Flexibility on the Fly

This week was interesting. I was told that we were not writing Homeletters for our students we were doing Progress Reports. Did they have a date when they were due? Not really, since conferences hadn't been decided yet. When I asked my ESL 1 co-teacher about what she needed from me she told me 2 Homeletters, Overview and the Schedule. That would be fine and dandy if we were supposed to write Homeletters for afternoon class (they are only for morning kids). This system is as convoluted as the idea that memorization is learning. Oh wait, that is their education system.

Anyway, it was a bit of a stressful week at school and to top it off I started to get sick. I had a headache and sinus issues from about Weds to Saturday. I wore my glasses to school for the first time on Thursday and you would have thought I had two heads with the way my kids were looking at me. And of course, because I apparently looked like crap Korean teacher after Korean teacher asked me if I was sick. I politely replied "Just a little". Nothing serious, I just wanted the weekend to be here.

There was a building here when I left for school on Friday.
 When I came back this is what I found. 

During my first time being sick a lovely construction crew decided it was time to knock down the building across from my apartment. Did you know that here in Korea they start work at 6:30am? Me either. So starting Weds I was woken up with pounding and demolition at 6:30am. Did you also know that construction crews do not take off the weekend? They start at 7am, so hey at least I got to sleep in a little, right?

This was what I woke up to
on Saturday.

So amazing. 

This was the week of delicious food.  I made Macaroni and Cheese from scratch. I know! Holy cow! It turned out so good. All I used, since I didn't have many groceries, was milk, butter, cheddar cheese and noodles. I swear it was like Noodles & Company sent me the Mac&Cheese from the kitchen. So amazing. Now I must say, it does not compare to Kraft, because really, what Mac and Cheese could compare to nuclear colored cheese.

Gun Mandu! So yummy

I was also introduced to "gun-mandu" this week. It means fried dumpling, I believe. It was amazing. The only downside to finding this delicious food is that it is fried (which is okay for the moment since I am missing the state fair and I wanted fried food) and it is convenient. It is not far from school and my apartment  which could be bad.

The last thing that I thought was just hilarious was being confronted on Friday about my feet. Now the rules in Korea are that you need to keep your toes covered, at least when you are at school. So everyday (in the hot and humid summer) I have to wear socks and closed toed shoes at school. Normally I wouldn't complain about this (in fall and winter) but it's summer. It's hot and my feet sweat. It's required that I wear socks and closed toed shoes, fine. Here is the best part. Apparently, my feet stink (who knew) and the children can smell them. My Korean co-teacher asked me on Friday if I changed my socks everyday. Yes, I do, is that seriously a question? We went back and forth and she finally said that the children thought something smelled. I was a little bit shocked, but I know confrontation isn't easy for Sue. Sue said she wasn't trying to make me uncomfortable or angry and I said I was neither. There just isn't anything I can do about it. At home, in the summer, I walk around barefoot or wear flip flops and sandals everywhere. My feet sweat, and then they stink. If I have to wear socks and shoes in the summer that's what happens. There is nothing I can do. I think she was a little taken aback by my lack of caring. Oh well, it's not like I am going to get Botox in my feet to make the crazy Koreans happy.



Another eventful week under my belt. I have been here more than a month now and with all the connections I have made I feel like I have been here longer. These ladies have definitely become a little bit of a family here. Strange.

300 and Bills!

It has been a week, some kind of week. I learned this week that schedules, home letters and the over view are due next Friday. This may seem like a long time, but I have two schedules to make, 8 home letters to write and the over view may get interesting. I haven't known my kids long and now I have to write home about each child's progress. I haven't seen any progress! And one of my students doesn't have any idea what I am saying. I sound like a broke English record.

I know that it's my job to teach the children English, but good grief, it's not an easy job when there are three kids speaking Korean, three are horsing around and the other two are half listening. I don't know how we make any progress at all.

I had a lovely meeting with my Korean co-teacher for my afternoon class. She had a half hours worth of critique of me. I tried my best to smile, agree, and professionally explain why I made the choices I did. I love the two kids in my afternoon class. They have great English skills. I am very impressed. Conversation is pretty easy with them, and I hope that continues. They are lovely girls.              

I went to E-Mart this week. And guess what! I got a toaster oven! Best day ever. I have been using it to toast my bagels from Costco. Such a wonderful convenience.  I am hoping to make cookies, muffins, and definitely lasagna at some point. I also found a metal colander, so I am able to steam vegetables. Ahhh the little things. I don't think I have ever been so excited to eat broccoli and carrots.  I almost feel spoiled, which is definitely a change.

Here is my kick-ass toaster oven. It has bagel inside it. So amazing!

I made my first laundry oops this week. I washed my navy blue sheets and didn't check to see if anything else was in the washer. There was, of course, a white towel, a white wash cloth and two white socks. Lovely day. Oh well. None of the white things were very important and now they are a lovely baby blue color.

