Bundle of Joy

Well I've done it, for better or for worse, I've acquired a... kitty. Yes that's right, there is a little bundle of joy running around the house in the form of one small kitten. Let me tell you how it happened...

Last weekend I started hearing a kitten constantly crying outside. The loud meows would pick up at night and pierced the air, flowing in my open apartment windows. It was also raining (not a surprise for a Korean summer) non-stop (and has been for over two weeks). I felt so bad for this poor little guy that I started to take walks outside whenever I heard him crying, trying to figure out where he was and if he was okay.

After a few days I saw him, in the headlights of a car as he slowing crossed the street in the pouring rain. I approached the alleyway he had fled into but I couldn't see or get to him. I also realized he was not the only cat outside in the rain. While the kitten was small and orange-ish colored, there was a larger brown cat as well, huddled under a car wheel, that would growl when I got close to it. On Monday night I heard him again and went out to look. This time I saw the kitten, he was walking around on a large raised hedge that surroundes the nearby preschool. I followed him around the school for a while but he kept scampering away from me. So I went inside again. A few hours later I heard him crying again and convinced Jason we needed to go look one more time before bed since it was raining. He reluctantly went downstairs with me and we walked down the street, listening but hearing nothing. We turned around to head inside when I suddenly saw movement in the trash pile next to the preschool. I slowly and quietly walked towards it and saw the kitten! He was startled but didn't know where to run. I went to the left and Jason the right and we just kind of watched him for a few minutes. He was wedged between bags of trash and buckets of rotting food. Jason said he thought he could reach down and grab him and kept asking if I wanted him too. I didn't know. I was stunned. I hadn't actually expected to get so close to the kitten. Up until this point it had been a kind of game. I wanted to help him but I didn't think I could. And I also knew that in less than two months we would be leaving Korea and I wasn't sure I could take the kitten home with us. I wanted to do what was in the kittens best interest but I wasn't sure if taking him in out of the rain or leaving him in it was the best, in the long run. I started to walk towards Jason a little panicky, but the kitten still didn't run away, even though he could have. Instinctively I reached towards him and he didn't see me, he didn't get away. I couldn't stop myself and picked him up. He freaked out a little, hissing and trying to scratch and he bit me a little on my hand but I didn't drop him. I just started blubbering to Jason "what should I do?! What should I do?!?! Should I put him down...?!?!" Jason was calm and said "let's go, let's go inside, come on" and we started walking towards the apartment. I huddled the wet, dirty kitten to my stomach and started crying! What a spaz I am! I was just so happy and upset, happy to have saved him and gained a kitten, but upset that maybe I acted out of selfishness and my own interests instead of his, and sad because I knew and still know, that I may have to leave him here and find him a home.

By this time it was after midnight. We put the kitten in the bathroom and I got a cardboard box and some towels to make him a home. Jason went to the store and bought some tuna because we didn't have anything else to feed him. He scarfed down the bit we gave him. We sat with him for about half and hour. The entire time I was nervous and uncertain. Jason just kind of smiled and seemed okay with the whole thing. Finally we went to bed well after 1 am. Jason didn't want to leave him alone in the bathroom so we took him and his box in the bedroom with us. But we left the door open. After finally falling asleep I was awoken at 5 am but his crying. But he wasn't in the box. I was bleary eyed but on a quest to find him. And I did. Under the washing machine! I tried to reach him but couldn't so I woke Jason up to try. He was grumpy and didn't understand what I wanted at first. Finally he tried but couldn't reach either and went straight back to bed. I got out the can of tuna and left it out as bait. I waited until he emerged and then grabbed him and put he and his box in the bathroom.

The next day we took a trip to E-Mart to buy a litter box and kitten food. We also were thrilled to find cheddar cheese and salami, things we had never seen at E-Mart or in Wonju yet. The food was delicous. We had sandwhiches and cheese and crackers for three nights in a row and it was glorious. I also enjoyed my E-Mart McDonalds. The workers can never understand how someone would order a plain hamburger instead of a cheeseburger but that's what I get every time.

