Christmas time in the ROK

While talking to my family on Christmas, my beautiful cousin Jenny informed me that it's been too long since my last blog... and I agree. So, I'll attempt to catch up on my life in Busan. My last post was almost 2 weeks ago, and these days tend to blend together, but I'll do my best. Last weekend was super busy for me. I stayed in Busan, and explored a lot of the city. On Friday, I went out w/ a new friend. Her name is Becca and she is from Seattle. So, without really knowing each other, we have something in common. It's always nice to have someone around from your 'hood.' We met up late Friday night (since neither of us get off work till around 9). Headed out for drinks and had a blast. Made new friends and stayed out till the subway started to run again! That was a first for me, and surprisingly, I wasn't ridiculously tired. After attempting to sleep in on Saturday, I met up with a friend from Bellingham who lives about 2 hours outside of Busan. His name is Milo; we worked together at the Colophon for about a year, so I was super excited to see a familiar face. We met at Centum City- it's a HUGE shopping mall in Busan. After a typical Milo hug, we explored our surroundings and came across a super fun bookstore. We perused for over an hour in the stationary, etc area. The sentences that are produced due to lack of English ability is absolutely hilarious for a native speaker. After I get paid this month, I'll have to head back and buy some to send home, and to laugh at some more. After our many giggles, Milo and myself headed to find a record store in Busan's city center. Unfortunately, we came up empty handed and couldn't figure out where it was. So, sadly, we departed and he headed back to his small, rural town in the middle of the sticks of Korea. After talking to him about his adventures, I feel so luck to live in a large metropolis. I can't imagine living the way he does- I am really enjoying the large city I'm in. After I left him, I met up with work friends. We headed to Seyeomson ( the downtown of Busan) and grabbed dinner then saw Avatar. The movie was absolutely amazing, and I plan to see it again. We forked out the big bucks to see it in 3-D, and it was completely worth it. Post movie, all of us headed out to enjoy some drinks, laughs and photo-ops. I was exhausted, so I called it an early night (which, in Korea is around 3 am... who would have thought). The next day, I met up with a friend from high school- Tori. She JUST moved to Busan and lives about 40 minutes away on the subway. So, I venture out to her part of the woods. We grabbed coffee and walked around, caught up and I told her how excited I was for her to be around. I think we'll become pretty close this year. We hung out for a couple hours before I told her I needed to head back home to sleep; a department I was completely lacking in.After a week of work, the weekend arrived, which makes life fly by... I still can't believe I've been here for 2 months already. Friday was Christmas, so we only had to work four days, which was a nice change. I wrapped and brought Washington State calendars for all my co-teachers as gifts; they all screamed when I handed them a present. Korean's are very vocal about their thankful-ness. I really love all the girls I work with, so it was nice to see that they enjoyed my present. AND, I got to show them how beautiful Washington is. Christmas Eve, all of us ordered pizza, then headed out to drink out sorrows away! Not really, but what else is there to do while in a foreign country without family? We all had fun, headed to Haeundae and before we new it, it was 4 am. So, Tori and myself headed back to my place, she crashed on the couch. The next day I had to catch a train to Daejeon to meet up with Mara and her friends for a Christmas weekend. After a forty minute subway ride and a two hour train, I arrived and was picked up by Mara and her friends (Maximus- her Korean friend, whose house we were staying at, Gemma- another Korean, and Amelia). We headed back to Max's place to drop off my stuff, then headed to dinner with his parents. His family is Buddhist, so we grabbed Chinese food, said our goodbyes to his parents and headed out to do our own thing. The night was fun, I really enjoyed hanging out w/ several Koreans- their ability to speak both languages is very impressive... and it came in handy throughout the night. We went to several different places in Daejeon before stopping at a huge dance club. I never thought I would be dancing 'till 3 am in Korea on Christmas, but I had fun. After our night out, we were all exhausted and headed back to Max's place to pass out. The next morning we woke up late, semi- rested and ready to eat some good home made Korean breakfast. I couldn't believe the amount of food Max's mom made us. Eggs, kimchi, fish, chicken, soup, rice, veggies and tea... FOR BREAKFAST! Before I sat down to enjoy breakfast, I was able to skype my family in Mossyrock- my aunt lives there, and every Christmas we all meet up and have a wonderful time together on Christmas day. And, being in Korea, I wasn't able to make my way... so skype came in handy. I was so happy to see them and talk to them, but sad I couldn't be with them, drinking, laughing and playing Apples to Apples.

