A Week of Firsts: Faculty, Octopus, Snow and War

The past week brought a number of firsts: the first time I went to a faculty dinner, the first time I ate live octopus, the first snowfall of the year and the first time since the Korean War that North Korea has fired upon South Korean civilians.

As many of you have probably read online or seen on the news, last Tuesday North Korea began shelling a small island claimed by South Korea in the Yellow Sea. This caused South Korea to fire back in retaliation, no more than 100 shells were fired on each side, but it was enough. Homes were burned, people were evacuated, two marines and two civilians were killed. No one knows the casulties on the North Korean side. Since then the Korean news has delievered non-stop coverage of the shelling, the screen showing images of smoke, panic, destruction and soldiers. While no further retaliation on either side has resulted, tension on the penesula is high. While people jokingly said "we're going to war!" I actually believe most people believe, or hope for, the opposite. No one wants a war, especially with Seoul in firing distance of the North. There are all sorts of rumors as to why North Korea fired on the South... In a desperate plead for aid during a freezing winter, in an atempt to illustration the validity of Kim-Jong Il's son as successor (Kim is suspected to be sick and dying)... no one knows exactly why. Currently the South and the USA are engaging in war manuvers in the Yellow Sea, 77 miles south of the disputed border line. The North keeps issuing statements proclaiming any futher movement in the sea will provoke them. In South Korea, the Defense Minister resigned after the shelling on Tuesday, following criticism he did not respond harshly enough, the new Defense Minister warns North Korea that if they provoke the South, they will be harshly dealt with.

We will see what happens. Hopefully nothing. Its hard to imagine something like this happening so close by... its like if the North and South really had become two countries during the American Civil War, families were would be divided, and one side may have ended up poor and the other rich, as with North and South Korea. Everyone wants unification, but at the same time no one knows what really lies in the North. A horribly oppressive regime with thousands in slave labor camps... people fear the USA and South Korea can only bend to the angry will of the North for so long.

To illustrate this news isn't as prevelant in the daily lives of Koreans as one would think, last Wednesday, the day after the shelling, the faculty of Sangji Middle School traveled to Seoul and then had a teacher dinner (we watched the news on the bus.) Thus Wednesday turned out to be another half day I didn't know about. All teachers went to Seoul together on a bus at after lunch at 1:30pm to go to a teaching materials convention. The principal wanted everyone to go. While many teachers told me I should go home and "take a rest" my main co-teacher said he'd like for me to go so that I could feel like part of the group. So I agreed. Everyone fell asleep on the bus. We arrived at 3:00 and left Seoul at 4:30. The convention wasn't all that large so we were able to walk around the entire thing. I hung out with a group of women, all in the mid-30's, whom I usually eat lunch with. It was really nice walking and talking with them. Even though only one of them speaks English, the other two and I would try to talk, even if it was just through gestures, pointing and smiling. They are really sweet women and I was very glad to have been included in the trip. We snuck away for coffee at one point and they refused to let me pay, saying it was Korean custom! They always pay for me, someday I will return the favor!

At 4:30 we all piled back on the bus, fell asleep, and arrived back in Wonju by 6pm, as planned. Then it was time for the faculty dinner, my first one! All 40 teachers traveled to a sashimi resturant. The place was super fancy and contained numerous private rooms for parties. I was told by many different people to guess how much the meal cost, 25,000 won each! When we walked in long tables were set up with about fifteen different appetizers displayed around them. There were shrimp, oysters, vegetables, crab meat, kimchi, etc. It was beautiful and impressive. I decided I would be really brave and try the oysters, thinking of how Dad used to eat them. My coteacher Mrs. Kim, who had driven me over, didn't hesitate pulling the oyster out of its shell with her chopsticks and gulping it down. I, of course, had lots of trouble getting it free of its shell using only chopsticks, but I finally did and swallowed it down. It was okay, but definitely tasted fishy and like sea water.

That was only the first round. I believe there were more than 10 rounds of food throughout this dinner. What came next was the sashimi. Five different kinds of fish were sliced and beautifully displayed on clear noodles that were pilled up into balls. There were orange and yellow flowers addoring the plate. It was the most glamerous platter of food Ihave ever seen. I felt like I was at a kings feast. Afterwards followed: noodles, tempura, seeweed soup, rice, trout, shrimp, octopus, egg, kimchi, vegetables... it just never stopped coming! The waitresses were serving us for over an hour and a half! Somewhere in there the Principal made a speech and bottles of soju, beer and soda were opened. The Principal went around to everyone in the room and did a shot of soju with them, as did a few of the other teachers.

Did I also mention that the octopus was LIVE?! Yes, that's right, LIVE. I ate LIVE octopus! This was something I had read about on the interent before coming to Korea but was sure I would never try. But, after a few shots of soju, lots of good laughter and talk, and a banquet before me, I thought it a great opportunity. Out came the wiggling tenacles. They had been cut off of an octpus, so luckily there was no head and body. I guess its like when you cut the head off of a chicken and the body still flops around. There they were, twenty or more peices, moving around, wiggling, using their suction cups to stick to the plate. Mrs. Kim eagerly ate. Across from me, one of the younger teachers that I had been bonding with over the past week shook her head, indicating not her! I gulped and said I would try it. I was laughing and nervous and so had a terrible time using my chopsticks. I couldn't get the food on them if my life depended on it! Their suction cups were too strong and I couldn't get them to let go of the plate! Mrs. Kim finally helped me and I got one in my clutches. I asked her if you were supposed to chew them or just swallow. She looked at me like I was insane. "Chew them of course!" she said, "otherwise they will stick to your throat!" I was thinking, oh my god are you serious?! I remembered Dad always telling us when we were kids that the octopus he was eating was sticking to his throat and trying to get out (even thought it was dead) -- I didn't know it was a possiblity! What happens if it gets stuck, do you choke to death?! Anyway... I took this advice to heart and as soon as I popped the wiggling tenicle in my mouth, chewed vigerously. So vigerously I would have had no idea it was alive a second ago had I not seen it. It tasted okay... like meat. A shot of soju later I was ready to try another one. And then a third. The third one was a rather large peice. Thinking I didn't need to chew was quickly as I had been it sat in my mouth for a split second. And sectioned onto the roof of my mouth!!! I almost flipped out and quickly chewed it down!

The faculty dinner was a great experience! It was nice to see everyone loosening up and talking. One teacher kept making speeches that no one would listen to. Plus teachers I didn't even think new I exsisted were attempting to talk with me, sit with me, drink with me. One older man who I think is very funny looking came and sat down next to me. He didn't know how to say anything to me in English and I couldn't say much to him. I could tell me liked me and wanted to talk but after awhile of staring at each other he eventually moved on. I was touched. Then the principle plopped down next to me! He was bright red, had clearly drank a lot of soju. He said "how are you?" and then quickly jestured for an English teacher to sit next to him and translate. Mr. Park refused with a smile, and soon Mr. Byeon was grabbed. The Principal went on to tell me how much he worried about me, how he really cares for me, how I must meet his daughter when she comes home for the holidays as she is currently in CA studying English Literature. He told me his nick name is "the problem solver" and if I ever had ANY problem I should just tell him! He also said he was serious about wanting to hike Mt. Chiaksan with the teachers and said we would go, even in the snow. Lastly he proclaimed I should accompony the high school teachers on their ski trip coming up in a few weeks (Jason gets to go!)! Sadly I was informed yesterday by Mr. Byeon that "actually, he was drunk" and it was thus only the soju talking, I do not get to go skiing. That is the difficult part... I don't know what of our talk I should actually take seriously, since he was drunk and happy. In Korea that's how things go, promises do not mean anything, they are just ceremonial words, like so many things here.

Still I felt like I made some more friends that night and two of the younger women said we must go out for beers in December. I hope that is a promise that WILL follow through.

The other first for the week was SNOW! The first snowfall of the year hit Wonju on Saturday. The weather report had called for a "chance of snow" but I was skpetical. As I snoozed the morning away I asked Jason to look out the window and tell me if it was snowing. I was joking, not expecting anything. He said, "well, its not snowing but there is snow on the ground." I was like "what?!?! really?!?! are you serious?!?!?" Immediatly I jumped out of bed, looked out the window and squealed with delight!! In five minutes I was dressed, teeth brushed, hair combed, jacket on. I couldn't wait to go out in it! I was kicking myself for having slept through it all morning as it was already 10am. After a quick breakfast of oatmeal we were trudding through the snow, only a few inches. It began to snow more and I couldn't stop singing "walking in a winter wonderland." I haven't seen a snowfall on a place I've lived in... at least seven years... once a year in Lancaster is not much, and in high school that kinda stopped. Last year I drove up to Big Bear to see the snow, but it wasn't falling and we had to drive to it, and then immediatly were back in the warm OC. This was much cooler! Jason and I walked to the river and continued down its bank. It was beautiful. There were ducks in the water and snow covering everything. We crossed the river using stepping stones that Wonju had installed. Then it started to get really cold and the snow was turing more to sleet so we headed inside.

The snow is mostly melted now and I did not like the freezing and slippery streets it left behind, but I am told not to worry, more will come. We'll see how long I find it wonderful and when I start to long for spring.

Only three more weeks until my family arrives for Christmas!

Running Around, from Wonju, to Seoul, to Yang Yang and back again!

It has been quite sometime since my last blog post. That is because it has been a busy time!

