The Chuseok Holiday

Top: silk worm Pupa... read and see what we did with these...
Bottom: traditional Korean attire worn during festivals and celebrations (this picture reminded me of my sisters and I)- I miss you guys. That day, everything reminded me of family... read on...


As I previously mentioned, the Chuseok holiday was this past week. Being that we don't get a lot of days off work, I decided to take full advantage of my 3 days off and go on a vacation... Seoul! I have a friend who lives in Seoul and we (Laura and I) stayed with him. He lives in the outskirts of Seoul in a smaller area. It was interesting to see his living situation and hear about his job and what not. Although it is very similar to how we do things in Gwangju, it is also very different. He works at a public school and teaches a lot of older students rather than just Elementary aged children. He lives in a huge building by himself. His close friends are not near by, not like at my school/ apartment where you just walk down the hall and all your friends are right there. Since Seoul is such a big city,(5th biggest city in the world) it is harder to get up with friends.... it's more of a process. They do not take cabs nearly as often as we do. They take the metro (subway) which is extremely convenient, cheap and fun but, I will say, it definitely takes a lot longer to get somewhere due to the size of the city, the congestion and the subway transfers and... now this really surprised me, the subway stops running from 12 am to 6 am- what the hell.... they compare themselves to NYC and NYC is the city that never sleeps)... kinda annoying. So, if you go out... like we did one night... we conveniently took the subway to our destination but then, since we wanted to stay out later, we had to take a cab home (it ended being about 20,000 plus won)- not bad split 3 ways.

So, Laura and I got a bus ticket from Gwangju to Seoul on Monday. Our bus left at 10:30 pm and we got into Seoul around 2 am. Once we got there, we talked to numerous cab drivers trying to give directions to Taylor's place (we would have taken the metro but it had already stopped for the evening). Finally, thank god... we came across a really nice cab driver who spoke excellent English. He got us to Taylor's safely and we spent the rest of the evening ... well actually, morning, chit chatting and drinking somik (our favorite drink).

On Tuesday ... a little hungover, we ventured out into the city and met up with one of Taylor's colleagues/friends. We had lunch and attempted to go to a Chuseok festival. The festival was cancelled due to horrendous amounts of rain (bee- Korean word for rain... thought I'd add that in there for ya). Honestly, I have not seen rain this bad since.... flood Floyd back in 1999. The Han river flooded and people's homes were ruined that day because of the rain. Not only was there rain but also crazy, gale force winds... screw the rain jacket and the umbrella. This type of rain was the kind you could not just mosey on through, it was telling us to get our asses inside!! Monsoon season definitely ended with a BANG! What else do you do when it's raining... you shop!! We all split up and went crazy, especially Laura... she was on a shopping mission. I found a pretty angora sweater but thats about it. They laugh at you when your attempting to purchase shoes, and that's what I really wanted. The biggest shoe size they make in the entire country is a 250 (about a 8 1/2 or 9 American).. this is my exact size. Now, just because they make it, doesn't mean they have it. Most stores don't carry this size or, they just don't have a lot of variety in this size so, my options are pretty much out the window. Now this really sucks because, on my way to Seoul, one of my only pair of flip flops broke (can you believe I came to Seoul and the sole of my shoe literally came off... NO LIE, that's my luck.. dammit)!!! The mall we went to was really neat... an outstanding convention and exhibition designated, Coex has a lot to offer: People from around the world visit the Coex Complex of 400,000m² for business, entertainment, leisure and cultural experiences. Coex is the largest underground mall in Asia, Coex Mall, with the Aquarium, CoexArtium, over 100 restaurants and the Kimchi Museum (Kimchi is so good... remember, the hot, spiced, marinated cabbage). One of these 100 places to eat was Sabarro... whoever knows me well knows that I LOVE Sabarro!! I had to have some pizza... it didn't quite compare to Crabtree Valley Mall's Sabarro pizza but it was still very savory and delicious!

