Jon's Adventure

Wow

2010-04-16T00:55:00.000-07:00

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

2010-01-10T08:56:00.000-08:00

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

2010-01-04T20:16:00.000-08:00

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

2009-11-20T22:47:00.000-08:00

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

2009-09-14T03:36:00.000-07:00

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 :)

2009-08-24T07:32:00.000-07:00

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

2009-07-21T04:24:00.000-07:00

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.

Vacation

2009-07-18T07:09:00.000-07:00

Its been a bit since I updated, so I thought I'd write again. I have a small knowledge of reading the Korean language. It is pretty useful to see something and then be able to sound it out. Life seems pretty normal for the most part. I mean I know that I live in Korea, but there are so many amenities here available to me that its too easy for me to forget. In fact I often forget it, lol. But I am in a pretty isolated place where I interact with my people who speak English on a regular basis. I am at a good school. I have really good co-workers and the kids are very sweet. Its almost five months that I've been over here. That's pretty encouraging! I think I'll just keep on going. The time goes by so quickly during the week. Its really nice. Though there is a future decision I will be making. This next week I'll be taking a test to get my korean driver's license. If I pass I'll be able to driver cars and bikes with engines up to 125cc. So I was thinking of getting a bike to travel around and not having to call a taxi to come pick me up and take me home. But I've also been thinking of whether I should buy the bike or just keep the money and spend it on student loans. Several of my co-workers are vacationing in asia, traveling and seeing the sites. I chose to stay in Korea and not travel to save funds. There are always opportunities to do tons of things here; sometimes its hard to make the choice to pay off my student loans quicker rather than having fun and 'enjoying' the moment. Paul in his letter to the Romans encourages them to have not have any debt remain outstanding. I am convicted by this and will try hard to pay off my loans. It is just hard when there are so many distractions :) That doesn't mean that I don't have any fun, by any means. I saw Harry Potter the other night and go dancing in Seoul monthly. My school takes us to see neat things, like a martial arts comedy show called Jump. And next week we are going to see a cave. This is all free for us. They pay for meals and transportation, so its pretty nice. I see plenty of things while saving money :). Oh so I was in Seoul going to see the show Jump with my school. We went by a famous stream and so I went with some co-workers to check it out. There was a patch of rocks that went acrossed the stream. I thought it would be amazing to get a photo of me in a breakdance pose on the rocks. So I went out there and tried to stike one. Well I got lift-off when when I tried to fully extend I lost my balance and fell in. My glasses and phone went in the stream. I found my glasses, but my phone is gone. I tried the pose again and my friend got a picture of it. I then went and bought a whole new outfit for me to put on before I saw the show. It made for a good story. It was really funny to walk into the store dripping wet and buy and entirely new outfit. A lot of my co-workers found it funny too. Oh we also went to see a palace. It was neat. I think I kind of demeaned it, because after I saw it I was like cool, what's next. But I think that was partly due to the fact that we couldn't go inside the buildings. We could only stare at them from the outside. Oh I learned something about the symbol that looks like a yin and yang, but has three colors. Blue is sky, Red is earth and yellow is human. Never knew that before. Neither did some of my korean co-workers. They were embarrassed when I asked a question about their culture and they didn't know. I told them that there were many things about American culture I'm sure I'd have no clue about, starting with what all the symbols on our currency meant. I have no clue to be honest why there is an eye ontop of a pyramid.

Tentative differences

2009-05-20T06:30:00.000-07:00

Ok, so I've been thinking a bit or rather just taking things in and coming to the realization of them later about some cultural differences between what I was used to and what I find in Korea.

Respect for elders vs. Individual presidence (sp?). It seems to me that in Korea there is a value of respect associated with certain individuals by which people live. By elders I do not mean merely people who are older (though that certainly applies) or people leading a religious organization, but rather a status assigned to others. I am rather used to a value of freedom and independence which informs my actions. For example, to show respect to someone on a train I would give up in seat for them. Where I'm from, I'm free to do what I want and its finders keepers. Also if I want to do a certain action, say log hours for overtime, there must be four signatures and a final approval, before it is validated. Where I'm from you record your time and you might climb one or two people before that is valid. You are given a sufficient amount of free while here it in Korea it is about respect for those above you (however many that may be).

Order vs. Independence-Where I live now there seems to be an established order for how to do things, even very small things. There is a system which can be learned and understood given time. As an example one should write the Korean language using strokes from top down, left to write. Writing the same letters in a different fashion doesn't follow the system. Perhaps I was taught the 'correct' way to write when I was little in America, but it wasn't rigidly encouraged like it is here. As long as the letters get there, it doesn't matter how. Another example, the school I work at here took the employees out for bowling. There was a small instruction on how to hold the ball, how to line up, and how to throw the ball. I think perhaps this would be given in America if someone asked for it, but rather individuals would be allowed to creatively get the ball there however they wanted. Then if they wanted or failed miserably would help be given.

Truth-telling vs. Sarcasm-It seems to me that people here really value being told the truth about a particular topic and generally don't lie. This comes into conflict with my sense of humor as it has some sarcastic elements which do not literally espouse the truth. I think this value is re-enforced by order and respect for elders. Because there is an order to things, to literally lie would to be outside that order and if you respect your elders. Its very hard to get sarcasm across to those who are not used to it. They might at first think you are being a lier and disrespectful before seeing that the value you are portraying is humor not disrespect or falsehood.

