Seven days and counting

The Christmas season just isn't the same as an expat, far away from friends and family.  This is the first year I've been away from home for Christmas and it's a very odd experience.  Add to this that for Koreans, Christmas is a whole different ballgame.  They don't celebrate to the same extent as Americans and from what I've been told, it is more of a couples holiday.  In any case, the atmosphere is lacking a certain je ne sais quoi.  It will be especially weird on Christmas, not being with my family.  I'm thinking a nice Christmas brunch is in order but I don't have the plans hammered out yet.  If I was ever going to feel homesick, this would be the time of year I would be.

It's been a long week due to the persistent cold that seems to want to stick around no matter what.  I'm hoping I've gotten myself over it this weekend but I don't think I going to be that lucky.

The temperature has dropped into the teens several days this last week and many of the Koreans that I have seen have seemed mostly oblivious to this.  I am not a very good judge of cold weather simply because I hate it and I lived in Miami for four years, but I still think it is considered to cold to go bare legged, which is something I saw a woman doing a few days ago.  I have also seen a fair amount of translucent tights and only sweatshirts without coats.  I really don't understand.  I look like a fraking marshmallow most days and I'm still cold.

There are only seven days left until Christmas and only ten days left until my mom and brother get here.  I'm ridiculously excited.

Korean number of the day: 구 (goo) and 아홉 (ah-hope) - nine
Korean word/phrase of the day: 크리스마스 (ke-ree-se-ma-se) - Christmas

Baby, It's Cold Outside

I have a lot to catch up on.  I have been uncomfortably busy.  Hence, I'm probably getting sick again as happens when my sleep schedule is tampered with.  I really hope this is not the case but I will know in a few days.

Okay, so backing up a couple of week, I had a lavish Thanksgiving celebration the Sunday after Thanksgiving.  Ovens are not a normal occurence in Korean so Brittany and I "borrowed" one of our Korean friend's apartments and ovens to throw our party.  We got a turkey and everything.  We then proceeded to cook for 10 hours straight.  Needless to say it was delicious and too much food.  I didn't really have to eat for a day afterwards.

The last two weeks, I have been writing grade reports, tests, lesson plans, spelling list and a story with my kindergartners for their end of the year story book that is going to be eighteen pages long.  I'm really not sure how I made it through, but I did.  And now for celebration.  I'm excited to sleep massive amounts this weekend.

On Thursday, I had my first brush with Russian food.  I went with Erik and Brittany to a restaurant called Gostinii Dvor in an area of Seoul that is kind of like their middle eastern Asia village.  There were lots of signs in Cyrillic to prove it as such.  I had no idea what to expect, but it was really very good.  I don't really like beets, but I thought I'd get borscht just to try a traditional soup and I liked it very much.  We also got some cabbage rolls stuffed with meat and potato, some Russian ravioli stuffed with lamb and Erik got several different kinds of beer which he generously let me try.  For dessert we had this honey cake thing that was similar to baklava only more dense.  Russian food gets a thumbs up, but I think it wouldn't be as appealing during the summer since it is all fairly dense.

In the last week, the weather has finally and officially taken a turn for winter.  My hair froze on the way to work yesterday.  I really need to get out the blow dryer, but I hate getting up any earlier than I have to.  I will definitely have to buy some long underwear sometime soon.  It's only just barely gotten below freezing, but it's very windy most days and it's also a damp cold so it cuts through your clothing.  It also makes my nose look like Rudolph's.  Super attractive.

However much I hate being cold, I love snow.  It snowed for the first time this year yesterday morning while I was walking to work and it was beautiful.  Big fluffy flakes of it.  It didn't stick but it was totally awesome to look at.


Korean number of the day: 팔 (pal) or 여덟 (yoh-deolb) - eight
Korean word/phrase of the day: 추워요 (choo-wuoh-yoh) - I am cold.

Pepero Food Baby

Every year, on November 11th, Koreans celebrate a holiday called Pepero (빼빼로) Day.  For those of you that are familiar with the Japanese snack, Pocky, it is exactly like Pocky, only Korean.  For those of you who are not familiar, Pepero consists of a thin cookie stick that is about four inches long and dipped in chocolate or a variety of other flavors if you so desire.  From a foreigner point of view, Pepero Day seems kind of like a snack based version of Valentine's Day, only crazier.  Basically, it's a mad frenzy of Pepero giving and you end up with a huge pile of the cookies and an ensuing Pepero shaped food baby.  Being the nice teacher that I am I gave all of my students Pepero.  I only got about half as much back but really that's a good thing because I do not want a  desk covered in Pepero for days.  I did however get some Ferrero Rocher from one of my students.  MONEY.  Pepero Day got me all pumped about Pi day in March.  Mmmmmm pie.

Persimmons are delicious.  I'm not sure how common they are in the US because, honestly, I haven't ever looked for them.  They have a texture half way between and pear and an apple and a flavor that is vaguely pear-like with a nice mango finish.  They are also ridiculously good for you, like pomegranates.  The last bunch I got was from one of my students who went and picked them last weekend, so now I have to figure out where to buy them.

Sometimes a girl just needs some retail therapy.  I know this sounds horrendously girly, but in all honesty I haven't really been shopping since I got here and I have a very minimum amount of winter clothes to withstand  the "Siberian" temperatures which are said to accompany winter here.  I am very excited about my purchase of a warm fuzzy bathrobe and bright pink jeans.

I had some fabulous Thai food last night.  I mean, I am closer to Thailand than I have been for most of my life so it would make sense that the Thai food is better.  Though somehow, this doesn't seem to work for Chinese food quite the same way.

Koreans aren't huge on breakfast.  They mainly just eat rice and kimchi.  Because of this, it is not a very common occurrence to find pancakes, eggs and bacon, and when you do it is on the expensive side.  There happens to be a lovely place near where I live called Butterfinger Pancakes that specializes is this and on Thursday I had a nice brinner there.  It was a little on the expensive side, but it was totally worth it.  My meal consisted of cherry tomatoes, carmelized onions, two strips of bacon and two eggs sunny side up all on top of a Belgium waffle with chives in the mixture.  I was expecting just okay, overpriced breakfast food, but this was totally worth the money.  Their food was fabulous.  It is up there with my favorite breakfast place at home that has pancakes that taste like vanilla wafers.

It's been really nice having Yin-A around at work this week.  Lots of bonding and reconnecting.  Everyone at work loved her so they are currently trying to see if they can get her a job at school.  I really hope they can work it out but I have my doubts.  We are apparently expanding next year so we will need new teachers, although there has been no mention of this need in any of the discussions.  There is also a problem because many parents have problems with the American teacher being on Asian decent.  The kids do think that the teacher is Korean at least at first, but the teacher is still a native English speaker and they still learn unaccented English.

Brittany got back last night completely wiped from her flight but she brought me some lovely American goodies.  Wooo Benadryl and conditioner!

Korean number of the day: 칠 (cheel) or 일곱 (il-gope) - seven

Korean word/phrase of the day: 선생님 (sun-saeng-nim) - teacher

I need about three naps

Some crazy things be happening these last two weeks.

First, one of the Korean teachers got in a car crash last Monday and has been in the hospital for a week and a half. As far as I know she's going to be fine, but the only reason we've been able to cover her extra classes is because we had new teachers starting their training last Wednesday and they've been subbing.

On that note, three new teachers started this week and three left.  Much crazy hecticness.

We had the costume incident on Halloween which was not so great, and that morning Brittany found out that her grandmother died suddenly on Sunday night in California.  She has been a mess since and left yesterday to go back to the US for a week after a whole debacle with the principal  about what is the appropriate way to get a sub for an emergency situation.

Thankfully, my friend Yin-A is back in the country with a recently expired contract and an F4 visa so she can legally cover for Brittany this week.

Every kindergarten class had a musical presentation for their parents this week so all of the teachers were getting ready for that and making sure the kids were all ready.  My class did the Wizard of Oz.  They were freaking adorable.

This is also the week of grade reports and writing end of the month tests, so it's been totally crazy.

It hasn't been a horrible week, it's just been a lot of stuff to deal with all at once.  I mean, I love Halloween, so even the costumes getting in late and all of the other junk going on couldn't destroy my enjoyment of the holiday.

On a more happy note, I finally ordered some new sheets for my apartment.  Sheets in Korea are actually hella expensive and not particularly common so I just ordered some from an American site and had a larger selection and a slightly lower price even with shipping.  It will be nice to not have to wait for the top sheet to dry to put it on my bed, seeing as how I only have one.

Korean number of the day: 육 (yook) or 여섯 (yo-sote) - six
Korean word/phrase of the day: 미국 (mi-gook) - USA

Smell my feet

HALLOWEEN!!! WOOOOOOO!!! Slight fiasco this morning. Brittany, Jamie and I rented our costumes online and they were supposed to be delivered on Saturday just to be on the safe side. Instead, they didn't get there until almost noon. So I spent more than half of my Halloween party time costumeless. I wanted to be a peacock dammit, is that so hard to accomplish? I expect Jamie to rip them a new one in Korean since I can't translate.

