Wow

I've been trying to study Korean again diligently. I feel that I have learned a lot recently and can express much more that I want to say. I now know the basic way to handle past, present, and future tenses and can utilize indirect objects. Though this is in reality very small, it is a significant step I believe for me. In fact another teacher asked me to help him study Korean. I really feel quite honored. I am doing quite well on my financial goals, or at least relative to others my age I believe in paying off my debt and having fun while doing it. See you.

Korean Acclimation

I working on a textbook when it occured to me that I've become acclimated to some of korean culture. So I thought I'd write some of the ways I've become accustomed to life in korea.

1. If I agree with something I say yes at least three times rather than once.
2. I find myself saying "I-go (아이고) in times of frustration.
3. I met new friends while naked in a hot tub at a bath house (jjimjilbang찜질방).
4. I find myself thinking that shiny ties and suits are cool rather than feminine.
5. I'm suprised when people speak English around me (even foreigners).
6. I want to say way-guk-in (외국인) when I see other foreigners.
7. I'm surprised when rice and kimchi aren't a part of the meal.
8. I get annoyed and amused at the bad korean pronunciation of foreigners.
9. I use nae (네) for numerous things (what, i'm listening, yes, no, ok, etc).
10. I unintentionally pick up the korean accent for everyday objects (tail-lay-bee-jon/television, etc).

Snow

Something happened the other day, that I just thought to myself that it might be fun to blog about. A memory to remember:) Well it's quite cold in Korea now that it's winter. I am a little happy about the temperature though because I am going shopping for some clothes and I think boots that should keep me a bit warmer than what I am now. This last weekend I went skiing with some friends. There's one incident that occurred that I really want to share with you. I was skiing down a mountain rather fast when a girl on a snowboard cut in front of me. She was stuck in between me and my ski's going down the hill with me. What I found funny was there her boyfriend was right next to her and I kind of stole her away down the mountain. We eventually ran into someone else (I wasn't quite mentally prepared to understand how to turn in that position). I apologized, but shared that story with my friends. One co-worker commented that my relationship with the girl started off a little to fast. I personally think that it just ended abruptly. At SEEC, the school where I work, it snowed and snowed and snowed. We shoveled the snow a couple of times and had fun playing in it. Chad and I played patty cake, we were like children :) Then we became a bit devious and covered a co-workers car in snow. That took some time and effort. The co-worker didn't quite have the strong reaction that we had been hoping for, but it was fun anyways. Our workplace bought up some zip-up vests to help cope with the cold. We soon discovered that they could be zipped up together to make one giant hoodie monster. The kids and teachers booth seemed to enjoy it. Lastly, I recently went bowling with my school. I had a great time, but didn't score well. I just recently resigned a contract for another year at SEEC. Some of my co-workers will be leaving to go back home and some will be staying for another year. I'm curious to see who stays and who ends up leaving. This year we will have more stay than there was staying last year, but still not everyone is resigning. Currently at work, we are creating and editing the textbooks that will be used next year at SEEC. Its exciting to be a part of a project which will directly impact our work life. What we do with this time, how we shape the book will be the book that we use. It makes a nice sense of ownership upon our lives here at SEEC that I really like. In some ways I am really fortunate to be here at SEEC. I am getting some great career opportunities that I wouldn't have gotten otherwise to do. I taught principals English, helped to certify teachers in English and now am be part of a process for future English teachers of Korea. To become an English teacher in Korea one must graduate from university, pass an exam and then go through and interview. I am now speaking about Koreans, not native speakers. I will be a part of a committee that interviews teachers who passed the exam. A week later I will help edit and exam for teachers that graduate university. I am quiet excited :).

