Long Time, No Blog

The hellish heat here in Korea is just dying down. Each day it gets a little cooler and the days get a little shorter. Yesterday, I wore a sweatshirt. A SWEATSHIRT! It's been so hot here recently I can't even believe it.

I got back from Japan about three weeks ago. The trip was seven days long. It took me and my friends up from Hakata to Hiroshima, Himeji, Osaka, Kyoto, and Tokyo before taking a train all the way back to Hakata.

Japan was nice! It's not as expensive as everyone says. However the trains were really expensive! They cost more than trains in Europe. Other than that, hostels were the same price they are almost anywhere. Food & drink was a decent price, too. Everything was not much more than in America. It was really clean there which makes it worth the money.

Everything was clean: the hostels, the trains, even public restrooms. Every public restroom I used was SPOTLESS (then again I didn't go to any clubs, etc.). The only thing I didn't like was the heat. It wasn't so hot outside but the humidity was unbearable. And because we would move from hostel to hostel, with our backpacks in tow, almost every day for 7 days straight, it was a struggle. I was lucky I packed really light, just three changes of clothes. Haha!

Would I rather be in Japan or South Korea? Well South Korean women are much more beautiful. Physically, on the whole, they look better. But the Japanese dress so well! They are not slaves to culture/society as much as Koreans. I feel like people around where I live, men and women, have about 3 different hair styles and 5 different clothing styles. My friends and I have a joke:

Me: "I heard you went out on a date last night. What did she look like?"

Friend: "Well, she was really cute. She had Hair #2 and Clothing #5!"

The area that I live in is a little conservative, as it is in a major farming province. So fashion styles aren't very risky.

During next week, the 21th to the 23th is Chuseok. Chuseok is a traditional Korean holiday that celebrates the harvest. It is one of the largest national holidays in Korea and everyone usually gets at least three days off from work. Luckily, I have four off, so I get a six-day weekend! For Chuseok I am going to Seoul with three others to sight-see. We will see the temples and museums, go shopping, and to go to Itaewon for some real foreign food.

Itaewon (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Itaewon) is the foreigners area in Seoul. I heard it has some decent Tex-Mex, so I'm there! I'll let you know what happens there. Until then!

The whole group atop the Shin-Umeda Sky Tower in Osaka.

Bento box lunch on the bullet train. Me looking like a jerk wearing sunglasses indoors. In fact, those sunglasses made me hangover proof that day.

Me in my yukata.

Downtown Osaka at night.

Pachinko! I played 30 dollars and abruptly left. Got 8 back. It was so cool.
They give you tiles or little plastic cases with a coin in them and tell you to go around the back of the place. You walk up to a shady bank drawer with no window. The drawer suddenly opens, as if someone was watching you. You put in your tiles and take out your winnings in cash.

Himeji Castle. Too bad it was being restored at the time. Still amazing.

EPIK Feb. 2010 Closing Ceremony Video - You may need a Facebook account to view this video.

"Kickin' it in Geumchon" by the EV Boys - A Beastie Boys style rap video about living in Korea. If you only lived here this would hilarious to you.

Drive around Gumi - A video of Gumi, my Korean home, taken from the back of a scooter, with background music by The Go Team!.

Random picture of downtown.

Corona Bar in downtown Gumi.

Presents that teachers gave me for my birthday. The top one my teacher made herself. It's replica Hanbok, or traditional Korean dress. Koreans still wear Hanbok today at weddings, sometimes for the reception.

A gift from the art department. No comment.

This weekend, I went to Busan for my birthday and to visit my friend Kelly. She was one of my college roommates and she is from Long Island.

This is a picture of Haeundae Beach in Busan. The hill in the background is called Dalmagi Hill. It's a rich area (high property value) of Busan, and it's where Kelly lives.

Here is the most delicious galbi I have ever eaten, in probably the best galbi/samgyupsal restaurant in Busan. Galbi means "rib" in Korean, and samgyupsal is usually strips of fatty pork. These restaurants are the most common Korean restaurants and the cheapest, best food you can ever eat. As you can see, you cook your own meat and vegetables. Then you wrap the good stuff in a leaf and put the whole thing in your mouth. I don't know why I don't show more pictures of food, they get me so excited!

Me and Kelly at the restaurant. She really cant stop doing the "peace sign" when she poses for a picture. Seriously, she has that problem! (j/k, i <3 you)

 The picture was taken from a swanky private "norebang" room (karaoke room). Kelly, two of her friends, and I were there from 5-7am, so we got to see the sunrise over Haeundae beach.

My desk in the teachers office.

A random picture of Gumi.