After breakfast, we all headed to grab coffee and then decided to call it a weekend. I was dropped off at the train station, and made it back to Busan around 7pm on the 26th. I was exhausted from a fun day and evening in Daejeon, so I kept it chill, watched Love Actually and fell asleep- super lame for a Saturday, but I needed to rest. This week, my school starts "winter intensives." This means, on top of our regular classes, we have extra ones. Students in Korea are on Winter break, but some take their vacation time to enroll in classes we offer. I would hate to grow up in Korea- the kids I teach have no life, no free time and are constantly worried about their education, grades and tests that they are required to take. So, my plate becomes a bit fuller starting tomorrow... which I'm not completely looking forward to, but the pay increase (for over time) will be nice. Cheers till next time!

Seoul!

I can't say it enough... weeks keep flying by. This past week was full of stress. I was asked by the administration of my school to present a 15 minute snip-it of a typical class period. I presented to about 40 people- half Korean children, the other half, their parents. The presentation was on Thursday, so my boss encouraged (made) me to practice several times. I came into work early on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday AND Thursday. I practiced in front of my co-workers and the administration about 6 times before the actual presentation on Thursday evening. Although I was far from nervous, I was completely overwhelmed. I had to practice, practice, practice on top of my usual work load. Well, Thursday eventually came, I presented and it went well, I think... the children were very interested, they loved what the class was about (superheroes) but the parents just looked at me like I was a crazy person, or an alien from another planet. Obviously, their English wasn't as strong as their children's and they were completely lost in my fluent English. To celebrate my presentation, me and some of my co-workers went out to our favorite Korean BBQ place (Smiley's) and then headed to norae bbong (karaoke). We sang for over 2 hours and enjoyed ourselves through all types of music. Norae bbongs are small rooms in a building with couches, snacks and a large screen. Tambourines are included and the mics are turned up to the max. You can rock out with your friends in privacy and laugh at each other's horrible voices. We had a blast!

The following day was three of my co-workers last day at Avalon. So, we ALL went out for fried chicken and beer. It was a lot of fun going out and being social with the Korean teachers. After dinner, most of the foreign teachers went out for drinks at the beach.

We played beer pong and enjoyed each others company... it was a fun night. But, I had to sleep because the next day, Christina and myself were off to Seoul. We got a late start and arrived in Seoul around dinner time. We grabbed a hotel room, got some food and met up with Mara and her friend Amelia. W

e took the subway to their favorite spot in Seoul and had some drinks at a bar. Flirted with Korean boys and then headed to a ridiculously packed dance club. We entered, and all headed to the dance club.

For the

next three hours, we laughed, danced and enjoyed our surroundings. It was a fun night, and I already want to go back and visit Mara. The next day (Sunday) Christina and myself went to a concert- Lee Seung Gi. He is a ballad Korean singer and very, very handsome. The concert was fun, but I was the only Westerner there. So, I felt really out of place. After the concert, we headed back to Busan (a three hour train ride and a couple cabs). Once we got in, I felt like I was home. Seoul is SO busy, maybe a little too crazy for me.

Monday started a new semester at school. So I have all new classes and a new schedule. I teach 7 classes again, which is a fairly heavy load, but I'm happy with my profession right now! Cheers till next time!

Weekends out.