After a long day of rain and shopping we went back to Taylor's, got ready and went out. The rain finally stopped by about 10 pm... ughhhh, thank god! We went to a place called Itaewon (Itawon is the most Americanized place in Seoul). Right when we got out of the subway, I felt like I was in NYC... mostly because of the city atmosphere mixed in with the very diverse groups of people, it was nice and homey! Ohhh man, we had been craving Mexican all day and Itaewon has several good Mexican places... so we were told. Well, we went to the first one- CLOSED... went to the next one, CLOSED! At this point we are all extremely moody because the 5 pm slice of pizza was just not doin it for us anymore. Maybe if we hadn't waited til 11 pm to eat dinner then this wouldn't be such a problem. Everything was closed... we finally had no choice but to eat at KFC.. hmmm....! I don't know if I told you this but, I have yet to see a rude person in Korea... well, until tonight. The Korean people work their asses off and keep all their emotions bottled up inside. This is why there is so many suicides each year. Anyway... I really felt like I was in America when some rude, white jackass decided to throw a fit at someone because they cut him in line at KFC! I forgot how us Americans can be... we don't take shit from anyone- I miss it! Itawon was very fun after we got some food in us! We spent tons of money on souvenirs and ended up making friends with some nice Americans and Canadians. We enjoyed a few drinks with them and then got a cab home.

Our last full day in Seoul was a wonderful, cultural experience. It was the official day of Chuseok and fall. Everywhere you looked, families were laughing, smiling and enjoying one another's company on the Chuseok (Korean Thanksgiving) holiday. It really made me miss my family. On this day, families travel to each other's homes and bring food and gifts to share. One of my favorite parts of the holiday is the girls and women wearing hanboks: the traditional Korean dress. It is often characterized by vibrant colors and simple lines without pockets. Although the term literally means "Korean clothing", hanbok today often refers specifically to hanbok of Joseon Dynasty and is worn as semi-formal or formal wear during traditional festivals and celebrations.
While in city hall, we happen to come across a traditional drum festival. It was rather incredible to see the Korean men and women play the jangu (special type of drum), they played with such pride and power- it really gave me a good feel for the culture. Later we went to the palace (Gyechgbokgung Palace where Emperor Yi Sun Sin lived) on the edge of town. This ancient palace has been in Korea for 100's of years. It was really neat because they built the city right around the palace, it almost feels kind of awkward. The palace grounds were beautiful and went on forever. We didn't even get to see all of the grounds because it got so late and they were closing. During the holiday they have lots of events going on (ancient themed activities, crafts, etc.). We all thought it would be fun to take part in one of the crafts so we made rice paper boxes.. it was really fun- I always love a good craft haha! When we left the palace we came across some interesting street snakes... warmed silk worm pupa- gotta try everything once, especially when your in a foreign country. We did.. doesn't the picture above look real appetizing!! They actually weren't that bad and, unlike Taylor... we didn't even wash them down with water (haha sorry Tay). They sort of tasted like some type of kidney or black bean. That night we made it back to Itaewon for some Mexican.. yessss, we finally got our fix. It was pretty funny when we asked for cheese dip and they brought out a little dish of squirt cheese, haha! God, I miss good cheese!

The day we have to leave is the day that it is absolutely gorgeous outside, ugh! So, our bus ride back to Gwangju was packed full and Laura and I were the only white people/Americans on the bus. Since the bus ride is somewhat lengthy, they always stop halfway through so you can go to the bathroom and what not. Now, I was sure that this stop lasted at least 15 minutes... ohhhh, was I wrong. As Laura and I are walking back to our bus the driver comes running up to us yelling in Korean and pointing to his watch. We quickly got on the bus... everyone was staring at us with a fierce, disgusted look (and I thought Koreans didn't get angry). I was so embarrassed.. I mean, I am one of the most punctual people I know.. I felt awful! Anywho, the day went on! How stupid.. one more day of work and then the weekend! It is still beyond me why they didn't just give us the whole week off. A lot of public schools had the whole week off!