Gumi train station. It has restaurants, coffee shops, department stores, and a supermarket in and under the building. Public transportation is so well done in Korea.

South Korea has Pizza Hut! I haven't tried it yet, but I hear its good but expensive.

Ego Tripping

The weather has been really schizophrenic lately here in Korea. Today was another rainy day, which we have been getting a lot of, but for every rainy day there is a sunny one. One of my co-teachers told me that March is usually crazy like this. I heard it has been similar in the States with all the snow and such.

Anyway, the last week has taken a lot out of me. It was kind of hard to sleep and wake up at the right times the first few days of school. On the first day I was so nervous the night before I only got one hour of sleep. But I haven't taught yet, so I really should have worried less. The first week has been pretty carefree though, but nothing was as memorable as the first day.

I don't know if I said this before, but I work at Songjeong Girls Middle School. My school has 1000 students, ages about 12-15 years old. So on the first day our entire student body and faculty had an assembly to welcome the first years to the school. When I entered the gym the vice principal told the teachers to stand at the wall in the back. So when the students saw me walking through the crowd to the back of the room, all eyes were fixed on me and the kids were gasping. I didn't know what was up; the kids are well off enough that they probably go to private English institutes. They probably see foreigners often. But having one as your teacher, being able to talk directly to one in your own school, and having him be a young guy in a girls school? The attention was pretty intense. And, of course, the teachers had to be introduced on stage by the principal himself....

The teachers were split into groups, so when my group was called up to the stage I had a chance to look at all of the students at once. When I looked, all eyes were on me. Then I saw that, in a special place on the second floor, the parents of the first year students were also there! I tried hard not to show my nervousness. When the principal called out my name, I stepped forward and bowed to the kids and their parents. The place erupted with clapping, cheering, and the loudest, high pitched girlish squeal I have ever heard. (after talking to the rest of my friends, similar things happened to every one of them) At that point I felt like a rock star. The attention hasn't waned yet though, and its a real ego trip to be here.

Walking through the halls can be dangerous. I have to watch when I go to the bathroom or to the administration office. If I enter the hallways during the students' time, the 10 minutes between each period, I get swarmed by girls with questions, giggles, and creepy stares. The first years will wave and say "Hi!" then usually run away. The second years will say "Hello..." and wait for you to respond, then run away. The third years are usually very embarrassed, probably because they are very socially aware at that age, but one brave one actually said "Hello. How are you?" to me on the stairs. Many times, when I walk away, I will hear "Handsome!!" yelled from down the hall (again, rock star status)....

One last thing, which is probably the cutest and most telling thing about how scared these kids are of speaking English to a foreigner. In groups they will come up to you and be brave, but if singled out they will enter panic mode. One group of second years knocked on and opened the door to the teachers office, only to find that most of the teachers were in class and I was one of the only ones there. One of them thought that they were all going in, but when she looked back she saw her friends were staying put. When I looked at her face she gasped loudly and turned her whole body around to face the corner. She looked like she was thinking of the quickest, least embarrassing way to get out of the situation. How funny is that! I wonder how it will be when I am in the front of the classroom, trying to get the kids to speak English.

My co-teachers are all really friendly and hospitable. The two that I will be working with the most speak excellent English and are very open to helping me with my lesson plans. One of them has been teaching for two years so far, and this is her first year at Songjeong Middle School. The other is a contract teacher, which means she isn't licensed but her job is less stable. The rest of my teachers are a little older, but just as easy to work with. It is a real blast going in every day and talking to all of the staff and students. I hope it stays this good all year.

Well that's about all I have time to talk about right now. For the time being I have internet in my apartment, so I can talk a little more often. Monday I teach my first class so wish me luck!

Bring nothing.

Well I took my moms advice and didn't bring up the contract again. I know Koreans like to do things at the last minute, and the lease just started the day I arrived, so of course they didn't have furniture yet. They had already ordered it online so my closet and bed actually arrived the next day and when I got back from EMart (Korean Walmart) they were both already there and set up. Koreans are the nicest people in the world to foriegners so I feel at home here.

I randomly ran into my friend Shamus at Lotte Mart, who told me that it's best to be Polite but Firm. He is a New Zealander who has been teaching in Korea for years.  He kinda got the short end of the stick. His school is in the sticks, where there are literally two buildings and just a few houses. When he got there he asked where his apartment was and they told him they didn't have one ready for him yet. They tried to get him to stay in the basement of the Administration Officer's business. He told them that he was really thankful for their gracious offer, but he "wanted to keep his Personal life seperate from his Professional life." They put him up in a motel for a day and went around with him for hours looking for an apartment in Gumi proper. They wouldn't buy him a year lease, probably because they thought he would run. So they got him a month-to-month apartment near Gumi Station, in the downtown area.