I had the interesting experience today of trying to carve a pumpkin with a butcher knife. I'm actually astonished I was able to make eyes and a mouth and not completely destroy the pumpkin in the process because the knife was so huge. The kids were totally grossed out by the pumpkin guts and kept telling me they were worms.

Koreans don't really celebrate Halloween, which is really too bad because I think it is one of the most fun holidays. Okay, so kids get hopped up on sugar and are started down the short road to diabetes but the costumes and pretending are a fantastic time. I got a lot of weird looks when I left school to go get a coffee milk on my break. I definitely heard someone say something about 외국인 (foreigners) very loudly at one point as well. Considering how few white people I see around, it was definitely directed at Brittany and me in our partial costumes.

Even with this lack of celebration in Korea as a whole, 이태원 (Itaewon), the foreigner area of the city, still had quite a shindig because of it's western population. On Saturday night, Brittany and I went for our usual taco Saturday, but to switch it up a little but we headed down to 이태원 to look at costumes. It definitely reminded me of college, in particular, the Grove in Miami, but with less creativity on the costume front. Unfortunately, I was sick this weekend and went home early, but I still love Halloween. There were a surprising amount of angry birds.

Korean number of the day: 오 (oh) or 다섯 (da-sote) - five
Korean word/phrase of the day: 외국인 (weigh-gook-een) - foreigner

Korean viruses suck

I thought my immune system had finally adjusted to Korea.  I hadn't been sick for at least two months and I was super exited, but then BOOM sore throat and cough city.

This week, one of my kids asked me why my eyes were green and not blue.  The only response I had was that my mom has brown eyes and my dad has brown eyes because this is not a normal question to be asked.  I guess it makes sense that they wouldn't really know because all Asians have black or brown eyes.  They don't see the whole rainbow of eye color in people who are related like we do in western society.

While my overall preference is still for the US, there are definitely some things I will miss about Korea.  Of course, being me, they're all food related.  First, I will miss the abundance of flavored milk.  Okay, the chocolate milk here compared to American chocolate milk sucks, but they have a number of other delicious flavors such as strawberry, banana and coffee, all readily available at any convenience store

Second, I will miss red bean flavored things.  It looks kind of like chocolate, but if you are expecting chocolate you will be sorely disappointed.  I think it may be an acquired taste, but I really like it.

Third, ice cream flavors are awesomely Asian.  They have green tea, black sesame and all kinds of unusual stuff like that.  They may sound weird but they are delicious.  I especially like the green tea flavor.

Last, rice cakes are delicious.  Especially the sweet ones.  They are a fantastic snack and nothing like the Quaker ones.  They are cakes make out of rice flour, not popped rice things and they are squishy and wonderful.

Three new teachers arrived at school last week.  We have a new Korean teacher and two new American teachers.  The Korean teacher's name is Sarah, which I am a little peeved about, but she seems very nice.  So far, I like her better than, July, the teacher that she is replacing who has only been her for two months.  It's probably because July hasn't really tried to get to know any of us because she decided she wanted to quit two weeks after she started.

The two new foreign teachers seem pretty cool so far but I've been too busy to really talk to them much.  Shane is in his early thirties and from Canada and has a really entertaining, stereotypical Canadian accent and Adam is a new graduate from UCLA, so their pretty different in their backgrounds.  I'm pretty sad that John and Austin are leaving, it's going to be pretty weird without them here.

Halloween is tomorrow!!  Very excited.  There will be a plethora of pictures of tiny children in costumes.

Is it weird that I miss my snuggie?

Korean number of the day: 사 (sa) or 네 (neigh) - four
Korean word/phrase of the day: 의상 (eui-sahng) - costume

Winter approaches

Not to be a total creeper, but one of the tenants of the building next to me had the lights on in their window today and they have an analog clock that is the size of an entire wall.  In fact, I think it may be part of the wall.  Totally baller.

I will officially  no longer be freezing my butt off when the weather changes for the worse.  I went shopping with Brittany and Jamie and got a nice, long fluffy coat full of duck feathers.  So warm.  I also picked up a nice hat, two scarves and a pair of fingerless gloves.  Not dreading winter quite as much anymore.  Now to work on the warm shoes and sweaters front.

Speaking of winter, the weather has been really weird.  It suddenly got almost freezing and now it's in the 70s during the day.  I don't know what is going on.

I have my Halloween costume taken care of for this year.  I am going to be a peacock.  They have this nifty thing where you can rent them online and they deliver them to wherever you want.  Koreans don't seem to celebrate Halloween so much, but we're having a Halloween party at school which I'm fairly excited about.  I love Halloween.  But then again, I also love Thanksgiving, Easter and Christmas.  I think I just love holidays.

Graduate school apps are way too expensive.  For example, Columbia's business school charges $250 just to turn in the application.  Knowing their acceptance rates and their tuition costs, this seems quite a bit ridiculous.  Even if you know for sure you want to go there, there is no guarantee of you getting in after shelling out $250 and a possibility of having to do so again if you are completely determined.  Maybe they do it to reduce the number of applications they get but it seems to me it just limits the applicants to people who are rich and can pay the whole tuition by themselves or people who have little enough money to waive the fee and probably get their entire education subsidized by loans or scholarships because of their financial situation.

Korean number of the day: 삼 (sahm) or 세 (say) - three
Korean word/phrase of the day: 겨울 (gi-eo-ool) - winter

Ding dong ditch

For some reason, at 3am last night, some one decided it would be cool to repeatedly knock on my door and then leave before I got there.  Jerk.  Who does that?  Especially in an apartment building?

As winter is approaching, I'm considering winter clothing again and realizing that it will be kind of a challenge to find them.  My skin is uber sensitive to wool and even cashmere makes me itchy by the end of the day.  This poses a real problem in the sweater department because I can basically wear things that are cotton based and sometime acrylic based but these are no where near as warm as wool and quite a bit harder to find in heavier sweaters.  That and I can't read the tags in Korean.  I have been told that it gets ridiculously cold here in the winter and I'll need some really warm clothing to survive it.

My haircut model experience was not as exciting as I was hoping it would be.  From what the hairdressers where doing with my hair when they were discussing how to cut it, I thought it would be a little more edgy than it is.  It's pretty much like my normal hair with a little extra red thrown in.  It took about an hour and a half to cut so I know it will hold its shape well, but I'm still a little disappointed.  The show that was supposed to be today had been cancelled as well.  I had kind of been looking forward to it.  But hey, I did get a free hair cut and dye out of it.  There was another model who was having her hair cut at the same time, and she had this really short asymmetrical cut where the back part was dyed red, there was a middle stripe of purple, and the front was dyed almost black but not quite.  They brushed it all forward from the crown of her head so all of the colors were layered in the front and then cut it so that you could see all of them.  It was really neat looking.  I half want to do things like that to my hair but then I don't want to damage my hair and I don't want to deal with the upkeep of roots.  I still have the occasional desire to dye parts of my hair purple.  Her hair cut was definitely too short for me to deal with though.  I wouldn't have been able to get it out of my face if I was annoyed with it or if I was going to the gym.

If you are ever in Seoul (and have more than two other people to do this with), I highly recommend going to the fish market at 고량진 (Noryangjin).  It's apparently better super early in the morning when all of the stalls are open, but it's pretty fantastic at night.  There are rows and rows of sea food vendors with live fish, crustaceans, shell fish, and pretty much anything you could possibly want to eat that lives in the sea.  You buy whatever you want from them, they kill it and cut it up, then you take it to one of the many restaurants located right off of the market and they cook it for you for a little extra money.  They also serve beer, rice, etc, which can add up (especially the alcohol) but if you're not drinking and you have enough people it's a great experience.  I personally won't touch the still wriggling baby octopuses or the raw mussels (if that's how you decide to order them that way) but if you like to eat unusual things, this is one of the places to go.  I stick to the shrimp, sashimi and the spicy soup you can get at the end from the fish carcass.  It got me over my raw fish sushi phobia so it has to be a good experience, right?

Korean number of the day: 이 (eee) or 둘 (dool) - two
Korean word/phrase of the day: 물고기 (mool-go-gi) - fish

Yay reverse racism?

I am temporarily a ginger.  Well, closer to auburn since it's a tint and my hair wasn't bleached out but it's still a very dark red.  And I went ginger for free.   How did this happen?  A little thing I like to call reverse racism.

There's a hair salon two floors above the school at which I work.  I have been there a couple of times for a haircut, one of which was pretty good, the other of which was not.  The hairdresser that did the pretty good hair cut called my co-teacher Jamie and told her that he needed a short hair model for a show and had me in mind particularly.  After only cutting my hair one time, I am completely sure that his reasoning behind this was "oh she's white and has short hair, let's use her."  I am not complaining about this however.  So yesterday, I went in and had my hair tinted with a semi-permanent red for free because I'm their model.  Today, after work, I am going to the hair salon for 3 hours for a cutting demonstration, that will most likely be conducted in Korean, and on Sunday I have to go back for a show/competition.  I'm kind of excited, although I'm not sure how much I will like the cut.  It's just hair, it'll grow back, so I'm not too worried.  I shall take copious amounts of picture of this event for those that are curious.

Today is a spectacular day for a Tuesday.  I don't have to be at work until two because the Kindergartners are on a field trip/picnic to a park all day.  So I'm still sitting at home just chilling and it's awesome.

