Since there wasn't much to post for awhile, I haven't been in touch for half a week, so now I'm going to make up for it with a grand tale of not much happening.
Everything's very new and exciting still. Van and Rebekah arrived late friday from passing Training and tomorrow we all start teaching. I think I've got the books I need (the schedule changes like the wind, so I won't know for positive until tomorrow when my first class starts).
Yesterday we had a big CDI Thanksgiving, where we all got together (about 25 of us in one apartment) and had turkey and cranberry sauce and gravy, and dumplings in soup and Korean stir fry and dutch biscuits and macadamia nuts and vodka and soju and wine. It made for quite the ethnic holiday, all while watching a subtitled Hell's Kitchen on Bryan's big television. We ate this with chopsticks of course, and that made it an adventure, but the best part was getting to spend time with everyone (like Brooke from Australia and Amy from Scotland who haven't ever done Thanksgiving before) and just having a laugh and some fun.
We were meant to go to Seoul on Saturday but got distracted by other things, so that didn't end up happening. We did, however, get to see the CDI kids performing in the Expression Contest, where they all practice for ages to give presentations about their favorite Critical Thinking Projects, and win prizes for how well they do. Some of them were really good, and others were just really cute.
Anyway, next week I start teaching my own kids, and then next weekend we're planning on going into Seoul now we have the chance, so until next weekend!
-Sam
Sunday, November 25, 2012
Tuesday, November 20, 2012
Teacher Training at Bucheon - Substitute Teaching (11/20/12)
Tomorrow we start formal training in the new topics we'll be teaching this term, but for the time being we've been doing observations. Joseph had to substitute in for a class (the teacher left last week but the term doesn't end until after this week). He let us sit in and then during the Critical Thinking Projects to join in and work with the kids a bit. They were really funny, and you could tell they were trying, but they also really liked speaking in Korean in class, so all three of us were having issues dealing with them by the end of the three hours.
Anyway, it was actually a lot of fun, and I liked getting involved. Joseph said maybe thursday when he teaches the class again that Amy and I can try teaching part of the class for the day as a bit of practice. We shall see how that goes.
Also this morning, Evan (who is my new favorite person, he does so much for me like getting me an apartment, helping work out bills, doing all the immigration forms for us, making sure we know where we live in relation to the school, taking us out for McDonald's the first night we arrived, and many many more) drove us to Incheon to the immigration office to submit out ARCs. That's going to take about a week to process, maybe two, and they'll deliver it straight to the school when its finished, so I'm almost a card-carrying resident alien of South Korea.
Just a shot post today, as I've got many things to think about and I'm tired and want to go to sleep. I'll not post until later in the week, as I'm going to get back on learning Korean the next few nights while I do more training, so when I get into a classroom I can tell when kids are being rude or saying bad words to me. :D
Also on the list of things to do tomorrow: buy myself a Christmas tree.
Best, Sam.
Anyway, it was actually a lot of fun, and I liked getting involved. Joseph said maybe thursday when he teaches the class again that Amy and I can try teaching part of the class for the day as a bit of practice. We shall see how that goes.
Also this morning, Evan (who is my new favorite person, he does so much for me like getting me an apartment, helping work out bills, doing all the immigration forms for us, making sure we know where we live in relation to the school, taking us out for McDonald's the first night we arrived, and many many more) drove us to Incheon to the immigration office to submit out ARCs. That's going to take about a week to process, maybe two, and they'll deliver it straight to the school when its finished, so I'm almost a card-carrying resident alien of South Korea.
Just a shot post today, as I've got many things to think about and I'm tired and want to go to sleep. I'll not post until later in the week, as I'm going to get back on learning Korean the next few nights while I do more training, so when I get into a classroom I can tell when kids are being rude or saying bad words to me. :D
Also on the list of things to do tomorrow: buy myself a Christmas tree.
Best, Sam.
Monday, November 19, 2012
Bucheon - 11/19/12
So today we started observing classes. This is a really helpful step as part of training, because it puts you right in the environment. I've always learned better by seeing things and doing them, so sitting there in a run-through is really helpful. Thanks Joseph and Anne for letting Amy and I sit in and watch today.
I've finally got my apartment how I want it, so below are some pictures of it with furniture. It's nice and cozy to come home to now.
My Arrival Store mattress pad was too big for my mattress, and it really did very little for me the first time I tried to use it, but I've found a better use for it. After looking around at seating options, I realized that my furniture or the height of my ceiling require that people mostly sit about on the floor anyway. This is really hard on your bottom. I've now cut up my mattress pad and put it under the carpets where you'd sit, so now I have a nice little living room and table to sit and work at either by myself or with other people. Amy bought me a little plant as a housewarming gift, so that's there too.
Anyway, pictures are below.
After the initial training session with Joseph on Saturday, Amy and I ended up going out and drinking with Joseph and his friend Anne. That was a lot of fun, but Monday is the big going out night, and now a lot of the people who were in Busan over the weekend are back again, so we're doing a proper night out now with a bunch of the teachers at CDI (Chungdahm for those of you who just went "Huh? What's that?"). We're looking forward to that a lot, since we've not had the chance to spend too much time with the Bucheon crowd here yet. There's a great deal of sociability at the Bucheon branch, so it should be a lot of fun. I really like the atmosphere, and I'm feeling much more at home.
We've also crossed paths with a few of the Chungdahm April teachers in the area, thought not a lot. They seem really nice, and from what I can tell the CDI and April teachers tend to stay mostly separate, but we met a nice guy downstairs on our way back up who was carrying a little Christmas tree.
Christmas isn't too big in Korea. It's more of a couple's holiday. You can still buy trees and things, and cakes, but it's less about friends and family and more about the couple. That being said, I'm sure the CDI folks do something for Christmas, since they had a big Halloween party when that came around, and Halloween isn't celebrated here either.
Anyway, finally settled in a bit and going about learning the place. Soon it will be time to start visiting new places and blogging about more touristy things.
-Sam
My bedroom - made my bed this time before taking the picture :P
Sitting room looking back towards the door.
The little sitting room. My mattress pad seats are underneath that carpet on either side of the table. I've discovered a way to get internet downstairs for the moment as well. I can't wait until I can get my own, but for now, I can sit here and do my work.
The bathroom with stuff in it now. Those planks on the floor are there so when you've had a shower and later need to go back into the room, your feet don't get wet from the remaining puddles of water. You walk on them like stepping stones instead.
I've finally got my apartment how I want it, so below are some pictures of it with furniture. It's nice and cozy to come home to now.
My Arrival Store mattress pad was too big for my mattress, and it really did very little for me the first time I tried to use it, but I've found a better use for it. After looking around at seating options, I realized that my furniture or the height of my ceiling require that people mostly sit about on the floor anyway. This is really hard on your bottom. I've now cut up my mattress pad and put it under the carpets where you'd sit, so now I have a nice little living room and table to sit and work at either by myself or with other people. Amy bought me a little plant as a housewarming gift, so that's there too.
Anyway, pictures are below.
After the initial training session with Joseph on Saturday, Amy and I ended up going out and drinking with Joseph and his friend Anne. That was a lot of fun, but Monday is the big going out night, and now a lot of the people who were in Busan over the weekend are back again, so we're doing a proper night out now with a bunch of the teachers at CDI (Chungdahm for those of you who just went "Huh? What's that?"). We're looking forward to that a lot, since we've not had the chance to spend too much time with the Bucheon crowd here yet. There's a great deal of sociability at the Bucheon branch, so it should be a lot of fun. I really like the atmosphere, and I'm feeling much more at home.
We've also crossed paths with a few of the Chungdahm April teachers in the area, thought not a lot. They seem really nice, and from what I can tell the CDI and April teachers tend to stay mostly separate, but we met a nice guy downstairs on our way back up who was carrying a little Christmas tree.
Christmas isn't too big in Korea. It's more of a couple's holiday. You can still buy trees and things, and cakes, but it's less about friends and family and more about the couple. That being said, I'm sure the CDI folks do something for Christmas, since they had a big Halloween party when that came around, and Halloween isn't celebrated here either.
Anyway, finally settled in a bit and going about learning the place. Soon it will be time to start visiting new places and blogging about more touristy things.
-Sam
My bedroom - made my bed this time before taking the picture :P
Sitting room looking back towards the door.
The little sitting room. My mattress pad seats are underneath that carpet on either side of the table. I've discovered a way to get internet downstairs for the moment as well. I can't wait until I can get my own, but for now, I can sit here and do my work.
