Bundaegi and Hongdae

Sorry for the week's delay in this post. I've been busy with tests at school. As a result I've stayed at home a lot recently, but I do have a few adventures to share.

Last weekend, Van, Amy, and I went out with Rebekah and Karla for a few drinks and dinner. That was all well and good until Rebekah and Karla turned in for the night and then things went a little crazy. Amy and Van decided we should head down to a little place near Rhythm and Booze, the local foreigner bar, where they serve Bundaegi. Bundaegi, for those who are not aware are roasted silkworm larvae. Since they'd both tried some the weekend before when I couldn't go out, they decided it was my turn.

So here's how that turned out:

Yes, that's right. I ate one. Only one. They tasted really weird, like slightly sweet and slightly sour, but also at the same time I couldn't get over the fact that the things had faces. The fish on the table was treated with about as much disdain but after eating a bug I figured I'd have to at least try that as well, and decided that in hindsight, fish is not that bad. Silkworms, though, are off the menu for now.

After that adventure, this weekend, we ended up going out for drinks on friday night with some of the guys from work. We ended up at a club, which was an experience, and then finally a sake bar. In all, I spent only about $15 the whole night. At the Sake Bar, a trio of Korean men decided that they were in love with my smile and told me I had beautiful eyes, and refused after that to let us pay for ourselves. They kept wanting to drink and talk, so with the brother of a Korean friend playing translator we passed quite a great evening all said and done with them all.

Yesterday we went into Hongdae, the hipster part of Seoul, which is packed with bars, clubs, and late-night market stalls. We were going to go a silly art museum with funny artwork, but instead we ended up just wandering around and found ourselves in a place called the Fuzzle club, which was done up to look like a dorm room, with lofted beds above glowing tables, disco balls on the ceiling, and mismatched dorm room type furniture all over the place. Amy was thrilled to find gin and tonic, but overall we didn't drink too much, instead just wandering around, and finally caught the last subway home to Bucheon in time to get some hot chocolate.

Today we stayed in and watched Murray and Djokovic playing in the Australian Open in tennis. This upcoming week we finish intensives, and our kids have a graduation ceremony. Next weekend, Amy and I are going to head back to the art museum.

Until then, that's all folks!

Itaewon and Tim Burton

Today was one of those days where a lot of different things happened. Amy, Van, and I headed out at 11am to Itaewon, which is a part of Seoul known for selling clothes in so-called "Big Sizes" for Westerners. It's located near the military bases in Seoul, and turned out to be quite a seedy, dirty sort of place. Compared to the rest of what I've seen of Korea, I was quite disappointed by it all. The place was full of t-shirts with slogans complaining about being based in Korea, or over-priced merchandise because the Hilton Hotel was in the area too. It was also full of miserable, rude people who would wander around the streets loudly and complain of the place being "provincial" or who would say "It's locked. That's why he has to come and open it" when we stopped by to go into a shop (the man did unlock the shop at that point, but there wasn't a sign or anything, and there was no need for this American man to be such a smarmy so-and-so to someone who was just going to try and enter a shop. If it hadn't been for the shock of what he said, Amy and I both would probably have gone for him at that point.

All in all, Itaewon's not really worth a visit unless you absolutely must go there for something you absolutely cannot find anywhere else. It's filthy and old and full of people who hate life and the world. Avoid it if you can. Compared to Myeong-dong or the shops in Bucheon, it's really a horrible place to be.

