I finally know where I am

Thanks to Google Earth, I now know where I am in relation to, well, the earth. I've been searching for a map for the past month for Uijeongbu, and haven't been able to find one that's not a subway map, or in Korean. If you have this lovely program and would like to see where I live, the following coordinates may be helpful:

My apartment:
37"45'06.08"N, 127"04'40.99"E

My school:
37"45'02.17"N, 127"04'20.07"E

Home Plus:
37"45'07.80"N, 127"04'15.82"E

Seoul:
37"31'56.25"N, 126"57'26.48"E

If you don't have this program, here's a few visuals: (mind you, the satellite photos are from 2005)

Oh yes. I believe a follow up is in order

After forgetting for two days to actually make the pb&j sandwich for my kids, I finally brought two sandwiches to school yesterday, cut in quarters since I didn't want to spoil their appetite for snack or lunch. One of the kids had actually done his homework, but still didn't mind eating mine. They seemed to like it well enough, but I think they were more impressed with the fact that I made them a sandwich and brought it in for them to eat than they were with the actual sandwich. But now they have all had a pbj. Now I just have to work on this whole tooth fairy thing...

This weekend should be busy enough. I'm going to try to do some cleaning and laundry tomorrow before I go out shopping with Cherita. No one has drying machines here - everything's hung out to dry. So if I want to wear some of my dirty clothes next week, they need to be washed and hung up by tomorrow morning, or they may not be dry by monday. Cherita's going to Dongdaemun, which has the largest underground mall in Asia. I'm a bit excited. Mostly just because I enjoy window shopping (unlike my mother), especially when windows look like this:

The mix of 80's neon colors and large letters, incorrect grammar and punctuation ("THIS IS A REALLY HARD.) and references (Batman) that I know the Korean people don't get just cracks me up. And then Sunday morning is my second Korean lesson, and in the afternoon I may go with Cherita to Dobang (I think that's where she's going) to check out a tattoo parlor. And no, mom. I am not going to get another tattoo.

Water Gun Playing

I think the pictures say it all...

And in the elevator on the way back to class.

It's a travesty! A travesty I tell you!!

I was working with my lemon class on one of their books, in which the characters are talking about the sandwiches they eat. I have picture cards to go along with the book, including a tuna fish sandwich, pbj, cream cheese and jelly, steak, chicken salad, salami, etc. So we're going through the sandwiches, and trying to get the kids to identify which picture is which sandwich. I figured they probably wouldn't know the cream cheese and jelly one. But they had problems with the peanut butter and jelly. So I asked them how many had had a pbj. No one raised their hands.

NONE OF MY KIDS HAS EVER HAD A PEANUT BUTTER AND JELLY SANDWICH BEFORE!

I immediately assigned them homework. They are to eat a pb&j tonight when they get home.

I'm still shaking my head. No tooth fairy is one thing, but this is just wrong.

I will learn to speak your language

So the scavenger hunt was fun, though a little out of my comfort zone. I hadn't realized that it was with a group called Seoul Sisters (Seoul is the capital of South Korea), which is a lesbian group that gets together about once a month or so. We were assigned to teams, so I wasn't with the two people that I came with, and we had to go to 6 different bars around Hyundai and take pictures of certain things in each bar, get someone's number, and ask about something at each bar (for example: a picture of you and a member of the bar staff in a reflection in a mirrored mural, and ask who painted the mural). At each bar we were supposed to buy a drink each to get a stamp on our paper, so we could get the clue for the next bar we were supposed to go to. I ended up ordering cokes, and about halfway through, realized I didn't have to order anything- as long as one of the other girls on my team ordered something they would give us the stamp. So I was 'forced' to wander around Hyundai, which is full of interesting places (there's an 80's bar there that I want to go in next time), and spend about 2 hours with three other people that I'd never met. It was fun for the most part, but asking strange Korean women for their phone number when I had no intention of ever using it was a little awkward.

What I also hadn't realized when we went out is that the metro stops running around 12am or so. Hyundai is about an hour and a half on the metro from Uijeongbu, and about 30 minutes by cab (though 20 times more expensive). So once we were done with the scavenger hunt, we had to stay out until the metro started again - at 5:30am. If I'd known that, I probably would have stayed in bed longer yesterday morning. So we stayed at the first bar until about 4am, where I hung out with some of the other teams and met some other people. But Cherita and I were hungry and tired, so around 4:30 we went to a 24hour KFC and grabbed something to eat, and then Cherita paid for the 30,000 won to get home (about $30). At first the cab driver wanted to charge us 30,000 plus the meter. He said it was because we were leaving Seoul, but we both knew it was the "foreigner tax". But Cherita can speak basic Korean, and managed to tell the guy that she's never paid more than 35,000 to get home, and it was either 30,000 or the meter, not both. Our total at 5:30 am when we left the cab was just under 30,000. 

