Sharing is Caring: RRR [4]

While these next few nuggets aren't necessarily reflections, they certainly qualify as random and somewhat rambley. They are also quite amusing and/or exciting and I am in the mood for some sharing. SO, here are my latest "Random Rambles and Reflections."

Guess what I just did!

Yeah. That. And it was awesome. Jealous? The fact that it came out a few day earlier here almost makes up for the fact that I had to wait 3 months to see part 1. Not. Regardless. Amazing.

PYEONCHANG KOREA FIGHTING!!!
Last week 평창, South Korea (where I went snowboarding this winter) was named the official host of the 2018 Winter Olympics. Assaahhhh! Daehanminguk!!!! Perhaps I will come back....

Chi-cola-cup. 
It seems that recently I've been slipping just enough faux English into this here blog of an English teacher, to make people wonder how I ever got a job as an English teacher in the first place. What can I say? I must be charming; OR, I have a college degree and a somewhat firm command of the (conversational) English language. That whole degree in Education was just a bonus. Moving on, I will admit that Chi-cola isn't even acceptable English, Korean or Konglish in Korea, rather its the only term I could think of to describe what I was gifted this morning by one of my third grade classes. Have a look, maybe you can come up with a better term....

As I did not anticipate such a rad gift, my camera was nowhere to be found. Both of these images are credited to Snack to the Future.

Yeah, that's right. It's a soda. Its popcorn chicken. It's combined in a stroke of portability genius. And its delicious. What was even better was that, as a result of some craycray morning events, I had neglected to grab breakfast OR coffee before leaving the house. Third grade end of the semester pre-English class party to the rescue. Thanks Class 3-4 for satisfying my mid-morning battle with starvation and caffeine  addiction, and showing me that there are, in fact, some pretty creative people over here in the ROK.



Morning Events and Minor Heart Attacks
So, it's morning right? Let's say its about 8:10. I woke up at 8:00 and in order to be on time for school, I need to leave my apartment at 8:15. I am mostly dressed, the water for my coffee is boiling, and I have brushed my teeth. I am making pretty good time. I look at myself in the mirror and decide I have just enough time to run a flat iron through some major bedhead and perhaps apply some B.B. Cream to the circles under my eyes. This is when I start to hear someone pressing the numbers on a key pad (the doors in my building have electronic number pads rather than keys) for the apartment next door. Except... wait. Are they pressing my key pad!? It there someone trying to open my door!!??! Is that the chime telling me my door has just been unlocked!?? WHAM. My door is pushed open, slamming into the latch, which locks my door from the inside.  In the 30 seconds between hearing the first few beeps and a confused "Em!??!" called from the other side if the door, the following thoughts somehow crammed themselves into my brain. "SOMEONE IS TRYING TO BREAK INTO MY APARTMENT!!" "Oh No! There is some emergency and my co-teacher is coming to get me!" "Shit, the new building owner (who wants to use my apt as a home office, but has agreed to let me stay until the end my contract) thinks I am gone and is trying to get into the apartment!!"

Answer, none of the above. It was Alex. 

Alex works at the middle school next to my apartment and, on a miraculous day my first week in Korea, we crossed paths on the bridge to Wold-uh Ma-tuh. It was beautiful. She was the first non-Korea and English speaker I had seen since arriving in Korea and we've been friends ever since. Alex boyfriend is in the military and stationed in Pyeongtaek and, as such, they have both been living near the base in apts rented to soldiers. Long story slightly less rambley -- because Brandon's service ends this week, and Alex's contract does not end until the end of August she needs a place to live (or store her stuff while shes on vacation) for the next month and a half. Seeing as I have way more space than I need, spend way too much time talking to myself, and essentially live kiddie-corner to her school, I offered up my place. Woohooooo Roomies for life. She dropped of her stuff on Tuesday, I gave her the code, and we looked forward to the week and a half in August when we will be real roomies. Turns out she sent me a text this morning, when I was still somewhere between coma and fully alert (likely leaning more towards coma) letting me know she had a few more things to drop off. My B. In the end all was well because Brandon gave me a ride to school.

That's for now from the ROK. Hope its less monsoony wherever you are.

Anyeong[hikheseyo].
에밀리

A funk and a few stories

You want the good and the bad right...

Ok. Fine. I'll be honest. I am having a moment.
It's just one of those days where the easiest thing to do would be to lay in my bed and not talk to anyone. I'm feeling lethargic, and grumpy, and jittery, and anxious all at once. And I have a headache.
It's been raining for two days, I haven't been running, and my internet isn't working. Also, my baby brother is turning 21 in one week and all my siblings/cousins/Logan as an honorary cousin are together to celebrate. And, what is most likely the cause of my less then stellar current sense of self, I think I am getting my period. Sorry boys.

SO, while I do my best to pull myself out of the funk, at which point I promise I will give my trip to Busan its just attention, I will leave you with two stories from the last week or so. 

[Edit: I started writing this downer a few days ago.  As of now, I'm feeling MUCH better after a few days of sleep, some sunshine, finishing an anxiety inducing book, and a few good chats over coffee and beers. So, no need for concern, funk effectively combated, ready for another week of sunshine and school, and promising to eventually fill you in on Busan. For now, however....}

Here we go...
Rewind to a  few weeks ago. As the school day is winding down, a middle aged Koran woman whom I have never seen before walks into our little English office. The woman, laden with shiny bags, reaches into one and produces three larg-ee rice cakes, or 떡. Juha, Ms. Kim and I each receive a Saran-wrapped brick of glutinus rice cake "deliciousness," and the women begins chattering rapidly, and comfortably with Ms. Kim. I assume the woman is a friend, shoot her a quick "감사핲니다" and return to my lessons (or, just as likely, random internet content).