Korean number of the day: 일(eel) or 하나 (ha-na) - one
Korean word/phrase of the day: 미용사 (me-yong-sa) - hair stylist

A grape is a grape is a grape?

Koreans eat grapes funny.  The first time I saw someone in Korea eat a grape, I thought it was just their own personal quirk.  Then, I continued to see people doing it.  They suck out the inside of the grape and throw the skin away.  Maybe there is something fundamentally different about Korean grapes that I don't know about.  Even if the seeds are still in them this doesn't seem like sufficient reason to me to be a grape vampire.

Thursdays are awesome.  I now get out of work two and a half hours early.  Booya.  This also means that the sun is still out when I leave.  I also get to do random things other than go home, eat and sleep.  It also means that the next day is Friday.  New favorite day of the week right here.

Motorcycles in Korea suck.  It's not like in America where they will drive between the cars.  Instead, they do that and drive on the sidewalks and through pedestrian areas.  I am very tempted to arm bar one of them.

Fall is an awesome season for two main reasons.  Reason one: pumpkin flavored everything!!!  I love pumpkin flavored things.  Unfortunately they don't seem to be big on pumpkin here.  Even Starbucks doesn't have its seasonal pumpkin spice latte.  I miss the plethora of pumpkin.  Reason two:  I don't sweat when I go outside.  This means less clothes washing and more clothing choices.  I love fall fashion with its jackets, boots and layers.

Korean character of the day: ㅆ  - s sound; like yesterday,  this is a sound that we don't have in English, the best way that I can tell you that it is formed is by holding the b in a little longer and putting some pressure behind it like it is stuck and you are pushing it out
Korean word/phrase of the day: 포도 (poh-doh) - grape(s)

I have completely lost track of time.  Not in an "I don't know what day it is" kind of way but in an "I don't know how much time has gone by" kind of way.  I just realized that my high school is having a five year reunion for my class this year and I'm not going to be remotely able to go.  My high school was small so they have a reunion for each class every five years, but still.  I can't believe I'm at the point where I'd have a five year reunion.  I also forgot that my brother is graduating from college this year and I won't be able to go to that either.  I'm actually more sad about that one.  I can't believe my younger brother is getting so old.  He went to my graduation so I feel bad not being able to go to his.  He may be coming to visit with my mom at the end of December, so if he does I will feel a little better about it.  What to send him for a graduation present though, hmmmmmmmm.....

In any case, I don't feel that old.  I just shocks me that these things have crept up on me.  It's one of those "I can't possibly have done that that long ago, I don't feel old enough for that to be true" moments.  It is true that age is only a number.  It doesn't matter how old you are, it only matters how old you feel.  While I feel like a grown up, since I am living in a far away foreign country all by myself, I don't feel old.  Some people don't seem to realize that those are two different things.  I was told recently by one of my friends that he didn't want to be a "grown up" because "grown up" to him means, three kids, a desk job, a mortgage and in general just being miserable.  I was a little shocked because none of those things are what I immediately associate with being a grown up.  To me, "grown up" just means being responsible for and thoughtful of your actions.  Whatever you do besides that is up to you.  Although, I do know people who are considered adults who are neither.  Personally, I plan to keep my immature sense of humor and my ability to find the positive and enjoyable part any situation.  I like being able to see the world as a kid from certain angles while still holding the knowledge of an adult.  Whether that is considered being grown up or not, it is the version I prefer to the one that was presented to me of being miserable.

I'm 95% sure that I've finished my statement of purpose for my first grad school application.  I'm waiting on some feedback to say whether or not it seems submission worthy.  This is extremely exciting.  It means I can almost go back to using my free time to study Korean instead of writing papers.  WOOOOO!!!  Also, it means a little less stress for me and only waiting to see if I get money left.  I should probably apply for outside scholarships as well.

My cousin, who I haven't seen since I was 8, is in Korea today.  Super random.  She has professed the desire to see me, but considering it is almost dinner time and I haven't heard from her, I doubt it is actually going to happen.  She was here last month for a couple of days too but I didn't get to see her then either.

Korean character of the day: ㄲ - g sound; like yesterday,  this is a sound that we don't have in English, the best way that I can tell you that it is formed is by holding the b in a little longer and putting some pressure behind it like it is stuck and you are pushing it out
Korean word/phrase of the day: 가을 (ga-eul) - fall, autumn

A Puppy Named Taco

My "Taco Saturday" place has a new mascot.  It is a puppy.  His name is Taco.  He is one month old.  He likes to chew on my pants.  I want.  Puppy-napping is bad.  Bad, bad, bad.

My favorite kindergartner managed to slice open part of my nose with his fingernail and make it bleed.  I really don't know exactly how he did it.  His little nails must be super sharp.  He is also the kid who stuck his hand in a fan and had to get stitches and likes to put his forehead on yours and mash it into your head.  He has issues with being gentle.

I was told this week that the area that the teachers at my school live in is apparently know for prostitution.  I had no idea.  Although it does make sense now that every third store is a hair salon or a nail salon and that I will see girls in there getting their hair done at 11pm at night.  In any case, it doesn't make the neighborhood sketchy because they don't litterally walk the street or stand on the corners so it's not like you can tell.  I still really like the area where I live, it's just an interesting tidbid which makes some things make more sense.  Like the time Brittany saw a hooker coming out of a metro a 25 minute walk away.

I am now the proud owner of Apples to Apples.  For free.  Holla.  Thank you Peter DeMaio for leaving me this wonderfulness.

I wish my apartment automatically cleaned itself.  It's that time again, and while I can say there's nothing quite like a freshly cleaned bathroom I wish it would do it by itself.  Especially because I don't feel like it was super well taken care of before me and I get slightly grossed out while cleaning some of the moldly corners.  There is also a think layer of fuzz that likes to settle onto my floor and then get stuck on my feet when I walk around and I can't figure out where it comes from.

Korean character of the day: ㄸ - d sound; like yesterday,  this is a sound that we don't have in English, the best way that I can tell you that it is formed is by holding the b in a little longer and putting some pressure behind it like it is stuck and you are pushing it out
Korean word/phrase of the day: 복숭아 (boke-soong-ah) - peach

Minor Annoyance

Apparently open 24 hours in Korean means something other than it means in the US.  Instead of being open 24 hours a day/seven days a week except for the occasional holiday, it actually mean being open 24 hours from Monday morning through Friday night, Saturday during the day, and sporadically on Sundays.  Thanks gym for making it clear which Sundays you are open and not making me walk all of the way there only to discover that you are closed.  They should really write something different on the signs.  But I guess there is no really succinct way to explain there hours of operation that would fit in the same amount of space that the "24 hour" sign takes up.

I went to one of my coworker's baptism today.  It was the first time I'd been to a church since Christmas I believe.  I can't say it was really my ideology of Christianity but it was an interesting experience to say the least.  It was essentially like an American church.  The pastors and the congregation all spoke English and the ideas where similar to some churches that I have been to in the US.  Honestly, I'm more curious about the other religions practiced in Korea mostly because the majority of visible religion in the US is Christian.  In Korea, Christianity is only about a third of practiced religion.  The other two thirds are comprised of mainly Confucianism and Buddhism with a very little amount of Muslim and Baha'i sprinkled in.  The interesting thing about Buddhism and Confucianism are interesting as religions because in practice they are more a set of ethical values than a religion so the numbers for people who practice can vary greatly depending on what you count as practicing these religions.  In any case, since I rarely get to see anything else, especially being from the white-bread Midwest, I think it would be really interesting to see how the other religions are practiced here.

Korean character of the day: ㅉ - j sound; like yesterday,  this is a sound that we don't have in English, the best way that I can tell you that it is formed is by holding the b in a little longer and putting some pressure behind it like it is stuck and you are pushing it out
Korean word/phrase of the day: 역(yeok) - station (subway, bus, etc)

I love it when my breath smell like trees.

Apparently, forests taste kind of minty.  At least according to the 'Fresh Forest' flavored Korean toothpaste that I found in my apartment.  Koreans have some very unusual ideas of 'fresh mouth' flavors.  I have heard that you can find toothpaste flavors from green tea to salt, and a lot of others in between.  I would prefer not to try most of these considering that I don't want my mouth to taste like salt or 'purple' (as someone described the grape flavor) all day.  I also don't really understand how these flavors make your mouth feel clean afterwards, which to me, is the whole reason for choosing a toothpaste.  I have also been told that Korean toothpaste does not have fluoride in it, which is a little worrisome.  So I will be sticking with my good old American Crest and Colgate for my regular routine wherever I can find it. 

The interesting thing about living in a country where you know most people don't speak your language is that you begin to loose your public brain to mouth filter.  I have had some of the weirdest and not completely street appropriate conversations walking around the city because almost no one can understand us.  While everyone seems to know at least a little English, the level of comprehension and fluency is generally very limited.  They know enough to do their job, but not much past that.  After a while, you just kind of take for granted that no one can understand your conversations anymore.  When I was in a room with a bunch of Americans on the ferry back from Jeju Island, it was a very weird experience to be able to understand what people were saying around me again and to have to censor my speech.  It wasn't too pleasant of an experience because I was reminded of how dumb some of the things that people say are.  Then I started thinking about whether Koreans are saying anything of importance around me as I'm walking around clueless to their conversations.