These are my musings still in progress, but I thought it might be interesting to note them for anyone thinking about what culture is like here in Gapyeong, Korea :)

On the Road Again

2009-05-09T22:02:00.000-07:00

It seems that it has been a while since my last post. Time has been flying by here in Korea and I'm really enjoying it. I'm trying really hard to be wise in my spending of money and pay off student loans as quickly as I can. I have the opportunity to travel a bit while I'm here. I recently talked with some of my co-workers and it seemed that they had an interest in traveling to Japan. One of them even speaks Japanese. How cool is that? This last week was a pretty laid back week as far as they go. Kids weren't here for learning the entire week and there was a holiday on Tuesday (children's day). Tons of kids showed up at our facility on the holiday though. I didn't like all the noise, so I pretty much stayed in my room to have some peace and quiet.
On Monday of this week, most of my co-workers and I went to Lotte World (a theme park). It was pretty fun. I heard that it was the largest indoor theme park in the world. It also had an outdoor section to it too. The outdoor part struck me as kind of odd. You see it was this brobdingnagian theme park in the middle of a city. While on the roaster coaster you would see skyscrapers all around you. It just felt so out of place, but thus is Seoul.
On Wednesday I attempted to go into Seoul to update my contract. I completed a 100 hour TEFL (teaching English as a Foreign Language) certificate. I was told that when I completed it I would get a pay raise Yeah!. So my boss called and made an appointment for me at 11:30. I was supposed to leave at about 9:00 am and it was going to be roughly 2 hours to get there, so I thought I had enough buffer time. Well I didn't end up leaving until 9:30 because of random things (some of which were very helpful) and when I did leave I got dropped off at a bus station I had never been to before. This was one time that I had a feeling of helplessness. I haven't had many of those times yet. I went to the ticket counter and asked the lady there for a ticket to the place in Seoul I normally travel to. She said that there was no ticket. I was flabbergasted. I had no clue what to do. This was the only part of Seoul I knew of. I quickly looked around to see if there were any young people in the station (Most young Koreans have a decent understanding of English). Thankfully right next to me was a gentleman who helped me to find another location in Seoul to travel to by bus. I wasn't sure where that was, but hey, it was in Seoul and I could take the subway pretty much anywhere in Seoul. It turned out that once I had arrived at my unknown location in Seoul, that I had already been there. That was great because the subway was a little bit of a walk away and I would of had another time of helplessness if I had no clue where to find it. I called the gentleman that I had an appointment with at 11:30 and asked him if there could be a later time to meet with him. He said that he could meet at 2:30 pm. This gave me a bit of time to meander around so I went to techno mart. It was a large store, maybe 11 or more stories fully of technology (phones, computers, cables, etc). Luckily for me it wasn't busy. I was able to find a power converted from 220v (the voltage in korea) to 110v (the voltage in America). Now I could charge various appliances that I had brought with me. I was growing hungry so I ate at a dunkin dounuts. There are tons of them along with Basken Robins, which is great because I really like ice cream. Anywho I still had some time to kill, so I travel to another destination and go to a museum for free. It was pretty fun. I really enjoyed seeing some of the history of korea. Though early the early korean language was pretty much chinese, so I had no clue what some of the artifacts were saying (I'm still learning the modern language). It was a nice place to check out anyway. I traveled then to my appointment and got my contract updated. So starting in June I'll have a pay raise (yeah!). I traveled then to a train station so I could travel back to my hometown. I became quiet in the mood for ice cream while waiting for my train to arrive so I went a bought the larget cup of icecream I could find. The gentleman there told me that I would get four scoups of any kinds of ice cream. I told him that I only wanted one kind. After I consumed that cup I decided I wanted another so I went back over to the gentleman and asked him for another. He gave this one to me for free. We were instantly friends. I stayed and chatted with him until my train came. He was a very nice fellow. I took the train back and arrived in my hometown. Took a taxi back to my place and got back about 6:00 pm. It was quite the long day.
Thursday and friday I mainly did lesson planning for the next upcoming week. This next week I'll be teaching dance and western house. Dance will by no means be a brobdingnagian task for me considering I was a former dance instructor and western house should be pretty fun too. Saturday I pretty much chillled. I played games with a friend and talked with some family. And now I'm just getting ready for tomorrow. Time flies and now i'm on the road again :)

