I'm reading “The History of the English Language” in one of my classes and am really into it. I enjoy the classes where I am also learning. I miss being in a classroom….maybe I will go back to school after this year.
Also, I thoroughly enjoyed being called “chic” by one of my female students. I was wearing clothes from Robin.
I shared my story of ordering food the night before with one of my middle school classes and while saying the soup I ordered I mispronounced it and accidentally said the Korean word for “oh, shit/ damnit.” The kids giggled and told me I said a bad word. Good to know! Chen- jun is bad but dwin-jun is soup.
Little wild Anny played a joke on me in class today. She put the eraser at the top of the door so when I opened the door to come in it would fall on my head. Silly girl! I got her back when she stepped out to use the restroom. At the end of class she gave me a gift (a fan) and said her mom wanted me to have it. I was touched!
Went out to The Holy Grill after work for Tex Mex and it was heavenly! Margaritas, quesadillas, and nachos! And we met up with a whole slew of English speakers it wasn't like being in Korea at all. After dinner we (Robin, Stephen, Michael, and Hoon) went to GoGo Party, the bar where they serve you drinks in a big ziplock bag. I heard someone call it the Capri-Sun for adults. Clever, I liked that. We hung out there for a while then went to a video game room and played Wii Tennis and Wii Mario Kart. There really must be something in the alcohol here. I've had really nasty hangovers both times that I've drank here. STEP AWAY, ALICIA!
Friday, July 23, 2010
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
i think i'm turning japanese
I noticed my body odor is smelling of kimchi (pickled cabbage, a Korean traditional side dish). I haven’t even eaten much Korean food yet. And Koreans may not sweat, but they do smell! I walk into my middle school classes and smell serious puberty boy stank.
Earlier this week I graded essays with the topic “what are your summer vacation plans.” The essays were pretty sad, as most kids are not really getting any kind of vacation or break from studying. Some even said that their goal is lose weight. After work, I went into three different Korean restaurants this evening to order Bibimbop, a mixed vegetable and rice dish. None of them had it so I asked for a recommendation and got some burger thing with rice (bop). I encountered three ajimmas (older Korean women), which helped me.
I got sad and frustrated yesterday in class when I realized that the majority of my students don’t understand what a reporter is and the books only refer to reporters as people on TV.
P.S. Revelation for the week: You know how people joke about how the best thing about living alone is being able to walk around naked all the time? I really didn't think I would, but I really am naked every time I am home. Perhaps that will change when winter comes.
Monday, July 12, 2010
Week One
One full week of teaching down and almost done with my second week. Everything is an adjustment but so far, so good. Sure, I am encountering some "difficult" students but wouldn't you be rambunctious and uninterested if you had to be in school 14 hours a day.
The Korean teachers (my co-teachers) at my school are all really friendly and helpful. There's Jamie, Monica, and Lily.
The weekend was pretty uneventful but just what I wanted. I met Robin downtown for frozen yogurt on Friday night and am more amazed with the maze that is downtown. Shops of all sorts, international restaurants, and entertainment galore. I finished unpacking and did some grocery shopping but spent most of the weekend sleeping and watching movies.
By Monday (July 12th), I was finally feeling rested and somewhat prepared for my second week of teaching. On Tuesday night, I indulged in Korean fried chicken for the first time. While waiting for my box of chicken, I made friends (exchanged numbers and all) with the Korean girl that worked at the counter. Here's to hoping I wont eat fried chicken all the time and that I can learn more conversational Korean with my new friend. Wednesdays are a light day for teaching at my hagwon(the Korean word for private academy school). Students in levels 100 and up write weekly essays. I'll be grading essays on Wednesdays. This week's topic was "write a letter introducing yourself to your new teacher." There was some really precious essays. I copied one and taped it to my wall. I'm also pleasantly surprised that my Korean students have had a much easier time pronouncing my name correctly than the majority of my friends and family in America.
The Korean teachers (my co-teachers) at my school are all really friendly and helpful. There's Jamie, Monica, and Lily.
The weekend was pretty uneventful but just what I wanted. I met Robin downtown for frozen yogurt on Friday night and am more amazed with the maze that is downtown. Shops of all sorts, international restaurants, and entertainment galore. I finished unpacking and did some grocery shopping but spent most of the weekend sleeping and watching movies.
