You Need To Know, Man!

I still haven't purchased a replacement charger for my computer. I am debating whether I should buy a new charger and battery, or just wait until my trip home where I would buy a new computer. At home, I also have an external hard drive. As much of a pain as it is to not have a computer at home, parts are expensive here and it's not like I really need my computer. Although, I can't study my Korean software... But that's a bit of a different topic.

So, after taking a while to get to the point, this is my first blog in a bit. Quite a bit has gone on and passed, like our trip to Sokcho/Seoraksan, which is located on the East Sea in Gangwon Province and is where we climbed Ulsanbawi and slack lined (thank you, Kyle!), and rested out on the beach, my Grandparents' Anniversary (CONGRATULATIONS!!!!), a pride festival in Seoul, and my third graders screaming upon seeing me after not having done so for a while. Everything feels monumental here. I guess it's because I'm on a contract, and my time in this country depends on how long I decide to stay. But I never knew a year could feel so short. I really don't think I'll be ready to leave at the end of this contract. There's still so much more in Korea that I need to see, learn, and understand. Not to mention the places outside of Korea that I'm dying to travel to. We'll just have to see :)

One thing, though, that does get old is writing in retrospect. Therefore, I've decided that I'm not going to write about what's happened in between my blog posts. I know that for those of you who read this and aren't friends with me on facebook, it's a bit that you're missing out on- mostly pictures. But while hiking in Seoraksan, I realized this push and pull between what I see and experience, and what I capture and share. There were some scenes that were so beautiful, I just had to take a picture. But, in that same breath, there were some things that were too beautiful, too real, to ruin with a camera. And so I'm going to keep these past experiences in the photographs I took and in the memories of those who were there.

Haha, this is turning into some heartfelt blog when all I wanted to do was give a list of words that I felt like people coming to Korea should actually learn. A lot of phrase books are still pretty thick, and I have come to realize a few key expressions that come in handy during the first chunk of time here. Even though it's going to make this post longer than I intended, I'm still going to give the list. Beneath the Hangul is how to phonetically say it, and my opinion- that is all. So here we gooo:

When in a restaurant or a store:
How much (is this)?

(이것은) 얼마예요?

(ee-geos-eun) eol-ma-ye-yo?

Do you have ____ ?
____ 있으세요?
____  iss-euh-seyo?

Do you need a bag?
봉투 필요하세요?
bohng-too pil-yo-ha-seyo?

May I have a bag?
봉투 주세요.
bohng-too joo-seyo.

Give me one.
하나 주세요. or 한개 주세요.
ha-nah joo-seyo. han-gae joo-seyo.

Give me two.
두개 주세요.
doo-gae joo-seyo.
 *different objects have different "counters" sometimes, but "gae" goes for a lot of them.


When travelling:
This stop is ____ .

이 정류장은 ____ . (followed by "입니다" or "이다" = is, but just listen for this stop and next stop)

ee jeong-ryu-jang-eun ____ . 

Next stop is ____ .

다음 정류장은 ____ .

dah-eum jeong-ryu-jang-eun ____ .

Do you go to ____ ?
____ 가고?
____ gah-go?

Where is ____ ?
____ 어디 있어요?
____ eodi isseoyo?

Station
역
yeok


Random, but helpful:
Hello
안녕하세요
ahn-yeong-ha-say-o, ( but say it all at once- not spaced out)

Thank you
감사합니다
kahm-sahm-nee-dah

Good-bye (to person staying)
안녕히가세요
ahn-yeonghi-gah-say-o

Good-bye (to person leaving)
안녕히계세요
ahn-yeonghi-gye-say-o

With
하고
hago, (like "Ha! Go.")