Time after Time

2009-04-07T04:36:00.000-07:00

Students have come and gone another week. I have to admit that the second week was not nearly as exciting or cool as the first, but it was still good to go through. I taught Goody Mart and Game lab again this past week along with organizing a dance club. The students seemed on par or a little below the previous week's kids as far as English ability went. Though there are always some exceptional students. I was warned by students last week that the students coming this week would be very talkative and boy were they right. Discipline begain almost immediately upon arrival. At first I would going to give out red stamps like crazy, but students began to not care about getting red stamps so making them do physical things are dealt out as punishments instead. I doubt that much of this would work in America, but it is interesting to see it work here. One type of punishment that kids do is a variation on squats. They put their hands on their heads and squat to the ground and come back up. After a certain amount you really get to feel the pain. This seemed to be much more effective for getting kids to listen and understand. The lessons went much smoother this week having already taught them once. Though with some classes I had to really take time to explain things and not expect to accomplish a great deal due to classroom management issues. Students will just go crazy if you let them be with a good sense of guidance. But with the right supervision I am amazed at what they can accomplish. Because I had already taught the lessons so much I tried to give them some variety and this might it quite a bit more fun more me. I think there was one day that was pretty bad for me as far as getting annoyed with the kids. I told my co-workers about this and they were shocked. Jon the unmovable guy has been moved, lol. It was pretty funny, but I was so angry at the kids and their behavoir.
The weekend was pretty relaxing. I just soaked in a bunch of rest. Gail, who had run our orientation, left. So we had a going away party for her. It was pretty fun. There was homemade pizza along with many other food items. I think that my stomach was ready for all the greasy and fatty food that I had that night. The next day I felt kind of bloated. On friday we also had party for Diana, a fellow teacher. It was her birthday, so we had an outdoor bbq. This is not quite the same as it would be in the states, but it was fun. They used really big pieces of pig for grilling and didn't really put bbq sauce on it. We told them that we would cut those pieces up and make bacon out of them in the states. It tasted decently though.
I am so glad that I like rice. It pretty much comes with every meal and I pretty much like it with every meal. Sometimes they put some beans in it and color it funky, but I try not to notice too much. I am still not used to Kimchi (fermented cabbage with special sauce), but I'm up to trying it 4x a week, so that's good (considering that they have it with every meal).
On Sunday I went to the Local Church in Chuncheon. It was nice to be around believers. They had some general announcements, some Bible reading and then a time of sharing. They called this time of sharing prophesying. From my understanding people commented on the passages that had been read or shared what was going on in their life spiritually. It was interesting to see a lot of people speak (I attended with a guy who translated for me). Oh they also sang some songs too. When the service was over, there was a meal and then we went for tea at the top of the city. It was quite beautiful there. One could see everything. It would be a great place for a date. Then we drove to a famous bridge and saw that. We also started talking in a little more depth about God and things like that. I really enjoying the conversation. I hope that I can continue to find those types of dialogues in life. Then we went shopping at E-mart and came home. Pretty relaxing. This next week I'll be teaching Elementary students Hospital and Restaurant. I am a little nervous, because I'm not sure how my lessons will work out with the students.

Wake me up when September ends

2009-03-27T07:58:00.001-07:00

This week when by really fast. I really had a good time though. I mainly had upper level classes to teach so that was fun. I and Ms. Knight made a dance club where we taught the Cha Cha slide and the merengue. It was so much fun to see the kids dance so much. There are some picture's I'm uploading from my first day of work. I tried to dress up for it and have continued to do so since. Friday was the only day that I didn't wear a tie. I took two pictures of my homeroom. One was supposed to be a normal picture and the other was supposed to be a funny one. Its kind of funny most people here hold up the peace sign for pictures to be cool. At first I thought, wow, that is really outdated, but I'm getting used to it. People here aren't shy about somethings that people in the US are shy about. They regularlly comment on your physical appearance with no regard for it being personal. There are pluses and negatives to that. So far I've been told that I'm very handsome, very white, and that I look like David Beckham (a famous soccer player [I had no clue who he was until I came here]). During my SMOE (Seoul Metropolitian Office of Education) Orientation we were told that Koreans would also comment if you gain any weight and would say that your face looks swollen if you drank the night before. We joked that other people's face's looked swollen and even told some Koreans that in jest, but they thought we were being serious. On the wall they have pictures of the teachers, their homeroom, their club and what classes they will be teaching. I also took a picture of the dance club I co-taught. It was all girls. That turned out to be a good thing, because I guess guys and girls are hard to get to hold hands for any sort of dance. If you want to see a bunch of random pictures from the week you can go here: or if you want to see some random movies go here . I think there are only four movies from the first week though, the rest are from other sessions.
So everyday the kids write in their journals, the teacher reads it and leaves a response. I had a girl write in her journal that she loved me, gave me her number and told me to call her. I thought it was cute, then began to wonder about loads of students e-mailing me (our e-mail address is listed on the website). The last day I tried to write each of my homeroom students a personal message at the end of their journals. I also gave them two posterboard for them to write a message back to me. I was really impressed with what they produced; I think I'll hang it in my room for the time being (at least until I get some artwork hung up :) ). Everday with my homeroom class I would do a puzzle on the board. Since I had a fairly smart class I tried to challenge them with games. As an example I would spell a message phonetically rather than formally. So rather than Welcome to Game Lab I would write Valkom du Kame Pab and students would have to figure out what I meant. As the week went on I started using pictures along with words. The students gave me a puzzle back which was really clever. It started with a Kiwi then had minus KI. It then had a picture of an arm minus m. Then a picture of glasses minus es. Finally a picture of a tree plus h. So....We are class three. I was so very proud of them :) The next week we will have the other half of the middle school that visited come to us. I was told by my homeroom that they would be very noisy and very active. I think I'll be ready for them. :)
Oh I almost forgot. During the closing ceremony all the kids went around and got signatures from their favorite teachers and took a lot of pictures with them. There were so many requests I really felt like a celebrity. :) It was a cool feeling :)

My Little Minions...ah hahahahaha(evil laugh)

