korean dreemwhrld

It's Official!

2010-04-19T18:34:00.003+09:00

I've moved to http://dreemwhrld.wordpress.com

If you were on my mailing list, you should have received an email asking you to confirm your subscription to the new site. If not, you can just enter your email on the right side of the main page and you'll receive a confirmation email. This site will be left up for a while, for link purposes, as well as a just-in-case, however, the new site will be where all my new (and old) posts will be, including my biking trip in the islands. Stay tuned!

Moving Soon

2010-04-19T16:25:00.001+09:00

I've been toying with the idea for a while of moving my blog to a different hosting site. I haven't because I was afraid I'd lose my comments and my content in the process. I think I've found a way to move all my information, so as soon as I'm ready, I'll be moving. If you receive updates, I'm pretty sure that I'll be able to save that information as well. If not, I'll post information here on how you can re-register. The look of the blog will be changing a bit as well, and hopefully it'll be a little closer to what I want. Thanks in advance for your patience while I figure out the new site.

Han River Biking

2010-04-11T21:34:00.003+09:00

So my best friend James left almost a month ago. It doesn't seem like it's been that long, but life goes on, as it must. The silver lining to that rather large cloud was that I got his bike, which was mine to begin with anyways, but that's another story. I've only taken it on two trips, because the rear wheel has a slow but steady leak, and I haven't had time to bring it down to the shop for them to fix it. I actually tried today, but they were closed, which is surprising, as many places around me are open on Sundays.

Anyways, I've gone on two rides so far. One on my own at sunset, and one a week later with my friend Amy. Amy doesn't get off work until 9pm, so we did a night ride of about 5 miles total - 2.5 east and then 2.5 back.

Even though there's another bridge with access to the Han River Park that's closer to me, I use the Hannam Bridge to get to the Park. This is because there's a ramp and an elevator to get down to the park, rather than the maze of stairs with a small ramp for your bike to navigate through.

The first time I went by myself was at sunset, which was chilly, but beautiful. There's something very calming about a large body of water with the sun low in the sky. Especially if you're riding around near it on a bike.

There was one part of the river where it looked like a building had sunk into the water, and a large crane on a boat was pulling pieces out. I don't think I've ever seen a spiral staircase coming out of the water like this before. It had attracted a small crowd of onlookers, mostly ajushis, or old men, walking on their own.

The bridges themselves are interesting, and I plan on going to try to see the Banpo Bridge Light Show, though it's been difficult to find out when it's scheduled. It's in the Guinness Book of World Records for the longest bridge fountain.

When I went riding with Amy, we went a bit farther than I had by myself, and discovered this giant tunnel full of graffiti. Apparently you can come down on the weekends and see the artists at work remaking different sections of it. It actually looks really cool, and as graffiti is very rare in Korea it made it feel slightly more like home.

Europe-bound!

2010-04-08T19:42:00.007+09:00

This is my map. This is my map of Europe. Specifically, I have labeled it with the places I will be going this summer on my first ever trip to Europe. And I am SO EXCITED! You may have noticed that I did not opt for the more common Western Europe trip, including France, Spain, England, Italy, etc. I have instead, opted for Eastern Europe, planning on Poland, Ukraine, Czech Republic, and Germany. There are several reasons for this:

1) My friend Steph lives in the Czech Republic. She is the main reason I am going to Europe, instead of the closer, and cheaper, Southeast Asia or IndoChina. I haven't seen her since she left Uijeongbu, and not only is this a great excuse to see her, but it means I have a travel buddy in Europe.

2) I have some family history in a tiny little town called Bolekhiv. My dad's side of the family was part of a large Jewish population in that town before the war. So I'm going to try to find anyone that may be related to me, though I'm assuming that the only way to do that is by looking through the cemetery for headstones with my last name in Hebrew on it.

3) I love travel of any kind. I've only been to two continents (Asia and North America), and Europe would make my third. Only four more to go after that...

4) Why not???

So the plan is:
Fly into Warsaw on July 24th. Get a place and stay the night, since my plane lands late. Wander around Warsaw for the day and see what there is to see. Get a train ticket to Lviv, Ukraine, or even possibly straight to Bolekhiv. If I go through Lviv, spend a day there, then go to Bolekhiv. If I don't have to go through Lviv, I'll spend an extra day in Bolekhiv. Try to find anything/everything related to my family history.

On or about the 29th (Thurs), go to Prague. Meet up with Steph, and spend a day or two in Prague.

Then together, head to southwest Germany. Nuremberg, Munich, and any/everything in between. Take our time, and do what we want, for however long we want. Fly out of Munich on August 12th, back in Seoul Friday morning.

Can't wait!!

I need a personal assistant

2010-03-31T20:41:00.003+09:00

I've been struggling to keep up with my blogging recently, and it's been both an internal and external struggle. I've had a lot on my plate the last few months, and trying to find the time and energy to sit down and invest a few hours in 1) finishing my winter trip blog, 2) upload and organize my pictures from all the other things I've been doing so I could blog about them later, and 3) not run out of disk space in the process, has been rather difficult. But. I finally finished my winter trip. I only have about three other events I need to post and then I'll be all caught up. What is all this other stuff I've been doing, you might ask? Well,

I've started another photo project which you may have heard of, called the 365 project. You're basically supposed to take one photo per day and then upload it to this site, which organizes it rather nicely for you. I take photos all the time anyways, and I thought this would be a nice way to not only organize my photos, but improve my photography and force me to try and look around me for what I saw when I first came to Korea that I now take for granted.

My three closest friends all left at the end of February/beginning of March. Which meant I was spending as much time with them as I could before they left, and doing leaving parties and events with them.

Saint Patrick's Day passed with little fanfare, barring a green shirt worn to work and a can of Guinness consumed that evening while preparing for the upcoming weekend, which consisted of a trip down to the south of the country to see a Bull Fighting Festival (separate post on all these events to come soon).

I've started a weekly tradition with Amy during which we meet at a truck that parks near my school at night. We order a freshly made pizza from the truck, and then go back to mine to watch a movie.

This weekend was a booze cruise, where for a small fee I got to board a boat on the Han River and drink all the decent draft beer (Alley Kat brew, not Hite or Cass) I wanted and help a friend celebrate her birthday.

This weekend I'm going to attend International Pillow Fight Day at City Hall, so I've been trying to convince my friends from everywhere to join me.

Every Saturday morning I have Korean language classes, and starting this Friday I'll have an extra three classes during the week. I've also gotten a bike from my friend who's left, so now I have an excuse/reason to exercise and get out a bit more, especially now that the weather's changing for the better.

And between all this, I've been looking for flights to Europe in August, planning a trip to Kyoto in May, and trying to figure out if I want to stay with my current job or look for another one, and making plans for both eventualities (looking for other open positions if I go, and negotiating days off/other perks if I stay). Not to mention, of course, the day-to-day niceties of teaching small children.

Shipwrecked

2010-03-28T19:39:00.003+09:00

A friend of mine decided to start her birthday celebration by encouraging everyone to get tickets to Shipwrecked. This is a once-a-month-or-so event, where 40,000won (~$40) gets you all you can drink draft beer on a boat that floats down the Han River at night for three hours.

Since I'd never been on the Booze Cruise (as it's otherwise known as), I'd never been on the water of the Han, and it was Fiona's birthday, I decided to sign up. The tickets sold out more than a week before the event, even though the boat had a 500 person capacity.

Amy and I got to the boat just after 6, and were on board around 6:30. We took off right around 7, and spent the rest of the evening enjoying the company of friends and the 'free' beer on the boat.

A view of the 63 building at night.

One of the many bridges we went under

The captain of the boat was watching tv while driving.

Running, or rather pushing, of the Bulls

2010-03-22T19:08:00.008+09:00

A friend of mine, Jess, suggested that a bunch of us go down south for this little festival called the Bull Fighting Festival. Jess is great at organizing trips, and she had been to the festival several years before, so I enthusiastically gave her my $38 for a round-trip train ticket to Daegu for the weekend. On St. Patrick's Day, a few of us went over to Jess' house and attempted to make paper-mache horns in preparation for the upcoming weekend. It was much more difficult than we anticipated, and rather took the spirit out of St. Patty's day as we struggled with wire, paper, and flourwater.

We took the train down to Daegu after work on Friday without incident. We arrived near midnight, and walked around for almost an hour looking for a place to stay that would hold 8 people. This was partially because the FIRST place we looked told us that the rooms would be ready in 10 minutes, and this was incorrectly told to the rest of us as the room wasn't available. So instead of waiting for 10 minutes, we wandered the streets of Daegu.

When we finally got back to the original hotel, the rooms were now taken (though by whom, we have no idea - what other group of 8 people had all of a sudden wandered in??). So we found a place right next door. Everyone except for myself and Laura decided to go out into town for "one drink". I knew this would mean they weren't going to get back until 5am, so the two of us went to sleep, and sure enough, they all straggled in sometime around/after dawn.

The hotel we stayed at was at the end of a suspicious-at-night, but character-filled-during-the-day alley. Because I got a good-night's sleep, I woke up early the next morning (7ish or so) and went off in search of coffee, which was only yo be found at that hour back by the train station. I got back to the hotel, and we all headed back to the station to get to the town of Cheong-do, which is where the festival actually was. On the way we took a different route than I had taken, and passed by this lovely sight:

A cramped and sweaty 20-minute bus ride after the pleasant 20 minute train ride got us to the festival area. We saw the standard festival fare, including bondegi, which I have yet to try (I'm sorry, does boiled silk worm larvae sound appetizing to you??). Rob decided to get some, though. Props to him.

The entrance fee was about $5, and even though the website said you didn't have to pay if you were born in the year of the ox, this sign dispelled that myth.

After wandering around the stadium area for a while we headed into the area to see what was what. Several people commented on our horns, and wanted to know where we bought them. I think if it hadn't taken the better part of 5 hours to make them, we'd have considered making extras to bring with us next year.

The actual bull-fighting was pretty self-explanatory. Two bulls were brought out into the ring and pulled head-to-head by their 'owners'. Then they just pushed at each other's heads until one tuned his head and ran away. This could take anywhere from 5 minutes to 25 minutes, depending on the bulls.

We made it more interesting by betting on which bull we thought would win (I won 1,000 won on the only bet I made), standing up and talking to the massive amount of foreigners in our area of the stadium, and drinking incessantly.

After watching the fighting for a few hours, we headed back to Daegu. Amy decided to borrow my horns for a while.

Since we ended up with about 20 people who all knew each other, we decided to split up for dinner. I went with my friends from Gueryong to a place called Gorilla Burger, which was supposed to be amazing. I thought it was decent. We had a bit of a time finding it because Chris was in the bathroom when the train stopped at our stop so he had to wait until the next stop 20 minutes away, and then buy another ticket and wait for the train to come back down to Daegu.

We stayed out for most of the evening in Daegu, with different people going to different bars and switching back and forth. I stayed out till about 2 or so, and then headed back to the hotel with Hannah, since she didn't know how to get back. I was surprised that I made a straight shot back to the hotel, seeing as how it was the first time I'd ever been to Daegu. But once I got my bearings on the main streets it was relatively easy to navigate.

The next day we got tickets back to Seoul around 1, so we headed back into town for breakfast of bi-bim-mandu, which I'd never had. Amy, Hannah and I went to a coffee shop called Amoeba, and then we all took the train back to Seoul.

Terrible Horrible No Good Very Bad Day

2010-02-21T12:47:00.019+09:00

I've actually had nothing of the kind. I just like that book.

I've started taking Korean lessons with someone I met through ATEK on Saturday mornings. At first I was reticent to give up one of my few days sleeping in, as well as the possibility of going out on Friday nights, but so far it's been worth it. The first lesson was way above my level, but after talking to the guy who's giving the lessons to myself and another foreigner, it's been changed to something that's much more on my level. I thought at first that I wouldn't go to the lessons if they were free - that paying for lessons would be more of a motivation to go. But since the person is doing it for me as a personal favor, it's almost like I'm being guilted into attending. Not that I mind that much, as I'm learning quite a bit. It also gets me up and going on a Saturday morning instead of laying in bed and wasting the day.

This Saturday, I met a friend of mine in Anguk after my lesson. I had heard of a place in the area where you could go to see an ice carving gallery, and you could carve your own ice. We decided to find somewhere to grab a bite to eat while on our way to the gallery. We tried to follow the directions Amy had written down, but we weren't able to find one of the big landmarks that the directions were dependent on. So we ended up wandering aimlessly around Jongno, which since it was a nice day neither of us minded. We found a strange little coffee shop called Yellow Bricks. We stopped and shared a real Belgian waffle for lunch, and then tried again to find the ice gallery.

We finally managed to find the Ice Gallery. We headed in, steps ahead of a Chinese tour group. The tour started out in the ice carving area, so we decided to go into the gallery first. For lack of a better word, and pun intended, it was really cool. There was a small group of young girls in there who seemed to be just as interested in watching us as they were in looking at the ice carvings.

After wandering through an igloo, an ice pension, ice palace, and even and ice bathroom, we went back to the carving area, just as the tourists were coming down.

We watched an 'ice expert' carve a block of ice first into a beer stein, then a wine chalice, then a coffee mug. And then she handed us two ice picks and Amy and I had a ball hacking away at the ice.

After we left the ice gallery, we wandered around Jongno a little bit, deciding to stop at Jogyesa. The last time I'd been there was at Buddha's birthday last year, when I went to the Lotus Lantern Festival. There was some ceremony going on inside the temple, and while we walked around, Amy told me about some of the different symbolism in Buddhism. I can't wait to go to Japan with her - she's gonna be like my own private tour guide!

We then headed back to Apgujeong, where we killed time in a Tom n Tom's coffee shop, until we met up with Leah for dinner at an Italian restaurant right across the street at a place I'd been meaning to try, called Pizza and Wine Married .

My "Funghi Pasta", which was string pasta with cream sauce, mushrooms, and black bread, was particularly tasty, and quite filling. After that, we headed to the Jang Cheon Art Hall close to my house, where one of my students was performing in the "Seoul Genius Junior Orchestra". June was the youngest member of the orchestra, and played both cello and trumpet. I forget sometimes how small my kids are. it was easy to be reminded when I saw June playing a cello that was larger than he was, seated with his feet dangling from his chair next to other students, some twice as old as he was.

After the performance ended around 9:30, and I had a short conversation with June's mom, Amy and I went back to my house, where I was charged with introducing Amy to the film wonderment that is Labyrinth. Before we saw the movie I checked my email, where I found out that I had won tickets to see Do Make Say Think Sunday night in Hongdae. I asked Amy if she knew who they were, and since she not only knew who they were, but also had some of their music (which was two steps ahead of me), I asked her if she wanted a free ticket to come with me. She agreed (would you turn down a $50 free ticket to a band you liked?).

Sunday morning I spent sleeping, and the afternoon was filled with putzing around my apartment, writing this blog (since I left my camera cord at school I didn't actually publish it), reading, and drinking an entire pot of coffee. Amy and I met around 4pm on the subway, and headed first to Richard Copy Cat's American Diner where we both enjoyed breakfast for dinner. We then made our way to Hapjeong station in search of Bau Haus Cafe, where Amy fulfilled her dog craving and I satisfied my curiosity.

After the dog cafe, we went to find the venue for Do Make Say Think. I had no idea where it was, only that it was in Hongdae, and it was called V-hall. Usually there are signs all over Hongdae on the streets for shows that point you in the right direction. This time there was nothing. So Amy and I stopped at the tourist box, where I asked for directions. The lady at the desk pointed out the window right across the street, and told us it was in the basement of that building.

I was worried that we might have trouble getting in because the reservations for the tickets had actually been made in someone else's name. I won the tickets through TheYeogiyo.com forum. The contest had been simple - first person to reply to the post gets the tickets. I was the second. But it turned out that the first person couldn't go, so that's how I got them. But the first person's name had already been put on the list. It didn't turn out to be a problem, and not only did Amy and I get in for free with no hassle, but we got there pretty much as the doors opened, so we were in the front the entire time.

The opening band was called On Sparrow Hills, and they were very entertaining to watch, particularly one of the drummers.

The second band was called Vidulgi Ooyoo. I couldn't tell if some of the sounds they were producing were accidental or on purpose. I'd like to think the ones that hurt my ears were accidental. Though I wasn't particularly fond of their music, it was nice to see a Korean girl playing guitar on stage.

And of course the last band was Do Make Say Think.

Even ignoring the fact that the first time I'd heard their music was the night before, I really enjoyed their performance. There were nine people in the band - two drummers, a violinist, saxophonist, two horn players, and three guitars and one bass (I think). Not only were they enjoyable to watch, but their music was interesting and varied. I'm not usually into instrumental music that's not classical style, but this was catchy, danceable, listenable music.

I wish I had better words to describe the concert. I've always envied people like my friend Steph, who can write about bands and review music and actually make it sound interesting. Anyway, the show was great, and as we were leaving, I saw a 10,000won note lying on the floor so I grabbed it, and promptly told Amy that we now had free cab fare home since the subways were just about closed.

And that was the end to my 'wonderful, marvelous, not bad, very good' weekend.

Um. Wow.

2010-02-16T15:51:00.004+09:00

So I told my kids this morning that they were going to have a test in math. Invariably, Lawrence will always say that something is easy. In this case he yelled it out. I try to tell my kids it's not nice to say something is really easy, because what's easy for some people may be hard for others. Anyway, my response was something along the lines of "But Lawrence, you don't know what's going to be on the test! What if it's something really hard, like 567 times 432?"

And his response was "That's easy! Can you write it on the board?"

So I did.

And he promptly, and correctly, solved it.