Can you guess what we did this weekend... I bet you can.. more karaoke. We went to the same place we went for my birthday. It is called a Nori Bong (its a private room in which you sing karaoke, get drunk and eat). Since my friend Jacob got fired (bull shit reasons that don't make a bit of sense) we treated him to a night of bliss! It was probably one of the best times I have had out drinking without throwing up (sorry if thats too much information but, like my mother and sisters... i'm a light weight). Ohhh, good times in Gwangju!

I gotta say, I sure did love Seoul but I reallyyyy LOVE Gwangju (I mean hey, they are known for their good food and their art and two of my favorite things are food and art)!

Korean Facts/Randomness:

-All men are required to go to the army or some type of service after their first year of college
-It is amazing how many people come to S. Korea from all over the world. I have met people from: Great Britain, England, Nigeria, Africa, India, Canada, and numerous states in America.
- Generally, the women here have pretty small tushes. I saw in a store that they make pants with but plants in them- HAHA!
- Even though it is getting chilly here, the woman are still wearing short shorts... to keep their legs a tiny bit warmer, they wear skin colored tights/hose under their shorts (I saw a lot of this is Seoul).
- Did you know, they have acid rain here!
- No offense to the Koreans because I think they are wonderful but I have noticed that a lot of them can be and act very delicate and whinny. I saw a ton of people on the streets carrying a small bag together ("you take one handle, i'll take the other")
- My apartment is near a base so whenever I am on the track jogging, it's pretty cool to watch the jets flying right over my head (reminds me of Top Gun)
- So, I am attempting to learn Hangul (Korean Language/alphabet). My friend has several lessons printed out that I try to glance at every so often.
- Since the weather is so cool, i've been sleeping with my windows open instead of using the AC, it's SOOO nice! The only downfall is, they don't have screens on the windows so I gotta deal with the bugs comin in. Oh well, I feel like i'm camping haha! They sell mosquito nets that you can put around your bed (even though its cooling off, there are still mosquitos everywhere).. i'm thinking I might get a net haha.
- In Seoul they had a variety of fast food restaurants... I wish I could have gotten some Subway and Quiznos to take home. Here is what they had: Taco Bell, Baskin Robins, Dunkin Donuts, McDonalds, Burger King, Quiznos, Subway, Pizza Hut and Dominoes.
- This is random and has nothing to do with Korea but I know you (mom) wanna hear it, I miss my cats, especially Jack. When I was packing to move here, Jack sensed that I was leaving so he sprawled himself out on all my clothes before I put them in bags. As a result, a good amount of my clothes still have white hairs on them (it's a nice change to have that because usually there are long black Korean hairs everywhere.. it's comforting to have American, white kitty hairs instead)!

xoxox- EM :)

A Karaoke Kinda Weekend....

Top: Friday night karaoke! At German Bar... me, Justin (behind me) and Jacob (a new friend).
Bottom: Some of the group enjoying BBQ and drinks at Seth's place.


Work is going... like i've said before, things are constantly changing. Last time I blogged, I was off the research team and teaching more classes. Well, i'm back on the research team and I still have a good amount of classes. It's interesting that they have me on their research team because I don't know nearly enough about the classes (especially the levels I haven't taught) and the textbooks to be doing the work I am doing. Someone who has been teaching here longer would surely be be more useful than me. I am helping to create a curriculum guide for each class/track/level. It is kind of confusing because there isn't just grade levels, it's way more complex than that. Each group (for example: the Zebras, which are a pre-K to Kindergarten aged level) has several different tracks and levels. For each track and level, there is a different group of books. I am currently writing a description for each level, giving a goals and objective page for each and creating a branches page that includes a detailed description of each books content. It is mostly a lot of tedious work. The shitty thing about all of this is.... I am doing this work and yet, in 6 months or so, the books are just going to change again. Excuse me but, it's bullshit! Oh well, I just do what i'm told... it is what it is! My friend/colleague Ryan is a big part of the research team as well. He is creating book guides for each individual book (a guide for how long each book should be taught in a given semester/class period). Our bosses took Ryan and I out to a nice dinner this week to thank us for our hard work. At dinner, everyone is always drinking soju (Korean liquor) and mikjew (beer) or somik (a combination of the two). I usually don't drink during the week (i'm a light weight, I don't think I need to be getting smashed at dinner in the middle of the work week with my boss) but the weekends is another story. I learned that if you are drinking alcohol at dinner with your boss, there are a few rules you need to remember: always pour your bosses beer first (this is just the Korean style... you always pour/serve everyone else's beverage/meal before your own), for your first few glasses of alcohol always turn away and cover your mouth while you drink to the side, never finish your drink before your boss- it's rude, and... always offer to refill your bosses drink as well as everyone else.