Since then the kitten has been settling in little by little. We convereted the small trash/storage room into his domain. Its a little stinky now. But it works well for him. He still hides every time we get too close to him and hisses when I pick him up but he's making progress. We checked on him every day at lunch last week, Jason and I at differnent times, and this weekend I've picked him up a lot. He's also now playing with ribbons and letting us watch him eat. And just last night and again this afternoon he fell asleep in my lap while I petted his chest and chin. Progress! Baby steps! Tomorrow we are taking him to the vet to see if he is healthy. If so we will begin trying to make preperations to take him to the USA with us. Just have to find someone to house-cat sit while we are in Taiwan! Eek such poor timing!

Often he stands in his water dish while eating. If you notice the bone design, that is because all the stuff at the store was dog themed, not cat. Korean's generally dislike cats.

His home and his new ribbon

Still a little startled to see me, but getting better

Awww. He's a dirty little guy.

Korea's Green Season (+ Jason's Bday and a Winter Olympic Update!)

The scenery has changed drastically since winter time. With all the rain everything is green and bright. Thank goodness! I thought I'd show you all a few pictures chronicling the changes.

Before, winter time

Before, dead

The street when I moved in, building under construction in the back left

Ta da! Today, the building is done! Its a preschool.

Backyard garden

Some beautiful homes in the neighborhood

Green trees!

Another garden, this time a large front yard plot

Secret gardens galore

Beautiful home, look at that gate!

Community garden

My home, above the truck, windows open

My country school, Jijeong, keeps their own garden. The teachers and principal keep it up!

Oooh, inside the beautiful green house. We eat the lettuce at lunch.

JiJeong, my country school

Out my window on a stormy, rainy day

And now just for fun, some pictures of Jason's birthday celebration! I snuck around and got all of this without his knowing, so he was very surprised and happy. He's old now, 25! Or 27 in Korea! 

He just got a haircut, finally!

My partial present.

I love the hat!

Coco cake from Paris Baguette

And lastly I'm just gonna throw this in, Korea's Pyeongchang has won the Olympic bid for the 2018 Winter Sports! When Jason and I went to skiing in February, we went to Pyeongchang! I was so happy for Korea when I heard this news!! I'm sure everyone was so thrilled to hear the news, its Korea's third try for the winter Olympics. I think it is a perfect excuse to come back to Korea. Read up on the story in these articles, and be sure to watch the videos!

• South Korea to host 2018 winter Olympics
• Pyeongchang wins bid to host Olympics 

It's Raining Cats and Dogs

Its been raining hard here in Korea for the past night and day, and its scheduled to continue until Sunday. I've been told this is Korea's rainy season, but I remember it raining a lot in late August and early September when we first arrived in Korea. The rain is really beautiful, it keeps the sky dark and the clouds are continuously swirling above. I read on the weather report that the rain tomorrow will actually be from a tropical storm! The rain does make it a little more difficult to get around quickly and to keep dry, but its a nice change from the super hot and humid temperatures we had last week. Yesterday morning I had to walk to the bus stop to take the one hour ride to my country school. The bus stop is about a ten or 15 minute walk. Yesterday was quite the obstacle course though! I had to dodge hordes of students with umbrellas, puddles, cars and rain! By the time I got to the bus, my shoes and socks were compleatly soaked! Luckily there is a pair of sandals waiting for me at my country school, so I was able to let everything air out during the day. Some of the boy students did notice my less than fashionable shoes (they were lent to me by the school for the year) saying they were men's shoes. We all had a good laugh.