And I was floored. I went to ask his math teacher, with whom he does an individualized computer math program every week. This seven-year old boy is on a fourth grade math level, and can do 5-digit multiplication, as well as being the best math student in the school. If only I had known! I would have had him finish his math book a long time ago and given him something much more stimulating than double digit addition to be practicing!! This is why assessments are a good thing...

East vs West

2010-02-12T20:13:00.007+09:00

I found this blog on Chris in South Korea, who said he read it at the Kimchi Cheeseburger, who quoted Bloggerbase, who credited Buburuza. So now I'm posting it myself. Not that either side is better, but it certainly helps to know this if you're going to spend any amount of time in Asia.

Blue = Westerner (American, British, Canadian. You know who you are.)

Red = Asian (Korea, China, Japan, India, Thailand, etc.)

Opinion

Punctuality

Anger

The Boss

Contacts

Three Meals a Day

The Elderly

Party

Handling Problems

Waiting in Line

In a Restaurant

Sunday on the Road

Transportation

Traveling

Moods and the Weather

Way of Life

Trendy Eating

And now I will get back to finishing my trip to Vietnam. Right after dinner...

My wisdom is gone.

2010-01-25T20:43:00.006+09:00

I've been lucky in several things throughout my life. One of them happens to be that I got my dad's teeth. While both of my sisters got to enjoy all the rights and privileges of braces (and yes, I'm referring to those cool little rubber bands that came with them), I was lucky enough to not only never need braces, but I also never seemed to get a cavity. So each time we went to the dentist, it was always the same thing: your teeth look great, you just need to clean them better (I still don't floss to this day. Sorry dad.).

So imagine my surprise when I went to the dentist at the end of my contract in Uijeongbu in May with a toothache and a possible cavity, only to find out that I had SEVEN cavities. I got them all filled for a bargain price by western standards, with a caution that one of my wisdom teeth in the back had a rather large cavity, and if it kept bothering me I'd need to have it pulled. The reason the first dentist didn't think they could pull it themselves was because the roots were very curved, and apparently that makes it harder to pull out.

My teeth have been bothering me again recently, so I looked up a dentist in my area that speaks English (thank you Google), and made an appointment during my lunch break today for this evening. After a relatively short consultation, we decided to pull out both the bottom and top wisdom teeth on the left side. The reason to pull both was simple - without the bottom tooth, the top tooth had nothing to grind against and was therefore useless.

He applied a local topical anesthetic, but it didn't seem to have any effect. Then he pulled out this rather daunting needle and started poking around in the back of my mouth with it.

After poking around a bit more, he said to wait three minutes and he'd be back. It took a while to be able to tell that anything was working but I knew something was up when part of my lips started to go numb. He then proceeded to extract my teeth.

I guess I always figured it was a relatively simple process, but from the sound and feel of it, it also requires a bit of elbow grease as well. I'm no dentist, and I certainly couldn't see what he was doing, but my impressions of what was going on were that he started by trying to grip the tooth with pliers. Once he'd loosened the tooth a bit, he used another tool to hook underneath the main part (where the roots are), and lever it up. I could feel what he was doing in my jaw and in my nose, so he must have been pulling pretty hard. He got the top one (the easy one) out in about 15 minutes. The bottom one took a bit longer, and he said he got it about halfway out but had to cut it in two pieces in order to remove it the rest of the way.

Up until this point, I'd been fine. Nothing had hurt, though the sensation of pressure in your teeth being transferred to your nasal cavity is quite ... different. It did start to hurt on the lower tooth, however, and he had to put that weird needle in again. I'd been fine mentally as well, but I did get a bit nervous when he said he was going to cut my tooth. When your lips and tongue are numb (and hence, you have no control over them), and someone has a tool in your mouth capable of cutting through hard enamel (and hence, also through soft tissue like lips and gums), it's not abnormal to be a little nervous.

Anyway, they both came out fine in the end, and I've been instructed to come back in a week to have the one stitch removed. I have medicine for the pain (which hasn't set in. yet), and gauze in case I need to change what I already have. I also have both of my teeth, to the slight befuddlement and amusement of the dentist. His response when I asked if I could keep them? "In that condition? Really?"

Oh yeah, and this was at the bargain price of about $15. :)

Halong Bay - Day 11 & 12

2010-01-18T19:36:00.020+09:00

(1/1/10-1/2/10)

I woke up at 6 am to make sure that no one else would be using the shower, since I was staying in a dorm and I knew several people were going on the same tour I was. I'd forgotten where I put my toiletries in my bag, and I was trying not to wake up anyone in the room, so I ended up having to take a shower without them.

Had my breakfast around 7 after I put my bigger bag into storage. I knew I'd be coming back to the same hostel since the tour I was going on was hosted by them. It was only an overnight trip, so I just had my smaller day pack with a change of clothes and the toiletries that I'd managed to find by the light of day. I checked my email, something I've realized I'm utterly addicted to, and waited until around 8:20 or so when we headed onto the bus, bright neon sombreros in hand (since the dock was crowded with foreigners we'd be able to find our group easily). It took us around 4 hours to get to the harbor. I was hoping by the time we got to the bay the weather would have cleared up a bit, but it was cloudy, overcast, and foggy. Not the best weather for sight-seeing, especially when half the view is reflected on the water.

So some people boarded a small boat to take us to the main ship, but it didn't fit everyone. Instead of the guide staying with the group on the shore, he went with the first group and didn't come back with the boat, either. It was a good thing we had our sombreros, otherwise I don't think the boat would have been able to find the rest of our group.

So we sat on top deck for a while once we'd boarded, where we were told lunch would be in 5 minutes. 20 minutes later we were told it was time to eat. Some people had itineraries that were given to them when they paid for the trip. I'm guessing I never got one because I paid online. It would have been useful, though, because I would have known to pack my long sleeve shirt and jacket. I was shivering just about the whole time on the boat.

After lunch we got assigned to our rooms, and were were told check out time was the next morning at 7:30am. Which seemed a bit strange to me since I was still going to be on board until at least after lunch the next day, and the people that were staying for three days (instead of the two that I'd booked) didn't leave much before lunch. My roommate's name was Sarah, and she seemed nice enough, especially since she offered to share the bottle of vodka that she'd snuck on board (of which I politely declined to partake).

At 3:30 the kayaks were brought to the boat and we followed the guide out to a cave. I didn't take my camera because I didn't think we'd be getting out of the boat, which was soaking wet, and it was sprinkling pretty hard when we boarded. Originally the guide told us to wear flip-flops and shorts because we'd be getting wet. I assumed this would be from the boats and just general being that close to water. I only brought one pair of jeans with me, which I just hoped would dry out by the next day. I was in a kayak with Sarah. I rowed in the back, partially because she'd never been in a canoe before, and partially because I'm a bit of a control freak and unless I know you, I want to be in charge of steering the boat.

We followed the guide as best we could to a cave, where we pulled the kayaks onto a rocky shore that was not at all conducive to flip-flops. I decided to just take my shoes off (I was wearing crocs) and carry them. Then the guide asked if anyone had brought a torch (or flashlight, for us Americans). He kept insisting that he had told us all to bring one, but everyone else insisted that he hadn't. I didn't have one to bring, so it wouldn't have mattered for me, but other people had them in their luggage. I think the next time I go traveling I'll bring one. There's been several times where one would have been helpful, especially during the winter when it gets dark so early.

So after trying to go into the cave and realizing that it was too dark, we headed back to the kayaks. I put my shoes back on about a minute too soon, and I slid on some rocks and cut my left elbow a bit.

So we headed out to where the guide said we could row through the mountains. Across from the cave was a real floating village, with peoples boats tied together. People were cooking on the boats, as well as sleeping. I really wish I'd had my camera at that point - the floating village was the coolest part of the bay. So then we paddled through a hold in the side of a rock into an enclosed lagoon of sorts. We just floated there for a while without the guide saying anything. After about 5 minutes he said we were still missing one boat. But we turned around and headed back to the main ship without waiting for them.

Turns out the two people on the missing boat had been following the wrong kayak group and had gotten lost. By the time we got back to the boat it was getting dark, and once I'd changed and taken pictures it was completely dark. And the two people in the boat were from two different countries, neither of whom spoke the same first language (though they both spoke English reasonably well enough). The lost boat had been asking people for help, but no one seemed interested in helping them. Finally a motorboat offered to bring them back to their boat, but once they got to our boat they wanted 500,000 dong (approx. $26) from each of them for picking them up. Diego refused to pay them on principal, and apparently the girl disappeared. Eventually one of the guys who worked for the hostel talked them down to 100,000 dong each (about $10 total), with the intention of getting his money back from the hostel once he docked.

I went to bed just after dinner that night. I was a bit tired from being up so early, and from the sounds of it, the rest of the night was a bunch of drinking (which wasn't free) and drinking games, so I wasn't that upset about missing it.

I got up at 6am the next day, but it was still cloudy so I couldn't see the sunrise. The people doing the 3-day trip got off the boat around 9:30, and the people that stayed on the island the night before (who had started their three day trip a day before we left) boarded the boat. Some of the guys decided to go swimming, but didn't last long as the water was pretty chilly.

I talked with some of the other people on the boat, walked around taking pictures, and headed to the galley at around 11 for lunch. It took us a few hours to get back to the mainland, and even though it was still overcast, you could at least see farther out than you could the day before.

We took the bus back the hostel, where I arranged for a taxi to take me to the airport that night. I took a shower and changed, and had dinner with one of the guys I had met on the boat. Shortly before I left I got my bag out of storage and checked my email once more. The flight back to Seoul was uneventful, and I got back to my own house around 7:30am on Sunday morning. Which gave me the whole day to upload, organize, and look through the 1054 pictures I took.

And that was the end of my first solo international trip. I enjoyed it so much that I'm planning another solo trip to Ukraine later this year (after which I'll join my friend and go to Prague and Germany). I have a new obsession. I'm no longer addicted to tattoos. I'm addicted to international travel.

Hanoi - Day 9 & 10

2010-01-17T19:21:00.008+09:00

(12/31/09-1/2/10)

The plane landed fine in Hanoi, though I could smell that someone had gotten sick two seats behind me just before landing. The driver from the hostel was 20 minutes late picking me up, but at least he showed up. It was a bit cooler in Hanoi at 17C instead of the 25-30C it had been in Saigon.

The traffic was crazy here as well, and I had been thinking about getting a motorbike in Hanoi, but I saw two people fall off their bikes in the space of 15 minutes and they didn't even get hit. The hostel is near a rather busy part of town, so I checked in and then headed out to explore. The buildings here are really strange. It seems like when they put up buildings, they know that another building will be put practically touching the old one, so the fronts are rather ornate and finished well, but the sides are often just plain concrete without even a layer of paint.

There are some interesting little side restaurants and shops on the street where my hostel is, one of the most interesting was the pho place on the corner that had chicken heads on display. They did make a tasty meal, though.

I got a ticket for the 3:30 water puppet show, shopped around a bit to find some things for Logan, and then found a cafe near the theater to get a cup of coffee. The cafe overlooked the lake, which made for interesting people watching. The coffee in Vietnam is similar to that in Cambodia - they use sweetened condensed milk, so there's never a reason to add more sugar. It's almost too sweet for my taste, but the condensed milk makes it thicker and creamier, which is a nice texture.

There were a lot of people in the plaza near the theater. It seemed that part of the reason was there was a flower exhibition of sorts, which was less than impressive, as well as a large sign announcing the 1000th anniversary of Hanoi in 283 days.

The water puppet performance was very interesting. I had assumed that it would be something similar to marionettes, but it was far from it. The puppets were on long wooden poles that were attached to the bottoms. The puppeteers were behind a curtain in the water, and moved the puppets all around the pool of water. There were several stories told with the puppets. I couldn't understand any of the words or songs, but there was a little guide that was provided in English that gave a synopsis of each section.

At the very end they lifted the curtain so you could see how the puppets were moved, and then the puppeteers took a bow. It was a very entertaining show, and well worth the ticket price.

After I left the theater, I decided to do a walking tour of Hanoi. I had read that Hanoi and Saigon were high crime areas, so I was especially on my guard. I made it a point to look at my guide book only when absolutely necessary, and when I did it was away from intersections and off the road so that most people wouldn't notice me. I memorize street names and directions so that I would have to look at it less often, and I didn't walk slowly but with purpose to make it seem like I knew exactly where I was going.

The tour started off fine, and I was seeing some interesting side streets, though the actual destinations were less than impressive. For example, this lovely yellow building was one of the temples on the tour.

I got near the gate at the north end of the city, and I started walking onto smaller and smaller side streets. I thought some guy was following me, but I wasn't sure. About a minute later I turned my head around and he was right behind me with his hand on the outside of my backpack, and the small pocket was open. My heart started pounding as I turned all the way around and asked him repeatedly what he was doing and why my bag was open. He tried to hid his hand, so I grabbed it to see if there was something in his fist that he had taken from my bag, but there was nothing, and I didn't see anything in his pockets. I knew nothing important was in my front pocket except my notebook journal. The only thing he said in English was "Not me", so I finally let him go, after warning him never to come near me again.

I was fine while I was talking to him, kept a level head and didn't freak out. But as soon as he walked off, I could feel the adrenaline so I made a beeline back to my hostel. I was quite annoyed at the people who had been on the street that I had seen in my peripheral vision who had quite obviously witnessed this guy attempt to steal from me, and had done absolutely nothing to stop him or to help me.

Once I got back to the hostel, I felt much better, but I decided I wasn't going to venture out on my own again. I hung around the hostel where people were starting to get ready for that night, which was New Year's Eve. We were told there was going to be a party on the roof of the hostel, and that in order to attend we had to wear a mask. The hostel provided supplies and we had to make our own mask. So I grabbed a drink and set about making a pretty cool mask out of paper and paint and rubber bands, which I still have hanging in my apartment.

The party was crowded but fun. Around 9pm we moved to another bar wearing bright sombreros, but that was crowded too, so when I heard a couple say they were heading back to the hostel, I asked if I could go with them (since I wasn't ABOUT to walk by myself at night). We had dinner at the chicken-head place, and then I headed upstairs to go to sleep. I knew it was New Year's Eve, but I'd celebrated enough, I was tired, and I had to be up early the next day for our tour of Halong Bay.

The Mekong Delta - Day 7 & 8

2010-01-17T18:55:00.015+09:00

(12/29/09-12/30/09)

I grabbed a bite to eat at a corner cafe before heading over to the travel agency, where I waited for a bus to pick me up. Instead of having everyone meet at the agency (which could be very hard to find if you weren't staying in the immediate vicinity), the bus made several stops at different hotels to pick people up. Because there were so many different options for the tour (bus ride, boat ride, 1 day, two days, three days, hotel, home stay, etc.), just about everyone on our bus had a different itinerary. Once we'd picked everyone up, it was a short drive to the Saigon river, where we boarded a boat that would take us into the Mekong Delta. It was a small boat, but definitely fast, as it only took us about 3 hours to get to the delta, and we overtook every boat heading south.

One of the first things I saw, just after I'd found a seat on the bus, was a guy rowing his boat with his feet.

I sat inside the boat for about an hour. I was sitting on the east side (which I couldn't tell at the time we boarded because it was overcast). Basically this meant that everything on my side of the boat was in shadow, while the other side of the river was lit up rather nicely with the morning sun (once the clouds had cleared a bit). There was a woman with a toddler who moved inside the boat, so I was able to go outside on the back for the remaining two or three hours of the ride. There were a few guys on the back, but for the most part they were silent. It wasn't until we passed a Buddhist temple (with the ubiquitous sideways swastika) that anyone said anything. One of the guys thought it was a Nazi building, at which point I piped in (nicely of course) that it was actually a Buddhist temple, and explained how you could tell the difference and that they were common in Asia and Indo-China. That conversation was an ice-breaker, and though we didn't talk much afterwards everyone did seem to relax.

We passed all kinds of scenery along the river, including the houses on stilts (en masse) that you see in pictures.

Something I noticed about Vietnam in comparison to Cambodia was the massive amount of garbage everywhere. It seemed like Cambodian people were so poor that they couldn't afford things that would create garbage, whereas (at least along the river) there were piles of garbage where people just dumped all their leftover refuse with no thought as to how close it was to their dwelling.

We stopped at the biggest island in the area - Unicorn Island. We were taken to a honey bee 'farm', where we stopped for a brief talk about bees, which was slightly inaccurate. I only knew this because my class had been studying bees in one of our classes for the past two weeks. I got to stick my finger into the honeycomb to try the freshest honey possible. Which, to be honest, tasted just like the stuff you buy at Publix. It was still nice, though. It was definitely one of those "Here, try our local products. Isn't it nice? Would you like to buy some?"

After the honey bee farm we walked to a coconut candy 'factory', where it was kind of the same thing. They showed us how they made the candy, let us taste some, and then we were left to our own devices for 20 minutes, during which time you could browse the stuff they had for sale. The touristy things were pretty interesting to look at.

Then we took a boat ride through some back canals, with about 3-4 people per boat.

I loved this part of the trip, as it was the quintessential Vietnam. I wish it had lasted a bit longer, as we were only in the boats for about 15 minutes.

We took the boats to Hai Ai and stopped at a local outdoor restaurant. There was a water buffalo tied up in the canal just before you entered the restaurant.

Lunch was pretty good, but not included in the price of the tour. I shared a fried elephant fish with one of the guys I had met on the boat. Thanks to my practice eating fish in Korea I was able to show them how to eat it (cut it down the top and split it in two, then use the tail and head to pull out the spinal column and most of the bones).