Two weeks ago I found myself in Seoul with Jason and two other friends. I had been told by a friend, a past EPIK teacher and fellow UCI alum, to contact her friend who lives in Seoul and is working for an English language Korean entertainment magazine. A few emails later she asked if I could write an exhibit review for their November issue! I jumped at the chance and two days later, was in Seoul checking out the exhibit. The museum and the exhibit focus on contemporary art, which is always confusing to "make sense" of, but it is situated in the beautifully maintained Olympic Park in Seoul. Seoul hosted the 1988 summer Olympics and the park still displays the olympic torch, flame and all, plus all the flags of the world, plus beautiful lakes and stadiums. LA could learn a thing or two... The park also contains over 200 sculptures!

The last few weeks have been busy in terms of work -- I teach Tuesday and Thursday night special "genius" classes, plus full days at school. I think one of the best times students can have to talk with me is during breaks and lunch, so I always allow them to come chat (and sometimes ditch other classes!) which is always lots of fun, we talk about music, watch music videos online, chat about life... it just leaves me with no breaks! I also discovered the owner of the school keeps a dog on campus! Right out the window of my English Room I can see this big fluffy white dog. Someone feeds him and takes care of him everyday and he has a little pen. From what the students can tell me, he was orphaned and someone took him in and now he lives at school. He is maybe three years old. He's super sweet and mellow. There are also two stray cats that live at school, one brown and one calico, they look about 6 months. I always see the girls trying to catch them, or they are feeding them, or they have caught them and wrapped them up in a blanket and carry them around like babies. The cats don't like to be caught but when you do, they are nice. Set them down and they are quick to run away though! Mrs. Kim told me the cats and the dog are on good terms. I petted the dog yesterday, and one cat, and the students thought I was crazy! It is unusual to be so bold with animals here, especially big dogs and cats (little dogs are okay.)

Last Thursday and Friday all the native English teachers also had to go to a special training on "co teaching" in the classroom. Technically in every class we teach we are supposed to share the stage 50/50 with our Korean counterparts. HAHA. This NEVER happens, two of my coteachers don't show up to class, one just had me read from the book, and the last two are good, they help me control the students and give instructions. But none of them co-plan or co-teach with me. The training was two days in the coastal town of Yang Yang. The facility we used was very beautiful, literally right on the oceon! They also fed us three meals and paid for our hotel room. It was a good opportunity to meet EPIK teachers from Wonju and close by. There are so many of us! I had no idea! Many people stay for more than one year because the pay and benefits are so nice, but it also seemed like most people were jaded with the system. We have to fit into the Korean system and cannot try to change it, which is frustrating, especially when you see the obvious problems with it. But I am a guest, not Korean. Our coteachers also went with us on this trip. We asked mine, Mr. Byeon, if he was going to start coplanning with me, he smiled and said "no." Jason and Scott's coteachers feel asleep during the lectures. The ideal is nice, but it will never happen.

The beach was a beautiful setting though and the night ended with various parties in various hotel rooms. Beer is cheap and so are fireworks. Scott, Jason and I strolled on the beach for awhile and watched people shooting off their fireworks. They bought them from the Family Mart (like AMPM, Seven Eleven, etc.) We also struck up a conversation with some Korean English teachers who were standing around watching too. Scott went on a date with one last weekend!! They were super nice and Scott asked them all sorts of questions about Korean culture, which they were ready to answer. They were elementry teachers so it was nice for us to hear about a different type of system than middle or high school. I was Scott's "wing man" -- he asked if we should talk to them and wanted me to come with him, I was hesitant but then thought, why am I hesitating?, yes let's talk to them! I'm glad we did!

The next day the training ended early. I was with my main coteacher Mr. Byeon and thought we would shortly be heading back to Wonju. Jason was headed to Chunchun with his coteacher to see an art exhibit (or so he thought...) I was excited because the school festival was Friday and I was sad to miss it. I thought I might be able to see it after all! I also mentioned that I was interested in seeing Naksan temple, a famous temple in Yang Yang. Mr. Byeon said "oh you want to go there?!" so we did. I thought it would be a quick trip. It ended up being this huge temple complex right on the oceon cliff. It was gorgeous and the weather was perfect, filled with autum breezes and bright sun. We saw many other EPIK teachers visiting as well, plus many older Koreans and Buddhist monks praying. The complex included many shrines and statues. The site is thousands of years old but actually the temple burned down a few years ago and has been compleatly rebuilt. No matter, it is still beautiful and that is what happens with wood. All the huge pine trees burned down as well. Only three survived so of course now they are considered holy. On top of the peak was the largest statue of all, about 10 stories tall, and from there you could see up the coast to Sokcho and down the coast to Yang Yang. I remarked at some huge rock formations in the mountain distance and my coteacher said that was probably Seoraksan Mountain, the most famous mountain in all of Korea! I told him we were planning to hike that and I was glad to now know where it is located.

After about an hour we got in the car and I thought finally we would head to Wonju and I could see the Sangji Festival! But then Mr. Byeon asked me if I wanted to see the opening of the trail for Seoraksan. I said yes of course. Mistake. But a pleasant one.

We drove down these beautiful, winding country roads, they were lined with trees all changing color for the fall; red, orange, yellow leaves blew in our path. As we neared the mountain we hit traffic. I thought we would soon turn around as we had come close enough. But no, we pushed on until we reached the incredibly crowded parking lot. We parked. I was confused, I thought we were just looking. Hundreds and hundreds of people were streaming out of the trail entrance, which turns out to also be a national park. The head of the trail is packed with temples, shrines and statues, plus nearly 50 different vendors selling food, coffee and souveniers. Everyone around us was dressed for hiking, in their stylish gear. I was definitely not dressed for hiking. I had on nice pants and my dress shoes. I thought we would be returning to Wonju and school, so I assumed I should dress nicely as usual. My coteacher was also wearing a tie and suit. But, that didn't stop him from buying us tickets to enter the national park. We quickly walked in the park, I marveled at the huge seated statute of Buddha just inside the main gate, as well as tried to take in the vendors and hundreds of people. We took some pictures and looked up at the huge Seoraksan mountain side. I noticed some cables for a chair life and pointed them out. I thought we would be done after this. Nope! My coteacher rushed inside a building that I realized was a cable car ride! He wanted to buy tickets for the cable car up the mountain. Unfortantely it was 2pm by this time and the car (there is one every 5 minutes that holds 50 people) was booked until 3:15. He was very sad but we relecutantly figured we'd better not. He said he just wanted to show me one thing though, before we left, some gigantic famous rocks on the mountain next to the stream. He didn't think it would take too long to get there. That's when our hike started. A quick visit turned into a mile long hike that took over an hour. It was on rough terrain too. Rocks, pebbles, stairs... I was not dressed for this! People kept staring at us!! Although I was tired and getting hungry, and had realizied I would not make the school festival, Mr. Byeon and I had a very good talk about many things. The scenery really was beautiful and I got to try some traditional Korean candy and eat roasted corn on the cob once we finished.

Another dynamic Korea day.

Around 6:30 we made it back to Wonju, after having to pull off the road at a rest stop, my coteacher was getting sleepy and needed a pick me up. He bought two ice creams and two iced coffees, one for me! He is always doing nice things like that.

Like I mentioned, at the training I had met many new foreigners. They told us some popular places to go out in Wonju. So Saturday night a group of us met up for dinner and drinks. We visited four bars, the first being "bubble" Pub, then WA (Western Alcohol) Bar, then noreabong (kareoke!!) complete with soju and beer... by then it was after 2am. We were trying to find one more place to go when this herd of foreigners appeared in the streets, we got swept up by the leader, an Irish guy who said "its my birthday! let's go!" So we followed them upstairs to the Ice Bar. There, they serve you beer in a mug made of ice! When you are finished, you throw the ice mug at a target, if you hit it, you win a free beer! The bar was empty when we got there but quickly filled with 40 or so drinking, smoking, laughing foreigners from the US, Canada, Ireland... The night ended with the three Irish people singing "Ratllin Bog" in honor of the guys birthday. Latest night for me in a long time, 5am.

The last big event was on Monday night when Jason and I were invited to a special dinner for "teachers of gifted students." Mr. Byeon asked to bring us so we could be included and meet everyone else, there were about 15 new Korean faces. Everyone was of course super nice. The resturant was also amazing, we had smoked duck! It was the BEST food I have had yet. It was a bit expensive, 35,000 won split between 2-4 people, but in true Korean style, the tab was paid by the elder, the office superintendent. The total had to be over 250,000 won with all the soju, soda and refills. Unlike previous experiences, it was completly acceptable at this dinner to not finish your soju, dump it out, or replace it with soda. Much more pleasant, but still fun! Also the first time I hadn't been the only girl!

Afterward Mr. Byeon said he wanted to show Jason and I a night view of Wonju from the mountainside. The mountainside is beutiful and covered with tons of small, chic resturants and coffee shops. We stopped at one and got gelato. (This was in exchange for Mr. Byeon preaching the gospel to us for over an hour. He is very enthusastic about Church and Jesus so we said we'd at least listen. He believes he is being told to preach to me, that he has a calling. Oh boy.) The view was beautiful.

The leaves are changing color and the air is getting cooler. Fall is here.

So that's how they get the STING in STING-ray!

Koreans seem to have this uncanny ability to justify why one should eat some of the most unappetizing food out there. Fermented soy bean soup that even Korean's tell you smells bad? It prevents cancer. Kimchi at every meal? It burns fat. Ginseng? Gives you stamina. Raw trout? It makes woman's skin nice. Rotting sting ray? It cures the common cold.