The bathroom with stuff in it now. Those planks on the floor are there so when you've had a shower and later need to go back into the room, your feet don't get wet from the remaining puddles of water. You walk on them like stepping stones instead.
Sunday, November 18, 2012
Tips for Preparing for Mock Teaching - in answer to a request by Joe
Hey Joe and all the rest. I'm answering a question I received from Joe here, since it may be helpful to all sorts of people.
Joe is going into Chungdahm Training and asked me for advice on preparing for the mock teaching you do during the training week. Here's my reply:
1) Don't overthink it. I know many people who stayed up until all hours preparing for the next day. They got little sleep and panicked about it too much. I recommend you do a simple prep, and know the information you're going to teach, but don't write yourself a script. Being natural in the classroom is important.
2) Take it seriously, since you're preparing an actual lesson that will translate directly into the classroom. Do as much work as you think you will realistically do in preparing for a real class.
3) Chill out and breathe. Its easier to do the mocks if you've not worked yourself into a nervous breakdown. Just remember that the trainers are there to help you improve.
4) Listen to the advice of the trainers. Remember they do know what they're talking about, and they are the ones who ultimately decide if you pass or fail. They're there to help you get better, so hear what they are trying to say.
5) Run through the exercise as if you were a student. This is perhaps the easiest way to prep. When I prepared, all I had was the outline I'd be using for the day. Circle things in the book if you want, write out the outlines you'd like the kids to get to, and just go through it once as if you were a student. That way you know what problems you might face, what sorts of topics you'll be discussing, and content beforehand.
I think that's all I can give you. Top on my list is don't panic about it. You should be comfortable with the level of work you do to prepare, and you should remember there is -always- room for improvement in this. That's the whole point of training week. Be prepared to take criticism and use it.
Hope that helps, Joe. If you or anyone else needs to contact me at all for any reason, remember there is a "Send Sam an Email!" section on my site for anyone to use.
Good luck and best wishes,
Sam
Joe is going into Chungdahm Training and asked me for advice on preparing for the mock teaching you do during the training week. Here's my reply:
1) Don't overthink it. I know many people who stayed up until all hours preparing for the next day. They got little sleep and panicked about it too much. I recommend you do a simple prep, and know the information you're going to teach, but don't write yourself a script. Being natural in the classroom is important.
2) Take it seriously, since you're preparing an actual lesson that will translate directly into the classroom. Do as much work as you think you will realistically do in preparing for a real class.
3) Chill out and breathe. Its easier to do the mocks if you've not worked yourself into a nervous breakdown. Just remember that the trainers are there to help you improve.
4) Listen to the advice of the trainers. Remember they do know what they're talking about, and they are the ones who ultimately decide if you pass or fail. They're there to help you get better, so hear what they are trying to say.
5) Run through the exercise as if you were a student. This is perhaps the easiest way to prep. When I prepared, all I had was the outline I'd be using for the day. Circle things in the book if you want, write out the outlines you'd like the kids to get to, and just go through it once as if you were a student. That way you know what problems you might face, what sorts of topics you'll be discussing, and content beforehand.
I think that's all I can give you. Top on my list is don't panic about it. You should be comfortable with the level of work you do to prepare, and you should remember there is -always- room for improvement in this. That's the whole point of training week. Be prepared to take criticism and use it.
Hope that helps, Joe. If you or anyone else needs to contact me at all for any reason, remember there is a "Send Sam an Email!" section on my site for anyone to use.
Good luck and best wishes,
Sam
Bucheon - Day One
After arriving in Bucheon and getting a bit of sleep, Amy and I went off in search of furniture to kit out our apartments. As it turns out, someone had left some on the side of the road, so a table and a cupboard later and we were off to find other things like cleaning supplies and food instead.
We're located right near a homeplus and a savezone, both which function like big superstores, one of which is affiliated with Tesco from the UK. We ended up hitting one, then the other, because we had to carry everything back. We're still not entirely done getting things, but the place looks a bit more like home now.
After the shopping, we headed off to work for some additional training, where we met one of the Head Instructors Joseph. He introduced us to some of the really bright students and gave us the tour. One the girls we met has been with the school for years, and she's really really good at speaking English. She asked where Amy was from, and then listed a big long list of places she's travelled, ending with "...and Cambodia, and China, and Japan, and so one and so forth. Goodbye." at which point she proceeded to duck out in to the hall and close the door behind her. We thought it was pretty funny, and Joseph was delighted since he'd apparently taught her to use "so on and so forth" just the week before.
Apparently it's general practice to greet new teachers on saturdays by taking them out, but a lot of the other teachers had gone off to Busan for the weekend (every term they do one big trip together), so it ended up just Joseph and his friend Annie taking us around the place and showing us where to eat and shop and see movies. Over dinner we broke out the soju and beer, and then moved along to the local foreigner's bar, Rhythm and Booze (R&B from here on out), where a bunch of high school students were putting on a brilliant show. Some of them sang and played better than current professional musicians, and they were better than the band that was on stage before their show started.
We then moved along to a sit down bar where Amy and I were now drunk enough to eat fried squid without complaint. Apparently we like squid. We also had more soju and beer, and so the rest of the night got quite blurry after that. But thanks Joseph for a good welcome into Bucheon.
Below, as promised are some pictures I've taken of my studio apartment.
This is the bathroom that also doubles as a shower. I've put a coat rack over the door, so my coat's in the shot as well. It was pretty horrible when I arrived, because in Korea you don't clean your apartment before you leave. In fact, most Koreans set aside an entire day when they move in to clean their new place. Anyway, I think I finally managed to get it clean, and it doesn't smell weird anymore, so hurrah!
This is the entrance and kitchen area. The bathroom's off to the right in that little corridor. The photos are a bit of a mess, because I took them before I'd finished putting things away and while I was still trying to get furniture and move things around.
This is my living room space. I've got suitcases and a cardboard box as a bin for a moment. The shot is taken from the top of the stairs to the loft where my bedroom is. My wardrobe is down there, and that window stretches floor to ceiling. My view isn't brilliant, but at night when the lights are on its pretty cool, and at least I can keep my eye on the Indian restaurant.
This is my bedroom. It came with the mattress and the school had given me some new bedding, but the quilt was really thin and it's cold in the winters here, so I'm using my own duvet as well. Sorry the bed's not made, I didn't think about it until later. The little cubby holes on the wall are really handy. It saves buying bookcases or things, and I'm using one of the shelves as a bit of a computer desk, since I only have internet up in the loft at the moment. This is because I can't get my own until I have my Alien Resident Card, so I'm logged into wifi from a cafe down the road. The signal doesn't exist in the rest of my house.
This is the view from my window. That motel sign moves, like raindrops falling, and the city's big and bright all around, this is just one of the little areas. This is actually the place where we were dropped off by the taxi originally. Our work is up the road that goes along the left side of the picture, then turning left after the Indian food restaurant and crossing over two streets, so not far at all.
We're located right near a homeplus and a savezone, both which function like big superstores, one of which is affiliated with Tesco from the UK. We ended up hitting one, then the other, because we had to carry everything back. We're still not entirely done getting things, but the place looks a bit more like home now.
After the shopping, we headed off to work for some additional training, where we met one of the Head Instructors Joseph. He introduced us to some of the really bright students and gave us the tour. One the girls we met has been with the school for years, and she's really really good at speaking English. She asked where Amy was from, and then listed a big long list of places she's travelled, ending with "...and Cambodia, and China, and Japan, and so one and so forth. Goodbye." at which point she proceeded to duck out in to the hall and close the door behind her. We thought it was pretty funny, and Joseph was delighted since he'd apparently taught her to use "so on and so forth" just the week before.
Apparently it's general practice to greet new teachers on saturdays by taking them out, but a lot of the other teachers had gone off to Busan for the weekend (every term they do one big trip together), so it ended up just Joseph and his friend Annie taking us around the place and showing us where to eat and shop and see movies. Over dinner we broke out the soju and beer, and then moved along to the local foreigner's bar, Rhythm and Booze (R&B from here on out), where a bunch of high school students were putting on a brilliant show. Some of them sang and played better than current professional musicians, and they were better than the band that was on stage before their show started.
We then moved along to a sit down bar where Amy and I were now drunk enough to eat fried squid without complaint. Apparently we like squid. We also had more soju and beer, and so the rest of the night got quite blurry after that. But thanks Joseph for a good welcome into Bucheon.
Below, as promised are some pictures I've taken of my studio apartment.