Afterward we had an hour of free time, where we could borrow bikes to ride around the local area. I was really excited about this, and grabbed the first bike I could and headed out. At first I thought that the rocky pathway and very thin tires were the reason I couldn't seem to ride well. I soon realized after about 5 minutes of fast peddling that the front wheel was bent (and wouldn't stay when I tried to bend it back), and the brakes didn't work. So I begrudgingly headed back to the restaurant with the bike in tow.

After eating, our group was split up. The people staying in a hotel were taken by bus to where they were staying, and the rest of us boarded a different boat that would take us to another island for our home stay.

The home stay was nice, but very touristy. I had pictures sitting with a family of six in a one room house on the river, using sign language to communicate and helping them cook and clean. It was more like a family-run outdoor-style hotel. My room barely fit my bed and didn't have a lock, and there was mosquito netting over the bed which came in useful. Before we ate, I spent about an hour wandering around the grounds before it got dark, and enjoying the peacefulness of being outdoors on the water.

The people running the place were very nice, and the dinner was enjoyable as well. I ate with a family from Germany who had come over to meet their father. He had been teaching German for several months at a local university and his daughter, wife, sister-in law and (I'm guessing) mother-in-law came to visit. They all spoke excellent English, though when talking to each other they spoke in German.

After dinner I found a hammock to lay in and write about my day. There were two other people there, and one of them started trying to talk to me, asking about my visa. Going through the English and Vietnamese writing on my visa became a two-hour English lesson, with various other people coming in and out of the area and the conversation. Tai Thung Phoc could read a little English, but could barely speak it, so some translating was done by a young boy who lived in the home stay. It turned out that Tai was a motorbike driver who was on a ten day trip driving some tourists around the delta.

I woke up at 6am the next morning to catch the sunrise over the delta, which was well worth it.

After the sun was up, I grabbed a shower (not realizing there were towels in my room I used my hand towel from traveling), and then laid in a hammock again until a breakfast of eggs and bread was served. We got a new tour guide, who seemed a bit better than the one I'd had the previous day, but it was possibly because she was a girl and I wasn't offset by her.

We took a boat to the floating marking, which was interesting, but not what I expected. The boats put a bamboo pole up with what they sell hanging from the pole so people can see it from a distance. It's a wholesale market, so the boats are bigger than the small canoes that I'd thought they'd be.

After the market, we went to see rice paper, rice candy, and coconut candy (again) being made. These were similar to the places we'd been to see the day before, with an explanation of how each item was made, a sample to try it, and then time to wander and purchase whatever you wanted.

Items for sale included anything from traditional rice paddy hats, paintings,

or snake wine. They put a dead snake (and sometimes other reptiles) into a wine mixture and allow it to ferment. It tastes more like a really hard vodka, and I don't even want to know whose idea it was to start with.

After the candy factories, we got back on the boat and just drove around through the delta. I sat in the back of the boat so that I could get pictures from either side.

We then stopped at a side canal, where we were taken in another paddle boat to where we would have lunch. The tide had gone down considerably since the night before, and the banks of the canals were really muddy. At one point, the girl rowing our boat actually got out to push the boat, because the water was shallow enough that it was easier than rowing. She was rather shocked when the guy in our boat took off his shoes and jumped in to help her.

We had lunch at another outdoor restaurant similar to the day before. This place also had bikes you could borrow, and this time I made sure to get one that was in perfect working order. You could ride wherever you wanted, and I took a bunch of back streets over the canals that we had passed by earlier in the day. There were tons of small houses, shops, and even a temple that was being built. I loved the freedom of riding through the little village at the speed and direction I wanted.

After my ride we were put on a bus back to Saigon. We stopped at a rest stop, where I met up with the Australian boys. I didn't get sick while in Cambodia or Vietnam. I'm guessing it's the same as whenever I go to another country - it takes about a week for my body to get used to the food. I don't know what happened, but two of the tree gues got violently ill the night we stayed in the delta. Nathan still looked worse for wear when I met up with them. Usually I ask for other people's facebook info, but this time I gave them my email. If they emailed me, I'd let them know how my trip to Halong Bay went, as they were planning to be there a few days after me. They never did get in touch, though.

When I got back to Saigon, I was moved into the main building of the hostel. I cleaned up, and laid down at 8 to take a nap after dinner. I must not have heard my alarm, because I woke up again at 2am, so I just went back to sleep. That way I knew I would wake up on time for my flight. I was out the front door of the hostel by 5:30, but the taxi didn't show till 5:40. I still made it to the airport by 6 because there was very little traffic (it took an hour to get from the airport to the hostel when I'd arrived), and there was no line to check in for the flight. Security was fast as well, but it took me about half an hour to find coffee once I'd gotten past security. We boarded on time, and I got a window seat on the west side of the plane, so I wouldn't have to worry about the sun in my eyes. I know for the future that if they offer me an exit row seat not to take the window one, because there's never actually a window there - only the exit door (though you do have more leg room).

Next up - Hanoi and Halong Bay.

Saigon - Day 5 & 6

2010-01-17T18:36:00.014+09:00

(12/27/09-12/28/09)

So I made it to my hostel just fine, as I had arranged for a driver pick me up from the airport. The drive was vaguely interesting, and I think the driver thought it was funny when I took my first picture of a sign on the side of the road. To bad I never got a chance to try ostrich.

I was put in a room across the street from the main hostel. I was surprised at first, but the buildings in the city are so ram-packed together, that it shouldn't be a surprise when you have to have multiple locations to support your clientele. The room was a bit more upscale than my last one - I had a tv in the room and internet outside the room that was supposedly turned off at 11pm. After I'd gotten changed and showered (I was still in the same clothes that I had been crawling over Cambodian temples in earlier that day), I went exploring. I took a brief look at my map, and then just went for a nice stroll around, heading in the general direction of Ben Thanh Market.

I found it after wandering for about half an hour, and proceeded to go shopping for my cousin. I can see how it would be a rather daunting place for a foreigner to go, but there are several markets like it in South Korea, so I wasn't as overwhelmed as I could have been. It was pretty crowded, and most of the stalls are so close to each other that you have to turn sideways just to walk in between the shops. I don't usually buy things when I travel, even for myself (my photos make the best souvenirs), so I don't really know how other 'travel shoppers' would feel about this place, but it seemed to have just about anything that a tourist could want, from traditional clothes, toys, pictures, knock off hand bags, and dried/fresh/pickled fruit. Not only that, but most of it was incredibly cheap; the traditional outfits I bought for Logan were less than $10 (compared with traditional Korean hanbok, which will set you back a few hundred).

After picking up a few things, I headed back to the hostel. The market closes at sundown, so it was dark when I headed back to the hostel. A side note about Saigon, the traffic here is unbelievable. Just about everyone is on scooters or motorbikes, though there is a fair amount of car and bus traffic, too. In some places there are separate lanes just for the motos. The only law that seems to be enforced is the helmet law, and it's only for people over the age of 3 (and yes, I saw toddlers on motos with no helmet). The trick to crossing any street is to wait until it seems like there will be a break (however slight) in the oncoming traffic. Then you walk across, at a slow and steady pace. The motos will not stop for you, they will simply calculate your path and swerve around you. If you try to run across, you will almost certainly be hit. If you wait until there are no oncoming bikes, you'll be rooted to the same spot for a month. (Mom- if you ever visit Saigon, be prepared never to leave a 1 block radius).

I'd gotten an email the day before from the tour group about picking me up on the morning of the 27th to go for the Mekong Delta trip. The problem was, of course, that I was still in Cambodia on the morning of the 27th, and I had booked the trip to begin on the 29th. I sent them a reply email from Cambodia, but I wanted to check with them and see if I could go a day early on the boat tour, since I had seen a bit of Saigon and was anxious to get out of the city. I tried to contact the tour company through the hostel, but things were getting lost in translation, and it took a while to even figure out that I was talking to the head office of the hotel, and not the tour group. It turned out that the tour company's office was right around the corner, so I went in person. I talked to the owner (I think), and got everything confirmed and paid for for the original date. (I struck up a conversation with her because she was wearing a University of Florida shirt, and I was intensely curious if she had any idea what it meant.) I thought about going out for a drink and trying to meet some people, but I was really tired, so I decided to save my energy for a proper self-guided walking tour of the city the next day.

I had breakfast at the hotel around 8 and headed out. I used the Lonely Planet walking tour as a starting point, and set about wandering through the city. The city's pretty big, and much more than a normal person could walk in a day. I started out at the Ho Chi Minh museum, which was vaguely interesting.

The displays seemed a bit old and static, but still had some cultural points. Probably the most interesting thing I saw wasn't even in the museum. I was standing on the balcony overlooking the street below, trying to get a picture of the Vietnamese flag that was flying from the railing (I was waiting for the wind to pick it up a bit, but it wasn't cooperating at first).

As I was waiting, I heard a screeching sound, followed by a metallic thump. I looked down to see a guy picking up his moto from the street, as other riders simply drove around him. I'm not sure if he just fell off his bike, or if he hit something (or something hit him), but it further solidified my resolve NOT to ride a bike in Saigon. I'd enjoyed my motorbike trip in Cambodia, I didn't want to ruin it with an accident (And I know one person personally who had a motorbike accident, and another through a friend who's been permanently brain damaged as a result, both in Vietnam).

After that museum, I tried to walk toward the War Remnants Museum, but ended up at the Reunification Palace first. In this general area of the city, there are old propaganda posters on just about every corner.

The Palace was nice, but the best part was the fresh coconut I had afterwards. They pull it out of the fridge, cut off the top, stick in a straw, and hand it to you. Yum!

After enjoying the coconut, I headed to the War Remnants Museum. Interesting place, but definitely a slant on the 'truth'.

Some of the pictures were horrifying, others were just sad. There was even a section outside that was set up to look like one of the tiger cage prisons.

I figured three museums was enough for one morning, so I just started meandering back towards my hostel. I stopped at an outdoor market, but it was too similar to a Korean one (i.e. a market I would never buy something from). Had some Pho Bo for lunch, and made my way back to the Ben Thanh market. I tried asking a moto driver about going to one of the remote pagodas, but the initial price was about $10 an hour, which after Cambodia ($15 from dawn till after dusk), seemed exorbitant. They tried to negotiate with me, and offered me less than half that, but I decided it wasn't worth the risk on one of those motos.

Most of the cafes and restaurants have tables facing the street, which makes for perfect people watching. For every car I saw, there were about 100 motos, 3 walking vendors (selling sunglasses, photocopied novels and travel books with realistic bindings, lighters, and even chicken heads), 5 foreigners, 10 locals, and half a cyclo (a bike with a seat on the back - there weren't many of these).

I sat at a cafe for a few hours just people watching, and then headed to a nearby park, where it seemed they were having some sort of cultural festival. There were little stages set up, with sets meant to look like different parts of the world. On each stage were performers that each did their own country's style of performance, though it got annoying when stages opposite each other were performing at the same time - at top volume.

The park was rather big, with a large pond that had boats on it that seemed to be part of a performance. I was fascinated by the bats that were flying around the pond more than anything else.

After wandering around the festival for a few hours, I headed home to get some sleep so I'd be ready for my trip to the Mekong Delta the next day.

Cambodia - Day 3 & 4

2010-01-08T20:33:00.012+09:00

(12/26-12/27/09)

The next morning was a little later, I got to sleep in until 5am. Kim got me on the motor bike to the entrance to Angkor around 5:20 while it was still pitch black - sunrise wasn't until 6:15 or so. I didn't bring a flashlight with me on the trip, so I just tried to stay close to the one or two people that had as we walked from the outer wall, over a small river, and down the stone pathway to sit in front of the large pool on the left side of the temple. There were several people there, offering chairs and hot coffee or chocolate, in exchange for a dollar. I took the chair and a coffee, but mostly because I couldn't see my hand in front of my face, and appreciated someone showing me where to sit and wait. I could hear as people were seated beside me, but couldn't see them for about half an hour.

The stars were amazing, though no one was able to capture them, no matter how expensive their camera looked. It started to get lighter around six, and people spent the next hour taking pictures at as many possible angles, light exposures, and shutter speeds as they could. After taking one or two shots, though, I preferred to just sit, watch, and listen. There was a German couple sitting on my right, and a couple from Newcastle on my left.

After watching the sunrise for about an hour, I went to the nearest 'restaurant' to get some breakfast, which was little more than some wooden tables under an awning. It was good, but slightly dissapointing. I had ordered banana pancakes. The pancakes were good and fluffy, but they'd just been put over a plate of bananas. Oh well, they were only $2.

As I was eating, I was keeping an eye on the temple, as the sun hadn't actually made an appearance yet. Most people had left, but there were still several people waiting around for the final moments. Their wait was well rewarded when the sun finally did peek over the edge of the temple, and I took one of my favorite pictures:

I had missed out on taking an elephant ride the day before, so I was determined to make it there on time. We got to the starting point, but we were about 45 minutes early. So Kim took me to the Terrace of the Elephants, where I wandered around for about half an hour. I met a girl there who was just waiting for tourists. She first asked if I wanted to take her picture. Usually when I took their pictures, the kids were eager to see what they looked like in the screen - she didn't seem to really care.

She then lead me down some steep steps to the five-headed horse, which is a famous carving at the Terrace. As I began to walk away, she told me she was an orphan, and asked for money so she could go to school. I don't like giving money to the kids, as it encourages them to beg, but I had a few Khmer bills in my pocket that I didn't want (that were only worth about 50 cents), so I offered them to her. She seemed to get angry, shook her head, and asked for dollars. I had dollars in my wallet, but I wasn't about to give them to her. I told her that she could take the Khmer bills if she wanted, but it was that or nothing as I started walking away. She said something in Khmer and scowled at me, which I'm pretty sure was something lovely and nice, and as I had almost dissappeared down the stairs she grabbed the bills from my hand.

After that, I headed back to meet Kim so he could take me to the elephant ride place. On the way there, we saw three elephants that had already left.

The ride was only about 15 minutes, but it was pleasant and quiet, a nice break from the loudness of the tuk-tuk and motorbike.

Kim met me at Bayon, and from there we headed out to Beng Melea, which was the best part of my trip. Beng Melea is about a 90 minute ride out of Siem Reap by motorbike. The countryside on the way out there was the most beautiful thing I've ever seen. Unfortunately I couldn't really take pictures because I was clinging onto Kim to keep steady, and we were going fast enough that any pictures I would have wanted to take would have been blurry. If you ever go to Cambodia I HIGHLY recommend taking a trip out into the country. Even if you're not going anywhere in particular, the trip itself is worth it.

Anyway, we got to Beng Melea way too soon, and a girl showed me the entrance, and then proceeded to show me through the ruins. We got back to the beginning, and I told her I wanted to sit down and write for a while and that she could go back to where she'd been. She just sat next to me and waited - apparently I'd highly overestimated her English skills. I had wanted to go back through the temple and explore on my own, but eventually she said something to me about a "$2 guide", and I realized I'd been had. Unfortunately (or fortunately as the case may be), the smallest bill I had was a 10. I tried to make her understand that I was going to go get something to eat and get change and come back.

Well, I did leave to go get something to eat. I was looking at the little shops across from the entrance to the temple, when I was asked by a woman if I wanted to buy notebooks and pencils for the kids who needed them for school. I told her I didn't have any small bills, and she told me she had change. So after a short conversation, I'd talked her down to $3 (which even so was pretty expensive, all things considered), and bought a packet of notebooks and pencils. She yelled something in Khmer, and within about 30 seconds, I was surrounded by about 15 young kids all clamoring to get something from me. They were genuinely happy, and I can honestly say I've never seen a child get so excited about pencils before. I'd seen the school that the kids went to - it was about 6 miles away from where they lived, and they all walked there every day. I wish I could have gotten a picture of them, but it was rather sudden how quickly they arrived, and then went off to play with their new things.

After that, Kim drove me all the way back to the Roluous Group, which is about 13km east of Siem Reap. I didn't think to take pictures on the way back until we were passed by one of the strangest sights ever:

It wasn't moving at all, merely bouncing slightly with the movement of the bike. My first thought was "That poor pig. I wonder how they killed it." And then I realized it was blinking. It was alive! My next thought was "That poor pig!! I wonder what he's thinking strapped upside-down like that!".

We went to all the temples in the Rolous Group, including Lolie Temple which was built in the late 9th century.

There was a small school there, where the monk in the picture approached me and started talking to me. He showed me his school, which was little more than the space underneath the hut with some benches and a cracked whiteboard. He told me quite a bit, and though he never outright asked for money, I could tell he was trying to get me to offer to donate something.

On the way out to Beng Melea we'd had to stop at the side of the road at a stand that lookd like they were selling really old water in used bottles. Turns out this is a gas station, and it's perfectly normal to buy gas from a place like this to put in your motorbike.

We got back to Siem Reap around 2:30. I cleaned up from the bike ride and laid down for a short nap, and of course woke up 3 hours later still tired, sore, and sunburned. I had dinner at the guesthouse, and then Kim took me to the market area. He asked if I wanted him to join me, which I said yes to. He said he wasn't feeling well, and declined, so I asked him to come back for me in about 2 hours. I spent about 45 minutes wandering through the city. It was really touristy, and not that interesting. I bought a wallet, which I'd been needing (the one I bought in Korea after I lost my other one just barely fits Korean won, and was too small for dollars). Then I found a cool bar called Angkor What?, where I had two beers at 75 cents a pop (expensive, when compared to 50 cents at the bar next door), and met the owner and a guy from Ireland who came to Cambodia for the weekend and has now been there five months. They also donate 5% of their profits to the local children's hospital. I pulled myself out of the bar at 9 when Kim came to pick me up, and I headed back to the guesthouse. My plane flew out early afternoon the next day, so I packed everything that night.