It took a little under two days for the seasons to switch.  It was summer last Saturday, and then BOOM, Monday morning it was Fall.  I guess it is more than half way through September so it should be Fall, but there was very little warning.  Weird Korean seasons.

Despite the overwhelming plethora of coffee shops in Korea, I have mostly had to stick to Starbucks and the Coffee Bean which has been fairly lame.  For some reason, low fat and skim milk have not really made it to Korea, the land of the weight and looks obsessed women and men.  I would imagine that their preoccupation with their appearance would make them desire this lower calorie alternative, yet some how this is not true.  In any case, being as that I am slightly lactose intolerant, I really can't handle whole milk or I feel sick, and the only two places that I've found that have any kind of milk options are American exports.  Considering I now drink coffee everyday during the week to keep my self perky for the wee ones I teach, I would be nice to have a little more alternative, possibly of things that I couldn't buy down the street in America.

Korean character of the day:  ㅃ -  b sound; this is a sound that we don't have in English, the best way that I can tell you that it is formed is by holding the b in a little longer and putting some pressure behind it like it is stuck and you are pushing it out
Korean word of the day: 빵 (bbang) - bread

catch-up time

I have been remiss in my posting as of late.  I have has some super busy time that included Chiaki visiting, massive graduate school apps, a vacation to Jeju Island just south of Korea, and various random school things that have been put on my pile.

First, lovely time with Chiaki and her friend Mie in Seoul.  They knew more about what to see in the city than I do.  I had work on two of the days that they were here but I still got a fair amount of quality time and food sampling fit in.

Making progress on my graduate school apps but still not done.  So much writing.  Ugh.

My Korean co-teacher is getting a promotion because another one of the teachers is leaving so I've had more classes and more work lately, which is not all bad because I'm making overtime wages.

The Korean equivalent of Thanksgiving was last week so Brittany and I took a trip to a Korean island just off the southern coast.  We took a ferry over which was quite an interesting experience.  Instead of having seats, the ferry was divided up into larger rooms with floor mats and you just kind of found a space and sat down with your stuff.  It was really weird and not particularly pleasant.  The island was beautiful and we saw a couple of waterfalls, a beach, some mountains and ate a huge, expensive, delicious meal of sushi.  Jeju is known for a couple of different kinds of fish that only live there, a certain type of citrus called hallabong, chocolates, volcanic rock and women divers.  We saw/tasted everything except the divers.  It's also really interesting because it is a matriarchal society, unlike it's mainland counter part which is extremely patriarchal.  Right away you can notice that the traffic cops are female, and women have a more prominent role in the society.  All in all I had a good time, Jeju is definitely worth a visit.

Made a trip to Costco finally.  Yummmm, cheese.  And oatmeal.  It was good to see basic things that they don't sell in Korea.  And then eat them.  Yum yum yum.  I think it shall have to be a monthly occurrence.

Korean character of the day: ㅒ- yae, kind of like beginning of "yet" without the t
Korean word/phrase of the day: 제 이름은 ______ 이에요. (jay ee-rheum-eun ______ ee-ay-yo) - My name is _______.

I need at least two more hours in every day

I have to be very brief again this week because I don't have enough time for life.

Starting mid this week I'm loosing 75% of my breaks during the school day which means that now I basically have to do all of my class prep and grad reports outside of school.  On the plus side, this also means that my paycheck will be quite a bit bigger.

I'm still chugging away on my grad school application stuff.  Such a pain in the butt.  And I'm so lazy.

I am still poor and will be for two and a half more weeks.

My lip is not a swollen mess anymore and I can actually smile again which is awesome.  It's still a bit sore but it is getting better.

I have been here for a third of my time already and it's kind of freaking me out.

I have almost no time to study Korean right now and it makes me sad.

Chiaki coming for a visit in ten days which should be quite fabulous.  Unfortunately, I have to work for most of the days that she is here. :(

Korean character of the day:  ㅕ - sounds like 'yuh' but with slightly more 'o' sound
Korean word/phrase of the day: 꽃 (go-ch) - flower

Brief update....

and then back to my grad school application writing.  Yucky yuck yuck.

1. A taco place opened up down the street from where I live and it's not half bad.  It also appears like it might have live music at night on the weekends.  Booya.

2.  I have stitches in my lip.  Again.  They didn't the junk surrounding the cyst the first time around so they had to go back in.  So half of my lower lip is all puffy and swollen and lovely shades of bruised.  Needless to say this makes eating awkward as well as talking, smiling, showing large emotions with my face and not drooling.  I'm sure that there have been a good number of people who's first thought has been "Oh wow, she has an abusive significant other, poor girl."  I would much rather have them think that I am ridiculously clumsy or that I got into a fist fight and beat the shit out of the other person and was left with this small bruise.  I really hope they got it all this time because I really don't want to have them cut me open again.  I mean really, it shouldn't take three surgeries for educated doctors to get all of a small cyst on the inside of my lip.

3.  Healing from minor surgery makes me very, very tired.  Lots of sleeping has been happening.

4.  I ran out of crunchy JIF.  Le sigh.  Back to your not as good substitute, Super Chunky Skippy for $7 a pop.

5.  Massive amounts of grad school application writing.  It is very hard to get myself to just sit down and do it considering that it has been more than a year since I've written and academic paper.  Must focus.  And shell out large amounts of cash for application fees.  GAH.

Ok back to work.

Korean character of the day: ㅌ - t sound, aspirated
Korean word/phrase of the day: 사과 - apple

こんにちわ 日本! （Hello Japan!!)

Finally getting around to my Japan update!!! I know it has been two weeks, but I couldn't really write while I was in Japan and I have been on vacation withdrawal ever since.  I was also the end of the month and I had a bunch of paper work.  But anyway, JAPAN!

Got in to Tokyo super, super late two Mondays ago to a Miss Chiaki Mugita waiting for me at the airport.  We almost missed the last train to her house because it was so late.

We spent the next five days cavorting around Tokyo.  I saw the Meiji Shrine, Harajuku, Shinjuku, the mini statue of liberty and ate all kinds of goodies.  One of my favorite parts: conveyor belt sushi.  It is kind of amazing.  Basically a dollar (900 yen) for a plate of two, all you can eat.  Sushi is so expensive in Korea that I was extremely excited.  It was also extremely good.  They need to have suish-go-rounds here too.

Another of my favorites: Japanese hotsprings/bath house.  People in America have such weird hold ups about being naked, and while people in Asia are more concerned about how much upper body skin they show when they are wearing clothing, they could give a rip in locker rooms, bath houses and around friends.  A Japanese or Asian bath house is a fantastic and relaxing experience if you can get over the naked thing.  I got to wear a traditional Japanese robe, a yukata, and eat delicious breaded pork katzu and sit for hours in mineral hot tubs of varying temperatures.  Unfortunately they charged extra for massages and the little fish that eat the dead skin off of your feet but still amazing.

Overall I had a fantastic time in Japan.  A very large part due to getting to see Chiaki.  Japan is very different from Korea, but also the same.  It's very weird.  As soon as I got out of the airport I noticed that the people looked different, more real maybe.  They had more skin imperfections and they didn't dress as much the same or have similar hair cuts.  In Korea, most people have the same sense of style, get rid of all of their skin imperfections through surgery and mostly have dark brown or black hair.  It was totally different in comparison.  I think I liked it better because I didn't feel as much like I had to look as nice all of the time.  I would definitely like to go back, but I'm not sure when I would have a long enough break.

It was super nice to relax for a week.  I came back to the end of the month tests and grade reports.  Seriously  miss the relaxing part.

Korean character of the day:  ㅖ - sounds like 'yay'
Korean word/phrase of the day: 일본 (il-bone) - Japan

Summer vacation time!!

I am always sick here.  It sucks.  I always get sick when I'm stressed or don't get enough sleep for a fair period of time.  Also, having snotty little kids coughing on me and picking there noses grabbing my hands and hanging all over me probably doesn't help either.  So by the weekend, almost without fail, I always feel like I'm coming down with something.

I had a really high fever Thursday night for five hours or so and since then my stomach has been a wreck.  I hate being sick! I guess it's okay right now though because I don't have any money to spend on doing things right now cause I'm saving it for my vacation in two days.

Speaking of which, I'M LEAVING FOR JAPAN TOMORROW NIGHT!!!  I am muy excited.  I get to see my Chiaki bear!!!  I don't really have things to do planned out but I'm planning to do some research today.  Plus, I will be with a native Japanese person, so I'm expecting she will know some fun things to do.

I half want to start studying some Japanese just so that I can be a little prepared for my trip but every time I try to start I start feeling like my time would be better spent studying Korean instead because it is still driving me mad that I don't really understand that much.  I need to just sit down and start drilling vocabulary.  Maybe that would be a good plane activity.

