Thanksgiving has once again come and (here in Korea) gone. It's hard to be away from my closest friends and family during the holidays, but I still have a lot to be thankful for. As always, I'm grateful for my wonderful family, who supported me at the beginning of the year when my money ran out and helped me deal with the crushing stress and self-doubt that goes along with having no money. I'm grateful that I'll always have that home to go back to if things get too rough, and to hopefully bring someone special to sometime in the future :)
I'm grateful for having a steady job that I enjoy doing and can see myself doing for at least a couple years. My bosses are good-natured and helpful (if extremely busy), my coworkers are great, (most of) the students and my classes are good and frequently entertaining, and the general atmosphere of the school is overwhelming positive. I still work a pretty busy schedule, but it's fewer hours and considerably less hectic than my schedule at AEON. It's also nice that my bosses are American, mostly because it means I don't have to deal with conflicts between American and Korean work culture or having a boss who sees me as some disposal, English-spewing foreigner. My salary, combined with Korea's surprisingly low cost of living, allows me to live quite comfortably while also saving a large percentage of my earnings. Despite a rocky start, my apartment is also quite comfortable now. I have a great view of the surrounding area from the 10th floor, and I've never had any problems with my neighbors (nor do I have to worry about disturbing them).
I'm grateful for all the friends I've made here and the communities I've become a part of. I'm especially glad I took up my coworker Michelle's offer to check out Hwagyesa Temple in Seoul - I don't expect to ever call myself a Buddhist, but a lot of the Zen philosophy has helped me greatly and has become a part of my daily life and how I look at the world. Plus, I've met a ton of great people there, including some of my best friends over here. I'm also glad that I joined the Global Expats meetup group, which has let me participate in some very interesting activities and meet more great people. Between Hwagyesa and the meetup group, I'm socializing way more than I ever did in Japan, and overall I'm a lot more relaxed and less stressed out.
It's a small thing, but I'm also grateful for being an hour away from Seoul by train, which only costs about $7 round-trip. Compared to the time and expense of taking a train to Tokyo, it's practically nothing! I can easily go into Seoul every weekend (sometimes both Saturday and Sunday) to meet friends, do Korean things or get excellent (though often pricy) food from all over the world in Itaewon or other parts of the city. I don't know about the price of taking the KTX (the cross-country train), but I know I could get to the other side of the country in a few hours if I wanted to travel. I'm also grateful that the awful summer heat is finally over, and that we got our first tiny bit of snow this week! That might not mean much to many of you, but we Bay Area folks don't get to see snow very often. We'll see if I still like snow when spring comes again!
I may not get to celebrate Thanksgiving with everyone back home, but at least I won't be going without turkey and mashed potatoes this year - we're having a Thanksgiving lunch at school tomorrow with the kindergartens and the Korean staff. It won't be as good as Mom's, of course, but I'm still looking forward to it. Happy Thanksgiving everyone!
Thursday, November 28, 2013
Saturday, November 2, 2013
Halloween at Baron's English Academy
This year's Halloween was a blast, with me thoroughly creeping out most of the kids (and some of the adults) and leaving them with questions that will never be answered. How did I do that with such a simple costume? Let me elaborate...
Every year at Baron's English Academy, we invite the kids to come to a haunted house and Halloween party. The students helped decorate the classrooms and halls with paper skeletons and other Halloween art during the week to get them ready for the big day on Friday.
We came in early at 1 pm to set up the haunted house, and spent the next three and a half hours blacking out all the windows, hanging up balloon spiders, webs and ghosts, putting up sheets of plastic to section off the hallways, and setting up other spooky decorations. We had to work really fast, but we got it all done just in time and got into our costumes.
I don't usually dress up for Halloween, so I'd had no idea what to do for the party. I eventually found a Halloween store in Seoul, where I bought a jester/Mardi Gras/masquerade sort of mask and a black cape. I also picked up a pair of cheap white gloves to complete the ensemble, and wore it all with my black suit and a white shirt. The full-face mask (with a kinda creepy smile) gave me the idea to be silent and only communicate with gestures. The mask also had bells on top (which are cut off in the picture), and I worked out a slow head-tilt that would make the bells jingle.
Unfortunately, I only got a picture of one of my coworker's costumes. Mike ordered a roll of LEDs on a strip and sewed fasteners on a hooded sweatshirt and sweatpants, and with the help of our boss hooked it up to an on/off switch that he kept in his pocket. The end result was this:
Another coworker, Dominic, used a hardhat and construction paper to dress up as Pororo, a popular children's cartoon character.
My last coworker, Michelle, who teaches kindergarten, went as a frog. Mrs. Dugger put on a long white robe and a floor-length black wig for a ghost woman costume, and Mr. Dugger went in drag with a blonde, pigtailed wig.
At 4:30 pm the kindergarten kids came in for the first run-through. We turned off all the lights and each took a classroom, where we had a candle for a little light and some candy to give to the kids. We had spooky ambient effects playing on the office computer as well, courtesy of halloweenradio.net. The kindergarteners came through with their mothers, and although we kept the scares light, I think we scared their parents more than the kids! After the haunted house, they all got food and we got a breather until the rest of the students came at 5:30 pm.
Given free rein to scare the kids out of their wits, I took up position in the last room before the exit, with Mike in the room before mine. He hid in the storage room across the hall from his room and would wait until the kids slowly, uncertainly crept into the room, seeing only the candle and the bags of candy. Once they were inside, he would flick on the lights on his costume and jump out at them from behind. All I could hear were the screams of terror, but he told me that he got quite a few kids to jump and fall to the ground. Mrs. Dugger lurked in her office, grabbing anyone who came in, and a couple high school girls who helped set up also hid in the hallways to grab at hands and feet of passing children.
I wasn't going for jump scares like many of the others, but rather disturbing creepiness. I was the stranger you should never take candy from. The kids came to my room with calls of "Trick or treat!", but would only get a masked stare or a slow head-tilt in response. I beckoned them inside and gave them some candy, but never said a word. Some of the kids were creeped out enough that they were reluctant to enter; in one case, a kid was pushed forward by his braver companions. If they got a good look at the board, they found it covered with dark writing:
I did have a frustrating hiccup that forced me to adapt on the fly. With the second group of kids to come through, some dumb kid turned on the lights and blew out the candle, making the room totally dark when the lights were off. I couldn't relight the candle because there was a nearly constant stream of kids, and I couldn't predict when the next group would come. A couple groups went past me before I realized that they didn't know I was in there (I could see okay because my eyes were adjusted), so I moved from the back of the room to the doorway so that they would be able to see me. I then had them follow me into the room, which many of them were extra-reluctant to do because it was so dark. A few groups turned on the lights, which let them get a good view of the board as they entered. It was hardly ideal, but it worked out well enough. My best scare was, amusingly enough, totally accidental - one of the high school helpers passed by me and wasn't expecting me in the doorway, and she actually fell down in shock. It was pretty sweet :)
After everyone went through the haunted house, we turned on the lights, took down the plastic in the hallways and served food for the party. I stayed in character until all the kids left, gliding from room to room in total silence. Most of the kids were both unnerved by my refusal to speak and insanely curious. Any questions about who I was or why I wouldn't say anything were met with stony silence, though I did shake my head if they tried to guess who I was. One of my first-graders got so worked up that anytime he saw me he would demand that I talk, and when I didn't he would jump up and down and scream, "Why aren't you talking?!" (He was smiling, so I at least knew I wasn't making him really upset.) Later in the evening I got a bit sillier and let the younger students lead me around by the arm, as well as playing a lot of games of rock-paper-scissors (which they also say as "Rock, scissors, paper!" for some reason), but I still wouldn't talk. When they couldn't get answers out of me, they would go pester another teacher about who I was; the usual response was, "Go ask Mr. Perrett!"