I checked out of Earthwalkers at 6:30 and had breakfast. Kim took me and my bags to a few more temples, the second of which was Ta Prohm. This could easily have been my favorite temple, if it hadn't been so hugely overcrowded. The pictures I took are deceptively empty of people - I was waiting up to 10 minutes to take some shots because people were walking by, and there were even lines in several places to take some pictures.

I did manage to find a few spots that weren't as crowded, and even some that were completely deserted.

The place is a maze, and when I thought I'd made it out the other side (where Kim was supposed to pick me up), I realized I had come out the same entrance I came in. So I braved the crowds one more time and made it back through.

I went to one more temple, and then we had to leave for the airport. I made it there in plenty of time, but they didn't start checking people in until about an hour before the plane boarded. The flight itself was a half hour late, but I somehow managed to be the first one on the plane, which was nice. We landed in Saigon about an hour late, and this time the person that was supposed to pick me up actually showed.

Coming up next - Saigon and the Mekong Delta. Stay tuned for more.

Cambodia - Day 1 & 2

2010-01-03T08:39:00.032+09:00

Even though I was only gone nine days, I did so much that I'm going to have to break the trip down into the cities that I went to. Otherwise I'll be writing for hours with no end in sight.

(12/24-12/25/09)

I started out in Cambodia, even though my first airport stop was in Hanoi. I got off the plane in Siem Reap, and for the first time I actually got to walk on the tarmac. Siem Reap is a very small airport, and rather primitive in comparison to other international airports. My visa information was written in by hand, and to enter the country I didn't have to go through any metal detectors, customs, or immigration - I just had to pay for my visa.

When I left Seoul, the temperature was about -6C/21F, but not snowing. When I got to Siem Reap, the temperature was around 30C/85F, which was a welcome change. The guesthouse where I was staying was supposed to pick me up, but I didn't see a sign anywhere with my name on it. I asked at the counter, but there was no public phone I could use to call them, and my cell phone didn't get reception there. So I sat down to wait and see if they showed up. I started chatting to an older guy from Denmark named Henny while I was waiting, and we ended up sharing a cab to the guesthouse because my pickup never showed.

The guesthouse wasn't that far from the airport, maybe a 7 minute ride by car. I checked in, making a point of saying that no one had ever arrived to pick me up - not sure if I ever got an apology for that. The room was nice but plain, with only a fan instead of air-conditioning (as I didn't really feel like paying extra for it when I originally booked the room). I'd also severely underestimated how HOT Siem Reap would be (I was, after all, sitting in snow when I booked it). The people running the guest house are very nice, and the woman who owns the place has the cutest daughter I've ever seen. She's learning three languages: Thai, Khmer, and English.

Because it had gotten dark and I didn't really know the area that well, I decided to stay in for Christmas Eve night. That way I'd be able to wake up in the morning at 4:00 to get to the temples for sunrise. I paid the front desk for a tuk-tuk driver the next day to take me at dawn to a hot air balloon, and then take me on the 'grand circuit' of the temples. I spoke to a driver later that evening who was hanging around outside the guesthouse. He seemed nice, and asked if he could drive me around the next day. I told him I'd paid for one through the guesthouse, but he could talk to them and see.

The next morning the same driver knocked on my door at 4:30am to take me to the temples. First stop was the hot air balloon. As nice as it was, I had hoped we'd be up in the air as the sky got brighter, not just when the sun came over the horizon. I'd been getting antsy because it had gone from pitch black to rather bright before they let us up in the balloon. While I was waiting, though, I got a chance to talk to my driver. His name is Kim Sour (pronounced Kimsoor), and he was very interesting to talk to. He had lived in Siem Reap all his life, and learned how to speak English over the last five years from talking to tourists. Considering he hadn't really taken any lessons, he spoke very well and even knew some slang ("If you're knackered, you can go back to your room").

I was up in the balloon for about 15 minutes, and then after breakfast we headed to the 'great circuit'. At this meal was where I met my first 'Angkor child'. These children are everywhere. They are small, thin, and adorable. They aren't in the least bit shy, and have no qualms about asking you to buy 10 postcards for a dollar, Khmer scarves, some photocopied travel books, or even handmade paper ornaments. If you politely tell them you're not interested, they'll try to bargain you down to a lower selling price. And they are persistent. The heartbreaking thing is these kids do this all day, every day. It's how they survive. If you're still not interested, they'll try to strike up a conversation with you, like asking you where you're from. When you say the country, they will promptly name the capital, and then ask you again to buy their item.

There are two different routes people generally take to explore the temples. The small circuit is more popular, as it includes Angkor Wat, Bayon, and the temples closer to the entrance of the Angkor Archaeological Park. I wanted to go on the big one because I thought it would be less crowded because the temples were further out (and I also thought it started at Angkor Wat - I was wrong).

We started at Preah Khan -meaning 'sacred sword', which was a Buddhist temple built around the 12th century.

I probably spent the most time at this temple because I was simply awestruck at what I was seeing. It took me almost a half an hour just to get through the front gate. Unlike in the west, where banisters, handrails, and no entry signs would be situated everywhere, you are allowed to climb or explore anywhere you like. The only exception is areas of the temples which are under reconstruction, or which are too unstable and might fall in on top of you. There is nothing that can describe, in pictures or in words, what it's like to be in this part of the world. The sounds of birds in the trees, animals in the underbrush, and occasionally someone playing traditional Khmer music near the temples. The smell of algae in the water, incense burning at shrines in the temple, and morning mist evaporating from the leaves of plants. The feel of the jungle heat, the slight breeze, and the exhilaration of clamoring your own way over stone ruins that are thousands of years old can only be experienced, not described.

After Preah Khan I went to Neak Pean, which is another 12th century Buddhist temple. It's a small island temple that's in the center of 8 pools of water. There's a horse at the entrance to the main temple that's saving some drowning sailors. There was an older French couple walking around near me. I almost asked them to take my picture, but I couldn't quite pluck up the courage to ask, in French or in English.

I spent most of the rest of the day being driven to various temples around the park. I was clamoring over piles of rubble, through broken stone windows, scaling steep and narrow stairs, getting sunburned, and just in general have an exploratory grand ole time.

I had finished the grand circuit before noon, so I went to a few on the small circuit. I had wanted to do an elephant ride after lunch, but they only do them in the morning. It would have been nice to say that I rode an elephant for Christmas, but I was willing to wait a day. I was seated along at lunch, and then the restaurant seated another lone traveler at my table. I didn't mind at all, and after chatting for a bit about what we'd seen and were going to see, we exchanged facebook info and I headed out.

By this time I was getting a little tired, and more than a little sunburned. I decided to do one more temple, and then head back to the guesthouse, so I went to Bayon. It was amazing - I could spend days exploring that one temple. While we were pulling up to the temple, I heard a loud sound that I thought was coming from the tuk-tuk, but it sounded like the whining of construction machinery. Kim Sour said it was cicadas. If it was, they were louder than anything I'd ever heard before, including the ones I'd heard in Mokpo at the White Louts Festival.

I heard several languages while wandering around the temples. Most of them I recognized, including Japanese, Chinese, Korean, French, German, English, Spanish, and Italian. Some I had no clue. I did hear some people talking about the tuk-tuk drivers and they way they swerve around all the time like they're drunk. I wanted to pipe in that the reason they do that is to avoid the massive potholes and bumps in the dirt road that would make for a highly uncomfortable ride, but decided against it.

I'm so glad my friend Kathryn suggested I bring a face mask. In Korea, I only use them to keep my face warm, though the Korean use them to protect themselves from getting/spreading diseases as well. The roads in Cambodia are dusty, and things kept flying into my eyes. They're constantly sweeping or raking the leaves in the park so that only the dirt shows. I bet if they didn't it wouldn't be as dusty, but I'm sure there's a reason why they do.

After Bayon, my battery (the second one!) was dying, and I was getting more burned, so I asked Kim Sour to take me somewhere I could get sunscreen. We stopped at a gas station, where I got soap, sunscreen, and two 2-liter bottles of water ($2 inside the temple, 60 cents outside). They only had 12SPF left, so I made a mental note to apply it liberally and constantly the next day.

I went back to the guesthouse and tried to plug in my camera battery to charge it, but the power in my room was off. I asked at the desk, and they said all the power had been turned off because they were fixing the air-conditioning. They must have meant the air for some of the guest rooms, because the main area was pretty much an outdoor room with a roof and three walls. So I started reading a book on Angkor, but fell fast asleep in the lobby for about 90 minutes. When I woke up the power was back on, so I plugged in my battery and got cleaned up.

Then I decided to go through my pictures and delete any extra or blurry pictures. I'd taken over 600 pictures in one day! I hadn't realized the settings for my camera were set at the max resolution, which must have been why my first memory card didn't even last me a day. I'm so glad I brought a second one, and that I'd put the bigger one as the back-up. Otherwise I would have had to delete pictures from my first day in order to make room for the other 8.

Kim Sour was supposed to pick me up around 6:30, but I was ready to go by 6. I talked to "The Old Man" as Kim calls him (the tour-guide/receptionist) about tomorrow. I decided to take a motorbike on my second day instead of a tuk-tuk. It's not as comfortable, but it's much faster, and since I was going out of the city it was the logical choice.

So I went to a restaurant where they serve western, Asian, and Khmer food, and have an Apsara dancing performance afterwards. I had an ice milk coffee with my dinner. They use sweetened condensed milk instead of regular milk. I didn't know that when I had coffee with my dinner in the morning, but I learned rather quickly not to add any extra sugar to my coffee.

The dinner was decent, and the dancing was facinating. It told a story, but with much slower and stranger movements than I'd ever seen. At first glance it looks rather easy, but on closer examination, the extended positions that they keep their hands and feet in, and the slow steady movement they use, is probably much harder than it seems.

Kim picked me up from the dancing around 8:30. When I mentioned beer, his face lit up, and he said "OK" and hoped on the tuk-tuk. He took me to a bar on a small side street with all Cambodians, no Westerners. The 'snow beer' was 50 cents a glass, and though the musive was loud, we had a great conversation. He told me more baout his schooling, old folk tales, his version of history of the Khmer Rouge, and How to say my name in Cambodian (Kolab or Kolap means Rose). He wants to be a tour guide, but it's $3000 to get a license, $2000 if you have a high school diploma. He finished 7 of the 12 years of public school, so he'd have 5 more years to pass in order to graduate. He speaks English well, but he says he can't read or write well. After a few beers, we headed home, because the next morning was sunrise at Angkor!

Here we go!

2009-12-23T20:36:00.004+09:00

I was talking to my parents on the morning of the 22nd, two days before I was scheduled to leave for Cambodia. I was eager to share everything about my trip, and was reading the information listed on the visa . "Entry is 24/Dec/2009, and exit is 24/Jan/2009, single entry with my passport number."

My mom interrupted me with "Wait, what? What do you mean January twenty-fourth, two-thousand NINE?"

Apparently embassies can make mistakes as well as the rest of us when it comes to changing the year when we end the old one. I figured it wouldn't be a big deal, but at the behest of my mother, emailed my travel agent as soon as I got a chance. Within an hour of the first e-mail, I had not only sent a scan of the page, but a "Quick Service" courrier had come to the school to pick up my passport, which I reluctantly handed over. Several emails throughout the day assured me that they would fix it with the embassy, and I would have my passport back in my hot little hands by the time I left work on Wednesday, my last day of work before I left.

Later that afternoon, after the students left and much to my surprise, I received my passport back from another delivery man. I eagerly opened the envelope, flipped to the visa page, and promptly broke out in hysterics at their remedy to the situation: scratch it out and write the correct date in black pen.

I thought at first that it was quite a fuss (and expense on the part of the travel agent) for something that I could have easily fixed myself. My co-teacher had to point out to me that they had stamped over the date, probably as proof that I hadn't done exactly that. I had to go back and check the original photo to make sure, but yes, a pen and a stamp was all it took.

So now, after a lovely Christmas chat with my parents in which we virtually exchanged gifts, I will finish cleaning my apartment. I love coming back to a clean home after a vacation, but I have more pressing reasons to make sure my place is clean this time. A friend of mine's family is coming in tomorrow to Korea to visit her, and then a few days after Christmas they're all going together to Japan. Her place is much smaller than mine. Her family has a place to stay after Christmas Day, but nowhere for Christmas Eve. I don't have much room, but I'm glad to offer a bed and a shower to them, but it of course means that my place needs to be spic n' span before I leave.

I'm all packed and really excited. I don't know how well I'll sleep tonight, but seeing as how I need to wake up at 5am, I'm thinking that I need to at least try to go to bed at a decent hour.

I'm, like, totally cultured.

2009-12-20T23:52:00.009+09:00

I'm on several mailing lists for events in Korea, as well as facebook groups and other ways of keeping up with what's going on. In general, I will either delete the messages I'm sent or barely skim them if something looks vaguely interesting. In one of these emails, I happened to notice that the Seoul Arts Center was putting on not one, but two ballets for the Christmas season - Swan Lake and The Nutcracker. I took several years of ballet as a child, but I'd never actually been to see a real ballet before (and by real, I mean a ballet company performing, and not my school or another children's school). So I called up Kathryn to see if she wanted to go to one with me. We settled on the Sunday matinee of Swan Lake on a Sunday, which was amazing to watch.

I did get a little confused about the story line - it'd been a while since I'd been exposed to the story, and all I really remembered was Odette was a swan who had to be on a lake when the moon was out in order to turn back into a person.

Then I got a message from another friend, who had wanted to go to see The Nutcracker. My parents had a VHS copy of Baryshnikov dancing in The Nutcracker ballet that I practically wore out as a kid, so I knew that story quite well. The ballet they performed in Seoul was remarkably similar to the Baryshnikov one, with the exception of another pair of dolls danced with each other, while in the original it had been Clara and the Prince doing their goodbye dance. There was even a growing tree as the backdrop, and the Asian dancers were made up to look English from a distance.

.

They were both lovely performances, and I felt quite cultured (and lucky) that I got to see both

It's countdown time (again)

2009-12-16T19:28:00.006+09:00

We finally had our musical performance at school today. The morning was spent doing last minute practicing, and the afternoon performing and then relaxing by letting the kids watch Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (the great old claymation one).

Sapphire girls

Sapphire boys

Not only do I now NOT need to worry about if my kids have memorized their scripts, dance moves, and staging, and get back to actual teaching, but today also marks my standard countdown time (I don't like to do countdown unless it's a week or less) until I leave for my Vietnam/Cambodia travels.

So here's the rough itinerary I've been building for myself for the past few months:

12/23 - Skype my parents and have our Christmas exchange online.
12/24 - Board a plane at 10:30am. Fly to Hanoi, and transfer to another flight to get to Siem Reap in Cambodia around 5pm. Get picked up at the airport for free by Earthwalkers and taken to the guesthouse.
12/25 - (Christmas Day) Take a tuk-tuk to Angor Wat before dawn so I can see the sunrise over the temple,

take a ride on an elephant around the ruins,

and get a bird's eye view of the temples from either a hot-air balloon or helicopter

12/26 - Either take a trip to the floating villages of Siem Reap or take a dirt bike tour of 'hidden Cambodia'
12/27 - Take a last look around my guesthouse, and then catch a flight at 2pm to Ho Chi Minh City (aka Saigon), where I'll arrive around 3pm
12/27 - Arrive in Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) and get settled in the hotel.
12/28 - Do a walking tour on my own of Ho Chi Minh City
12/29- Take a boat from HCMC to several islands, including Dragon, Phoeniz, Turtle, and Unicorn Islands. Take a row boat trip around Unicorn Island and bike through one of the villages.

Take another boat to Ben Tre province and attend a handmade coconut candy workshop. Take a boat through the canals to Vinh Long and bike to a home-stay with a Vietnamese family, where I'll have dinner with them and stay overnight.
12/30 - Go to the Cai Be floating market in the morning

and then take a boat ride to get get to a local orchard. Take a bike ride through the village, then stop back in Vinh Long where I'll take a bus to a Bonsai garden in My Tho, and then back to HCMC.
12/31 - Fly from HCMC at 8am to Hanoi, where I'll be picked up at the airport by my hostel. Do a walking tour of Hanoi and the Old Quarter, buy some souvenirs, and ring in the new year with other travelers and then get some sleep
1/1/10 - Take a boat tour of Halong Bay.
Spend the night on the bay and watch the sunset and sunrise
1/2 - Explore more of Halong Bay, any last minute things in Hanoi, and then head back to the airport for a midnight red-eye back to Seoul
1/3 - Arrive back in Seoul at 5:30am, get a bus back home, catch up on some sleep, upload my pictures and call my parents to tell them about the amazing trip I just had.

(most pictures found via google search or through the hostel websites)

Checklist

2009-12-14T22:33:00.002+09:00

Things I wanted to get done today:

fix the problem of an overseas address with my IRA
get lodgings for at least one city booked for my Christmas trip
type up the minutes from the ATEK meeting I ran yesterday and post them online
research more about what there is to see in Siem Reap
hang up my laundry to dry
buy some more "stuff" for my kids' auction on Friday
get at least something done on my TEFL

Things I actually got done today

fixed the problem of an overseas address with my IRA - with a 27 minute phone call to add (get this!) ONE DIGIT onto my zip code.
booked lodgings for three nights in Cambodia with Earthwalkers, an environmentally friendly guesthouse in Siem Reap that offers lodgings and tours. I'll be on the back of an elephant in the jungles of Cambodia on Christmas Day!!!!!
typed and posted the minutes from the ATEK meeting. It wasn't a complete bust, but seeing as how I STILL don't really know what my volunteer job entails with the organization, I thought it was nice that I even had a meeting.
Researched more about what there is to see in Siem Reap, and my three days is sooooo not enough! I can do off-road dirt bike tours of 'hidden Cambodia', hot air balloon rides over Angor Wat, and take a tuk-tuk around the literally hundreds of temples, ALL TOGETHER for less than $100!
Hung up my laundry to dry.
Updated my Bank of America account so that my IRA and student loan are both linked to my account. This way I can see my net worth slowly raising itself from the massive negative number that it's currently sitting at (half of my last payment actually went towards the principal instead of the interest!!)
watched the next episode of Kung Fu - I'm about halfway through season 2

Adventures in Hangul

2009-12-05T13:51:00.010+09:00

Since making the conscious decision to stay in Korea until my loans are paid off, I decided it would be in my best interest to learn Korean. I'm able to get by in normal situations that a foreigner would find themselves in, such as a restaurant, a taxi, asking directions, or other such things. But I can't carry on even a simple conversation in a social situation with someone about the weather, movies, interests, family, or anything else for that matter. And since my circle of friends is slowly growing to include non-foreigners, I decided that I need to take an actual class that involves tests, homework, quizzes, and tuition. I have taken two "classes" already, but because of the level of informality, they both fell to the wayside.