By Monday (July 12th), I was finally feeling rested and somewhat prepared for my second week of teaching. On Tuesday night, I indulged in Korean fried chicken for the first time. While waiting for my box of chicken, I made friends (exchanged numbers and all) with the Korean girl that worked at the counter. Here's to hoping I wont eat fried chicken all the time and that I can learn more conversational Korean with my new friend. Wednesdays are a light day for teaching at my hagwon(the Korean word for private academy school). Students in levels 100 and up write weekly essays. I'll be grading essays on Wednesdays. This week's topic was "write a letter introducing yourself to your new teacher." There was some really precious essays. I copied one and taped it to my wall. I'm also pleasantly surprised that my Korean students have had a much easier time pronouncing my name correctly than the majority of my friends and family in America.
Sunday, July 11, 2010
first weekend out
I had a real Friday night out with my coteacher Michael and boss’ son, Dex. Dex is the English name Michael and I gave him. A lot of Koreans want English names. Dex gave me a Korean name, JinShil, which means "truth." Alicia means truthful and honest, so I thought the Korean equivalent was fitting. Our night started with all you can drink Hof beer with two orders of appetizers at "South Street," a Philly inspired restaurant. After we were stuffed and tipsy, we went to a nore bang, which is a singing room. Along with singing Bon Jovi and Backstreet Boys songs, we had several shots of soju, which is like Korean rice vodka (bleh). The next morning, I hovered over the toilet seat (twice) thinking “this is not what I’m going to be doing here…you are too old to drink like that…but you’re only 23 and it’s only you’re first week in Korea.”
After I was somewhat recovered from the night before, I went to a soccer game with Robin to watch her British boyfriend play soccer with his adult students. I met some Korean girls at the soccer game and munched on Korean snacks, which were a mix of sweet and seafood flavored. I'm not enjoying the seafood flavored snacks.
Thursday, July 8, 2010
"...and go on to bed. Let go of the worry. There's so much nobody understands"
Today, I fumbled with finding the correct track for the lesson on CDs, brought the wrong book to a few classes, and spent too much time on things that I should not have. I am completely wiped out from my nine classes but, I survived my first full day of teaching on my own. I suppose it wasn't the worst first impression on the kids. I dressed professional and had answers to all of their questions. After my name, the kids all wanted to know where I am from, how old I am, and if I have a boyfriend. Giggles were their reactions to all of my responses.
The teacher I replaced left yesterday, Christina is leaving tomorrow, and the other new foreign teacher, Michael, just arrived from Chicago this evening.
Tomorrow, Michael and I will be on our own.
The teacher I replaced left yesterday, Christina is leaving tomorrow, and the other new foreign teacher, Michael, just arrived from Chicago this evening.
Tomorrow, Michael and I will be on our own.
"after all my questions, I'm going to call it home. I got a brand new mind set...I'm gonna call it home"
After a full 27.5 hours of travel (flight from NC to DC- DC to Tokyo-Tokyo to Seoul, then a four hour bus ride from Seoul to Daegu) and two nights in a motel, I'm finally at the place that I will call home for the next year.
I'm unpacking in my cozy studio apartment in the Suseong-gu section of Daegu, South Korea. The apartment is certainly larger than anything I'd be able to afford on my own in New York City but, I think my bedroom in Clinton Hill, Brooklyn was larger than my apartment here. A few "strange" things about my apartment: no tub or shower; just a shower head on the wall in the bathroom, no oven; just two gas stove top burners, must push a button to get hot water, washer but no dryer. That's it really...I'm going to be just fine here. I have Internet (not wireless), cable with a few English speaking channels, and plenty of space for my things.
Speaking of my things, I'm feeling like I didn't bring enough clothes. I unpacked, threw out select items, and repacked my belongings six times since I left New York. The good news was that both of my two checked bags were not over the airline carrier's 50lb weight limit.
How was my travel from America to South Korea?
Trip highlights: No problems at any of the three airports. I was concerned about the two month old baby next to me on the flight from DC to Tokyo but that ended up not being an issue. Read my entire "Living Abroad in South Korea" book. Listened to several "Korean 101" podcasts. Got sick on the last hour of my flight to Tokyo and puked twice. I had my first taste of Asian culture while wandering around the Tokyo airport during my two hour layover. Once in Seoul, I had no problems navigating around the airport to get my luggage and buy my bus ticket to Daegu but, it took me five tries to figure out how to use the pay phone. I finally got through to my school director who answered the call "Alicia?" I was relieved that she was expecting my call but then surprised to discover that she doesn't know much English. After three other people got on the phone, the message was finally across that I had arrived in Seoul and will need to be picked up at the bus station in Daegu in four hours. It was 9:30pm on July 5th when I arrived in Seoul. I slept the entire four hour bus ride to Daegu.