We started cleaning up around 8 pm and I finally took the costume off (I was sweating bullets in the jacket even with the AC on), though I continued to avoid speaking any time one of the students was nearby. I promised a few kids (with nods) to give them answers on Monday, and we finished the bulk of the cleaning around 8:30 pm. I hadn't gotten anything to eat because I didn't want to break character, so I was eager to take some food with me and get home. I did, however, accept an invitation to get a post-party drink, so I went back to my apartment and dropped off my stuff before heading back to the bar on the seventh floor of the building.
I was the only teacher to come - Michelle had left to meet a friend at 8:30 pm, and Dominic, Mike and Mike's girlfriend had turned down the offer because they were tired. I was also the only man and the one who didn't speak Korean, as the group was made up of myself, Mrs. Dugger and six of the female Korean staff members. I mostly sat around and enjoyed the energy (if not the meaning) of the conversation, occasionally saying a few words in English or extremely limited Korean. We did order food, thankfully, so I got plenty to eat, as well as a couple glasses of mixed soju and maekju (two kinds of popular Korean alcohol) from a beer tower the place set up for us:
It was surprisingly smooth and had really good flavor, making it the best drink I've had so far (which isn't saying much, considering how little I've had to drink). It was pretty potent, though, and I was also beat, so I went home about 11 pm and unwound for a couple hours. A very successful night, I have to say.
Oh, and I already have my answer planned out for the kids on Monday: "Some mysteries don't have answers, and those are the scariest mysteries of all." Happy Halloween!
Every year at Baron's English Academy, we invite the kids to come to a haunted house and Halloween party. The students helped decorate the classrooms and halls with paper skeletons and other Halloween art during the week to get them ready for the big day on Friday.
We came in early at 1 pm to set up the haunted house, and spent the next three and a half hours blacking out all the windows, hanging up balloon spiders, webs and ghosts, putting up sheets of plastic to section off the hallways, and setting up other spooky decorations. We had to work really fast, but we got it all done just in time and got into our costumes.
I don't usually dress up for Halloween, so I'd had no idea what to do for the party. I eventually found a Halloween store in Seoul, where I bought a jester/Mardi Gras/masquerade sort of mask and a black cape. I also picked up a pair of cheap white gloves to complete the ensemble, and wore it all with my black suit and a white shirt. The full-face mask (with a kinda creepy smile) gave me the idea to be silent and only communicate with gestures. The mask also had bells on top (which are cut off in the picture), and I worked out a slow head-tilt that would make the bells jingle.
Unfortunately, I only got a picture of one of my coworker's costumes. Mike ordered a roll of LEDs on a strip and sewed fasteners on a hooded sweatshirt and sweatpants, and with the help of our boss hooked it up to an on/off switch that he kept in his pocket. The end result was this:
Another coworker, Dominic, used a hardhat and construction paper to dress up as Pororo, a popular children's cartoon character.
My last coworker, Michelle, who teaches kindergarten, went as a frog. Mrs. Dugger put on a long white robe and a floor-length black wig for a ghost woman costume, and Mr. Dugger went in drag with a blonde, pigtailed wig.
At 4:30 pm the kindergarten kids came in for the first run-through. We turned off all the lights and each took a classroom, where we had a candle for a little light and some candy to give to the kids. We had spooky ambient effects playing on the office computer as well, courtesy of halloweenradio.net. The kindergarteners came through with their mothers, and although we kept the scares light, I think we scared their parents more than the kids! After the haunted house, they all got food and we got a breather until the rest of the students came at 5:30 pm.
Given free rein to scare the kids out of their wits, I took up position in the last room before the exit, with Mike in the room before mine. He hid in the storage room across the hall from his room and would wait until the kids slowly, uncertainly crept into the room, seeing only the candle and the bags of candy. Once they were inside, he would flick on the lights on his costume and jump out at them from behind. All I could hear were the screams of terror, but he told me that he got quite a few kids to jump and fall to the ground. Mrs. Dugger lurked in her office, grabbing anyone who came in, and a couple high school girls who helped set up also hid in the hallways to grab at hands and feet of passing children.
I wasn't going for jump scares like many of the others, but rather disturbing creepiness. I was the stranger you should never take candy from. The kids came to my room with calls of "Trick or treat!", but would only get a masked stare or a slow head-tilt in response. I beckoned them inside and gave them some candy, but never said a word. Some of the kids were creeped out enough that they were reluctant to enter; in one case, a kid was pushed forward by his braver companions. If they got a good look at the board, they found it covered with dark writing:
I did have a frustrating hiccup that forced me to adapt on the fly. With the second group of kids to come through, some dumb kid turned on the lights and blew out the candle, making the room totally dark when the lights were off. I couldn't relight the candle because there was a nearly constant stream of kids, and I couldn't predict when the next group would come. A couple groups went past me before I realized that they didn't know I was in there (I could see okay because my eyes were adjusted), so I moved from the back of the room to the doorway so that they would be able to see me. I then had them follow me into the room, which many of them were extra-reluctant to do because it was so dark. A few groups turned on the lights, which let them get a good view of the board as they entered. It was hardly ideal, but it worked out well enough. My best scare was, amusingly enough, totally accidental - one of the high school helpers passed by me and wasn't expecting me in the doorway, and she actually fell down in shock. It was pretty sweet :)
After everyone went through the haunted house, we turned on the lights, took down the plastic in the hallways and served food for the party. I stayed in character until all the kids left, gliding from room to room in total silence. Most of the kids were both unnerved by my refusal to speak and insanely curious. Any questions about who I was or why I wouldn't say anything were met with stony silence, though I did shake my head if they tried to guess who I was. One of my first-graders got so worked up that anytime he saw me he would demand that I talk, and when I didn't he would jump up and down and scream, "Why aren't you talking?!" (He was smiling, so I at least knew I wasn't making him really upset.) Later in the evening I got a bit sillier and let the younger students lead me around by the arm, as well as playing a lot of games of rock-paper-scissors (which they also say as "Rock, scissors, paper!" for some reason), but I still wouldn't talk. When they couldn't get answers out of me, they would go pester another teacher about who I was; the usual response was, "Go ask Mr. Perrett!"