2009-03-24T09:39:00.000-07:00

The kids arrived monday. Teaching is going very well. From all the time in orientation, I've really be prepared for the kids. The job I have is pretty fun and I try to enterain myself in a different way in each class. The kids here are all from a middle school and their English levels vary. I was really impressed with my homeroom kids. I showed a very famous picture and one student knew the English word philosophers. Other students knew Socrates, Plato, & Hypocratus. I was impressed and gave out blue stamps. Our reward system here is that of blue stamps and red stamps. When students arrive they get a passport which has a section for stamps in it. At the end of the week the student(s) with the most stamps get a prize. We don't let them know what the prize is, we just let them think 'oh wow' a prize. I've had a lot of fun being creative with my kids. For instance, with my homeroom I started to teach them different greeting styles in Western Culture versus their culture. I also taught them the slang phrase 'What's up dawg?' I was pretty happy to hear them say that in unison. Also lately I've been doing phonetic games with my upper level students to test their English ability to pronounce. So on the board I might have something like this written. Valkom zu da Kudee Na-Art Students must sound this out to realize it means Welcome to the Goody-Mart. The Goody Mart is one station here at the school where students practice learning how to shop. I have been doing something humorous in there to me. One of the vocabulary words for that class is tip. I ask them what it is and then tell them, 'yes, it is extra money you give when a person does a good job. So if Mr. Baker does a good job, you can give him a tip :)' The students are first look bewildered, but then after they realize that I am joking with them laugh. During review I have the list of vocabulary words on the board along with my name (Mr. Baker). I point to the word and have them say it, to make sure their pronunciation is correct. After going through a bunch of random words I go to tip. They all say tip, then I point to my name. They all say Mr. Baker. Then I point back to tip, then back to Mr. Baker. On and on. The students usually start laughing. The second class I am teaching right now is called Games Lab. In it students learn vernacular associated with games. I am teaching them descriptors (describing words) so they can play guess who and pictionary. During pictionary students draw a word on the board while their team guesses what it is. I gave one student the word feet. He drew a food on the board and his team had the hardest time guessing what the word was. Toe, Foot, Leg, Arm, they were trying to say anything. But I was happy that everyone understood feet when I said it.

I have given out some red stamps. I feel bad almost everytime. Though at one time I was laughing. One student bagged another student (hit him in the crouch). I caught him and told him I was going to give him a red stamp. He started crying aloud, no teacher, no no teacher no....It was like he was putting on a performance. It cracked me up. It also made me laugh because I was told that students would become very upset like this when they got red stamps. I talked with one teacher who had taught in the states and she said that the stamp method would not work there. Students in the US would be like, whoop de due, I got a red stamp now what? But here most students don't think or know that the prize is a mug (Shhhhhh) nor think what the real consequences of a red stamp or blue stamp is, so it works great!

Here they come

2009-03-22T07:55:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow kids will come to SEEC for my first week of teaching. I am really excited. The orientation went very well; they prepared us aptly, or so we'll find out :) I am teaching Game Lab and Goody Mart. I had to present my practice lesson in front of the other teachers and get feedback on it. I have a few things that I need to change, but for the most part I did pretty well. I never know how it will go until I see the kids actually going through my lesson though. This week I'm along with Diana Knight are in charge of Dodgeball for an indoor activity. That will be awesome. Its a bunch of middle schoolers playing. It'll be a lot of fun. Also we are in charge of a dance club. We are going to be teaching them the meregue and the Cha Cha slide. Two pretty easy dances, or so we hope. We were told to lesson our expectation of the English level of the students, so I'm trying to dumb down everything we can.
This Sunday evening we had a big cookout. A lot of the teachers came together and made several different dishes. I tried my hand along with the help of others at making a dessert. It turned out pretty well. We also had fish and chips, brownies, mac & cheese, some noodle thing (it was great), eggs, and other things I'm sure :) It really felt like a family all getting together for a big meal. Everyone was cooking together, helping to prepare the food, set up for dinner, and clean up afterwards. It was a great feeling of community.
So I recently found out that there may be ballroom dancing in the city where I am located. That is pretty exciting. How could would it be for me to buff up on my dancing skills while I am in Korea, pretty much amazing is what I think. Maybe I could even work out a deal with them to where I could get into events for free, we'll see.
Right behind us is a big mountain. I have really enjoyed going hiking on it. I recently went to the top, but discovered that my battery on my camera was dead, so no pictures sorry. It was really pretty and a really hard hike to get up there at parks. The hike down wasn't much better. There are different paths up so maybe I'll try a different one up sometime to see how it fares, we'll see. Perhaps next weekend I'll get to hang out with my cousin in Seoul. We might be going dancing and/or going to sing Kareokee. I'm quite excited either way.
I've hidden my pink blanket on my bed (Pink isn't the most masculine color, so now I have sky blue, lol) I just have a sheet over it, since I haven't been using it but rather sleeping on top of it. I wonder if I can find a sheet to gov over my curtains as well, that's an interesting Idea, I'll have to look into it.

Starting to Get Settled In

2009-03-14T06:34:00.000-07:00

I think that I am feeling at home here at SEEC. It is starting to feel a bit normal or like I'm used to the place or I know a little bit of what to expect. I know that will change when the kids come, so I'll have some new changes again, but I have really gotten to connect with some of my co-workers and enjoy hanging out with them. I took some pictures of the laptop they gave me to use and my hiking expedition.

