I survived week 1!

All in all, I'd say this was a very successful first week. My coteacher takes such good care of me! I went to get an Alien card, it'll be here within the month. I then could use my new alien number to get a bank account, and a cell phone. And WHAT a cell phone. After my decrepit blackberry, I really don't know what to do with this high tech thingamajig. Of course, give me a week and I'll be as hooked as the rest of you.

The cell phone shop owner was sweet, he said his very first customer was a foreigner, yay. Also you get so many extras here in Korea. He gave me and my coteacher free phone covers, and also gave me a screen scratch protector. He then asked me what colour I'd like him to order for ANOTHER phone cover as all he had was black! I have a Samsung Galazxy RStyle, I believe it is a Korea only phone. Unfortunately I will have to buy it out of the 2 year contract early, but it won't be unreasonable and I think I'll be able to re sell it. Or maybe I'll stay for two year ;) My coteacher said I should.

The food has continued to amaze me. Yesterday we took the day off to go into Ulsan to register for the alien card. Yay. But Koreans love to feed me so my coteachr bought me dumplings for lunch. SO GOOD. She showed me a place right by my apartment that sells giant burger sized dumplings. We got kimchi ones, they were super amazing and super spicy. We also passed by this store:

I'm famous!

Today I went back to school and did my intro for 4 more classes. Lunch was AMAZING. It was something called Ssambap I think. Basically rice, beef stew and some yummy sauce wrapped in lettuce and giant herb leaves. It was kinda mexican tasting, and super delicious.

About teaching: It's astounding how different each class if. Also it is sad how huge the skill levels are. I have some students who stare at my, absolutely petrified, then I have others who will casually say "No, thanks." or some other colloquial term. I have been singing an old camp song "There was a great big moose" and I swear I will never ever sing this song again haha. It gets quite tiring. Luckily, they all like the funny versions of it (slow motion, underwater) but I have yet to determine if they're laughing at or with me.

Today I got the most "hello" and "hi"s so far. Children on the street pretty much yell it at me haha. Sometimes I also get a "nice to meet you!". My favourite was as I was walking by some kids playing soccer one starting frantically calling out " HI! HI! HI! HI! HI!" It took me a while to realize this was to me, and not a soccer call.

Everyone also keeps telling me I'm pretty. Whether or not I agree, I will take the compliment. Ok not everybody. This morning a teacher asked me what was wrong because my eyes looked so tired? I was not tired!

Random thoughts:

- I'm so happy my coteacher showed me how to turn on the hot water.

- I have NOT been doing polite hand gestures at all. I completely forgot. Luckilly, no one seems offended, and they usually laugh when I try to remmeddy the situation a few minutes later.

- My coteacher said I am good at teaching.. but she's so nice I'm not sure if she's telling the truth. One of my classes actually went INSANE today I thought I might get trampled haha.

- Teaching is hard work yo!

- Koreans use the "~" symbol instead of "-" to mark points, or notes, which made me very confused. I thought everything was an approximation for a while.

- It's amazing how quickly a fish hater can become accustomed to fish tasting everything

- I have no idea how to use a rice cooker. Korean instructions/buttons don't help.

Today I went for a walk

Turns out I'm not in the most scenic of areas, but that's ok. I wandered over a bridge and almost choked on smog. I walked over to a hill and saw a path so I walked up to to breathe some fresh air.

Well that explains the spiderwebs I felt!

I then walked along the water which was actually quite nice.

 I think teaching went well! Only 1 class was too cool to do what I asked haha but they weren't mean or anything. They just are at that age I suppose. Here are some pictures from my walk!

Ok this isn't from my walk but how
awesome is it? Found it in
the grocery store! Even the teachers
at school were impressed with
my luck! 

There were tons of egrets. There was something else too,
looked quite a bit like a great blue heron. None would
pose for photos though.

Not sure what's happening here but it looks cool and Korean.

Random wild patch of zucchini. I
recognized that  flower from a
cooking debacle.

The only splash of colour amidst
the rather drab architechture  

Pretty mountains always

Bugs!

This is for you AchAar.

You can't really explain the feeling...

Here is a thought process that is becoming a little too common..