We started cleaning up around 8 pm and I finally took the costume off (I was sweating bullets in the jacket even with the AC on), though I continued to avoid speaking any time one of the students was nearby. I promised a few kids (with nods) to give them answers on Monday, and we finished the bulk of the cleaning around 8:30 pm. I hadn't gotten anything to eat because I didn't want to break character, so I was eager to take some food with me and get home. I did, however, accept an invitation to get a post-party drink, so I went back to my apartment and dropped off my stuff before heading back to the bar on the seventh floor of the building.
I was the only teacher to come - Michelle had left to meet a friend at 8:30 pm, and Dominic, Mike and Mike's girlfriend had turned down the offer because they were tired. I was also the only man and the one who didn't speak Korean, as the group was made up of myself, Mrs. Dugger and six of the female Korean staff members. I mostly sat around and enjoyed the energy (if not the meaning) of the conversation, occasionally saying a few words in English or extremely limited Korean. We did order food, thankfully, so I got plenty to eat, as well as a couple glasses of mixed soju and maekju (two kinds of popular Korean alcohol) from a beer tower the place set up for us:
It was surprisingly smooth and had really good flavor, making it the best drink I've had so far (which isn't saying much, considering how little I've had to drink). It was pretty potent, though, and I was also beat, so I went home about 11 pm and unwound for a couple hours. A very successful night, I have to say.
Oh, and I already have my answer planned out for the kids on Monday: "Some mysteries don't have answers, and those are the scariest mysteries of all." Happy Halloween!
Tuesday, September 10, 2013
Korean Bus Misadventures
Today, my challenge was to take an unfamiliar bus to a doctor's office I'd been driven to while feeling terrible. I managed to do that, but it wound up being a big mess that took about an hour longer than needed. Needless to say, I wasn't very happy with how things turned out, but at least it'll be vastly easier the next time.
I've only talked about my recent bout with illness on Facebook, so here's a quick recap for anyone who hasn't seen my many posts about it there: I've been sick for going on four week with what I thought was a cold but appears to be acute sinusitis. I finally went to see a doctor and took a sick day last week when I simply couldn't function anymore due to a horrible, constant, hacking cough. My boss, Julie, drove me to the doctor's office then, and he diagnosed me and prescribed a battery of medicine, including antibiotics and antihistamines, for five days. I ran out of medication yesterday, but I was only feeling maybe 25-50% better, so I needed to go back.
Julie told me to take the 223 bus at the bus stop near Lotte Mart, the nearby supermarket, so off I went at 11 am. I got to the bus stop and confirmed that the 223 stopped there - it had a cool display that showed where each bus was and how long until it would arrive - but when it showed up, the driver looked confused when I tried to get on. He asked me where I was going, but I barely knew myself. I tried my best to explain, and for a while he thought I needed a different bus until I said I was going toward the airport. He told me to go to the bus stop across the street, but when I got there, I didn't see anything that said the 223 would stop there. I texted Julie and asked which stop I was looking for (one stop after E-Mart, she replied), and thankfully the 223 arrived a couple minutes later. Problem solved, I thought.
The bus made its way to the E-Mart stop, but the next stop was about 30 seconds away, wasn't announced and didn't look familiar, so I thought I needed the next stop. Worse case scenario, I would just get on a bus going back and try again. It turned out that the next stop was a good 5-10 minutes away, taking me almost back home! I crossed the street and got on the next 223, though I had to pass through three stops again before I got to the right one. The area still didn't look familiar, but I knew it had to be right, so I blundered around for a few frustrating minutes before I finally saw something I recognized. I finally got to the doctor's office around 12:30 pm, much later than I'd anticipated.
Thankfully, things went smoothly at the doctor's office. The doctor saw me almost immediately, and he had me take some quick X-rays of my sinuses. They showed that my sinuses are still full of mucus, so he prescribed another seven days of medication and said to come back next week. After getting a sizable bag of meds from the pharmacy, I trekked back to the bus stop to go home.
Julie had told me that the bus stopped close to my apartment, though I had no idea where, and somehow managed to get off too soon because I thought it looked familiar (it wasn't). After what felt like a long wait for the next bus, I found out that I'd gotten off exactly one stop too soon. While not a major error, it still annoyed me because I'd messed up both getting there and getting back. I got home around 1:30 pm, which left me with a little time to eat a small snack, brush my teeth and get changed for work. At least I know where to go next time, the next week's trip won't be as frustrating or exhausting. Plus, I'll hopefully be feeling a whole lot better.
On a related note, I am very grateful for the extremely low medical costs here in Korea. My visit today - including X-rays - cost ~$5. I think I spent more taking the bus, though admittedly I took four buses instead of two. My medication was my most expensive yet, but it still only cost ~$18, which is less than my copay back home. This illness might be debilitating and maddeningly persistent, but at least I'm not going broke treating it.
I've only talked about my recent bout with illness on Facebook, so here's a quick recap for anyone who hasn't seen my many posts about it there: I've been sick for going on four week with what I thought was a cold but appears to be acute sinusitis. I finally went to see a doctor and took a sick day last week when I simply couldn't function anymore due to a horrible, constant, hacking cough. My boss, Julie, drove me to the doctor's office then, and he diagnosed me and prescribed a battery of medicine, including antibiotics and antihistamines, for five days. I ran out of medication yesterday, but I was only feeling maybe 25-50% better, so I needed to go back.
Julie told me to take the 223 bus at the bus stop near Lotte Mart, the nearby supermarket, so off I went at 11 am. I got to the bus stop and confirmed that the 223 stopped there - it had a cool display that showed where each bus was and how long until it would arrive - but when it showed up, the driver looked confused when I tried to get on. He asked me where I was going, but I barely knew myself. I tried my best to explain, and for a while he thought I needed a different bus until I said I was going toward the airport. He told me to go to the bus stop across the street, but when I got there, I didn't see anything that said the 223 would stop there. I texted Julie and asked which stop I was looking for (one stop after E-Mart, she replied), and thankfully the 223 arrived a couple minutes later. Problem solved, I thought.
The bus made its way to the E-Mart stop, but the next stop was about 30 seconds away, wasn't announced and didn't look familiar, so I thought I needed the next stop. Worse case scenario, I would just get on a bus going back and try again. It turned out that the next stop was a good 5-10 minutes away, taking me almost back home! I crossed the street and got on the next 223, though I had to pass through three stops again before I got to the right one. The area still didn't look familiar, but I knew it had to be right, so I blundered around for a few frustrating minutes before I finally saw something I recognized. I finally got to the doctor's office around 12:30 pm, much later than I'd anticipated.
Thankfully, things went smoothly at the doctor's office. The doctor saw me almost immediately, and he had me take some quick X-rays of my sinuses. They showed that my sinuses are still full of mucus, so he prescribed another seven days of medication and said to come back next week. After getting a sizable bag of meds from the pharmacy, I trekked back to the bus stop to go home.