Korean character of the day: ㅑ - ya sound
Korean word/phrase of the day: 병원 (byeong-when) - hospital

I do not understand Korean parents

The beginning of this week was the beginning of summer vacation for normal schools in Korea.  Unfortunately, it is not the vacation for the kind of private language institute at which I work.  Instead, the kids are coming to take intensive English courses at my school in the morning when they would normally be in regular school.  I'm sure this is not by their own choice.  Sure, it will be really good for their English, but they're overworked kids who need a break.  I would have probably had a melt down if I was in school as much as they are.

Somehow, despite the fact that there are so many more classes everyday now and we had to hire two extra teachers, I ended up with less classes.  Now I don't completely mind this, except that it means my pay check will be smaller because I have been working overtime the past two months.  All of the students who are taking summer intensive courses aren't going to their normal classes that I would teach, so one of my tutoring students is only doing that, and another one of them quit for unknown reasons.  So basically half of my afternoon classes don't exist anymore.  I do not know how I feel about this.

One of my more advanced students is going to Italy for a week over his summer vacation.  I'm really excited for him, partially because they speak a language that I know a fair amount of there and partially because I know they have delicious gelato.  He doesn't know any Italian, so I'm having a great time writing up a list of useful phrases and words for him while he's there.

My Korean is apparently better than I thought.  I'm doing a language exchange with one of the Korean teachers twice a week and she was thoroughly impressed with what little I feel that I do know.  Super happy time for me.  I'm still making slow progress, I'll let you know when I can hold real conversations.

In completely separate news, some of my pants are not fitting quite as well as they used to.  I think it's all of the rice.  Yikes.  I really need to get on that.

Korean character of the day:  ㅠ - sounds like "yoo"
Korean phrase/word of the day: 이것 (ee-guht) - this, 그것 (geu-guht) - that, 저것 (juh-guht) - that way over there

The Dark Lord is dead!!!

Sorry if I just ruined the series for anyone, but I imagine you would assume that he would die in the end.  I saw Harry Potter the day that it came out over here.  It was awesome.  Except for the fact that I was with hardcore Harry Potter people so I couldn't really make any kind of commentary during the movie or I would get shushed. The fact that they serve caramel corn in all movie theaters made the experience even better.  Why don't they do this more in the US?  I know there is one that does kind of near my house in Indiana but other theaters need to get on this.  They would make so much money because I know I would always buy pop corn if there was caramel corn, and I am sure that there are other people of similar persuasion.

I do not understand how Koreans are so skinny to the point where many look unhealthy.  I have yet to happen across their version of healthy food, and from what I can tell from the ones that I know they love to eat junk food all the time.  For example, they have these street food carts everywhere, especially at night (I think it's partially for the drunkies and their midnight cravings), that serve all sorts of fried, carby foods from ddokbokki (떡볶이), which are basically glutinous rice cakes in spicy saucy, to tempura blood sausage and yams.  None of these are very good for you despite being very delicious.  They are also very big on rice and noodles, and it's almost impossible to find whole grain versions of these.  There are so many pastry shops and coffee shops that also serve waffles and ice cream that I'm not really sure how they manage to stay borderline anorexic.  Even the very slim amount of vegetables that get served at lunch tend to be either deep fried or some sort of kimchi.  I guess it could be because of the kimchi, because it is a very healthy food, but I fail to see that as a key factor in counteracting all of the other high calorie junk foods they consume.  They also drink a fairly large amount as a cultural and business tradition which adds even more to their calorie intake.  The only real answers that I can find is that they are genetically gifted with a high metabolism or they just pretend to eat.

Banana milk is delicious.  As is strawberry milk.  Do these exist in the States and I have just been completely unaware?  All of the little convenience stores sell individual cartons of milk in different flavors.  The ones that I have seen have been coffee, banana, strawberry and chocolate, although there maybe more of which I am unaware.  I love chocolate milk, but the chocolate here tastes weird, kind of chalky maybe, but nothing like the chocolate milk at home.  All of the others are excellent.  They put the milks right next to individual sized cartons of drinkable yogurt in other flavors.  I feel like this is almost like milk so if you want to think about it this way they also have mixed berry and kiwi flavor too.  It's quite a nice snack.

Korean character of the day: ㅍ - p sound, aspirated
Korean phrase/word of the day: 의사 (eui-sa) - doctor

snip snip snip

So I had minor surgery this week.  I had a cyst on the inside of my lip from "trauma" ie biting the inside of my mouth and it was getting really awkward to talk and eat and things and I kept biting it more.  So they went "snip snip snip" and took it out.  And now I have some lovely stitches and trouble eating because my mouth awkward.  It should be good in like a week but right now it's rather uncomfortable.  Every time I make the "F" sound my teeth hit the stitches.  Yikes.

One of my kindergartners got stitches this week too.  Apparently he stuck his hand in a fan.  Because he is super smart.  He's actually quite a little punk (although ridiculously charming at the same time) so it doesn't surprise me.

When they spelled my name in Korean on the hospital forms, I gained a syllable in my last name.  I find English words in Korean fairly entertaining.  The get weird sounds and extra syllable.  Like sandwich becomes  sain-duh-wee-chi, I just didn't expect it with my name, especially considering that my first name can actually be a Korean name as well.

There is a plethora of 7Elevens and similar convenience store like places in Seoul, but not a single one of them has slurpees.  I thought that was the whole point of 7Eleven, their delicious, delicious, slurpees.  It makes me very sad.  But having one of those kinds of stores and a coffee shop on every corner is quite convenient when you want a snack or a pick me up.

Korean character of the day: ㅊ - ch sound, aspirated
Korean phrase/word of the day: 진짜 (jincha) - really?

Everywhere else I'm 24, but in Korea, I'm 25

BIRTHDAY!!!!! WOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!
I love birthdays.  I don't really care if I get presents, I just really like being able to say, "Hey, guess what.  IT'S MY BIRTHDAY!!"  Although I do like phone calls, texts, cards and surprises and having people celebrate with me.  I had a lovely day full of small children making at attempt at singing, cake, random surprise little presents from my coworkers and ice cream, followed by sushi dinner and KARAOKE!!!  It was quite a lovely birthday overall.  One upside of karaoke rooms is that you get to pick all of the songs for the hour or two that you have them where in a bar you have to sit through some awful renditions of things.  I am so grateful to everyone who came and celebrated my birthday with me.  I had a great time.

My parents sent me a big box which is apparently like Christmas but it hasn't gotten here yet.  I hope it gets here Monday because I am super excited.  I know there is peanut butter in the box but it is pretty much a mystery box.  I love mystery boxes.  WANT NOW.

Went shopping yesterday and finally got some rain boots.  They are black with rainbow spots.  I am very excited to no longer have wet feet when I walk to work and then for hours afterwards.  Is it kind of weird that I hope it rains tomorrow so that I can wear them?

After my shopping extravaganza yesterday and my birthday the day before I am very much in need of a 'nothing' day so that is exactly what I'm doing.  It is glorious.

Korean character of the day: ㅇ- is either used as a place holder for consonants at the beginning of syllables that start with vowel sounds or makes and -ng sound at the end of a syllable; examples: 일- eel, 송 - song
Korean phrase/word of the day: 생일축하합니다! (saeng-eel-chook-ha-ham-ni-da) - Happy birthday!

Asian vegetables are HUGE!!

I went to buy some carrots earlier today to make a snack for tomorrow, and I swear, these carrots were about as big around as my wrist! Granted, I do have small wrists, but still!!  Cutting them up was pretty intense.  Same goes for their zucchini.  They are about twice the size of the normal ones that you find at home.  In an interesting twist however, their fruit seems to be smaller.  I got some plums today and they were quite small, as were the apples that I saw.

Have I mentioned that it's my birthday on Friday?  Because it is. :D  Cards, texts, phone calls, whatever are very much appreciated.  I may have a sugar overload though, because so far for every teacher's birthday there has been a copious amount of sweets brought in.

Harry Potter comes out in Korea next week!!  I think it will be even better with caramel corn.  I'm very excited. I will probably cry my eyes out.  The last one was super depressing, so I can only imagine how this one is going to be having read the book.

Korean character of the day: ㅛ - sounds like 'yo'
Korea word/phrase of the day: 몰아요 (mole-ah-yo) - I don't know/I don't understand.

The torments of written language

Sounds that they don't have in Korean: the 'o' sound in 'not', the 'a' sound in 'happy', the 'i' sound in 'stick', the 'f'sound in general as well as the 'th' sound, and the 'v' sound.  I may be missing some, but so far this is what I've gleaned.  It has also made me realize again, how effed up English writing is.  I noticed today when I heard some random drunk Korean guy trying to sing "Happy Birthday" that his 'a' sounded funny.  I thought about it for a second and realized that they don't have that sound in Korean and that their 'a' sound sounds like the 'a' in 'father.'  I then moved on to realize that the 'a' sound in 'father' also sounds like the 'o' sound in 'hop.'  So the Korean 'a' sound is also and equivalent to our short 'o' sound.  How messed up is that?  I also had an entanglement with the word 'cleanliness' in my most advanced class when they were completely baffled that it didn't sound like 'clean-ly-ness'.  I completely understand their sentiments.  But hey, at least they're not learning French, with all of it's silent consonants and vowels.