This is the bathroom that also doubles as a shower. I've put a coat rack over the door, so my coat's in the shot as well. It was pretty horrible when I arrived, because in Korea you don't clean your apartment before you leave. In fact, most Koreans set aside an entire day when they move in to clean their new place. Anyway, I think I finally managed to get it clean, and it doesn't smell weird anymore, so hurrah!
This is the entrance and kitchen area. The bathroom's off to the right in that little corridor. The photos are a bit of a mess, because I took them before I'd finished putting things away and while I was still trying to get furniture and move things around.
This is my living room space. I've got suitcases and a cardboard box as a bin for a moment. The shot is taken from the top of the stairs to the loft where my bedroom is. My wardrobe is down there, and that window stretches floor to ceiling. My view isn't brilliant, but at night when the lights are on its pretty cool, and at least I can keep my eye on the Indian restaurant.
This is my bedroom. It came with the mattress and the school had given me some new bedding, but the quilt was really thin and it's cold in the winters here, so I'm using my own duvet as well. Sorry the bed's not made, I didn't think about it until later. The little cubby holes on the wall are really handy. It saves buying bookcases or things, and I'm using one of the shelves as a bit of a computer desk, since I only have internet up in the loft at the moment. This is because I can't get my own until I have my Alien Resident Card, so I'm logged into wifi from a cafe down the road. The signal doesn't exist in the rest of my house.
This is the view from my window. That motel sign moves, like raindrops falling, and the city's big and bright all around, this is just one of the little areas. This is actually the place where we were dropped off by the taxi originally. Our work is up the road that goes along the left side of the picture, then turning left after the Indian food restaurant and crossing over two streets, so not far at all.
Saturday, November 17, 2012
Final Day of Training - Bucheon
Given that we'd already prepped for the final day of training, and that we'd been going over it all week, last night became a time to relax. That was, at least, until I remembered I was meant to pack up all my stuff to go the next day. Well lucky me, I condensed three suitcases and three boxes into just two suitcases and a box, and then found that people are very helpful and generous in Korea. Christine left me to move everything on me own, abandoning me with the job of getting the key to reception and returning our LAN cable as well, so I ended up almost missing the bus. A man who spoke only Korean saw me struggling in the hall and helped me to the elevator, and then two of the other girls in training got on the elevator halfway down and helped me out to the bus. We had to move everything back out again into the training center after arriving there, but Mickey (who looks like Thor and has heard it so many times he's changed his facebook name to include "Thor") took half my stuff in without my asking for help or anything. So I now have a new best friend.
When we came back down the stairs, Tatiana helped, since she was staying at the Coatel a little longer and therefore had no suitcases. So thank you very much Tatiana, Mickey, and the Korean man on floor seven of the Coatel Hotel in Gangnam for all your assistance.
Well, I passed my training, and that meant I didn't pack for nothing, because immediately after training we were piled into a taxi to head to the Bucheon branch. At first we were so tired and hungry and it was such a long drive through the traffic that we weren't very impressed with Bucheon. But apparently that's just because we're blind, because as it turns out the place is pretty amazing.
Bucheon has a different feel than Gangnam in Seoul, because Gangnam is really cool, but it comes across as really aloof and expensive. Bucheon is the sort of place where families are moving about in the streets, and people are looking for cheaper options to spend money.
The Bucheon folks were great. They paid for the ride to the branch, which we had expected because some of the people headed further south on trains said their train tickets were paid for. They didn't stop there, though. We were show to apartments, already reserved especially for us, where half the other teachers live, and we were then taken to the branch on foot and shown how to get to work. Evan, the man who met us, is a native of Bucheon, so he told us all the little secrets of the areas as we went around. Apparently last week they finished a new subway extension that's just been opened quite literally round the corner from the apartment building. The subway at Sangdong Station (ours) runs directly to the original Chungdahm branch in Gangnam, meaning its really easy to visit. That also means all you guys from training on the Seoul subway lines can come to see Bucheon whenever you might like.
Evan took us about the shops as well, telling us where the cheap places were and what to avoid, why we shouldn't visit the local bar or night club, and advising us on the best way to find our apartment. He walked us through one of the shops, pointing out where in the shop we could find different types of food or things like cleaning supplies. He then took us for dinner, and since he's one of the school administration guys he bought us our food courtesy of the branch.
The branch guys already had apartments reserved for us, which we were immediately shown to when we first got out of the van. They'd bought bottled water and ramen for us to eat as a welcome present and left that for us. At the school, they seemed like quite a lively bunch, and they've got quite a friendly atmosphere for poking fun at one another. Apaprently the Bucheon branch is quite diverse, with people from all over the English speaking world working as teachers, so we're quite looking forward to starting a week from Monday. Until then, we're back to more training, where we will learn a third type of class for the following week.
The apartments are really cool, but I might just be saying that because mine wasn't too dirty when we arrived (previous tenants are not required to clean before leaving) or because I'm really tired. It's a studio. My shower is indeed my entire bathroom, and my bedroom is up some little wooden stairs in a low-ceilinged balcony.
There's no pictures for now, but I'll take some later and do it in another post.
-Sam
When we came back down the stairs, Tatiana helped, since she was staying at the Coatel a little longer and therefore had no suitcases. So thank you very much Tatiana, Mickey, and the Korean man on floor seven of the Coatel Hotel in Gangnam for all your assistance.
Well, I passed my training, and that meant I didn't pack for nothing, because immediately after training we were piled into a taxi to head to the Bucheon branch. At first we were so tired and hungry and it was such a long drive through the traffic that we weren't very impressed with Bucheon. But apparently that's just because we're blind, because as it turns out the place is pretty amazing.
Bucheon has a different feel than Gangnam in Seoul, because Gangnam is really cool, but it comes across as really aloof and expensive. Bucheon is the sort of place where families are moving about in the streets, and people are looking for cheaper options to spend money.
The Bucheon folks were great. They paid for the ride to the branch, which we had expected because some of the people headed further south on trains said their train tickets were paid for. They didn't stop there, though. We were show to apartments, already reserved especially for us, where half the other teachers live, and we were then taken to the branch on foot and shown how to get to work. Evan, the man who met us, is a native of Bucheon, so he told us all the little secrets of the areas as we went around. Apparently last week they finished a new subway extension that's just been opened quite literally round the corner from the apartment building. The subway at Sangdong Station (ours) runs directly to the original Chungdahm branch in Gangnam, meaning its really easy to visit. That also means all you guys from training on the Seoul subway lines can come to see Bucheon whenever you might like.
Evan took us about the shops as well, telling us where the cheap places were and what to avoid, why we shouldn't visit the local bar or night club, and advising us on the best way to find our apartment. He walked us through one of the shops, pointing out where in the shop we could find different types of food or things like cleaning supplies. He then took us for dinner, and since he's one of the school administration guys he bought us our food courtesy of the branch.
The branch guys already had apartments reserved for us, which we were immediately shown to when we first got out of the van. They'd bought bottled water and ramen for us to eat as a welcome present and left that for us. At the school, they seemed like quite a lively bunch, and they've got quite a friendly atmosphere for poking fun at one another. Apaprently the Bucheon branch is quite diverse, with people from all over the English speaking world working as teachers, so we're quite looking forward to starting a week from Monday. Until then, we're back to more training, where we will learn a third type of class for the following week.
The apartments are really cool, but I might just be saying that because mine wasn't too dirty when we arrived (previous tenants are not required to clean before leaving) or because I'm really tired. It's a studio. My shower is indeed my entire bathroom, and my bedroom is up some little wooden stairs in a low-ceilinged balcony.
There's no pictures for now, but I'll take some later and do it in another post.
-Sam
Thursday, November 15, 2012
Training Week Day Four - Nearly Done and Cheap Eats
Once again, more food pictures. These ones are courtesy of the resident Scot, Amy, who has been gracious enough to give me her pictures because she "can't be bothered to start her own blog".
Today was the second day of mocking the main lessons. Everyone's doing much better today after the initial dash of the first half the week, mostly because its almost over, and mostly because we have a much better idea of how to teach now. I myself feel confident going in that I'll be able to teach a class and handle misbehaving children, keep their attention, and prepare each lesson every week.