Winter has come

Hello,

My birthday has passed along with Halloween (which doesn't really exist here :) ). I've always thought that I would stay in Korea for a couple years to pay off my debt and save for graduate school. I just wasn't sure if I would stay at SEEC (my current) school or not. I've really enjoyed my experience here and have been able to save a lot to pay on my debt. I think that I'll stay another year if they let me and perhaps after that move into Seoul. I've considered going to graduate school starting next year in the fall for a Master's in TEFL/TESOL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language/Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages). If I didn't start that next fall I've also thought about starting graduate school in Seoul once I move out of Gapyeong; they also have Master's programs and I may even be able to take some courses in philosophy or theology.
Right now I am really interested in where morality comes from and then from that, what is moral. I recently asked a co-worker and she spoke to a friend who gave me a book to read. It is interesting so far, I'm only half-way through, but I still think that I want a different answer to my question than what the book gave.
I recently went to Seoul to go swing dancing. I typed "swing dance seoul" into google and someone had posted all the places you could swing dance in seoul with directions how to get there and the cost for each one. So convenient for me. I asked one of my co-workers to find me a bath-house to stay in and there was one not to far away. When I went dancing there I turned out to not be the only foreigner. There were two other girls there from abroad and both were English teachers in Seoul. Also many of the Koreans I danced with could speak a little English and were pleasantly surprised when I spoke a little Korean. Before dancing I ate at a pizza hut near by and realized that I should carry toilet paper with me in case the pubic bathroom doesn't have any. I also realized that I should carry an umbrella in case it rains. I suppose that won't be too much of a problem now seeing as it has already snowed. At the bath-house there is a separate area for men and women. When you enter, you get a set of clothes and a key. You put your shoes in a compartment and then go to a place for only your gender. You strip naked and take a shower. They have towels that you can use to scrub yourself with. They are really effective. After that you go to a hot-tub and relax in it. They have all sorts of temperatures, so be sure to check it before you go in. Some are really hot and some are quite cold. Some are special ones that have natural sea water, earth water, mineral water, etc. After showering again and hot-tubing it again, you dry off and put your clothes on that they gave you. You can then go to sleep in one of the sleeping areas, eat at a restaurant, play a game on the computers they provide, go to a sauna and sweat, or watch a movie that they have playing. They also have people who can give your body special treatment, ointments, massages, etc. Sleeping in one was a bit difficult to me. You sleep on the floor (it is heated) with a foam brick for a pillow. You can sleep in a common area (where both genders mix) or a gender specific area. I don't know a great deal of Korean, but I do know the word for "man" and "woman." So I thought I was going to a male only sleeping area. When I arrived I noticed only females around me. I quickly left and thought to myself that the sign must have said that no males were allowed in this area. As I was leaving the female only area, some girls saw me scratching my head in confusion and started laughing at me. I found the males sleeping area and lied down to sleep. Many men were snoring around me so it was hard to get to sleep. I also woke up frequently. It was hard to sleep well, but it was good enough for one night.
Going to Seoul is a lot of fun, so I did it again. We haven't had students for two weeks now, so we took some vacation and went to Seoul during the week. On Wednesday we went to a very large mall called (Co-Ex). We saw the movie 2012, ate at a Mexican restaurant and went to an aquarium. After wards some of us went to an arcade and played some games. I ate dinner with my cousin and then went swing dancing that night. No other foreigners that night, but more people spoke English to me and even some asked me to dance. There were less people there though. I stayed the night again at a bath house. This one is famous and is called the Dragon Hill Spa. It certainly was bigger than the previous one I had stayed at and had more things to do. It was two thousand won (roughly two dollars US) more than the other bath-house. The next day I went with some friends to the DMZ(the Demilitarized Zone). The DMZ is 4 kilometers wide and marks the area between North and South Korea. The actual border is 2 kilometers in from both sides. We were able to take a trip all the way up to the border, but not cross it of course. That morning before heading to the DMZ we went to a USO (United Service Organization) base at camp Kim to buy our tickets for the tour. They had a restaurant that served an American Style breakfast. The worker there spoke English as a native language, the menu was in English, the Tv in the background had English on, I was just overwhelmed by all the English going on around me. It was like reverse culture shock hit me and I felt so odd. But the breakfast was great.
The past two weeks have been great. Next week we have some people coming from SMOE (Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education) to observe us teaching 20 minute lessons for contract renewals. I will be teaching drama. I hope that things go well.

My Little Scooter

In my last post I mentioned that I bought a scooter. I recently got some work done on my bike. I discovered that I I had a button that I didn't know what it did.I pressed it to the left and to the right, but nothing happened on my back. I asked some Koreans what the toggle was for. I was guessing that it was or hoping that it was some turbo, because my scooter didn't go as fast as the guy said it was. He said it would go 100 km/hr. I think that I maybe get up to 60 km/hr or maybe 70/80 km/hr when I am going down a hill. Well it turns out that it was the turn signals that the toggle triggered. So I had a bike with turn signals, I also discoverd that I didn't have a tail light or brake lights and the LED's on the side of my scooter weren't even wholly working. So I took it to a couple of bike shops in Gapyeong (the town where I live) and no one there could fix it. So I took it to another town close by and they were willing to fix it for 100 bucks. It was expensive, but I thought that it might have been even more expensive considering the guys in my local town couldn't fix it. I got some sweet new LED's put on my bike that change color. I found out that I don't ever have to change the oil on my bike, just add more as it burns up; the same principle applies to gasoline. I learned how to say 'fill 'er up to the gas attendants' [everything is full service] in korean so I felt pretty good. I also drove to a big city close by and discovered that it was much bigger than I had previously thought. After getting there I thought that I would explore a little, so I took a road that I had never been on before just to see where it lead. I thought when I get to the outskirts of the city I'll turn around. Well after about 15 minutes of traveling I decided to turn around (though I hadn't reached the outskirts yet). It only took me 30 minutes to travel there too, so its a pretty big city. I didn't get to any really cool places, but I did find a really big shopping area, kind of like a walmart that I previously thought was only a convenience store. I enjoyed riding my little scooter a lot. I think that I found God a little bit. I remember my father telling me about a book he had to read in college for philosophy about Zen and riding a motorcycle. I can certainly understand how it can be a spiritual experience. I am giving driving lessons to Heidi, my coordinator. It is a little scary at times and at times she is a little scared while driving which makes me even more uncomfortable while riding alongside here. This week kids aren't here. There is big scare for H1N1 in korea. Some people have died and so people are little paranoid of foreigners, travel and closed communities. Schools typically come here for a week and then leave. People are afraid to let their kids get isolated. Since we don't have anyone here this week, it gives us some time to prep for our lessons and get other things done that we wouldn't normally get done. Its nice to have a little break. This week i'm doing prep-work for next week and continuing to design some materials for a reach-ahead program that we have for kids who are behind other kids in their language ability. Last week I had an administrative position and I was put incharge of reach-ahead and co-teaching or at least trying to better understand them and solve some problems we had with them. Reach ahead is continuing to be fixed this week while co-teaching is on a hold until I hear back from a gentleman that I met with to express my concerns about the program. Next week we should have kids and the week after that I have a week of vacation. I am quite excited because I will hopefully be able to ride my bike a bit more. I've also been considering lasic (sp?) surgery for my eyes. I think that it would be neat. I am really enjoying my job here and am glad that I came. I hope that I continue to grow and develope and learn to love others more and more.