After Itaewon, we met up with Brooke and Beks to visit the Tim Burton exhibit at the Seoul Art Museum. Tim Burton, for those of you who do not know, did the Nightmare Before Christmas, the Corpse Bride, and most recently Alice in Wonderland and Frankenweenie. He's known for dark humor and stop-motion animation. The exhibit was a continuation of one that had been originally done in the U.s. (primarily in New York). As the only Asian stop, Seoul's Art Museum was really popular, so popular in fact that it was hard just trying to get into the place. Tickets were 12,000won each, or about $12, and then there were so many sold they had to break up the number of people into groups of 100 to let in at a time so they didn't get overpacked. So we had an hour and a half wait before we got in. It was really good though, showing old work he'd drawn on napkins and paintings he did when he was younger all the way through the original Batman costumes, Edward Scissorhands props from the movies, and stop-animation clay figures used for the films themselves. As an artist, he really is an interesting piece of work. There was one wall covered in drawings he'd done of idioms taken literally. So flossing between the ears was someone actually running floss between their ears, and "Jen and Joe like to hold hands" was a picture of people just holding extra hands.

The front gate.

Part of the exterior.

Another part of the exterior.

The characters sitting in the windows.

Amy, Brooke, and Beks while we were waiting in line for tickets.

Then on our way home in the subway station we ended up being interrogated by an elderly drunk man who wanted to practice his English. When he learned we were teachers he wanted to buy us all coffee, and we couldn't avoid him, so we ended up with coffee we didn't really want. He then informed Brooke that she was fat and that was frowned upon in Korea, but that she also had "a real treasure, and would be powerful" whatever that meant. Somedays Korea can be a really weird place. After escaping him with our unwanted coffee (he wasn't a threat, he was just way too friendly, and over here they just tell you what they think straight away), we finally managed to make it home, or at least to the next station for dinner at a Japanese burger place called Mos Burger, which sells Melon soda. It tasted a bit like jolly rangers watermelon flavor, so I didn't have more than a sip, but the food was nice, and we had onion rings.

By that time we were finally worn out and it was 8:00 at night, so we headed back on the train to go home, and that leads us to this point.

Tomorrow we shall go and see about getting hair cut, but for now, that's me, signing off. :)

New Year and Making Korean Friends!

Hey all,

It's now 2013!!! Happy New Year!

I did have to teach on New Year, but that was alright. The kids were about as happy about it as we all were. Someone forgot you celebrate New Year on New Year's Eve so we all had to be in early on New Year's Day as well, but we all managed and Intensive Classes have begun, meaning we will all teach more and earn more this month.

My Intensive Class is a speech-writing class with the lowest level we teach. These kids are all about 12 or 13, and they're a lot of fun to work with, so it isn't so bad teaching them. They are all having fun too it seems, and they're fascinated by me. They're newer than most kids are at the school, so it's all still a novelty for them.

Case in point:
Usually I put my hair up for class, or we're wearing hats because it's cold inside. Today, however, I had it down, and so the kids got a good look at it for the first time. For those of you who are not aware, I'm a natural blond. That's really rare in Korea. I bent over to correct one boy's speech and the girl next to him suddenly goes "Oh!". Next thing I know, she's got hold of some of my hair (carefully) and is petting it and running her fingers through it. I just laugh and ask what she's doing. She goes "Teacher, your hair is yellow!" So I told her yes, and it had always been yellow, and that surprised her too. She asked if it had ever been brown or black (the only blonds she has ever seen in her life are fake blonds: Koreans who have dyed/bleached their hair), and cannot get enough of it. Every time I'm nearby, she's reaching for it now, fascinated by the color. That got the rest of the kids started so next thing I know I've got five of them around me, petting my hair, and wondering at the fact it is not only blond but soft as well, as though they thought it wouldn't be. These kids are really funny sometimes.

Anyway, New Years was good. It wasn't the usual party I'm used to (I've been spoiled at home), but we did all get together at Joseph and Alex's apartment with a bunch of Korean friends to celebrate. We had some really bad champagne and wiled away the hours. Twenty some people were never made to fit into the apartment, but we made it work. At about 1 am we got kicked out by the neighbors. In Korea they celebrate the Lunar New Year, so we were, in there view, just making noise for no good reason on a Monday night. The good thing about the fact Koreans don't celebrate it, however, is that the bars were still open, so we went there instead and they put up with us while we kept singing and drinking.