Julie had told me that the bus stopped close to my apartment, though I had no idea where, and somehow managed to get off too soon because I thought it looked familiar (it wasn't). After what felt like a long wait for the next bus, I found out that I'd gotten off exactly one stop too soon. While not a major error, it still annoyed me because I'd messed up both getting there and getting back. I got home around 1:30 pm, which left me with a little time to eat a small snack, brush my teeth and get changed for work. At least I know where to go next time, the next week's trip won't be as frustrating or exhausting. Plus, I'll hopefully be feeling a whole lot better.
On a related note, I am very grateful for the extremely low medical costs here in Korea. My visit today - including X-rays - cost ~$5. I think I spent more taking the bus, though admittedly I took four buses instead of two. My medication was my most expensive yet, but it still only cost ~$18, which is less than my copay back home. This illness might be debilitating and maddeningly persistent, but at least I'm not going broke treating it.
Tuesday, September 3, 2013
The Noh Family Wedding
On Saturday, August 31st, I attended the wedding of Soee's older sister at Apgujeong Catholic Church. The ceremony was fairly brief, and I didn't understand much because it was all in Korean, but I thought I'd share some of the interesting differences between a standard Western wedding and a Korean Catholic one:
-Instead of the bride and groom not seeing each other until the bride walks down the aisle, the bride and groom came out together. The groom then walked to the front first, followed shortly by the bride and her father. (On a related note, both the groom and the father wore white gloves.)
-The bride and groom then knelt at the base of the steps leading up to the podium. (I'm not 100% sure if they were kneeling or sitting, since my view wasn't very good.) At the end of the ceremony, I saw people take away a couple wooden objects that they were kneeling on/sitting at.
-The bride and groom almost never faced each other; they spent the vast majority of the ceremony side-by-side looking up at the priest. They also read their vows off a script provided for them.
-Instead of a big kiss to finalize things, they faced the audience and did a quick peck on the lips.
-There was a best man and maid of honor, but no groomsmen or bridesmaids.
-After the ceremony, the bridge changed out of her wedding dress into a simple red dress. I heard that it's traditional to wear a hanbok (a traditional Korean dress), but they can be really hot in the summer, so it's becoming more common for brides to wear Western-style formal dresses instead.
-The bridge and groom cut a small cake as part of the reception, but no one ate any of it. After cutting the cake, they then retreated into a family-only room in the back for what I imagine was some much-needed privacy.
-As is typical in most Asian countries, wedding gifts are usually cash, around 30,000 won (for acquaintances) to 50,000 won (for close friends). I understand that this was the solution to the age-old problem of "I got six of the same thing, and none of them were what I wanted!" Instead of wedding registries, however, they decided to just give money. I brought a Western-style gift (a hair dryer requested by the bride), though only because they wanted me to do it that way.
I think that's about it for the major differences I remember. If I can think of anything else, I'll update the post. Overall, it was very interesting to observe and be a part of it all!
-Instead of the bride and groom not seeing each other until the bride walks down the aisle, the bride and groom came out together. The groom then walked to the front first, followed shortly by the bride and her father. (On a related note, both the groom and the father wore white gloves.)
-The bride and groom then knelt at the base of the steps leading up to the podium. (I'm not 100% sure if they were kneeling or sitting, since my view wasn't very good.) At the end of the ceremony, I saw people take away a couple wooden objects that they were kneeling on/sitting at.
-The bride and groom almost never faced each other; they spent the vast majority of the ceremony side-by-side looking up at the priest. They also read their vows off a script provided for them.
-Instead of a big kiss to finalize things, they faced the audience and did a quick peck on the lips.
-There was a best man and maid of honor, but no groomsmen or bridesmaids.
-After the ceremony, the bridge changed out of her wedding dress into a simple red dress. I heard that it's traditional to wear a hanbok (a traditional Korean dress), but they can be really hot in the summer, so it's becoming more common for brides to wear Western-style formal dresses instead.
-The bridge and groom cut a small cake as part of the reception, but no one ate any of it. After cutting the cake, they then retreated into a family-only room in the back for what I imagine was some much-needed privacy.
-As is typical in most Asian countries, wedding gifts are usually cash, around 30,000 won (for acquaintances) to 50,000 won (for close friends). I understand that this was the solution to the age-old problem of "I got six of the same thing, and none of them were what I wanted!" Instead of wedding registries, however, they decided to just give money. I brought a Western-style gift (a hair dryer requested by the bride), though only because they wanted me to do it that way.
I think that's about it for the major differences I remember. If I can think of anything else, I'll update the post. Overall, it was very interesting to observe and be a part of it all!
Monday, July 8, 2013
Lotte World
Yesterday Joyce and I joined the Global Expats meetup group for a day at Lotte World in Seoul, the largest indoor theme park in the world (or so they claim). The tickets are usually about $44 for an all-day pass, but the organizer got a special deal for the first ten people to pay, so we only had to pay $22. 21 people signed up for the meetup, though the group wound up being about twelve total. We met in Jamsil Station at 12:30 pm and then walked to the entrance of the park, which is actually built into the subway station!
It was already starting to sprinkle and the weather forecast called for rain, so we decided to head to the outside part of the park, Magic Island, before the rain hit.
The lines were still really short at that time, so the first ride we hit up was the Gyro Drop, one of those drop-you-into-freefall rides. I'm not big on rides, but Joyce and the others convinced me to give it a try. The "Gyro" part was only on the way up (it slowly spun in a circle while climbing), though the descent was a straight drop. There was no line after we finished, so the others went again immediately. Once was enough for me, so I hung back and took a few pictures with the organizer's fancy camera.
Next was the Gyro Swing, which was easily the most terrifying ride I went on. It was essentially a circular Viking that went up to about a 90 degree angle and also spun you around. It took a few swings before I was able to stop tensing up and just relax, and after that it was pretty fun. In an odd coincidence, it started raining as we were getting on, but stopped as soon as we got off. Just long enough to completely soak us while flying through the air!
Next we got in line for the Ghost House, partially because it was starting to sprinkle again. A few people decided that they weren't that interested and went their own way, and we never saw them again. For reasons I can't remember now, we chose not to stand in line for the Ghost House and instead see the Samba Parade at 2 pm. A couple people had already gone inside, however, so we waited for them to come out. Joyce and I briefly considered the bumper cars nearly, but decided that the line was too long at the moment. The two people in the Ghost house came out a short while later and said that it had been pretty lame - something about following a cat through a house while watching "scary" video clips.
With our group (mostly) reassembled, we headed inside the main park to watch the Samba Parade. It was kind of neat, with a ton of beautiful/handsome and fit foreigners (and a few Koreans) in a wide array of colorful costumes. I took a lot of pictures, but unfortunately most of them came out blurry.