The mystery woman and  my co-teacher literally hug-it-out, then the woman gives Ms. Kim a few of her bags, and continues to dig into another before producing armfuls of what appear to be cosmetic sample boxes. My first impulse is that this woman, like my own dearest Bubbie, likes to collect and disperse said samples; but, I soon realized that this was the Korean equivalent of a Mary Kay sales woman. Apparently one who is really tight with my co-teacher.

On this day, said MK-lady was dropping of an order placed by Ms. Kim and brought along a few samples to share. A few boxes of various sizes and colors were passed my way at which point I,  being generally weary of Korean cosmetics (given their desire to bleach my skin to a more desirable milky white) smiled, threw out another "Thank you!" and tossed the boxes in my bag to be disposed of at a later date.

Ms. Kim however, knowing of my own [lack of] Korean knowledge, set out to make sure I know exactly what each item was. For about fifteen minuets we discussed the various products, during which time I learned to following.

1. Ms. Kim thinks that I am totally crazy to think that Korean face products often contain bleaching cream. I beg to differ based on the number of times I have been handed samples reading (in English) "Whitening Cream," by screaming cosmetic sales girls. 
2. One of the products was "just make-up. There is no color, It is just make up." Which leads me to believe that Ms Kim's knowledge of cosmetic terms is not 100% accurate. But, again, I forgive. Especially as I cannot produce the Korean word for "make-up," or "lotion," or "color" for that matter. 
3. One of the boxes gifted to me contained a small spray bottle of clear liquid. Ms. Kim had some difficulty trying to explain it's use. Google translate provided little insight as to what it may be given the direct translation of the label is "Milky Way." At this point the "bleaching cream" alarms are blaring my my brain; but, not to worry, we figured it out eventually. The little bottle, it turns out, contained a special hand sanitizer made from silver. Yeah. I said it. Silver. Apparently, it is very special. Not only can you spray the sanitizer on your hands, face, or in the surrounding air to ward off icky pesky germs, you can also ... wait for it... DRINK a small amount of said sanitizer to kill the germs within when you are feeling a bit under the weather. Yeah. Right. Sure. Into the bag (and nowhere near my digestive tract) you go.

Fast forward to last week...It's afternoon again and as such Ms Kim, Juha, and I are all seated in our office, typing away. In walks Yejin, the Practical Arts teacher (I have no idea what that means). Yejin is one of the few teachers comfortable enough to speak to me in English, and is also good friends with Juha, so she often stops by in the afternoon to chat. This afternoon she is pretty exhausted and explains that she has a cold and hasn't been feeling well. Enter Ms. Kim who, with all the stealth and agility Jack Bauer, hits Yejin with a full on sniper shot. She literally couldn't have stopped it if she tried. One second she is chatting away, the next she turns 45 degrees and BAM! STRAIGHT. IN. THE. FACE. Miss Kim then proceeds to spray herself in the face, give a few squirts to the surrounding air, and gives me a spray from across the desk. Home girl's always looking out for me. 감사!!! Juha was out of range and thus left to fend of the germies on her own. I am please to report that one week later all parties are in full health and I didn't even have to rip shots of my own magic silver stockpile.

Basically, Ms. Kim is hysterical and awesome and generally does look out for me, even if these acts of friendship sometimes manifest in unexpected ways.

An unrelated detail is that Yejin is about 5 months pregnant (though still significantly more svelt than I) and has recently confided in me that since becoming pregnant she can no longer eat kimchi because it makes her sick. This is just about the most unfortunate side effect ever given our current location. Only 4 more months home-girl!

Alright, had enough? If so, the tiny red 'X' in the corner of this screen is calling your name. If, however, you haven't quite quenched your thirst for knowledge of life in the ROK, I've got one more for you and, if I do say so myself, it's a gem.

Not only was last week Parent's day in the ROK, filling the streets and shop windows with sickening amounts of carnations, it was also Teacher's Day!! Wooohooo!!!! Ollehhhh 산생님!!!!! As a result, I was gifted various boxes of hand cream, was summoned out of my office for rice cakes, watermelon, and aloe drink with the 5th and 6th grade teachers, and (most importantly) received the following note addressed very clearly to 에밀리쌤, 핀크룸 (Eh-Mi-Li-Saem, Pin-kuh-Room)

See any problem? Oh right. Maybe you forgot. I don't speak Korea. Or rather, I don't speak anywhere near enough Korean to decifer this note on the off chance it doesn't say, "My name is Emily. I am an English teacher. I am American. I am 23 years old. How much is it?  I would like two chamchi-kimbap please. I cannot eat rice because I have a stomach ache. Teacher, one more time!1,2,3,4,5,6,7..." You get the idea.

Seeing as the note was delivered by one of my sweetest and most talkative sixth graders, albeit one who speaks little to no English besides to say "Teacher! White hair!" every now and then and totally confuse me each and every time, I enlisted the help of Ms. Kim to tell me what we were working with. This is, roughly, what my student would like me to know on Teachers Day...

Emily Teacher, 
Hello, I can only write in Korean. Please have Juha Teacher translate. I am Shin Sung Weon, I am in class 6-3. Please remember my name. You are so pretty teacher. Most Americans are very fat but you are not fat. You are slim. You are so pretty. You will laugh. When you smile and laugh you make the man love you. When I was in 5th grade my native teacher was very fat, and all my native teachers were fat. Maybe they were 150kg? or 120kg? Very fat. But you are not fat. Thank you because you teach me English and make me interesting. Now I will draw your face. 
Bye-Bye 
From, Sung Weon

You know what Sung Weon, even though you don't speak English (and even though I have met the former NET and can guarantee he was not 260-330 lbs) A+ in the teacher love category.  

On that note, and with the full knowledge the note could just as easily say "Emily teacher! You are so fat! You are 300 lbs!", I am going to take my skinny and beautiful self to get a snack. 
Anyeong[hikheseyo].
에밀리

Facts of life.

As predicted...

This week is one of those weeks. 