Several of us went to the pool on Saturday. That was a treat. It is nice to get out of the apartment and see some of the people we normally just see at the bars. The craziest thing was happening at the pool though, these random Korean men (very tan and in speedo's, not cute either) were taking women and putting them on a inner tube, then throwing them across the pool, each time landing on their head. One of the people we were with called them "Daegu Airlines". Not a flight I wanted to take. The did however try to grab each one of the girls in our group.*Guess what Uncle Dennis. I did not get on the inner tube, even when one of the guys grabbed my wrist, I was prepared to get out of the hold, confidence*

Guess what everyone! My blog made it to 300+ views. Very exciting stuff.

I miss home very much, but I am starting to feel more comfortable here. I didn't see any scary cats this week, so that's a win. I don't think I will ever get used to the feeling of clothes that are hung up to dry. It is just not comfortable.

I got my first bills this week. We are thinking one is electric and the other in internet. I am still not sure, so I am going to take them to school on Monday so Sue can help me translate. Kelly, my neighbor and co-worker, gave me a Korean book so I can try and learn to at least read a little bit. I am going to make a real effort to learn, at least that way I can figure out what a menu and the signs say.

Well not too much else. Guess we will have to see how this week goes. Wish me luck with all my schedules. Parent teacher conferences are coming up soon too. That should be interesting.

 This is absolutely the most delicious breakfast I can think of. That is homemade strawberry jam. Sent all the way from home. I have been rationing it, it's the highlight of my fridge. 

 This is how you make mashed potatoes without a potato masher. You remove all the potatoes and smash them with a fork, then put them back in the pan.

 They were delicious. 

These are my wonderful carrots, for the little market down the alley. 1000 won for a whole bag. Score! 

This was my dinner Sunday night. Spaghetti (with chicken in the sauce) and steamed carrots. Apparently I wanted orange foods and didn't know it.

Foreigner Gifts and Birthday Boxes

Thursday:

So I was told that these random acts of kindness (the random broom, milk, rice cake) are called foreigner gifts. So cute. Today my lovely Korean Grandmother gave me extra grape juice. And I got the broom that she told me I could have yesterday. Such a wonderful woman.

I also got my bank account today. Yay! I feel like a person again. It was very funny when I went to the bank. After I got my bank account I wanted to exchange some of my US dollars to Korean Won, since I was there. Well the man got a little confused with the exchange rate. He tried to give me 20,000 Won for my $180. I was very nice, and he felt awful. He was so nice "I'm so sorry!" On and on...

I tried Mandu today. It is a dumpling, with I believe Kimchi inside. It was actually very good. Luisana will have to show me where to get it, because I must have it again.

This is Mandu. It is a yummy steamed dumpling. 

Saturday:

OMG! It's my birthday, or it was my birthday. Started the day off right. Talked to Mom, Sue and Lynnae while they were at happy hour. Definitely a lot of fun. I got a large assortment of things in my wonderful birthday box. I am so excited to eat the jam. I can't decide if I want to eat it with a spoon, or savor it. That will be tricky. We will have to see how this plays out. Anyway back to business.

Look at all my awesome birthday box surprises! I put the Driver penant up right away.

The girls and I left for the KTX at about 9:15am. Our train left at about 10am, since it was a little late. It was a pretty fast train ride. And not a bad price either. Since there were 4 of us we were able to get a family pack, which meant we had a table, and it was less expensive. We arrived in Seoul and immediately decided that food was first, then shopping. Very important. We looked for a good place to have my birthday lunch and decided on California Pizza Kitchen, nothing Korean about that. It was very yummy.

Kaylee and me on the KTX.

After lunch we needed to shop, since that was the point of the trip. Most of these girls have been in Korea several months and they needed new essentials. The basics (even though we got a little carried away). We shopped and shopped and shopped. It was a sprint, no marathon for us, we were on a time limit. After shopping concluded we headed to a little chain restaurant in Korea call Pho Bay. It had some really good noodles and friend rice. As we made our way back to Daegu we were sitting on the train (minding our own business) laughing a bit maybe, come on it's my birthday. We were shushed on the train. It's not polite to be loud. This in turn made everything twice as funny.

This is a service button at the restaurant. You push it when you need help or assistance. This way the waiter didn't bother us until we needed him. Genius 

We arrived back in Daegu and Christine decided that an adventure on the bus was very important. So we got on the bus, where we got in trouble because we were not fast enough. Surprise, surprise. I guess it was the day to learn the cultural customs. Made it back to my apartment where I ran around like a crazy person trying to get ready to go out for the night.

When we finally all got together (we lost Victoria before we even left because she was trying to meet us at the wrong place, my fault of course). So I set out to have a "STELLA!" moment and we did eventually find each other. We made our way downtown where lots of fun followed. We were bar hopping for a while *gasp*. But after the bar hopping was when the real fun began. That fun was called Noribang.

The whole gang (at least for this night) 

During Noribang, you and your friends rent a karaoke room and you can sing any songs you want. It was amazing. We were belting out Michael Jackson, N'SYNC, Katy Perry and many many more. It was a blast. The next morning not such a party. I was so tired. I started my birthday at 7am and it ended around 3:30am the next morning. I was just a little bit tired. Thankfully a lovely Christine was making french toast and I was invited. Delicious.