In comparison, I really lucked out. I just wish I had internet in my apartment (which I will get soon), but there are plenty of PC rooms (internet cafes) around where I live, along with tons of restaurants (yes Seongy, Outback Steakhouse, Popeyes, McDonalds, etc. are all here to keep my cholesterol up, although I haven't tried any restaurant yet) and convienience stores.

After I set up my apartment with food and necessities, and did my laundry, I just walked around the city for hours. It is a lot like Queens, quite spread out but with a lot of restaurants, dry cleaners, and salons, and a lot going on. I just need to get my camera battery charger (which I left at home) and take some pictures to post.
The weather is rainy and humid, but cold. I am wearing layers and I am still a little cold, although it's better than being hot and sweaty. I have already cased most of the city and I know how to find my house on Google Maps. If you want, here are some instructions:
 
-Type Songjeong Dong, Gumi, South Korea into Google Maps search bar and click Search Maps.
-Click Satellite, a button on the top right corner of the map.
-Find Gumi Civil Stadium, which looks like an egg-shaped oval with a smaller maroon colored dome next to it. It should be on the bottom right of the screen.
-My school is one of the large, open dirt areas with surrounding buildings to the northwest of Gumi Stadium. Specifically it is the southern one, as the northern one is an elementary school.
-I live so close to the school that I can see it from my apartment, so I live on the street north of the school grounds.
 
I start my first day of school tomorrow. When I called my co-teacher, Park seungsennim (literally Park teacher), she told me to "bring nothing." When I asked her what I would be doing tomorrow she said, "You will find out about the school." Sounds good to me! Some people will have to start teaching right off the bat. But it won't hurt if I make a few introductory lesson plans. I can always fix them later to fit the situation.
 
The one thing I do have to bring is a few indoors shoes. They all take off their shoes when they get to work, and put on leather slipper looking things. I figure for the first week I may be able to clean the bottoms of my two good looking pairs of shoes and leave those at school until I get a sweet pair of slippers like they wear. When I met my principal and administration I made sure to scope out what type of slippers they were wearing. They were black leather slippers with what looked like sandal straps around the toes and top of the foot.... I guess thats professional here, but I really couldn't stop thinking about how ridiculous it looked.
 
Oh well, that's enough of my nervous banter. Now its time to study Hangul (the Korean alphabet) and start reading and speaking some Korean! I want to be able to read all my kids names by the 8th, the day I should start teaching.

First Time

Orientation is over and I am happy and sad about that. One of my class leaders, Jinny, was crying when our bus was leaving. We left at 11am for Gumi, the city I will be calling home for the next 365 days.

Our bus ride was short; it was only two and a half hours. We arrived in Gumi National Park where we were going to meet our co-teachers. As we pulled up to the meeting spot, we saw the co-teachers lined up holding our names up on signs! It was the cutest thing I have seen so far in Korea, but the nervousness on my bus was palpable. Still, the teachers are just as nervous as you. In most cases, the Korean teachers know nothing about the EPIK teachers they are going to get. They know nothing about the Westerner they must work with for a year.

It took me a few walks around the park to find my sign, but I was happy when I did. My co-teachers were two of the cutest women there! Nam Jung Soon and Park Jung Ja both looked to be in their late 20s or early 30s. When I walked up to them they let out a tandem squeal. I guess they were happy to see me. I soon learned from them that this was the first time that their school was accepting a Native English Teacher (NET). After the greetings were taken care of, we collected my bags and left the park and the rest of my EPIK friends behind. When I asked where we were going, they told me we would go to their school to meet the Principal! Good thing I wore my nice clothes....

Getting to the school took about five or ten minutes. I was excited and terrified, sitting in the back seat of a tiny yellow car. During the drive the grilling commenced, as they asked me questions ranging from "Where are you from?" to "What is your favorite type of movie?" We arrived at the school with me as tired and as ready as I could be.

The administration and the teachers I met were all pleasant. As it was both my and their first time, we probably did not know what to expect from each other. Either way, after a little stepping on cultural toes, they were ready to show me to my apartment. So with that finished, we left to walk to my apartment! They told me that it was only a two minute walk, so I was pretty happy....

The apartment building looked unique (I will post pictures soon). When they brought me into my apartment, however, it was completely unfurnished! It only had a TV and a washing machine. This was surprising to me because I thought the school would have bought the furniture stipulated in the contract by now. However, yesterday was the first day of the lease, and the furniture has already been ordered online. It should arrive within a few days. After a lot of arguing in Korean, we were ready to go back to the school and talk to the administration. After about five minutes, they told me they were taking me to a motel for the night.