-Look how many of us fit into this little apartment! From the top down is Karla, Nina, and Bryan. Then from left to right are: Alex (behind the arm), Joseph (both hands in the air), Andrew (looking down), one of Alex's friends (with the red hat on), Robert (with one arm in the air, looking at the camera), Lindsey (next to Robert and his girlfriend), and in the corner Van. We didn't even all fit into the picture, and there are more people back in the hall in shoved into the corners as well.-


The other day we went out with some of the part-timers from CDI. They're about my age, and I'm the youngest teacher at our branch, so it was nice hanging out with them a bit. Martin and Daniel speak English (not fluently but they're still learning like we're learning Korean) and Emma and Nari bonded with us over K-pop stars that are topping the charts right now. We all went and got some dinner, then we went and got a second dinner across the road from the first place. We exchanged phone numbers so we will go out with them again sometime as well.

Daniel, Nari, and Emma at the first dinner place when we went out with the part-timers. Thanks guys!

Brooke, Van, and Martin at the first place. We ate fried chicken and a really nice Kimchijun, which is like a Kimchi pancake. It tastes a little like hashbrowns really.

This was the second place after Emma and Nari left us. Here's Daniel, Brooke, Van, Beks, Martin, me, and Amy!

Also, last weekend, Brooke, Amy, and I paid a visit to Seoul because Brooke and Amy wanted to go to a K-pop shop and I wanted to leave my apartment and take a look around the place too. We were going to go to a Tim Burton exhibit, but didn't make it in time that weekend, so it's in the plans for this weekend. While we were wandering about Seoul, it began to get dark, so here's a picture of the square near one of the palaces in Seoul that we passed. In the background, lit up, you can see Seoul Tower, but that will be a trip for when the weather is warmer!

Anyway, that's it for the week for now. Wishing you all the very best and a happy New Year!

Christmas in Bucheon and K-Pop

Well guys, it's Christmas time! Sorry for the delay in the posting, but the season got busy, and promises to be get even busier with the start of intensives (winter classes during the day) next week. I'll do my best to keep pictures and stories coming.

On Christmas, I had to teach, but I stayed up late the night before because I got myself all excited for opening presents and couldn't go to sleep. That being said, it meant I was up late enough to see the snow begin to fall around midnight in Bucheon, so we had a white Christmas!!!

On Christmas we went out with everyone from work for a Chinese and did a Secret Santa. Then we went to Noraebang, the Korean version of Karaoke, and sang. The original plan had been to sing Christmas songs, but that degenerated into group songs and musicals, where we serenaded one another with all sorts of nonsense before hurrying off home.

We got to sleep in on Boxing day, so this was all okay. Thank you everyone for my presents!!!

This week we also went into Seoul to Myeongdong, the shopping district. We went to several K-pop shops to buy cds and posters of favorite bands (K-Pop is massive here, all the kids know it, and its hard not to get into some of it, since it's not like it's bad music. It's also a good way to start learning Korean words, because many people have already translated the songs). Then we met up with some of the others for food in the D-Cube shopping center, which is a really cool place. There are waterfalls that start at the top of the building, then run through the middle of each floor as rivers with glass bottoms before dropping to the next floor. Fish live in the water, so you can watch them from above or from below through the ceiling on the lower floors.

Then we headed home in time for the end of year concert where the current stars perform their best hits in celebration of the New Year! So, happy New Year everyone!

-Sam

Myeong-dong snow, outside Forever21!

Brooke and I at Myeong-dong.

Amy and Brooke at Myeong-dong.

Amy and Brooke with a mascot walking in Myeong-dong.

Myeong-dong.

Brooke and Rebekah at the Chinese on Christmas Day.

Everyone during Secret Santa at the Chinese.

Amy at the Chinese.

Amy and I at the Chinese on Christmas Day.