The "bus station" in Daegu was just a small empty parking lot at 1:30 am. I looked around for someone that might be expecting me and saw no one. No cell phone. No idea where I am. Don't tell my mother, but I was scared and started to question this whole trip. "Did I get scammed? Is someone going to come scoop me up into a van and sell me into sex slavery?" I stood with my abundant amount of luggage in a dark parking lot just waiting for something horrible to happen for 40 minutes. Then, a minivan pulled up next to me. A petite, smiling Korean woman stepped out of the passenger side with open arms and said, "Alicia, nice to meet you." A man came out from the driver's side, scooped up my luggage and put it in the van. I let out a big sigh of relief. The man is my school director's husband, Mr. Chung. They both knew enough English to carry on a three minute conversation. The rest of the 20 minute drive was silent...and awkward. They brought me to a hotel, unloaded my luggage from the van, and checked me into a room with kiwi wallpaper.
It was 2:30am and my school director, Grace, said she would come pick me up at 3pm to bring me to the school for training. Yup, I started working just hours after I arrived. My one day of training consisted of shadowing Christina (a recent college graduate from Maryland who only had 3 more days left on her contract in South Korea) for eight 35 minute classes. In between classes she tried to show me the ropes of the office, the class schedule, homework, lessons,etc.
Needless to say, I was overwhelmed but relieved that I wouldn't need to do much lesson planning in the beginning. My job is to teach right from workbooks mainly using CDs. I give daily vocabulary quizzes and make sure the children are filling out their workbooks. The only real room for creativity is if I have time after the "book lesson." Thankfully, all of the students have a fair understanding of English already. There are 11 different levels between elementary and middle school children. I teach Speaking, Listening, Reading, Writing, and Storybook classes. I have eight classes on Mondays; nine classes on Tuesdays, Thursdays, Fridays; and five classes on Wednesdays.
I was prepared for the students to call me Ms. Alicia, but quickly discovered that all teachers in Korea are called the same thing, teacher.
I'm very fortunate to have a good friend from "home" living and teaching in Daegu. Robin, a dear friend from high school who has been in Daegu since September 2009, suggested I apply for the teaching program in South Korea back in February when I vented to her about how miserable I was with life in New York. I did and here I am. Robin and I met for lunch at a cafe yesterday. She discussed the highs and lows of South Korea. Daegu is a big city but luckily, we are living quite close to each other.
Last night after work, I took a bus downtown (on my own...it was so easy) to meet Robin and a few of her friends to see the Korean opening of Eclipse, the Twilight Saga. The movie was in English with Korean subtitles. Between the cheesy dialogue, hot bodied actors, and action, the movie was really enjoyable. After the movie, the six of us girls went to a bar called Commune's Lonely Hearts Club, which is a popular spot for foreigners. I was so thrilled to see so many familiar, unfamiliar faces. At the end of the night, I had exchanged phone numbers with three Korean girls that are learning English, Jullia, Blair, and Isabel.
I'm unpacking in my cozy studio apartment in the Suseong-gu section of Daegu, South Korea. The apartment is certainly larger than anything I'd be able to afford on my own in New York City but, I think my bedroom in Clinton Hill, Brooklyn was larger than my apartment here. A few "strange" things about my apartment: no tub or shower; just a shower head on the wall in the bathroom, no oven; just two gas stove top burners, must push a button to get hot water, washer but no dryer. That's it really...I'm going to be just fine here. I have Internet (not wireless), cable with a few English speaking channels, and plenty of space for my things.
Speaking of my things, I'm feeling like I didn't bring enough clothes. I unpacked, threw out select items, and repacked my belongings six times since I left New York. The good news was that both of my two checked bags were not over the airline carrier's 50lb weight limit.
How was my travel from America to South Korea?
Trip highlights: No problems at any of the three airports. I was concerned about the two month old baby next to me on the flight from DC to Tokyo but that ended up not being an issue. Read my entire "Living Abroad in South Korea" book. Listened to several "Korean 101" podcasts. Got sick on the last hour of my flight to Tokyo and puked twice. I had my first taste of Asian culture while wandering around the Tokyo airport during my two hour layover. Once in Seoul, I had no problems navigating around the airport to get my luggage and buy my bus ticket to Daegu but, it took me five tries to figure out how to use the pay phone. I finally got through to my school director who answered the call "Alicia?" I was relieved that she was expecting my call but then surprised to discover that she doesn't know much English. After three other people got on the phone, the message was finally across that I had arrived in Seoul and will need to be picked up at the bus station in Daegu in four hours. It was 9:30pm on July 5th when I arrived in Seoul. I slept the entire four hour bus ride to Daegu.