After the parade passed on the way to the nearby stage, the organizer tried to get us to come to the stage with him, but he moved too fast and we quickly lost track of him. We quickly gave up, and the six of us that had stayed together got in line for the Conquistador, a fairly standard Viking-style ride. It was the first really enjoyable ride for me, mostly because it was a lot easier to just go with it and have fun. Of course, we were in the middle instead of the far ends, but still ;)
Some of us were curious about the Tomb of Horror and Mirror Maze attractions, though unlike the other rides, these were listed as games and required an extra 3,000 won ticket per person. Most of the group balked at this, so we gave up on the idea.
Taking a chance on the rain, we went back outside to see about riding Atlantis, a small car-style roller coaster that zips in and out of a castle. Unfortunately they had to shut it down because of the rain, so we got in line for the bumper cars (Metro Madness!) while we waited for the weather to change. About halfway through the wait the rain stopped, and two of our group who weren't interested in bumper cars got back in line for Atlantis. The bumper cars looked kind of lame - eight cars in a big, ovular track with a divider that seemed to encourage taking laps - but when we got in the cars it was actually pretty fun. Joyce and I got each other a few times, which was good!
The line for Atlantis had grown while we were on the bumper cars, and we had to wait a little while for the staff to do a few test runs, but the wait wasn't bad (maybe 30 minutes). Apparently a worker had died on the ride a few years back during a test run because he hadn't used the safety equipment properly; lamentable, but it does go to show just how important it is to follow safety protocol at all times. The ride itself was quite fun!
Next, following the advice of the "Exciting Thrill Mania" tour in the guidebook, we went to check out the Comet Express. We were quite confused about this one - the guidebook just said it was an "exuberating space train where the seats spin freely" - but we couldn't see any nearby ride that matched that description. After we got inside the building, we discovered that it was actually underground, with a second line in a science/space-themed area. (Lotte World had a lot of these 'hidden' or two-stage lines where we thought we were almost in, just to find another line! I'm sure these are common everywhere, but I haven't been to an amusement park in ages, and it annoyed everyone in the group too.) The ride was sort of like a dark, teacups-style roller coaster, only we couldn't control the seats. This one was hard on my stomach because the ride made a lot of sharp, unexpected turns, and marked the beginning of a building nausea problem.
Following that, we briefly considered riding the Bungee Drop (very similar to the Gyro Drop, only it "bounces" you three times), but since it was already 4 pm we instead chose to get some lunch.
We stopped by Marcos Kitchen and got pasta, omelets and quesadillas (Joyce brought her own lunch of fresh vegetables), then got in the hour-long line for the Flume Ride while we digested. This one was a four-person water boat ride with a jungle theme, and was fairly tame aside from two steep drops. It also took pictures as we went down, and I looked like a stoned zombie on our photo (mostly because I was focused on staying relaxed - I was having fun, I swear!) One of our group bought her boat's photo for giggles, and we said good bye to another member around 6 pm, so we were down to five people.
Next we took on the Giant Loop, which, unsurprisingly, built up to a 360 degree loop forwards and then backwards. The biggest challenge was finding the way up to it; we went up the exit stairs only to find out that the entrance was through the nearby arcade. We then had to get directions inside the arcade to an almost hidden staircase up to the ride itself. Thankfully there wasn't a line, probably because no one else could find it either!
After the Giant Loop, we took on the French Revolution on the second floor, a corkscrew/looping-style roller coaster. We waited another hour for this one, though at least it didn't have any hidden lines. Joyce and the other women had to take off their earrings for safety reasons, so we knew this one was serious business. This one was probably #3 on the terror scale after Gyro Swing and Gyro drop, but mercifully brief at about two minutes. It was here that I noticed that my nausea was becoming a serious issue that wasn't going away on its own.
Next we went up to the third floor for Jungle Adventure, another water ride complete with creepy animatronics of monkeys, elephants, adventurers, and a shoot out in the middle east (huh?) The ride was on a big, circular, six-person boat with an inner tube-style bumper around the outside that made it spin around unpredictably whenever it hit a way. It was actually pretty tame after the others with no drops at all, and we only got a tiny bit wet (after signs that said "You may get wet" followed by "You WILL get wet"), but it really made my stomach act up.
Everyone then headed up to the fourth floor for the Pharaoh's Fury, but I wisely decided to sit that one out. I had a killer headache by that point, though thankfully two of the women in the group had Advil. I downed the pills at a water fountain, then got a plain hot dog at New York Hotdog so they wouldn't wreck my stomach. I had to eat very, very slowly however, using the meditation techniques I'd learned at Hwagyesa to stay calm and relaxed while the nausea worked itself out. It took about 30-40 minutes to get through my hot dog, though I was feeling a lot better afterwards. The group found me right after I finished, and while it was getting late (around 8 pm), they weren't really that interested in eating, so we went in search of one more ride.
Before going on another ride, we stopped in a very cool illusion-themed art museum. All of the paintings had some way you could interact with them to make a neat photo, like giving yourself angel wings, (accidentally) destroying priceless artwork or holding back a lion from grabbing a zebra. Joyce and I got some interesting shots here :)
Our last ride of the day was on the basement floor, and it was the 4D Shooting Theater. We waited about ten minutes for the next show, then got our 3D glasses and went inside. The theater had moving seats to simulate the feel of a ride, and each one had a light gun that we used to play a group shooting game on the screen. A dwarf gave us some quick story and shooting tips (in Korean, of course), then turned us loose on a mine cart ride infested with bats, goblins, skeletons, mummies, and a lich as the final boss. There were also piles of gold to shoot for bonus points, and shooting the dwarf gave penalty points. With 38 people in the theater it was super chaotic, and I had no idea which of the colors or symbols was mine. After the game they did a run-through of everyone's score from best to worst, and somehow I ended up with the lowest score, which my companions got a big laugh out of.
It was getting close to 9 pm by that point, so we finally called it a day and went our separate ways. The only two rides we didn't go on that we'd considered were the Bungee Drop, the Drunken Baskets (teacups) and the balloon ride along the ceiling, so it was a full day all in all. I wouldn't have gone on half of the rides without the group encouraging me to try them, so I rode my first roller coasters today and had fun. The Gyro Drop and French Revolution were a bit too much for me, but overall I had a great time trying some new things. None of the lines were longer than an hour, which is pretty good compared to a lot of amusement parks. Even with the rain, nausea and headache I had a very good experience at my first amusement park in at least a decade!
It was already starting to sprinkle and the weather forecast called for rain, so we decided to head to the outside part of the park, Magic Island, before the rain hit.
The lines were still really short at that time, so the first ride we hit up was the Gyro Drop, one of those drop-you-into-freefall rides. I'm not big on rides, but Joyce and the others convinced me to give it a try. The "Gyro" part was only on the way up (it slowly spun in a circle while climbing), though the descent was a straight drop. There was no line after we finished, so the others went again immediately. Once was enough for me, so I hung back and took a few pictures with the organizer's fancy camera.