Language Cafes, Bank Accounts, and New Gloves

Sorry for the delay in this week's update. I've been busy with a great many things.

Sometime the other week we went to KBStar and set up our bank accounts, meaning we can finally get flight reimbursements and be paid. I've got paid for a week of teaching I did for November, and that was nice, since I was started to run low on money. My very first paycheck will be split between the Arrival Store and monthly living expenses, so I won't be able to start properly saving up until my paycheck arrives in February, but that's okay. For now I'm feeling comfortable. I have a plan to pay off my credit card (which I've been using recently to pay for meals and such as I originally had planned) and to save up.

I've had to buy myself some new gloves. Korean winters are indeed cold, and mine were really thin. These ones cost me a pretty penny, but that's because they're lined with fur. Yay for fur-lined mittens! Best investment so far. I love them already.

My place is now mostly furnished, so those expenses are done for the most part. I'm just looking at finding some curtains now so I have a bit more privacy in my loft (right now you can see up into it if you wanted to) and to block out the light since my teaching schedule is a bit funny at the moment.

Last Sunday I went with Scott to a language cafe in Hapjeong in Seoul. It was at a little cafe where you paid 10,000 won and they gave you a drink and sorted you into groups to speak in different languages. Most of the English speakers there are Koreans learning to speak English or who have spent time abroad, or else English teachers. Its a good way to meet some friends, and I already made a couple. It takes awhile to get there on the subway, but it was a fairly straightforward trip, and on the way I got the chance to buy myself a new iphone case.

The language cafe was round the corner from Hapjeong station exit 2 (for those readers in Korea itself). Anyone can go, no limits, and its a good place to practice. Scott usually goes to learn Korean, but most English speakers end up speaking English there anyway to help Koreans improve their English. Apparently the English speaking crowd is fairly regular, but the Korean speaking groups tend to shift each time, so you're always meeting new Korean friends, and seeing your old English teaching friends again time after time.

I won't go next week, since I don't have the money to do it again yet, but I'm looking forward to going again sometime and meeting up with people again. I've made a few friends from it already, like I said, and it was nice getting out of Bucheon for once, which is a lovely place, but quite small. I'm trying to expand my social circle to include those who don't teach at Chungdahm with me. For that it's time I started properly and seriously studying Korean.

Which leads me to my next point. There's a great online free textbook that's helpful with the grammar called Basic Korean A Grammar and Workbook by Andrew Sangpil Byon. Obviously the hardcopy costs money, but a pdf version has been made available for free for anyone's use. It's quite grammar heavy, and comes with exercises and full answer keys for testing yourself after each chapter. If you're looking to learn Korean (properly learn, not just pick up some phrases) it's a good thing to get your hands on. A simple google search for the title and author comes up with multiple different sites to download. I got my version from Scott, so I don't know which downloads to recommend to you.

That's all for the moment, but more coming next Sunday.

Best,
Sam

First Week of Teaching, Making Friends, and Visiting the Royal Palaces

So it's been a rather long week. We began teaching this week, so I've now officially become a teacher. I have about 60 different kids to keep track of and learn names for. Some of my classes are quite loud and silly and others are really quiet and I'd love for them to speak up more, but on the whole I'm feeling fairly confident and I know at least some of the kids like me and learn from me (they're already stopping to tell me goodbye). As a joke I've told almost all my kids that Amy Teacher is from Scotland where Hogwarts is, and she used to teach there before coming to teach them. Some of them believe me, others know it's complete rubbish. We all got a laugh out it anyway. These kids need a break from intensive classes on occasion.

Earlier in the week we planned a night out for Brynn and Austin, who have since returned back from America. Brynn was loads of fun, and despite only just having met her, we already miss her.

Above: Brynn, Rebekah, Amy, and I.

On Saturday, we got up early to take a trip to two of the palaces in Seoul. There are pictures below of all that.