And then I had my first Korean lesson this morning around 10:30. I had put an ad on Craig's list for a language exchange (I teach you english, you teach me korean, no money involved), and got a reply back from someone. Turns out they were Cherita's teacher that she has lessons with every Sunday morning. So I went to her house this morning where Yong-tae Kim (he's 28 and just got married) worked with me on the basic consanants and vowels, and worked with Cherita on dialogue. So now I'm going to make some flash cards to practice, and maybe soon I'll be able to at least pronounce all the signs I see. 

I'm an alien

I am now, officially, an alien. I have a green card. And as you can see, it's really green! I had to take another picture when I sent in my registration for it, and they wouldn't let me smile with my mouth open. I'm not really sure why. But, there it is.

Yesterday I went and saw Kung-Fu Panda with Cherita. It was a very familiar story line, but with a few different twists. I enjoyed it, and definately laughed out loud a few times. Afterwards, since we were already in downtown Uijeongbu, we tried to find Tom's Vill, a bar where one of Cherita's friends works. We found it, after wandering for about half an hour. It was packed full of army guys, who were very amusing to watch while they danced to american hip-hop/rap music, and then stopped dancing when the MPs came in to do head counts. Apparently military has a curfew of 12:45, and the Military Personnel make the rounds starting around 11:45 or so to see who's in the bars, and make sure everyone's out when it's getting close to curfew. James and a few of his friends joined us, and we went to a few different bars around downtown, including one that was on the 15th floor and had a great view of downtown at night. I was invited to a scavenger hunt today, that I'll be leaving for in a little bit. I'm not sure what kind of scavenger hunt it is, but hopefully it should be fun.

Once a month

The school takes field trips with the morning classes about once a month. We also go out to dinner, just the teachers and Julie once a month. Today it was both. 

We took a field trip to a light museum, about half an hour from the school. I kept trying to find out details about how the field trips work, but was never really able to get that much information. So aside from not knowing that the kids have partners and walk two by two, I wasn't able to understand the person leading the trip through the museum since she only spoke Korean. This means I couldn't tell when she was asking a question, or when she wanted the kids to be quiet and still, or when she wanted them to move around and touch things. Not only this, but the Korean teachers didn't really seem interested in keeping the kids under control. So the trip started out ok, but about half-way through, the museum had turned into a 3-dimentional walk-through, where the kids were in hospital rooms, classrooms, kitchens and the like, where they were talking about mood lighting, light therapy, etc. So imagine 40 kids in a house, with couches, remotes, bedrooms, kitchens and dining rooms with the table set with fake food, and then a person in a corner trying to talk to everyone.

(This was the first time most of them had seen a real chalk board. And I'm pretty sure most of them don't really know what it is.)

(My lemon class in the little light village that I wouldn't let them run through.)

It took everything in me not to bring everything to a screetching halt and make all the kids sit on their hands and look at the speaker. The only reason I didn't was because I didn't want to interrupt the speaker since I had no idea what she was saying, and I've only been there for two weeks. I did make it absolutely clear to my 6 kids when we got to a place where I could pull them aside that they were to stay with their partners, they were not to run around and their behavior up until now had not been acceptable. And when the other kids were running through the displays when they were supposed to be waiting, mine were sitting quietly on the floor where I could see them. 

After class today, Julie took all of us to dinner. It was absolutely delicious. It was a bit of a walk, but apparently Julie teacher picked it because she knows I don't like spicy food and most of the food was tasty but not spicy. There were about three or four things I couldn't eat, but the rest of it was great. I have no idea how much it cost, but I imagine it was rather expensive, since there were 8 of us, and a lot of food. Afterwards James, Cherita, Gina and I had a beer at a bar down the street from HP and had a rather lively conversation. And then I headed home. All in all a rather interesting day.

They grow their own mushrooms. They're delicious!

My boss, Julie teacher, and the other Korean teachers at the table.

They put beef and about 7 different kinds of mushrooms into this stone pot on the table, and you cook it as you eat. 

And this is what passes for dessert - ice shavings, red beans, fruit, and some sort of powder that you mix up into a slushy type thing. 

What do you mean there's no Tooth Fairy?