Scooter :)

Its been a bit since I've updated and I almost feel now in retrospect that I am going completely against my last post. I remember saying that I wanted to be out of debt and that buying a bike wouldn't help me with that goal. Well I bought a bike, lol, or well a scooter anyways. It was a long time coming, but I am really happy with the results, haha. My coordinator is amazing. She joined 3 internet motorcycle groups in korea and consistently searched for me. This last weekend, she found a good bike in Seoul. We set up an appointment time and met them. They were quite late, so I squeaked out a request for a discount in my tattered korean :), but I got one :)!!! We then had to get the bike back to SEEC where I work, I thought my cousin might have the hook-up for me, but it turned out that didn't work out. So my coordinator and I ended up staying in a bath house, it was both of our first's time in a place like that. It was pretty nice I think, though it was the first time I remember intentionally sleeping on the floor. But before we got there, I pushed the bike to Heidi's house, that was a long push and then parked it. The next day we headed back to SEEC on a train and had a delivery man pick up the bike and take it to SEEC. I was quite excited, but again it did cost a lot for the scooter and for the delivery and now I have to buy insurance, plates and some gear to ride in. But at the same time, I certainly grew though this experience. I was thinking what it would have been like if I was in America and a friend of mine had bought a motorbike, what it would be like to help them through this process and find all the right people to do things. I think it would be quite amazing, so I'm thankful for my coordinator who did a lot of work. I got to ride the bike a little tonight, I had one of my co-workers give me some tips before I rode, when I test drove it, I had some problems, so he helped me out a bit. I was quite scared, but after just riding a bit around SEEC I felt much more comfortable. I'm sure that I'll be learning more and more as time comes about this scooter and how to operate it. There are plenty of things to learn. It goes up to 100km/hr or so the guy who sold it to me said. It's 100cc and has gone about 5000 km. There is no fluel gauge so I'll have to keep track of that in my head, I wouldn't want to have to push the bike in korean heat and humidity. I did get a neat helmet, goggles, cover for the bike, and chain. He even gave some oil. I'm pretty excited to keep practicing riding the bike. There is a lot I have to learn, but that is a lot I am learning :) I gave some of my co-workers including my boss a ride and that was fun. Its a long story and time leading up to me getting the bike, so I feel quite accomplished and I think that I should be able to send home the regular amount of money I had planned on as well :)

A Workshop in July

So this last Monday and Tuesday was a workshop. This meant we got to travel to some cool places and see some neat things. We first took a bus from SEEC (my work place to a cave). On the way I brought some books to read. One book which took priority was a driver's manuel for Korea. I hope to be taking the test for a license next week. Perhaps I'll get a bike, perhaps not. I'm still not sure. On the way I also busted out my copy of Plato's republic in korean. I love philosophy, so I thought that reading philosophy in korean would be a good way for me to start learning it. I got through about a page with the help of a coordinator and I learned quite a bit about the language and how it functions. I felt really proud of all the korean that I was learning and being exposed to. We stopped and walked though a cave. It was quite small in places and beautiful in others. I was told that it was one of the oldest caves in korea. I got to take a cool breakdancing freeze in the cave so I was happy. I started talking with some of the boys in the cave. They looked like boy-scouts to me and they asked me some funny questions. Hi, what's your name? How old are you? Where are you from? Do you have a girl-friend? Most kids I meet ask these questions and they are funny to me. In western culture these questions would seem odd, but here its quite normal. We also traveled to a scholar's house. His house and face is on the korean 1,000 won bill (roughly 1 dollar American). Then we went to a museum which had its tour in korean. This was hard for me because I didn't know what the guide was saying and one of my co-workers who is korean said she had a hard time understanding because she was speaking so fast. Lastly we went to a folk village. According to my korean travel guide it was one of the non-fabricated folk villages in korea. It may not have been fabricated, but I was glad that it had warm water and a modern bathroom. It also had the old style bathroom, which I didn't go into and cold water if you wanted. I slept with two other guys in a room which just fit us. It was a good experience. I wondered if this wasn't closer to the type of living my mother had experienced while she was here in korea.