Friday night we went out to dinner downtown (Sheney) and ate FryPan... ohh yum! This is far from a Korean dish but man was it delicious... fried chicken fingers and homemade fries/chips-YUM! The night was very fun... dancing, drinks and karaoke. After hanging out at our favorite place.. Bubble bar, we went to German bar and sang Karaoke till 4 a.m. (that's early for Koreans- considering the bars don't close till 7). We were some of the only people at German bar so we owned that place! I can't tell you how many songs I sang... some with Laura, some with random new friends and some all alone. I was pullin out my favorite good time oldies.... Neil Young, Carol King, Queen, Billy Joel, Elton John... ohhhhh, the list goes on!

Saturday was perfect!!!! The weather was just wonderful... high of 75, no humidity and sunny. Our head boss, Seth had a BBQ for all the TNE staff. He lives on the 8th, 9th and 10th floors of the TNE building. I have always been so anxious to see his place and I finally did- it's a beautiful Korean home! His patio, where he had the BBQ is especially nice. The 10th floor is a garden with lots of random plants and herbs growing, the 9th floor is opened up and has such nice sunlight coming in- sitting out there drinking cocktails felt like a vacation. There is so many pretty trees and plants all around- I loved it! We enjoyed the traditional Korean BBQ (cut up pieces of red meat that you put inside two types of lettuce leaves- leafy, green, romaine like pieces and then sesame leaves, on top of that comes a sauce that is like a sweet/spicy chili bean paste and lastly, slices of fresh garlic cloves... the Korean style is to stuff this whole lettuce wrap in your mouth as one bite but... I don't always do this). This is a fabulous dish!!! The food never stopped on Saturday. Not only did we have endless amounts of BBQ but we had kimchee (a marinated, spiced cabbage) and rice (every Korean always has kimchee and rice... it's around for every dish, even breakfast), ribs, chicken legs, grilled veggies, bananas, rice snacks, hot beef jerky, fruit cheese, seaweed, dried squid (this is like the fishy version of beed jerky), peaches and oh course.. lots and lots of alcohol. The BBQ started at 2 p.m. and everyone (except for Seth's kids of course) was hammered by 3:30. Can you guess how the night ended... karaokee!!! Seth took all the guys out to an interesting karaoke bar (I am not allowed to say exactly what kind is was so if your really curious, ask me one of these days... let's just say, they have nothing like it in America)..... As for us wasted women, we stayed at Seth's with his wife and all sang karaoke in his living room.

It's Sunday and I am pretty exited because Laura and I are going to Seoul tomorrow after work. We have Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday off for the Chuseok holiday (Korean Thanksgiving). I am currently doing laundry and packing all my things so we can leave right when we get off work!!! YAY! I will try and write by the weekend and let you know all about Seoul! :)

Korean Facts/Randomness:

- It is common decency to live with your parents till you are 30, although, under certain circumstances (a job in another town)... you can move out before then.
- Have I mentioned that the pizza is pretty tasty here... there are some interesting toppings that they use though: corn, potato, mayonnaise drizzled all over the top, rolled ham slices filled with potato and potato filled crust.
- Parking is all underground... they have parking garages in which you simply pull in on a little platform and then your done, the platform takes your car underground and finds you a spot.
-On toilets, the flusher can go forwards or backwards. I was always confused about this so I asked some of my students what the deal was. Apparently, if you pee you flush it forwards, if you poop you flush it backwards... interesting huh!?