My School again

2009-03-10T20:48:00.001-07:00

So...the video was too large to upload so I am going to try a bunch of pictures and hope that it works this time :) The rest of the photos can be seen on my facebook page :)

My School

2009-03-09T20:43:00.000-07:00

So this morning I went around my school for a bit with my video camera. Hopefully its not too dark, if so I'll try to make another video before too long.

Arriving at SEEC

2009-03-08T01:29:00.000-08:00

So I arrived at SEEC where I'll be teaching. It is amazing. My next door neighbors are farmers, but the facility itself is wonderful. The room was and still is amazing. I wake up to a wonderful view of the mountains. I have all the things that I could need in a room. I am so thankful that I have the opportunity to work here. The people are all so nice and caring. Thank God for this gift

So that's my room; it's really nice. We were given a care package by the other teachers here. They are so sweet. Khia took us to a grocery store so we could buy some basic supplies, the next day (today) we headed to a larger city to buy some bigger room supplies. I made quite the impressive list for the larger shopping expedition. I didn't quite collect everything, but I made some progress. I certainly had trouble finding vanilla, baking powder and baking soda. Everything else was pretty easy to locate. The next time I go shopping I'll look for some measuring items, like cups, teaspoons, and table spoons. We went to a mall that had some beautiful rest areas. On the way I saw some hotels and wondered if they would be good for company to stay in if they visited. I was told no, those are love motels they charge by the hour. lol. Oh so places here called PC Bangs (long 'a' as in father) are really popular. They have a computer with all sorts of video games on them really comfortable chairs and you can play for however long you want. I think its like 1200 won an hour which right now is less than a $1 an hour pretty cheap. I bought a big pillow, its nice to be able to snuggle with something large. I still need to buy a trash can and bags, but am making due with all the bags I have from shopping :) This place is pretty cool and I'm looking forward to orientation tomorrow at 10 am.

Orientation at SMOE

2009-03-08T01:19:00.000-08:00

Last week was quite the adventure. I got to meet and go through orientation with all the other public school teachers in Seoul. I had two roommates. One was a political science major, the other was a philosophy major. We had some philosophical discussions. He's really into existentialism and transcentalism (more about about experience cool feelings than understand the world around you).

We started with an introduction of people that were important to the organization SMOE (Seoul Metropolitian Office of Education). We got name tags with either E or S and also the region in which we would be teaching. I got an E for Elementary and HQ. I didn't know what that meant, but wasn't really worried about it.

During orientation our leader Jon Pak said that he wanted to talk to all the people who are headed to Gapyeong. That's where I interviewed for and so I went there. I had already met several people who had also been interviewed for that position at the school. We all went to a room with Jon. He told us that some of us were still going and some of us were not any longer going to be at Gapyeong, but would be at a public school. I was told that I would still be at Gapyeong. Then Jon said that he would give us the option if we wanted to trade placed with one another for a public school position instead of Gapyeong.

When I originally applied I wanted to be in a public school. And I was told that there were no positions left. Now this option was back open. In Gapyeong there was a pay difference. People asked if there would be compensated for the difference and Jon said no. You will get less teaching at a public school.

I stayed after with Jon to ask him how the people were selected and he said that they were selected at random. He said that there was one girl who if he had been able to choose would have been at the top of the list for Gapyeong, but wasn't because of the random selection. I just feel kind of odd. The decision to stay or leave Gapyeong was kind of hurried along. It was like a whole new world had been opened, being closer to many opportunities and events, and having to decided so quickly. I just didn't know. I think that the money was one thing that made me decide to stay in Gapyeong. Being closer to Seoul would mean venturing out more often, having more fun, I'm sure, but also spending more money. So I think I'll be saving more. Plus at Gapyeong they will pay for utilities and give three meals a day to you during the week. One of my purposes was yet to travel the world, but another was to save money. I think, I hope that I shall surely be doing that quite a bit more at Gapyeong than in Seoul.

I was told that it was a little bit of a taxi ride to the nearest train station. That's kind of dissapointing, I thought it would be a little easier to venture into Seoul. But I believe that God has a reason for wherever I go and He is already there at work. I pray that I might find His purpose at Gapyeong. Oh a breakdancing crew came to our orientation and taught us. I guess Korea is the top nation in the world for breakdancing. How cool is that? If I lived in Seoul I could more readily take breakdance lessons, but in Gapyeong I'd save money, hmm we'll see how things go. Maybe next year.

Anywho it was just really shocking to have that choice presented to me again. I just didn't know what to do and I was kind of forced into deciding quickly. I prayed to God and all I got was do what you want to do. And I had no clue what I wanted to do, lol. Isn't that about right, when given a choice I have no clue what I want.

It has been so surprising to me how much religion and philosophy have been topics of conversation for me lately. I had a great talk with my roommate the other night about heaven, hell, salvation, God, and general life philosophy. It was almost as if the gospel naturally (but philosophically) came up. I was quite happy about it and he was intrigued with my take on it, so it proved to be quite interesting. I think that we are now friends or at least good acquaintences.