Other than the heat and the rain we've been doing very well lately. We haven't been up to much since Sokcho a few weekends ago, but the last few days of teaching are quickly approaching. We have one more week until final exams and then the majority of the school goes on summer break. I'll be teaching for two weeks of the break, two classes in the morning and one two hour conversation class in the afternoon, the same schedule I had over winter break. I'm pretty positive about the classes and am just planning on having some fun with the kids before I leave. I mean it is their summer break too, so why not make it a little fun? So far I'm planning on watching Shrek, Tangled and an episode of Glee. After each show we'll stop and do worksheets and talk about what we see. I also think I might do a photograph scavenger hunt and then make a slide show to show the kids. I also have a few fun lessons like "How to Survive a Zombie Attack" and how to make a PBJ sandwich, to which we will then make the sandwich in class. I just hope the students are easy to deal with. I know a few of the girls who signed up for the conversation class and they are really sweet.

Anyhow, like I said only a few weeks left of teaching! There are a lot of students I'm really going to miss! Remarkably I've had a few really open up to me, which is I guess what teachers say always keeps them coming back. One girl likes to talk with me about America, another told me she is a lesbian, one boy asked for advice on how to approach a girl he likes... warms my heart and makes me feel so proud of them and happy to be here! Oh course in the end I can say things like that, now that is over! I do think if I were staying a second year things would be much easier, but I also think I'd get more and more bored.

Last weekend Jason and I visited Daegu to see our friend Tim from UCI and Campus Tours. There are just so many of us in Korea! Daegu is a big city, like Busan, so there was a huge variety of shops and restaurants. We didn't do much but eat Mexican food and walk around, but it was a nice time. It would be such a different experience in a big city! Everywhere we went in the popular downtown Tim ran into foreigners he knew, they were just everywhere! Plus we went in two apartments and they were tiny and old, mine is 10x nicer! And while variety would be nice, a few bars and resturants wouldn't even take in foreigners because we would have just overan the place. I could totally understand the Korean's not wanting a loud group of foriegners crowding up their space. The city was really nice but I feel like I get a better "Korean" experience being in Wonju.

Also in Daegu we had our first experience with a taxi driver trying to rip us off. That never happens in Korea! Our friend Tim lives about a 10 minute drive outside of the center of Deegu, he takes taxis back late at night all the time and it always costs 15,000 won. We got in and drove a little and then the driver pointed to his meters saying something like "oh, no meter, its 25,000 won." Tim argued with him right away, "no 15,000," to which the driver replied, "no, 25,000." This went on for about a minute before Tim just had the taxi pull over and we got out to find a new one. By this time the fare had gone up to 3500, not much. But Tim said no way were we going to pay. We jumped out of the taxi and immediatly flagged down another one, quickly got in and told the man to go. But our original taxi had not left, and the driver was out of his car. He came over to the window where Tim was sitting and yelled at him, demanding money, Tim kept saying no and speaking English to him, but I think that helped, he was explaining why we wouldn't pay in an angry tone, even if the guy couldn't understand him. The two taxi drivers said a few words to each other. Tim finally said, "no, your service is bad!" and the guy said "good service!" Tim told the new driver how much the first one was going to charge and he scoffed, obviously knowing it was rip off! The original driver went as far as to open the passenger door where Tim was but then finally just walked away muttering under his breath. I was really proud of Tim for sticking to his guns! I would have given in long ago! Who did this guy think he was though, that was a huge overcharge! The new driver was really nice and agreed we were being overcharged, asked us if we were teachers and then pointed out that he lived near to Tim. Exciting times!

The only other update I have is that in August Amber, Jason and I will be going to Taiwan! We leave on a Saturday and return the following Sunday! Not a super long trip, but I think we can still do and see a lot! The flight is only 2 1/2 hours from Seoul, it will take us longer to get to the airport on the bus from Wonju. Should be really fun and we've got to get planning!

New Year's and Basketball and Winter Camp

New Year's 2011

For New Year's this year I really wanted to do something "big." I decided going to Seoul was what I was looking for. Thus Jason, Scott, Amber, Brian and I hopped on the bus to Seoul Friday night, New Year's Eve, and headed for the Downtown City Hall district. Jason and I had only returned from Seoul to Wonju the day before. We were tired. But, I was determined to make it to the big city! When we got off the bus we decided dinner was a must, Mexican food was suggested and enthusiastically agreed upon. Brian new of an On the Border near Yonsei University so we headed that way.