One of those weeks when I don't want to do anything. When I sleep entirely too much. And accomplish little outside my obligations at school. I have been napping my afternoons away and, as a result of my empty fridge, sustaining myself on a rice egg porrige-esque combination and coffee. It is only through tremendous effort and self-chastising that I've managed to drag myself to the gym when 10pm rolls around and, at that point, a mere 2-3 miles feels like a marathon. I have some pretty excellent adventure stories from the weekend; but, alas, something between writers block, unexplainable temporary indifference, and general laziness are preventing me from elaborating on these points at the moment. So, for now, I leave you with these facts. (You will find the most important are at the bottom, if you wish to skip my rambles)

Today when I got to school, sans umbrella, my 6th graders freaked out. Apparently there is radioactive rain in the ROK... over a hundred elementary schools in Gyeonggi-do canceled school so the students wouldn't have to walk in the rain. Banji, not included. Cool Korea. (To be clear, I don't think there are actually signs of significant radiation in the rain...)

Monday morning I spent 10 minutes (almost making me late to my first class) watching my third graders try to carry 12 sponges each to various classrooms. Basically each student spent a few minutes trying to arrange their sponges into a carry-able mass, before attempting to sprint to the door of the office, usually dropping 75% of said sponges along the way. After a fit of giggles the students repeated this process until reaching their destination, effectively throwing their pile down the hall and collecting them enroute to the last, longest flying sponge. Be cuter, please.  It was the best, most giggly, start to a Monday ever, which made up for the fact that I accidentally poured spoiled milk into my mug and had to pour my morning coffee down the drain. Wah Wah. Wah.

Thanks to a friend, I stumbled upon a whole series of these clips, which make me smile. A lot.

If you like photography and children's welfare (but really just everyone) take a moment to read/browse through James Moillison's book, Where Children Sleep. (which can be read online here) It is quite telling, at times heartbreaking and, through beautiful photos is able to illuminate the varying living conditions of children around the world. It is well worth your time. I promise

(source.)

And now, a few things of greater importance....

At approximately 9:47am, three minutes before our second class began, Juha and I had the following conversation.

E: "They (our first class) didn't want to do anything. They were just staring at me.."

J: "I know, they are all lazy today because of the rain."

E: "Ugh, I hate when I just have to talk at them for 40 minutes. I feel stupid. They didn't even want to play the games." 

(both of us are picking up scraps left on the floor last class)

J: "The students who clean the room are much better this semester."

E: "I know, the other day they pushed all the desks and chairs to one side to sweep the floor."

J: "I will get married in May!"

(the next class begins to come in and take their seats)

E: "WHATTT!????? Wait what!!?? Oh my God! Wow! Congratulations!"

(quick excited hug and class begins.)

Casual. You have my word that this was not exaggerated in the slightest. Also of note, the last time I checked she didn't even have a boyfriend!! Apparently sometime between December-ish (the last time we were talked about her dating life) and now, she got back together with her ex-boyfriend and they are getting married THIS MAY. As in, six weeks from now! I have put aside my own temporary terror of a wedding on such short notice, to be extremely happy and excited for her ANNDDD I get to go to the wedding!!! Woohooooo. Wins all around! I've heard a great deal about Korean weddings from friends who have attended, but will wait to fill you all in until I have some personal experience. Yay for Juha!! Even if I was shocked speechless when she told me, I couldn't be happier for her!

On a final, and equally exciting (for me) note, I bring you news from Madison. 
Some of you may know that, while student teaching at Shorewood Elementary School last spring, I decided to create a bit of a monster. I planned a 5 grade level video installation project to be completed for the school International Week Festival. The video highlighted Shorewood students, through stopmotion animation and stop motion collage and, in the end, included over 5000 photos, over half of which taken but the 4/5 students themselves. We also coordinated with the Music teacher, who taught and recorded students signing "We are the World" as the backtrack to the piece. The project took 4 weeks of in class work and almost two months of my life spent hunched over my lap top mainlining lattes at Fair Trade. Essentially, it ate my life.  It also culminated in one of the proudest moments in my life. The project received overwhelming praise from students, teachers, parents, and administrators, and school-wide sales of the final dvd raised enough money to purchase a few Adobe CS5 licenses for the art dept.  I was a very proud mamma bear.

So, my friends, the exciting news is this:
I recently received a message from a friend still in Wisco, letting me know that the video is currently on display at MMoCA (the Madison Museum of Contemporary Art)!!!! The video is part of the city wide "Young at Art" exhibit, highlighting student work from the Madison Metropolitan School District Woooooo Ms. Albun!!!! Woooo Shorewood!!!!!! I am a proud mamma bear once again! It is really nice to get a bit of recognition for your students and yourself, especially when you live and breathe the project in question for weeks on end. Special thanks to my co-teacher Michelle for submitting the piece to MMoCA!

Unfortunately, as the video contains images of my students, I don't think I am legally allowed to post it to this blog to share with everyone; BUT, I will leave you with this glorious rendition of "We are the World" as preformed by Mr. Wong's 4/5 Class 2010 - Shorewood Hills Elementary School.

Anyeong[hikheseyo]. 에밀리 

Random Rambles and Reflections [3]

For your enjoyment, I bring you a brief series of updates and reflections on my life in 대한민국.

English-ee Crew-uh 2.0
The Banji English Army recently added one more to our ranks. Because fifth and sixth graders are now required to study English three, rather than two, times a week, a new Korean English teacher joined our party of 3 at the start of the new semester. This involved some office rearranging strikingly similar to my own arrival, although this time I was the one who knew what was going on. While I wont actually be co-teaching classes with Miss Kim, she has been an excellent addition to the office. Not only do I now have one CT with an English name, one whom I call her Korean name, and one whom I call Miss ____, they all seem to refer to each other by different names than what they have told me to call them. For example,  Julie will sometimes ask me what "Scarlet" said to do? It took me a good three months before I realized she was talking about Juha who, when in the U.S, went by the English name Scarlett. Miss Kim, on the other hand, calls Juha "Miss Shin." Additionally, Miss Kim gets confused when I talk about Julie instead of Nam Sang-un, Julie's Korean name. Needless to say,  some days there is a fair bit of confusion in the English Village. Welcome to Korea.