Also recently I sat down at a lunch table or dinner table I can't remember quite what meal it was. Dinner I'm going to say. Anywho and someone was talking about how those people in religion are stupid because they just accept things on blind faith. They have no evidence for those things, we need to be rational and used reason this person said. I was laughing on the inside when I heard this so I starting talking back with the fellow. It said it seems to me that reason also has blind assumptions that it accepts without evidence. One such thing is that reason actually corresponds to reality. One never questions such an assumption, etc. He was quite taken back by my insult to his argument and the other gentlemen at the table found it quite humorous (this big-shot being shown up very quickly). I really enjoyed myself doing it, perhaps I should of had more of a compassionate feeling realizing that know I was sharing truth with him rather than see you're wrong and not nearly as clever as you thought you were, but I had the latter and still have it to quite an extent. We also talked about the simplicity of assumptions, he stated that math and logic only need a small number of assumptions, I told him that Pantheism only need one assumption which is God. For God is all, there is nothing which is not God. So if simplicity wins the day as far as a case for truth, then Pantheism is true. He took up an objection to this that Pantheism assumes existence which is different than God. I told him that I would grant the assumption, but a pantheist would not for God is existence, there is no existence apart from God. The gentlemen at my table were quite intrigued with this. We also discussed whether truth was relative or absolute, the gentlemen thought it was absolute and I (though I agreed with his position) wanted to test him on his knowledge of it. I told him that seems like such a big claim, how can one know such a thing. He said that its just true, its just assumed to be true by definition. I told him that he was assuming something blindly and that he sounded like a religious fundamentalist who just had blind faith in propositions. I also felt pretty good about that blow. By the end of the conversation I think we were ok and the other gentlemen were quite entertained, lol. I'm not beginning to feel bad about all my pride in the converstaion.

There was also a gentlmen who last night showed us some traditional korean music and dance. It was funny and interesting. We all would shout and move out in interesting ways. Some people even got to dress up in robes and play musical instruments. One gentlemen who breakdances agreed to stay after and practice with me a bit, he showed me some technique on some moves which I think will really help me to improve. We and another guy practiced after lunch.

Anywho the last day or so we have been learning about effective teaching methods and how to plan lessons, and work with your co-teacher. The last evening a partner and I planned a mini lesson for the students. It was on basic body parts and movement. Basically dancing in disguise :) All day today we had to watch people present their lessons to each other. I thought that it was going to be a very very long day, but it turned out to go quite quiclky. For the most part people's lessons were fairly entertaining. Some were very very boring, but you win some and you lose some. Our lesson was the last one to go/be presented. But I think that we were one of the top lessons to present. We really had a lot of fun and so did the students in participating with us. A couple people even told us that they would try to use one of our games in their lesson plans in the future.

So that was basically all day today, evaulating others lessons and then waiting to present out own. The teacher even told us a secret compliment that she didn't tell any of the other presenters while we were having the class do group work. She just gave us a compliment then another compliment, then another compliment. We were very happy. At dinner afterwards, a couple people also gave me a compliment on the lesson. I felt like a great teacher.

Tonight they had two guys come in a teach some people how to breakdance. I was surprised that they did so much teaching. They actually weren't going to put on any kind of show for us, but at the end there was a battle between a couple guys from SMOE (Seoul Metropolitian Office of Education [all teachers inclucing me in Seoul]) and the instructors. I even got in there and did a little something something at the end.

I had fun learning a lot of the technique behind all the moves. I am glad that I was shown the technique so that I can now practice it where I am working. It should be fun to grow in that. I know that I might have time on my hands, if I am out in the boonies, so that might be something i'll do. I am also curious, I think one guy near coming to the same place, might actually know Greek. That would be great to study greek with someone or even Hebrew.

I have had so many different philosophical conversations here. Randomly people are like so you are the guy who studied philosophy huh? And then the conversation goes from there. Its like I'm being put on the spot and so far I'm doing ok, but that's kind of what I like being put on the spot on things I know about and seeing how I can do.

I was eating dinner with some people when I realized that the enviroment I'm in is totally different. Eveyone here just loves to drink, its what they do, they love to get drunk. I don't understand it, but its all around. I was asking one girl what she did in college and she said she got drunk. She worked at a bar and got drunk. I laughed, but on the inside I was like what you didn't have anything better to do. I supposed I shouldn't view myself above her in anyway for making those choices, because I can't be one to judge, but that wasn't my first reaction. It was more of, oh you sinner you. I'm still a work in progress.

I have been quite sick, the worst of it I think has passed or at least I hope; I think my roommates were also sick so that explains it. One roommate who had taught in korea before said that last year he remembered getting sick when he first arrived and get over it. So I'm guessing that its common and I'm also just getting adjusted to the environment as well. Speaking of environment, I have one roommate who smells. I have never had a smelly roommate or well smelly this bad, lol. I just walk into the room sometimes and I am like, ahh, that smells, that smells bad. So I open a window and then it gets nice and chilly. The other day it snowed, so I"m either freezing or around stinkiness in my room, not exactly as place you want to go home to.

Tomorrow I am going to go to observe teachers in a school teaching lessons. This should be very interesting. I hope to learn a lot. Though I've been told that because they know that we are coming the lessons might be rigged a little or already prepracticed to make the school look good. I hope not too much. I would like to get a realistic experience. After observing we are going on a Seoul tour. Oh so here its customary to give your Principle and co-teachers gifts when you first arrive, but yeah I didn't know that. Hopefully I'll have time during the tour of Seoul to find a gift for my co-workers and boss.