Next was the Gyro Swing, which was easily the most terrifying ride I went on. It was essentially a circular Viking that went up to about a 90 degree angle and also spun you around. It took a few swings before I was able to stop tensing up and just relax, and after that it was pretty fun. In an odd coincidence, it started raining as we were getting on, but stopped as soon as we got off. Just long enough to completely soak us while flying through the air!
Next we got in line for the Ghost House, partially because it was starting to sprinkle again. A few people decided that they weren't that interested and went their own way, and we never saw them again. For reasons I can't remember now, we chose not to stand in line for the Ghost House and instead see the Samba Parade at 2 pm. A couple people had already gone inside, however, so we waited for them to come out. Joyce and I briefly considered the bumper cars nearly, but decided that the line was too long at the moment. The two people in the Ghost house came out a short while later and said that it had been pretty lame - something about following a cat through a house while watching "scary" video clips.
With our group (mostly) reassembled, we headed inside the main park to watch the Samba Parade. It was kind of neat, with a ton of beautiful/handsome and fit foreigners (and a few Koreans) in a wide array of colorful costumes. I took a lot of pictures, but unfortunately most of them came out blurry.
After the parade passed on the way to the nearby stage, the organizer tried to get us to come to the stage with him, but he moved too fast and we quickly lost track of him. We quickly gave up, and the six of us that had stayed together got in line for the Conquistador, a fairly standard Viking-style ride. It was the first really enjoyable ride for me, mostly because it was a lot easier to just go with it and have fun. Of course, we were in the middle instead of the far ends, but still ;)
Some of us were curious about the Tomb of Horror and Mirror Maze attractions, though unlike the other rides, these were listed as games and required an extra 3,000 won ticket per person. Most of the group balked at this, so we gave up on the idea.
Taking a chance on the rain, we went back outside to see about riding Atlantis, a small car-style roller coaster that zips in and out of a castle. Unfortunately they had to shut it down because of the rain, so we got in line for the bumper cars (Metro Madness!) while we waited for the weather to change. About halfway through the wait the rain stopped, and two of our group who weren't interested in bumper cars got back in line for Atlantis. The bumper cars looked kind of lame - eight cars in a big, ovular track with a divider that seemed to encourage taking laps - but when we got in the cars it was actually pretty fun. Joyce and I got each other a few times, which was good!
The line for Atlantis had grown while we were on the bumper cars, and we had to wait a little while for the staff to do a few test runs, but the wait wasn't bad (maybe 30 minutes). Apparently a worker had died on the ride a few years back during a test run because he hadn't used the safety equipment properly; lamentable, but it does go to show just how important it is to follow safety protocol at all times. The ride itself was quite fun!
Next, following the advice of the "Exciting Thrill Mania" tour in the guidebook, we went to check out the Comet Express. We were quite confused about this one - the guidebook just said it was an "exuberating space train where the seats spin freely" - but we couldn't see any nearby ride that matched that description. After we got inside the building, we discovered that it was actually underground, with a second line in a science/space-themed area. (Lotte World had a lot of these 'hidden' or two-stage lines where we thought we were almost in, just to find another line! I'm sure these are common everywhere, but I haven't been to an amusement park in ages, and it annoyed everyone in the group too.) The ride was sort of like a dark, teacups-style roller coaster, only we couldn't control the seats. This one was hard on my stomach because the ride made a lot of sharp, unexpected turns, and marked the beginning of a building nausea problem.
Following that, we briefly considered riding the Bungee Drop (very similar to the Gyro Drop, only it "bounces" you three times), but since it was already 4 pm we instead chose to get some lunch.
We stopped by Marcos Kitchen and got pasta, omelets and quesadillas (Joyce brought her own lunch of fresh vegetables), then got in the hour-long line for the Flume Ride while we digested. This one was a four-person water boat ride with a jungle theme, and was fairly tame aside from two steep drops. It also took pictures as we went down, and I looked like a stoned zombie on our photo (mostly because I was focused on staying relaxed - I was having fun, I swear!) One of our group bought her boat's photo for giggles, and we said good bye to another member around 6 pm, so we were down to five people.
Next we took on the Giant Loop, which, unsurprisingly, built up to a 360 degree loop forwards and then backwards. The biggest challenge was finding the way up to it; we went up the exit stairs only to find out that the entrance was through the nearby arcade. We then had to get directions inside the arcade to an almost hidden staircase up to the ride itself. Thankfully there wasn't a line, probably because no one else could find it either!
After the Giant Loop, we took on the French Revolution on the second floor, a corkscrew/looping-style roller coaster. We waited another hour for this one, though at least it didn't have any hidden lines. Joyce and the other women had to take off their earrings for safety reasons, so we knew this one was serious business. This one was probably #3 on the terror scale after Gyro Swing and Gyro drop, but mercifully brief at about two minutes. It was here that I noticed that my nausea was becoming a serious issue that wasn't going away on its own.
Next we went up to the third floor for Jungle Adventure, another water ride complete with creepy animatronics of monkeys, elephants, adventurers, and a shoot out in the middle east (huh?) The ride was on a big, circular, six-person boat with an inner tube-style bumper around the outside that made it spin around unpredictably whenever it hit a way. It was actually pretty tame after the others with no drops at all, and we only got a tiny bit wet (after signs that said "You may get wet" followed by "You WILL get wet"), but it really made my stomach act up.
Everyone then headed up to the fourth floor for the Pharaoh's Fury, but I wisely decided to sit that one out. I had a killer headache by that point, though thankfully two of the women in the group had Advil. I downed the pills at a water fountain, then got a plain hot dog at New York Hotdog so they wouldn't wreck my stomach. I had to eat very, very slowly however, using the meditation techniques I'd learned at Hwagyesa to stay calm and relaxed while the nausea worked itself out. It took about 30-40 minutes to get through my hot dog, though I was feeling a lot better afterwards. The group found me right after I finished, and while it was getting late (around 8 pm), they weren't really that interested in eating, so we went in search of one more ride.
Before going on another ride, we stopped in a very cool illusion-themed art museum. All of the paintings had some way you could interact with them to make a neat photo, like giving yourself angel wings, (accidentally) destroying priceless artwork or holding back a lion from grabbing a zebra. Joyce and I got some interesting shots here :)
Our last ride of the day was on the basement floor, and it was the 4D Shooting Theater. We waited about ten minutes for the next show, then got our 3D glasses and went inside. The theater had moving seats to simulate the feel of a ride, and each one had a light gun that we used to play a group shooting game on the screen. A dwarf gave us some quick story and shooting tips (in Korean, of course), then turned us loose on a mine cart ride infested with bats, goblins, skeletons, mummies, and a lich as the final boss. There were also piles of gold to shoot for bonus points, and shooting the dwarf gave penalty points. With 38 people in the theater it was super chaotic, and I had no idea which of the colors or symbols was mine. After the game they did a run-through of everyone's score from best to worst, and somehow I ended up with the lowest score, which my companions got a big laugh out of.