You would think that Koreans would be rather gung-ho about foreigners learning their language. If you think this, you would be surprised at how difficult it is to find Korean lessons for foreigners. You would also be surprised at how many Koreans have looked at me in wonderment and asked why I wanted to learn Korean, since English is so widely spoken here.

Regardless, I was determined to take lessons. I asked around, searched on the internet, and made inquiries wherever I could. I took a level test at City Hall a few months ago, only to find out that the single beginner's class was offered from 4-6 pm on Wednesday afternoons. Not the most ideal time, seeing as how I teach until 3:30 every day and I can't leave work until 5:30. I suppose that's what comes from offering free classes.

Then I found out in September that the company I work for, YBM, offers 50% discounts to any employees. So of course I jumped on that chance. However, after much fuss and discussion with the office staff, I came to discover that the 50% discount is only valid after you've worked for YBM for three months. So I sat on my hands in anticipation of November 1st, when I could start. At least, I thought so. According to the head honchos, because my contract says I started August 3rd (the first Monday of August this year, and therefore the first working day of the month), I wouldn't have worked a full three months until November 3rd, which was too late. So, I resigned myself to wait another month. While waiting, I somehow managed to excite Chris, one of my co-workers, into wanting to take lessons as well.

The registration deadline is the 20th of the month before classes start, and I had been asking Miss Mia (the now vice-principal), if I had been signed up for the classes at least once a week since the beginning of November. She kept assuring me that she had told Aaron, the office manager, several times so she was sure I had been registered. I wasn't so sure, and on the 20th I went in to talk to him myself, something I'd been avoiding because his English is only slightly better than my Korean. Of course I hadn't been registered, and so we spent the next 20 minutes or so making sure that he signed Chris and I up for the classes that we wanted (MWF 6-7:50). I went back a few days later to check on the first day of classes, since the first of the month fell on a Tuesday I wasn't sure if the first class would be Monday or Wednesday. Aaron called the school, and confirmed that classes did indeed start on Wednesday the 2nd.

So, Wednesday, December 2nd finally arrived. I was incredibly excited. I had gone the day before, like the dutiful student I am, to find the correct building and make sure I knew where I was going so I wouldn't be late for the first class. (And yes, I did that every semester in college as well. Who wants to be late for the first class of the semester?? It does NOT give a good impression, and you never know what you're going to miss.) Chris and I even snuck out about 10 minutes early so we could try and catch a bus. We ended up taking a taxi after I realized that the only bus that went to the place we were going came every 14-19 minutes, and we only had a 30 minute window to get there.

So, wrapped in multiple layers against the winter chill, we arrived at the building and I confidently strode up to the second floor ahead of Chris, eagerly anticipating what I was sure was going to be an informative evening. I approached the desk, where a Korean woman was standing behind it helping another Korean who looked to be signing up for English classes, and stood ready to wait my turn. Once she had finished helping the Korean, she turned to help me, and our conversation went something like this:

"Yes, can I help you?" she said.

"Hi! We're signed up for a Korean class today that starts at 6 o'clock. This is our first time, so we're not sure where to go or what to do. We also haven't paid yet." I paused, indicating her cue to point me in the direction of my classroom, or look to a list and see how much I owed for my class.

"Oh. Uhhm, there's no classes today." Her brows furrowed a bit when she said this.

I was a bit thrown off by this response, but I continued in an upbeat note. "Oh, there must be some mistake. You see, we were told we had to sign up by the 20th in order to take classes. I work for YBM, and the guy from our office signed us up last month. We're taking the Monday Wednesday Friday class that starts at 6."

"No, there no classes today. The schedule changed, only Tuesday Thursday class." At this point she seemed to be a bit annoyed.

"Oh, well....um. I don't understand. We signed up for the Monday Wednesday Friday class. That's why we're here today."

"No, no class. It changed schedule. Class start yesterday. Look, only Tuesday Thursday schedule."

At this point she pulled out a schedule and pointed to the block for 6-7:50 pm that did indeed show Tuesday Thursday classes - right next to the Monday Wednesday Friday class. I attempted to point to the latter but to my dismay she pulled it away and tucked it under the counter as soon as I reached out a finger.

"But, there's a Monday Wednesday Friday class listed on there. I don't understand. I can't take a Tuesday Thursday class. That's why we signed up for Monday Wednesday Friday. Are you saying that there's no longer a class during that time, and the only night classes started yesterday?"

"Yes. Yesterday first class. The teachers ask the students what schedule they prefer, and sometimes they decide to change the schedule. Now only Tuesday Thursday." At this point she was starting to huff a little bit, and was definitely annoyed with us.

"But, this is supposed to be our first class. It's the beginner class. I don't understand how the professor could have asked the students if they wanted to change the schedule if we haven't started the class yet. And if they changed the schedule, why didn't they notify us?"

"No, no, no, no! I don't know! No class today! Only tomorrow." She was really getting annoyed with me now.

"Ok," I said, a smile still on my face, though decidedly less enthusiastically that it had been five minutes prior, "Forget about December, then. What about January? Will there be a Monday Wednesday Friday class in January that we can take?"

"I don't know! Schedule always changes! I don't know!"

At this point, two foreigners who were waiting behind us decided to put their two cents in. The girl waiting by the desk said "I've been waiting four months to take a class. Schedule changes happen all the time."

The guy standing off to the side added "Yeah, they change the schedule all the time, you just get used to it."

I didn't really respond to them, since I wasn't quite sure how to take that information. Especially since the fact that I was asking a receptionist to supply me with information that I thought would be readily available was apparently an offense to her good natured-ness and I had inadvertently insulted her by asking why the class I had signed up for had suddenly disappeared. So instead I turned back to the receptionist for one final attempt.

"Ok, so you're saying that I can't sign up for a class in January, because you don't know if there will be a class in January, and that the class I signed up for that was supposed to hold the first class tonight has been changed by the teacher because he asked the students and they preferred a Tuesday Thursday schedule, even though we haven't started the class yet?"

"No, no! No classes today!"

"Ok, thank you very much. Have a good night." And I left.

I ranted and raved a bit with Chris at dinner, and we both puzzed and puzzled till our puzzlers were sore, but couldn't figure out what had actually happened, or why they hadn't told us that the classes had been changed or canceled. I decided to go ask Aaron the next day.

I hunted Aaron down, and asked him to call the school and find out what had happened, since we hadn't been able to take the class. He called, and didn't seem to understand the problem because the school said there was a Monday Wednesday Friday class. At that point, I decided that Aaron was no longer a helpful avenue, and I needed to find a new route to obtain the information I was looking for.

After a conversation with the math teacher, Sarah K, about what had happened later that afternoon after school, she decided to call them for me. After a rather long conversation, of which I understood hardly any since it was conducted in Korean, I learned the following information:

There is a MWF class.
The MWF class had been canceled for December because of low registration - only two people had signed up.
There is no cancellation notification policy.
YBM teachers are not considered normal students.
Non-YBM students sign up for classes first, and if there are any spots left, they are then opened to YBM staff.
Therefore, if a class fills up, I can't register because other people come before me.
Also, if I am the only one to sign up for the class, they will cancel the class, but will not tell me that it's canceled.
It is up to the teacher to decide if they want to cancel the class based on the number of students registered. There is no minimum number.
I have to wait until the last day possible to register.
I then have to call a few days before the start of class to see if the class is scheduled to continue, or if it has been canceled.

So, I'm going to try again for January, and hope Chris and I aren't the only ones this time. Never give up, never surrender! I will learn Korean...

This just in...

2009-12-05T11:29:00.003+09:00

It's SNOWING!!!

It's the first snowfall of the season! At least, it's the first time that it's snowed in Korea this year in a place that I've been. And it's blowing around like crazy and starting to stick already. I'm utterly thrilled, and can't wait to get out and go to a palace or temple and take pictures!

Now back to our regularly scheduled programming.

*edit* - according to blogger, this is my 100th post.

cool.

Kim Jong Il/Un

2009-11-23T18:25:00.003+09:00

According to the Chosun Ilbo - one of the bigger South Korean newspapers, North Koreans are worried that Kim Jong Il's successor (Kim Jong Un) will be worse than his father. What worries me more is things like this picture:

Roughly translated, the banner says "Hail the sun of the 21st century, General Kim Jong Il".

*shiver*

Fall Foliage

2009-11-08T18:47:00.020+09:00

This Saturday was my friend Jess' birthday. She's a very adventurous and active person, so for her birthday she wanted to go down to Naejangsan to go hiking in the mountains and look at the fall leaves. This weekend was the peak weekend in Naejangsan, so it was rather busy and we were only able to get the slow train there and back because the fast train was booked. Half of the group went down there Friday night, and the rest of us followed on the first train out on Saturday morning. We made it to the train station around noon, and after a little debate on whether or not we should ask for directions, found the bus to the mountain and hopped on.

The bus was overly crowded with ajumas in hiking gear, younger couples in matching winter outfits, and Korean tourists, as well as our group of foreigners. We got to what seemed like the area we were supposed to get off at, and everyone got off the bus. The traffic was frustratingly slow, but it was still moving faster than you can walk. But because my Korean was the best out of the people there (and mine is severely limited at best), we got off as well when we should have just stayed on. So we ended up walking several kilometers to get to the area that we were supposed to stay.

We made it to a rather busy intersection full of hikers, tour buses, traffic cops, and some of the fittest people over 60 I've ever seen. After trying to have a phone conversation with the Korean man who owned the minbak we were staying in, we were picked up in a car and driven about two blocks to the place we had booked the week before.

Generally, minbak means a home stay. So you are essentially staying in someone's spare room in their home, and meals are often included. However in the case of Minbak Row in Naejangsan, the street of minbaks was simply a collection of supposedly low-cost, low luxury places to sleep at night. Our particular two rooms were supposed to sleep 15 people, but the 12 of us were in rather close quarters. When we first arrived, there was some confusion as to whether we were even in the right place, as there were no bags in the room and half our group had come in the night before. It turned out that they had stayed in town on Friday night and left their bags at the police station so they could go hiking in the morning. So we dropped our bags in the minbak and went off in search of lunch.

We got about 200 feet from the minbak before we ran into a restaurant. This turned out to be the closest place to get food, and probably one of the more expensive Korean restaurants I've been to. We did, however, get to see a whole pig on a spit right by our table.

After getting lunch, we decided to try and find the rest of our friends. They said they were heading back from one of the temples on the mountain, and we should just walk towards the main entrance of the park and hopefully we'd catch them in passing.

The walk was long and crowded, but we did manage to see lots of fall colors along the way, and beautiful scenery was captured by careful camera framing. :)

We didn't see the other members of our group so much as hear them. Jess is loud at the best of times, and we could hear her talking long before we saw the rest of our group. They had been waiting by a rather beautiful tree so we could get the whole group photographed together. Of course we couldn't get a Korean to take a picture for us, so Sean volunteered to take a group picture with everyone's camera.

After wishing Jess a happy birthday, the five of us that had come that afternoon headed up the mountain to see what we could find.

One person dropped out after we made it to a temple, so there were four of us that made it to the hermitage that was up some rather daunting stone stairs.

At the top at the hermitage was probably the ugliest Buddha statue I've ever seen. It's a shame, too, because it would have made a great picture. As it is, this picture just seems comical to me.

It was starting to get on towards early evening, so the two other girls decided to head back towards the minbak. James wanted to make it to the top before sundown, and I wanted to keep climbing, since we had long left the crowds behind us at the temple. So James, being the mountain goat that he is, loped off towards the summit, and I had a pleasant hour's walk by myself in the woods at dusk.

It started to get dark around 5:30, and the mosquitoes were starting to come out, so I turned around and headed back down the mountain. James eventually caught up with me, and by the time we had gotten back to the minbak 2 hours and about 5 kilometers later, it was pitch black. We met up with the rest of the group and sat around outside the 7/11 talking, drinking, and playing card games. I headed back to the room around 10:30 because we had decided that some of us were going to take the cable car at 6am the next morning to watch the sunrise. I was exhausted from climbing the mountain that evening, and I knew if I didn't go to bed at a reasonable hour I wasn't going to get up in time for the cable car, which was a good half hour walk from our rooms.

We had asked the owner of the minbak earlier that evening to turn the ondol (under-floor heating system) off, since the room was stifling hot, and with 12 people sleeping in the room it wasn't cold enough outside to warrant any heating at all. Unfortunately, the ondol was turned back on around 3am. So with sleeping on a burning hot floor, getting bit by mosquitoes and ants during the night, and being awakened several times by others drunkenly returning to the room at all hours, needless to say I didn't sleep very well.

I woke up at 5am the next morning, and guiltily roused the few people that wanted to catch the cable car at 5:15. I didn't mind as much as I would have if people hadn't confirmed the night before that they wanted to be woken up. I'm not a fast walker, even when I have gotten a good night's sleep, so I headed towards the cable car a little earlier than the other five people who had decided to get up. We made it to the cable car at around 6:15am, and even though we were late, we were the first ones to use the cable car that morning. It was still dark when we got to the top, and we found the observation deck to watch the sunrise.

It wasn't the most amazing sunrise I've ever seen, especially since the actual sun was blocked by one of the mountains, but it was a pleasant morning nonetheless.

After getting a minuscule cup of coffee from a restaurant located on the edge of the mountain and having a rather amusing chat with a group of Korean hikers who were still drunk from soju, we headed back down from the top. The trees below us reminded me of some sort of weird cauliflower garden.

By the time we got back down to the base of the mountain an hour or so later, the line to get on the cable car had about 200 people in it, and probably would have taken at least 45 minutes to get through. We looked around the bottom, and I was fascinated by the persimmon trees, which were prolific and looked like something out of a Dr. Seuss book or a Tim Burton movie.

By the way, if you've never eaten a frozen persimmon, I highly recommend it. It's like a fruit slushy in a peel.

Then the six of us headed back to the minbak, because our train left around noon and we needed to pack up and catch the bus back to the train station. We took the scenic walk on the way back instead of the more crowded and open trail.

We did notice on the way back quite a few Koreans who all seemed to have the same super-expensive camera with giant zoom-lens and tripod who were all taking pictures of the same thing.

But the walk was nice, the colors were more vibrant that morning even though it was overcast, and we just barely made it onto the bus back to the station as it started to rain.

Aigo....

2009-11-06T19:13:00.002+09:00

I'm headed off to Naejangsan tomorrow to go hiking with some friends and look at the fall leaves. Can't wait to take pictures!

Spent about three hours today going back and forth to the immigration office to replace my lost alien card. It's a pain to get down there, stand in line, and come back, but it might be worth another trip if it means I get to keep my alien card the next time I leave the country (they confiscated mine when I left last year. It's been annoying trying to slowly replace everything in my wallet. I had my Florida driver's license, social security card, my American bank card, not to mention about 6 different cafe point cards. My Bank of America card is on its' way - free of charge- to Korea, I've gotten a new card for my account here, and I got a new subway card this afternoon. I keep calling the club, but my expectations and hopes are low that my wallet will ever be found again.

This is Halloween, this is Halloween

2009-11-03T19:29:00.012+09:00

I feel like I had two Halloweens this year - one with my kids, and one with my friends.

At school on Friday, we had activities planned for the afternoon, and the morning was standard lessons. As I only get two breaks per day, and on Friday they're the last two periods, I wasn't happy about the scheduling (which meant I was to teach all day with no break), but I figured for one day I could grin and bear it.

I enjoy decorating my classroom, and I may have gone a little overboard with the Halloween decorations. I had the Korean teachers from other rooms asking me to stop, because they felt they had to decorate as much as I was and they wanted to go home. I did end up slowing down a bit, but I still carved the best pumpkin in the school. :)

All of my kids dressed up, and though I had two Optimus Primes, I was still highly impressed with how they all turned out.

I wasn't the only teacher that dressed up, either. Some of the Korean teachers did small things (like my co-teacher wore an orange Casper shirt that my mom sent me), but for the most part the foreign teachers went all out. My personal favorite was the ajuma in the front center.

In the afternoon, the kids rotated to other 7-year-old classes to do different activities, similar to what we did for International Costume Day. My activities were making popcorn monster hands and marshmallow ghosts. Now, this would be a simple thing to do in America. But wondering why you can't find candy corn or jumbo white marshmallows in Korea in the fall is like wondering why you can't find Pepero in America in November.