Let me back up a little... I have been sick all this week. Two days ago it hit me hard, stuffy nose, coughing, I haven't been able to sleep well. I got some medicine from the pharmacy, drank a lot of Theraflu and have been trying to take it easy. Yesterday Jason's coteacher invited the two of us to lunch with him, and then to watch a badmiton match. Various teachers from Sangji middle and high school were compeating in the match. We had a simple enough lunch and the entire time Jason's coteacher was conserned that I wasn't feeling well, or should go to the clinic. I told him I was okay but he wanted to reiterate that if I wasn't well, I didn't have to come to the match. (Even though it would be an "excellent cultural opportunity.")

After learning the match would last no more than an hour I felt confident that I could attend and still be home early enough to laze about. Yesterday was a day of midterms for both schools so everyone got done at noon instead of the usual 4:30pm. The three of us took a taxi to the match, which was at a different school, and settled in to the bleachers to cheer for the Sangji teachers. These were definitely the most intense badmiton matches I have ever seen! Apparently most of the teachers there had been playing on a semi professional level for at least 10 years! The birdies were flying and it was honestly pretty exciting! At one point some teachers called Jason and I down to play with them, and then just handed the court over to the two of us. Everyone went to watch the real match while the two of us attempted to play. We were not very good. We did work up a sweat though and soon after we had pooped out, the matches were done. It was time to leave. Instead of taking a taxi back to the school one of the teachers offered to drive us.

That was our mistake.

As we were nearing Sangji I wondered why the teacher didn't turn down the road we usually take. Instead he passed it. I thought maybe he would turn at the next intersection but he didn't turn their either. That's when I realized who we were in the car with. It was me, Jason, his coteacher Notau and one of the gifted students teachers from my school. The same group (minus one) that had taken us out drinking weeks before, on that fateful night. At that moment I knew we were in for more than just a ride back to school.

There were so many clues! We could hear them refrencing our names in Korean, they asked us if we had any further plans and we said no, I insisted I was okay (I was pretty okay, just stuffy) -- those were our outs! Instead Notau told us we would get a caffe and then have dinner. After dinner he said I could go home and rest since I was sick. He said not to worry because he would watch out for me. Dinner and coffee sounded great to me! I could be home by 5pm and watching TV sipping Theraflu by 5:05!

The caffe that we went to was magnificiant! It was up in the foothills near Mt. Chiak, where we had hiked earlier. All the of the resturants and caffes around it were very ritzy, as was the one we went to. It was built right on the side of the mountain base and had this amazing large wood terrace that we sat out on. The weather was very pleasant, a cool fall day and we could see Wonju before us. Our drinks were great and we had a lively discussion of politics. Well, basically we tried to explain how laws were made in the US but Notau just wanted to keep asking us, "which is better, senator or congressman? Which is better, senator or govener?" We realized its kind of a confusing system to explain!

After that we headed back into the main of Wonju to grab dinner. Again I was reassured by Notau that I could go home after that, no worries. The other teacher we were with doesn't speak English, but he can understand almost perfectly. We drove to his apartment, which is right next to Jason's, and dropped off the car. As soon as he made that move I knew soju was soon to be involved with our night. In Korea it is extremely bad to be caught drunk driving, you are thrown in jail for a year, no question. If you are are foreigner, you are kicked out the of the country immediatly and put on the "black list" never to be allowed in again. I'm not joking. So basically the rule is don't ever, never, drink and drive, you just don't do it.

Even though I was sick, and Notau told the other teacher so, he ordered soju. At first they only gave me the smallest amount, Notau was saying he was a "body guard" and he would watch out for me. He also ordered soda just for Jason and I because he knew we didn't want to drink very much. Jason obliged by having soju, but Notau seemed determined that Jason wouldn't have to drink too much. On the other hand, my teacher didn't care one bit that I was sick or that Jason didn't want to drink. He did turn cup with us both a few times and always filled our shot glasses to the brim! They started saying soju was a cure-all and I would be so much better the next day! (Also that the sashimi would make my skin nice.) Notau started saying that he was the Korean army, we were the US and the other teacher was Iraq and we had to unite against our common against enemy! Thus we started giving him more drinks and filling his cup! It sort of worked.

We escaped dinner with little harm. Suddenly though there was no talk of me being able to go home after the first round due to illness. I think if I'd really played it up I would have been off the hook. But I really was feeling okay except for my nose. I guess Notau and my teacher thought I was okay too since they said I was ready for round two. I don't know if I should be hurt that they didn't care more for my well being or just accept that maybe they did care, but it still didn't matter.

To get back to where I started... We taxied over to another resturant and they told me to get out when they saw a dog on the street. They had been talking about eating dog earlier and we said we did not want to try it. I honestly started freaking out when I saw the dog because I thought that they wanted to go in a dog resturant!! (They eat dog in Korea.) I was pointing at the chained up dog gasping a little going "food...? or pet?" Notau glanced over and was like "oh, that's a pet!" It was only a coincidence the taxi stopped next to the dog, it was chained up outside a market waiting for its owner. Crisis averted!

In the resturant we entered we were the only customers. When we sat down Notau told us we were in for a real treat, a real traditional Korean dish, like nothing we had ever tasted before, something with a really unique flavor. He told us it would feel "like riding a roller coaster." The cooks brought over some sidedishes, pickled hard boiled eggs, a couple different kinds of kimchi and some cooked slices of pork, sam gip sal style. Soon after the main dish arrived: a tray of raw fish, thinly sliced and decoratively arranged around the dish. When we entered the restaurant I noticed its sign, there was a picture of a sting ray on it, I put two and two together, we were eating raw sting ray. Although you will never find a table knife in Korea, table scissors are okay. So to cut the fish and pork into smaller pieces we just used scissors. Even though the pieces were already bite sized, my teacher thought we needed to start with something smaller. I wondered why, we had already had the raw trout and it was good, and this fish was white, it looked light and fluffy. (I couldn't smell much because my nose was stuffy but Jason did tell me there was a strange odor coming from the fish.) My teacher showed us the proper way to eat the sting ray, to take some very aged kimchi, place the fish on top, top that with cooked pork,  garlic, onion and pepper sauce. Then you use your chopsticks to wrap it all up in the kimchi and take a bite. We all got our wraps ready, the teacher did "cheers" to us, food in chopsticks, and we took a bite.

I don't know how to describe what happened next. My entire mouth was swathed in flavor, my tongue felt numb, my sinuses were singing, I was squeeking, my mouth was puckering, my eyes bursting out, shutting tight, rolling back in my head. I looked over at Jason and Notau, they were turning red, our mouths were full. We were chewing somethng slimy, yet hard and stringy. Sting ray is the most "interesting" tasting food I have ever had, hands down. I didn't think I would ever get it swallowed, the bite was so big and the fish was so hard to chew. If it is supposed to be an experience everytime, if you want your taste buds rocked, try some raw sting ray. It was as if time slowed down while I was chewing. My only consilation was looking over at Notau and Jason struggling as well. Our eyes were watering, we were almost gagging. Somehow I managed to swallow. My teacher, on the other hand, just looked pleased, he loves the taste and had little problem eating it. Jason was shrinking into himself, as if he hoped no one would offer him anymore if they only couldn't see him, Notau was sitting in stumper, eyes blank. I was glad to have some soju at this point.

Suddenly my teacher placed more kimchi and sting ray in front of me. He grinned. How could I refuse, the wrap was being made right in front of me, by someone else's hands. I somehow ate another bite. Jason and Notau lucked out and missed this round. Round 3: my teacher made each of them their own wraps, as well as one for me. There was no escaping for the two of them. This time Notau was almost down for the count.  HE was probably the worst sting ray eater out of us. He looked like he was going to pass out. At this point he ran for the bathroom and I'm pretty sure he puked. It was at test of manliness (why was I there?!), of stamina! Notau kept telling Jason "you are man!! Do it!!" even though he was pratically puking on the table himself. My teacher told Natua he was bring him shame by not eating more. I ate between 8-9 peieces of the fish. Jason had a few less. Every time we thought we were safe from having more, my teacher would start another oh so delicious kimchi wrap for me on my plate. I couldn't refuse. At one point we all said no more, and he looked so hurt, we quickly said "okay maybe one more!!" and he smiled big time. My coteacher was fine, enjoying himself. At one point he went to the bathroom, compleatly composed, and Notau quickly told us to spit out what we were eating into our napkins and hide it from the teacher before he got back!

My coteacher, the champion eater, on the left. Camera shy.
Notau with soju and kimchi-sting ray wrap. 

Ummm good.

Skate fish aka sting ray aka honguhhwe in Korean.

The whole spread.

We did an internet search on sting rays this morning and discovered that the smell of rotting or "fermenting" sting ray flesh is that of ammonia, thus why Jason thought it smelled like bleech in the resturant. Additionally, the bowel system on a sting ray works different than on most animals, including humans. When it is killed its bladder releases, but it releases into its entire body, basically lacing its flesh with uric acid.. So we were basically eating rotting sting ray laced with pee. It was like biting into bleech. Or bitting a ant, while it continues to sting you. I thought we were eating sting ray poision or something. Truly no description I come up with can do the taste justice, it was so unique and unlike anything I have ever had. I am really happy to have tried it, I almost want to try it again... in a tortureous kind of way! It was exhillirating, a rush, like riding a roller coaster... (I also read online it can make you feel high because of the rawness, maybe that was it... or the soju?)

It was quite the cultural experience, as Notau liked to point out. And I should give it more credit, I'm trying to be dramatic, not offensive, but to Koreans, it is indeed a delicacy and is very well liked by some (but not all!) It does supposedly cure you of illness too. (You know what, I WAS feeling better the next day... although not totally cured.)