It was getting close to 9 pm by that point, so we finally called it a day and went our separate ways. The only two rides we didn't go on that we'd considered were the Bungee Drop, the Drunken Baskets (teacups) and the balloon ride along the ceiling, so it was a full day all in all. I wouldn't have gone on half of the rides without the group encouraging me to try them, so I rode my first roller coasters today and had fun. The Gyro Drop and French Revolution were a bit too much for me, but overall I had a great time trying some new things. None of the lines were longer than an hour, which is pretty good compared to a lot of amusement parks. Even with the rain, nausea and headache I had a very good experience at my first amusement park in at least a decade!
Saturday, May 18, 2013
Costco in Korea
Last Thursday I went to Costco with one of my two bosses, Julie, and her mother. (Yes, it did take me over a week to get around to writing this -_-) I was going to just give Julie a list of things to pick up for me like my coworkers, but I didn't have any idea what they had in stock and I was curious about the differences between Costco here and in the US. We met at the school at 10:30 am and started the hour-long drive there, crossing four toll stations along the way. (Korea is similar to Japan, in that you have to periodically pay tolls on the vast majority of the highways as well as when crossing bridges. This can make taking taxis to other cities extra expensive, as the drivers will add the cost of the tolls to the fare.) We did get a little lost on the way and had to break out the GPS, which is why we had to go through four toll stations (it was three on the drive home). I wasn't keeping a close eye on the costs, but it was over $10. Keep in mind that's one way!
The store is located in Goyang, a town to the northwest of Seoul and near Gimpo Airport. The facility was, I thought, really very interesting: what you see above ground is just the five-story parking garage, while the store itself takes up two floors underground. We parked on the first floor and grabbed three double-sized shopping carts (and filled all three to the brim, too!), then went down two slanted, stairless escalators to get to the bottom floor.
(The above picture isn't from Costco, but these escalators are common in big stores in Korea. The escalators are magnetized to keep the carts from sliding. At Costco, they have staff at the top of the escalators going up to help you pull your full carts off when the magnetism lets go.)
According to Julie, the bottom is all non-perishables (clothes, appliances, dishes, soap, vitamins, rice/grains, canned food etc.) while the next floor up has the perishable food (fruit/vegetables, meat, cheese, frozen food, dried fruit and nuts, bread, etc.) as well as the checkout counters and hot food. It looked very much like the Costcos back home, not too surprisingly.
I picked up some calcium gummis (because I don't like to swallow pills if I don't have to), California black olives and diced tomatoes down here, which none of the local stores sell. They didn't have cans of plain tomato sauce, unfortunately, though on the next floor they had a large variety of pre-made pasta sauces (which I didn't buy because I prefer to make my own.) I also got two huge bottles of environmentally friendly liquid laundry detergent and splurged on a Sonicare toothbrush (which, at 149,000 won, was more than half of my total bill). It's a different style than the ones my family and I used back home, but it came with a UV toothbrush sanitizer and five heads, so I won't need to get more for over a year. I will need to get adapters if I want to bring them back to the US, but I'll worry about that bridge when I cross it :)
I'd largely been following Julie around on the bottom floor, but we got separated pretty quickly on the next floor because it was a complete madhouse. I was tempted by cheese and ravioli/tortellini, but decided not to because I didn't really need them and I had no idea how much I was going to wind up spending (hint: it was no small sum). I did get bananas and a big package of frozen shrimp, but I was underwhelmed by their bread selection; even the "whole grain" bread was like Wonder Bread with brown flakes. Their peanut butter and cereal were also disappointing - all they had was Jiffy (I didn't buy any), and 90% of their cereal was diabetes in a box. They didn't have plain Cheerios (just Honey Nut), though I did get a couple boxes of something with heritage grains that seemed pretty healthy. I had plenty of oatmeal from my trip to the Itaewon Foreigner Market, so I didn't need to buy more. I also got a big bag of raisins to go with my oatmeal.
About that time Julie found me, and I helped her load up our two carts with things for my coworkers and stuff for school snacks, including seven big packages of penne and six huge bottles of tomato sauce. We checked out and sat down to eat lunch - Julie got us three large trays of sushi. According to her, the store rotates its stock frequently and often moves things around in an effort to get people to come more often (to see new things) and explore the whole store (to find what you're looking for). The place is also apparently quite popular with students, who come to the food court for cheap food after school. When lunch was over, we hauled our carts back to the van and loaded it up, then headed back to the island. They dropped me and my stuff off at my apartment around 2 pm, giving me a little time to push away a few things and change into my work clothes before classes started.
Later, I worked out what I owed Julie (the total was around $276, which surprised me) and paid her through an online bank transfer. I may not have gotten the cereal, bread or peanut butter I wanted, but it's nice to have olives and diced tomatoes again, at least for a little while. It was a very tiring trip, though I might go again next time just to poke around again. Julie said she goes every six months or so, so we'll see. All in all, it was in interesting excursion!
The store is located in Goyang, a town to the northwest of Seoul and near Gimpo Airport. The facility was, I thought, really very interesting: what you see above ground is just the five-story parking garage, while the store itself takes up two floors underground. We parked on the first floor and grabbed three double-sized shopping carts (and filled all three to the brim, too!), then went down two slanted, stairless escalators to get to the bottom floor.
(The above picture isn't from Costco, but these escalators are common in big stores in Korea. The escalators are magnetized to keep the carts from sliding. At Costco, they have staff at the top of the escalators going up to help you pull your full carts off when the magnetism lets go.)
According to Julie, the bottom is all non-perishables (clothes, appliances, dishes, soap, vitamins, rice/grains, canned food etc.) while the next floor up has the perishable food (fruit/vegetables, meat, cheese, frozen food, dried fruit and nuts, bread, etc.) as well as the checkout counters and hot food. It looked very much like the Costcos back home, not too surprisingly.
I picked up some calcium gummis (because I don't like to swallow pills if I don't have to), California black olives and diced tomatoes down here, which none of the local stores sell. They didn't have cans of plain tomato sauce, unfortunately, though on the next floor they had a large variety of pre-made pasta sauces (which I didn't buy because I prefer to make my own.) I also got two huge bottles of environmentally friendly liquid laundry detergent and splurged on a Sonicare toothbrush (which, at 149,000 won, was more than half of my total bill). It's a different style than the ones my family and I used back home, but it came with a UV toothbrush sanitizer and five heads, so I won't need to get more for over a year. I will need to get adapters if I want to bring them back to the US, but I'll worry about that bridge when I cross it :)
I'd largely been following Julie around on the bottom floor, but we got separated pretty quickly on the next floor because it was a complete madhouse. I was tempted by cheese and ravioli/tortellini, but decided not to because I didn't really need them and I had no idea how much I was going to wind up spending (hint: it was no small sum). I did get bananas and a big package of frozen shrimp, but I was underwhelmed by their bread selection; even the "whole grain" bread was like Wonder Bread with brown flakes. Their peanut butter and cereal were also disappointing - all they had was Jiffy (I didn't buy any), and 90% of their cereal was diabetes in a box. They didn't have plain Cheerios (just Honey Nut), though I did get a couple boxes of something with heritage grains that seemed pretty healthy. I had plenty of oatmeal from my trip to the Itaewon Foreigner Market, so I didn't need to buy more. I also got a big bag of raisins to go with my oatmeal.