Now, some of you may remember from my last entry that I was running short on money. When I first tried getting money out this morning, however, I was having a lot of problems. I am now happy to announce that this problem is now fixed. I tried several ATMs today, and most said card not valid, and then one said the card was locked and to contact my bank. This of course induced panic, because if one card was locked, was the other? How could I reach my bank since that involved international calling, and I had no international calling card? Who could I contact at that hour to work things out? After several frantic skype calls and attempts to get through on my Korean cell phone and the one I've brought from the U.S. (says its roaming over here, so apparently it's piggy-backing service from somewhere -- sorry Mum if you have to pay a bigger bill; I will pay you back), I eventually managed to buy some Skype credit using my credit card (this was my last resort for money), and used it to contact my bank, which then checked and said there was no hold on my atm card, it's not locked, and "it must have something wrong with the atm machine". Someone tell that woman the 'm' in ATM stands for machine.
Anyway, after that I went out and found a citibank atm in the subway station, and that ended up after a few times working. There is a really low limit on the amount you can get out because it's a subway station, but even so, I can survive with $100 for awhile, especially since our dinner today was wonderfully cheap.
And that brings me to the fun topic for the day: my dinner.
Since we were all feeling much better at the end of the day today, we decided to go out. Amy and I ran into Jill, a teacher headed for Daegu south of Seoul, coming back from the ATM at the subway, and we convinced her to come along. So Amy, Rebekah, Jill, and I headed out down Gangnam-daero (the main street of Gangnam) to find ourselves something cheap and delicious.
Rebekah found a cart that was selling pancake-things for approximately $0.70 each. We each got one of these because it smelled amazing and because In-Jee, our trainer, had said the street food is perfectly safe in Korea and in fact the best way to eat on the cheap. Most Koreans themselves eat the street food over restaurant food. These pancakes were a bit like Indian Naan bread with cinnamon in the middle. They were fresh-cooked, and lovely and warm while we ate them.
We then headed on down the road in search of a more filling meal, and Jill recommended a dumpling place she'd seen. Though technically Chinese, the food style remained Korean, so we got a big plate of dumplings (Mandoo) to share and a Bibimbap (that stone-cooked rice bowl we had with the barbecue).
A lot of Korean foods come with little dishes of simple sides, like Kimchi or pickled vegetables (parsnips yesterday, radishes today - though today they tasted like pickled pineapple). The pickled stuff is definitely my favorite.
The Bibimbap was really good yet again, and the dumplings was something like a sampler tray, so we had several different types to try. A lot of the things were really spicy, or they started out bland and grew to be spicy, and they were all spicy in different ways. Some burned in your tummy, others at the tip of your tongue, some along the back of the throat. Either way it was all amazingly delicious and we left really happy and mostly full.
So then we made our way back looking for street vendor fish. By this I don't mean the Kimbap, which is Korean seafood. Instead, there are pastries filled with red bean paste and some sort of nuts (maybe peanuts?) that are always shaped into molds like fish. We found some, and the man said it was 3 for 1000 won, or $1, which was a brilliant deal, so we all ate more than we needed to and felt quite happy and full.
We're now packing, because it's our last night in Gangnam. Tomorrow, Amy, Rebekah, and I will go straight from training to Bucheon and more adventures. But never fear, lovely readers, we'll be back. After all, Bucheon's not so far away by subway, and it's been really fun living it up Gangnam Style.
At the dumpling place.
Amy and Rebekah eating Kimchi and taking pictures.
Our dumpling assortment. The little round ones and the reddish ones were really really spicy.
Jill and I at the dumpling place.
The woman cooking the dumplings in the open kitchen.
The street vendor cooking the pastry fish for us.
Amy and Rebekah eating the pastry fish.
More pastry fish cooking.
Today was the second day of mocking the main lessons. Everyone's doing much better today after the initial dash of the first half the week, mostly because its almost over, and mostly because we have a much better idea of how to teach now. I myself feel confident going in that I'll be able to teach a class and handle misbehaving children, keep their attention, and prepare each lesson every week.
Now, some of you may remember from my last entry that I was running short on money. When I first tried getting money out this morning, however, I was having a lot of problems. I am now happy to announce that this problem is now fixed. I tried several ATMs today, and most said card not valid, and then one said the card was locked and to contact my bank. This of course induced panic, because if one card was locked, was the other? How could I reach my bank since that involved international calling, and I had no international calling card? Who could I contact at that hour to work things out? After several frantic skype calls and attempts to get through on my Korean cell phone and the one I've brought from the U.S. (says its roaming over here, so apparently it's piggy-backing service from somewhere -- sorry Mum if you have to pay a bigger bill; I will pay you back), I eventually managed to buy some Skype credit using my credit card (this was my last resort for money), and used it to contact my bank, which then checked and said there was no hold on my atm card, it's not locked, and "it must have something wrong with the atm machine". Someone tell that woman the 'm' in ATM stands for machine.
Anyway, after that I went out and found a citibank atm in the subway station, and that ended up after a few times working. There is a really low limit on the amount you can get out because it's a subway station, but even so, I can survive with $100 for awhile, especially since our dinner today was wonderfully cheap.
And that brings me to the fun topic for the day: my dinner.
Since we were all feeling much better at the end of the day today, we decided to go out. Amy and I ran into Jill, a teacher headed for Daegu south of Seoul, coming back from the ATM at the subway, and we convinced her to come along. So Amy, Rebekah, Jill, and I headed out down Gangnam-daero (the main street of Gangnam) to find ourselves something cheap and delicious.
Rebekah found a cart that was selling pancake-things for approximately $0.70 each. We each got one of these because it smelled amazing and because In-Jee, our trainer, had said the street food is perfectly safe in Korea and in fact the best way to eat on the cheap. Most Koreans themselves eat the street food over restaurant food. These pancakes were a bit like Indian Naan bread with cinnamon in the middle. They were fresh-cooked, and lovely and warm while we ate them.
We then headed on down the road in search of a more filling meal, and Jill recommended a dumpling place she'd seen. Though technically Chinese, the food style remained Korean, so we got a big plate of dumplings (Mandoo) to share and a Bibimbap (that stone-cooked rice bowl we had with the barbecue).
A lot of Korean foods come with little dishes of simple sides, like Kimchi or pickled vegetables (parsnips yesterday, radishes today - though today they tasted like pickled pineapple). The pickled stuff is definitely my favorite.
The Bibimbap was really good yet again, and the dumplings was something like a sampler tray, so we had several different types to try. A lot of the things were really spicy, or they started out bland and grew to be spicy, and they were all spicy in different ways. Some burned in your tummy, others at the tip of your tongue, some along the back of the throat. Either way it was all amazingly delicious and we left really happy and mostly full.
So then we made our way back looking for street vendor fish. By this I don't mean the Kimbap, which is Korean seafood. Instead, there are pastries filled with red bean paste and some sort of nuts (maybe peanuts?) that are always shaped into molds like fish. We found some, and the man said it was 3 for 1000 won, or $1, which was a brilliant deal, so we all ate more than we needed to and felt quite happy and full.
We're now packing, because it's our last night in Gangnam. Tomorrow, Amy, Rebekah, and I will go straight from training to Bucheon and more adventures. But never fear, lovely readers, we'll be back. After all, Bucheon's not so far away by subway, and it's been really fun living it up Gangnam Style.
At the dumpling place.
Amy and Rebekah eating Kimchi and taking pictures.
Our dumpling assortment. The little round ones and the reddish ones were really really spicy.
Jill and I at the dumpling place.
The woman cooking the dumplings in the open kitchen.
The street vendor cooking the pastry fish for us.
Amy and Rebekah eating the pastry fish.
More pastry fish cooking.
Third Day of Training - Everyone's Panicking
So we managed to hit the middle of training week. I didn't manage to convince anyone to go out last night, so I got stuck eating sandwiches. Today we had our full day of training, plus an extra hour or so of work to do on the computer programs we use at the schools. By the time we were done in the building (i.e. it closed before we were done and we got kicked out), we were all starving and wanting a break from work.
That means, for those of you asking, I have pictures of our next adventure out. Rebekah, Amy, and I saw a sign saying "Grand Open Festival" outside a restaurant across the road from the hotel, so we decided to give it a try. It turned out to be a fried chicken place, which at first sounds very western. That being said, I'll admit they were certainly trying to be western at times. However, this place was quintessentially Korean in nature.
We saw the first forks we've seen since arriving at this place, and also some strange mini-tongs you use to hold other things. Most of the others were eating with their fingers, some people in the booths against the walls had their shoes off, and the place was packed with business-people who had gotten off work and were drinking Soju and smoking cigarettes or enjoying beer.