I am going to have a N_ _ _ _ _ _

Im so thrilled right now... I had to add this to my blog because this blog will be a life long memory of my adventures in South Korea. For those of you who do not know, Katey (my big sis) is expecting a baby in February. Sadly I will not be there to see the baby in person until August but thank god for Skype. So, the recent news that I am thrilled about is: Katey is having a boy!!!! I can't believe I am going to have a little nephew come February.. AHHH!! Finally, a boy in the family! Katey's husband, Fabian has 2 sisters and Katey has 2 sisters so a boy will be very exciting. I am so happy for you Kate and Fab! I love you so much :)

Fall is Coming!!

Girls from my Giza 1 class (from left: Erica, Alice, Crystal)

I left off last weekend on a Friday... from my last post, i'm sure you could see that I not exactly in the right state of mind.. like I said, it happens!! On the following Saturday I went to an art show/festival at the Convention Center. It is so convenient having the cities convention center only yards away. This show was called: "Art Gwangju"... it was absolutely incredible. It was so inspiring, I wanted to go right home and paint.. I didn't bring my paints but, it's a good thing I brought a sketch book and some drawing utencils- thanks Colleen and Dave. I spent a good three hours at the show in awe then remembered it was in fact Saturday night. Out I went for another fun filled evening on the town.

It is interesting, the things I have seen when I go out for a jog... one day as I was heading home, I noticed a huge pile of fish heads just chillin on the sidewalk where everyone passes. In the last week I have seen a lot of food being dried. In the middle of the path, there will be towels of different foods (sliced chili peppers, onions, etc.). People all over town take full advantage of the little bit of farm land they have near their homes. They work very hard planting and harvesting goods to sell. The Korean people are extremely trusting. No one in their right mind would dare steal (the food that they dry on the sidewalk is definitely worth some money but no one ever worries about someone taking it.. they just let it sit there all day). Since there are no dryers in Korea... people hang everything, obviously! You often see drying racks outside of people's apartments on the sidewalk with all their nice clothes hanging to up. When people wash their large comforters, they drape them over large park fences and go get them later that evening. I love how trusting this country is! I mean really, you could set your wallet down on the side of the road and if someone even touched it might be because they were going to turn it in to the police!

The school week... ugh! I really do like my job but it is extremely frustrating that things change every 5 minutes- literally!!!! If you know me.. you know that I like a schedule, I like organization and I like having a plan! I think this job is going to make me a more flexible, laid back person... who knows! As of last week I had 4 classes and I was tutoring one student. On Tuesday I came in to find out I needed to start coming in 3 hours earlier and that I was part of a new research team for TNE's curriculum. They dropped one of my classes so that I would have more time to devote to the new research team. Here comes Wednesday... ohh, what do ya know, my schedule has changed yet again. Im not part of the research team anymore... I have all my classes back, plus an extra one. What the hell! I think it is crappy that they rotate teachers so often... it is extremely unfair to the students!!!! Anyway, enough of that. Minus the bullshit, I love my students. I have consistently been teaching 3 wonderful, girls (they just moved up to, Giza 1- 3rd/4th grade). They are soooo sweet and very, very smart. I teach them every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. It's give and take with these girls... not only have I been teaching them but they are teaching me so much about the Korean culture.

Here's some things I have learned from Erica, Crystal and Alice:
- Almost all Koreans have an English/America name.. when they are born, their parents decide on their Korean name and then their English name. Not all cases happen at birth, some people make an English name for themselves later on in life... it just depends. I kept wondering about this... before I came here I was preparing myself to have a lot of difficulty with the Korean names. I was up for the challenge but now I guess I really don't have to worry that much.
-So, if I didn't already say this... TN English is like an afterschool program. Technically, it is only a school for Kindergarten this is why the Kinderloca students are here for a normal school day. I don't teach the Kinderloca students, that's why my first class isn't til 2:50 (this is when the afterschool program beings.. goes until 8:35). The typical Korean school day (not the after school programs) lasts about 6 hours. What was so crazy to me was that these poor kids don't ever get a chance to get their energy out... NO RECESS!!! I mean come on, kids needs to run around outside and get some damn vitamin D!! They get small breaks throughout the day in which they spend time reading. I told them about my Kindergarten students from my internship in America and how they not only have P.E. (physical education) but they also have a 30 to 45 minute recess outside. They were in complete awe.... and so jealous!
- After students eat lunch at school, they all HAVE to brush their teeth (it is essential...on the first day of school, to bring your own tooth brush and paste)... students should do this in America!
-No one and I mean no one packs their lunch for school... everyone buys!