Starting things off right

2009-02-28T00:41:00.001-08:00

Last night I decided to venture into Seoul. I had a friend meeting me there and felt confident to get around. I was driven back to the airport from my hotel. My friend told me that I should catch a bus to meet her in Seoul. So I bought a ticket and headed on my journey. Oh as a side note I found the elevators in the airport; I wish that I would have found them earlier :) The bus ride went very well and the people were very friendly. It surprised me that there were not that many people on the bus; its capacity was around 50 and I only saw maybe 7 people on the bus. I got off and met Holly, my friend, close to an exit for the subway. We decided to grab some dinner before meeting her friend and her friend's parents. She treated me to some authentic Korean food. It was nice to see a familiar face in the city and get a sense of how things are. The subway system runs until 1 am sometimes 12, so getting around is pretty easy. After eating we hopped on the subway to meet her friend. The system requires a t-money card to get on. You just load it up with cash electronically and put it on a scanner when you get ready to enter the subway. The trains travel fairly fast so one could get easily to different places. When we met up with her friend, we traveled to a tower and when up in it. It was a really nice site to see. At the top of the tower there was a section of fence with a bunch of locks on it. Couples come up here, lock two locks together on the fence and throw away the key. The locks being together represent them being together. It is kind of interesting. Then we traveled to a local market and saw the sites. I had fun, it was a great first day in Seoul. I traveled back by the subway system to the airport and then was picked up by my hotel and brought to my hotel. The driver was very friendly. I took a jacuzzi bath and relaxed. I hadn't slept in about 48+ hours. It was a nice rest.
The next day I got ready and headed back to the airport to meet my recruiting agency to go to orientation. They were very friendly and I got to meet some of the other teachers as well. I had a cups of Starbucks hot chocolate and I was ready to head to the orientation center. We took a bus to the center and arrived at the wrong location. Luckily some people had contact numbers for those in charge and were able to find the correct location of the facility. It was right down the road. We got our luggage and traveled down the road with them and arrived. I'm staying with two other gentlemen who have yet to arrive. I'm excited to learn and yet tired from lugging my luggage around. Be sure to check out my facebook page to see more photos :)

I'm finally here...well sort of ;)

2009-02-26T16:43:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, it still seems like today for me since I haven't been to sleep yet, I loaded up my luggage and headed to the airport. Packing the luggage proved to be quite the challenge. At first I was able to put in everything I need into two suitcases (they were quite packed to be certain). There was a weight limit for luggage and basically an extra $15 bucks for every 2.2 lbs over 50 lbs per checked luggage. My dad went to weigh then and I think one weighed 80 something and another weighed 60 something. The extra cost for weight was going to be over $300, that's crazy. My dad, being the nifty guy that he is, thought of bringing an extra suitcase instead of paying the exceeded luggage cost or sending the extra clothes via mail. Mailing a 50 lb package was getting close to $300 bucks, but having an extra checked luggage was only $130 (and could weight up to 70 lbs), so in comparison I opted for the extra luggage. My dad was sweet and bought me another luggage container. We distributed the weight to try to get two under 50 while the last one was under 70. We came awfully close to it. My carry-on's then became our concern, there was a weight limit of I want to say 22 lbs, my carry was close to that and my bookbag which held my laptop was close to 30 lbs, so....we were curious to see how they would take it all at the airport.
With our hopes before us we headed out by about 4 pm (originally planned to be 2 pm [and in retrospect I am certainly glad for the delay]). I got to drive part of the way up there (I partially wanted to because it would be the last time I would be driving in a while and because I knew that my parents (namely my dad) would be driving back and I wanted to give him a break. For my last meal (dinner in the states) I was thinking of either Golden Corral or Pizza Hut. Pizza Hut was spotted first and I put in a request for a pizza I love: Stuffed crust, Hawaiian pizza with barbecue sauce instead of tomato sauce. Our waitress was doubtful of the cook wanting to make it (I guess it wasn't quite so popular (or perhaps it was non-existent as a request) in the town we choose to eat at). The cook came out and gave me a bit of a hassle about the order, but eventually came out to making it for me. That was very sweet of her.
My dad drove the rest of the way and we arrived at the airport an hour before we could check in. So I went to the currency exchange to see if they were still open, but they only had enough money to exchange roughly $15, which isn't a whole lot. I was supposed to get money exchanged at place in Chicago before the airport, but they didn't receive the funds in time. Oh well I got the money exchanged when I got here and the exchange rate was way better, like yeah....a lot better, lol. But that's getting a head of the story. So we waited an hour to check in and there was a very friend gentlemen who engaged my parents and I in conversation. I checked my baggage in and there was no problem with the weight limit of any of the items. I was quite pleased. My parents and I hung out until around 10 pm where we said out goodbyes and I advanced towards security. I showed the first attendant my boarding pass and passport and went to go through the scanner. Somehow after I put all my items in the bins I lost my boarding pass. Oh boy was I freaking out. I scanned my tubs for about five minutes waiving several individuals on ahead of me, only to discover that I still could not find it. I told a security guard about my problem, she looked down and found my pass on her side of the security on the ground. I was so glad.
It took a bit for the boarding of the plane, but over all went fairly quickly. I was seated next to an American Marine. I was also near the emergency exit so I had plenty of leg room. It was nice to have someone to talk to on the way over. And boy was he talkative, he would just go on and on about anything and everything. It was really funny to me that we didn't even introduce ourselves until the very end of the flight. The flight was long, but wasn't too boring with my exciting companion so it was very durable. The food and service was delightful, I think one reason my marine friend was so talkative was because of all the alcohol he had, but I enjoyed it none the less.
It seemed like it took forever to get to our terminal in our airplane once we had landed. But after we did, I had to wait a while to get off. My carry-ons were stored in bins behind my seats. Going through customs and through the passport check in was very easy. But boy oh boy was in it interesting dealing with my luggage. So I had three large pieces of luggage, a carryon, a bookbag and my trenchcoat (very hot to wear by the way). I at first piled them all upon a cart and began to push the cart, but they eventually all feel off the cart. I rearranged them and had greater luck. When I got to the main area, I checked to see where I would need to go to catch a ride to my hotel. I didn't see anything immediately, so I decided to sit down and e-mail some people letting them know that I had arrived safely. Fortunately or not so much, my computer's battery lasted all of 30 seconds and shut down right as it was being pulled up. With that I was determined to find a way to my hotel and take a shower, I can become quite stinky from wearing the same clothes all day long. I found out that I need to head up to the 3rd floor to catch shuttle that runs to my hotel. Well that meant taking my bags off my cart and trying to roll them along all at once. I found a center to call for a shuttle and got a great exchange rate for my money and was going to head upstairs. A gentlemen then informed me that there was an elevator. I was going to use the eslcator. He pointed me in the direction of it and I headed that way. There was no elevator, grrr. So I went back to the escalator and tried to get on. It was a bit hard though because there was this point that stuck inbetween so I had to menuvure my bags around it. That was quite challenging let me say. I did ok from the 1st to the 2nd floor, but from the 2nd floor to the 3rd I fell and my bags almost feel down the elscalator too. I held onto them until I arose to the top, scrapped up what little pride I had and headed out to meet my shuttle.