Oh god I need to pee

YES a bathroom

Oh god no toilet paper in stall

YES there is some by the sink

OH GOD SQUATTING TOILET

...panic panic panic...

Aahhh.. western style toilet.

With many thanks DASA Rang

“With many thanks DASA Rang who aims the top of the chicken industry together Fhranchise difference becomes the leader of industry.  Currently at day culminates Fhranchise difference cu the chicken market is becoming larger gradually with increase of the interest regarding and consuming. It will lead a chicken market in the management philosophy which many thanks DASA Rang is discriminated and organization it will go out. Strongly with many thanks DASA Rang who equips the professionalism and discrimination of top from all fields future together.”

Beautifully put Dasa Rang. Beautifully put.

Apartment & Day 1

Hello faithful blog readers,

Today went very well! I walked to school with my co-teacher and began meeting everyone. I met the principal and vice principal and sat in the wrong chair and was very embarrassed. Turns out the one they point to isn't the one you sit in? I did use my broken Korean to address them though, and gave them all some maple syrup. They were speaking in Korean, presumably about me, and seemed happy enough. The principal did say I looked young, asked what my degree was (eek never felt so embarrassed of a BSc haha) and then said that teaching would be hard. The vice principal had fun saying my last name. They gave me green tea and were sort of warning me that it was green, and then my coteacher told them I had bought green tea at the grocery store and they all seemed happy.

Next up I met all the grade 5 and 6 teachers, as those are the two grades I will be teaching. I used my 3 Korean phrases and got a very positive reaction! They clapped and smiled and then they told me which men were single. I will be teaching English with a lot of homeroom teachers who don't speak much of it, but they all offered to help in any way they could.

I also will be teaching a single grade 3 class, which I think will be fun to mix it up. There is another Guest English Teacher at the school and he passed on his grade 3  knowledge to me.

I finished up my introduction lesson which I will be able to show for about a week because I have so many different classes (there's eight grade 5 classes and nine grade six's!). My coteacher said I was very good at computers ! Thank goodness my high school made us do a powerpoint presentaiton for every project ever - the skill has come in quite handy.

As promised, here are some pictures!

Oh my goodness how could I forget to discuss food. I had a cup of noodles for breakfast, and then had the school lunch. What was served? Rice, kimchi, soup, dried cuttlefish, weird cold omelette, and.. SPAGHETTI! What a lovely surprise. I was forced to eat the spaghetti at an excruciatingly slow pace due to my tools being chopsticks. The rest of the meal was really good too (except the weird cold omellete): the kimchi was much better than at orientation, and the cuttlefish was actually amazing. I didn't know it was cuttlefish until after I tried and enjoyed it. I totally thought it was a mushroom! There was so much food that I was unable to finish my plate out of fullness, and not distaste.

Finally, the weirdest thing to happen to me today: the previous tenant/teacher left behind some shampoo and conditioner. The shampoo is all in English, so much be an import. It says "violet shampoo to remove brassiness from blond hair." I thought "whatever, marketing gimick" but OH MY GOODNESS it was so horrifyingly purple and dark I fear my hair will be dyed purple. I am definitely buying some shampoo tomorrow.

Oh also the kids seem very cute. The brave ones said hi to me. The very brave ones asked my name and said I was pretty. I could totally get used to this.

Kitchen where the previous tenant was kind enough to leave
an ashtray mug and popcorn wrapper haha.

The living room with all my luggage in it.

Isn't that a cute toilet seat? It's
about as firm as foam but it looks
nice! The shower head is behind
the door.

I have so few clothes that this
was actually more than enough
space for them.

My double bed! Alas now I need to find double sheets

Washing machine that brutally
maimed my dresses.
Luckily I have a needle
and thread!

Really my photos are inspiring.

First day, off to inspire. 

Interesting breakfast. Tea, ramen,
and a bunch of little maple syrups.

My school!

My building! It says: Ma ee Uyae ee
Hom I think..  The Uyae I;m not
too sure on.

Moved in!

Hi guys!

I know I said I wouldn't have internet, but I am lucky and do! I am currently on a neighbours wireless and the signal is not too bad while I wait for mine to be hooked up.