So, yesterday (Saturday, September 11th) was the 9 year anniversary of the September 11th attacks. During each one of my classes on Friday, I spent a good 15 minutes telling my students about this sad day and how much it will be rememberd in America on Saturday. Together, via the internet we researched the sad event. We watched videos and looked at numerous pictures. Being that I am an English teacher, from America teaching at an English school, I thought it was important for my students to understand that this day will always be remembered in America. I really felt like I got in deep with my older students. At one point during our discussion we all seemed a bit glassy eyed! GOD BLESS AMERICA!

When I was little I had a few Korean friends... one of the most memorable things about them was... how awesome their pencil cases were. Haha, I know your thinking, really... this is the most memorable thing. I know some of you are right there with me... you know you had Asian kids in your classes and they all had the coolest pencil cases! Well, ya know what.. it must be an Asian thing because ALL of my students have really neat pencil cases. Haha, ahhh memories!

I REALLY miss my shoes. I hate that I have to take off my shoes when I go to work. You might think this is nice to not have to wear shoes (I can wear the Korean slippers but I feel like a grandma and my feet sweat really bad in them and then they smell... gross!) After a while, you feel kinda nasty just running around in your workplace barefoot, especially when everyone else is barefoot. Think about the bathroom... little boys who can't aim then step in their pee and run around where your walking. I won't be surprised if I come home with a foot fungus.. hmmm... lovely!

On Friday I went to the "Friday Market" with Laura. I bought the usual things I like: Korean grapes, seaweed, apples, cherry tomatoes, etc.. One of the funniest things I've seen yet: an octopus got out of its pool/water case and started walking down the sidewalk where everyone was shopping. I've never seen an octopus before and this was the best site ever. I would have expected to see one either sitting on a plate waiting to be eaten or in an aquarium. This little guy was no bigger than my head but still, the sight of him inching his way to freedom was just hilarious. The old woman running the booth he was at finally got hold of him, rinsed him off and put him back with his buddies in his sad little pool he was in earlier.

Saturday night (last night) was great!!! Alicia took everyone out to the only mexican restaurant in town. "Tequilaz" was the name of the restaurant. It was located near Chosun's campus (one of the oldest and most prestigious universities in South Korea). It was so comforting to be around a college campus... even though i'm not in college anymore, it felt a little like home- PIRATE NATION back in North Carolina! After a hard month of work, Alicia thought it was only necessary to celebrate with a few bottles of tequila and a lot of pitchers of margarita's- Thank you so much Alicia for all that you did on Saturday night.. the bottles of tequila sure hit home!

I'm loving the weather here... especially today, it was absolutely gorgeous outside! It was sunny, slightly warm, no humidity, a cool breeze every now and then, ahhhh perfect- I couldn't get enough! Fall is coming and i'm so exited to see how everything plays out in a new season. What I really can't wait for is the Korean holiday of Chuseok. Sometimes referred to as the "Korean Thanksgiving," Chuseok (also transliterated as Chusok, Chu'sok, and Chu'seok) is actually a harvest celebration. Chuseok falls on the fifteenth day of the eighth lunar month, the day of the full moon referred to as the "harvest moon." In fact, the word "Chuseok" may be translated as "Harvest Moon Festival." Because Chuseok follows the lunar calendar, its place on the solar (Gregorian) calendar varies from year to year. Chuseok 2010 falls on Sept. 22, with Sept. 21-23 being the dates of the Korean legal holiday. The celebration starts with a family get-together at which rice cakes called "Songphyun" are served. These special rice cakes are made of rice, beans, sesame seeds, and chestnuts. Then the family pays respect to ancestors by visiting their tombs and offering them rice and fruits. In the evening, children wear their favorite hanbok (traditional Korean clothing) and dance under the bright moon in a large circle. They play games and sing songs. Like the American Thanksgiving, Chusok is the time to celebrate the family and give thanks for their blessings. I am very exited to learn more about this holiday.. I hope to discuss it in class this upcoming week and next with my students. The days that we have off work are right in the middle of the week.. kinda silly but whatever! We will go to work on Monday September 20th and then we are off work the following 3 days (Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday) then we will return to school on a Friday. I am very exited because Laura and I are going to Seoul for the holiday. For those of you who do not know, Seoul is the capital of South Korea. It is the biggest city in the country.. it is similar to New York City as far as size goes. We plan to stay with my friend Taylor. He moved to Seoul about the same time that I moved to Gwangju. I looking forward to a traveling adventure, good friends and some days off work!!