Since her arrival Miss Kim has also told me the the following: She cannot swim, it is too hard, she just sinks. I have never had jjimdak (my favorite Korean food) before coming here because in the US I only eat fried chicken and jjimdak is boiled.  She has never seen anyone adding milk to drip coffee before. Korean men are bad drivers; thus, when a man cut her off on her way to school she was mad and wanted to fight, so she drove in front of the car, cut him off, and slammed her breaks. She is envious of my ability to think of creative games and use Microsoft Powerpoint.  Her last native speaking co-teacher used to come to school drunk, and got pissed when she asked him about it. She doesn't know how to plan her lessons. She thinks I am a very good teacher, and has never seen a NET who works so hard.

I'll take it.

For the record, she used to teach middle school and I actually think she is a very good teacher.
Rock on Miss Kim, you make my life more interesting every day!

Hey kid, are those things painted on?
While in many ways Koreans look to, and adopt, aspects of American culture, in terms of fashion they align far more closely with our Western Euro counterparts, especially when it comes to choice of denim. Many of you maybe thinking, "Hey now, FTW, a good pair of Levi's is TOTALLY our thing. Maybe. Maybe not. All I am saying is this, I teach classes full of kids age 9-12 (and spend a good deal of time being gawked at by those age 6-8) and this week realized the following: At any given time, roughly 95% percent of my students (boys and girls alike) are wearing skinny jeans. Often, said jeans are acid wash, and have heart shaped back pockets (again, boys and girls). Sometimes, I suspect they are actually hybrid jeggings. The other 5% of students are likely wearing their gym uniform.
I wish I had a better photo... It's fricken adorable, there is no way around it. There is absolutely nothing like seeing an army of acid-wash, skinny-jean clad kindergarteners running down the street, to start your Monday off an a giggly note. 

꽃샘추위
Spring is upon us here in the ROK and yet, there is a saying in Korean, "꽃샘추위" which translates roughly to "sudden frost in spring" or "spring frost." Korean's will say "Winter is jealous of Spring," and thus even after its seems that the winter wonderland is on its way out, a few days of frost will sneak in before its is truly over. Alas, those Korean's are so smart (and could just as easily be describing the weather in the Midwest.) Just when I thought it was time to send home my boots and parka, last week we had a blizzard. It started off a perfectly clear morning, so much so that when one of my students told me, "Teacher! Today, it's snow!" I was all like, "You crazyyy boi!" and shrugged it off as a miscommunication. Little did I know that, 6 hours later, I would be trudging home, engulfed in big puffy white flakes whipping around in the wind. Silly silly me. While I remain optimistic and am signed up to go spring hiking in the South this weekend, I am going to hold on to those boots until I am quite sure Winter's jealousy has subsided.

Potluck
My friends are fabulous and, as it's usually me, myself, and three empty rooms, it was wonderful to fill my apartment with chingus on a Saturday night. About twelve of us ate some delicious food, enjoyed some vino and maekju, watched such fine cinematic works as Rebecca Black's "Friday." and "P-I-Z-Z-A slow down," and spent a few wonderful hours chatting, and singing, and playing games. Life is pretty good these days, and my friends are pretty rad for making the trek all the way down to my weird little Korean suburb.
감사합니다 친구!

For once, I left my camera on my desk and simply enjoyed the company of friends; so, these few photos must be credited to Mr. Brandon Baila, thanks friend! 

HGTV Love
Due to my weekend guests and my not wanting to appear like a total slob, Friday night (and again Sunday morning) I swept and scrubbed and lint-rolled and sorted and gave my apartment the good old fashioned Spring cleaning it deserved. I posted pictures of my humble abode ages ago, but as it has transformed from weird empty apartment to slightly less weird and empty home over the last few months, I figure it's time for an update. While I cannot bring myself to invest too much time, energy, and ca$h-moneyyy, in an apartment I will be vacating in (now) five months time (so weird..can't even talk about it) since my arrival I have been on an endless mission to make my little slice of Jangdang feel like a home, albeit a temporary one. Through a combination of Daiso (dollar store) purchases, school copier enterprising, Thailand love, and some good old fashioned dumpster diving,  my place has come to look a little something like this...

Reunited and it feels SO good

I finally got a new set of watercolors last week and have since spent many hours on my couch, with a cup of coffee and a pad of paper, totally and completely happy. Moral of the story? Watercolors are good for the soul. They are not, however, good for ones ability to accomplish anything else.

“Screaming is bad for the voice, but it’s good for the heart” — Conor Oberst

Anyeong[hikheseyo].
에밀리  

Riddle me this, Batman.

It's almost 10:15 pm on a Monday night. I am not in my cozy apt in Pyeongtaek, where you may expect to find me at such a time. Instead, I am in Seoul; just outside Sports Complex Station to be exact, right next to the Olympic Stadium. It's taken me almost three hours to get here, one of which was spent wandering around Jamsil, two stops away. I have wandered down the side of the street and down the stairs leading under a busy highway. Here I find myself utterly perplexed. A few short, or very long (its hard to say), awkward moments later I am sitting on a pleather couch in an office fashioned out of half a trailer. I am sandwiched in between two middle aged, Korean, bus drivers, with the eyes of a half dozen others blinking in my direction. I have 2 dixie cups in one hand. One overflowing with teok (Korean rice cakes) the other with steaming Korean kopi.  At present, I am using the other hand to eat mouthfuls of teok with a toothpick (not fast enough for my hosts liking) and making repeated attempts to ward off offers of soju and pigs feet. The sole woman amongst the party is scolding the men, telling them that I don't have to drink soju with them. They are very excited when I understand the Korean jabber enough to realize they are wondering where I am from, and later whether I am a teacher or a soldier. I am apparently the surprise life of this party.