My birthday is on Friday!!!  I hear there is a lovely, random birthday box on its way through the mail system.  I am very excited.  I keep getting all of the mailing list birthday emails too, each promising a free ice cream or meal, and then I feel very sad because I can use my free birthday fun.  Although, there are definitely Baskin' Robbins and Coldstones here.  Unfortunately, I highly doubt that they will be able to understand, much less accept my English birthday coupons.  Le sigh.
birthday

I have brilliantly figured out a way to text home like normal texting.  It is brilliant!! But I said that already.  Oh the wonders of iPhones/smart phones.  So, if you feel the need or desire to text me, contact me through one of the means that you know of that is more private than my public blog and ask me for my texting number.  Or you may very well get a random text from a random number that is actually me at some point because I am quite thrilled that I can do this now.  It makes phone call organization much easier.

Korean character of the day: ㅐ- kind of like the 'e' sound of the first 'e' in 'elephant', only slightly more of an 'ey' sound
Korean word/phrase of the day: 사랑해요. (sa-rang-hae-yo) - I love you. :D

I have been to the gym four times this week.  Hallelujah.  Although, it makes me really tired.  My body is trying to adjust to the amount of energy that I takes to teach children nine hours a day and also do a significant amount of cardio and weight lifting.  This explains why I slept for 12 hours last night.  I also am a wee bit sick too and can't hear or breathe properly half of the time because I'm stuffed up so that might be part of it as well.

We had a pajama party at school on Friday with the kindergartners.  I was told that we could teach them a song, a game or read them a book.  I was so stoked because I was going to teach them "Baby" by Justin Bieber, but apparently I misunderstood the context and there was no way to really teach them a song and a dance so I ended up reading Green Eggs and Ham which was also okay.  The littlest kids, who were sitting in the front, kept saying "No!" after every line that said how I would not eat green eggs and ham.  It was freakin adorable.

I just spent about five hours going through Korean vocabulary.  This is how I spend my freetime now.  Not that I mind it, because I really want to be fluent-ish, but it takes a lot more time than I was hoping.  At some point I need to start writing my grad school apps as well which will take up a significant amount of my time as well.

Yesterday, I went on a boat ride on the Han River, which runs through the middle of Seoul.  It was a sunset cruise but it was really muggy and hazy so it wasn't as awesome as it could be but it was still enjoyable being on a boat and watching what parts of the city that I could see go by.

Korean character of the day: ㄴ - n sound
Korean word/phrase of the day: 얼마에요? (oel-ma-ay-yo?) - How much does it cost?

It is officially monsoon season as of four or five days ago, or so I've been told.  From what I've heard, it is similar to hurricane season, but because I'm not on the coast exactly it won't be quite as devestating.  Just a lot of rain.  It has been raining every day all day for the past week.  I need me some rain boots and a rain coat.  As well as a water proof bag.  Maybe I'll just wrap everything in plastic wrap......

I've been having some really strange dreams about teaching.  Most of them end up with me waking up partially, enough to know that I'm in my PJs, but not enough to know that I'm dreaming.  Hence, I end up feeling very awkward and embarrassed and sometimes end up waking up with more clothing on that I had on when I went to sleep.  It is very, very odd.

I went to see Super 8 yesterday at the theater with caramel corn.  I highly recommend it, both the movie and the caramel corn.  Kelsey and I likened it to Jurassic Park, in that it is scary, but there are some really funny things that go on with the scary.  Basically, we were making comments the whole time and snickering.  All of the child actors did excellent jobs as well which is not always true.

In other news, I may be getting sick again.  DO NOT WANT.

And on a completely unrelated note to anything, has anyone else noticed that the music in Gladiator sounds an awful lot like the music in Pirates of the Caribbean?

Korean character of the day: ㅎ - h sound
Korean word of the day: 여름 (yo-rem) - summer

커피 주세요....

This is longest I've ever been someplace where I don't understand at least a little of the language and it's starting to get to me.  I can sound out all of the words and don't know what they mean, and I miss being able to listen to people's conversations, not to be a creeper or anything.  In any case, I've started pretty much hardcore studying in any free time that I have.  I WANT TO SPEAK A NEW LANGUAGE GAHHH!!

I still haven't quite figured out how to get my me time and take care of myself a midst working 9 hours a day so I find myself quite exhausted when the weekend comes around.  It's 5 in the evening and I haven't even gotten dressed yet.  Maybe I'm just lazy.

I have been making attempts to start going to the gym at 6 in the morning because that seems easier than denying myself food so it's not bouncing around in my tummy when I run after I get home from work and am starving and exhausted. So far I managed to do it on Thursday, we'll see if I can do a couple of days a week.

Apparently I can get a really good hair cut here for $18.  I'm pretty stoked.  I went with Brittany and one of the Korean teachers, Julie, to get Brittany's roots dyed and her hair cut.  It looked freakin gorgeous.  And it was relatively cheap.  All of the service related things are actually really inexpensive here.  Manicures, hair cuts, eating out, taxis, public transportation, etc, it's awesome.  It doesn't make up for $8 peanut butter though.

I bought my ticket for Tokyo yesterday!!!  I'm leaving July 25th and getting back ridiculously early in the morning on the 31st.  I'm so excited.  My coworker, Austin, has been really excited cause he loves Japan so he's been giving me all kinds of materials and advice about it including a list of the best places to people watch in Tokyo.  Lord knows that's up there on my list of things that I like to do.  And I hear the Japanese have crazy hair styles and dress.  On top of that I'm so looking forward to having some Chiaki time. :D

Korean character of the day:  ㅡ - sounds like eu.  We don't have this sound in English, but it exists in French, so if you know French it is like the u sound in 'tu.'  If you don't know French, you can make this sound by pursing your lips into a tight 'o' and saying 'eeeee'
Korean word/phrase of the day: 이쁘다 (ee-bbeu-da)- pretty
Bonus: 나예뻐? (na-yay-bbuh?) - Am I pretty?

slim is the new fat

I am apparently a fat Asian.  I went to the mall yesterday with Brittany, my coworker, and they had this store/area that looked basically like an outlet for foreign designer clothes.  I noticed that they had Guess and, since Guess is one of the few brands of jeans that fit me really well, wanted to go in.  So we went and we found the Guess section, and low and behold, the largest size they had was my size, and they only had one pair of jeans, and they were not pretty.  Guess is an American company right? So why on earth would they only go up to 27?  The lady was showing me shorts and trying to show how they were stretchy and would fit me.  Therefore, I am a fat Asian.  I would like to go more with Asians are anorexic Americans.  In any case, my mind was fairly blown.  My other theory is that Americans have bigger butts proportionally.  But I do tend to wonder as I walk down the street, with my American curvage and all, whether, as I pass people, they are thinking "fatty fat fat fatty," and about how weird that is because in America I am on the small side of average.

I do like the being taller thing though.  I was totally walking behind a girl in 4 inch heels a couple of days ago and I was still at least the same height that she was if not taller.

I am so sore and tired today.  I went to the gym for a solid hour and a half yesterday and then proceeded to go to the mall for a couple of hours and then basically wander around Seoul from 4 until 1 am.  Lots of walking, not very much sitting.  There's this one bridge near where I live that lights up rainbow colors and has fountains coming off of it at night so Brittany and I went to see that and walked along the river park.  It was quite nice.  But very tiring.  And a hell of a long walk.  So today, I feel like I can barely move.  But it's all good.  I think my Korean could use some practicing.

Korean character of the day: ㅋ - hard k sound, like in coffee, aspirated
Korean word/phrase of the day: 코파지마 (ko-pa-gee-ma) - don't pick your nose

Busy, busy, busy

Lately, I have been too busy to even get 2 seconds to myself, much less have time to write any blogs.  There was a period of time where I didn't even get around to checking my email for four days.

I'm settling in reasonably well, although I'm still tired most of the time because I'm not used to full time jobness.  I also have been going out more than I'd like.  Or at least more hardcore than I'd like.  I was promised bowling on Saturday night, so I dressed for and was prepared for bowling.  I also did not have enough energy for anything other than bowling.  The place we went ended up being way to crowded and some how this lead to us going to a club and dancing.  Not what I was hoping for at all.  Especially because I was completely wiped out from my Saturday daytime activities.

During the day I had gone to see 창덕궁 (or Changdeok Palace) and had taken a tour of the "secret garden" for 3 hours in the bright sun and 80 degree whether with two of my coworkers Ashley and Brittany.  It was really beautiful and an enjoyable experience but it was really exhausting.  Oy vey, I need to find activities that don't turn into drinking and clubbing all of the time.

I'm working on planning a trip for the end of July to go see my favorite boo bear, CHIAKIIIIIIIIIII!!!!!!  I'm so excited.  But for some reason tickets to Japan cost like $300 roundtrip (if you can find them that cheap) even though Japan is right next door.  I need to work on this.

I am now over whatever issues I had with raw fish.  Last week I went to a huge seafood market with a group of people where we picked out our own fish and gave it to people at a restaurant to cook.  When being presented with still wriggling, uncooked, baby octopus and uncooked mussels, the flounder sashimi seemed like my best bet.  So henceforth, raw fish and I are no longer foes.

Speaking of friends, I am very happy with the arrival of the new teacher Brittany.  I think I have found a kindred Seoul.  Very good for doing things other than going out to clubs every weekend for entertainment.