The "bus station" in Daegu was just a small empty parking lot at 1:30 am. I looked around for someone that might be expecting me and saw no one. No cell phone. No idea where I am. Don't tell my mother, but I was scared and started to question this whole trip. "Did I get scammed? Is someone going to come scoop me up into a van and sell me into sex slavery?" I stood with my abundant amount of luggage in a dark parking lot just waiting for something horrible to happen for 40 minutes. Then, a minivan pulled up next to me. A petite, smiling Korean woman stepped out of the passenger side with open arms and said, "Alicia, nice to meet you." A man came out from the driver's side, scooped up my luggage and put it in the van. I let out a big sigh of relief. The man is my school director's husband, Mr. Chung. They both knew enough English to carry on a three minute conversation. The rest of the 20 minute drive was silent...and awkward. They brought me to a hotel, unloaded my luggage from the van, and checked me into a room with kiwi wallpaper.
It was 2:30am and my school director, Grace, said she would come pick me up at 3pm to bring me to the school for training. Yup, I started working just hours after I arrived. My one day of training consisted of shadowing Christina (a recent college graduate from Maryland who only had 3 more days left on her contract in South Korea) for eight 35 minute classes. In between classes she tried to show me the ropes of the office, the class schedule, homework, lessons,etc.
Needless to say, I was overwhelmed but relieved that I wouldn't need to do much lesson planning in the beginning. My job is to teach right from workbooks mainly using CDs. I give daily vocabulary quizzes and make sure the children are filling out their workbooks. The only real room for creativity is if I have time after the "book lesson." Thankfully, all of the students have a fair understanding of English already. There are 11 different levels between elementary and middle school children. I teach Speaking, Listening, Reading, Writing, and Storybook classes. I have eight classes on Mondays; nine classes on Tuesdays, Thursdays, Fridays; and five classes on Wednesdays.
I was prepared for the students to call me Ms. Alicia, but quickly discovered that all teachers in Korea are called the same thing, teacher.
I'm very fortunate to have a good friend from "home" living and teaching in Daegu. Robin, a dear friend from high school who has been in Daegu since September 2009, suggested I apply for the teaching program in South Korea back in February when I vented to her about how miserable I was with life in New York. I did and here I am. Robin and I met for lunch at a cafe yesterday. She discussed the highs and lows of South Korea. Daegu is a big city but luckily, we are living quite close to each other.
Last night after work, I took a bus downtown (on my own...it was so easy) to meet Robin and a few of her friends to see the Korean opening of Eclipse, the Twilight Saga. The movie was in English with Korean subtitles. Between the cheesy dialogue, hot bodied actors, and action, the movie was really enjoyable. After the movie, the six of us girls went to a bar called Commune's Lonely Hearts Club, which is a popular spot for foreigners. I was so thrilled to see so many familiar, unfamiliar faces. At the end of the night, I had exchanged phone numbers with three Korean girls that are learning English, Jullia, Blair, and Isabel.
Sunday, July 4, 2010
"I'm leaving on a jet plane; don't know when I'll be back again."
Is it un-American of me to be leaving for South Korea on our great nation's birthday? I'm not one to boast American pride but I'm sad that I will be missing the 4th of July fireworks. Mom, being mom, wanted me to have a proper Independence Day celebration and send off party with the family, which was appreciated. Mom insisted on cooking an assortment of southern style goodies with a few Latin dishes and then complained about not getting enough help. I insisted on having an 80 count water balloon fight with my cousins and then complained about not getting help filling water balloons.
I quit my job as a Manhattan real estate publicist on June 19th and have felt more overwhelmed ever since. I think the closest thing I'm going to have to a peaceful vacation is the 14 hour flight from D.C. to Tokyo that I'll be on in the morning. These last two weeks have been hectic but enjoyable.
I played host and tour guide for my dad and stepmother in New York City from June 20th-23rd. On the morning of June 23rd, we (dad, stepmom, and I) loaded what was left of my material life to the back of dad's truck and drove out of Brooklyn down to Southern Maryland. For the entire six hour drive, I reflected about my blissful, abusive 18 month relationship with New York City. I finally found comfort in the phrase, "this is not goodbye but see you later."