We weren't feeling too adventurous, so we had "chicken and chips" and "garlic chicken". At this point I must add it's a chicken restaurant, and everything was chicken. I must also add that some of the other teachers were feeling adventurous, and went down to Gangnam Station to eat live octopus (videos to follow later). The benign chicken and chips turned out to be this (I'm glad for it):
Now that probably looks really familiar, and it was, with tater tots and smiley fries, waffle fries, proper chip chips, and hash browns on a plate with fried chicken. But trying to eat it with tongs and a fork was hilariously good fun, and you're only given a little dish to eat it from, so it was a task in an of itself.
The second chicken dish, the garlic chicken, is more on par with the sorts of food you'd expect in Korea, and that looked like this:
It was a bit like sesame chicken or something, but it was also hard to eat in the aforementioned manner, so in the end we watched the other restaurant patrons for clues and ended up eating with our hands.
We were also given a number of things that tasted like pretzel sticks but looked like spaghetti covered in...something. We had pickled parsnips or something similar as well, which for the UK crowd start off tasting like pickled onions, and then fade into some more flat and boring taste. We took awhile to work out how to eat those as well (of if they even were for eating).
Eventually we paid our bill and meandered back to the room to do more studying, which took until about midnight tonight, since everyone wanted to check their own lesson plans against one another. That's also why this post is both short and late-coming.
Tomorrow won't be as busy, so that should be a good time. I'm feeling quite comfortable with teaching at this point, and am looking forward to this weekend and the relocation to Bucheon. Tomorrow, I also intend on checking my debit card, as I'm now down to some ridiculously small amount of cash, and the one ATM I did try is of the opinion my debit card isn't actually a card. We'll see if that's a general problem or ATM specific. I'm not about to panic yet.
I leave you all with these last pictures:
Rebekah and Amy at the fried chicken restaurant.
The move we're all going to see. The film's still called Skyfall, but there's no 'f' sound in Korean, and the 'sky' is broken into "su'kai", so the whole thing comes out sounding more like "su'kai'pall". Anyway, the general belief is it will be subtitled in theaters (apparently most western movies are, so they are shown in English, and since a lot of Koreans speak English anyway, this works out fine), so we won't be completely lost when we watch it. :D
Will be in touch soon!
-Sam
That means, for those of you asking, I have pictures of our next adventure out. Rebekah, Amy, and I saw a sign saying "Grand Open Festival" outside a restaurant across the road from the hotel, so we decided to give it a try. It turned out to be a fried chicken place, which at first sounds very western. That being said, I'll admit they were certainly trying to be western at times. However, this place was quintessentially Korean in nature.
We saw the first forks we've seen since arriving at this place, and also some strange mini-tongs you use to hold other things. Most of the others were eating with their fingers, some people in the booths against the walls had their shoes off, and the place was packed with business-people who had gotten off work and were drinking Soju and smoking cigarettes or enjoying beer.
We weren't feeling too adventurous, so we had "chicken and chips" and "garlic chicken". At this point I must add it's a chicken restaurant, and everything was chicken. I must also add that some of the other teachers were feeling adventurous, and went down to Gangnam Station to eat live octopus (videos to follow later). The benign chicken and chips turned out to be this (I'm glad for it):
Now that probably looks really familiar, and it was, with tater tots and smiley fries, waffle fries, proper chip chips, and hash browns on a plate with fried chicken. But trying to eat it with tongs and a fork was hilariously good fun, and you're only given a little dish to eat it from, so it was a task in an of itself.
The second chicken dish, the garlic chicken, is more on par with the sorts of food you'd expect in Korea, and that looked like this:
It was a bit like sesame chicken or something, but it was also hard to eat in the aforementioned manner, so in the end we watched the other restaurant patrons for clues and ended up eating with our hands.
We were also given a number of things that tasted like pretzel sticks but looked like spaghetti covered in...something. We had pickled parsnips or something similar as well, which for the UK crowd start off tasting like pickled onions, and then fade into some more flat and boring taste. We took awhile to work out how to eat those as well (of if they even were for eating).
Eventually we paid our bill and meandered back to the room to do more studying, which took until about midnight tonight, since everyone wanted to check their own lesson plans against one another. That's also why this post is both short and late-coming.
Tomorrow won't be as busy, so that should be a good time. I'm feeling quite comfortable with teaching at this point, and am looking forward to this weekend and the relocation to Bucheon. Tomorrow, I also intend on checking my debit card, as I'm now down to some ridiculously small amount of cash, and the one ATM I did try is of the opinion my debit card isn't actually a card. We'll see if that's a general problem or ATM specific. I'm not about to panic yet.
I leave you all with these last pictures:
Rebekah and Amy at the fried chicken restaurant.
The move we're all going to see. The film's still called Skyfall, but there's no 'f' sound in Korean, and the 'sky' is broken into "su'kai", so the whole thing comes out sounding more like "su'kai'pall". Anyway, the general belief is it will be subtitled in theaters (apparently most western movies are, so they are shown in English, and since a lot of Koreans speak English anyway, this works out fine), so we won't be completely lost when we watch it. :D
Will be in touch soon!
-Sam
Tuesday, November 13, 2012
Second Day of Training - Getting Down to Business
Today we spent most of the day in training. We all woke up early, and even though Christine and I left alone to catch the subway, we all ended up crossing paths down in the tunnels and arriving mostly at the same time as everyone else in the hotel.
Our hotel is located round the corner from Gangnam Station, which lies under and around the underground shopping mall and walkway we found the other day. We have to catch three different trains to get to the stop, since it's on an awkward around-the-corner-type location from our subway route near the hotel. This means it was fairly simple to get confused as to which line to change to, going which direction, at each of the subway stops.
We all worked it out eventually, and we got to training in time to be hammered with all sorts of details in small groups.
Now, let me be fair. There are any number of people who tell you Chungdahm teacher training week is grueling and hard. If you compare it to the amount of work the kids do each and every day, it's almost next to nothing. It runs from 9:30am to 3:00pm, and then you have hours of homework, but those hours of homework are just what you'll have to do as a teacher anyway. It's practice in the preparation of classes. Each day you'll mock that part of the course as though you were teaching it to the kids, and so when you finally do get into a real classroom, you've already done it, seen it, experienced it, and received feedback you can immediately implement. Not to mention, all the work you're doing for training week is in fact with the first lesson you'll teach, so it doubles as prep for that first week of teaching.
I've been assigned to IRP and ILP, which are Integrative Reading Par and Integrative Listening Par. These are intermediate levels, where kids already know English and you're teaching critical thinking and analyzing skills for reading and listening and writing. These are, for those of you who don't know, things like: main idea and where to find it, supporting details, the patterns of organization of readings, pulling details from texts by using transition words as verbal cues, etc. It's basic grammar, and something anyone who has been through English-Speaking school systems has ingrained in them from day one. In effect, I'm not teaching kids English at this point. I'm trying to teach them to think in English, using the thought processes of English Speakers.
I'm actually really excited for this, because I've always been interested in cross-cultural consultation (advising people on the way other cultures think) so this is right up my alley in terms of what I enjoy doing. I am a bit nervous about doing this with kids outside a controlled setting, but by the end of the week I think I'll have practiced enough with my instructor and teams to pull it off. My group includes Rebekah and Amy, who are both going to Bucheon branch with me, so we're all on the same page as to how to do it. The people training us are actual teachers who go back into those classroom settings after our training day to teach the kids. This means that they've got tips and skills and styles all their own, and you're learning it from someone who is doing well and doing it now. This is also very helpful.
Tonight we're meeting to practice our mocks for both reading and listening courses and get the prep work done for tomorrow. I don't expect it to take too long (some of the more extreme people are panicking and expecting to be working for seven hours, but I think if it takes you seven hours to break down English reading and writing skills into a lesson then you're probably in the wrong profession here), and I'm trying to convince the guys to go out to eat again afterward for some more delicious Korean food. I've now been assured that the street vendors are perfectly safe to eat from (I was a bit hesitant at first), and I have also been told it's cheaper to eat out in Korea than eat in because fruit and vegetables are really expensive. Buying things off the street is really cheap (it's about $2-3 dollars) whereas buying things in shops to cook yourself is far more costly. Even the restaurants are cheaper, so its always the best bet to go out.
Amy told me a story of one girl who came out here and taught in Seoul who spent about $5 on gas bills for heating for her apartment because she just spent all her time eating out and meeting with people, so it might be the way to go once I've got an apartment. Either way, I know I'll at least know Rebekah and Amy at the Bucheon branch, and we've already got a list of places to visit as tourists within Seoul itself. This is made more simple by the fact that we've all got T-Money cards for the subway, and Bucheon is only a line away from the Gangnam line - the busiest line in Seoul.