The motel has internet so I am using that now. I immediately checked my EPIK Gyeongbuk Facebook group to see what happened to everyone else. The first thing I read was "Is anyone else in a motel right now?" to which I gladly responded "Here!!!" It turned out that many of the teachers were put into hotels as their apartments were unfurnished before the lease started. Either way, this was one thing that EPIK did not cover in orientation.

After seeing the motel we left for Lotte Mart, where we would buy some stuff for the apartment and also where we would meet another EPIK teacher that would stay two rooms down from me in the motel. When I asked who would pay for the bedding and stuff they told me I would (!) and it would come out of my settlement bonus. I elected not to buy anything yet, as bedding was in my contract, along with a chair, desk, and a closet.

It is hard to argue with such nice people, but I told them that I would like the things in my contract. They were very nervous, embarrassed, and apologetic. As a glass half full kind of guy, for now my faith in my co-teachers is in tact. They gave me the feeling that even though this was their first time with NET, they were trying very hard to get everything in order (they were each on the phone constantly).

After meeting with Sean we decided to meet up that night to have a drink at the wabar (Western Bar) down the street. We met a bunch of westerners there last night (teachers for Korean business men), and I left Sean there around midnight to take a shower and get some rest for the next day.

With a new day comes a new outlook on Korea. I meet my co-teachers again in one hour. I start a short orientation on March 2, and I should start teaching on March 8. With the future in mind, I will start this day fresh and revitalized. I will miss this swanky motel room though....

 

EPIK Orientation Dinner. There is another of those long food lines on the other side. These people definitely aren't from New York, because that line would've been marching instead of crawling....

Traditional Korean See-saw? Either way its reallllly cute.

 

Traditional Korean wedding garb. We got to do a lot of stuff that you would never get to do planning your own Korean vacation, and I feel I'm very lucky for that.

See this giant lion costume? I was the back end of this one for a traditional Korean lion dance. 

Dozens of Korean drummers in the traditional village in Jeonju. They put on an amazing performance for all of us, and the rest of the Korean vacationers.

 

This is the Bibimbap that we were served in the traditional village.

 

Us EPIK teachers are so excited!

 

I guess this is what they meant by King Crab....

 

COOOOOOOOL!!!

  

This is where we all eat. In Korea it is customary for everyone to enjoy food together. If they don't go back to their room to catch some needed rest, most people eat free lunch and dinner here.

 This is some of the food they serve us. I made sure the Kimchi was out of the picture....

 

My arrival at Incheon Airport.

 A few friends I made after going to a beautiful Korean bar named Cheers.
 

 THIS is the size of ALL beer in Korea! Korea is STRONG!!
 

These are our Class Leaders, Jinny and Mike, giving us a tour of the campus.
 

These women are a Korean drum dancing group. This was during the opening ceremony.
 

One of the Class Leaders performing a Fan Dance, which is part of not only Korea's tradition but Jeonju's particularly.
 

Half of the building we dorm in (the other half being Star Tower of the first pictures I posted). This building is where we eat breakfast, lunch, and dinner, all for free. 

Typical class day for us. These teachers are waiting outside the building before class starts.
 

This is just a small glimpse of downtown Jeonju, near Gu Jeon Moon. The streets of this city have a lot of character and personality. This is one of the backstreets, where you can find many restaurants, street food, and bars.
 

Me in a coffee shop with my roommate, Julian, on the far right, and our friend Stewart.

 

The humble surrounding university town from the fifth floor balcony.

The beautiful Jeonju University campus very up close. You can see the orientation banner on the right.

 Star Tower, the "Place for Superstars" apparently (it says that under the hanging Christmas lights).

Sensory Overload

Hello Everyone!
Annyeong-hasaeyo!

Did you know that Korea is Dynamic!? That feeling has been going through my head for a few days now. Korea is an ever-changing country. Change is sometimes centered around the flavor of the month. New, trendy businesses sprout up quickly and old, out of style business close just as quick. This sentiment is very prevalent in the school system. None of the teachers here at EPIK know exactly what class they will teach and where, but the same goes for many licensed teachers. I am looking forward to when I find out my school district and class level, and also when I find that I am my students' flavor of the month!

Korea is Dynamic, and so is my opinion of it. I finally got to go into downtown Jeonju. Jeonju city is larger than I thought. There, I was bombarded by the lights and sounds of real Korea for the first time (and I took some pictures, which I will post soon). I had some time tonight to go downtown because tomorrow I will be going on a mandatory field trip to see Jeonju's traditional village. I am looking forward to seeing that, but I am already experiencing culture shock. Culture shock may not be the best phrase for it though; I would call it sensory overload.