Thankfully I have a forward-thinking mother who shipped me a bag of candy corn that arrived before the 30th, so the monster hands were saved (though I did have to tell the materials person that no, three individual bags of popcorn would not be enough for 35 kids to fill a plastic glove and could I please have some more before 1pm? Thanks so much...). I was not so lucky when it came to the marshmallows, however. I was given my materials on Thursday (after submitting my list two weeks earlier with specific instructions on EXACTLY what I needed, and how many per child I would need, and the number of children that would be participating). So instead of using these for ghostie heads:

(which btw makes for minutes of fun ages 8-80), my kids were stuck with rather strange ghostie faces made from this:

But, we made do with what we had, and the kids - after convincing them that the food dye was, in fact, food dye and not poisonous coloring that would make them sick and die- made some rather interesting ghosts. And then promptly ate them, since they don't travel well.

Clean, rinse, repeat. I then proceeded to do the same two activities with the other two seven-year-old classes, until the day was over. I have no qualms about making kids clean up after themselves (Rule number three out of three in Sapphire Class?: "Leave things better than the way you found them."), so before moving on to the next activity, kids had to make sure that all remnants of the previous activity had been spirited away into the garbage.

I then got about half an hour after the kids left to chill out from the day before our weekly meeting at 4pm. This was the first meeting where our new Vice Principal ran the meeting (the old one wasn't that great at the job, didn't know how to work with foreigners, and only lasted about 2 months). It was blessedly short, sweet, informative, and to-the-point. After which we got the go-ahead to go home early! So after removing all vestiges of the holiday from my room (I wasn't going to do it Monday morning), I headed home to change.

A friend of mine had a birthday party in Itaewon at a lovely Moroccan restaurant. The company and the food was good, but at $20 a plate for buffet (of which I only partook in two small plates), it was a bit pricey. Afterwards, I went out dancing with some friends, and then headed back home to get some sleep to prepare for Saturday.

Once I had ordered my zombie contacts, and knew I would get them in time for Halloween, I told James what I was going to dress up as. He's not the most competent when it comes to what he calls fancy dress (we Americans call it dressing up or costumes), so he asked me if I would make him a zombie as well and of course I agreed. About three days before Halloween, he told me that his girlfriend and her friend's plans had fallen through for ABBA themed costumes, and would I mind terribly doing their makeup as well? I thought it would be fun, though I had JUST managed to find enough makeup for myself and James. I told him that if they bought more makeup, I'd be happy to help. So on Saturday I woke up, ripped up some already dubious clothes of mine, and proceeded to apply my own zombie makeup. This was partly to reduce the time it would take to do everyone else's makeup, and partly to practice in private, since I hadn't done it in two years.

I then headed to Itaewon, to infect three other people. It was raining, so my umbrella effectively hid my costume and makeup on my walk to the subway. I was enjoying startling the random person by lifting the umbrella from time to time. Once inside the subway, I got the random sideways glance, or semi-aborted scream from passers-by, but for the most part people didn't pay me any mind. I did get some opened-eyes and smiles from people as I was waiting for the train to open its' doors and looking through the window at the people waiting to get out. I stepped onto the train, and stood behind someone who was holding on to the handle hanging from the ceiling and facing away from me, towards the windows and the row of seats. My transfer was about 5 stops away, and nothing of note happened until about the fourth stop. The girl in front of me, who apparently had been blissfully unaware of my presence happened to turn around. She promptly screamed, let go of the handle, and ran off into the crowded subway car to get away from me. I spent the next two stops trying desperately not to laugh, smile, or look around.

I made it to the apartment without much more ado, where James, Juliet, Rob (Juliet's best friend and roommate), and Nonkuli (another friend of Juliet's) were already there. We waited until Claire arrived, and then I started doing makeup for Juliet, James, and Claire.

After about the third layer of makeup, Nonkuli and Rob decided that it looked like too much fun, so I made three zombies, and then two more. The result was an awesome family of zombies.

Nonkuli, Juliet and I all headed down the street to catch a cab, and Juliet was enjoying herself by scaring passing ajumas and random strangers. One of them, a Korean, stopped and asked if she could take our picture. She then called her friends over and had our picture taken with them. We started talking to them, and they asked who did our makeup, at which point Juliet said that I had done it. The Koreans were all impressed, which wouldn't have been as cool if we hadn't found out that they do professional body painting, and were heading to a body art convention in Austria. I got the card of the girl who took the picture and e-mailed her later in the week. I'm still waiting for the pictures (apparently they're too big to email), but I'm looking forward to seeing them, and to possibly working with them in the future!

The rest of the night was spent wandering around Seoul with friends and scaring people. We gained semi-celebrity status in Haebangcheon, when we actually got a round of applause when we walked in the door of a bar.

I left partway through the night to go to a gothic party with Nonkuli, where I lost my wallet and never got it back. Made for a rather annoying, and cashless, rest of the evening, but I managed. I've been slowly working at getting all my cards back, though the 6 coffee cards I had from different cafes with stamps and points on them are rather irreplaceable....

Photography Contest

2009-10-21T14:26:00.006+09:00

I like taking pictures, as you may have noticed. Some people have even told me that certain photos of mine should be entered in a contest . I hadn't really heard about one until today. So, I've entered several of my photos (i.e. my top ~~five or so~~ twelve from the past year) into a photo contest called Korea 100 Sparkles. Take a look, and if you can find one of mine and you like it, vote for it please!

P.S. If you feel like sharing the link and asking others to vote as well, feel free!
P.P.S. I realized there's a search bar near the top - you can type in my name and it will bring up my 12 entries...
P.P.P.S. You can vote every day...

63 Building

2009-10-18T17:52:00.008+09:00

I've been wanting to go to the 63 Building for over a year. It's one of the tallest buildings in Korea, and when it was built in the 80's was the tallest building in Asia. My friend Joey was running an Aquathon (it was supposed to be a triathalon, but they removed the bike portion at the last minute) on Yeouido, which is the same stop on the subway as the 63 Building. So after watching him cross the finish line, I headed up to the building.

Joey's number 106 on the right

The building is not as impressive up close as it is from across the river. In fact, it's almost unremarkable from the side, and if I didn't know where I was, I would have thought it was just another skyscraper.

The entrance fee was 12,000won. I thought it was a bit steep, but it was a relatively clear day for Seoul, and I didn't know when I was going to be on that end of town again, so why not?

They say that the 63rd floor (the 60th above ground), is actually an art gallery, and the highest one in the world. It is an art gallery, if you want to get specific, but it's obvious the real art is the scenery out the windows.

Yeah, it's an art gallery. Mmhmm.

Some of the art was interesting, like the video silk screen.

Some of the kids were well-behaved...

I bet you'd see more if you turned it around...

I only have this because there were other foreigners there. I hate trying to figure out how to ask people to take my picture in Korean.

Chuseok, round 2, Part 2

2009-10-18T15:51:00.013+09:00

So because we had a three day weekend, plans were to head out of Seoul. Originally I'd wanted to go down to Busan for a river lantern festival, but most festivals this year have been canceled due to an over-reactive government, and sadly the lantern festival was one of the victims. The other issue was traffic and travelling. I'd also thought about doing a quick Japan trip, but all flights to Japan were overly expensive, and all the flights to Jeju-do (Korea's version of Hawaii) had been booked months in advance. The traffic leaving Seoul the weekend of Chuseok is horrendous (I experienced it first hand last year when I drove to Pyongtaek with my co-teacher - what should have taken about 45 minutes actually took about 5.5 hours.) It's like Thanksgiving traffic on steroids. So - any travel using the road system was out, and all flights were gone. The KTX train was booked as well, which left us with the subway system and...boats! So, that's exactly what we did.

Thanks to the resourcefulness of some of James' friends, we found a lovely little island off the west coast of Incheon (Seoul's main airport). Originally we'd though about Moui-do or Yeongheung-do, but were somehow re-routed to Ijak-do (do - pronounced 'doh' - is Korean for island). Rather than being a problem, this turned out to be perfect.

Once we got to the Incheon area, we had to take a ferry to the island. There were only two ferries a day, one at 9am and one at 2pm. Because I live about a 2 hour subway ride from the ferry, I decided to take the 2pm ferry on Friday. James, Kathryn, Gary, and Juliet all caught the same one. There were about 8 other people that went as well, but they stayed in Incheon on Thursday night, and caught the first ferry out on Friday morning.

Gary, Juliet, Jack (the dog), James, and Kathryn in front of the Rainbow - our ferry to Ijak-do

The ferry ride was interesting in itself. I'd only been on a ferry once before with Steph, but it was more for sightseeing than for transportation. I'm not sure what the ferry is like when the seas get rough, but at one point while sitting on the main level, you would see only the sky, and then only the sea out the window - Kathryn was convinced we were going to pitch over. I actually had an interesting conversation with her about how I've become so nonchalant about so many things. I've heard people say numerous times that I nothing seems to upset me, and I've said to more than one person that I can't remember the last time I was offended. I don't worry that often, and very little seems to phase me, though I certainly get excited about traveling and seeing new places. I'm not sure if it's just the fact that I've been through experiences in my life at a young age that most people don't experience till they're older, or not at all (like divorce or moving to another country), or if it's just that I'm finally growing up.

Anyway, the views were amazing, and I realized that I felt much better when I was on the top deck. I think the combination of the rather brisk breeze and that I could see the entire landscape instead of an alternating sky/water window made for a happier stomach. I convinced the others that the upper deck was more gastronomically friendly, so we spent the last part of the ride on the top deck.

We expected the ride to last for about 2 hours, but it was closer to 2.5, and we were starting to get a bit anxious. The ferry stopped at three ports, and we wanted to make sure we got off in the right place. We made it off the boat just fine, and were told by Jess, who was already at the pension, that a Korean man in a minivan and a bluish-greenish hanbok would pick us up at the port. Well, we disembarked with about half the other people on board, and after about 7 minutes were the only remaining people within sight. Aside from the building near the ferry dock, there was nothing to indicate any other life, or even which direction to take the road in order to find civilization. We waited for about 10 minutes for something - anything to happen. Finally a black minivan drove up with a Korean inside, asking if we were friends of Jess' in broken English. So we loaded up the van and drove about 10 minutes up some really steep roads to a pension near a beach.

I can't read all of it, but the left side says "Stress NO!!"

We unloaded at the top of a hill, where we could barely see a beach down below. After sorting out the accommodations (the five of us were to share a 'big' room - which really only slept 3-4 of us comfortably), we headed down to the beach.

The only people there were friends of ours. There was another group of foreigners staying at our pension, but they were all up in the rooms. Aside from them and the people that ran the pension, we were the only ones in sight. The beach was beautiful, and we spent the rest of the afternoon swimming resting on the sand, playing soccer, and just generally enjoying the restfulness of it all.

One of the people brought his own tent so he wouldn't have to pay for the pension.

We wanted to see the sunset, so we hiked up, and then down the road we came in on, to get past the mountain that was blocking the view of the setting sun.

Sitting on the road with everyone, watching the sun set.

It was beautiful.

We found a lovely spot on the beach to watch the sunset, and camped out there for about 20 minutes and watched it sink down behind the water.

Following in the footsteps of others

There were only 4 other people on the beach besides us.

After getting back to the pension, we ordered dinner from the restaurant - which was more like a kitchen near the beach, and enjoyed the side dishes but practically gagged on the main dish, which had a nice sauce flavor but tasted like it was made from ground up cartilage and low-grade meat. After dinner and several drinks, we decided to join the other foreigners who had built a lovely bonfire on the beach.

The rest of the weekend was spent hanging around the beach; swimming, drinking, eating, relaxing, and just generally enjoying each others' company and the peaceful surroundings.

Eating pasta for lunch on Saturday

The tide coming in

Kathryn and Gary walking along the beach

Making squishy faces from a persimmon

At low tide on Sunday we could see some sort of fishing apparatus on the beach that had been previously covered up by the water, so I went out to get a better look at it.

I'm still not sure exactly what it did, but it was certainly interesting.

And then, sadly, it was time to head back home. So being slightly sunburned, and all covered in sand, we piled into the back of a truck and headed to the ferry dock to go back home.

Not sure how I managed it, but this picture makes me dizzy.

Don't worry, mom, we were perfectly safe in the back of an open truck with no seat belts.

We made it back to Incheon, and took the subway to Itaewon. Almost everyone I was with also had Monday off, but I had to work. So after a lovely dinner at a Thai restaurant (I think it's the first time I've ever said "wow" after tasting something and really meant it), I headed home.

Chuseok, round 2, Part 1

2009-10-01T15:46:00.009+09:00

Last year Chuseok was the first Korean holiday I experienced. This year had several similarities, but the differences were more obvious to me.

On Thursday Oct 1st, my kids (all except one) wore hanbok, the traditional Korean clothing. Most of the hanbok looked about the same as it did last year. They were all pretty elaborate, and the accessories and color schemes were about the same.

We had a few activities scheduled for the morning, as it was a half day. The first thing we did was make songpyeon, which is a traditional Korean rice snack. Last year, we used clay and my co-teacher showed the students how to make it. This year, we actually made the real thing, and my kids were able to take them home to give to their parents, and eat store-bought ones for snack.

Alison showing them how to make the songpyeon.

Michelle and her colored glutinous rice. Yummy...

After that, we made traditional treasure boxes, which were supposed to be from hanji - a traditional Korean hand-made paper. However, Miss Alison tried to make the box the day before, and it took her almost three hours to do. So we decided to make the physical boxes for them, and just give them paper and Korean clip-art to decorate them with.

Decorating their boxes started out rather organized,

But it became rather unorganized very quickly.

So - instead of me trying to clean up the massive mess they had created, I made them clean up after themselves, hanbok and all.

And the last activity of the the day was dancing the Gang-gang-su-lae. We did that last year as well, but it was just in our own classrooms, and my co-teacher was in charge of it, since of course I had no idea how to dance it. This year, in musical class that week they had learned how to dance it along with music. Then the entire school got in one big circle (our school is shaped like a donut), and we all (meaning the kids, not me), did the dance to the music all the way around the school.

And then we sent them on their merry way home. We were able to leave at 12:30, and so I headed to a restaurant with some co-workers for lunch. We went to a really nice Indian restaurant that I probably won't be able to go to again, since their lunch menu is the only affordable thing there.

And then I went home to pack for my own three day vacation in Ijak-do, an island off the west coast of Seoul.

International Costume Day

2009-09-28T19:39:00.009+09:00

Each of the classes in our school focused on a different country from around the world. I managed to pull Ireland away from another class in exchange for giving that teacher ideas for activities he could do for Norway. So after a not-so-quick PowerPoint about Ireland, I got to make Celtic knots and claddaghs with my kids!

We started with a Power Point that one of the office staff had (thankfully) made for me. The kids were fascinated by the video of Lord of the Dance. Maybe next time we'll do that, if I haven't dislocated my knees again.

After learning all kinds of tid-bits about Ireland, including the meaning of the claddagh, each kid got an A4 paper (which is about the same size as 11x17) with a heart and crown on it, but no hands. They traced their own hands onto the paper, colored it, and then decorated the crown with sparklies.

After the claddagh, we learned how to tie a Celtic knot. Granted, it wasn't completely accurate (as there was a beginning and an end), but they looked cool and some of the kids were actually able to do it completely by themselves.

It was definitely hard, and I'm glad I stuck with one of the simpler ones! I showed the kids a video of how to tie it, and then we went through it step by step, watching the video, me repeating the action about 6 times, and then going around to the kids to help them if they couldn't duplicate the action.

After an hour with me, the kids moved on to the next classroom with my co-teacher, and I stayed in the room and taught the same lesson to another 7-year-old class.

My kids then went to the Netherlands, where they made pinwheels after learning about the windmills, and learned a traditional dance with Miss Naika.

They came back to my class for lunch, after which we watched part of Darby O'Gill and the Little People until it was time to go to their last class, Norway. Here, they learned about Vikings and trolls, with a rather scary Mr. Chris.

They learned the runic alphabet, and made stones with runes on them (totally my idea).

Then they made open-faced sandwiches, I think they were called something like smorgasbord...

After they came back to my class, we had an hour and a half left of the day. I hadn't gotten a break yet, so we watched almost all of the rest of Darby O'Gill until it was time for them to go home.

And since I dropped my new cell phone in the toilet by accident yesterday, I dropped it off at the shop to get it fixed. Then I headed for a coffee at a cafe close to my house so I could look at my Indochina book and get some more ideas for my trip in December.

September Survival

2009-09-23T18:31:00.020+09:00

September's been a rather busy month for me, both in school and out of it.

At the beginning of the month I took a level test to see if I could join the free Korean classes offered by city hall. It was a difficult test (it was all written in Korean), and I was impressed that I was able to get any right at all, let alone the 6/30 score that I received. But because I missed some of the earlier questions (they got progressively more difficult as you went), my level was determined to be beginner. Which would have been fine, except that the beginner classes are only offered on Wednesday from 4pm-6pm (I get off work at 5:30 and the classes are a half hour subway ride from my school). So I asked if I could go into the level 1 class, which is offered from 7pm-9pm once a week. They said it would probably be too difficult for me, but put me in for the October class anyway. I've since decided that I (probably) won't go, as I really do need to start from the beginning. It is, after all, a very good place to start. I asked about the discounted language classes offered by my company, but you have to have been working with them for three months before you qualify. So I think I'm just going to wait it out and start classes in early November.

So on September 5th, the Seoul Drum Festival began. I wanted to see part of it, so I checked out the directions on the website, which were slightly confusing. I started by trying to find it at Children's Grand Park, but after wandering around for almost 2 hours, I got a little frustrated. I did get to see a rather large and diverse park that I'd never been to.

At the entrance to the park.

A large fountain of the type that's rather ubiquitous here. It lights up and plays music at night.

It says "Mushroom Village"

The rather depressing zoo located inside the park.

I'm guessing this was part of a "traditional Korean stories" section...