It didn't take long for the shuttle to arrive and load my baggage. My driver drove really really fast though, or at least it was quite fast for me. I almost though the van was going to tip when he was going on a turn. I arrived safetly and checked in. There was no Lobby, just a reception Desk. So not much to hang out at the Hotel until check in. I only had to pay 7 dollars to check in early. I was so happy to get to take a shower. I was struck at first by the seperate room to change your shoes. There was also a slot for you to put your key in, without the key in that slot none of the electricity in the room would work. The room was hot, because of the heating from the floor, but I am quite content and happy about that. The furniture isn't has soft as one would find in America, but the shower room really makes up for it. There are so many different spays and I have a tub with jet sprays :) The toilet doesn't take toilet paper, but it does have plenty of sprays as well to clean your bottom and even a dryer to dry it off afterwards. I was quite impressed.

So I took my shower and felt wonderfully better. I turned on the television and found 3 or 4 English channels out of the 70 available. I rested for a bit on my bed and talked to my parents for a bit on skype. It was nice to see a familiar face. I then headed out on my journey to find an adapter for my computer, a charger for my phone, and to add minutes to my phone. Each of which I succeeded in. I was quite happy, but I had help from friends. I ate pinnaple pizza for dinner (I didn't want to try a random Korean resturaunt just yet) . Most of them looked like pubs rather than placed to eat at anyways. I tried a pop called Kin, its kind of like sprite, but better I think. The pizza was great, couldn't tell it was Korean at all. I also found a library. I might go visit it if I don't head out to Seoul this evening.

Getting Ready to Leave

2009-02-24T08:56:00.000-08:00

I will be leaving to head to the Chicago airport tomorrow to leave the country. My flight is at 1 am Thursday morning and I will arrive at 6 am Friday morning (South Korean time). The flight is 14 hours long, it'll be the longest flight I have ever been on and I have never flown overseas before. The only countries I have been to so far (besides the US) are Canada and Mexico. I'm a little nervous and scared, but even more than that I'm excited. Excited to finally become a world traveler :) Yesterday I called around to get exchange rates for currency. I made one call to South Korea, a gentlemen answered in Korean. I asked him if he spoke English, he said yes. I asked him for the exchange rate, then he hung up on me. That was the only call I made, lol. This last Sunday I got to see my brothers one last time before I head over. It was bittersweet. On the one hand it was nice to see them, on the other, it'll be a while before I see them again.

I've been packing my bags for the last couple of days. I'm fairly certain that I'm over the weight limit, but also certain that I'd rather pay the extra charge for luggage rather than the charge to ship items over. I sent a stack up papers over to Korea that was about two inches maybe less thick. It cost me $70. I can't imagine the cost of sending a package of clothes :-/

I'll be staying at the Incheon Airport Hotel. I'll be chilling in the aiport for a while though, check-in isn't until 2 pm, so from 6 am until 2 pm I'll be amusing myself in the airport. What was the movie where the guy who spoke bulgarian lived in the airport? Tom Hanks was in it I think. Whatever its called maybe I'll be like that for part of a day, lol.

My flight over has American food, yes!!! And a wide variety of movies to select from. There are tvs on the back of each person's seat, so you can choose whatever you want to watch. I hope that I can fall asleep for the majority of the flight. It would be nice to leave the airport, fall asleep and wake up in Seoul :) That would also help with my sleep adjustment and jet lag. :)