Time
시간
shigan

Hour(s) (uses hana, tul, set, net, ta-sot...)
시 (4시)
shi (neh-shi)

Minute(s) (uses il, i, sam, sa, o...)
분 (8분)
boon (pal-boon)

Foreigner

외국인

waygookin

Floor (as in, "What floor is the library on?") (uses il, i, sam, sa, o...)
층 (3층)
cheung (sam-cheung)


Money (uses il, i, sam, sa, o...):
Money
돈
tohn, (typically this would be romanized as "ton", but it uses the long "o" sound, so I used "tohn")

Won
원
weon, (short "o", like in "come")

100 won
백원
baek-weon

1000 won
천원
cheon-eon (the "w" sound is usually dropped or mumbled when spoken)

10000 won
만원
mahn-eon (again, "w" dropped)


Advice- learn how to read Hangul. You'll be able to read signs, and you'll know how to pronounce words. I hate being given romanized Korean because the sounds I associate with the Western alphabet are often not consistent with how the word is really supposed to be pronounced. And sometimes the romanization isn't even correct.

There are a lot of useful books, sites, videos, and programs out there for learning Korean. Rosetta Stone is good if you actually want to learn the language, but not if you're looking for a crash course in how to get around and survive in the country for a little bit. And even if you do want to learn the language, I would still use Rosetta in conjunction with a book that gives you phrases you are likely to need and to use more quickly and more frequently. Talk To Me In Korean does podcasts and videos that are really great. And if you look at the YouTube user sweetandtasty's videos, she also has really helpful skits for learning Korean.

Hello!

I haven't updated this blog in a while! But I have pretty decent excuses. First, the cord on my computer charger isn't really attached anymore. Second, my computer needs a new battery because it does not charge with a cord that isn't defective. Third, I have actually been really busy at school. I made a bomb game from scratch! I am quite proud of that. For those of you who don't know what a bomb game is, it's a PowerPoint game where certain questions offer various points or bombs (which make you lose your points). It wouldn't be very difficult if you didn't have to connect the pages together and figure out how to time the entrance of your images and questions... But you do for it to look cool. And the kids really love them when they look cool.

So aside from my new, savvy ppt skills, I have learned a few other things lately. The most important: red ginseng is a life-saver, and that when you have to stand on bus rides, never lock your knees. Stand with your feet shoulder width apart and be ready for quick stops and starts. I learned this coming home on the 1300, which is what you can take from Bucheon to get to Hongdae. And Costco, although you need to take the 7612 or walk (it's not a great distance by any means) after the 1300 for Costco.

I also went to a clothing market called Platoon. It happens in Gangnam on the first Saturday of every month. There are a bunch of individual retailers selling their used or made items for really cheap, along with drinks and a dj to make your experience wonderful. But it's a really neat place, so I want to write a separate blog on it later.

Oh! I almost forgot. This weekend, starting tomorrow, is going to be amazing. There are birthdays, potlucks, cake, the launching of a new company, and a lantern festival to celebrate Buddha's birthday. I can't wait! And I'm well enough to not be having coughing fits on the bus ride (more comfortable for myself and those around me), so I should be able to enjoy the festivities fully :)

Interesting fact: my advanced class students love saltines as much as I do. They're starving by the time they get to my class, so I've been giving them the crackers. The downside is that I no longer have any crackers. Because, I mean, they LOVE saltines.

But I'm typing all of this out on my phone, and my thumbs are sore. Haha, write to you later!

Unions

I wanted to write a blog about my weekend in Gangneung and the orientation I attended Monday through Wednesday, but I checked my email first. In talking to Michelle I summed up everything that I had really wanted to say about each of them, sooo here is the excerpt (because I'm lazy and it doesn't make sense to write the same things twice):



"Over the weekend I went to the east side of Korea for a wedding. It was beautiful! It was right on the east sea, and there was an entire street along the shore of coffee shops! The air was clean, you could actually see into the distance... And all of the cherry blossoms and other flowers are in bloom right now. Even the city is beautiful. I had just met the bride that day- she went to school in Australia with my friend Sio. She and her now husband were so accommodating! After the ceremonies and a little nap, they spent more of the day with us. They took such good care of us! They are lovely people and definitely new good friends. She made me want to become someone like her, who could just so easily make others feel welcome. 
"I was only back in Bucheon for a night before I left again Monday morning to go to orientation. It, too, was out of the city. Although, this place was in a valley. We listened to many lectures, some of which were absolutely hilarious! One speaker was an Australian and in his introduction he hit every stereotype of the attendees. Oh, I was laughing so hard that I was crying! And then when talking to a girl from England, he mentioned how every British person always seems to apologize in their manners or way of speaking when they meet an Australian. Hahaha, he offered her the microphone and said, "Colonize this." I was crying again. I met a few other teachers there and learned a few different methods I would like to put into my classes. I just got back into Bucheon today."