Our night wasn't over yet, we had one more stop, a roof top bar overlooking Wonju for some beer and more food. The view was beautiful and we indeed felt lucky to have such wonderful hosts, and to be able to visit such a wonderful place and not shell out hundreds of dollars such as would be necessary in the OC/LA area. (Although, the total cost for the night was well over 150,000 won (~$150.00!!!) Jason and I saw nachos on the menu and had to have them! Both of our Korean hosts had never had them before.

My champion sting ray eater of a coteacher took one bite of his nacho, almost gagged, downed some beer to wash out the taste and declared they were the "worst food" he had ever eaten! WHAT?!?!

Lazy day at school...

So as I've said, next week is midterms, so the students are mostly in study mode this week. Which means that today, while I would usually teach six classes, I only taught one class. And then actually when I went to that class my coteacher asked the students "who wants to talk with Madeline teacher?" -- only about 10 of them raised their hand. So he said, "okay, you guys can go to the English Zone and talk with her while the rest of us stay here and study from the book." They were so excited!!!! We went down to the English Zone, put our chairs in a circle and just talked. This is probably one of the highest level classes at Sangji, it is third grade class, and they girls were very excited to talk with me and ask questions. I love hanging out with the students, that's how I learn the most about Korea! They told me they wanted to be a nurse, a hairdresser, a social worker, an accountant, one jokingly said a professional taekwondo artist! They asked me to bring in my makeup to show them (I've never thought how I do my makeup was anything special, but since they are not allowed to wear makeup, and really wish they could, they were so interested!) Two of the girls also asked me "teacher, hair, touch?" so I said "you want to touch my hair? I think it feels the same as yours." And they said "YES!!" and bouth came up to tentatively touch a few strands. They screamed with delight "OOOHHHHHH" and ran back to their seats! What a celebrity I am! The other students also asked for advise on how to get better at English, one student asked specifically how she could become better at grammar because she is good at speaking, usually things are reversed. I felt so lame answering them, I didn't know what to say! I told them to keep talking with me and said if they want to practice grammar they should write to me and gave them my email. I need to come up with some better advise. I'm not sure they quite understood what I was saying the whole time either... but I really do think those are good ways to improve, better than if you just sit and try to memorize! I tried to convey that I think they should study for a half hour and then take a break instead of just sitting and sitting and sitting like I know they do! One student who writes me notes a lot told me she spent three hours writing me a note last night!! She wanted it to be perfect so I'm pretty sure she looked up everything in the dictionary! Her note was great, I wish I could convey to her that for a 14 year old her writing is better than some American children. Maybe I should ask if I can start an English club at school, that might be a fun alternative to classtime, it would mean less students, and only those really interested...

Last night Jason and I also experienced our first Korean bathhouse, or jimjilbang. Our sweet tooths got the best of us again and we hit up Ti Amo for another yogurt smoothie (soooo good). That brought us to Scott's neighborhood. While we were eating he called and asked if we'd like to join him at the jimjilbang since there is one very close to Ti Amo. It is called "bo sock sa u na" and is actually the landmark we give the taxi drives to take us from Sangji to Ti Amo (to get home we always just have the taxi drivers take us to the front of Sangji, its easier than if we tried to give them our addresses!) Scott is an experienced patron of the jimjilbang, having studied abroad in Korea last summer, and was a great guide for us novices.

For only 6000 won you have access to the baths and the sauna. Apparently some jimjilbang's are very elaberate, but this one was a little smaller. Still the 6000 won gets you in the door, a locker, a sweatsuit to wear, access to three sauna rooms, all at different temperatures, access to the communal baths (seperated by gender) and best of all if you want to make a night of it, they are 24 hours so you can stay in them all night! There are dim rooms for you to sleep in on pull out mats, water coolers and even a big flat screen TV! Inside a small shop also sells a variety of simple snacks and drinks, plus some clothes and underwear.

The three of us got changed and met again in the sauna rooms, which are not divided by sex. First we started in the 42 degrees celcius room. The room was very pretty, with different colored stones covering the walls and ceiling in a mosaic style, hidden on the walls were the shapes of animals and plants. This room was a perfect temperature, definitely warm but comfortable. We laid on a bead of little beads that perfectly comformed to our backs. I pretended I was in an ancient cavern.

The next room was a 82 degrees C, which is about 160 degrees F. This room had mats covering boards to lay on. It was so hot. Scott told us the Korean way was to last 15 minutes. I only made it to 8 but he and Jason stayed in for the entire 15. I was sweaty when I got out but the two of them were worse, they were red and looked like they'd been working out! We then went in the cool room which was around 30 degrees C. In that room there was a large tarp that covered small, unpolished rocks. After we stopped sweating it started to feel pretty average in the room so we switched back to the first one. Our bodies had left sweat marks on the tarp, eww. We made sure to keep drinking water every time we switched rooms since our bodies were letting it all out.

Finally we decided to head out. We told Scott we would pass on the baths this time and he seemed a little dissapointed. But it being my first time and all, and it being very cold outside, I didn't want to strip down or have wet hair for the taxi ride home. Jason told me later that the last he saw of Scott he had decided to check out the baths on his own. I quickly changed in the locker rooms, which were empty. Suddenly the doors to the baths opened a six year old Korean girl appeared, totally naked. She was followed by her younger brother, also nude, but covering himself. Maybe he knew he was really in the girls side and was a little bashful? Then came their Mom, in the flesh. She just walked around the locker room like it was nothing. I tried not to stare. As I made my way outside I realized she was browsing through the racks of cloths for sale, still totally nude!!!!

All in all my first jimjilbang experience was really fun! I will definitely be going back, especially when it gets colder out because it really warms you up.

The rest of the week has consited of school days with little work. Answering emails. Cooking. Eating sweets (Jason and I decided we have to cut back because we're gaining back the weight we lost.) We also realized the fall TV season had started so we had to download How I Met Your Mother, Big Bang, NCIS, Vampire Diaries and Smallville. Yep, those are my shows of choice. It doesn't feel like we are so far away when we can download shows, put them on a USB drive, plug the drive into the DVD player and watch everything on the TV. We are totally caught up with the US! (And my goodness, VD is as thrilling as ever! Smallville is finally in its last season too!)

This weekend we might head out to Seoul, we have a lot to explore there. Plus my Dad informed me that they just opened a Taco Bell and we are SO excited to check it out! Read about it in this great article I found here: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/09/24/AR2010092402715.html

Chiaksan Mountain

On Friday morning Jason and I got up early to meet our friends Scott and Amber at the bus stop. The 40 minute bus ride dropped us at the beginning of the trail to climb Mt. Chiaksan, one of the highest point peaks in the Wonju area. There we met one of Scott's coteachers who also joined on the hike. She was really nice and fun to talk with, she'd traveled to New Zealand and is only a second year teacher so she had lots of good stories. Also, exactly like in the US, she told us how the high school boys she teachs had tormented her last year, they made fun of her, they brought bugs and frogs into the classroom to freak her out. She said this year things are better because she is more strict but her first year was really difficult. See, things aren't so different! Kids are kids and new teachers are new teachers.

The climb was beautiful, we were surrounded by lush forest and followed a stream up the entire time. It kind of reminded me of area's we've camped in at home, but this forest also had some vines and bamboo which was the biggest difference. We unknowgly chose to hike the hardest of the three trails to the top, so the incline was huge and the stone steps were steep. We were huffing and puffing. At one point we lost the trail and all began to trudge up the side of the mountain where the ground was covered in shrubs and loose dirt until Scott, who was in front, finally concluded this could not be the way to go. Jason at the bottom went back down to scout, followed some other hikers and discovered the trail went behind a huge rock and basically became the stream. If there hadn't been some Korean hikers on the trail too, who knows where we would have ended up! A Korean woman started to follow us too until Scott's friend told her in Korean that we were lost!

A note on Korean hikers as well. They are super stylish. Everyone wears bright cloths, especially made for hiking. There are hiking stores all over Wonju. There are like three within a 5 minute walk of my apartment (but no coffee shops so close!) The gear is all really pricey too because it is specialty made. People had on hats (the woman's hats were sparkly, pink, decorated with flowers), bandanas around their necks, hiking poles, hiking boots, backpacks, gloves... You can definitely be underdressed when hiking! Who knew? Jason and I didn't really bring hiking attire so the day before we went to E-Mart and bought some outfits. Mine was pink and gray, matching. Jason wore a hat. We really looked the part.

The top of the mountain contained an amazing view and luckily the weather was just perfect that day, no rain, and not too cold or too hot. We had lunch at the top and peanut butter never tasted so good! There were three man made stone pillars at the top. They were created in the 60's by a man who believed he had been told in a dream to honor Buddha in this way. It took him years to carry up the small rocks and create three massive rock pillars. We could also see all of Wonju.

The way down was brutal on our knees, but we did take a slightly easier path, the last portion of which turned into a road that dropped us into a new and ritzy area of town, filled with fancy resturants, a sort of "rustic" mountain getaway. We were no where near the bus when we emerged from the trail and so instead called a taxi to take us to Wonju. Somehow we had come down the other side of the mountain and were only 10 minutes from Sangji! The taxi split 5 ways was super cheap! Scott's friend took off but he and Amber came to check out my apartment, where we had the taxi drop us. After that we went to dinner at a random resturant near my place where we got some kind of boiled pork dish. It was good but a little hard to eat straight off the bone! Jason and I followed Scott and Amber to their neck of the woods because we were craving yogurt smoothies from the Italian place "Ti Amo." We finished off the night with lattes.

Our lazy weekend continued, with the addition of super sore muscles. We looked like dorks hobbling up and down stairs. Luckily we felt okay by the start of school on Monday.