Three of my kids had loose teeth today, so I asked them if they were going to leave their teeth for the Tooth Fairy. They just kind of looked at me. So I asked on of the other teachers later if they have the Tooth Fairy here. Turns out that you throw your teeth over the roof for good luck - there's no money involved. How they throw them over the roof when they live in apartment buildings that are 15 stories tall, I have no clue.

I went to the immigration office on Thursday of last week. Lee had gotten my results back from my physical at the hospital (no diseases or any problems to speak of - clean bill of health all around), so we took them to the immigration office to apply for my alien card. I had to give them my passport, that I'll get back in about 2 weeks. In the meantime, they gave me a little white piece of paper that says I'm allowed to be in the country. At least, I think that's what it says. I'm looking into taking a class or doing a language exchange to learn Korean.

Seoul Searching

James and Cherita were going out of town this weekend (they took a guided tour in North Korea), so I thought I would do a little bit of exploring on my own. I took the bus near my place to the subway, and then rode the metro for about an hour until I got to Seoul. I knew that the first English guided tour started at 11:30. I got there about 10:30, so I bought a ticket, and grabbed a bagel and coffee a few blocks away at a Dunkin Donuts (it was the only place with a menu I recognized). On my way back to the palace, I saw this sign:

I didn't go, but I will. How can you not visit a museum with a sign like that??

Then I went to the Changdeokgung, or Changdeok Palace (official site here). It was absolutely beautiful. The tour guide spoke English, but with a very think accent so it was very difficult to understand her. You can't enter the palace unless you take a guided tour Friday through Wednesday, which costs 3,000 won. The self guided tour is available on Thursdays, for 15,000 won. 

This is the entrance gate to the palace, called Donhwamun Gate. It was first built in 1412 and was restored in 1609. It's the oldest remaining palace gate in Korea. Donhwa means to "teach and influence the people". 

Injeongjeon Hall was used for official ceremones and was built in 1405. You can tell it's the most important building because it has the most clay figures pearcher on the edges of its roof of any building in the complex; there are 9 figures total.

This is the gate to the Secret Garden:

It's one of the most beautiful places I've ever been. I'd love to go back on a Thursday and just sit in the garden and enjoy the tranquility.

This is the Buyongji area. It's a pond created on the traditional perception of the universe (that heaven is round and earth is rectangular). the recangular pond refers to the earth, and the round island in the middle symbolizes heaven. 

And this is the Aeryeonji Area. Aeryeon means "loving the lotus" which symbolizes the virtue of a gentleman. There are lotus flowers in the pond, but most of them aren't blooming right now. 

After I left the palace, I wandered down Insadong, which is a giant shopping street. There were some very interesting characters there. I don't know who the top one is, the bottom one is Dalki, similar to Strawberry Shortcake.

After Insadong, I stopped at Yongsan. You know how in department stores there's the little sections for all the different brands of makeup? Imagine the same thing on a scale about 10 times larger, and with electronics instead of health and beauty. And on 7 floors. This was about 1/10th of Yongsan. It took me forever to find somewhere to eat, because it had to have a menu outside with pictures that I could point to when  I ordered, since I can't read hangul yet. I managed to find a place, finally, and got some sort of dumplings that I couldn't finish because there was so much of it. And then I headed home. 

Birthday Day

So today was a Birthday Day. There were five kids that have birthdays this month, so they all celebrate them on the same day. Birthdays are a big deal here, so we spent quite a bit of time on this. I had three kids in my classes that were celebrating- Irene, Lewis, and Lyna. At 11:30, we all went into the fun room, where they had a pizza, some rainbow rice cakes, and what looked like funions on a table. The birthday kids stood in front of it while they had their pictures taken. Apparently it's not common for people to smile in pictures here, most of the kids either had a straight face or a weird attempt at a half smile.



The cake was being delivered, and was running late, so they had the kids standing at the front of the room for about ten minutes without doing anything. Finally they decided that the kids were all going to perform their songs again, and they started with my Lemon class, who did "Little Bear Lake" again. The cake came after about 4 classes had done a song, so they took more pictures of the kids with the cake, and then lit candles, and gave each kid a chance to blow them out (while taking more pictures). Then it was pictures with each kid by themselves, each kid with their class, each kid with their class and teachers, and each kid with the others that had given them presents.