With all that said, I'm off to group prep and mock with the team. If we go out I'll take pictures and do a double post for the day, since I've got a request to take more pictures of food. ;)
Our hotel is located round the corner from Gangnam Station, which lies under and around the underground shopping mall and walkway we found the other day. We have to catch three different trains to get to the stop, since it's on an awkward around-the-corner-type location from our subway route near the hotel. This means it was fairly simple to get confused as to which line to change to, going which direction, at each of the subway stops.
We all worked it out eventually, and we got to training in time to be hammered with all sorts of details in small groups.
Now, let me be fair. There are any number of people who tell you Chungdahm teacher training week is grueling and hard. If you compare it to the amount of work the kids do each and every day, it's almost next to nothing. It runs from 9:30am to 3:00pm, and then you have hours of homework, but those hours of homework are just what you'll have to do as a teacher anyway. It's practice in the preparation of classes. Each day you'll mock that part of the course as though you were teaching it to the kids, and so when you finally do get into a real classroom, you've already done it, seen it, experienced it, and received feedback you can immediately implement. Not to mention, all the work you're doing for training week is in fact with the first lesson you'll teach, so it doubles as prep for that first week of teaching.
I've been assigned to IRP and ILP, which are Integrative Reading Par and Integrative Listening Par. These are intermediate levels, where kids already know English and you're teaching critical thinking and analyzing skills for reading and listening and writing. These are, for those of you who don't know, things like: main idea and where to find it, supporting details, the patterns of organization of readings, pulling details from texts by using transition words as verbal cues, etc. It's basic grammar, and something anyone who has been through English-Speaking school systems has ingrained in them from day one. In effect, I'm not teaching kids English at this point. I'm trying to teach them to think in English, using the thought processes of English Speakers.
I'm actually really excited for this, because I've always been interested in cross-cultural consultation (advising people on the way other cultures think) so this is right up my alley in terms of what I enjoy doing. I am a bit nervous about doing this with kids outside a controlled setting, but by the end of the week I think I'll have practiced enough with my instructor and teams to pull it off. My group includes Rebekah and Amy, who are both going to Bucheon branch with me, so we're all on the same page as to how to do it. The people training us are actual teachers who go back into those classroom settings after our training day to teach the kids. This means that they've got tips and skills and styles all their own, and you're learning it from someone who is doing well and doing it now. This is also very helpful.
Tonight we're meeting to practice our mocks for both reading and listening courses and get the prep work done for tomorrow. I don't expect it to take too long (some of the more extreme people are panicking and expecting to be working for seven hours, but I think if it takes you seven hours to break down English reading and writing skills into a lesson then you're probably in the wrong profession here), and I'm trying to convince the guys to go out to eat again afterward for some more delicious Korean food. I've now been assured that the street vendors are perfectly safe to eat from (I was a bit hesitant at first), and I have also been told it's cheaper to eat out in Korea than eat in because fruit and vegetables are really expensive. Buying things off the street is really cheap (it's about $2-3 dollars) whereas buying things in shops to cook yourself is far more costly. Even the restaurants are cheaper, so its always the best bet to go out.
Amy told me a story of one girl who came out here and taught in Seoul who spent about $5 on gas bills for heating for her apartment because she just spent all her time eating out and meeting with people, so it might be the way to go once I've got an apartment. Either way, I know I'll at least know Rebekah and Amy at the Bucheon branch, and we've already got a list of places to visit as tourists within Seoul itself. This is made more simple by the fact that we've all got T-Money cards for the subway, and Bucheon is only a line away from the Gangnam line - the busiest line in Seoul.
With all that said, I'm off to group prep and mock with the team. If we go out I'll take pictures and do a double post for the day, since I've got a request to take more pictures of food. ;)
Monday, November 12, 2012
First Day of Training - Medical Exam and Orientation
Today we all got up early to get on a shuttle to take us to the medical exam for our ARCs (Alien Resident Cards). This would have been fine if the driver had dropped us off where we were meant to be, but instead we were dropped off round the corner and subsequently lost. When we called for directions (note, at this point we didn't know where we were meant to go, or even the name of the place) we were told to turn left, so we did, and walked half an hour in the wrong direction before eventually running around in a big circle and arriving half an hour late to our medical stuff.
We were all expecting some sort of private clinic, but it was a full on working clinic with Koreans all there doing their check-ups as well. So we sat there and got called one by one into the process, which all took place in one big massive room with lots of seats in some sort of station rotation sort of thing. We'd go to a changing room, where we were supplied with orange or blue Korean prison jumpsuits based on gender, as well as some Korean slippers, and then we were shuffled about the room to different stations.
One by one we were measured for height, weight, and blood pressure. We did hearing exams, a quick cursory dental check-up, and a chest x-ray looking for tuberculosis. Then we had blood drawn, did urine tests, and did some sort of Electric Cardiovascular thing, which involved stripping down and having stuff stuck to you while an electric current was run through you to check your heart rate and other cardiovascular things. It didn't hurt, but it was quite strange to do. One of the boys in the group was told off for having too much chest hair, so the little things wouldn't stick to him, so they took a pair of scissors to the patch of hair they needed, and shaved it for him to make it work, then chastised him for not shaving his chest.
Then we had a medical consultation, which was really more of an interview. I apparently checked out fine, so off we went back downstairs to wait for the bus, all feeling a bit uneasy and strange, once again back in our own clothes.
We got some sandwiches at a nearby shop, and the daring ate vendor food from the street (we still aren't sure what). We then headed off towards the Chungdahm main branch office to begin our training orientation.
This was a lot of fun. We found out what sorts of programs we'll all be teaching when we were separated into groups for our main lessons. Our days from here on out will be 9:30 to 3:00 and then we'll have homework to do. On friday, we break into our respective groups and head on along to our schools.
We also got the first taste of the subway system today. It seems simple enough to follow, once you have an idea where you're going, and they gave us some instructions to follow which were and were not helpful at the same time. I think there's been a bit of construction since last the instructions were updated, so it took a bit to work out the directions to go. We're on the subway until friday when we get another shuttle now, so we've got time to practice. Also, the subway cards you get (called T-Money Cards) work not only in the Seoul subways, but also in several other major cities, and they also work in taxis. You just put money on it, and then carry it about, top it up with funds when you need to. I've got one already, but it's got no money on it at the moment.
I'm also almost out of cash, so sometime soon I'll need to find an ATM. I've still got about $70 worth in my purse and don't expect to spend it quickly, but I don't want to run out, so tomorrow afternoon I'm going in search of the citibank to see if my debit card works in their machines. I'll report my results with that tomorrow.
Time for bed now. Thanks all for reading! Speak to you tomorrow!
-Sam
We were all expecting some sort of private clinic, but it was a full on working clinic with Koreans all there doing their check-ups as well. So we sat there and got called one by one into the process, which all took place in one big massive room with lots of seats in some sort of station rotation sort of thing. We'd go to a changing room, where we were supplied with orange or blue Korean prison jumpsuits based on gender, as well as some Korean slippers, and then we were shuffled about the room to different stations.
One by one we were measured for height, weight, and blood pressure. We did hearing exams, a quick cursory dental check-up, and a chest x-ray looking for tuberculosis. Then we had blood drawn, did urine tests, and did some sort of Electric Cardiovascular thing, which involved stripping down and having stuff stuck to you while an electric current was run through you to check your heart rate and other cardiovascular things. It didn't hurt, but it was quite strange to do. One of the boys in the group was told off for having too much chest hair, so the little things wouldn't stick to him, so they took a pair of scissors to the patch of hair they needed, and shaved it for him to make it work, then chastised him for not shaving his chest.
Then we had a medical consultation, which was really more of an interview. I apparently checked out fine, so off we went back downstairs to wait for the bus, all feeling a bit uneasy and strange, once again back in our own clothes.
We got some sandwiches at a nearby shop, and the daring ate vendor food from the street (we still aren't sure what). We then headed off towards the Chungdahm main branch office to begin our training orientation.
This was a lot of fun. We found out what sorts of programs we'll all be teaching when we were separated into groups for our main lessons. Our days from here on out will be 9:30 to 3:00 and then we'll have homework to do. On friday, we break into our respective groups and head on along to our schools.