Time to Recap: Photobooth, the Eastern Sea and Chuseok

Today is one of those days at school when I feel like I should be doing more/should have been doing more, but I'm not quite sure... what I mean is Korean's don't like to be very direct about things, so instead of saying "you will do this" they will often say "it would be nice if..." -- so today I usually teach four classes, but midterms are next week so many of the teachers want to power through their lessons or give the students time for self study. Although no one told me before hand, I had a sneaking suspecion that when I arrived at school today I would be told I wasn't teaching. Right away one coteacher said, "you will not teach," then my other teacher said, "you teach grade 2 but I'll teach grade 3." So I taught one class and offered to help with the other but my coteacher just told me I could go to the office. Then just now I was supposed to teach, I asked my coteacher before he went in if I should teach or if he wanted to... here is where I get confused and unsure if I did something right or wrong... He said, "whatever you want," and I said, "well what do you think is better?" And he said, "well I'd like to study with them, but I want you to decide," so I said, "if you think that's better than that's fine, I have a lesson but I can hold onto it," he then said, "okay good, thank you, I think that is good, I will see you next Thursday then" (in a week and a half, when midterms are over...) I offered to help but he just sent me on my way... So I guess that's what he wanted in the end? What if I'd insisted on teaching?!

Photobooth:
Two weeks ago on Wednesday one of my students insisted we hang out after school. I told her I was busy but she wouldn't take no for an answer. After I convinced her we could only hang out for about an hour, right after school, and only if we went somewhere close to school, that was fine. I wasn't sure (and am still not quite sure...) if this kind of thing is allowed or frowned upon, hanging out with students outside of school. The girl is super sweet and only 12 and was so excited! She told me this was the first time she was going to "play with a foreign friend" -- she was in elementry last year and still seems very young, which I think is why she kept saying we were going to "play" (hang out.) We walked to one of the local markets/downtown shopping areas and decided to get food at Lotteria, Korea's fast food resturant. We got Tornados (which are just like Blizzards or Twisters) mine had cookies, her's had pop rocks. I paid for her's. Another student saw us sitting and eating together and came and begged me to buy her something too. Oh boy. Next we went to a Photobooth and took silly pictures. Photobooth is really common here, and there were many mom's and daughters and small groups of friends taking pictures. Afterward you can decorate the picture with all kinds of clip art right on the machine. Then they print in duplicates, you can cut them up and they are stickers. Again I don't know if its considered okay to take photos with your students, but it was totally innocent and we were in public places the entire time. I found out later the student's sister goes to Sangji High School, Jason told me the next day that the girl came up to him, showed him two of the pictures and said "your girlfriend? Cute!" or something like that. So I guess it was okay. The entire time my student kept saying, "very excited" and told me "everyone looks at you because you are so beautiful" -- haha, like I said, flattery is in abundance here. It was a nice little hang out. I don't want to keep this up though because, as another teacher warned me, everyone will want to go out and get ice cream with me!

Chuseok:
Last week was Chuseok, a big holiday in the Korean calendar. This year it fell righ in the middle of the week and our school decided to take the entire week off because of it. Its a national holiday. Its a day to celebrate the Harvest, to visit the graves of your ancestors, get together with family, give gifts, eat lots of traditional foods (like rice cakes with honey.) Many people travel on Chuseok to be with family. (Read more on Chuseok here.) For us foreigners, it meant a huge vacation, nine whole days, and we'd only been working for three weeks! The break was nice of course, but definitely has gotten me out of the swing of things.

Eastern Sea:
For our Chuseok, Jason and I traveled to the Eastern Sea (or Sea of Japan for all you non-Korean's.) We originally were thinking of being really bold and going to Japan via ferry (sounds fun right?!) but decided we didn't have enough time, didn't want to make ourselves super exhasted and didn't really want to spend the money just yet. Our second plan was to visit the ocean town of Busan in the south of Korea. We were just looking into hotels and things to do when my coteacher Mr. Byeon invited us both the Eastern Sea with his family. This year they weren't doing the whole Chuseok thing, they weren't visiting family or going far away, they just decided to stay pretty close to Wonju and be together. Mr. Byeon has a wife and two boys, one is about 11 the other 14. He seemed like he really wanted Jason and I to join he and his family at the sea. He told us how the Gangwon-do Office of Education runs a seaside resort (hotel) that is only for Gangwon-do teachers. The resort is extremely cheap (rooms go from 10,000-30,000 won, so less than $30 at max) and provides a room with bathroom, full kitchen, bedroom and all the appliances and sheets you need. The more my coteacher talked to us about it, the more it became evident he wanted us to go. I don't think if I were here alone he would have invited me because he is a little conservative and old fashioned and I think he would have thought it improper to invite a girl, but because Jason is here and he could invite a couple, he was excited! We agreed and he made the necessary reservations for us. Due to "Korean standards of morality" we had to make a reservation for two rooms, even though we only used one. (When he told another coteacher about the trip, and today when he told the principal he made sure to say "hana room for Jason and hana room for Madeline." Hana means one in Korean so I figured that's what he said at least!) We tried to get some friends to fill the other room, but everyone was busy. (Maybe next time!)

My coteacher bought our bus tickets for us because he was worried they would sell out because of Chuseok and then drove us to the bus terminal on Friday night to show us where it was and how to buy tickets. To get a little off track, we discovered the area around the bus terminal is very happening! There were tons of bars and new buildings just waiting for stores to arrive. We ate dinner at "New York, New York" -- Jason was really excited to have a steak! We ordered two of the cheaper options which were pretty good. The salad had balsamic vinagerette on it and the steak was plain steak with sauce, it was nice to eat something non spicy, haha! We also found a billards place, shooting gallery, arcade... there was even a bar called "WA Ice Bar" WA=Western Alcohol! We were excited because we hadn't seen a bar with anything but beer and soju since we arrived. (We found out later our friend Scott lives next to the same bar, so we guess its a chain after all...) Jason pulled me inside and we had a quike drink. The place was really nice, it had a blue "ice" bar and was really pretty yet hip. The next night we went out for Sam Gip Sal, pork that you grill on your own bed of hot coals! It was really fun! We called it my birthday dinner since in August things were really busy and Jason didn't have a chance to take just me out. We didn't have soju, but we followed up with beer and fruit and then went back to WA Bar because I liked it so much.

Then came Monday, we got up early and made it to the bus terminal no problem. We started out the day right with Dunkin Doughnuts and coffee. Our bus was really plush and I was excited to see out the windows. We were headed to the town of Gangneeung, which is only about an 1 hour and 20 minutes away. One of my old friends/residents from UCI who is also an EPIK teacher is living in that town, he is doing his second year with the program. I didn't get to see much out the window though because of all the rain clouds, but between the mist I did glimpse some rolling green hills. Soon enough we were in town. We attempted to do some exploring but really just walked in a huge circle and ended up back at the bus terminal. LOL. Jason dragged me into H Mart, which turned out to be a huge electonic store. He was happy to buy a wireless internet router there. I was eying the toaster ovens but the smallest one was 80,000 won! (Real oven's were 500,000 won and up!) After poking around H Mart we caught a local bus to Jumunjin Beach, a smaller town 20 minutes north of Gangneung. We tried not to hit the locals with our giant backpack and learned first hand that some older Koreans do not value personal space... I was sitting and Jason was standing and an old lady managed to slide between us on the bus, she was so sly! I couldn't tell if she was trying to get me to move or if she just wanted a better spot to hold onto the rail! Either way, she made no gesture, asked no question, she just slid right between us! Akward.

The bus dropped us next to Jumunjin Harbor. We walked through it and saw all the super fresh fish! There were live octopus in tubs filled with water, fish big and small, bright red crabs... we were in a real harbor where fishing boats were pulled up the dock and workers were pulling buckets and barrols of fish right from them. Water was sloshing everywhere and people were decked out in rain boots, overalls and visors. I was super enthralled! As we were walking through a man stopped us and asked where we were from, told me I was cute and Jason must be the luckiest, mentioned he was 70 years old (no way, he looked 50!) and that he used to be a liasion officer between Korea and the US Navy; so that's why his English was so good! Foreigners, we're so easy to spot.

The beach resort was only a short taxi ride away but we decided to walk up the beach from the harbor to the resort instead. The resort was literally right on the beach so we knew we'd have to run into, plus we had maps. The walk up the coast was really pretty, we saw lots and lots of drying squid, it hung on cloths lines mingled with clean laundry. Jason spotted a cafe with Nescape logos in the window and we went in. The place offered comfortable couches to lounge on with beautiful ocean views. I ordered an latte and he a coffee. It was the best coffee we have had here! The woman who made it used a real machine, instead of just a pot or instant! It was such a good find!

A short while later we made it tothe resort, checked in (with the help of my coteacher via phone, he and his family would meet us later) and gawked at our literally ocean front view. Jason and I were talking about how fortunate we were to be able to come to Korea, to stay in a place like this, to have such welcoming coteachers... we truely are.

Jason convinced me to play some tennis and then we checked out the beach. It was hot that day and the water was warm! We put our feet in and had a good time running around and taking pictures. Families were out and people were riding quads on the sand. Very soon after my coteacher arrived and we met his wife and sons. They were very nice but the sons were super shy. His wife made us a truely scrumptus dinner of sam gip sal (she just whipped it up!) complete with side dishes, rice, fruit and coffee. We talked and learned more about them. We decided that the next day we would meet and in the morning and do some sightseeing.