After a few subway changes we emerged from underground, only to wander around for 15 minutes or so, until finally using an iphone to locate exactly where the restaurant was. It was already 10pm by then and they just barely squeezed us in, they closed at 10:30! We ate delicious Mexican food, tacos and enchiladas, mmmhh so good! We also got margaritas and good beer! No soju or cheap beer for us! It was great! The drinks were weak though, and left me wanting more, but alas were kicked out. We also needed to get to our final destination. That required a quick ride on the subway and we emerged in Downtown, right near the skating ring Jason and I had walked by numerous times recently with my family just days before. I knew right were we were! The crowds were huge and before we entered them we stopped at a convenience store to buy some cheap beer. Amber said she needed so liquid courage if we were going to stand in a huge mob in the freezing cold. We pushed our way in and only had to wait about 15 minutes before midnight. We were on the edge of a crowd filled with thousands and could barely see a glimpse of the stage show and hear the music that occupied the main festivities for the day. At midnight we cheered and could hear people shooting roman candle fireworks around us. On the outskirts only a few went off next to us, but some ash managed to get in our eyes to which I screamed "oww! my eye!" Although Amber tried to get us to leave right away, fearing the mob would move, we didn't want to. But then suddenly we were forced to move along. The mob was lurching forward, a mass wave of people moving as one, without the ability to stop or change direction. Our little group was pushed along, with Amber and Brian in the front, we all tried to hold on to each other and not get lost. If you were to fall, you would have been trampled! Amber was getting pretty freaked out at this, squeaking out "I told you we were gonna die! I told you to leave! I told you this was a bad idea!" For the rest of us, while a tiny bit scary, the mob wave was more fun than anything! And we managed not to spill our beers. We did see some little kids in strollers, their parents standing around them to guard them from the wave, and wondered why there were out there, as it was definitely dangerous for small ones. The rest of the night Brian couldn't let Amber live down her quasi-hysterical cries, or my "my eye!" He poked fun at how we were being big babies!

After that our group split up a bit and Jason and I ended up in a sit down pub with Brian. I really didn't want to go to sleep that night. We had no hotel, but were planning to stay in a jimjilbang. Although jimjilbang's are nice, I hate sleeping in them and get really hot and uncomfortable. Brian agreed but was contemplating sleeping because he had planned to stay in Seoul for the day. Jason was just tired. But I decided I would make it all night and be on the first subway at 5:30am headed towards the bus terminal, then on the 6am bus to Wonju! That's when things started running again. And you know what? We did it! We made it all night! We stayed at the first bar for a long time, just chatting and having a few drinks, it was really nice and relaxing. Then we headed to a hooka bar where we payed way too much for some "nachos" and cheap beer. But the hooka tasted good and the atmosphere was pretty hippy and relaxed. Somehow we made it all last until 5am when we tugged back out into the cold to find the subway. Slipping and with teeth chattering, we made it on a second wind! The second we were on the bus to Wonju, we all slept. We woke up briefly to say bye to Brian, got home and crawled into bed to sleep the day away. Was it worth it? For sure! Were my sleep patterns screwed up for days, of course.