I woke up today around 5 30 because I was so nervous/excited! Packed everything up, had my last free breakfast (bacon and eggs for our last meal! so nice of them) and was OFF.

We drove from Jeonju (Orientation location) to Gumi, where we had  lunch. Lunch included more bibimbap and a seafood pajeon (turns out this is the fried pancake thing I had my first night). Pretty much, my favourite two Korean dishes. Pajeon is actually so amazing. Today's again contained various tentacles and a bunch of fresh little onions. Yum.

But on to more exciting things! I met my co teacher and was driven to Gyeongju! She seems extremely nice, and I think we had a very pleasant ride. She's been to Canada a bunch of times, and so I am please to know she'll like the maple syrup I brought her. Her car GPS was out of this world. It included a 3D map of where we were which was accurate to the point of showing specific buildings around us. It had little 3d people walking across the crosswalks. It would warn her when she was speeding if a taffic camera was coming up. It was amazing. She was amused by my amazement.

I got to my apartment which was nothing like I expected... it was much better! My kitchen, living room, laundry room and bedroom are all separate rooms! There is a whole bunch of stuff here including dishes, cleaning products, and a drying rack. There is A/C! There is internet! There is a TV in case I want to watch Korean TV! Haha. So exciting!

Another bonus: I'm in a bustling little area. I am 5 minutes from a big grocery store, and 10 minutes from my school. There are cafes and restaurants everywhere. I really want to wander around, but I have decided to spend today unpacking. Tomorrow I will wander and take good pictures for you guys.

Tomorrow I start at the school eeeeeee. I am going to spend the day observing, and then Wednesday I will start teaching. My coteacher asked me to prepare a little introduction class about me and Canada. Shouldn't be too hard... right?

Oh and also she said I will be mainly teaching grades 5 and 6 which I think sounds like a good age group. It's a huge school with 9 different grade 6 classes, ayeuy. Another teacher from EPIK found out today that they'd be teaching at 3 middle schools and 1 high school.. poor guy!!

Ok MAJOR rambling, I apologize. The computer chair I am sitting in is one of the most comfortable chairs I've ever sat in, so blogging currently is much more enticing than unpacking.

ONE MORE THING: I have somehow managed to learn the Korean alphabet! It's very logical so it hasn't been too hard. Understanding what I'm reading, however, is a whole different story haha. I am too hyper to spell check. Deal with it.

I will be teaching in Gyeongju!!

OK EVERYBODY

.

I am going to be teaching elementary in Gyeongju! I have highlighted where that is and where Adri will be for those of you who know her ;)

So tomorrow I leave my safety net of orientation and head out into the big unknown. I will be meeting my co-teacher, who getting along with is crucial to my sanity in Korea. I may also meet my principal and vice principal, so I have to look very sharp. (Not fun in this heat) I finally figured out why Koreans like everything so high necked (ok so this is just a theory)... because when you bow you can see down any other neckline! I'm so smart.

Now for the sad news: I will be losing my free internet. So if I am MIA for a few days, do not worry. I am merely internet-less. And phone-less. I'm sure I'll be able to find a cafe close by though!

Food for thought (slash food for me)

Here is an excerpt on the Wiki page for Gyeongju cuisine:

"The soup is made by boiling soybean sprout, sliced memilmuk (buckwheat starch jelly), sour kimchi (pickled vegetables) and gulfweed in a clear broth of dried anchovy and Alaska pollack.[123]
The east district of Gyeongju, Gampo-eup town, is adjacent to the sea, so fresh seafood and jeotgal (fermented salted seafood) are abundant. There are over 240 seafood restaurants in Gampo Harbor offering various dishes made with seafood caught in the sea, such as hoe (raw fish dishes), jeonboktang (an abalone soup), grilled seafood and others."

Wish me luck!!

Field trip and Orientation

Yesterday we got a nice break from all these classes, which was wonderful. We went to Keumsan temple and saw gorgeous temples and monks. I could have happily stayed in one of the temples for hours. It's amazing how serene it is. There were a few people praying as well, and many bags of rice as homage to Buddha.

We then had authentic (and delicious) bibimbap (as it was invented in this area) in Hanok Village. We walked around the town, which was amazing and got me so excited for this year. We were a few hundred, all in the same shirts, so I am excited to venture my future placement town and get to know the locals as an individual instead of a member of a herd. 