This past week has flown by. I can't believe it's December... it's getting a bit chillier, but it's not snowing, so I'm happy about that! I checked out the weather for the coming up weekend, and it looks like it's going to be warming up... in the 60's in December; I'm pretty happy about that! This weekend was a blast. Actually, this week... on Wednesday a bunch of us went out for dinner and drinks. We have two new teachers, Joel and Derek, so all of us newbies are attempting to get to know each other better. We headed to a near by Western bar called WA bar. It was a great setting, and pretty relaxed. We had some beers and conversed before heading to Haeundae. There is a great bar there called Rock and Roll Bar. It's also very Westernized. They have pool, darts and beer pong! You can't find that in many bars. So, we all played a couple rounds and enjoyed ourselves until 3 am! The next day, we all had work, then ended up doing the same thing... again. We had Korean BBQ for dinner at a place down the street from our school. We have no idea what the actual place is called, but the owner smiles a lot... and by a lot, I mean, he has no other emotion other than 'smiley.' So, we call it Smiley's. Which makes me smile. After dinner, some of us headed to our favorite drinking hole in the Jangsan area. It's a Soju tent. I've mentioned this place before. It's basically a tent with tables, heaters, bulgolgi kabobs and alcohol. We hung out there for an or two before crossing the street to another favorite spot- Hite Bar. This bar is named after the local brew- Hite. It's the Budweiser of Korea and tastes good when you're thirsty! Side note- Koreans are obsessed and in love with eggs. They put eggs in and on everything. For example, at Hite Bar, they serve you two fried eggs, even if you just order a beer. Who would have though eggs would go well with a glass of beer... obviously, the Koreans. So, after eating our fried eggs and drinking our beers, we headed home for the night. THEN, Friday rolled around and the same group of newbies, plus DJ (one of the teachers that has been there for a year) met up after work. We all headed out to the "downtown" of Busan to a bar called O'Brians. It was a girl's birthday party and a magazine launch party. So, the bar was packed... literally, you couldn't move. It was definitely against fire code! So, after a few drinks at the bar, we headed to Kyungsun. This is a young, hip area of Busan full of bars and college aged students. We headed to a bar called ZipCode. There was a mix of Westerners and Koreans at the bar. We sat down, ordered a drink and enjoyed the chatter with the bartenders. As the night progressed, we met a couple "B-boys." B stands for Breakdance. These guys were amazing dancers, and with the liquid courage, all of us 'whities' decided to join/challenge these guys to a dancing contest. Let's just say, we had fun and they are much better at dancing than us. After another stop at another bar, we headed home and called it a very late night! Saturday afternoon, we all met up, again and headed to the Sports Complex to watch the KT Sonic Boom basketball game. It was so much fun... and all of us got on TV!!! The team lost, which was disappointing, but we shrugged off the loss and headed to a warm restaurant for some food. I called it an early night... I wasn't feeling well (maybe too much beer, maybe not!) And now, today, I am being lazy, relaxing at the local coffee spot. It's become my thing for Sunday.

Sorta Settling In

And, again... I am here blogging on a Sunday. It's the perfect day to do it. I'm feeling a bit nostalgic and missing home right now. It's late November, and normally, in Busan, the weather is clear and no colder than 50. But, today it's rainy, windy, cold and overcast. Hmmm, sounds like the winters in Seattle. So, I'm sporting my Seattle U sweatshirt, I would be wearing purple and gold very proudly, but I failed to bring any UW sweatshirt to Korea. Congrats on the shut out Dawgs! This last week was Thanksgiving, and I was planning on heading up north to Seoul to celebrate with friends, but that didn't happen- too much planning involved in a too short of time. So, I made do and on Thursday, some American co-workers came over to my new apartment and we ate mashed potatoes and drank Hite (the much loved domestic beer). Turkey is near impossible to find in Korea, so there was no attempt to cook some, let alone search for it in the supermarket.

I finally have moved into my apartment, and made it a bit more "homey." I'm enjoying the location. Although I am no longer o

n the beach, I am surrounded by everything I need. I live in Jangsan; a district of Haeundae in Busan. It's great- it's a 2 minute walk to w

ork, a 5 minute walk to the supermarket and there are coffee shops, boutiques, rest

aurants, and bars al

l within a 2 block radius of my high-rise. Yesterday, I went to the grocery store and bought some Christmas lights t

o lighten up my place... I think it looks a lot better.

Working a full time job on the other side of the world takes

a little getting used to. Everything is done at the last minute here, and the Korean culture is

big on 'saving face' or lying to please. So, employers will tell you one thing but something completely different will happen. It is so, so different than the states. But, it makes for a very interesting experience and I'm attempting

to become much more flexible... which I'm sure will help me in the long run.