We also got the first taste of the subway system today. It seems simple enough to follow, once you have an idea where you're going, and they gave us some instructions to follow which were and were not helpful at the same time. I think there's been a bit of construction since last the instructions were updated, so it took a bit to work out the directions to go. We're on the subway until friday when we get another shuttle now, so we've got time to practice. Also, the subway cards you get (called T-Money Cards) work not only in the Seoul subways, but also in several other major cities, and they also work in taxis. You just put money on it, and then carry it about, top it up with funds when you need to. I've got one already, but it's got no money on it at the moment.
I'm also almost out of cash, so sometime soon I'll need to find an ATM. I've still got about $70 worth in my purse and don't expect to spend it quickly, but I don't want to run out, so tomorrow afternoon I'm going in search of the citibank to see if my debit card works in their machines. I'll report my results with that tomorrow.
Time for bed now. Thanks all for reading! Speak to you tomorrow!
-Sam
Sunday, November 11, 2012
First Day in Korea - Test Taking, Rain, and Korean Barbecue
Today was a rough day full of Skyping and waking up at odd hours. I had what I originally thought to be a strawberry yogurt for breakfast, but it ended up being some sort of tofu, jelly parfait with strawberry chunks in it, and is meant to be a dessert apparently. It was actually really amazing and I liked it a lot.
Everyone was up at 4 or 5 in the morning because of jet lag, regardless of how tired we were. Eventually Christine and I got to sleep again and slept until 9:30 or so. Then we met up with Rebecca and Amy to go exploring for power converters, some lunch, and just to see what there was.
We walked up one of the main roads. Most of the signs for shops are in English, not Korean, which was a surprise but also a help. All the little shops remind me of England, and today we faced a lot of rain, so it was almost familiar. The smell of food was everywhere, but eventually we ended up inside a bakery that sold egg pastries and Korean spicy chicken salad, cakes of all sorts, and a number of different rice cakes/balls. We all got a few things to try (we could read it since it was in English as well as Korean) and headed back to the room to review the training videos and grammar before the exam.
Two of the girls had already taken the exam and failed it twice (there is no limit to how many times you can take it), so we all got a bit apprehensive about that and almost wrote down word for word what the videos said in our notes. It turned out to be a bit over the top (for me at least) since we then almost all passed it first try, or second.
After that we had a little downtime before we'd arranged to meet up with a group of people contacted by the recruiter (it was all arranged over the internet originally and then became a matter of word-of-mouth so by the time we arrived there were about 20 of us waiting to go). We counted off into groups so we'd meet new people, so five of us headed out into Gangnam to find our dinner.
Some of the others had been exploring before and discovered that under the main street we'd walked along before was a big shopping mall and walk-way. It was cover from the rain, and also prevented running across streets where people seem quite happy to run red lights or take off out of nowhere without warning. It's full of shops down there, like Baskin Robbins, Starbucks, and a bunch of clothing places, shoe shops, and whatnot. Amy (she's from Scotland, and she'll be teaching at Bucheon with me) and I decided to come back again once we get paid in January and see if there's anything we like.
My group consisted of Amy, Margaret, David, Dominic, and myself. When we emerged from the underground mall, it was fully dark out, and Seoul was lit up. Most of the main street is shops, but not restaurants. To find them (the good places, not the massive world-wide chains), you have to head back into the alleys.
We all ended up at a Korean Barbecue done in a traditional manner, so it was a little room with a wooden floor, low tables and benches to sit on. Since we're in Seoul, the menu was in English as well as Korean, and the waiters understood English fairly well, so we were able to order. We got two vegetable Bibimbap and one rib meat barbecue (this came with lettuce, noodles, and kimchi.
The beef is brought out raw but marinaded, and you cook it yourself over a pot of coals set atop some heated bricks they put on the table. The noodles and kimchi come separately.
This barbecue was amazing. The meat was gorgeous, and the rest was just as good. Kimchi is actually really nice. It's got a bit of a spicy kick to it, but nothing too bad at this place, and it was actually really tasty. The Bibimbap (we ordered the vegetable one) is a stone-cooked rice bowl. They bring you a hot stone bowl in a wooden holder with rice, vegetables, and a raw egg yolk. You break the yolk and then mix it all together, and because the bowl is hot it cooks it right there while you do it.
We managed an entire meal between the five of us for about 10,000 won each, or 10 dollars. This included drinks, as well as two bottles of Soju.
Soju is a rice liquor (can't remember if its beer or wine). Its drunk in shots, similar to vodka, and its clear in color like vodka too. The others said they liked it, but I didn't. It has an odd flavor that bothered the sides of the front of my tongue, and the taste lingers a bit bitter in the mouth for awhile afterward. It's not terrible, but it isn't my favorite, and it takes awhile to really affect you, so it's not immediate upon drinking it. In my opinion it's best with a chaser. Two bottles was enough for about 3 shots each of it.
These people, from the left are Amy, David, Margaret, and Dominic.
All in all it was a really good night out. We've got medical exams first thing tomorrow morning for our Alien Resident Cards, and we're not allowed to eat before going for that. Then it's off to the Training Orientation!
Margaret and Dominic at the Korean Barbecue
Amy and I at the Korean Barbecue
Everyone was up at 4 or 5 in the morning because of jet lag, regardless of how tired we were. Eventually Christine and I got to sleep again and slept until 9:30 or so. Then we met up with Rebecca and Amy to go exploring for power converters, some lunch, and just to see what there was.
We walked up one of the main roads. Most of the signs for shops are in English, not Korean, which was a surprise but also a help. All the little shops remind me of England, and today we faced a lot of rain, so it was almost familiar. The smell of food was everywhere, but eventually we ended up inside a bakery that sold egg pastries and Korean spicy chicken salad, cakes of all sorts, and a number of different rice cakes/balls. We all got a few things to try (we could read it since it was in English as well as Korean) and headed back to the room to review the training videos and grammar before the exam.
Two of the girls had already taken the exam and failed it twice (there is no limit to how many times you can take it), so we all got a bit apprehensive about that and almost wrote down word for word what the videos said in our notes. It turned out to be a bit over the top (for me at least) since we then almost all passed it first try, or second.
After that we had a little downtime before we'd arranged to meet up with a group of people contacted by the recruiter (it was all arranged over the internet originally and then became a matter of word-of-mouth so by the time we arrived there were about 20 of us waiting to go). We counted off into groups so we'd meet new people, so five of us headed out into Gangnam to find our dinner.
Some of the others had been exploring before and discovered that under the main street we'd walked along before was a big shopping mall and walk-way. It was cover from the rain, and also prevented running across streets where people seem quite happy to run red lights or take off out of nowhere without warning. It's full of shops down there, like Baskin Robbins, Starbucks, and a bunch of clothing places, shoe shops, and whatnot. Amy (she's from Scotland, and she'll be teaching at Bucheon with me) and I decided to come back again once we get paid in January and see if there's anything we like.
My group consisted of Amy, Margaret, David, Dominic, and myself. When we emerged from the underground mall, it was fully dark out, and Seoul was lit up. Most of the main street is shops, but not restaurants. To find them (the good places, not the massive world-wide chains), you have to head back into the alleys.
We all ended up at a Korean Barbecue done in a traditional manner, so it was a little room with a wooden floor, low tables and benches to sit on. Since we're in Seoul, the menu was in English as well as Korean, and the waiters understood English fairly well, so we were able to order. We got two vegetable Bibimbap and one rib meat barbecue (this came with lettuce, noodles, and kimchi.
The beef is brought out raw but marinaded, and you cook it yourself over a pot of coals set atop some heated bricks they put on the table. The noodles and kimchi come separately.
This barbecue was amazing. The meat was gorgeous, and the rest was just as good. Kimchi is actually really nice. It's got a bit of a spicy kick to it, but nothing too bad at this place, and it was actually really tasty. The Bibimbap (we ordered the vegetable one) is a stone-cooked rice bowl. They bring you a hot stone bowl in a wooden holder with rice, vegetables, and a raw egg yolk. You break the yolk and then mix it all together, and because the bowl is hot it cooks it right there while you do it.
We managed an entire meal between the five of us for about 10,000 won each, or 10 dollars. This included drinks, as well as two bottles of Soju.
Soju is a rice liquor (can't remember if its beer or wine). Its drunk in shots, similar to vodka, and its clear in color like vodka too. The others said they liked it, but I didn't. It has an odd flavor that bothered the sides of the front of my tongue, and the taste lingers a bit bitter in the mouth for awhile afterward. It's not terrible, but it isn't my favorite, and it takes awhile to really affect you, so it's not immediate upon drinking it. In my opinion it's best with a chaser. Two bottles was enough for about 3 shots each of it.
These people, from the left are Amy, David, Margaret, and Dominic.