If anyone (whom has not yet been told) can tell me how exactly I ended up in the above described scenario...

a.) you are a wizard 

and  b.) I will find you some fabulous way to show how truly impressed I am. 

In other news, I am having vague thoughts of reopening my etsy and putting a few of my travel photos up for sale, as part of my save money to fund my September dream plan plans. I don't know if I will actually do it. Thoughts? 

Anyeong[hikheseyo].
에밀리

RR&R: Things (many) Korean's Love

Passing Moments.

"To all the world's people:

Listen all, to my words. 

This pure youth, this gray dusk.   

Enjoy these passing moments."

-Kim Cheon Taek (1725-1766)

Emily Teacher Chingu!!

I feel, in some ways, like I've been running at full sprint for about two weeks. 
Logan (my college wifey) left 48 hours ago 
[actually about a week ago... this has taken a while to finish] concluding her eight day SOKO Vacay.  

The days leading up to her arrival were spent cleaning my apartment and plowing through the initial stages of my winter camp plans (All NETs are required to teach a few weeks of English immersion camp during school breaks). Once school let out on December 7th (can you believe its almost January!) I promptly boarded a bus and planted myself at the Songtan Intercity Bus Terminal, our designated meeting place, and began my coffee-crack-liquid-fueled vigil. To the confusion/amusement of the ticket teller, there I sat, reading my book and biting my nails, until she arrived a few hours later, having taken a bus from the airport.  

Her arrival lifted a great weight off my shoulders. I had spent the last hour or so thinking of what I could/would do if she didn't show up, as she had no cell phone or form of communication through which to send the all important, "I am lost somewhere in Korea" message. Fortunately my worries were unnecessary. Unfortunately, Logan forgot to inform United that her baggage would NOT, in fact, like to take a solo vacay to Ho Chi Minh City. I guess you can win them all.

We spent the first night hanging out at my apartment and enjoying each others long overdue company.  Logan was exhausted and I was perfectly content basking in the glow of having my friend in Korea, not to mention the bags full of love she brought from home including such all important items as  popcorn, nutmeg, Resce's peanut butter cups, a pie tin, nutmeg, and tide pens. 

We got a wonderful, warm, and very important night sleep, before heading off down the side of the road to Banji the next morning. I had neglected to tell any of my students that Logan would be coming to school with me on Thursday and, needless to say, the looks of surprise/confusion/elation on their faces when they notice another "teacher" in tow were priceless. She spent the day repeatedly answering

"What is your name?"
"Where are you from?"
"Are you married?"
"Do you have a boyfriend?"
"How old are you?"
"Do you like Korea???"
"DO YOU WANT SOME MORE?!?"
"CAN YOU JOIN US?!!"

Confused?
The later two queries were shouted across the classroom by one of my not so well behaved or fluent, yet hysterical, fifth graders. On a regular basis I ask questions, and this student responds by shouting out random things they have been taught over the preceding weeks. While they may be wholly incorrect, he is so funny that I usually can't help but laugh and let it go, as long as he does not continue to be disruptive. Maybe one day we will reach the point where he understands what I am talking about.

In addition to answering a barrage of questions and being fawned over for her "golden locks," Logan also got to witness the general zoo that is my daily life. (Yes, I recognized I have not yet given my school, co-teachers, and students their deserved attention in this blog, I promise I am getting there). She even got to witness the super zoo, that is my 2nd grade after school class, on the extra special last class. Not only did this involve watching me try to corral one student, who regularly decides to log roll across the floor and who Juha likes to refer to as "naughty boy," it also meant that Logan Teacher (or Emily Teacher Chingu/friend) got to help fulfill the grand production that was melting and molding chocolate with twenty-six second graders. Mind you these are students who want nothing more than to leap from desk to desk and/or wrestle with Juha or I, when we turn off Sponge Bob at the start of class. 

Point of interest: after my last class I had two boys come up to me and have the following conversation "Emily Teacher! English. Undu-taika." "What?" "English. Underl-takerl." "Undertaker??" "Yes! Undertaker! Kane! English!" while handing me a marker. 
 The only thing that could top their elation, after I wrote both words on the board, was my question, "Undertaker, like WWE?" Cue 2nd grade shock and awe. Incidentally, I believe I have now found the source of their constant fighting. Thanks World Wrestling Entertainment.

The remainder of the week was spent running between various adventures around Seoul and Gyeonggi-do, including but not limited to:

1. Participating in an informative and enjoyable tour and temple life program at Bongeunsa Buddhist Temple. The afternoon was lead buy an adorable, middle aged Korean volunteer guide and included a walk around the temple grounds and within the prayer room, a green tea ceremony, guidance in Zen meditation, and  chance to make lotus flower lanterns. While a pesky cough got in the way of my most zen like state, and all my lotus petals wanted to do was stick to my gluey fingers, the afternoon was thought provoking, peaceful, and an experience I am very glad I had the chance to participate in, and share with Logan.

 

2. Wandering the winding streets and crowded corridors of Namdaemun Market, and stopping for a delicious feast along the way.

3. Meeting up with Ali, making besties with Moon, the owner of Backpackers Space hostel in Hongdae, and eating some Jimmdak (my favorite Korean dish) whose heat index may have rivaled the surface of the sun, before heading out for a fab night in Seoul. (In case anyone was wondering, I have the photo evidence to prove that the love of the peace sign in Korea is NOT a cultural stereotype. Additionally, it is a gesture I have fully and completely adopted during my time in the morning calm.) *thanks/credit to Logan for the photos

 

4. Getting our feet eaten by fishies.
Yes, you read that correctly. A handful of nail salons, as well as coffee shops, around Seoul proudly advertise their Dr. Fish facilities.  Basically you put your feet into pools of water filled with little Garra Ruffa fish who, in turn, happily and diligently nibble away at the dead skin on your feet and legs. I know that sounds totally gross, but I  thought it was pretty enjoyable. The process stimulates the nerves and blood flow in your feet and ankles, and leaves them feeling tingling and fresh, well after your fishy time is up. As I said, I enjoyed the experience immensely; however, I don't think the same can be said for Ali and Logan, who created quite the scene shrieking with terror, before finally plunging their feet into the water. Said scene continued for about 12 out of the15 minutes we had our feet in the pool. I guess Dr. Fish isn't for everyone, but I will definitely do it again!

