Day 428 | Forgive Me, Grandparents!

Errr... Well... It's been a while, hasn't it?

I apologize to all of my grandparents who gave me specific instructions to please, please, please keep updating this blog, which I evidently completely disregarded. I'm sorry! I love you! I will try harder from now on! :)

I've been working at my new job, an after school academy, for about two months now, so I'm feeling like I'm getting the hang of everything now. It's a lot different than my old public school job, but I'm liking it much better so far. It's a lot more work, teaching more classes, grading tests, calling students for phone tests, but it's so much more satisfying than sitting in an empty classroom twiddling my thumbs for four hours every day like I used to do. And my coworkers all speak nearly-flawless English (three of them are other foreign teachers, like me), so it's not a painful struggle to communicate with them, which, of course, is great. I miss the students from my old school, of course, but these new students are just as precious. And their English level is so much higher than I expected, so it's really fun to talk to them.

Because my new working hours go until about 8:30 or later in the evening, it's been more difficult to meet with friends throughout the week. I have to squeeze all my socializing into the weekends, and I've also been trying to get more involved with my church. Today, my Bible study group volunteered together to serve at a soup kitchen, and then we went out to eat together afterward. It felt a little... foolish? insensitive? to go eat a super-delicious, kind of expensive meal right after serving cheap rice and soup to the homeless, to be honest. But at least it was really good to spend time getting to know my groupmates better.

Introducing Koreans to American-style BBQ.

Anyway, I'll do my best to keep updating more frequently! If I don't, grandparents and others who care, send me angry emails! Send me angry Facebook messages! Send me angry notes in the mail!

Days 90-101 | Photo Challenge

The other week, one of my coworkers from my teachers' English conversation class and I made a challenge together to take photos every day for 30 days.

Both of us have forgotten a few days here and there, but it's been fun sending our photos to each other throughout each day.

Day 1 (Day 90) - Dinner

My coworker sent me a picture of her very fancy-looking dinner, so I sent her a picture of mine. It is very not fancy. It's just a can of chicken noodle soup cooked with extra pasta. Unfortunately, this is the sort of thing I make if I cook for myself lately. Which I hardly ever do anymore, cause food like this isn't really good. It's easier just to meet friends for dinner or get takeout from one of the restaurants on the ground floor of my building.

Day 2 (Day 91) - Seoul Lantern Festival

I actually don't know much about the Seoul Lantern Festival... I guess it's a yearly tradition, where artists make elaborate paper lanterns, which are displayed on the Cheonggyecheon Stream. I went with some friends, and it was pretty, but very crowded.

Day 3 (Day 92) - Hiking

The same coworker I'm doing this photo challenge with invited me to go hiking with her last Sunday. Since I'd heard so much about how Koreans love to go hiking all the time, and since there are so many mountains in and around Seoul, I had expected that I'd be hiking a lot. But this was actually the first hike I went on here.

Day 5 (Day 94) - Weekly tradition

Lately, two of my good friends and I have developed a habit of meeting up every Tuesday after work and heading to our favorite restaurant, an all-you-can-eat Korean barbecue buffet in Sinchon. The first time we went there, we had absolutely no idea how anything worked, and it was an incredibly confusing ordeal. But by now, we've got it all worked out, so we each know what foods to grab so we get the right amount of everything and which sauces and sides we all like best. And of course, how to actually grill and wrap the meat. If anyone comes to visit me in Seoul, this is definitely a place we're going to go.

After we eat, we head down the road to a Starbucks and study Korean together for a while. I'm taking a class two days a week, so I usually work on homework for that. But my friends are both just studying on their own. I envy their dedication. If I didn't have the class to keep me focused, there is no way I'd ever learn anything.

Day 9 (Day 98) - MBLAQ

On Saturday, I went to an MBLAQ concert! MBLAQ was one of the first Kpop groups I started listening to, and their music kept me focused during many, many long hours at my newspaper job last year. Also, the members are all hilariously endearing. So when a friend of a friend was asking around on Friday night if anybody could take her ticket she couldn't use for the concert the next day, I jumped at the chance. I ended up meeting up with a few friends I hadn't seen much since orientation to go to the concert, so it was fun to catch up with them, too.

Day 12 (Day 101) - Cold!

It was starting to feel like winter when I got to the English classroom this morning, and all the windows looked like this. There were only a few actual frost crystals in the window fog, but it still looked really pretty. It's been hovering around freezing here lately, and we've had a few snow flurries, but it's not too cold yet... except inside. The windows of the school are constantly open (to keep air fresh and recycled, they say), and the hallways and bathrooms aren't heated at all. My classroom isn't too bad, since we always keep the windows shut and the heat on, but it's miserable leading kids back to their classrooms between classes. And worst of all is sitting in the teachers' office for the entire afternoon. I wear so many layers, but I still have to wear my coat and sometimes gloves while I work at my computer. Everybody does. I really don't understand. Fresh air isn't that important, is it?