When we woke up Tuesday morning it was a bit cloudy, I think it had begun to rain during the night. At first Jason and I thought we would have been able to swim in the ocean (if we hadn't forgotten our suits!) but by 10am the weather had quickly changed to dark rain clouds. We met my coteacher and his wife (their sons did not want to sightsee with us, go fiture) and they drove us into town and back towards Gangneung to look around. My coteacher was so nice that he made sure to drive next to the beach the entire time instead of taking the faster highways so we could look out. We stopped at beautiful Gyeongpodae Pavilion, one of the eight scenic wonders of Gwandong lake. The Pavilion was really amazing, I love how traditional Korean structures are decorated with such bright colors! There were dragons painted on the pillars inside and you took your shoes off to walk around it. It was/is a spot to hang out and view the beautiful lake, and beyond that, the ocean. Although when we were there it was cloudy. We also learned that the woman on the 50000 won bill is considered the ideal mother and is the one girls should aspire to be like.

After that we headed down to the lake to see more of the eight wonders, but we stopped after only one site because of the rain. I'd like to go back because people were still out biking, walking and renting those little carts where everyone pedals that you find at the beach. Maybe next time! We -almost- stopped at the Gramaphone Museum, or we could have checked out the Edison Museum (bizzarre museums here we come!) but due to a communication mix up we headed to the beach instead! It was pouring by now and while Jason and I got out with our umbrellas and walked around the beautiful boardwalk, flanked by pine trees, bright flowers and smooth sand, my coteacher and his wife stayed in the car. Again, it looked like a great place to go in the sunshine! As we were climbing back in the car my coteacher jumped out, grabbed Jason and they ran over to a vendor's cart. He bought us ice cream, in the rain! Mmm good.

After that my coteacher decided it was too hard to sightsee in the rain so we headed to E-Mart to do some food (and clothes?) shopping. He told us to stock up on whatever we needed because everything would be closed the next day for Chuseok. We bought some long sleeves shirt, bread and cheese. We were thrilled to find the cheese! It was only 5000 won for 6 six slices! (I'm kidding, that is SUPER expensive for cheese!) For lunch my coteacher's wife made Japchae, a traditional Chuseok dish. It was super yummy!! She showed me how to make it and I took notes the entire time, so I'll have to try to reproduce it!

After we finished eating my coteacher dragged his super shy sons out of the second room and plopped them down in front of us. He claimed his elder son wants to study in America and told us "tell him about Disneyland, so he will want to go to the US!" Ummm... it was one of the most awkward situations... we four just sat there staring at each other. We tried to ask the sons questions but they either didn't understand or gave us one word answers. Finally after an agonizing 10 minutes (for all of us) Jason said "okay I think we better be going..." HAHA.

It was still early afternoon at this time but the storm was raging outside. Sheets of rain were coming down in diagonals. I decided we should go for a walk. We grapped our umbrellas and headed out. We walked down the beach, our umbrellas shielding our faces but our legs and torsos were left to the elements. We were getting soaked and people inside the shops and resturants on the beach, the few that were open, with the few customers (who arrived in cars) looking at us like we were crazy. We walked about 20 minutes and made it back to the caffe we had visted the day before. We were the only people in the place and they lady recongized us! She was kind of laughing and shaking her head but again made us a great cup of coffee! As night began to fall we made our way back to the resort, effectively soaking the other side of our bodies as we walked into the wind.

That night we just hung out and watched TV. We saw on the news that Seoul was flooded there was so much rain and Wonju got about 9 inches between Monday and Tuesday! The next morning we headed home and made it to Wonju by noon. The following days were spent scrubbing clean the last of my apartment, eating, sleeping and watching the X-Files.

Korean Drinking Party: It was the best of times, it was the worst of times...

Let me start by saying that Jason assured me the dinner was not a drinking party, but just simply a dinner. And let me remind myself that when we got into the taxi with Jason's co-teacher he turned around and said "are you okay with drinking tonight?" and we shook our heads and said"yeah, a little." Why did we say yes?! (As if there was really ever an option to say no!)

I think this whole thing started for many reasons: Jason told his young co-teacher I wanted to go out with them, Jason told my co-teacher I wantd to go drink soju with the middle school teachers (Jason went out last Friday with his teachers), I said I liked soju, I agreed to dinner, etc. Jason told me over the weekend we were expected to go out to dinner with his young co-teacher either Monday or Wednesday. I said okay, tell him Wednesday because on Monday we have to lesson plan for our Tuesday night genious class. Well, Monday comes along and Jason sends me a text during school saying "dinner is tonight at 7:30 and now my head teacher is coming also." I groaned but we were already bound. In Korea this is how it works, you are told, oh there is a dinner tonight, and you go, you cannot refuse. If you refuse you are considered extremely rude and you loose major points with the school personnel

So we rushed home after school, tried to finish our lesson plans (how do you teach American history, from colonies to Independence, in one hour?!) but didn't make it. Jason kept reassuring me this was just a simple dinner, he had told them we had work to do and couldn't be out late. I have also learned that when a Korean male tells you we are just going to "drink a little" that that is not true. You are going to drink A LOT! Maybe to the Korean's it was normal, but to Jason and I, on a Monday night when we have lesson plans to make and a whole week of school left... it was very unusual.

So we hop in the taxi with Jason's young teacher, we head to a resturant, which happens to be one we've eaten at twice already. We were taken there last week for the EPIK orientation and went back on Saturday night with friends because we liked it so much. We got these amazingly good tofu/soup/meat dishes, the kind where you crack a raw egg on top. Finally not spicy either! Last night though we got something different, an awesome pork dish. You took a very thin slice of tofu and inside placed the pork and veggies, then wrapped the tofu around to make a little wrap. It was delicious. It also turned out that Jason's teacher had invited not only the head teacher at the high school, but a gifted student's teacher from my office. So when he showed up there were five of us. Two Americans, three Koreans. We all proceeded to have a great time, it was only nine when we were finishing up. They told us how nice we were, how handsome and beautiful we looked together, how they were so happy and surprised by how respecful we were, that we made great first impressions. The head teacher whom I had never met before seemed very pleased to meet me, and my teacher Jason.

Oh, did I forget to mention this whole time that soju was constantly being poured, drank and ordered again? We had maybe three or four bottles. Everyone had a shot glass and good thing Jason had taught me the traditional way to drink in the company of elders, because they were all for it and so happy that we "understood and respected the Korean way of drinking, because it is very important." Jason had to make sure the elders glasses were full at all times, he had to pour with his right hand, with the label of the bottle up, with his left hand crossed over his chest. We had to empty our cups and then pass the cup across the table (usually to elder or someone we respect, Jason gave me his cup and it was a big no-no, not only was I his girlfriend, but I was right next to him) -- when the person takes the empty cup, you grab the soju and fill it for them. This just keeps going on and on, you are always drinking out of different cups. Usually you can just sip, but when someone hands you another cup (then you have two in front of you!) you are expected to finish one of then hand it off, and bottoms up means just that, bottoms up no question. I feel bad for Jason because he was definitely getting the brunt of things. As a girl I was asked if I wanted more/could drink more, or if I wanted beer, I wasn't given an empty cup (this is called "turn cup") nearly as often and sipping was okay for me. (Although when I drank they were so happy! And kept saying you are so great!) But with Jason it was like they had already tested him and "he can drink two bottles of soju" was swimming around in their heads. It was also very difficult to know if we were really allowed to stop drinking though. If you do, or you try to refuse a drink, you are being terribily offensive and bringing down the group vibe. You would disrespect the elder giving you the drink, causing him to loose face in front of the crowd and you would ruin the party atmosphere. So we couldn't be impolite in front of the head teacher!! Jason's young teacher would correct us anytime we missed a beat.

That was all fine though, until they asked if we wanted to go for second round. That's when I knew, this was a drinking night, not an eating night. (Or do the two always go hand in hand?) They said we were going for chicken feet. At this point I thought since it was only a little after nine pm, going to one more resturant couldn't be that bad. So we headed out, jumped in a cab and arrived at a small, more low key and relaxed place. It was not as nice and obviously for drinking. Chicken feet and drinking soju go hand in hand, of course. It was pretty cool how the table worked, there was a spot in the middle for hot coals, they put a grate over that and then the chicken feet on top. Yes, chicken feet. I felt like I was looking at little hands. They don't look as bad as they could though because they are covered in red pepper sauce. We were assured they were not that spicy. They were hot though, and messy. Everyone was given plastic gloves to wear when holding the saucy feet and a little dish to spit out the bones into. Sounds nice right? I tried a foot. It was actually really good and, get this, it tasted like chicken! Since they were cooked and covered in sauce I didn't really think about the fact that they were chicken feet. (Or baby hands I kept morbidly thinking.) Earlier the young teacher had told me that (I think since I'm a girl) if I wanted to switch to beer, I should tell him. So at the chicken feet place I was eyeing the beer, but... I got the impression they really wanted me to keep drinking soju, so I gave in and did. They were again so happy!! Everything was perfect, everyone was having fun, they kept on saying how great we were. Well, I think Jason's mouth was on fire, like literally I could almost see flames. I tried a foot and said it was so spicy -- because it was!! Jason's young teacher than admitted, oh I lied when I said they were not spicy. (!!) I was a mess, my nose and eyes were running all over the place. They told me to forget about trying to eat more and I stopped. Jason though, he kept going, and got wrapped into a chicken foot eating deal with the guy across from him. They would "cheers" their chicken feet everytime they ate them. They were the only two eating them because the other two and myself said they were too hot. I don't know why Jason didn't say so too! But, then I also think they would have been really bummed. They were so impressed that we/he could keep up and "understand the Korean way." Did I mention there were like 30 feet?

