, so I get to know them better.  

But, anyhow, the hardest thing about school here is probably just the number of classes that I teach and the variety of levels.  I teach 2nd to 8th graders, although they are all split up by grade level.  The young ones are very cute, but they NEVER stop moving.  My classes with older students are so much easier!  The work involved for each class is so much less here, because I really don't keep grades, and there is much less planning as the curriculum is pretty much provided.  They have it mapped out day by day, so I just have to know what I am teaching, and maybe make up a worksheet or quiz.  The greatest thing is that the kids always do their work.  Pretty much.  And they listen, and they don't talk back, and they are really cute.  Having small classes is wonderful!  

Well, that is all I have right now.  This is probably only interesting to some of you, but people have been asking, so I figured I would just write it out here.  

As anywhere, Wednesday is over, so the week is on the way out!  

Hope all is going well for everyone at home!

Feeling more at home...

I have a hair dryer.  That was a big problem for me,  and I was really struggling going to work last week with crazy humidity hair, but problem solved.  This weekend was wonderful.  My friend Mariko, who essentially got me my job here in Korea, and some of her friends and I, all went down to another part of the city (really couldn't tell you where... there was a McDonald's :) ) to have some drinks and hang out.  It was really fun, and so refreshing to have friends to hang out with.  

On Saturday Mariko and Christine and I went to an area of the city called Itaewon.  It is fabulous.  It is the foreigners hangout, and I felt much less conspicuous walking about there.  We went to a salon to get haircuts, etc., and although I was not planning on getting anything done, fate intervened and I was introduced to Michelle - my new absolute favorite hairdresser.  He is wonderful, and cheap.  So after a new haircut and color, and a little eyebrow wax, I felt much more prepared to take on a city that has more fashion that I have in my pinky nail.  After lunch at a great little pita shop, and some browsing through store after store filled with fake Coach and Burberry and Louis Vuitton, the next big trip was Costco.  Yes, as in bulk haven.  It is quite an experience, and so comforting to see many of the same brands and products that I might find at home in any Costco.  Funny the things that just make you feel a little better when you are across the world in a country where everything seems foreign.  

Today was also an adventure, as I am hoping most weekend days prove to be this year.  This time, Mariko and Brandon (her husband) took me to Samsung plaza.  It is a huge shopping area that is the next stop down on the subway.  We went to the grocery store, Lotte Mart, and went to lunch at this great Indian restaurant.  I have yet to truly eat at a Korean restaurant, but I suppose I have a lot of time for that.   This evening I went for a walk at this fabulous park across the street from my apartment building.  The park basically runs a long a river, and has running and biking paths that stretch for miles.  There were so many people out, even at 9:00 on a Sunday night.  It was great.  

So, more to follow, but I am so tired.  Work tomorrow.  I think I am getting things down at school, so it should be a good week.  Check out the photos in the scrapbook, those are the first photos from the trip!

 

From July 03

Feeling a bit surreal...

So it is official. I no longer live in the United States. I have an apartment in a very cool part of one of the hugest cities in the world. I have a bottle of water in my apartment, and 3 bags of suitcases open on the floor. I have been judged by 12 classes of adorable(mostly) Korean students and have achieved at least a satisfactory status with them at this point. I have been to the doctor to have my blood tested and my eyesight measured, and yet, the feeling that I will wake up somewhere in the vicinity of Longmont, Colorado tomorrow seems to prevail.

 I haven't said yet if I like things so far. Which I do. A lot. The city is so cool. Like really cool. Restaurants and coffee shops and little boutique stores all over. Every building is at least 8 or 9 stories tall, and the high rise apartment building are like mushrooms around here, with trees and greenery everywhere. Most building have a rooftop with gardens and an area to relax. I personally live on the 10th floor in a very well located apartment building. These apartment rooms are called officetels. And yes, many of them are actually offices, not apartments. I am lucky enough to have a McDonalds and a Starbucks within a few yards of where I live. Glad to know I don't have to live without them. (Joking about McDonald's but very unfortunately my Starbucks addiction is no joke -Venti soy chai extra hot no water no foam.) Yep. Sad. But soooo good! 