Winter Camp 

For the first week of January I was teaching at an Immersion Winter Camp at a different school than Sangji. The camp was for middle school and elementry students from all over Wonju. I was one of 12 English teachers located in Wonju chosen to teach at it. There were six classes of each grade and I was with the second highest level of middle schoolers. Although I was dreading camp originally, I enjoyed it. At first I was super nervous because I'd had to turn in lesson plans and supply lists just the week before my parents arrived to visit. I was given no warning and had to created 12 lessons from scratch in just a few days. With help and advise from friends, and luckily no teaching in December, just sitting at my desk, I somehow finished them all. Yet when the camp started I was really able to get a sense of my students abilities, which was super high, and their enthusiasim for English, which was also high. I lucked out majorly and got a class of 11 students, boys and girls, with high ability and the strong ability to try and speak. They were perhaps too loud and talkative at sometimes, but I am getting better at controlling them. They were an extremely fun class to teach! As the week went on they became more outgoing and I was able to challenge them more and more. I'm not sure how much they really "learned" that could be measured on a test, but I hope the English immersion gave them some confidence and the time to practice speaking, something Korean kids NEVER get to do in class, unless it is with a foreign English teacher. In their English classes with their Korean teachers, all they do is bookwork and test prep. I was happy at the end of the week when one student remarked "wow its weird to see Korean writing again!" as he was handed an evaluation sheet. All week he read in English, which is an accomplishment in itself for teaching in Korea. Many students, perhaps just flattering me, perhaps sincere, said they were so sad English camp was over, that they would miss me, that I was the best teacher they'd ever had, that they wanted me to come teach at their schools! I just laughed and said thank you. I gave the students my email address in case they wanted to keep talking to me, and one boy, my favorite, has been emailing me since then! He is so cute and sends super sweet messages about playing with his neieces, or what movies he's seen, I hope we continue to be in contact! I think its harmless good practice for him.

I really enjoyed the English camp in the end. It was such a huge change from my usual school where the classes are huge, I only see kids for 45 minutes each week, I have no supplies, very little support... at camp I could request any supplies I needed for craft time, science time... every teacher also was assigned a Teaching Assistant. The Assistant's were all Korean university students who are studying to become English teachers. My Assistant was awesome! She obviously spoke Korean, but also English, fluently! And she's only 22! She was way more help than any of my usual teachers. She also was awesome in that she would only speak English to the students, when they would ask her something in Korean, she would say, speak to me in English. I could always rely on  her and felt I had the backup I needed and thought I would get when I first came here. Camp was also great because all the native English teachers could talk and bounce ideas off of each other. Every day also included an awesome snack for teachers and students, from pizza to hamburgers to kimbab! We also got done at 1pm everyday and got to go home! We taught four hours in the morning and were finished. It was so nice to have a slow lunch afterward, I'd either go home and take a nap or eat out with Brian and Amber and still be home by 3pm to relax and plan for the next day. I enjoyed making difficult lessons that I knew the kids would listen to. That week Jason was also at a winter camp, but at an elementry school that doesn't usually have any native teachers, he had a really similiar experience. We were so down in the dumps after everyone leaving after the holidays that our camps were an awesome pick me up and reminder that teaching can be fun and rewarding and challenging all in one, you just need the proper support and motivation!


Basketball

The orginizers of the English camp also paid for all the teachers to go out to dinner twice, norebang, and go to a basketball game. Wonju has a team that plays for them in the national leauge. They have a nice basketball stadium in Wonju too. Basketball here is played exactly the same as in the US. So we got to go to a game one Wednesday night! We had front row seats and enjoyed watching Wonju beat Seoul! Both centors, for Seoul and Wonju, were big black guys, probably from the US, while the rest of the team was Korean. They were pretty good! (I didn't think the centers were that great though.) The Wonju coach even got a technical during the game and was kicked out! Unlike in the US though, he didn't kick and scream, he just quietly left after arguing over a call. It is not right to show those kinds of emotions in Korea, you would be shamed and loose face, so he kept them in.

The highlight of the game was the halftime show. Earlier they had told us that one of us might be choosen to paly the game at the half time show and win a prize. I had casually mentioned to one of the organizers that I played basketball in high school. Thus when I arrived at the game she handed me my ticket and said "you are playing the halftime show!!" I was so shocked and just started laughing! Should have kept my mouth shut. I had told Amber earlier too, I would never volunteer for something like that!" Karma got me. Never say never! I was nervous and a little worried I would have any idea what to do because I can't understand Korean. Luckily when it was time to go down to the court for the competition, the Korean girl, Ashley, was there to translate! I was against two super not athletic Korean high school girls, haha! We had to run from the base line to half court, put on a wig, place a rubber ball between our legs, jump with it between our legs to the basket and then shoot. So that's what I did! It was great! I shot the ball twice and then made it! I won!! Yay! For my prize I got two tickets to a shabu shabu buffet resturant, not too shabby! I also got interviewed and broadcast on the giant TVs! They warned me this would happen! After I said my name and that I was from the US they asked who my favorite player was, luckily Ashely had told me a name to say, otherwise I would have been clueless! The interview was a little rushed so I don't know quite what I did or said but it was a silly and fun experience! How lucky am I. Later that night Jason also won a free pizza from dominos, delieverd on the spot to our seats. He did this by dancing well during the cheering time, we were copying the cheerleaders moves and she picked up out of the crowd to win. I've decided we need to go to more basketball games.