All in all it was a really good night out. We've got medical exams first thing tomorrow morning for our Alien Resident Cards, and we're not allowed to eat before going for that. Then it's off to the Training Orientation!
Margaret and Dominic at the Korean Barbecue
Amy and I at the Korean Barbecue
Saturday, November 10, 2012
KOREA!!! I Have Arrived!
Hello all from Seoul!
I woke up in Denver at 5:00am and set off at 8:00am, nearly missed my flight in San Francisco. I had to run to catch it, but at last I made it. As a heads up from anyone doing the San Francisco to Seoul haul: you will suffer at the end of it. It's bright the entire 12 hours, and if you're flying coach, you've got all the kids and people moving about and being cramped. It's alright getting up and walking around, but you look on the screen thinking you must be there by now and then find out you're only just over Alaska and have another 6 hours to sit there. It's hard to sleep on the flight (and I can sleep anywhere, so that's saying something) so by the time you hit Seoul you're exhausted.
Incheon Airport, however, is brilliant. Even the boarding ramps are glass, so the moment you're off the plane the world opens up again. They've developed a reputation as one of the best, most efficient, passenger-friendly airports in the world, and they certainly live up to it. Signs are posted in Korean, English, and Chinese in the international terminal (and from what I gather, excepting Busan, all the flights are international) so you don't have to look about in confusion trying to work out where you're going. The immigration line was the shortest I've ever stood in, and you go immediately to the carousel. The only confusing bit was trying to work out where to find the Hanjin Express to pick up my Arrival Store boxes, as it was hidden behind some construction on the far end of the third floor terminal. The rest is easy.
Seoul as a city is really dense in some areas and then spread out in others. When we arrived, the sun was setting and a hazy fog covered the place, but the lights of Seoul were everywhere when we got in the taxi. Another note here: don't take the black taxis unless you're pairing up with other people, as they're the more expensive. I teamed up with Eva, who I met in the terminal looking for Hanjin Express, so our cost wasn't as bad, but if I had been alone, it would have been really expensive.
Traffic is Seoul is as bad as you might imagine starting at about 6:00pm from what I could see. It took an hour and a half to reach the Coatel Hotel from Incheon Airport via taxi. The guys who took the bus to the central station, then a taxi back to the Coatel Hotel paid less for the taxi, but arrived a little after Eva and I, and so the timing was about the same for a bit more effort.
I am now sitting in a room with my roommate Christine. It's done in traditional Korean style, with the spot at the front door for taking off your shoes (the hotel even gave us slippers, but we're all favoring socks for now). Our bathroom contains a massive shower, and a toilet with way too many buttons. It took Christine and I a good ten minutes to work out where the flush was (it's round the back). There was also some surprise when I sat down and discovered with a very tired brain that the toilet seat is heated. I could have easily fallen asleep right there at that point.
We met Rebecca and Eva down on the ground floor to visit the little shop in the back of the lobby. You can buy coca cola in Korea, as well as twix, skittles, many types of yogurt, and digestives (McVities at least in this shop).
Anyway, off to bed now. Got work and exploring to do in the morning. I leave you all with some pictures, and I've made it home safe.
P.S. My new phone is really awesome. It's got a touch pad screen with a special metal pen thing to navigate about, and it plays music and all that jazz. Considering it's not a special phone over here and is used anyway, it's still better than my phone back in the U.S.
Love you all!
-Sam
Christine and my shared room at the Coatel Hotel, Seoul. This picture was taken from the small smoking room (it won't be used, but it's like a closed in balcony, complete with sliding glass door).
See, Mum, I can leave my shoes at the door now. In fact, it's encouraged.
That's the massive shower and the sink, the mad electronic heated toilet's on the lower right. ;)
This is my roommate, Christine!
I woke up in Denver at 5:00am and set off at 8:00am, nearly missed my flight in San Francisco. I had to run to catch it, but at last I made it. As a heads up from anyone doing the San Francisco to Seoul haul: you will suffer at the end of it. It's bright the entire 12 hours, and if you're flying coach, you've got all the kids and people moving about and being cramped. It's alright getting up and walking around, but you look on the screen thinking you must be there by now and then find out you're only just over Alaska and have another 6 hours to sit there. It's hard to sleep on the flight (and I can sleep anywhere, so that's saying something) so by the time you hit Seoul you're exhausted.
Incheon Airport, however, is brilliant. Even the boarding ramps are glass, so the moment you're off the plane the world opens up again. They've developed a reputation as one of the best, most efficient, passenger-friendly airports in the world, and they certainly live up to it. Signs are posted in Korean, English, and Chinese in the international terminal (and from what I gather, excepting Busan, all the flights are international) so you don't have to look about in confusion trying to work out where you're going. The immigration line was the shortest I've ever stood in, and you go immediately to the carousel. The only confusing bit was trying to work out where to find the Hanjin Express to pick up my Arrival Store boxes, as it was hidden behind some construction on the far end of the third floor terminal. The rest is easy.
Seoul as a city is really dense in some areas and then spread out in others. When we arrived, the sun was setting and a hazy fog covered the place, but the lights of Seoul were everywhere when we got in the taxi. Another note here: don't take the black taxis unless you're pairing up with other people, as they're the more expensive. I teamed up with Eva, who I met in the terminal looking for Hanjin Express, so our cost wasn't as bad, but if I had been alone, it would have been really expensive.
Traffic is Seoul is as bad as you might imagine starting at about 6:00pm from what I could see. It took an hour and a half to reach the Coatel Hotel from Incheon Airport via taxi. The guys who took the bus to the central station, then a taxi back to the Coatel Hotel paid less for the taxi, but arrived a little after Eva and I, and so the timing was about the same for a bit more effort.
I am now sitting in a room with my roommate Christine. It's done in traditional Korean style, with the spot at the front door for taking off your shoes (the hotel even gave us slippers, but we're all favoring socks for now). Our bathroom contains a massive shower, and a toilet with way too many buttons. It took Christine and I a good ten minutes to work out where the flush was (it's round the back). There was also some surprise when I sat down and discovered with a very tired brain that the toilet seat is heated. I could have easily fallen asleep right there at that point.
We met Rebecca and Eva down on the ground floor to visit the little shop in the back of the lobby. You can buy coca cola in Korea, as well as twix, skittles, many types of yogurt, and digestives (McVities at least in this shop).
Anyway, off to bed now. Got work and exploring to do in the morning. I leave you all with some pictures, and I've made it home safe.
P.S. My new phone is really awesome. It's got a touch pad screen with a special metal pen thing to navigate about, and it plays music and all that jazz. Considering it's not a special phone over here and is used anyway, it's still better than my phone back in the U.S.
Love you all!
-Sam
Christine and my shared room at the Coatel Hotel, Seoul. This picture was taken from the small smoking room (it won't be used, but it's like a closed in balcony, complete with sliding glass door).
See, Mum, I can leave my shoes at the door now. In fact, it's encouraged.
That's the massive shower and the sink, the mad electronic heated toilet's on the lower right. ;)
This is my roommate, Christine!
Thursday, November 8, 2012
Final Post Before Entering Korea
So I'm now two days out. I've finally got all the things I need. Mum and I went and bought some suitcases last night, so I've now got some brand new bright blue suitcases to spot on the carousel. :) I'm still packing, feeling the time crunch now. I have to be at the airport tomorrow at 6:00 in the morning, so I've got to get everything done today and tomorrow. That means packing, cleaning my bedroom, tidying out my car so Matt can take care of it for me, and making sure I've got back-ups of all my important documents.
This will be my last post before I arrive in Korea on Saturday. I'm very excited to go now, and I'll be working on my Korean during the flight.
All the best to everyone! See you on the other side!
-Sam
This will be my last post before I arrive in Korea on Saturday. I'm very excited to go now, and I'll be working on my Korean during the flight.
All the best to everyone! See you on the other side!
-Sam
Thursday, November 1, 2012
Post Five: Ready to Go!
Today I got my passport back with my visa for 13 months in South Korea. I've booked my flights, so I'm ready to go as of now (minus of course packing, which is probably going to be last minute knowing me :P).
For those of you wondering, I'll be departing on the 9th and arrive in Korea on the 10th of November. I will then go into training on the 12th, and provided I pass training, start teaching on the 26th.
Not long now!
-Sam
For those of you wondering, I'll be departing on the 9th and arrive in Korea on the 10th of November. I will then go into training on the 12th, and provided I pass training, start teaching on the 26th.
Not long now!
-Sam
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