Then we ate lunch, which was pizza and noodle soup, with funions and cake for dessert. Some of the kids opted for cake, but most wanted the funions. When the kids eat lunch, or snack, they have to say a prayer first. They close their eyes, put their hands together, and say (to the tune of Are You Sleeping, Brother John)

Thank you father,
thank you father,
for the food,
for the food,
any other blessings,
any other blessings,
amen,
amen,

Thank you for the lunch,
enjoy your lunch

When they're done eating, they say "finished", then bring their plates and utensils to the kitchen. They then get their toothbrush, which is hanging next to the sink, and come and say to me "toothpaste please", at which point I put the toothpaste on for them. They then have to say "thank you", and go brush their teeth. When they're done brushing, they can go play until the next class.

And this was my dinner last night from Home Plus (HP):

Dr. Fish

I went out today to Itewon, which is a partial foreigner heaven. There's an all English bookstore called What The Book?, at which I purchased two used books (by Isaac Asimov and Ayn Rand), and a new book by Terry Pratchett. I was a little dissapointed that they didn't have any used books by Pratchett, but was rather excited when I found the two entire shelves of Discworld books in the new section. (they offer free shipping in Korea. and gift cards.) We wandered around for a while in downtown, and had lunch out on the patio of Gecko (a restaurant like Fridays, only it has an international fare instead of just Korean) while it poured rain. We found out that DMC, of Run DMC, is performing in Itewon on the 18th at the Hard Rock there. So we're probably going to take a cab from work in a week and a half and come see DMC perform. We stopped at a few of the sidewalk vendors, where I bought a hat. I figure it's not winter yet, so it was cheap now, and I didn't bring a hat with me, so it's a good investment for when it's 15 degrees below. And I like black kitties.



Then we went back to downtown Uijeongbu, where I experienced Dr. Fish. Cherita and I have decided that we will open a spa/green restaurant/dr. fish emporium in the states when we leave and become millionaires, so please do not steal this idea. That being said, it was a very interesting experience. You get unlimited coffee and bread, and wait for your number to be called. Whe your number shows up, you leave your coffee on the table (and bring your personal effects with you), take off your shoes, and rinse off your feet in a shower, which costs $1. 



Then one of the employees sets a timer for 20 minutes, and then you put your feet into a tank full of fish. they swarm around your feet, and it tickles like crazy at first. It took me about 6 minutes to stop laughing.




Once you get used to it, it's still very interesting to watch, and hard to talk about anything else. If anyone gets the chance to try it, I highly reccomend it.

Kickin' it in Geumchon

James, one of the other English teachers that I work with, kept mentioning the EV Boys when we went to downtown Uijeongbu the other night. They're a trio of English teachers that work at a school called the English Village (hence EV Boys). It's a performing arts/English school, so needless to say the instructors there are rather creative when it comes to things like this. The great thing about this video is it's pretty much universal when it comes to the expat experience in a suburb area in South Korea. It's exactly what Uijeongbu looks like, and the cultural things they mention are everywhere. The article below is courtesy of www.Korea.net/news.

A quick side note: the chorus says
Kickin' it in Geumchon
Oh, Oh
Kamsa hamneeda
Anyong haseyo

These are the first two words I learned here. They mean "thank you very much" and "hello/goodbye" respectively, and are the two most common phrases i've heard.

All the other things they mention (pig faces, the 80's plastic visors, the dunkin donuts, kimchi everywhere, cass beer, saying uh after every word, fruitloop balls instead of peanuts at the bars, etc) are prevalent everywhere. 



Where is Geumchon?
About 20 kilometers northwest of Seoul is where the Gyeonggi English Village, Paju Camp is situated. Christian Zonts, the song's chief author and EV Boyz founder, Brian Petersen and Mike Nance all live and work there as English instructors/entertainers – the hip term these days is "edutainers." All three are from the United States and have been in Korea for 11 months, 14 months and almost two years, respectively. 

When they want to leave the sanctuary of the Village, Geumchon is the nearest large town. It is no different from most urban areas outside the major Korean cities, with a mixture of traditional and modern. In the words of the EV Boyz "Geumchon is a small town but we make the most of it." Christian was inspired one day to sit down and write a song about his experience as a foreigner living and hanging out in Korea. Brian and Mike joined and added their own flavor to the mix.

The result is a Beastie Boys soundalike with a cheerful and catchy refrain as well as playful lyrics. The EV Boyz make reference to the local movie theater "keeping it real" with no subtitles; then point out this is the very reason they don't go to the cinema. (In a recent interview, they did confess to speaking very little Korean. The phrasebook referred to in the lyrics is Christian's main way to communicate when he travels around Korea, as he does each weekend.)