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!

Bath Houses: Wonju Jimjilbang Bo-saw-sauna

Saturday afternoon I told Jason I wanted to go to the jimjilbang (Korean bathhouse). We had been once before with our friend Scott but had only experienced the three sauna rooms. This time I said I wanted to be bold and go in the baths. The naked, communal baths.

After a quick dinner we paid our 5000 won and entered the jimjilbang locker room, seperated by sex of course. I was super confused because when we paid our money the attendant only gave us towels and not the pink (blue for men) sweat outfit that you wear to the sauna. While in the bath is seperated by gender as everyone is wearing nothing but their birthday suites, the sauna is coed, you just put on the provided sweatsuit. After standing around looking confused for about five minutes, and vainly trying to contact Jason via text message to see what he was doing, I finally went back and asked the attendant where I could get the pink sweats. When I saw asked I mean I gestured "down" for the sauna (its downstairs), pointed at my clothes and shrugged my shoulders to mean "what?" -- she understood what I wanted and handed me the outfit, as I handed her an extra 1000 won. Last time this mix up didn't happen! Now I know there is a different. I guess I just looked ready for a bath.

I finally met Jason in the sauna. He was in his sweats from home. Apparently he was also confused and after hearing my story ran upstairs to pay, get the blue suit and come back down. We sweated together from about half an hour before decided to part. And go... to the baths!!! GULP.

To Koreans (and I believe also in Japan) bathing in a communal bath is compleatly normal and apart of many peoples lives and routines. Many people go once to twice a week. To us Westerners it is a very foriegn concept. Why would I want to bath with a bunch of strangers? And why would I want to do this NAKED? In Korea, it has a lot to do with differing sense of community and I'm guessing, in olden days, had a lot to do with individual families just not having private access to large bodies of clean, warm water. As it is, many bathrooms in Korea do not include tubs, only showers.

As apposed to the last time I was at the jimjilbang, this time the place was packed. There were women walking around naked all over the locker room. There were old ladies with sagging boobs and waist lines, there were firm bodied girls my age, there were three year old brothers and sisters, there were 10 year old girls hanging out alone. No one was ashamed to walk around, no one that it strange to blow dry their hair at the mirror, sans clothing.

The entrance to the baths is two glass doors, steamed from within and thus impossible to see through. Every time a child would run out of the bath to grab something I would try to catch a glimpse inside. Where their just showers? Was there a place to sit? How many people could fit at one time?

Finally I just had to know. I just had to do it. So I found my locker once more, stripped off my sweatsuit, grabbed my towel and walked towards the steaming doors. In the buff. Nude. Naked. Stripped bear.

While the first few steps are extremely awkward, you're just waiting for people to stare, after a few minutes you realize that everyone around you is naked too. And we all look the same, basically. And that no one cares.

Still, I quickly opened the doors, walked inside and sat down at the first pool of water I saw that wasn't surrounded by old ladies. I have to admit, the old ladies did stare a little. Obviously I was a foriegner and obviously I was the only foreigner in the place. It made me a little self concious but it was expected. It wasn't like anything was wrong with me, I was just different.