I am very intimidated by the Korean language. I have never been anywhere that I did not at least have a general knowledge of the language, and it is not easy. I don't know a single word in Korean. I have been trying to remember the word for thank you all day, and at the moment I am coming up with ... nothing. It is a bit difficult to buy things when you don't know the numbers, or find your way around when you don't even know the alphabet. In fact, I even found my self wandering about the streets around my apartment last night quite unable to find it. I thought I found a shortcut, but alas, I took a wrong turn, and wouldn't you know that everything looks the same... Really I am sure I will begin catching onto some of the phrases after I have been here longer that...um...2 days. 

I am very excited about tomorrow night - I am going out on the town with my only friend here. That isn't really true, I did make two friends on the way here - one on the airplane, and one in the immigration line. And of course the teachers at my school are all really nice. Well, starting to fade, jet lag has been practically non-existent, but I am pretty tired. Tomorrow is my first chance to finally pick up some of my clothes that are littered throughout my penthouse suite, woops, studio apartment. Maybe I will even get some food. How fun!!!

From June 29

And I'm off...

So tomorrow is the big day! I have had those nervous butterflies for a couple of days, and this feels really surreal. Tomorrow morning I will be getting on a flight that takes me half way around the world, to a place where I hardly know anyone and don't speak the language. It sounded like a lot more fun a few weeks ago.

 No, I am excited, but now that it is a reality it is a little more daunting. I suppose next blog I will have pictures, etc. So, here is my good-bye ~

From June 03

I heart Mexico!

Seriously! This is the greatest place. I am in my second week here in Puerto Vallarta and it is just amazing. I went on a zip line tour, a boat ride around the bay, to a remote beach named Yelapa for the day, fell in love with Sayulita, and I still have 7 days left. I sent my contract off to Korea, which at the moment seems a bit distant although I will be leaving in about 4 weeks! So much going on - and I like it this way so much better than doing the whole go to work, come home, do it again the next day. I feel like I am my self again - traveling and seeing places and doing something with my life. I may be hit with reality when I realize how much work I have to do next week, but right now it all is wonderful!

From May 26

Off to Mexico

So it is 6:37 am and I am waiting at DIA to take off for Puerto Vallarta. Funny how you wait for so long for something to happen and then all of a sudden it does - and it doesn't feel like nearly as big of a deal as it seemed during the planning phase. I am very excited about this trip however - lots of relaxing on the beach and staring at the ocean.

 I will be sending my contract off to Korea this week - from Mexico, no less. I am sure I will be paying a hefty fee for that! Speaking of fees, apparently all of the airlines are beginning to charge for your second checked bag. Good thing they aren't starting until after this trip cause I brought WAY too much stuff! :) Well, hasta luego!

From May 22

lessons in patience

So, patience is not really something I possess in high quantities! I am ready to make the decision on a job in Korea, and I am only waiting the on the contract. Seriously!! I hate waiting! I have searched and figured out what I want, and am excited about it, have been told repeatedly that I am going to be offered a contract...but no contract! Aaaggghhh! 

On another note, tomorrow is my last day at Trail Ridge Middle School. I am happy and sad. Very happy to begin this adventure, and sad to be leaving my classroom (it was really great!), my friends, and my students. I have had the best students, and I am truly sad to leave them behind. So leaving is bittersweet... 

I am heading to Mexico on Monday, and if all goes as planned I will have signed a contract for Korea, sent off my paperwork, and be able to spend 2 relaxing and hopefully sun-drenched weeks in Puerto Vallarta. I am so excited! So, I guess the next post will be with some details of exactly when I leave for Korea and where I will be working. That is, if things go as planned... :)

From April 3o

Some pictures

running trails near the river

nice streets and shopping areas

high rise apartments

So, I thought I would share some photos of the area of Seoul that I am hoping to move to.  I am looking mostly in a suburb called Bundang, which is a more affluet, and relatively new area, from what I have heard and seen.  It still has great access to the subway systems which makes it easy to get around anywhere in the Seoul area.

This is a bit of what I will be experiencing soon...this is just in the Bundang area of Seoul.

From: April 27

What am I doing?

Ok - so here is the first entry for what I hope will be a great experience over the next year or so.  For those of you who don't know, I will be heading to Seoul, South Korea in a couple of months to teach english.  Everything has veen happening really fast, and it is super exciting, and obviously a little overwhelming.  Hopefully this will be a good place for me to share my experience with you all!