The orientation was helpful! In spite of all the complaints that it should have happened sooner, I don't think it will be too difficult to integrate the new methods, videos, and general knowledge into the curriculum. We stayed at Hanhwa Resort in Yangpyeon. It was pretty nice. The food was awesome! Oh, I love food. In the class we attended on motivating your students by using what motivates us, I came to terms with the fact that food is a definite motivator for me. But regarding my students, I think I'll stick to my other types of motivation. I would say that the orientation was helpful and worthwhile.


I do really want to go back to Gangneung, though. It was absolutely beautiful! The trip isn't too bad, either. It's about a 3.5 hour bus ride, but we stop halfway to use the restrooms and get snacks. :)



I have pictures from each place on my phone, and I will add them in sometime soon!




Ta ta~

Cute Students and New Adventures

Hahaha, okay. Before I begin, I would like to tell a quick story about what happened a moment ago. I was walking back from lunch with a group of 6th grade boys when one of them says, "Kaitlin teacher is cute." I would like to note that I look like one of my third graders today, so I considered that fair play. Another one goes, "Beautiful woman!" after all of the ooh-ing from the rest of them. Here comes the reason why I'm telling this story. Then they begin to hum Ave Maria. Haha, I almost died! Since when did 6th grade boys know Ave Maria? And when was it related to beauty? :)

Today has been wonderful. My third graders were putting their hands up to mine and then interlocking their fingers, so I said, "high-five!" so that we could move away from this cosmic palm-touching and onto something more active and fun. Ha, but then again I also like high-fives as much as they do, so I'm sure that is the real reason.

I guess you could say that this has been a pretty good week! I went to a piano concert with a friend on Wednesday in Seoul. Her performance was fantastic. I always find myself being pulled into the music, and then into my own head, when I listen to something that really moves me. I think of an idea or two for paintings, and do a little soul-searching. It was like listening to a few of A Silver Mt. Zion's songs, except that this was live and not only could you listen to the music and think, Ah, I know that feeling, but you could also see her facial expressions as she played. It was truly inspiring.

Yesterday I went to 노량진 (Noryangjin) with the 6th grade teachers. It houses a famed fresh fish market with more fish and funny-looking things than I had ever seen in one place before then. They picked out three types of fish that were cut sashimi style (raw, about 1/4" thick, 1" in width, and 1 1/2"-3" long) as well as some shrimp (head and everything). We went upstairs to enjoy the food we had picked out. The raw fish was wonderful! I even liked the shrimp, which was cooked. I was surprised, though, that it didn't bother me to take off its head. We ate the fish with soy sauce and wasabi. I would love to do it again! We then moseyed to a bar that had cream beer. It was delightful! It almost tasted like cream soda... That is something that I would definitely want to have again.

It was a really nice day. We got off in 여의도 (Yeouido), where the cherry blossom festival was held last week, before grabbing a taxi to the fish market and the trees were in bloom! The first time I saw these trees made me realize how much I really do love Korea. When I told my co-teacher at dinner last night that I could see myself here for another year, she said that I should renew my contract with the school, then. Which really meant a lot! And I am terribly fond of the students and teachers I have been lucky enough to get to know. It seriously feels like every day is a reminder of how fortunate I am with my location. When we were eating the shrimp, I was being really meticulous and slow about peeling them and so one of the teachers peeled one for me. It's not a huge gesture and the others say that she is the most motherly of them, but it still made me feel really good. :)

And the feeling won't stop, I'm sure, at least any time soon. This weekend I am going east into the country with a friend for a wedding. A woman she knew growing up is Korean and is marrying a Korean man, so they are getting married here. I'm really excited to watch/be a part of it! But again, this is something I'm sure I will write about in retrospect.