Below, I've posted more pictures of my place. Enjoy and I always look forward to the comments left. Cheers!

New apartment, new life.

Again, I find myself enjoying a lazy Sunday afternoon in a coffee shop. I'm not at Starbucks this time, because I finally moved into my apartment. I live in a high-rise apartment building one block from my school. It's great. My apartment is huge; it's a studio loft. It took me over 3 hours to unpack everything on Friday night, when I moved in. I did a much needed load of laundry, cleared out my backpack and suitcases and sat back and enjoyed the crazy view I have. I'm on the 13th floor (lucky, huh?) and one of the walls in my apartment is a window; yes, the entire wall is a window. Which is good and bad. It makes the place feel bigger than it actually is, let's in a lot of light during the day and I have a fantastic view of the entire Jangsan district (where I live and work). But, at night, the lights love to flow in from the busy streets below and the sun likes to shine through early in the morning. So, I am desperately trying to find affordable curtains. I went to the store yesterday to buy groceries and a new comforter, and while I was there, I looked at the cost of curtains. WOW... 200,000. That's about $200. A bit high for me right now. I still haven't been paid, we get our check on the 30th of every month, so I think I'm just going to have to wait it out.

This last week has been very exciting. I starting teaching full time. I have my own classes, students and papers to grade. I teach 7 different classes. And out of all of them, one is the "hell" class. These kids are a lower level of English and are all in 6th grade. If I was in school until 9 pm everyday at age 12, I would probably act out too. These kids have no incentive to learn, and attempt to make my life suck. So, I return the favor. It's kind of nice- I get to take all my built up frustration on these lucky 14 children that grace me with their presence every Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 7:35-8:50 pm. I only have 3 weeks left with them until we start our Winter intensive classes and all the teachers get a new schedule, so I really don't care if these kids end up hating me because of my strictness as a teacher. Other than that one class, I've enjoyed my other students. It's nice not having to write my own curriculum, but the lessons do become mundane and boring after awhile. But this gives me more freedom to explore and make friends.

Cheers till next time, and as soon as my apartment is fully moved into, I will post pictures!

Weekend Adventures

It's Sunday afternoon in Busan. No work, no plans for today, so I found myself at Starbucks to get my coffee fix in addition to getting out of the stuffy love hotel that I currently call home. This week has flown by, kinda. The fact that I'm working full time, with a regular schedule throws me off. Having worked in only food service jobs since I was 17 encouraged my ability to stay flexible and unwillingly work every weekend and holiday. So, having a free weekend confuses me...

Yesterday I joined my fellow co-worker and resident of the love hotel, Christina, to a day of window shopping in the PNU district. PNU is the Pusan National University. The area is packed with shops, great food finds and tons of young Korean college students. The vibe reminds me a bit of the ave, but in much close of quarters. After sleeping in, Christina and myself ventured out and hopped on the subway. Using the map of the subway, we sketched out our journey and headed towards PNU. After 3 transfers and about 30 minutes on the underground, we arrived. The streets were filled with chatty young professionals and families making deals with vendors and gathering around the many food carts that were on every corner. After our long quest, Christina and myself decided we were hungry, so we found a tiny little Korean restaurant. We sat down, and ate our Bibimibop. Super tasty! After filling our stomachs, we headed to the streets. Shoes are the thing in Korea. Just walking down the street you will encounter several young women sporting the highest, cutest heels. Koreans are small, especially the women, so they insist on wearing 4 inch heels everyday; also, I swear, all Koreans believe they are in a fashion show all the time. I have never seen so many people dressed so well in such a small area before in my life. With that said, I have large feet in Korea. In America, I am average (I wear an 8 1/2... not too big) but in Korea, I have hobbit feet. So, as Christina looked for shoes (she wears a size 5 in the U.S.) I jealously looked on. For $35 dollars, she bought 3 pairs of lovely shoes. Such a great buy! Although I cannot fit into Korean shoes, I can fit into accessories. I was so happy when I purchased a warm AND fashionable hat in PNU. It's great and it fits perfectly!