 

AND 5. Heading up to Namsan (North Seoul) Tower to take in a fabulous view of the city and photograph the thousands of "love locks" locked on the fence overlooking Seoul. No, we did not add our own lock to the collection. Yes, we know our love is everlasting without a lock. We cemented our friendship long ago by laying on body pillows on the floor of Target and throwing aerobeds down the stairs to camp out in the solarium... what else do you need? Locks of Love have got nothing on this friendship.

One unexpected adventure came Sunday evening, when Logan and I tried to retrieve our overnight bags from the lockers in City Hall station, in which we had deposited them hours earlier. Getting our bags into the lockers was easy enough, with the help of some friendly Koreans. Getting them out... not so much. After glancing over a meaningless page of Korean instructions, I began futzing with the key pad trying every combination of options, figuring eventually one would work. My frustration mounted and unfortunately there where no friendly Korean helpers in sight. I even tried asking the woman selling pants next to the lockers for help. To which she responded "몰라요" or " I don't know" and to which I wish I could have screamed "All you have to do is read the KOREAN instructions!!" I refrained, however, remembering that she probably had no idea what I was blabbing about in my broken Korean in the first place. Basically, we were SOL.

Or so we thought.
Next thing we know, up walks Ajoshi, who has clearly enjoyed one to many of the Hites he is still clutching in one hand. He makes a valiant effort to help these two waygook's out and even attempts to run my debit card through the card slot about 5 times (obviously not working) before I quickly snatch it back from him, call out a "감사합니다" ("thank you") and wander off to find another source of help. Thankfully, the next set of lockers had English instructions that we were able to memorize before sprinting back to our backpack prison and, after 30 min of frustration, Emily and Logan could finally be seen doing a full on happy dance in the empty station, as we pulled out our newly freed bags and headed for the last train to Seojeong-ri station.

Thanks again to Logan for capturing this beautiful moment.

Over the next two days, Logan ventured off on her own to explore the city, as I had to return to Banji to teach my monsters. Ehem, children.  We met up each night/afternoon to continue our adventures and/or relaxation. After 8 days, I was sad to see her go and a bit lonely returning to my apartment to face the mountains of laundry, dishes and work I had ignored during her visit. While it is always sad to say goodbye, especially when you know you shall not see a person for QUITE some time, I am so grateful that I have such a good friend, who would fly halfway across the world to visit me, in a small suburb, in Korea.

On a related and totally unrelated note, I am equally grateful to Logan for coming to Korea as for being my running buddy during the latter part of college. It would be an understatement to say both of us looked at running as more of a chore than an enjoyable pass time at first, and sometimes still find it difficult to remain motivated. But, during senior year in particular, we pushed each other to lace up our shoes each night (somewhere around 10:30 pm) and head off to the gym. With Logan as a running buddy, I pushed myself to run farther than I ever had, without a soccer ball underfoot. While I've had my ups and downs with running recently, Miss Logi Faye has been running her butt off, training for (her first) Disney Marathon. She is running alongside the The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society's (LLS) Team In Training and has almost reached her goal of $5000.00,  raised as a donation towards LSS.  I want encourage anyone and everyone who wishes, to join me in both wishing her luck and  supporting her in her race the the finish line next month!

Anatomy of a DVD방

It's 4:00 am. Your groggy, a bit disheveled, and fully dressed from the previous night. Shifting from one side, to the other, you take a deep breath and peal your face off the pleather chaise longue, on which you are currently sprawled. The room is dark, you look around, squinting to take in your surroundings, a tiny room big enough for only this small couch and a sliver of floor space. The only light in the room is coming from a 40 inch flatscreen TV, mounted on the wall opposite the door. You are two hours into Memoirs of a Geisha. Jihoo does not yet know if The Chancellor remembers her. You identify your bag and coat in a pile on the floor, joined by those of two friends sound asleep on the remaining two thirds of pleather surface. Before closing your eyes, you wonder briefly if you will be woken up when the movie ends.You rest your eyes, and are immediately asleep.

Where are you? Or, more precisely, where was I at 4:00am last Sunday? A DVDBang in Gangnam, of course. I must, once again, pause to apologize. Or, because I am the author of this blog and can write whatever I please, not apologize, but pause for correction. In my last post, I said that the two main options after a night in Seoul were to stay out until the subway opened, or stay in a jimmjilbang. This was not one hundred percent accurate. It is true that the options are stay up all night, or find a place to crash (unless I want to pay for a hundred dollar cab ride back to my hood) however, there are a few more options besides the jimmjilbang, one of which is the DVDbang.

You perhaps have noticed the frequent use of the word 방, or bang, in my blog posts (norebang, dvdbang, jimmjilbang...) Bang literally translates to "room" and when tacked on the end of a word, simply marks a location in which one can ejoy the specified activity, "nore"= sing, dvd= watch a dvd etc. DVD Bangs started appearing in Korea in the 80's, bringing their small dark rooms and abundant movie selections to cities across the country. Originally these personal movie viewing rooms were established to service both friends and Korean couples seeking refuge from the eyes of protective parents. The later likely accounts for the vast numbers of DVD Bangs, especially considering Korean's often live at home until marriage, so privacy is hard to come by.  This cultural norm, as you might imagine, results in a fair bit of shenanigans behind the private doors; but, luckily, also accounts for the near toxic levels of Lysol used to clean each room (judging by the assfixiating scent...) In recent years, with the influx of Foreign teachers and expat travelers, DVD Bangs have also begun to cater to a new demographic. That of the late night, morning subway bound, gaggle of friends in need of a few hours shut eye.