Thank you all for reading. It means a lot to me!

안녕~

So here we are again, haha.

This past weekend I ventured into Seoul with thousands of others to see the cherry blossoms. Sadly, the weather has held onto its last bit of winter air for longer than normal so the flowers haven't really bloomed. We saw several trees that were showing half of their blossoms, but a great deal of trees have yet to bloom. The general consensus is that they will be here in another week or so. I thought it was a rather romantic trait, though, that spring here comes with the flowers... And not just the cherry blossoms! Small yellow ones that I cannot remember the name of right now, and trees that give large white or purple/pink flowers. And then there are always the ones planted into the soil in gardens to see, too!

Before the flower festival in Yeouido, a friend and I went to the Seoul Museum of Art around City Hall in Seoul. Their 2011 acquisitions were really great! I was drawn into some of the paintings to the point of leaning as far as I could over those little lines on the floor that you're supposed to stand behind. It felt wonderful to be there. I don't think that I could properly articulate the sense of self and satisfaction, along with the inspiration, that that museum was able to give to me. There were also a lot of great installations on the second and third floors. I regret not taking down the names of the artists, but I was just so enamored that I forgot I had pen and paper, haha.

For a change of pace... This blog has largely become past-tense since my coming to Korea, but I will be going to a wedding with a friend this weekend! It is out in the country so we'll stay there for the whole weekend. I'm so excited! I can't wait to take a bunch of photographs. I have really been jonesing for some woodland inspiration. I need backdrops for these drawings in my head. I haven't done any on the toned paper I bought yet, but I've done a few sketches...

I am also going to a fish market to eat raw fish with some of my co-workers on Wednesday! That should be interesting... :) I'm also really excited for that. So much is happening this week! Tomorrow, too, I am going to a show with a friend that I am expecting to be beautiful. I know this is all a bit vague, but I'm getting good at past-tense, and I'm sure I'll want to fill in the details once it happens.


Last note- COSTCO. It exists and it is wonderful. Unlike the dull, sullen Costco stores in North America, the Costco stores here sell cheese you can find nowhere else, have carts that take two people to push, offer samples of dumdum suckers and mentos, and sell booze. And then everything else is basically the same. But it still almost feels like Christmas.


Till next time :)

Weekend Update

Good afternoon to everyone in my time zone! I'm sure the rest of you are sleeping, about to sleep, or somewhere around there :)

Yesterday I went out to Seoul with the Bucheon girls for the Korvia welcoming party, which was in Itaewon. Before heading over to Itaewon, we swung into Hongdae for a little shopping and walking. The number of shoes I was tempted to buy was absurd! I walked away with two rings- a Vivienne Westwood (yesyesyes!) knock-off and a simple vine-like one. I'm quite pleased! Not to mention that the total for both was W8000 (a little over $7).

There was also a puppy store we went into after grabbing a bite at Dos Tacos (I wasn't hungry so I didn't eat, but the others gave it rave reviews! I'll have to eat next time!). I seriously thought my heart was going to make its way out of its place because of how adorable the puppies were! One little guy kept pressing its face into the corner of the glass and trying to eat my finger! They were so precious.

We went over to Itaewon a little early to hit a cellphone store, Olleh (Yeah, it's 'Hello' backwards!). I had originally just wanted to look at the phones and plans, but after watching a girl not from our group get a phone, and Sio get a phone, I got a phone. Haha it was really nice being at that store in Itaewon because the woman spoke wonderful English. That's one of the reasons I wanted to go to a store while we were there, but after hearing all the details I figured I should just purchase one now. I ended up going with a black iPhone 4S.

The way it works here is that the cost of the phone is divided up between each month of your contract (a 2 year contract is mandatory), and added to the bill. Unlimited data, 300 minutes, and 300 texts is the iValue Plan and costs W54000/month. Insurance is optional, but costs W4700/month. Here, the iPhone 4S is worth W814000, so insurance is definitely worth it! You do get a discount on the phone with the contract, though. I know I'm only paying about W600000 for the phone (which is still terribly expensive compared to the States!) But with the cost split up between each month, it's not that bad at all. My phone bill will end up being about W70000/month ($70ish) and that I know is cheaper than others with smart phones in the States on their own plans. So you could say that the phone is more expensive, but the service is cheaper.