Once in Southern Maryland, I completely took on the role of super bridesmaid for Katie and Micheal's wedding. This consisted of being an active assistant in the following: bachelorette party planner, wedding planner, bridal party hair and make-up, reception MC, and, of course, keeping the bride stress free and happy. Everything went great. It was good for me to keep busy like that so I wouldn't get all sad about leaving New York and being stressed out about the unknown in South Korea. Congrats and thank you Katie and Micheal!
I arrived at mother's in Smithfield, NC just in time for dinner on June 27th. The next day we (mom, Uncle George, and I) headed north to Rougemont, NC to "babysit" my cousins, Cody, 13, and Joshua, 6. It's sad to say that I generally feel more connected to civilization when I visit Aunt Jean and Uncle Robbie's house than mom's house. Aunt Jean's house is about seven miles away from the closest grocery store, but she always has Internet and cable. Although, regardless of which house I'm staying at when I visit family in NC, there is no escaping the awkward encounters with redneck neighbors. For those four days, my routine was up at 7am to moderate the boys' argument over Wii, make breakfast, walk the dogs, clean up after the dogs' "Who Can Leave Their Scent More Places Around the House" game, laundry, outdoor activity, dodge arguments between mom and Uncle George, help with dinner, bathe Joshua, and end the night watching a Twilight or Harry Potter movie with mom and Aunt Jean. I felt like a mom; it was exhausting and horrifying.
After cleaning up from the family Independence Day/Bye Lish/Multiple Birthday Party, I was brought to Uncle Dave and Aunt Venny's house in Cary, NC, as they live the closest to the Raleigh Durham Airport. I'm used to being away from my family but damn-it, mom had to make it difficult! She always cries when she says goodbye to me and if you don't cry when you see your mother cry then you have no soul. Here I am, in the private guest room enjoying the silence; there are no children or dogs in this house.
I'm ready now. It's not goodbye; it's see ya later, America!
I quit my job as a Manhattan real estate publicist on June 19th and have felt more overwhelmed ever since. I think the closest thing I'm going to have to a peaceful vacation is the 14 hour flight from D.C. to Tokyo that I'll be on in the morning. These last two weeks have been hectic but enjoyable.
I played host and tour guide for my dad and stepmother in New York City from June 20th-23rd. On the morning of June 23rd, we (dad, stepmom, and I) loaded what was left of my material life to the back of dad's truck and drove out of Brooklyn down to Southern Maryland. For the entire six hour drive, I reflected about my blissful, abusive 18 month relationship with New York City. I finally found comfort in the phrase, "this is not goodbye but see you later."
Once in Southern Maryland, I completely took on the role of super bridesmaid for Katie and Micheal's wedding. This consisted of being an active assistant in the following: bachelorette party planner, wedding planner, bridal party hair and make-up, reception MC, and, of course, keeping the bride stress free and happy. Everything went great. It was good for me to keep busy like that so I wouldn't get all sad about leaving New York and being stressed out about the unknown in South Korea. Congrats and thank you Katie and Micheal!
I arrived at mother's in Smithfield, NC just in time for dinner on June 27th. The next day we (mom, Uncle George, and I) headed north to Rougemont, NC to "babysit" my cousins, Cody, 13, and Joshua, 6. It's sad to say that I generally feel more connected to civilization when I visit Aunt Jean and Uncle Robbie's house than mom's house. Aunt Jean's house is about seven miles away from the closest grocery store, but she always has Internet and cable. Although, regardless of which house I'm staying at when I visit family in NC, there is no escaping the awkward encounters with redneck neighbors. For those four days, my routine was up at 7am to moderate the boys' argument over Wii, make breakfast, walk the dogs, clean up after the dogs' "Who Can Leave Their Scent More Places Around the House" game, laundry, outdoor activity, dodge arguments between mom and Uncle George, help with dinner, bathe Joshua, and end the night watching a Twilight or Harry Potter movie with mom and Aunt Jean. I felt like a mom; it was exhausting and horrifying.
After cleaning up from the family Independence Day/Bye Lish/Multiple Birthday Party, I was brought to Uncle Dave and Aunt Venny's house in Cary, NC, as they live the closest to the Raleigh Durham Airport. I'm used to being away from my family but damn-it, mom had to make it difficult! She always cries when she says goodbye to me and if you don't cry when you see your mother cry then you have no soul. Here I am, in the private guest room enjoying the silence; there are no children or dogs in this house.
I'm ready now. It's not goodbye; it's see ya later, America!
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