Much is sung about food and drink, and the video clip shows the trio enjoying a few tasty treats as well as some brews. Pig faces for sale are immortalized in song, But when they went to the market to film some, they were nowhere in sight. The EV Boyz confess to loving Korean food and being adventurous eaters – they have even tried some dishes this author never has! Fittingly, the bridge in the middle of the song is an ode to kimchi, "the cabbage that we ravage with the chili paste taste."



The song was originally written to amuse themselves and their colleagues (over 100 native speakers of English work at Paju English Village), and the video was made to give relatives and friends back home an idea of what their non-work lives here were like. Audiences found the video so well made that it took a life of its own. Responses have been mostly positive, especially from colleagues and supervisors at the English Village.

A trip to the hospital

I only had to teach three classes today, since I went to the hospital to get my physical so I can apply for my alien card. My first class, lemon, was from 9:45-10:30. They usually have snack then, so Julie Teacher took over for me while I went to the hospital (I'm Breanna Teacher to the kids, only they usually pronounce it teachah). Lee, Julie's husband, drove me there, and took care of all the paperwork. It was a lot of running around between floors 1, 3, 6, and 8. Some of the elevators only went to even floors and some went to odd floors and some went to all of them. Only some of them were labeled.

The first thing they did was the obligatory pee test, then 4 blood samples. There was a very long conversation between two nurses and Lee before they took my blood, and the only thing I caught was HIV, which they would be testing for. Lee couldn't translate any of it, partially because his English is basic at best, and I don't know that anyone but a fluent speaker in both languages could translate medical terminology. Then we went downstairs where I thought they would do a physical, but their version of it was asking me "Do you have health ok?". Then we went back upstairs, since apparently the first set of nurses had to go to lunch and didn't have time to do the rest of it while we were up there. We got another form, went back downstairs, where they checked my teeth (no cavities, no missing teeth). Then back upstairs they checked height, weight, blood pressure, hearing, sight (all of which are fine), and did an x-ray of my chest. And then we left.

By the time we got back, it was almost the end of lunch. So I had lunch in the kitchen with Lee and one of the kids. Everyday there's soup, kimchi, rice, and then two sides. I can't eat the kimchi - it's way too spicy. Lee told me there's something called pakimchi, which is similar only made without pepper, so it's milder. But most, if not all, restaurants only serve kimchi. I do, however, love dried seaweed and rice. It's my new favorite snack. I had some sort of little silver fish that had been cooked, had it's head and tail cut off, and covered/stuffed with some sort of vegetable sauce thing. It was a bit spicy, but pretty good. Lee also showed me how to correctly hold my chopsticks, which seemed to work for the first time. It still amazes me that the kids eat such spicy food, and not only don't mind it, but they love it (the teachers eat the same thing as the kids, just bigger portions).

Julie teacher even taught my class after lunch, so I only had my two apple classes to do, which are pretty easy because one class has three kids and one class has nine, and they all speak English fairly fluently. Even though my last class is over at 4 on Tuesdays and Thursdays, I'm not supposed to leave before 6pm (which isn't bad, considering my day starts at 9:45 and I get an hour break after lunch). So I spent the rest of the day working on my lesson plans for lemon and cherry for next week, and making sure I had all the materials I needed for the activities. They're pretty straight-forward, and everything is pretty much scripted for you from the teacher's book. They have songs that go along with storybooks, and activity books, and homework books, all relating to whatever story they're reading. I've learned such riveting songs as "Little Bear Lake", "Let's Go Camping", and "Hello, Ranger Joe". And tomorrow is Memorial Day, so Cherita, James and I are going out to downtown Uijeongbu (pronounced weejongboo) tonight since there's no school tomorrow. I did find out from Julie teacher that my birthday, which is the Korean Independance Day, is no longer a holiday off from school - apparently Korea has too many holidays and they changed it last year to a normal school day. :(

There's lots of little things here that I find facinating. Things like when you order pizza, they always tie it with a red ribbon to keep the box closed. Or how the cars have the right of way, not the pedestrians, and they can make a u-turn in the middle of the street, as long as there's no traffic going the other way. There doesn't seem to be any laws about where to park either, as people park in the street all the time with no permits. In their registers, they keep their money vertical, instead of laying down horizontal, and most bathrooms don't have toilet paper - you're supposed to bring your own.