I'll do my best to keep posting photos for the rest of the 30 days!

Day 87 in South Korea | Pepero Day!

Today is Pepero Day in South Korea! It's celebrated on November 11, because all the 1's in the date look like Pepero, which are thin cookie sticks dipped in chocolate (like Japanese Pocky). Kids (and couples) give them to people they like, or hand them out to their all friends. 

I wasn't sure if I would get any, but it turns out that I am loved! By my 5th graders, at least. My coteacher and I each ended up with a stack of Pepero boxes by the end of the morning. 

I've actually never eaten Pepero before, so I hope they're good!

Day 48 in South Korea | Gaecheonjeol

Today was Gaecheonjeol (개천절), the holiday that celebrates the ancient beginning of Korea in 2333 BC. I'm not sure if there are any traditional ways to celebrate, but I spent my day learning about Korean history and culture.

I had mentioned to a coworker earlier this week that I want to know more about Korean history, and she suggested that we visit the National Museum of Korea together. So we met up and spent the morning browsing artifacts from the prehistoric era through the 19th century. 

There's so much of Korean history I'm still so clueless about. I'm only just now even developing a basic timeline in my head, since we never, ever studied anything about Korean history in school. Honestly, most of what I know now has been from looking up people and events in historical Kdramas. But I've read a few books set in different periods of Korea, which has helped, and I'll hopefully keep finding more to read. 

After the museum, I met up with some friends for the part of Korean culture I do know about: Kpop. We went exploring for some of the different entertainment company buildings around Gangnam. (We'd already staked out the YG building in Hapjeong weeks ago.) 

All within just a few minutes walk of each other, we found SM's (SHINee, EXO, Super Junior, Girl's Generation, f(x), TVXQ) old building, now under renovation to become a training center (and plastered with EXO)...

SM's new building..

JYP (2PM, 2AM, Miss A, Wonder Girls)...

Cube (Beast, 4Minute, BTOB)...

and FNC (F.T.Island, CNBLUE, Juniel).

Then, after a dinner of tteok mandu seolleongtang that was still boiling when it was served...

... we went to the underground market at the Seoul Express Bus Terminal to go shopping, where we accidentally ran into F.T. Island. 

Korea, I'm so glad this Dangun Wanggeom fellow decided to start you four thousand years ago. 

Day 40 in South Korea | Flea Market

This morning, the students at my school held a flea market, where they each brought in toys, books, and other trinkets to sell to their friends and teachers. 

They all gave me really earnest sales pitches in English if they saw me coming towards them, only to be disappointed when I revealed I didn't have any money with me.

I wish I had thought to bring cash to buy from them. But all I had was a ₩50,000 bill (about $50), which none of them would have had change for.

Most kids just wanted my money, but a few really wanted me to have their stuff no matter what. So I ended up with a necklace, a hat, and a stuffed dog in gifts.

Fifth-graders Tae-ee, Diana, Haeun, [I forget this girl's name. Sorry!], and Sumin. And me in the necklace one student demanded I take and wear.

These third-grade girls treat me like a celebrity. But like a celebrity, I have no idea what my fans' names are. 

The tiniest, most adorable third-graders ever, Geunwoo and Wooseok.

Snails were a surprisingly hot commodity among third-graders. And these aren't just any snails, they're American snails! Or so I've been told.

I asked Dohyeon if he would need to feed the snails and take care of them. He said no. Poor snails.

Instead of selling things, a few sixth-grade girls did nail art instead.

The loot I ended up with by the end of the sale. Other teachers ended up with an amusing assortment of gifts from students, too. 

Day 27 in South Korea | Awkward

Things that are really awkward:

1. Teaching a class of teachers, some of whom have been teaching for longer than I've been alive.

2. Being the new person in a group of people that know each other really well.

3. Not having a clue what everybody is saying because I'm the only one who doesn't speak their language.

Thing that was surprisingly not actually all that awkward after all:

1. Doing all of those things at once. 

Today, I started a teaching for a weekly Teachers' English Club at another local school that doesn't have their own English teacher right now. Honestly, I was dreading it all week. This afternoon, my coteacher glanced over at me from her cubicle next to mine and asked if I was ok, because I looked so nervous.

But then, an hour later, when I was sitting in a classroom at this other school surrounded by their teachers, I realize it wasn't so bad after all. Sure, there were a few times when I would say something that would unexpectedly cause the entire group to crack up and start chattering to each other in Korean, while I sat there wondering what I said that apparently set off some inside joke. But overall, I actually had a lot of fun with them. And I'm even looking forward to next week's class.

Day 25 in South Korea | Internet!

Anyone know what the etiquette is for when you've been going to a coffee shop nearly every day for the last two weeks, and you and the baristas have developed as much of a rapport as is possible when you speak different languages, but then you suddenly don't need to keep going constantly because you finally got Internet set up in your apartment, so you don't need their wifi anymore? 

But I'm sure I'll be back soon, my Ediya Coffee buddies. Your lemon iced tea is too good to forget about.