My phone will be activated on Monday (tomorrow), so I've just been putting all of my contacts into it and customizing it. I did buy a case because, really, this is my first smart phone and I'm terrified of anything happening to it. I don't know if I have to talk to the woman tomorrow via my other phone, or if it's something she can do without being in contact with me... I hope it's the latter, because I will definitely be teaching during the time frame she gave me for the activation.

After getting our phones we went to the Korvia party and got to meet our recruiters! Jessie Kim (my recruiter) is probably one of the nicest and most adorable people I have ever seen. I'm so glad I got to meet her in person! We also met a few other people from Bucheon and other locations in Seoul. It was a good night!


Please feel free to comment, email, or message me if you have any further questions about cellphones, recruiters, or anything!

Till next time~

Fate and a Bank Account

Hello all!

I know I promised that it wouldn't be so long in between updates, but here we are! I have a lot to say, too! So put those reading glasses on ;)

One thing I wanted to say before getting into my current happenings, is to comment on the play of Fate in my life. I have never felt more sure of something than I am of my moving to Korea. I wrote about it on an earlier post, so new readers may not know, but I was originally an EPIK applicant who managed to fail the interview. I read all over about how hard it was to fail the interviews, but I'm a girl that did it. Ha, I can't blame my interviewer for it though- I forgot how to describe even myself. And don't even get me started on what happened when he asked me about what I knew about Korea. I don't think I formed a full sentence once. Ahh, it's really sad... I was so nervous! But. These days I have come to realize that I was abnormally nervous so that I could fail the interview. I wasn't supposed to be there, but here. The people I've met, how I've met them, even the perfect timing of the buses, subway, and buses again on my way to apply for my ARC, have all been absurdly wonderful by chance. I absolutely (still) adore my co-workers and my students, too! We (other teachers and I, not students) get together outside of school, and have plans to keep doing so. I feel so blessed to be so welcomed.

Funny fact- when getting passport photos taken in South Korea, they will airbrush and remove all flaws within 5 minutes. I went to a small place just off the subway in Incheon where I had to apply for my ARC. He was super fast, and my face has never looked so good- which is awesome, because that's the picture they put on my ARC.

(There are several of documents you need for your ARC. Two of them are filled out there while waiting, one of them is provided by your school, and the others are your passport with valid Visa, medical exam results, and two passport photos.)

My co-teacher is on an extended field trip with the 6th graders and their homeroom teachers, so I have been teaching with the 4th/5th grade English teacher. She is close with my co-teacher, so we've talked quite a bit before this. She is another lovely person! I'm really glad that I get to meet the other grades. Ahaha, they're so cute! And their love of hangman is admirable. I want to take the amount of passion they put toward hangman into every aspect of my life...

So that's what I'm doing for the rest of this week. I left school early today to open a bank account. With my co-teacher gone, I had to do it alone! It was kind of nervous-making, but the teller I worked with was nice. Really, you just pull a number like any building with a row of help desks, and wait for a teller/secretary to display your number (the hospital I went to was the same). Then, he asked me if I wanted a Check Card and had me sign a few different papers and my bankbook. It was super painless! But I still feel proud of myself. I have heard that KEB is the most foreigner-friendly bank, but I decided to go with Woori because of the perks on their Expat Check Card, which I can get once I have an account with them. They are also a major bank and so I can find them anywhere I need. As far as documents go, you only need your ARC (Alien Registration Card) to open a bank account. When you go to apply for a credit card, you need your ARC, passport, proof of work/salary, and a valid Visa.

Now I can get paid!!! Wahoo!


I do realize that not posting may cause some worry, and for that I apologize. From now on I will try to write at least once a week, even if it's about the NEW FUZZY BLACK SWEATER I BOUGHT YESTERDAY. It's wonderful, but vintage enough to warrant a 'do they still sell that?' from my co-worker.


Take care, everyone, everywhere.
All is well :)