I'm here

It’s been quite an eventful few days. I got on the plane from Daytona on time, and transferred planes with no problem. The flight from San Francisco was very long, and a bit cramped. I had wanted to at least see the US for the last time as we were flying away, but it was overcast from the moment we got in the air until we hit Alaska. I did get to see a little bit of Russia before we got to Korea – seems like a vast wasteland of frozen tundra to me. I got off the plane, and got through customs with no problem. My bags were even at the baggage claim as soon as I got there. I found the limousine bus that I needed (they’re basically like charter busses) and got on it right away. The bus driver, however, didn’t speak English. The stops were announced in Korean, and then in English. But at the City Hall stop, it didn’t say that the next stop was in Uijeongbu. So I tried to ask the driver, since I had been told that my ride would meet me at the last stop in Uijeongbu. He didn’t understand what I was asking.


 

There was a family that got off at the stop with me, who had a little girl and a little boy. I guess the girl was taking English classes because she knew a few words and tried to find out where I was trying to go. But I had conveniently forgotten the name of the school, and I hadn’t written down any of the phone numbers that my boss had given me. So they drove me about a block to the city hall, where the night watchmen were nice enough to let me use their computers to find the phone number of Lee, who was supposed to pick me up. After we finally got a hold of him, they gave me come coffee (which is actually instant coffee sold in little packets, but it wasn’t bad), and we watched soccer until Lee, the director's husband, arrived.

He got my bags into the van, and drove me though downtown Uijeongbu, passed the school that I’ll be working at, and then showed me where my apartment is. It’s right off the main road, but on a little side street so there’s no traffic, and about 10 blocks or so from the school. My apartment is on the second floor, right above a flower shop. It’s a studio, with what passes for a kitchen, a bathroom, and a “porch” where the washer is that faces another apartment building under construction. The front door doesn’t have a key; it’s a number code so I don’t need to worry about loosing my keys anymore. The kitchen has a dorm-type fridge, a microwave, a sink, and a hot plate. There’s no closet, just a metal rack with some hangers on it. There’s a desk/table with two chairs, a place near the door to put your shoes, a small table that you have to sit on the ground to use, a tv with the cable already working (My options in English include the BBC and a movie channel. That's it.), a bed (which is apparently brand new but hard as a rock), and a cubby hole-type thing. The air conditioner has a remote, but it’s been cold enough here that I’ve just left the windows open. Apparently this is spring weather, and it’s going to get much hotter in the summer.
 

 


The area itself is beautiful. The mountains are right next to the city, walking distance actually, but you’d never know it if you’re in downtown because everything is so flat, and the high-rise buildings cover them up. Since the country is so small, everything has a small footprint and goes up ridiculously high. All the apartment buildings are higher than most hotels I’ve seen. Mine is an exception, as it’s only three stories, and has shops underneath it, including a flower/plant shop. The school is on the sixth floor of one of these buildings.


I’m a few blocks from Home Plus, which is like a 24 hour Walmart, mixed with a department store. The bottom floor is a food court and the designer clothes. Each section is separate, and you have to pay the cashier for the items you want in their section – most of them are separated by brand. The second floor is the grocery section. When they run out of something, they don’t re-stock it until 5am, so when I went there tonight, they were out of bread, bananas, and a few other things I had wanted to get. There’s a little section in the middle that’s kind of like a mini restaurant, so if you get hungry while you’re food shopping you can eat. And yes, deodorant is no-where to be found. This place is much more sanitary than the downtown market-place, which has every kind of meat and seafood (squid, manta-ray, octopus, etc.) lying out in the air with no ice and flies buzzing around. The third floor is the rest of the home-type things that you would normally find in a Walmart. Of course everything is in Korean, though there’s a lot more English than I thought there would be. There’s more English on things like shirts and ads, but I think most people that wear those shirts have no idea what they say. Tax is included in the price of everything, so the price listed is what you pay.

There’s also old money and new money, referring to bills and not to people. I tried to use one of my bills in a vending machine to get a drink, but they only take the new money. I should be able to trade out the rest of my US dollars sometime this week, when I set up a bank account. Cherita, one of the other teachers who showed me around today, thinks that I’ll get paid next week for half a paycheck. She said they take your bills, like electricity and cable, out of your check. There’s a wireless set up here, but I need the password for it, which I was told I’ll get tomorrow.
Cherita took me out to lunch today around 1. I didn’t wake up until noon when she knocked on my door – and I probably should be in bed right now since I have to be at work tomorrow at 9:15. She said there are three English teachers – myself, Cherita, and James- and three Korean teachers. It’s a private school, and apparently very expensive, as I only have 6 or 7 kids per class. I suppose I’ll find out tomorrow more of what that’s going to be like.