Enter my Saturday night.

Saturday afternoon was actually equally as lovely, in a different, more esthetically pleasing way. I spent about two hours at the Seoul Art Center, where a National Geographic photo exhibit is on display. While I'm pretty sure a few images (think Stephen Colbert worthy  bald eagle photo) were straight up CGI, the vast majority were both beautiful and inspiring, and left me thinking, "how can I do that?" After the photo exhibit Ali, Mike Gerri and I met up with a handful of other friends in Gangnam for some dinner (ridiculously expensive, yet delicious, chicken fingers and fries, sans ranch :(...) and and what turned into an unplanned evening out in the area. We hung around the restaurant for a few hours, enjoying some non Cass/Hite beer. (These are two of the only brands in Korea... and let's just say, both leave something to be desired.) After relocating to another bar in Gangnam, we spent the next few hours relaxing and enjoying the good company. There was even some drum circle action involved.

After parting ways with the other half of our crew, Amanda, Mike, Geri, Matt, Brian and I went off in search of some late night munchies and a place to crash. We eventually settled on some delicious and spicyspicy street food, before heading into the nearest DVD Bang and paying for two rooms. After spending entirely too long choosing movies that we were 100% planning on sleeping through, and repeatedly crushing Amanda's dreams of watching Titanic, we piled onto our respective chaise's and settled in for a much needed nap.

While I am fairly certain most DVD Bangs kick you out when the movie is over, (obviously we chose one nearly 3 hours long) Amanda, Matt and I, woke up in a completely dark room, at approximatly 8:30 am sunday morning, over an hour after our movie had ended. Although the room was reaching a heat index bordering on inferno, this extended sleep allowed for a lovely morning in Gangnam, scarfing delicious western breakfast, before setting off for a day of wanderings in Myeongdong.

While it may not seem like the most legitimate sleeping location, I SWEAR it's extremely common to find people sleeping in a vast variety of locations on any given weekend in Seoul. Finding a DVD Bang may actually be the third most legit place to sleep, only short of paying for a bed at a hostel or motel.

So my friends, I ask you not to judge. Simply do your best to appreciate, and embrace the glory of the DVD Bang as a piece of Korean culture and a interesting end of the night adventure. If any of you back home actually venture over this way, I'll  even let you watch Titanic if you want...

Random Rambles and Reflections

The following represent a smattering of thoughts, observations, and reflections that have flitted through my brain at some point or another, over the last two and a half months, but not warranted a solo post.

Two and a half months! It is crazy to think that over 1/6th of my year is already gone. This realization reaffirms my desire to make the most of my free time and weekends, try everything I can to teach my students something valuable, and appreciate the gift I have been given this year. 

Here we go.  The good. The bad. The ugly and the weird. But really... it's mostly good

GloboGym: Jangdang-dong
Last month, I finally got off my tushie and joined a local gym. Its a small, worse-for-the-wear facility, comprised of about 15 treadmills, an equal amount of stationary bikes, and a fair bit of weight machines/equipment. Not to mention, a fair few mystery machines, the most frequently utilized being this sort of disc contraption that Korean men stand on and twist from one side the the other. I haven't the slightest idea what this is accomplishing.

What it lacks in glamor, however, Jang-dang hui-tu-nes-uh ku-rub makes up in convenience and character. First of all, it is located on my block, approximately 4 min walking distance from my apartment. This fact alone makes up for any wear-and-tear on the machinery, seeing as we all know the walk to the gym takes exponentially more energy than the workout itself. Once I've made the trek, and politely declined the gym provided work out clothes (mine are just fine thanks,) I am greeted by wall to wall posters of bodybuilders. Now, I am not talking the latest and greatest of Korean bodybuilders. I am talking 1980's Western bodybuilders alla Arnold and friends. If that is not enough eye-candy, there is also a large head shot of Meg Ryan, from her You've Got Mail era. Why is this here, in a dinky gym, in a dinky suburb, of a dinky city in South Korea...your guess is as good as mine.

I have also developed a habit of getting in my daily exercise at the entirely appropriate hour of 11 pm, which has made for some interesting encounters. The first few days I joined the gym the same middle aged Korean man, with whom I set up my membership, was at the reception desk. One night, however, I exited the elevator to see a new man, who, upon seeing yours truly, smiled excitedly and said "Oh, Emily!" Clue number one that I am the only non Korean at this gym (and definitely the only white girl coming to run at 11 pm on a regular basis.) Fast forward a few days, I am strolling down the street at about 11:10 (late even for my standards). I go upstairs, and exit the elevator to find a completely lit, yet completely empty gym. I stand around for a few min and timidly call out "Anyeong haseyo..," before noticing that all the machines are off. I give in, deciding it wasn't meant to be, and get back in the elevator feeling somewhat defeated. When the doors open, however, my new friend from a few nights prior is waiting. He has clearly just taken out the trash for the night, but when he sees me says, "Oh! Emily! Running!" and points upstairs. I give him a "Neeeeh" and we go back to the fourth floor, where he happily turns the treadmills back on for me. It seems I am in the good books at the gym. Whoever is at the reception desks now checks each time I leave if I will be coming the next day. This way they know whether or not to turn off the treadmills.  Even so, I SWEAR I am making attempts to move my workout routine to a more reasonable hour. The only draw back here is that when the gym is more crowded (ie: 6 people), it is far more likely that a friendly Korean will decide that while I am huffing and puffing on the treadmill is the most appropriate time to have a conversation with their potential new American best friend (yours truly).