After our ventures in PNU, Christina and I rested for a bit before grabbing dinner at Haeundae Beach and then heading to meet up with co-workers for Soju and Makju (alcohol and beer). We drank and ate Bulgolgi (Korean beef, which, by the way, is delicious) in a Soju tent. These things are everywhere in Korea. It's basically a plastic tent that fits 5-6 tables and serves alcohol with freshly grilled kabobs of meat, vegetables and spicy things. Alcohol is super cheap and the tent keeps the cold wind out. (A bottle of Soju goes for about $1.20 and a bottle of beer for about $1.00. No wonder why drinking is so prevalent in Korea, it's so cheap to do!) After our Soju tent conversations, we headed to the other University district to check out the bar scene. An 8,000 Won taxi ride later, we arrived and headed to a bar called Kino-Eye. I walked in, and immediately felt like I was in America. A very, very Western bar, there were only about 10 Koreans present, 5 of them were bar-tending. The rest- expats, most likely teachers. It was wild, I felt awkward being in Korea and being surrounded by all white people. It was fun, the music was loud, the drinks were very cheap and I didn't have to worry about my failing attempts at speaking Korean.

We left the bar around 2 am, all of us being exhausted and heading back to Haeundae. I fell asleep very quickly, the tylenol p.m. may be to blame. And today, I am semi-rested. I hate my bed at the hotel. It's round and hard, and I feel awkward sleeping on it! I'm sick and completely congested, so I'm trying to take it as easy as possible today. Keeping warm and drinking plenty of liquids. The temperature sure has dropped. Last week the average high was in the mid-high 70's. And right now its about 48 degrees. UGH.

Cheers till next time!

Well, I've been here for a week now, and I have yet to settle in. I'm still living out of a suite case in my hotel. It's not any hotel... but a "love hotel." I thought these only existed in movies, but no, I have found myself staying in one for a week, and calling it home. Although this sucks, I know that I will be moving soon enough. I am waiting for the teacher that I am replacing to leave so I can take her apartment. This won't happen till November 20th-ish. That means I have another 9 days to enjoy the high life of the love hotel.

Monday, I went for a long, long walk, explored the city and found a great place for reflection. Haeundae, where I am living, is the most famous beach in Korea, and the views are amazing. I wondered up a small trail, that overlooked both sides of the city. It was absolutely breath taking.

Yesterday was my first day at work. It was a long day... and full of testing. I did one-on-one verbal testing with the students for about 3 hours. The other 4 hours were spent in front of the computer screen, pretending to do something. Today I will be observing a couple "veteran" teachers while they teach. I'm excited to et my own classes and start working on my own. I know that when that happens, I'm going to wish I was back in the love hotel lazing around, enjoying my time away from work. Here's till next time!

Cheers!

I'm finally here!!

These past 48 hours have been stressful, exciting, adventurous and killer on my internal clock. I have no sense of what time it is, other than what the clock says. So, I flew out of SEA-TAC at noon on Tuesday. Said goodbye to my parents and embarked on an 11 hour flight to Tokyo. From there, I had an hour layover and then another 3 hour flight. On the flight, I met a nice Korean man that had lived in the states for 12 years and went to UW. He was so, so helpful and put my mind at ease about a lot of things I was stressing out about. So I landed really late in Busan, found my driver, who was holding up my name, and unloaded my luggage in his car. It was about a 45 minute drive from the airport to where I'm currently staying. My apartment is still in use by the current English teacher, so I'm staying in a hotel for now... which is a bit annoying, but I'll survive. I was greeted by two Korean teachers from my school (they spoke perfectly good English!!). These two guys let me know what my status was. I'm in quarantine until Monday; then I get to go into work and meet my co-teachers, boss, etc. I'm excited and anxious to start my new life here.

I've been here for two days, and I'm already loving it. The views are absolutely amazing. I will upload some later, but the beach is a 2 minute walk from my hotel. It's about 75 degrees here, and I'm sweating almost as soon as I step foot outside. Yesterday, I had Korean lunch at a small hole-in-the-wall restaurant on a side street. It was SO good- spicy chicken soup and rice. I have pictures of that too... that I will be posting!

More updates to come, but for now, I'm spent. Cheers!