We spent the afternoon doing traditional Korean cultural activities: drumming, dancing, and pencil box making. It was all a ton of fun, although I messed up being the lion's head in dance class. It is very disorienting being in a very hot stuffy "lion" costume while a man is enthusiastically speaking to you in Korean. Speaking of Korea, I am slowly but surely acquiring a little bit of the language. I went to a Walmart type store yesterday and everyone was happy when I could say thank you. I may have bought some mozza sticks from a Korean type McDonalds. Don't judge me; yesterday's dinner was so pickled and so fishy. Speaking of fish, I had some baked flathead today that was so good I got a second piece ! I also am in love with lotus root, which is essentially pretty Asian potato.

Anyways, classes have been on all day today and now it is time for my after dinner Korean lesson. I will have to edit this post later so bear with any errors.

I'm not going to stop being obsessed with these gingkos.

This one's for you mommy

Cool stone pile offerings to Buddha

No blog post would be complete
without some food shots. Note
the piece of squash. So good.

HUGE AMAZING RAINBOW

It is so green and lush everywhere due to the humidity.

Found some pretty fun wall art in Hanok Village.

Medical exam

We weren't allowed to eat or drink anything before the medical exam since before going to bed. It is very hot. After the blood test we were given two treats to make up for this: grape juice, and a hot dog bun filled with very sweet whipped cream.

When I made it back to the dorms, I couldn't agree more with the sign on the water cooler:

Best pure water glory indeed!

Orientation begins

Yesterday marked the first official day of our orientation. It is very organised, and it seems to be an excellent transition into living in Korea. Because I am surrounded by so many other westerners, it almost feels like I am not even in Asia. Especially with our frequent trips to Paris Croissant.

We are staying in Jeonju University. It's a super snazzy university with all new electronic things. The best part about the university however, is its slogan: The place for superstars! How happy is that? As I've said, my room has a gorgeous view. After my last post I was able to watch the sunrise and it was gorgeous.

The place for superstars!!

Sunrise over Jeonju

During our first day of orientation we had a sweltering and sticky campus tour, following by some amazing opening ceremonies. We watched a Korean musical group play four traditional percussion instruments while a dancer swirled an Olympic style ribbon from atop his helmet. Amazing. There we go I googled it and found the real terms :  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samul_nori

Next up we saw the Jeonju University Taekwondo team who performed first a dance to Kpop and then Taekwondo demonstrations. It was amazing. And by demonstrations I mean like crazy flips in the air to crack boards with their feet left right and center. They even had a "fight" scene, and a comic relief skit. I feel hesitant to post  images of these people as I didn't have their permission, but here is a quick clip of the finale of their show which I believe is fuzzy enough to make identification difficult. (please excuse it's sideways-ness. Windows Movie Maker videos are popped out in a weird format so I can't edit it right now) This was followed by some very impressive speeches from the university's President and a Korean ambassador who assured us the taekwondo team would keep us very safe. Our day ended with a tasty banquet, full of delicious things. I sat next to a vegetarian and her plate of sad salad once again confirmed my decision to eat animals for the year.

Today is Day 2 which includes our medical exam. Sadly, this means we don't get any breakfast which is why I am hungrily posting this. The exam includes measuring our height, weight, blood pressure, blood, urine, and an x-ray. Apparently it's basically a drug test. Afterwards we get snacks, and they had better be good. This afternoon we begin our classes! Classes include teaching lessons, Korean culture lessons, and Korean language classes. Should be very interesting! We also will have a final project to present a lesson plan. My two teammates seem very nice and competent; one is even a real teacher!

Gingko Bilboa lined street!! They're actually native to Asia
so they look so much happier out here.

Nice to feel welcomed! 

Jet Lag

I thought I had escaped its clutches in London, but jet lag has finally caught up to me here in Korea. I am up and awake at 4AM after passing out after lunch, waking for dinner, then passing out after dinner again. Ah well.

I am currently at Jeonju University, and tomorrow (well I guess later today) the EPIK orientation starts. At the end of this orientation is when I finally figure what city I am posted to and what age group of kiddies I'll be teaching. Woohoo!!