Korean Facts/Randomness

-There are sensor lights everywhere.. it's so nice! In my apartment, when I walk to the bathroom in the middle of the night, a sensor light goes off to guide my way. Not only are there sensor lights all over the place but there is also sensor music.. haha! At the park where I work out, they have public bathrooms. When you walk in, not only do lights come on but also, some lovely classical music.
-There is a service here that is extremely cheap (between 3,000 and 8,000 wons- 2 to 7 bucks)... when your out and you have your car with you.. you might be a little too drunk to drive home. If you call this service they come and take you home, along with your car. Isn't this nice!!! I wish we had a service like this in America.
- I finally got my own Korean credit card along with a check book through the Gwangju bank. When I get paid, the head boss automatically transfers my money into the Gwangju bank and I receive a pay stub. I have been told that since Koreans are very trusting, a lot of time they either don't get a pay stub or they don't bother to check the bank to make sure all their money went in because they just trust that it did. I will have a problem with this.. that is why I will be getting a pay stub and I will be checking my account on the regular! You can never be too trusting when it comes to money!!!!
-Korean hospitals... when I have passed a hospital it is interesting to see so many people outside smoking cigarettes. Now, these are not just visitors and other random pedestrians, they are patients. Patients come out of the hospital with their IV at hand, in their gowns and just hang out on the side of the street, usually smoking...hmm.

Late Night.....it happens ;)

Hello all! It's really late here... I just took a cab home from the bar.. its almost 4 am and I must say, I have been drinking quite a bit. I have the hiccups and I am trying to multitask right now.. it's not going so well! I am tying to skype with Colleen, eat some chicken (delicious chicken from downtown at the family mart.. haha) and change into my PJs. Ughh.. it's exhausting! So tonight.. I could not document the lovely evening that I had because I forgot my camera at home. I will tell you that... I had a great club sandwich (still doesn't compare to Americas but as Jacob tells me... "don't compare anything to America while your living here")... he's my bud and he's been living here for over a year and a half now so I trust what he says haha! Not only did I have a yummy sandwich but.... I learned how to play pool (can you believe I just now learned how?... I SUCK!!!), I saw some crazy Koreans dressed up like tellie tubbies, it creeped me out because they kind of looked like the weird aliens from Cocoon... and, I played Wii bowling at Skyy bar (I beat myself, it was great)! I must go to sleep now. I am getting up around 12 to go to work for a few hours (can you believe this bullshit!.. I am trying to get ahead).

xoxoxo

Korean Facts/Randomness:

-So, did you know that there was a typhoon the other night ago. I found out that 5 people in Seoul died from this typhoon. We (Gwangju) got the outskirts of the storm so noone in my town got injured.