About that time Julie found me, and I helped her load up our two carts with things for my coworkers and stuff for school snacks, including seven big packages of penne and six huge bottles of tomato sauce. We checked out and sat down to eat lunch - Julie got us three large trays of sushi. According to her, the store rotates its stock frequently and often moves things around in an effort to get people to come more often (to see new things) and explore the whole store (to find what you're looking for). The place is also apparently quite popular with students, who come to the food court for cheap food after school. When lunch was over, we hauled our carts back to the van and loaded it up, then headed back to the island. They dropped me and my stuff off at my apartment around 2 pm, giving me a little time to push away a few things and change into my work clothes before classes started.
Later, I worked out what I owed Julie (the total was around $276, which surprised me) and paid her through an online bank transfer. I may not have gotten the cereal, bread or peanut butter I wanted, but it's nice to have olives and diced tomatoes again, at least for a little while. It was a very tiring trip, though I might go again next time just to poke around again. Julie said she goes every six months or so, so we'll see. All in all, it was in interesting excursion!
Saturday, March 30, 2013
One Month Already?
It's hard to believe I've been here a month already. The first couple
weeks were hell, but now that I'm settling into a routine (and we have
all of the books,) things aren't too bad. This week actually went by
really quickly, surprisingly. We're working on some April Fools pranks
for the kids tomorrow, like switching teachers and giving them word
searches with none of the words. It should be a lot of fun!
Every Friday we're supposed to have a test for the kids, and it's our responsibility to come up with the tests (since every class could be at a different point and have covered different vocabulary.) I've mostly done spelling tests with my first graders, though I'm experimenting a lot with my other classes right now. I've done vocabulary definitions, story writing (use 5/10 of the 10/20 words to make a story,) story sequencing (put the events in order,) and reading comprehension questions. Finding the right balance between too easy and too hard is tricky, of course, and so far I think I've been leaning towards too hard. I like the story-writing tests, but some words (especially nouns and adjectives) are really easy to use without really showing that they know what they mean. I've been writing questions like "Why did you thrash a rock?" and having them rewrite their stories with my corrections and answers to my questions. They also take a long time to grade because I'm correcting their grammar, spelling and sentence structure (sometimes extensively,) and interpreting what they're saying and their understanding of the words can take a lot of thought.
One small problem that I'm noticing is that the classrooms get really dirty REALLY quickly. Each room has one small trash can, but while we're not responsible for cleaning the rooms, the cleaner only comes in once a week. Things are nice on Monday, but by Friday the rooms are pretty filthy. The students aren't always tidy eaters, of course, so certain snacks (especially noodles, rice and anything with sauce) can get everywhere.
Speaking of dirty, my washing machine is driving me up the wall. Even after cleaning out the lint filters as best I can, my clothes still come out dirty. I'm going to have to re-wash a pair of pants because the outside is covered in soap that didn't get washed off. I've not sure how much of it is the machine and how much is my not knowing how to use it correctly, but it's really aggravating. Baron still needs to come over sometime and help me get rid of the old TV and such, so hopefully he can help me figure out what the problem is, whenever that happens. I'd hate to have to go to the trouble of getting a new washing machine, but it's hard to live like this when I don't know how to get my clothes properly clean.
I should be getting my alien registration card soon, which means I'll be able to set up a bank account and get a new phone. The phone will be a little pricy, but so far my expenses have been relatively low. I've only needed to withdraw 400,000 won (~$400), and combined with the 200,000 they gave me to get started and the $200 I took out at the airport, I've spent about $700 this month. My first paycheck is coming on 4/8, and that'll give me roughly $2000 more to work with. In another two months, they'll repay me for the plane ticket and I'll stop having to add to my apartment's security deposit, so my monthly salary will go up to ~$2200. Despite what I said about about food prices before, I can eat out for $7-9, sometimes less. For a quick meal, I can get two things of triangle kimbap (rice and fish wrapped in seaweed) for 1400 won at a convenience store. Taking the train into Seoul only costs about $3.50, and the subway is only $1 for the closer stops.
Every Friday we're supposed to have a test for the kids, and it's our responsibility to come up with the tests (since every class could be at a different point and have covered different vocabulary.) I've mostly done spelling tests with my first graders, though I'm experimenting a lot with my other classes right now. I've done vocabulary definitions, story writing (use 5/10 of the 10/20 words to make a story,) story sequencing (put the events in order,) and reading comprehension questions. Finding the right balance between too easy and too hard is tricky, of course, and so far I think I've been leaning towards too hard. I like the story-writing tests, but some words (especially nouns and adjectives) are really easy to use without really showing that they know what they mean. I've been writing questions like "Why did you thrash a rock?" and having them rewrite their stories with my corrections and answers to my questions. They also take a long time to grade because I'm correcting their grammar, spelling and sentence structure (sometimes extensively,) and interpreting what they're saying and their understanding of the words can take a lot of thought.
One small problem that I'm noticing is that the classrooms get really dirty REALLY quickly. Each room has one small trash can, but while we're not responsible for cleaning the rooms, the cleaner only comes in once a week. Things are nice on Monday, but by Friday the rooms are pretty filthy. The students aren't always tidy eaters, of course, so certain snacks (especially noodles, rice and anything with sauce) can get everywhere.
Speaking of dirty, my washing machine is driving me up the wall. Even after cleaning out the lint filters as best I can, my clothes still come out dirty. I'm going to have to re-wash a pair of pants because the outside is covered in soap that didn't get washed off. I've not sure how much of it is the machine and how much is my not knowing how to use it correctly, but it's really aggravating. Baron still needs to come over sometime and help me get rid of the old TV and such, so hopefully he can help me figure out what the problem is, whenever that happens. I'd hate to have to go to the trouble of getting a new washing machine, but it's hard to live like this when I don't know how to get my clothes properly clean.
I should be getting my alien registration card soon, which means I'll be able to set up a bank account and get a new phone. The phone will be a little pricy, but so far my expenses have been relatively low. I've only needed to withdraw 400,000 won (~$400), and combined with the 200,000 they gave me to get started and the $200 I took out at the airport, I've spent about $700 this month. My first paycheck is coming on 4/8, and that'll give me roughly $2000 more to work with. In another two months, they'll repay me for the plane ticket and I'll stop having to add to my apartment's security deposit, so my monthly salary will go up to ~$2200. Despite what I said about about food prices before, I can eat out for $7-9, sometimes less. For a quick meal, I can get two things of triangle kimbap (rice and fish wrapped in seaweed) for 1400 won at a convenience store. Taking the train into Seoul only costs about $3.50, and the subway is only $1 for the closer stops.
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