I called James, who checked the website and figured out that it was actually in Seoul Forest, which was several subway stops away. So I hopped back on the subway and headed to Seoul Forest, which is located in the middle of one of the smoggiest and most industrial areas I've been to in Seoul. Someone has since described Seoul Forest as more of a "twig-land" than a forest, as it's only a few years old.

I've been trying to get a picture of the completely dyed dogs, but the ability escapes me. Apparently you can't tell these two apart, so pink and green tails were in order.

I found the 'forest' to be more of a large park, and not even as large and tree covered as Children's Grand Park.

Part of the playground - kids could climb in and around a giant metal person.

After looking around for about 15 minutes, I decided to try the info booth. Through my broken Korean, I deduced that the festival was indeed in Seoul Forest, but I had missed the performance for the day, and the next one wasn't until the following weekend. So I headed to James' place, since we were meeting up with some friends of his for dinner and drinks.

We went pretty far north on the subway to get some Moroccan food, and then headed to a place called Ka Brew which had just opened. It was 5,000won for all you can drink beer at the pub, which had its own microbrewery.

The price was amazing, but the beer was only average (though certainly better than the bottled Korean beer).

The next weekend one of my closer friends Stephanie had her leaving party. She left to go on a short Euro trip before heading back home to DC, after which she's thinking about moving to Prague to study.

So James and I headed back to Uijeongbu, where we had dinner at an Indian restaurant, tried to go bowling but couldn't because the place was shut down, went to a bar that filled up immediately with all 27 of us, left and went to another bar, around 1am headed for a noraebang for three hours, and then headed to Stephanie's place to crash.

Me, Joey and Lauren at the Indian restaurant called Durga.

The biggest leaving party I've been to - 27 people showed up to say goodbye to Steph.

Steph and James getting up to some crazy stuff in the noraebang

I wasn't immune to the noraebang fever, either. It was 4am though...

So after crashing at Stephanie's, James and I headed back into Seoul because we had a picnic planned with Kathryn at 2pm at Children's Grand Park to celebrate her 30th birthday. Surprisingly, we were able to make it back into Seoul, get showered, changed, pick up food for the picnic, and make it out to the park on time with bright smiling faces.

Melissa, James, me, Fan, and Gary

Our amazing picnic, which lasted for about 9 hours!

Me, Fan, and Gary

There was a wild rabbit who kept hopping about and got rather close. The Koreans seemed to enjoy clapping and shouting at it to try and scare it.

We continued the picnic at Kathryn and Gary's house once it got dark at the park.

After a late night version of the picnic, we headed out to Itaewon for drinking and dancing. I had my first experience with the two hills in Itaewon - Hooker Hill and Homo Hill, both completely apropos names. The two hills are right next to each other, and while looking for the later to go dancing, we went down the former. I'm not naive, but I've never seen a place like this before. I won't go into details, of which there aren't many anyways, but suffice it to say that hill left a definite impression on me. We made it to the dancing street, where we (being James, Gary, Kathryn, Michelle and myself) danced for several hours before I decided to call it a night and head home around 3 or 4 am.

Stephanie had shown up to Kathryn's picnic for a few hours and left her sunglasses there, and I had left a necklace at her house over the weekend, so we decided to meet up for dinner. She wanted to go to Insadong one last time, as there's a vegetarian restaurant there she really enjoyed. Insadong is only about 15 minutes by subway from my house, so I headed there early to do a little bit of sightseeing and shopping (it's a big tourist area).

The face of a sculpture on Insadong street

Our vegetarian meal - yummy!

The railroad tea shop on Insadong street that I wanted to take my parents to. Everything has been taken from old railroad cars.

Steph had been wanting to go to a batting cage for a year. So when we heard the sound of metal bats ringing out, we just had to stop.

On Friday the 18th, my kids had a photo shoot for their yearbook. And yes, it was a photo shoot. We went to Dosan Park, and were there for about 2.5 hours, taking class, individual, and candid shots.

Sapphire class - me, Miss Alison and the kids. I was told my picture would be from the waist up, so since it was Friday I wore jeans. Oh well.

Playing the "cooperation game" so the photographer could get small group shots

The boys examining, and then later killing, the bugs on the ground.

The girls played telephony - an apparent favorite of the photographer.

This could have been a good shot. I think Anika made it a great one.

The next day, I met up with Kathryn, Gary and James for a French photography exhibit, and then an open-air jazz concert at the Seoul Arts Center.

An add for the photography exhibit.

Me, Kathryn and Gary at the Jazz concert

Gary and James

The jazz quartet, and the scenery behind them.

After the Jazz festival, the four of us headed to Habangcheon to a friend of James' house named Jess. Jess had recently moved to a new apartment and gotten her Masters, so she was celebrating by throwing a house party. The four of us waited for almost an hour for two girls I had met online who live in Apgujeong and had just arrived in Korea less than three weeks ago. The six of us went to Jess' house, where we stayed until around 3am, at which time things were beginning to slow down and I decided it was time to call it a night. I went to Uijeongbu the next morning for a doctor's check up, and met up with a former Korean co-worker of mine from EWAS for coffee, and then had dinner with another co-worker before heading back home to Seoul.

I'm also a member of the national council for ATEK. We've recently elected our first president, and we held our first meeting on Skype on Wednesday. It's a fledgling organization, and as hogwan representative for the country, I'm finding it a bit hard to know my role and what I can do to help. I'm doing what I can, though, and I hope over the next year the roles become a bit more defined and I'm able to help a little bit more.

This weekend I plan on going to the Seoul Mass Freeze, and then I'm throwing a housewarming party on Saturday on my rooftop. We'll see how that goes - I'm historically rather bad at throwing parties, but this will be byob so I don't go broke. The rooftop should keep the neighbors from getting annoyed, and I live close to a downtown area, so if people get bored we can always migrate.

And next Monday is International Costume day at school (I'm doing Ireland!), Thursday is a half day, and we have Friday off for Chuseok - the Korean Thanksgiving. I'll probably be going to the islands near Incheon for Chuseok with Gary, Kathryn, James, and Kobus (a friend of James').

Busy, busy!

What has the internet done for you?

2009-09-05T10:48:00.002+09:00

I'm walking down the street, heading from my apartment to a friend's house to spend an evening together. We plan on eating dinner out on the town, maybe grabbing a beer at a bar with decent music, and then back to their place for a movie and a possible episode of Blackadder. It's already dark, but I feel perfectly safe walking down the street by myself, my earphones securely pressed into my ears so they don't fall out. I reach a main intersection, and see a cop talking to a guy on a delivery moped, the kind I see all the time doing 40mph or more on sidewalks congested with pedestrians. The moped guy looks unhappy and resigned, and the cop has a little hand-held touch screen device that I'm sure is about to issue the moped guy a ticket. And I think to myself "saw a moped guy getting a ticket, and wondering why we never saw it in Uijeongbu".

image from scootersandthings.blogspot.com

This quote, then, would have been my status update online when I arrived back home, had I remembered to write it. I am constantly thinking of myself in the third person now, thanks to sites like twitter and facebook, and it wasn't until recently that I even realized it had happened.

I used to take "mental pictures" of things that I saw that were of interest to me. I often lose these pictures in my head, partly because I have a bad memory, and partly because they just weren't that important. Now I take mental notes of things that I'm thinking or doing, and think of them in the third person. Things I think other people may want to know about me. Things I think are insightful. Things I just think of.

Often these 'thoughts' never make it to my status updates. I either come across something more interesting, I forget what I thought I would remember, or I finally sit down to the computer and realize it really wasn't that interesting after all. Either way, though, the way I mentally process the world around me has changed. I am more aware now of what I think (though the why is not always readily apparent), and I've become a bit less self-conscious in the process.

How about you?

School and such

2009-08-31T21:43:00.006+09:00

As of today, I've been back for a month. In some ways it feels like I never left Korea, and in other ways it feels like I just got here.

I'm still kind of settling in to my new apartment. I had a few problems when I first moved in, but they've all been sorted out for the most part. The main issue I had was with a gate on the third floor landing - I live on the fourth and last floor.

view from my front door down the stairs

When I first moved in, I was told that the landlord locks the front door and the gate at 2:30 in the morning. The problem with this is that the gate has a bolt on it that can only be opened from the inside.

note the bolt on the bottom

So if I came home after 2:30am (which to be honest, isn't that often), I would have to call the landlord and ask him to come open the door. This was a problem for a few reasons.

1. He has a wife and daughter. I don't think it's fair to call anyone at 2:30 in the morning (or whatever time) to ask them to open someone elses' door. It's doubly unfair to wake someone up who will probably wake up others in the process.

2. He said that the bolt is there because all the tenants in the building are women, and it's safer to bolt the door. The problem with this logic is that all the tenants except me live below the gate. The only people past the gate are me, and the landlord.

3. Late at night, there are 4 locked doors you would have to get through to get into my apartment. The first one is bolted with a key-code alarm. The second one is the gate (which has a key lock as well as the bolt lock that remains constantly locked). The third one is my front door. The fourth one is the entry-way door that has a lock as well. If someone is that determined to get into my apartment, a bolted gate is not going to be a deterrent.

4. I've never had a curfew. Even when I was living with my parents, there was not a set time I had to be home. It was simply a matter of being responsible and making sure that they knew when I was going to be where, and an ETA for getting home. And I haven't lived with them for 10 years. I don't need a curfew now.

I tried to explain to him that I didn't want him to bolt the door. My Korean isn't that good, and his English isn't that good, so the communication was probably amusing from an outsider's perspective, and could probably make a good sitcom joke, but it was annoying and frustrating in actuality.

So, I wrote my landlord a very polite letter explaining my position and reasons for wanting him to not bolt the door. Then I politely asked my co-teacher to translate it into Korean for me. Then I taped it to his door, along with my payment (early) for the electric bill for the month.

He hasn't bolted the door (that I know of) since then. And I did get home at 4:30 once this weekend.

I've also been settling in at work. I've gotten my kids into a routine, which of course makes things in general much easier. I enjoy working with the kids that I have, and the small problems I was having with the curriculum (like getting a power point and worksheets for a lesson the day of, and being expected to add things to it and do extra research) have been resolved for the most part.

My boss seems to like me quite a bit. I've been told on numerous occasions that I'm one of the best teachers that they have. I was observed once for each of my lessons, and then they added more observations so the staff could see what I was teaching (things like learning centers) and learn from what I was doing. The principal sticks her head in my room just to look at my bulletin boards, and she's asked me to send her files for things that I've done so she can share them with other teachers. It's certainly a different atmosphere from what I'm used to in Korea, where if you don't hear any feedback you're doing fine, and any feedback you do get is usually what you're doing wrong.

I'm also a member of the national council for ATEK (Association for Teachers of English in Korea), an infant organization that's still in it's first year and in the process of electing its first president. I haven't had to do much so far, though I feel like I should be doing more. At this point, it's more a matter of keeping current and up-to-date with things happening in the ex=pat community, like the H1N1 virus that has a lot of teachers quarantined without pay, or the recent cancellation of foreign teachers' contracts in the Seoul public school system a week before school started.

And I've been traveling a bit as well. I went to the DMZ a few weeks ago, I went to Busan last weekend with a friend who's leaving in a few weeks, and I spent this weekend out in Seoul celebrating a friend's birthday (hence coming home at 4:30am on Sunday morning).

Don't ask an ajuma to take your picture in Busan. First she'll refuse, thinking that you want to take a picture of her. then she'll squint at your camera like she's trying to look through a viewfinder, when your camera only has a 3inch LCD display and no viewfinder. And then she'll cut your head off when she does take the picture.

DMZ!

2009-08-15T23:34:00.021+09:00

I've only been back in Seoul for about three weeks, and so far I'm loving it. I thought I'd have more time to spend with friends, but all of the people I know in Seoul are out of the country right now. So to avoid a sit-at-home-doing-nothing weekend, I signed up for a trip to the DMZ, something I wanted to do last year but never got around to.

Last year I would have had to get up around 6am to be at the meeting point by 9am, but now that I'm a mere 9 minute subway ride from that point, I got to sleep in a little and enjoy a cup of coffee before heading out. I usually go on these trips with someone else that I know, but I figured since the trip was sold out, that I would just get to know whoever happened to sit next to me on the bus.

I got to the Express Bus Terminal about 15 minutes early, and hopped right on the bus. There were several open seats, and I picked the one right behind the driver, partly because I like to see where we're going and partly because it was only one of a few that was completely empty. No one sat next to me for the first part, but when we got to the second pick-up location, a girl named Megan sat down next to me. We talked for a while on the bus on the way to the first stop - Imjingak - about an hour north of Seoul.

Imjingak is as far as civilians can go to the north by themselves without permission. It was originally built to console those who had to leave their homes in the North.

It has an altar for people who can't go back to their homes.

There's also a train that was de-railed during the war by a bomb.

The Freedom Bridge is where POWs were allowed to cross back to their home country. The bridge doesn't actually cross the Imjin River, but was an area used by refugees from the North.

A water lily-covered pond at Imjingak

Of course there were souveniers - I got a bottle of soju from Pyeongyang. But this hat really takes the cake.

So after looking around Imjingak we got back onto the bus and headed towards Panmungun. They collected our passports or alien registration cards (I haven't received my new one yet) to make sure that we were all legit enough to pass into the zone. Which by the way, is a zone, and not a line. We didn't actually get to see the famous soldiers facing-off, since that's the MDL (Military Demarcation Line) and I'm pretty sure you have to be escorted by military to get there on the surface. And I have no military friends here.

The next stop was a small restaurant that served us a traditional Korean meal.

I'm pretty used to Korean food now, but aside from the rice, and maybe the kimchi, this lunch was less than stellar. After lunch we waited around outside in the shade for a while, since we didn't know when we were supposed to get back on the bus. Once we realized we had another half hour, we headed to a small souvenir shop, where I bought a bottle of Pyongyang soju.

Once everyone was done shopping, we headed back to the bus. We got to a check-point area, and a soldier came onto the bus where were asked to have our ID out and ready to show him. We were told by our guide "Don't worry, they're very nice. Don't be scared." There was nothing really to be scared of, since the soldiers were South Korean and not Northern. The soldier barely glanced at our IDs as he went down the bus, and let us past with no problem.

Before they let us pass, we were told in no uncertain terms that we weren't allowed to take pictures from now on unless we were specifically told it was an area that was ok'd. So I took a picture of the soldiers standing guard at the check-point before we went through.

The next stop was the entrance to the Third Infiltration Tunnel. We were all asked when we got off the bus to stand in front of the theater to have our picture taken, so we realized that we could take pictures outside. There were several things in the parking lot of interest.

I particularly liked this statue. The people on either side of the ball are trying to push the two sides together. One side has North Korea, and the other side has South Korea.

Also just at the edge of the parking lot, you can see signs every few meters, warning you in no uncertain terms that you probably don't want to go wandering around.

You could also see these signs on the road on the way up to the tunnel. Once we'd sufficiently explored the rather hot and sunny concrete parking lot, we headed inside towards the theater and air conditioning. Inside, while waiting for a 'documentary' to start, I noticed what looked like a little Halloween decoration - one of those fake flames made from lights, a fan, and some cut-up cloth.

Then I read the description of the 'fire':

I thought it was a bit sad that they had this fake little fire to remember the pain of all those people. So then we went into the theater to watch what they called a documentary about the DMZ. It was narrated in English by what sounded like the same guy that does infomercials on late-night tv, it was vaguely informative, and it was highly propagandized. They had wireless headphones for Koreans to hear a translation of the movie instead of having subtitles.

After the short film, we went through a 'museum', which was more of a large room with an exhibit of ammo, firearms, landmines, and other items left over or found from the war.

From there, we headed to the entrance of the third infiltration tunnel. Here they made us put our bags and cameras into lockers so that no one could take pictures. I suppose I could have just left my camera in my pocket and no one would have known the difference, because I was the second person in our 80 person tour into the tunnels and there were no people down at the bottom. But I didn't feel like risking it.

Picture courtesy of Wikipedia.

So, we headed down the 300 meter decent, which was rather steep going down - about 14 to 15 degrees (and didn't bode well for coming back up). We were issued yellow hard hats, as the roof is often very low and rocky. There's a spring part way down that supposed to symbolize something, but it just looks like an odd sink put into the ground with two fake cranes standing next to it.

Photo courtesy of Danielle and AJ

The walls of the tunnel were very wet, and you could see lots of blast holes covered in yellow paint. Apparently the North Koreans tried to say this was a coal mine by painting the walls with black coal, but the tunnel is drilled through solid granite. The tunnel is also slightly at an angle back towards North Korea so the water keeps running and doesn't stagnate. The tunnel is the closest of the four tunnels to Seoul. We were told that "This tunnel would allow about 10,000 armed or 30,000 unarmed soldiers to invade Seoul within one hour". The problem with that statement is that Seoul is about 50 kilometers (31 miles) from the tunnel, and it'd be pretty darn hard to get that many men to Seoul without someone noticing first.

Picture courtesy of NicsPics

The tunnel ended abruptly at what I later found out was the first of three blockades and 170 meters (560 feet) before the MDL, so we turned around and headed back up the long and now seemingly much steeper tunnel to the entrance.

Even though it was very cool inside the tunnel, we were all hot, sweaty, and breathless by the time we reached the top. So after recouping with water and hand fans, we headed back to the buses to go to the Dora Observatory. On the way to the observatory, we were reminded that there was a photo line at the observatory, and you were not allowed to take pictures past the line.

We walked straight to the observatory edge, and then realized where the photo line was.

The photo line is rather far back, and aside from trying to take pictures from a distance, you're also taking pictures over people's heads who are using the binoculars to look at North Korea while holding your camera as high as you can above your head in order to get the most scenery and the least people.