The first palace was Gyeongbokgung Palace, which was the bigger of the two. That's the one that attracts the most tourists. You can walk through tons of back-alleys and gates and whatnot for hours, and in the middle where one of the large towers sits is the National History Museum of Korea, featuring artifacts from all walks of life. The capital was moved to Seoul in the 1300s, and this was the palace built to house the famous King Seojong, whose picture you can see below. He's something of a hero to all Koreans, and he's famous for the creation of the Korean alphabet that made 99% of the Korean population literate in the 1400s.

While we were there, we also ended up keeping sidetracked by a film crew for a Korean television show that comes on in the mornings at 6:00am here for kids. They wanted to interview some of us, so Amy and Scott ended up under the watchful eye of the camera answering all sorts of questions about bank overdrafts and credit card debt. It was fairly amusing watching them try and answer seriously. By the time we were done, it was almost time to get a move on to the next palace, but we arrived at the gate just in time to see the changing of the guard. Amy, of course, needed a picture of herself with the guards, who are similar to those at Buckingham Palace in that they never ever smile or move except on ceremony.

The second palace, Deoksugung, was far smaller, but more entertaining, because you could actually go into the buildings, and here there were signs translated to English telling you what happened where. I think, if I had to pick, I'd prefer the smaller one. It seemed far more cozy and secluded than the bigger Gyeongboksung Palace. One of the buildings at Deoksugung had served as a prison to one of the old Queens during civil war for five years, but later became a nursery for one of the little Princesses of a later dynasty. It was also cheaper entry to this palace (approx. $1, though the other was only $3), which was nice. We wandered around that, going into the buildings (you have to take your shoes off when you do) and taking our pictures before deciding at long last to head on home.

Here are the pictures:

Deoksugung Palace main throne room. The ceiling in here was carved into the shape of dragons and painted green and gold and red.

One of the gates leading up to the main throne room in Deoksugung.

The juxtaposition of old and new in Seoul.

Amy and Rebekah at Deoksugung.

The main throne room building again.

Changing of the guard at the Gyeongbokgung Palace main gate.

One of Gyeongbokgung's walkways surrounding massive paved courtyards in the main buildings.

The perfect place in Korea for a city is between a mountain and a river. Gyeongbokgung Palace goes almost all the way to the mountain range in the distance, and Seoul is spread out before the main gate in the other direction, with high-rises and such all about. This picture is actually of Deoksugung Palace, but it was prettier.

The main lake and overlooking pagoda at Gyeongbokgung Palace.

Amy, Rebekah, and Scott posing like the Koreans do for pictures.

Scott during his interview for Korean TV.

These posts used to stand at the entrances to villages to mark the village territory and to welcome visitors.

The pagoda, and below it the National History Museum of Korea.

The stone zodiac circle. We all got our pictures taken with our animal.

Me at the stone zodiac circle.

The height of the gates separating different courtyards at Gyeongbokgung Palace.

Gyeongbokgung Palace first courtyard.

Gyeongbokgung Palace inner courtyards. The guy in the red and the blue Doctor Who Tardis hat is Van, who refused to smile for pictures, so I only have ones of the back of his head or him refusing to smile.

Statue of King Seojong, who inventing Hangul, the Korean alphabet. On either side of the roads are the City Hall, the U.S. embassy, and the U.K. embassy.

View from inside Gyeongbokgung Palace.

The interior of the first of Gyeongbokgung Palace's throne rooms.

The main gate to Gyeongbokgung Palace with the hills beyond.

Scott, Van, Amy, and Rebekah under the statue of King Seojong. The Korean on the statue says "Seojong Taewang".

One of the sundials near the statue, and one of a few we saw within the palaces. The Koreans used sundials starting at about the 1300s, and they were located around audience chambers so they could keep track of scheduled time.

Me in the main gate courtyard of Gyeongbokgung where the changing of the guard ceremony begins and the palace starts.

Hope you all enjoyed the pictures! Sorry there were so many! Next post due next week.