So we finished up there and I was thinking, whew, time to head home. But no! We were informed we were going for our third round! But not to worry as it was close to Jason's apartment and the school. Off we went in the taxi to another bar. This time to drink beer. I was doing okay at this point and beer sounded good, I hadn't had as much soju as Jason and I don't think my stomach gets upset as much as his does with hard alcohol. Plus he had like a billion chicken feet swimming around in there too. This bar was very relaxed, there was no smoke like the second place, the second place was pretty bare, pretty tough looking, while this one had a nice vibe. Even the owner said hi and took our order! We sat in the back and decided what to order. I said "fruit fruit fruit!!" and they obliged me, although they probably all really wanted more meat. We also got a huge pitcher of beer (like the size of two ptichers in the US). We all had two glasses and munched on the fruit, I was glad to eat it. Jason was getting kinda squimish. It was getting late. We were giving each other looks. He had drank a lot. The next thing I know I'm being fed three crackers by the head teacher of Jason's school. He just put them in my mouth. He put three more in each person's mouth. Also in Korea isn't not weird at all to feed someone food directly, man or woman, man to man, whatever. He explained to us that three is a lucky number in Korea so he was giving us all luck. I think at this point everyone was getting pretty drunk. (Me least of all, somehow!) Then the next thing I know Jason and this head teacher have their hands locked in this intimate embrace and are discussing something very closely, with lots of passion and exlamation! I realize the head teacher is saying "you must come to my house! I want you to come to my house!" and Jason is saying yeah of course. I'm thinking dang we've scored major points (by drinking and smiling A LOT) and it would be really fun to have dinner at this guys house, they are all really nice and welcoming! I'm think "fuck yeah I'm in Korea, shit!" (can you tell I'd been drinking?) and Jason and I are like, man this is the life, things are great, Jason starts shouting "I love Korea!" and going on about how much fun this is and how great everyone is. Only when we abandon or fruit and walk outside do I realize we aren't going to his house for dinner at a later date, we are going to his house NOW at 11:30pm.

Luckily (luckily??) he lives really close by, actually on the end of my street, so we can walk there. Jason's got his arms around my teacher and the head teacher and is talking with them, exclaiming about the greatness of this all. I'm laughing and talking to his young teacher, who says Jason is doing a great job, that this is what it is like to hang out and bond in Korea. It's totally okay for guys to walk hand in hand down the street, to hug, to touch each other on the leg, the arm, etc. You would never see this in the US. We go down some steep steps, the head teacher calls his wife to tell her we are coming, I think Jason is going to fall off the bridge we take over the water (anyone of them could have just taken a dive!) and we are suddenly at his house. (We also saw two high school girls just leaving school, they had been studying all evening.)

The head teacher's house is really nice, two stories, wood ceilings, paintings. We are quickly introduced to his wife, his mother and his two sons. They have this look like "dad's done it again" and were not fazed at all. They becon us into a small room set up with a table and... more drinks and food!! His wife prepared some fruit and snacks and brought two bottles of beer and three bottles of something similar to soju (something rice based they told me). We have shot glasses, we have more shots, we do turn cup. I do turn cup with his wife, then with his mother who briefly enters the room and takes a shot. Its all about being social and showing respect and community through drinking and through the shared drink. I really like that but its such a different mentality than always worrying about the self. Thus, Jason was forced to drink more and by then was actually telling me "I'm done, I'm dying." But we just kept smiling. He had to depart to the bathroom and told them "my stomach." I kept thinking that if he was really done they would realize that or listen to that or understand... I'm not sure. Jason was convinced he had to keep drinking but I thought you could slowly say I'm done, or just take the drink but not drink it. That's what I had been doing. But I am a girl and it is easier for me to get away with it. Even though they did give me the thumbs up and say you are great a bunch of times. I tried to say that Jason had drank much more than me. He was sitting next to me swaying and gripping my leg. They said they noticed my concern for my boyfriend but not to worry. They brought us water with honey which I loved. At this point Jason's had it so when they ask if we will drink this "special" homemade drink with only the head teacher he can't. I say yes because for a moment it seems the night will be ruined if we don't drink this last thing. His wife brings out two mugs with this dark stuff that looks like coffee, but its not. They told me not to ask what it was this time, but just to drink, because it is very special. We do "bottoms up" and all I taste is a syrub type flavor. I did it just fine. Finally the night is done. Everyone gets up to go. As we walk out there is lots of hugging and kind words.

Jason and I stumbled off towards my place were we proceeded to immediatly collapse. Me in the bed and Jason the the couch. He doesn't remember why he was there. I don't either.

This morning we both woke up super tired, Jason was super sick feeling, I had a headache... but we had to go to school and teach. And make a lesson plan. And now that school is over we still have to go teach our genious class.

Last night was surreal, very surreal.

Classes Thus Far

Classes so far have been large and varied. The first graders (grade 7 at home) are all very nice, attentive and usually excited to learn. I feel like they are more similar to how elementry students would be. The second graders (grade 8 at home) are usually super loud and unfocused, for the most part! They want to play games and get candy. The third graders (grade 9 at home) are the huge classes of 35, so they are definitely loud and hard to handle, their language ability is better than the second years (but the first years still seem best.)

Its hard to generalize too much though... each class varies based on who their primary English teacher is and based on their English language ability. Some teachers seem to allow talking and sleeping more often in their classes than others, and while they are nice teachers, I'm not always sure their discipline method works the best. Some teachers don't allow any talking. Some teachers don't have to say anything and the class is just quiet. I'm trying to make notes about each class so I can remember the traits of each group. I need to come up with some kind of discipline/rewards system. Especially since my class is ungraded (thus to the students that equals free period.)

I realized this week (after introducing myself over and over and over last week) that although I've prepared a new lesson plan and am ready to go, I'm not going to teach every class I am scheduled for. Like this week, there is an English oral listening exam conducted over the radio which every grade has to take, nationally. So yesterday, Mrs. Kim told me that her class would be studying, not meeting with me. Then again today with Ms. Kim, I met two new class that I only have every two weeks (so back to introduction lesson) and then was told that two of my classes have to study. So only on Monday was able to try the lesson, which involves listening to key words in the song "I Gotta Feeling" by the Black Eyed Peas and standing/sitting every time the key word is heard. It went really well in some classes on Monday, while some kids looked confused, some looked totally bored, some looked like I was asking too much from them by having them sit and stand. So I decided on somethings I would change for Tuesday, yet now its Wednesday and I still haven't been able to try the new lesson. Maybe tomorrow??? Maybe not. I'm not trying to complain though! Having five classes in one day is exhasting, so I'm totally okay with not teaching and just sitting back. Gives me time to blog, erh I mean email, erh I mean lesson plan. (Someday, really, I'll start using my time more constructively.)

Yesterday was a long day anyhow because Jason and I had to teach our "Genius Class" at the main Wonju Office of Education. I don't think I mentioned it before, but on Tuesday nights from 5-7:30 we teach gifted students from different middle schools all over Wonju. My main co-teacher Mr. Byeon helped develop the class because he thought it was important for Korean children to experience what it would be like to be in an "American" class setting in case they study abroad. Last quarter the topics were Economics and World History, this quarter we are teaching American History and Science! Perfect for Jason and I!

The class was actually really fun! The kids really are gifted. Their English is amazing (they know words I don't know) and they are just generally smart kids. They would be like 8th graders at home. There are also some boys in the class, which is a nice change from our all girls school. I made a powerpoint explaining "early North America" and Jason went over the names of lab equipement. My co-teacher was there the entire time and said "Jason is very good at teaching science" - I think it was true! (Plus my teacher gets so excited to be around a male native english teacher instead of always me, a girl! I think he feels more comfortable talking sometimes.) The kids didn't look too bored, and were actually really attentive and answered questions for most of the period. It was like what a really good class would be like at home. It was definitely easier to teach when the kids understood English! We teach this class every Tuesday, each half the time, we are paid extra for it and it only lasts until December.

My co-teacher was also great because after the class he took us out to sushi! The place was awesome! It was only 6,000 won for all you can eat! And it was really good sushi, sushi rolls, wontons, soup, coffee... mmmm, so good and so cheap. We will for sure go back and bring our friends!

I'm trapped at school!

Like I said, I'm trapped at school! On Friday's I am usually supposed to go to a different middle school. The other school is in a small town 40 minutes outside of Wonju and I have to take a bus to get to it. There I only teach 3 classes. But today my co-teacher Mr. Byeon had to take me to the Immigration Office to apply for my Alien Registration Card. Even though I already have a VISA for Korea, you basically have to go prove you are in the country and have a residence. I also needed to apply for a multiple entry VISA. This means when I leave the country and come back into Korea, my VISA is still valid. I had a single entry VISA which meant if I left and tried to return (get it, single entry) my VISA would have been automatically invalidated. Thus my co-teacher called the other school and told them I would not be coming in until next week. I thought this meant I got to come in late and leave early from work! Nope, not the case. Even though I have zero classes today, I have to be here. ALL DAY.

Mr. Byeon drove me to the Immigration Office in City Hall, which was nice because I got to see more of the city, its really pretty when you get near the hills. Everything is so green! I understand why since its been raining everyday since we got here one week ago. (There was a typhoon the other night!!) My co-teacher commented how when he visited LA in the summer (he's been to a lot of places in the US) he was surprised that even in the summer time the grass was brown (as in Wonju summer is super lush because that is when they get the most rain.) I told him LA is very dry. Applying for the Alien Registration Card didn't take long, I met another EPIK teacher who wasn't at the orientation and ran into Jason and his co-teacher doing the same thing. They were way behind us in line though and his co-teacher didn't have all the documentation that mine had brought, haha.

Then we came back to the school by 10:30 and I just wasted time until lunch at 12:30. I tried to lesson plan for next week, but PowerPoint is in Korean which is hard to figure out and plus I just don't have any ideas... I want to plan with Jason so he can help me.