The inside of the bath was more spacious than expected. There were three large circular pools filled with hot water, one large pool filled with really cold water, two sauna like rooms, and many showers and vanities lining the walls. I didn't know it at the time but people come to the baths to actually bathe. There were mothers scrubbing their children, people brushing their teeth, washing their hair... There were large buckets you could use to dump the water over you while you stood as well. In one corner of the room there were cots set up where you could pay extra to have your body scrubbed down. The scrubbing was preformed by three old Korean women dressed in bras and panties, not bathing suits, bras and panties. People would lay on the cots and get facials, massages and extreme scrubbing action. I really wanted one.

While I was sitting this middle age woman came up to me and asked where I was from. Her English was perfect. It eventually came out that she was an English teacher, go figure! She was super sweet and told me how her son is studying in CA. She also said she, her sister, mother and husband come to the bath one or two times a week. I asked her how I could get a scrub down so she took me over to the women. She said something to them, the only thing I understood was foreigner (waygook) so I figured it was something like "this waygook wants a scrub." The whole thing was 17,000 won but unfortunately I would have had to wait half an hour and Jason and I had planned to meet in 15 minutes. (That gave us originally half an hour plus in the bath.) So I told her I'd have to wait until next time! Gotta get those dead skin sells off ya know!

In telling my coteachers about my experience today I said "oh I was nervous" and they said bluntly, "we don't care, its normal." I just don't want to run into a student. That would be awkward.

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.

Wonju Apartment Tour

I'm sure I've said it before, but I am so fortunate to live in such a wonderful apartment this year! As part of my contract my school provides me with housing, they pay the rent, I pay the utility bills. Although I don't have air conditioning, I do have awesome floor heating called ondol. I turned part of the floor heating on last night to see how it worked and the place got very warm, very quickly!

Here is a quick tour of my place: 

View of the kitchen. Nice big sink, medium sized refrigerator, lots of space.The door on the left leads to the storage/trash room. The door on the right is the bathroom.

View opposite the kitchen. You can see the dining table, couch, ottoman, TV, the door to the second bedroom/office is on the left, and the glass doors in the center lead to the patio/washing area.

Another view of the living space. To the right is the front door/entryway.

View when standing next to the dining room table. The cabinet in the entry way is for your shoes. The door leads to the bedroom. 

Bathroom. No tub but enough space. The floor is submerged and tiled.

The view of my street (it was raining). My apartment building is the gray one on the right, its only 2 years old. I'm on the second floor out of three, on the right, you can see my patio windows. 

For contrast, a glimpse of what Jason's apartment looks like. He's on the 11th floor and its nearer the river. Yet only 15 minutes from mine. (Ok this isn't really his apartment, his are actually to the left, but close enough, they all look the same.) 

I'm going to Wonju!

Today I FINALLY found out were I'll be living for the next year! I will be in the town of Wonju in the province of Gangwon in South Korea. Wonju (according to the paragraph describing it on wikipedia) is the largest city (population-wise) of Gangwon province. Its a larger city, 300,000 people, and the best part is that its only an hour from Seoul, an hour from the beach and on the major train lines, so we can get all over Korea, especially to the south, very easily! How lucky!

Also, Jason and I will be in the same town! Yay!! And we happen to be placed in the same town as our friend Scott from UCI. How did that happen?! No idea. We leave for Wonju tomorrow, and should meet our Korean co-teachers then. And we also should move into our apartments, which would be great to finally be able to unpack and get out of the dorm.

But get this, the best part, we found out where we will be teaching!! I'll be at at all girls Middle school. Jason, on the other hand, will be at... an all girls high school!! HAHAHAHAHHA. Actually, I feel a little bad for him, but he says he's fine with it, and he'll have fun with it. He'll have to find a way to relate to high school Korean girls, LOL. Our schools are most likely right next to each other as they are both Sangji Middle School and then Sangji High School. All girls should be really interesting! We should start teaching on Monday!

Tomorrow we have to have our bags on the bust to Wonju by 8:30am, and then once we meet our co-teachers, who knows where the day could go!

As a warning, we may not be able to get internet for a few weeks so that will probably limit the time we have to email/blog. Hopefully we can get online at school, but we shall see!