Good morning Seoul, Good afternoon Pyeongtaek
Variable X = The subways in and out of Seoul stop running at midnight (meaning I have to be on by 10:30 at the latest, if I want to make it back to Seojoeng-ri station)
Variable Y = Seoul never sleeps. Not the shops. Not the people. Not anyone.

X +Y = [A] typical night out in Seoul ending only when you are eating street food, sitting in the subway station at 6 am waiting for that first train. Basically, if you are gearing up for a night in the city, you must mentally prepare yourself for the long haul, or resolve to spend the wee hours of the morning napping in a Jimmjilbang (24 hour spa / place to crash for a few hours before the subway starts running.)

What did I ever do with only 12 eggs?
In Korea, the grocery and convenience stores sell eggs in large trays of 30 (or you can buy 5 trays... as in 150 eggs at once). Anyone who has ever lived with me, or worked as a supervisor at Beber Camp in the last few summers, knows that this alone is enough to win my heart.


Long-Duck-Dong, is that you??
I swear I am not being culturally insensitive here. I am reacting not to the horrible stereotype portrayed, but to the appearance of the character. One of my students looks EXACTLY like Long Duck Dong from 16 candles. I'm also starting to think I have his brother in my first grade after school class, which makes me quite tempted to call him Short Duck Dong.



Yes, you may be drinking popcorn.
A weird thing happened the other day and yet, it is a perfect metaphor for much of my time spent here in Korea. I was sitting on my couch, doing something or other, and felt a bit parched. I ventured into the kitchen and pulled a large bottle of mystery tea out of the fridge. On a previous afternoon, I had visited my local grocery store and, among a variety of odd purchases, decided I would like some iced tea. Recognizing only the Korean words for green tea (and the word tea, itself) I grabbed a bottle of Nok-cha (green tea) and an assortment of other "chas" to test the waters with. The bottle in question was an ambery-ish liquid that I though might be ginger tea. Wrong. At first sip I thought, "That's not what I thought this would taste like." and "I'm not quite sure if I like this..." but, as I said, I was parched and had about a liter of this mystery beverage left to drink, so I forged on, taking a few big gulps. Even after 30 minutes, I wasn't quite sure I how I felt about this experiment; bu,t I was starting to get the feeling I was drinking corn. The subtle taste of popcorn came on slowly. At first, I thought I may be hallucinating, as a result of my airpop withdrall; but, eventually, I was prettttyyy sure I was straight up drinking corn. I spent more than a few moments deciphering the messy hangul script on the bottle, and promptly typed my findings into Google. SO, what did I find?


옥수수차 Oksusu cha (literally "corn tea") is a traditional Korean tisane made from boiled roasted corn kernels.

Thank you Wikipedia, source of all knowledge, for confirming my suspicions.

Much like many things in Korea that have seemed  a bit weird at first, I found that after about an hour I was really enjoying my Oksusu cha. In fact, there is a new bottle chillin' in my fridge as I write this and I am probably drinking the entire liter as you read it.

I'd like a cup of coffee please... 
"Korean coffee" is the cryptonite of my morning routine. While the label reads coffee, or "Kopi," the contents of my maxim gold kopi packets are fighting this classification with everything they've got. The word "packets" perhaps tipped you off to the fact that we are not talking about the real deal here, let along the amazing latte's of my time in Italy. I am talking super sugary instant coffee, with instant creamer already added to the packet. It's rather more like syrup (or liquid crack) than anything resembling my beverage addiction of choice. Now you may be asking. "Emily, how do you drink such a vile concoction?" If I was Emily (and I am) I would answer, "I mix a mugs worth of crack liquid every morning, and let it cool while I get dressed, allowing me to drink the entire cup in two quick gulps." If I were your average Korean I would say, "I mix one packet with approximately two thimbles full of water and enjoy my traditional Korean coffee (yes, I said traditional...) out of a paper dixie cup."

I have to apologize here; I will just never fully adopt the coffee habits of Korean's. I think my dentist will appreciate my attitude in the long run.


And in special honor of today's [yesterday's] date...

Teacher! Teacher! 빼빼로! Peppero! Peppero!
November 11 is a day like non other in Korea, a day that happens but once a year, a day that brings the excitement and sugar consumption of Korean children (and adults) to dangerous levels. Today is Peppero Day! What is Peppero Day you may be asking? Or what are "Peppero?" to be exact. The answer, my friends, is twofold.

Peppero are skinny stick-like biscuits covered in, or filled with, chocolate. I have decided that "Peppero Day" is the single most suscesfull advertising campaign of all time. About 10 years ago Lotte, the company that manufactures Peppero, made a ground breaking connection. The date November 11th, or 11.11 looks strikingly similar to 4 Peppero sticks.  Coincidence, I think not. Lotte, one of the largest companies in Korea, also thinks not, and thus declared this day "Peppero Day." Basically Korean children, teens, and some adults buy excessive amounts of Peppero sticks, ranging from standard boxes of 10 small sticks, to individually packaged jumbo sticks, to elaborate Peppero gift sets (Korean's love a good gift set.) These goodies are passed out to friends, teachers, co-workers, the boy 4 rows over that you have a crush on.. etc.

Peppero Day provided me with an excellent excuse to eat inappropriate amounts of Peppero for 12 hours and has given me the opportunity to provide you with a fabulous, symbolic introduction to the students of Banji Elementary School.

1st and 2nd graders on Peppero day: Knocked on the door of my office terrified, to bring me Peppero's and, after I thanked them, mummbled "your welcome" in barely audible tone before running out the door shrieking and giggling.

3rd graders on Peppero day: Literally would not let me leave the classroom without shoving boxes into my hands and/or chased me down the hall completely overjoyed to give me Peppero's.

6th graders on Peppero day: Repeatedly came to my office and said "Teacher, give me Peppero!"

All the reasons my monsters can be so wonderful and so annoying!

That is all for now, I will probably post some Random Ramblings every now and then, to share with you those little things which make my daily life so entertaining.

안녕히계세요,
Emily