I am picking up a lot of Korean phrases that I will soon need. However, I sometimes still have trouble ordering food and talking to taxi drivers. I will continue to polish my Korean until I can speak it fluently. When I have time to that is, because my schedule is probably as busy as it will ever be. I just finished my first full day of classes. I woke up at 7:00am and got out of classes at 8:00pm, with lunch and dinner breaks taking up a few hours.

I love many things here in Korea. Here, almost everything (non-luxury items) is about half the price that it would be in the United States. I have been here for four full days now and I spent more on a bottle of cologne in JFK airport than I have in Jeonju. I also am enjoying the food, although my stomach has had its reservations. I have eaten lots of different things such as Bibimbap (a mixed vegetable dish), Bulgogi (a grilled/fried pork dish I believe), and of course Kimchi (spicy, pickled, fermented cabbage). Not to mention all of the other foods I have seen and just had to try. Korean bakeries are my favorite though. Their breads are mostly very fresh and crunchy, or very soft and sweet.

One quick point that I noticed about Korean food: when its spicy, its SPICY. The same goes for sweet, sour, and savory. While in Western countries, foods are lauded if they are a good mixture of spicy and sweet, or savory and spicy, Korean foods many times go to the extreme. You should watch out when the person making you food asks you if you "want it spicy?" as you may be in for more than you can handle! It's all good though, as in Korea, and especially for teachers, you have to roll with the punches. Not doing so could cost you more than a stomach ache... it could cost you your job.

Working with EPIK has been a blast so far. However, I am a born skeptic. For everything that EPIK says is the way things are, I hear from others that it is different. For every "kimcheerleader" (a popular online phrase for those who tout the laurels of all that is Korea) there is a Debbie Downer. I look forward to finding out what teaching is Korea will be like for me, but I am learning all I can while I still can.

Sorry my entry has been a little dry and drawn out, but I am running on a large coffee and not much else. Anyway, goodbye from here in Dynamic Korea! Annyeonghi-keseyo!

Zero to Sixty in 20 Hours

Hello everyone!

I touched down at 5:00am in Seoul. After collecting my baggage I went to the EPIK counter where I met all of zero people. There was no one there that looked like me and I was already feeling scared! Within the next hour English speakers with all different origins and backgrounds started to form a large, loud group in front of the EPIK counter. I got to know all of these people pretty well, and soon we were all on the 8:00am bus to Jeonju University!

The bus ride took four hours and was worse than the plane! the first few rows just had extra luggage stacked up and people were crammed into the back. I was feeling a little delirious from lack of sleep (I couldn't sleep on the plane for more than 10-20 minutes at a time) and I had a throbbing headache. But we stopped at a rest stop two hours in and that was when I got my energy back... and when I realized I had just entered another planet.

So many things are different here in Korea. The vending machines give out both hot and cold beverages (hot coffee in a can!). I made the mistake of entering a bathroom stall only to realize that the toilet was a ceramic hole in the ground. Koreans really like hot dogs (and sausage in general) and chicken, so I think ill be fine food-wise. The stores sell so many different sweet, salty, sour, and downright disgusting snacks, and basically put all drinks in tiny cans/bottles. I quickly adapted to most of these differences with a smile, because I will be living here for the next 365 days. But for ever difference there is a similarity, and Korea is turning out to feel a lot like the United States.

Looking out the window of the bus, the road down to Jeonju fron Seoul looked a lot like the Long Island Expressway. Koreans drive on the right side of the road and the driver sits in the left hand seat, so it felt a lot like Long Island. If I wasn't surrounded by an amazing mountainous view I would think I would think someone tricked me and I was still in New York (cheeky Koreans!). The staff here speaks English pretty well, and I am having little problems getting what I need. Jeonju is a lot like a smaller Ithaca or Syracuse, and the dorm facilities and food the university is providing is quite good. I am really lucky that I feel so at home here (don't worry I will miss America in T-Minus 30 days), and the people that I meet have all been pretty amicable.

My roomate is a 49 year old man named Julian who has been teaching in Korea for seven years. Long story short, he is originally from Georgia and San Fransisco, and he has a wealth of information. I am really glad I got to room with him instead of some 23 year old who only wants to party. The only problem I am having is getting internet (I am sitting on a bench outside the EPIK office leeching wireless) but that should be fixed within eight hours.

Everything is fine here, but I really have to go and meet up with Julian to get to Opening Ceremony. From now on it shouldn't be as hectic, so I will be able to send email daily. For now, good bye from Jeonju University in Jeonju Korea!