While I was intereting my co-teacher came in and said that our department was going to go out for lunch together. I wasn't sure if he meant the English teachers or the "Gifted Students" teachers, of whom I am now apart of. My "office" is in there office. Most of the teachers have cubicals in one large office where the VP sits, but these three guys get an office to themselves. As in Japan the teachers change classes here, not the students, so they have desks where they keep everything and lockers. There is good and bad in this. The good is that the teachers can't shut themselves away in their classrooms, they have to interact with each other and the VP, and students are allowed in the room whenever they need to come in. In the US its so taboo for a student to walk in an admin area, its like "what are you doing here? What do you want? Who are you?" -- here the girls just burst in, asking questions, complaining, talking.

Anyhow the "Gifted Students" teacher all went out to lunch, me included. First they wanted to get spicy fish soup, which I said was fine with me. (Ahhh more spicy... ewww fish stew.) But they change their mind to dumplings instead, lucky me! We drove to this small resturant, sat on the floor and ate huge bowls of noodles with dumplings instead. The noodles were really tasty and I was able to finally opt for a non-spicy food option (red pepper sauce/paste/seasoning is everywhere, on everything!). I was excited that the dumplings might be some kind of meat but alas, they were filled with... kimchi! What else?! It was good though. Kimchi is good, better than some I've had at home, its just so spicy! It doesn't smell though, which I think is a common misconception in the US. I stomach it down at every meal to not be rude, even though my nose runs and my eyes water. It is apparently impolite/disgusting to blow your nose in front of anyone here, so I just have to sniff sniff sniff. (It is not impolite though to randomly spit on the street though, everyone does it.)

The meal was nice and pleasant, only my co-teacher spoke English but he asked questions and translated. He asked if I liked drinking soju, I said yes, they went "oooohhhh" -- I thought maybe I should have said no. They said, we will go out to soju then. They also said, "we heard Jason can drink two bottles of soju!!!" -- they were so excited! I said yes, that's how much he said he and his co-teacher drank the other night, plus two pitchers of beer. They were so impressed. I added that he was pretty tipsy at the end of course of they just laughed. They also said next time we will bring Jason too. (And I almost forgot, they said that's when we would try chicken feet... oh my I can't wait. They kind of laughed like "hahaha, or heeheehee" under their breath when they said this. At least they didn't say dog!) They are nice though, and Jason's co-teacher said the same thing to him, next time we will bring Madeline.

(Click here to read more on soju.)

This is actually the second time I've been taken out for lunch. On Tuesday I thought I was having lunch with Mrs. Kim only, off campus, but then suddenly all the English teachers were there. There is Ms. Kim, Mrs. Kim, Mr. Park, Mr. Kwon and Mr. Byeon. I teach with all of them. Usually students call them by their last then first name, so like Byeon Jung, etc. The family name always comes first in Korea, as family and community are always valued more highly over the self. If a Korean child does poorly at school it is not only themselves they are worried about dissapointed (or devestated at dissapointing) by their family because it can bring a lot of shame on a family to have children without good schooling and good jobs.

The lunch with the English teachers was also good. We sat on the floor and ate boiled chicken. And I mean the entire chicken (no head or feet thankfully). I'm still confused on how I'm supposed to eat the chicken when it has bones in it and all I have are copsticks and a spoon (spoons are totally acceptable to use to aid in your eating here, yay!) but knives, don't even look for them. And it is also totally acceptable to slurp your food! (See Dad, its good to slurp!) Again the food is ridiculously cheap (like $60 for six people to eat two whole chickens plus like 10 different side dishes) which is awesome. They also boil the chicken on the table in front of you, in a broth of sprouts, greens and tree bark.

To return to my original heading though, now I'm trapped at school! Its only 3:00 and I can't leave until 4:30. So I'm blogging and trying to memorize the Korean alphabet. My co-teacher loved that. He gave me a mini lesson and then typed up some homework for me. He said I must practice and he is going to quiz me on Monday!! The alphabet isn't too hard to learn, its just hard for me to read quickly. Its vowels and consanats. Their language is called hangul. I think everyone could easily learn how to read it if you just memorize. (See more on hangul here.)

Leave me comments and/or questions!

I've arrived in Wonju and taught my first class!

Well I made it! Actually we arrived on Friday around 1:30pm after having a fun goodbye show organized by EPIK on Thursday night, and then a formal goodbye program on Friday. (It was like a double goodbye.) It was nice making new friends, and especially great because now we can keep in touch, travel, trade stories, etc. but it was also definitely time to get on to our placements!

We arrived in Wonju in the afternoon and were immediatly grabbed by our respective co-teachers. Jason and I didn't even say bye and I quickly waved by to a couple other of the new EPIK teachers. There were only about 10 of us on the bus to Wonju (and Wonju area towns.)

My main co-teacher is named Mr. Byeon and he drove me in his car to the school, with all my luggage thankfully. He said we had to go to the school first to get the key to my apartment. I didn't realize that meant he was actually skipping class aka leaving his students to do whatever on their own, while he picked me up. I also didn't realize I would be meeting the Principal and VP. Yikes! EPIK told us so many times how important a meeting these two would be, to bow deep, be polite, small, compliment the school, to dress for success. I was dressed well, but not as well ask I could have been I don't believe. I mean, we'd been sitting on a bus for a few hours from Seoul and no one told us we'd be meeting the big wigs so soon! The VP was very nice, he used to be an English teacher so he speaks very well. The Principal has his own huge office, with a large table and chairs around it for meetings. It was very formal but he was also nice, my co-teacher translated our conversation. He generously gave me a guide book on Wonju and I made sure to ask about the school's achievements. Everyone said "you are so beautiful" but they say that to everyone. (I mean that literally, "you are so beautiful, you are so pretty, you are so handsome." -- Although they can also be blunt the other way, at least the kids, I showed the girls a family photo today and they saw my long hair and were so disappointed that I cut it, they liked it before, haha.)

Oh and did I mention that Mr. Byeon introduced me to two of his classes that he was leaving while he showed me around. I didn't realize school was in session yet! I thought it started Monday! The girls are super cute and I wish I had a video of their reactions every time I walked into a new class. They screamed, cheered, yelled "OOOOOHHHHOOOOWWWOOOO, you are so beautiful teacher!! I love you teacher!!" (I think that's all the know how to say in English... practically.)

After that fun crash course in the Korean educational system we went to my apartment. I was shocked! It is so nice! It is the nicest place I have ever lived for sure. Two bedrooms, leather couch, everything I need... and its free/paid for by the school! The only downside is that the previous teacher who lived her left it a gross mess, she must have never cleaned. Almost everything in the kitchen has grease all over it. Needless to say I am still cleaning. But I am proud of this place, I can't believe its mine for a whole year! No moving, no rent!!

What's great is that the school also has $500 to use on buying apartment essentials for us! So later that night another of my co-teachers Mrs. Kim came by and picked me up. We went into town to shop for sheets, that was really all I wanted. We went to this great indoor market and got some beautiful sheets and pillows. They were kind of expensive! Things I wouldn't buy! She also thought I needed some things for the kitchen so we went to a kitchen store. Then to an electronic store where I got a coffee pot and hair dryer! All for free again! It was so much fun! She's really nice and warm and the whole time I felt like we were on a shopping spree. I got the hint too that when she said, "tell me what you want" she didn't realllllly mean it so much. I said "how about this cutting knife?" and she said "oh no, you don't need that, you have one" (I can't find one in the kitchen...) and then instead said "I think you need... a lunchbox, a water pitcher, a pasta strainer, etc. etc. -- it was lots of fun!

Then she took me out to a quick dinner since I said I was hungry. It was really good food. Sushi made on the spot and gold noodles in a rice water, which was great on such a hot and humid day. Funny thing also is that I didn't have interent at my place until tonight. So when we were at the indoor market, Mrs. Kim asked the owners of the bedroom store if I could use their computer! They of course let me (and gave us free juice) and lo and behold there was an email from Jason (left alone at his desk at school after meeting the Principal he had no idea what to do, haha.) I quickly emailed him saying to meet in front of the school (his high school is on the same school grounds as the middle school) every hour until midnight to see if we could find each other that night. Neither of us had email or phones. As Mrs. Kim was driving me home we passed in front of the school and there was Jason! The plan worked!

The rest of the weekend was spent cleaning, eating, sleeping A LOT finally and making a trip to E-Mart the crazy busy Korean version of Target or Wal=Mart via taxi. Oh did I mention that Jason's apartment is just is nice as mine?! We are so lucky! His is actually a three bedroom in a huge high rise while my building is only three stories. He lives by a great restaurant called Pizza School. Oh yeah, pizza is everywhere. Score!

And as this posts headers says, I've taught my first class. Actually the same lesson MANY many times now! I mean, I have 22 different classes per week. They are middle school grades 6, 7 and 8 (here actually its called Middle School 1, 2, 3, and they actually, age wise correspond to American students in 7, 8 and 9th grade because high school here is only 3 years, middle school 3 and elementary 6). I have introduced myself so far to 12 different groups of girls and its only Wednesday!! There are between 20 to 30-35 girls per class, its insane! That means I have nearly 700 students each week (some classes alternate so I only see them every other week even.) All they want to do is play games and be rewarded with candy... oh boy here we go! But thankfully they are all really nice and excited (at least to meet me, not so much to speak English.)

Tomorrow is one more day, then on Friday I would usually have to go to a different school (a rural school) but we have to go to the immigration office so I can be officially registered in the country now that I have a home address. Whew.

Check out my pictures here: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2560216&id=6003282&l=86e5a18957