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.