I'm going to try to keep this up bi-weekly, but by the time I get home from work I feel like I barely have time to eat and sleep and maybe go to the gym if I'm lucky, much less blog.

Korean character of the day: ㅜ - oooo sound, like in moo
Korean word/phrase of the day: 죽을래 ? (jook-eul-lai?) - you want to die? (not literal, more like when someone is doing something annoying)

I have officially been here for more than a month.  So far so good.  Although I wish I was working on my Korean more.  The new teacher got here last week and it's making me feel weird that I'm not new anymore, I feel like I've barely been here!!

I have been so busy and so sleepy for the past couple of weeks so blogging has gone on the back burner.  I had a class on Friday with my Kindergarteners that is basically just a big play for their parents and that has been pretty stressful.  And for some reason people want to go out and get wasted almost every night.  I don't get it.  Needless to say I've been out a lot and have not been getting enough down time.  But at this point I'm going on a drinking only once a week maximum diet.  I really don't need that much booze in my life.

I have a huge desire to be anti social and sit on my ass and watch tv lately so I don't really have that much to write but I thought I'd at least put in a small effort for a blog post.

some one bring me soup?

Having my alarm clock fall on my head as I'm trying to turn it off in the morning is a great way to start the day.  Wooo forehead bruising.

Sarah's really good question of the day:  If it is customary in Korean society to live with one's parents until one is married, then who lives in all of the other studio apartments like the ones in my building???  I can tell you that most of them do not speak English so it's not all English teachers or anything like that.  Hmmmmm, ponder ponder ponder.....

I think I may be allergic to Korea or something.  I HATE being sick.  And I never am.  Except for now apparently.  GAH.  Germy, grimy, small children.  They should stop coughing on my face.  I got to go home early today because of the sickness.  Good but bad at the same time.

On a side note, they have super cute stationary here.  So expect some super cuteness in the mail if I have your address.

Korean character of the day:  ㄷ - d/t sound, half way between d sound and t sound, non-aspirated
Korean word of the day: 소고리 (soh-goh-gi) - beef

I sound like death

I've figured out why the whining of my kindergarteners is so grating.  The Korean language can have a lot of up and down intonation fluctuation within a single syllable , which sounds perfectly nice when speaking Korean, but when you add it to English, it makes for the most horrible whining you have ever heard.  I have one student in particular who can say absolutely anything and will talk like this so she just sounds like she is whining the entire time.  Very much trying to get rid of this habit.

Speaking of my little munchkins, I'm like 90% sure that one of them has gotten me sick, those adorable, little germ covered munchkins.  My voice is about 25% right now which is never a good sign consider I did no yelling or even very much talking yesterday.  There is also a little cough thing going on.  Really not cool.

This being my first full time job I'm still getting used to working 9 hour days.  I had around 9 months off of anything that was very time consuming and then even college was only 4 hours max of class time a day and then I could do whatever I wanted with the free time, like study.  Or eat.  Basically, it was ridiculously flexible.  That being said, I get home from being at work for 9 hours and I don't really want to move or do anything productive and I feel like I don't have time to do it even if I wanted to.  I don't know how grown ups get used to it.  For example, I really need to start getting my butt to the gym more than twice a week, but anytime that I do have that I could go I just want to eat, sleep or sit on my butt.

Asian girls have some sort of obsession with high heels which I don't understand.  Don't get me wrong, I have a love affair with cute shoes and heels, but these girls are wearing heels around like they are sneakers. And they wear them all day.  And they are not the sturdy kind of heels that look like you could do that and still be mostly okay, they are the 3-inch high, sharp, pointy stiletto type.  With the amount of walking I do here, my feet hurt at the end of the day after wearing sneakers all day.  The whole thing completely baffles me.  I mean sure I am in the middle/tall range of height here for women so I don't feel like I need heels to even be average height like some women might but come on, is being three inches taller really that important?

Two food things that I am really annoyed with: bananas and peanut butter.

I love bananas, they are the most practical fruit ever and are a great breakfast food or snack.  The problem is that pretty much anywhere you buy them here they are already ripe enough to eat and you can only buy them in bushels, they don't let you break off a couple like they do in the US.  So if they are already pretty ripe and you have to buy a bushel, chances are that you will not be able to eat all of them before they get over-ripe unless you eat them for every meal or are a family of four who really loves bananas.  I would think they would actually sell more if they just let people take the number that they wanted instead of 9 or 10.  I personally like my bananas just slightly under-ripe, so this poses a problem for me.  Today I did find one place that will let you break off however many you want but it's not exactly next door to my apartment and would be kind of a pain to make it over there every few days when I run out of breakfast food.

While they do have peanut butter here, firstly, it is prohibitively expensive.  Like $6.50 for a small jar expensive.  I have some that was left by Geoff (the previous resident/teacher), but it's a brand I've never heard of and it tastes funny and doesn't spread well.  On top of that, it is smooth, not crunchy but the other two factors really outweigh the smooth vs. crunchy right now.  In other words, it is not a kind that I would eat with a spoon as a snack as I so well love to do.  Secondly, they do not have JIF.  I have seen Skippy and Peter Pan and I have thought about buying one or the other but then I think, do I really wanna shell out $7 for some peanut butter that I just find marginal?  If it was cheaper I probably would.  But it's really not.  Maybe I can order some on ebay......or apparently Amazon has peanut butter????  This is weird thinking about ordering peanut butter online.....

Korean character of the day: ㅈ - ch/j sound, half way between soft ch and j sounds
Korean word of the day: 오 (o) - 5
Bonus word: 바나나 (banana) - I really hope you can figure this one out.....

om nom noms

I have two new favorite Korean foods!!  And of course they would be the ones that are covered in sauces and high in salt.


The first is called something like Chimdok, although I'm not totally sure that I would recognize it if it were written on a menu in Korean script.  It's basically chicken legs, noodles, carrots, zucchini, green onion, potatoes and this things called dok that look like little sausages but are made from rice with a cheesy center, all simmered in a large bowl of some kind of soysauce based sauce that can be anywhere from a little spicy to really spicy.  It's freakin delicious.  But also tricky to eat because they only gave us spoons and chopsticks and using your fingers here is kind of frowned upon.  I had quite the time trying to get the noodles on my plate and pull the chicken off of the bone so that I could eat it.  It was still totally worth it.


The second is called tteokbokki (떡볶이 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tteokbokki).  The most basic version is just rice cake in a spicy chili pepper sauce, but the kind I had today had egg, ramen and onion in it and it was very tasty. (Oh hey, remember when Fergie came out with Fergalicious?  Before that song I used to spell "tasty" correctly on the first try.  Damn you Fergie.)  I highly recommend it if you can handle some spice, although frankly, I've eaten salsa and Indian food that has been spicier.  The Korean teacher that I went with was all worried that I wouldn't like it because it was spicy and I only like heat up to a certain point.  It was definitely below my threshold but apparently it is pretty spicy for Korea.


They are really big on bar soap here.  Like really big.  I have not been in a single restroom where they have liquid soap.  Even in the public bathrooms, they have bar soap on little handle things sticking out from the wall.  I mean yes it does cost less, but I'm pretty sure it's less sanitary to have the bar sitting out and having everybody touch it.  I also watched a woman wash her hands with the bar soap for literally at least 5 minutes while I waited in line for the bathroom.  I thought maybe she was OCD or something and was surprised when she had left by the time I was back at the sink to wash my hands.


There is also a plethora of techy toilet seats like this one.  They're warmed and when you sit down on them they start to make a running water noise, I guess to make you feel more comfortable with your pee noises?  They are also all in Korean so I'm always afraid I'm accidentally going to hit a button and end up with water spraying up where I don't want it.  I also half wonder if they talk, but since I can't read the buttons, I can't really find out.


Korean character of the day: ㅓ - eo, sounds like 'u' in 'but'
Korean word of the day: 떡볶이 (tteokbokki) - deliciousness described above

Weekends are too short

Oy vey, so much to catch up on.  I had a fairly stressful week during which I had sleep issues so that kind of killed any energy or creativity I had for blogging.  I couldn't fall asleep on Wednesday night until like 4am and was surprisingly OK the next day but on Friday I was kind of a mess and all of the kids were just like "IT'S FRIDAY, I DON'T WANT TO BE IN SCHOOL" so it was kind of crazy and stressful.

Friday was this holiday here called Teachers' Day.  It basically consists of kids bringing extravagant gifts for their teachers.  The other teachers, having been here for more than 3 weeks, got more gifts because the students know them better.  I personally got a pencil case, a huge box of these airy, chewy, cookie things, and six months worth of Omega 3 vitamins?  It was very random.  But kindergarteners handing you presents with cards that say "I love you Sarah Teacher" on them is just so darn freakin cute.

I realized a couple of days ago that the bills here are all different sizes, with the smallest denomination being the smallest in size and so on.  And then I wondered why we don't do that in the US.  It must be really confusing for blind people when they're all the same size.