There are so many people here, and they are all sooo eager, it feels a lot like the first day of camp mixed with frosh week. A lot of people have education backgrounds, so I have yet to find another science nerd. No one got as excited as me (or excited at all) by the squished praying mantis in the bathrooms or the Korean magpie outside the window!

The university we are staying at has really nice dorm rooms. My bed is right up against floor-to-ceiling windows so when I roll over there is a trippy moment of feeling like I am about to fall. It's more pleasant than it sounds. It is unbearably hot unfortunately, and the weather forecast shows no changes anytime soon. I cannot understand how Koreans developed a no-tank-top policy in this insane weather. Our room is a sauna, and the fan always shuts off (to prevent fan death I imagine) so throughout the night we are awoken by stifling stillness and have to turn it back on. Hopefully after a few days my blood will thin. When I say we I am referring to my roommate, who is the same person from the hotel the other night. We got along so well she asked to stay together. She is from Miami and even she is suffering in this humidity. 

Anyways, I look forward to this very sweaty but exciting ten days! Tomorrow we get a tour, a welcome ceremony, and dinner. It looks like it will be a full but very informative and fun orientation. I hope to absorb as much info as I can to help with the actual job I came here to do!

Also this amused me: someone tried to convince me that here in Korea it gets so cold (average is around 0 but occasionally falls as low at -12) that if you were to go outside with wet hair, your hair would snap right off! I tried to explain that despite this information being relayed to her by a Korean, it was impossible. After four years of going to high school with soaking wet hair in Montreal (where it gets a fair bit colder than -12) I had yet to experience cold induced baldness. 

And now for some pictures! The food is all from restaurants I went to before tonight, because from now on it's gonna be much less exciting cafeteria food. 

My first dinner in Korea. Pajeon are Korean style fried
savory pancakes. They were delicious. My very first
time eating tentacles! I also tried a mollusk filled soup.
I can't believe how adventurous I'm being in animal
eating. Was 100% a good idea to try meat before
leaving to reduce the food shock.

Lost in Translation style DeNiro. 

Lunch of good ol classics Dol Sot
Bibimbap and bulgogi. My
roommate can already read
Hangeul which is how we
managed to order anything.

There is a chain of cafes called
"Paris Croissant." I think this
will be an excellent treat when
I am craving non pickled things.

This is a super weird Korean desert. It involves crushed ice,
ice cream, red beans (like actual legume beans) and
fruit. I was not a huge fan.. yet.

My welcome to Epik package! I'm so glad I didn't end up
packing a towel 'cause I was given a nice big one!

Beautiful view from my room.

Amusing bathroom shoes to be worn when the
shower curtain-free bathroom is soaked post
showers. 

Vita MULTI

"Nature complex vitamin is clear to woman who intend skin original pureness and I will protect with clean skin"

I am so happy there's an empty bottle of this in my room.

Made it to Korea: First thoughts

Hurray! I have survived the journey. All my luggage did as well! Nothing was over weight! So successful.

Some initial thoughts:

-People were not kidding about how tiny Korean bath towels were!
-I'm even more shy in Korean than in French.
      -BUT the Koreans seem pretty happy with my 1 word vocab of "Thank you"
-It's pretty cool being bowed to. Head bow + smile has been my major form of communication so far.
-The brown rice green tea that was in my room is amazing. It's like DavidsTea only not over priced!
-The song that welcomed me into the hotel shuttle? I Want it That Way. Amazing.

Some initial images:

HAHAHA to everyone who said I could be vegetarian here.
I have no idea what I am eating. It is sushi like.

I'm in a hotel so the bathroom is
pretty normal looking..
until you start showering and
realize water is going
EVERYWHERE...

... and then the water goes down here! I felt like a very
very rebellious child making such a mess of the bathroom.

really cool idea. When the key is removed
from this slot,all the lights and A/C turn off!

The very covert A/C that took me
over and hour of extreme sweatiness
to realize was there.

I will part by letting you know the following : I was unable to finish both "Bel Ami" and "Deep Impact" and instead opted to re-watch Downtown Abbey, Miranda, and play InsanAquarium. Who else remembers that awesome game!! (I may have found it by searching the kids' section.......)