I'm know as... The Girl with the Yellow Hair

The outdoor workout equipment at the park I LOVE! (paragraph 3)


Some new friends at Skyy bar... one of the 3 delicious birthday cakes of the weekend! (paragraph 1)


Lets see, where did I leave off... the weekend ended nicely. It seemed to be a birthday kinda weekend. Friday night at Bubble bar some people were celebrating a birthday and as nice as Koreans are, they shared their cake with us. Saturday.. I didn't end up laying low (got convinced into going out). We went to several bars.. at Skyy bar some nice Koreans invited us into their private room and shared their birthday cake, other snacks and alcohol with us. Sunday we went to my Friend Jacob's (a guy I work with) girlfriend's house... there, we celebrated our friend Abel's birthday and all enjoyed......... can you guess... CAKE! so, at this point i'm all caked out! Jacob's girlfriend (Sophie) is the owner of another Hogwan (private school), so her place is amazing!! People in Korea don't live in houses... so to show your status, you aren't going to have this crazy, big house like you might in America... instead, you live in a crazy, huge apartment. It was nice to be in someone's home and see what thats like (I mean, all my friends live in apartments that are bought for them for 2 years at most).

So at the beginning of the school week I gave my students their monthly tests... they did AWESOME-- yayyy girls! :) So September is the beginning of a new semester (3 months long) which means I have some new classes... I talked about them in my last blog. They are going pretty well other than the lesson plan writing (I hate it.. it is far from beneficial for the teachers)... lesson PLANs are supposed to be a plan for what your going to teach your class, but the way TNE has us doing them makes no sense! I loveee my students.. although I did have a little trouble with my oldest student Matt. Matt is extremely smart but he is very lazy (when it comes to doing work), impatient and like any kid, full of energy. I had to get really stern with him tonight because I felt as though I was being taken advantage of.... I wasn't going to have it!!! My sternness finally set him off... woops, I made him cry!! Sorry Matt but i'm the boss!!!!

Remember that great park I mentioned in my last blog... well, I finally got some great pictures of it (all of them are on facebook). The other night Laura and I went for a walk in the park. We ventured all over and found lots of little parks and ponds off the original park. We are both so enthralled in it all... not only do we have a great new place to work out but also an awesome "chill spot" where we can admire all the neat sculptures and architecture. One day this week I got to watch another soccer game while I circled the track... Jacob told me that most of the guys playing are taxi drivers (a taxi driver league). When one of the players wasn't in the game, he was on the sidelines smoking a cigarette... I doubt you would see this in America.

I don't know if I told you this but... dealing with trash here is a pain in the ass. First of all, you have to buy special bags from the 7-11 (they don't come in packs... you can buy a couple at a time) and they cost almost a buck for each bag. Now, you have to separate your trash.. totally understandable but heres what finally got to me: since you have to put all your food trash in a separate bag (kinda like a compost but not really since its not going straight to a compost bin or in someones garden) .. that trash gets gross pretty quick. I went to throw mine away this week after about 5 days at most and opened it to put in the a "special" 7-11 trash bag and crawling alllllll over it was maggots. I don't mean to be such a girly girl but Ohh My GOD- EWWWW! I should have expected this but now I know to try and take out the food garbage at least every other day or to expect maggots. Shit happens!

I finally got my green card today so, I'm waking up early tomorrow to set up an account with the Gwangju bank and then I get to work all day long.. until 8:35- how joyous! I'll be in touch after the weekend.. have a good one! :)

Korean Facts/Randomness:

- Gwangju is known for being South Korea's biggest city of art (I love that)... come autumn, there will be a ton of festivals- most of which will be art festivals :)
- As you probably know, Koreans don't have a lot of body hair. My students think its so funny that I have fuzzy whitish/yellow hair all over my arms... i'm one of the only "yellow-haired" people they know- don't worry, they are slowly learning the word "blonde" haha.
- If your looking around the city you will notice that most all business men wear the exact same thing (a short sleeve white collared shirt with black pants).. well, that's this season... who knows what it will change to come fall and winter.
-It's still pretty hot here during the day.. when I go work out, I've got on shorts and a T-shirt. The Koreans wear pants, jackets, hates, scarves.... and then i'm the one standing there with my shirt all wet and sweaty (what's the deal... i'm starting to get embarrassed).... hmmm, oh well... i'm foreign :)
- I am sure some of you are wondering... "wow, Emilie... your a damn teacher- don't you know how to write with out so many commas, ellipses, and sentence fragments?" Let me just tell you, YES! I know how to write correctly but when it comes to this free writing blog... screw it!! My apologies but, this is me... not on the job!