One of the traditional dishes of Korea is called Bibimbab.  I'd read about it and thought it sounded really good and wanted to try it.  The description is basically rice with vegetables and meat on it and then an egg on top, sounds pretty good right?  Severely disappointing.  I got to try it on Saturday and it wasn't at all what I expected.  The taste was something completely different from what I had imagined, they used some kind of spicy thing that I didn't like the flavor of, and it was sad because I had expected it to be really yummy.  Le sigh.  But now I know.

I keep seeing these 5 minute long commercials that are for an unattractive, white suit that basically seems to make you sweat a lot which they continuously demonstrate by ripping parts of the suit to expose various body parts that are running with sweat.  Every time I see it I wonder if they're just pouring water down the person's body from above the shot and why in the world would anyone want to sweat that much.  I guess they like being dehydrated?

Fun fact:  70% of Korean women have had some sort of plastic surgery.  They are trying to make themselves more caucasian looking by have their noses done, their skin whitened, their single eyelids turned into double and implants in their cheeks.  I mean I haven't been looking enough to notice but it kind of bothers me that that's such a societal norm.

Korean character of the day:  ㅅ - s/sh sound

Korean word of the day: 사 (sa) - 4

I can has iphone?

Bank account: check
iPhone: check
happy happy day: check!

I finally am reachable within Korea, hallelujah it's a miracle!!!  Good thing too, cause I'm starting to meet new people and I'm like "no sorry I don't have a phone, you can't invite me to do cool stuff like rock climbing and house parties."

There are tons if little tiny bugs flying around my apartment and i keep smushing them and they keep coming back and I don't like it.  MUST SQUISH.

My kids were particularly good today.  I got three presents in the form of food.  This part of being a teacher is awesome.  I had the manager of the school sit in on one of my classes today.  Thankfully, she picked my favorite/best class.  They are very charming and entertaining but still very much contained and not crazy.  It's perfect.  And they understand a lot of English and get along well.

Went to the super americanized area of Seoul yesterday for a "Couch Surfers" meeting with one of my coworkers.  It basically felt like being in America with more Asian people.  Kind of like Chinatown I guess.  It was quite an entertaining time all around.

One of my parents friends is randomly in South Korea this week so I'm 90% sure I'm getting a free dinner out of it as well as just some entertaining company.

Korean character of the day: ㅣ- i vowel sound, sounds like double e in English ie feet, meet
Korean word of the day: 삼 (sahm) - 3

thank you sweet baby jesus!!!

I GOT MY ARC AND MY PASSPORT BACK!!!! WHICH MEANS THAT I CAN OPEN A BANK ACCOUNT!!! WHICH MEANS I CAN GET PAID!!!  AND GET A PHONE!!!! WOOOOT!!!  Pretty much the highlight of my week right there.

I have to say that so far, Seoul has some pretty sucky weather.  Lots of clouds and rain.  Acid rain in particular I might add.  I can't say I've ever experienced acid rain before and knew that it was acid rain.  Kind of weirds me out.  But really normal rain is slightly acidic anyway it's just rain that is slightly more acidic because it has more hydrogen ions.  It doesn't sound as dangerous when you put it that way but it apparently can wreak havoc on plant life and apparently your skin.  I think my tolerance for so-so weather has been spoiled by too much time in Miami and LA.

I'm not sure whether I'm still experiencing some weird form of jet lag or not but I'm still having some weird sleeping pattern stuff going on.  Before it was waking up at really early hours ie 6am and going to sleep at 8 or 9pm, now it has shifted to not being able to go to sleep until midnight or later and being really, really tired in the morning and not being able to get up.  I realize that this is normal college student sleep schedule, but considering I woke up before 8am yesterday for work I would assume that I would be able to fall asleep before 1am especially with all the food coma from dinner.

New food words:
mandu - some type of dumpling, very delicious
dakgalbi - stir fried chicken, rice cakes, sweet potatoes, cabbage, chili pepper and some other thins I couldn't identify
rice cakes - taste like almost nothing, have awesome texture
dukboki - something that I haven't tried yet that apparently has chicken and is very spicy and I hear rave reviews

Also, I was informed of this, which I really must explore/try:
http://www.maangchi.com/

Korean character of the day: ㅁ - m sound, sometime shorter than English m so it can sound vaguely like a b
Korean word of the day: 이 (ee) - 2

FISHYYYYYY!!!!!!

I FOUND THE GIANT AQUARIUM.  But I didn't have time to go see it.  I was on a hunt for TOMS which I have been wanting for who knows how long.  That was also successful.  Formally, the color is called bronze, but they're just hella sparkley, just the way I like.  I'm working on breaking them in/stretching them out.

Chicken strips for dinner = WIN.  And we're not talking your ordinary run of the mill chicken strips, we're talking high quality chicken strips on a plate big enough for two sitting on a mound of homemade potato chips with some sort of sweet chili dipping sauce on the side and beer to wash it all down.  It wasn't in the slightest Korean but it was extremely satisfying.

Nose back to the grindstone tomorrow for classes but then Tuesday is Buddha's birthday so we have a holiday which means I need to find some more touristy stuff to do.

Next adventure: figuring out how to pay last month's gas/electricity bill.

Korean character of the day:  ㅗ - o vowel sound, like o in owe, low, toe
Korean word of the day: 일 (eel) - one (1)

Happy Mother's Day!!

While I don't know if they really celebrate Mother's Day here, I do know that I celebrate it and I sent my mother a lovely bouquet of flowers proving just such.

I don't know why I've been using a laundry hamper when I can just throw the clothes directly in the washer when I'm done with them.  I mean it's not like I have to worry about other people needing to wash their clothes anymore.  Something to get used to, and it's kind of awesome.

Also, it is apparently acceptable here to show your legs off practically to the bottom of your butt but it is not socially acceptable to show your shoulders or really any of your upper torso above your chest for women.  This is completely counter-intuitive for me.  Especially because I am not at all comfortable wearing a short skirt without tights or what not for fear of a strong breeze.

Koreans seem to brush their teeth at least 3 times a day.  There's a little cabinet with UV light at school where the kids (and I'm assuming Korean teachers as well) keep their tooth brushes so that they can brush after lunch.  Despite this, they still have numerous fillings from what I can tell.  They don't have fluoride in their water or toothpaste though so this makes me wonder if it's really more about the fluoride and less about the number of times a day brushing your teeth that keeps your smile healthy.  They should maybe look into that, at least as an additive to the toothpaste.  They do, however, have some odd flavors such as "Fresh Forest" which I'm assuming must taste something like licking a tree.

Korean character of the day: ㄹ - r/l sound, halfway between and r and an l, the reason that Asian people stereotypically can't say anything with the letter l in it
Korean word of the day:  불고기 (bul-go-gi) - delicious, delicious korean barbeque beef

Any of you that know me really well can probably tell from the lack of wit in my writing thus far that I'm fairly stressed.  When I'm stressed my sense of humor takes a hiatus.  There are so many new things that take so much energy and create mucho stress.  Also, the whole having a cold thing is definitely putting a damper on things.  Thankfully, exercising again is helping some.

Speaking of exercising, I did not take into account the switch to the metric system in weights, so figuring out what to lift was a complete guessing game.  Also, they have a handful of treadmills that use mph speed measurement and the rest use km/h which I didn't realize until today when I unknowingly got on one that was km/h, I was really confused when it got up to 5.1 and I was still walking at a leisurely pace.  I can't wait until my hair is long enough to get all of the bits in front up in a ponytail again so I can easily have it out of my face while I run and sweat and all that jazz.

In the US it's a common occurrence to beep out cuss words to protect young ears.  In Korea, apparently they blur out any kind of stabbing, scratching, gouging, etc. and then the bleeding that ensues.  And by blur, I mean they will have a giant blurry spot over a man's torso as he is bleeding out and dying whether or not you can see his guts or just fake blood.  You still know that he's bleeding and dying, you just can't see the part where the blood is coming out.  It really took me by surprise the first time and I couldn't figure out why there was a blur cause there for sure weren't any naked people.  Maybe I'm just desensitized but I find it not at all scarring to see a knife with blood on it in a movie.  They also seem to skip over anything even remotely sexual, which I find a little more understandable.  They play American movies on TV and you can tell when they cut scenes and guess what probably happened in them.

Found a couple of places right down the street to feed my nail polish addiction.  I have also seen at least 5 nail salons within 2 square blocks of my apartment.  Apparently they really like doing their nails in Korea.......

Korean character of the day:  ㄱ - g/k consonant sound, halfway between g and k sound, non aspirated

Korean word of the day:  고기 (gogi) - meat

I am le sickface

Two major discoveries:
1. FOUND FROYO!!!  DELICIOUSNESS ENSUED!!!!!
2. Chocolate chex.  Not chocolate chex mix, but chocolate chex.  It's like having dessert but it's made out of vitaminy, breakfasty goodness.  The angry chocolate chex man isn't very convincing but they are super addictive.

I am not used to walking around this much anymore.  After a couple of hours all I want is a nap.  I'm going to blame it on the cold that I'm 90% sure I have.  The rest of my day has been relegated to doing things that involve very little movement in hopes that I'll start feeling better.  Yuck.  Yay for Harry Potter marathon and Transformers on the telly.

Korean character of the day: ㅔ- ay vowel sound, sounds like a sound in way, day, lay, say
Korean word of the day: 물 (mool) - water