Oh Noribang. You are my new best friend. 

Well another adventure chronicled. Many more to go.

ARC!

It has been almost a week since my last post. The rest of summer break went pretty well. The three girls who went to Jeju came back on Friday and Luisana and Victoria came back from Japan very late on Thursday night. I did in fact venture out of my apartment. Saturday was a lot of fun. Kaylee, Krista and I went to a hotel pool. It was definitely an experience. The pool was a little expensive, but I can understand that. There aren't a lot of nice public pools here. When we got into the pool area we tried to move 3 free chairs together so we could sit by each other. We were yelled at by a Korean patron that that was not allowed. Then a lifeguard came and told us it wasn't allowed. We tried to explain we wanted to sit together and he brought us chairs. We then did our very best actions and convinced him to let us use the lounge chairs.

After the lounge chairs we got warm (it was like a 100 degrees outside). We went into the pool. We were told we needed caps. Swim caps! We all had our hair in buns and we weren't really planning to swim. So we did our best to convey that. We were told 3 different times that we needed swim caps. It's very true, everyone wears them here. The pool was an experience. The children were able to use any floaty they wanted. There were no rules on that front. It was strange. We got some nice color though, so I don't look Korean at all. Every Korean at the pool was very pale. Most covered up.

Saturday night was a lot of fun. I was out with the girls and we had dinner at this great little place. The food was wonderful but we learned our lesson, salad before drinking is not the best plan. We went out to a couple of different places. I met several new people. I feel so much more confident. I am feeling more comfortable with everything, and when I went home (at a very late/early hour) I took the taxi by myself and got home in one lovely piece.

Monday was the first day back to school. We had a teacher prep day, which definitely helped. I felt a lot better after I was able to get a lot of my books ready and my classroom feels more like my own. I was sitting in my classroom and Sarah Teacher (she is a Korean co-teacher) came in and told me my Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday class was now Monday, Wednesday, Friday. Yay! One good thing is that I was expecting something to come up. The class went pretty well. It was the first time I had met one of the students because she was in the states for the few weeks I was here prior to break.

I got my awesome birthday package from my mom. As soon as they delivered it I ripped off the label(so I couldn't read what was inside) and put it on my desk. I also got a cute note from my grandparents, which I ripped open and then cried. I miss them so much. It is so different to want to see them and not be able to. It's easy to see them when they are two hours away, now they are two days of travel away.

Tuesday was a good day. My first day with my kindergarten class all by myself. It was a little interesting. Some things went better than others. My Korean co-teacher Sue (and yes, she is super helpful and makes me feels amazing just like my amazing Aunt Sue) told me that there were a few things I need to improve. Mrs. Lee only yelled at me once, and that was because I didn't realize that I had paperwork that I needed. It was all good though, no skin off my back.

After work a couple of the girls went to Costco. Definitely a good idea. I got some soup (since I can't have Grandma's tomato soup) some chicken, granola bars, bagels, pineapple. The basics that will last me a while. Yummy. I made food for lunch on Wednesday (chicken, noodles and pesto sauce).

Wednesday was the best day yet. I was about to start my morning class and one of the older teacher aides (who reminds me so much of grandma) came in and asked if I wanted to try the snack of the day. I tried it (because why no, I'm in Korea) and it was so delicious. I was told it was a rice cake, I don't care what that purple piece of bread like substance was, it was delicious. Then while I was sitting in Luisana's classroom the same woman asked me if I wanted to take home a broom and dust pan for my apartment. I said yes (because why would I insult the lovely woman). Then she brought me milk. Now I am not sure if I will actually drink it, because I have yet to drink milk in Korea, I don't know why, I am just hesitant, but she is so nice!

Then the day got even better. I got my ARC card! I did a dance, and hugged the Korean lay who gave it to me. Seriously, I could not be happier at the moment. This card is like having a golden ticket. I can open a bank account, go to the doctor, basically I am a person again. Haha good times.

 This is Galbi. It's from a different place downtown. It was good, just trying to get used to the beef.

 This is random side dishes that were given to us when we ordered a drink downtown. The back bowl has bean sprouts, the middle bowl has boiled potatoes and the front bowl has something that tastes like a sweet chip (not a fan).

 I got desperate for buttery mashed potatoes, and I don't have butter. So the potatoes from my care package did the trick 

 This is the purple, possibly rice cake, from Wednesday. So delicious. 

 This is the view from our illegal lounge chairs at the pool. 

This is what a Korean key board looks like. My grandpa was wondering, so this seemed nice to show everyone. To answer the oncoming question, no the Korean keys do no correspond to the English letter. Strange. 

Well I am signing off for the moment. Christine, Kaylee and I are hopefully going to Seoul on Saturday (just for the day) to do some shopping (I don't need to shop much). But why not spend my birthday in Seoul.