I could see Kaeseong City through the binoculars, and I managed to get a shot of the propaganda village in North Korea, also known as Kijong-dong. It has the highest flag pole in the world, and used to have loudspeaker announcements hailing their dear leader. The village is entirely unpopulated - as the buildings are just shells with no windows or even interior rooms. There's also apparently a skeleton crew that checks up on the village to keep it in running order and to make it seem as if it's actually inhabited, but it gives every indication of being entirely unpopulated.

After the observatory, we headed to the last stop - Dorasan Station. If the two sides ever unify into a single country, this would be the last train stop in South Korea before entering the north.

There were a few MPs standing guard, but not many, and they seemed more for decoration or tourist pictures than anything else. I paid 500 won for a ticket onto the platform (which, mind you, doesn't go anywhere), and stamped my passport with a 'commemorative stamp', after which I saw the small sign that said to put the stamp on a piece of paper and not your passport...

So we headed out to the platform following an old Korean man, who said he had been volunteering there for 40 years (which is rather hard to believe, as they just restored the station in 2002).

It kind of gave the impression of a station that was waiting to be used, and was going to fall back into disrepair eventually if nothing ever happens with the re-unification. But then as we were standing there, a train pulled in from the south!

It actually had people on it. Apparently the station is a working station, but only in the sense that it's a tourist destination that's restricted, and less than 200 people a day are allowed on the train that only runs through about three stations.

I also saw a picture of when President Bush visited in 2002 shortly after the station was restored. Good old George - he's holding the pen upside-down in this picture.

The inside of the station was bright and airy, and had a beautiful mural near the ceiling.

So after wandering around the platform and the station, we headed back to the bus to go back home.

It was a rather full day, and I enjoyed seeing the area, as well as meeting new people.

Settling in

2009-08-10T22:04:00.006+09:00

So I've been here just over a week, and had two full days at school.

I have to say so far it's been awesome.

I live in a great area. Though it's the 10th most expensive area in the world, there's affordable alternatives, such as 24 kimbop shops, and enough 7-11's that you'd think Korea invented them. I'm right next to a subway station that's pretty central, and a ton of bus stops that will take me anywhere the subway won't.

A mosaic in Apgujeong Station

I've had things to do every night for the past week. I've been able to see several of my friends that I hadn't seen in ages, mostly because they'd all moved to Seoul and were now quite a trek away.

My apartment could be better, but it's not bad. It's the smallest and least furnished of any place I've lived or seen in Korea. I was given a bed, table, two chairs, a tv, and a fridge. You'd be surprised at how much more "stuff" you need beyond this. I've been living without a lot of "stuff" for a year, but I didn't realize how much of it had simply been handed to me. I used it, but it didn't really belong to me, so I didn't consider it as part of my stock of "things", like dishes, pots and pans; horizontal space (like a desk for my computer), or even garbage cans!

My living area - just about everything you need within arms reach!

My kitchen - I covered some old mis-matched wallpaper that had been taped up with the checkerboard.

The job itself so far seems to be pretty straightforward. I have a decent amount of downtime during the day to grade papers or do lesson plans, and most of the lessons are supplied for me. Some things I'll have to do on my own, and this will probably end up taking more time than I'm spending now, but I expect that as par for the course.

Me introducing myself to the 7-year-old classes at Spirit Day on Friday.

My kids are good for the most part. I've only had them for two days, and they already know my three rules by heart, and are excited about the rewards program that I started (just a sticker chart with the promise of a treasure box dive for anyone that fills in their board). I've got some kids that always know the answer, so getting the quiet ones to answer is probably going to be the trickiest part. I've got one boy that's, well, quite verbal. He managed to earn three stickers today, and then subsequently lose not only all of the stickers but his sticker board as well. Luckily he had an after-school class, so I was able to sit down one-on-one and talk to him about what happened, and what he can do tomorrow and in the future so he doesn't lose anymore stickers. We shall see if he remembers.

Tonight I headed out straight from work into the heart of Gangnam. I've been on the hunt for sheets for a week. My school said they would supply me with sheets, but it seems as though the Korean definition of sheets does not equal the western one (i.e. there are no top sheets, only fitted sheets - if the store even sells them at all). I thought I'd try the COEX mall, thinking it was a possibility albeit a slim one. I didn't find any stores that might possibly sell bedding supplies, but I did happen upon a great water/light/music show as I was leaving the mall.

A light and water show set to music at Samsung Station in Gangnam.

I enjoyed watching the show, taking pictures, watching people watch the show, and just being there in general. I couldn't help but think that this was the sort of thing I'd been missing out on by living so far out of the city - things you just can't see during the day or on a weekend.

Just before bed

2009-08-06T23:23:00.003+09:00

So I'm back in Korea, and have been for almost a week. I've settled into my apartment for the time being, though I still need to do some shopping to get things set up. You'd be amazed at how much things like drawers, dishes, sheets, or horizontal space are taken for granted.

My kids don't start until tomorrow, so even though I've been working since Monday, I haven't been teaching. I was a bit worried at first about tomorrow, since I wasn't left with any lesson plans for the week or the month (both of which were due today). I've managed to trip over a step and bruise both knees as well as cut up my toe rather nicely, and today I sliced my finger while stupidly trying to clean some gunk off some scissors.

I'm pretty sure I'm all set for tomorrow, but I'll know for sure in less than 24 hours. I found out today that I won't have afternoon classes - I'll be doing R&D instead. (Which stands for Research and Development, which basically means I'll be doing lesson plans for classes and lessons that I'll never teach.) I suppose for now I'd rather do that than plan the lessons and teach them as well.

My co-teacher and I are on the same page, which is wonderful. She seems really nice, and though she's only been at the school for a month, we both agree that some changes need to be made to the way the classroom is run - i.e. set up a Standard Operating Procedure for the kids, so they know what's expected of them. There's no school wide reward/consequences system, so I'm gonna start with a sticker board and treasure box and go from there. I like my three rules, though I've pretty much just stolen them from my parents:
1. When the teacher is talking you are silent and listening
2. Never hurt anyone physically or emotionally
3. Leave things better than the way you found them
(The last one is because the classroom was an absolute mess when I got there, and I spent more than a full day cleaning, re-organizing, and re-arranging. Re-decorating comes next, plus the kids need to take responsibility for the room - it's their classroom, too.)

We're doing a theme unit on animals, and the kids are going to meet the author of a children's book about the endangered Korean moon bear, talk about endangered species the unfair treatment of animals for use in traditional Chinese medicine, and then write about it. They were supposed to write a letter to the president of Korea to try to convince him to make the whole set up illegal. I think I'm just going to stick with a pen pal letter describing what it was like to meet an author and what they learned. And we're doing a KWL chart about Florida, since I'd like it to be a cultural exchange as well.

And now I should be off to bed, as I want to go in early tomorrow and finish setting up some things. (I left on time today because I had dinner plans with friends). I'm surprised at how quickly I became busy when I got back - I've had something to do every night this week, and I've got plans for the next three weekends as well.

So. I shall update again when time and energy become available. Ta for now.

It's countdown time

2009-06-25T07:05:00.002+09:00

In 48 hours, I will be in an airport, on my way back home after my first year in Korea. I've spent the last few days trying to pack my things and clean my apartment. Most of my belongings are being stored by my generous friends, and just bits and pieces are coming home with me; stuff to give to people, books to add to my collection, and clothes to get me through a week. I've been saying goodbye to friends, most of whom I will see again, but some of whom I won't. I've been doing lots of lasts at school and at home, and most of them sadly sans camera, as I lost mine two weeks ago (though I have SCOURED my apartment and work looking for it). I've even said goodbye already to one of my students whom I only see three times a week and who will be absent on Friday.
It's hard to leave Uijeongbu, the strange city that has become my home over the past year. It's strange to say goodbye to a boss who has been helpful, understanding, seemingly incomprehensible at times, but most of all a guide to a country that has (for the most part) taken me in and allowed me to feel at home. But most of all it's hard to say goodbye to my students, some of whom I have seen five days a week for the past 13 months. My morning students, whom I've only had for 4 months, but who rocketed from no English at all, to learning, playing, speaking, and listening an entire day in English, I will miss the most. They've taught me how to teach ESL, and how to listen to children.
And now, it's time to come home.

Don't count your octopi before they've spawned

2009-06-10T00:35:00.006+09:00

I don't even know if what octopi do is called spawning, but I thought it more appropriate than chickens.

I have a job. And I am UBER excited about it. But I haven't actually signed the contract yet. I do that tomorrow.

I've been wresting over this whole job things for about two months now. I thought I had found the perfect company to work for (Poly School), and that was going to pay me loads of money. And then I found myself playing the waiting game with them. And THEN they said two positions had opened, but they were .4 million less than what was originally offered, and they were night classes. So I kept looking for another job, kept taking phone interviews and going to interviews in person, always turning down offers because they didn't feel right. I thought they didn't feel right because I was just waiting for this high-end school to tell me they had a position open.

And then, as I was searching the job offers on an ESL board, I came across an ad for a gifted and talented school for 2.7million won per month in Apgujeong, which is part of Seoul. And my heart skipped a beat. I LOVE teaching gifted. I started my Masters in gifted, and if it hadn't been for the less than ideal circumstances, I may have even completed it. I was in the gifted program as long as I was allowed, until I entered IB. My mother has been teaching it for most or all of her career. The funny thing about this posting was that I had already sent an e-mail to the same address asking about another position within the company, and had never heard anything back. So I didn't really have high hopes for this one.

But then I got phone call from the school, asking me to come in for an in-person interview around 5 or 6pm. I told them that I was pretty far away, and since my school ended late I wouldn't be able to get to the school until 8pm. She told me she didn't mind waiting at all, and was eager to meet me. And then. And THEN I got the pictures.

Pictures of the school.

Work samples.

The kids.

And then I allowed myself a little bit more excitement. This was exactly kind of environment I had wanted to teach in back home.

So last week I asked my director if I could leave after my last class today (3:45) instead of at 6pm for an interview, and she nicely said yes. And as I am ever tied to my computer, I checked my e-mail at 3:50 as I was walking out the door.

I hadn't heard from the Poly School in almost three weeks. And there, just as I was about to leave for an interview, was an e-mail, offering me a job in a good area in Seoul for 3.0million per month for morning/afternoon classes.

I felt like I was being tried or tested by someone. Here I was, ready to discount the Poly School altogether and try to decide between the public school position (which still hasn't contacted me with a decision) and this gifted school which so far seemed to be right up my ally, and they send me an offer that was, on the surface, much better than this gifted school I was going for. I was quite frustrated at having yet another school to add to my decision list, but I sent a quick response to the e-mail saying I was interested and asking a question about the location before heading off to the interview.

I got to the school around 6, and was asked to wait in a small room outside the office since the principal was on the phone when I arrived. The walls were covered in both student work and certificates that the principal had received, as well as research papers (in English) on how to work with gifted students, differentiated curriculum, and other terms that had almost completely left my vocabulary since I stopped teaching back in the states. There were even certificates of attendance for the past 4 years to the CAG (California Association for the Gifted) conference, the last of which was attended in Feb 2009. After staring at this wall, I realized that this school was where I wanted to be, and I knew with certain peace that not only would I love the job here, but that they would offer it to me and I would accept it without thought of the other positions I had as a possibility.

The interview lasted almost an hour. It was more of us talking than an actual interview. She explained a lot about the school, and the more she talked, the bigger my smile got. Everything struck a chord with me, even down to the names of the classrooms (I'll be teaching Sapphire class). The school feels that each child is a gem, and when they enter the school, they have been mined from the earth, and that each day spent in the school is a cutting and polishing of a rare stone. (I'm sorry - how awesome is that??). I'll get to do science experiments, theme units, current events, and I'll get to continue my penpals for another year. Shortly before I left, she asked me officially if I wanted the job, and I replied absolutely that I did. She asked me twice if I promised I would accept, as she would stop looking for a teacher for the position now that she had interviewed me.

The teacher that's leaving's contract ends the third of August. She wanted me to come a few weeks before that so I could shadow and train, but I told her it was impossible because of my family reunion at the end of July. So at this point, she wants me to start the first week in August, which means it'll be crunch time getting all my documents ready and sent as soon as I get back home so I can get a visa number before my position is supposed to start. This also means I'll only be in Florida for a little over two weeks total before I go back to Korea.

So... this also means that all the blogging I've been meaning to do (I've had a draft blog up for two weeks of the second leg of my weekend trip that I've uploaded all the pictures for but haven't finished writing about) is probably not going to get done. I'll do my best, but it seems that the longer I stay here, the busier I get, and I have less time to actually write about all the stuff I spend my time doing.

And seeing as how it's 1:22am and I have work tomorrow, I will now say goodnight. 잘자요

Anniversary

2009-05-30T07:15:00.003+09:00

As of this weekend, I have been in Korea for exactly one year. This is both unbelievable and completely expected. I will be here for a total of 13 months before I head back to the states. (My flight back is Saturday June 27th - I land in Atlanta at 3pm. Squeee!)

I love it here. I love the friends I've made. I love the culture. I love the freedom of travel and movement. I love that every time I leave my home, I'm reminded instantly that I live in another country. I love that I can hear foreign language every day and I understand bits and pieces of it. I love the financial independence I've found that I never truly had back home. I love the the mix of traditional and ground-breaking. I absolutely adore my kids, and my job is hardly what I would call stressful.

I don't love that I haven't hugged my parents in a year. I miss my friends back home, and it bothers me that I've missed (and will be missing) weddings, births, birthdays, retirements, graduations, anniversaries, and other important events in my family and friends' lives. It'd be nice to be able to buy a new pair of shoes without having to ship them overseas. I'd like to have predictive text on my cell phone.

So, all-in-all, it has been an AMAZING year. I would even go so far as to say probably the most memorable year I will ever have in my life. I left America in search of something. Part of that search was financial independence. And part of it was searching for something that I felt my life was missing, though I had no idea what it was. To quote a great U2 song, I still haven't found what I'm lookin' for. But I have found myself along the way. I've discovered that the world is bigger than I ever imagined, and so much smaller than we ever knew. I've learned something that my father has been telling me all my life - life is what you make it. And I know now that I can make it anything I want it to be. Now the next step is figuring out what it is that I really want.

As of right now, my main focus is paying off my massive student loans. Korea has the most lucrative set-up for ESL teachers, so it seems as though I will be staying here for a few years, until I'm able to once and for all close my loan account. The more money I'm making at my job, the sooner I can pay off my debts, so that's my main consideration in looking for a new job to come back to. Once I've paid my debts, I can start thinking about what I want to do next. I think it would be amazing to go country-hopping and spend a year in different countries around the world teaching English and exploring at the same time. But I may have different priorities or goals in a few years' time. Who knows?

For now, it's on to year number two.

A very good place to start is always the beginning

2009-05-18T20:07:00.007+09:00

I realize I've been negligent in my postings for the past month. I suppose the excuse that I was too busy going to festivals and traveling around Korea isn't the best of reasons, as that's exactly what I'm supposed to be putting up here.

So.

I will be sitting down at my computer screen for the next few hours to try and put up the Lotus Lantern Festival, my trip to the east coast of Korea over the long weekend for Buddha's Birthday, the Cherry Blossom Festival, and the Third Annual Seoul World DJ Fest. I have a cup of coffee. I have a bottle of water. I've made and eaten my dinner. I am ready.

But.

Before I do, as my mother so exactingly reminded me, I only have 40 days left before I plan to leave Korea. I am struggling right now with what to do about next year. For the past month or more, I've been talking to recruiters (several of which have driven me nuts with their inattention to my requests - like suggesting I work for the public school district that hires anywhere outside of Seoul when I specifically said I wanted to be in Seoul) to try and find another job. I've gotten several opportunities for schools that were interested in me, but very few that I was interested in for various reasons, mostly including lower pay, outside the area I wanted to live in, or undesirable working hours. I've gotten two official job offers, one of which I've politely declined. The second one has requested a decision by the end of the week or they will offer the position to someone else, which is fair enough.

The problem lies with the other two jobs I'm considering. One is with a public school district called Gangnam, where three of my friends are currently working. The pros: higher pay, good area, more holiday days/days off, better working hours, possibility for overtime. The cons: I won't know what school I'll be working at until the day I start, I won't know how close my house is to my school, and there's a high chance it won't be anywhere close, the classroom setting itself is a bit more stressful and difficult than a hogwan, I may be the only foreign teacher in the school. I've passed the first two phases of the application process (a resume that they're interested in, and sending in a lesson plan for a specific age group and topic), and now I have a phone interview with them on Thursday.

The other job is the job that I REALLY wanted. I found the company on my own and interviewed with them almost two months ago. At the time, they told me they wanted to hire me at 3-3.2 million won a month, but no positions were available yet for August or September (since our family reunion is at the end of July I can't come back until 8/1 at the earliest). The problem came when they called me last week to tell me two positions had opened up for one of their locations in Hakdong (where the other hogwan I'm considering is located). It seems that the two positions are evening shifts: 2:30pm-10:30pm. Which means that I would not have a life. I know myself well enough to know that I would end up sleeping in every day until noon instead of taking advantage of having the morning off to explore, and I wouldn't be able to do anything with my friends after work, as they all have to get up early and would be getting ready for bed when I'm finishing up for the day. Aaaanndd, they said it was only 2.7, and not 3mil for the job. They are still willing to hire me, but they don't have any other positions they know of at the moment, though some may open, so it's a wait-and-see deal with them.

So, I have until Friday to decide, at the very least, if I want to decline an official offer in preference of a possible/probable better offer, or if I want to accept an official offer because it's an actual offer and not just the possibility of one. My friends on Facebook have been offering their opinions and advice in a semi-voting sort of way. So - anyone else have an opinion?