Just wanted to fill you all in on my latest big news. I just got a new job. I'm going to be working with a PR firm here in the city. They have a lot of foreign clients and really needed someone who could speak/write at a native English level, and who is trained in AP writing style. So they have decided to hire me. Crazy, right?
Anyway, basically I'm going to be writing press releases for them, editing and coordinating anything that has to do with foreign press. So when they have promotional events, I'm in charge of making sure the foreign press knows what to do and where to go. I'm also going to be teaching an office-wide English class once a week since most of my future co-workers don't speak English that well. I think I'm mainly going to focus on teaching them how to better communicate in journalism/PR terms.
I'm really excited. This is an incredible opportunity and will really give me some great experience. I'll get some valuable knowledge about working in international public relations. Also, they've already told me about a conference in Paris in October that they are going to send me to! Paris. I get to go to Paris!
All that is left at this point is the Visa process, which is rumored to be lengthy and headache-y but hopefully I can start work the second week of August. At least, that's what we're hoping for.
I'm still in a bit of shock, but I'm really looking forward to the switch. It'll be really challenging, but I think it'll be the experience of a lifetime. I mean, who would have thought that I would come to Korea as an English teacher and end up going into international publish relations?
- Location:The Office
- Mood:
enthralled
I've recently realized that it's been awhile since my last update. I apologize, though I assure that nothing incredibly exciting has been happening, so you haven't missed out on anything.
Some things that I've done recently...
My friend Stephanie visited me from Japan a few weeks ago. We took a half-day tour up to the DMZ and got to see North Korea and the Third Tunnel. It was quite interesting getting to see the area. As a foreigner to this country, you often forget that there is still a war going on with the North. They only signed a ceasefire, not a peace treaty. I've talked about it with some of my students and while some of the older ones hope that things can be worked out with the North some day, most of them don't really care. North Korea is just another country. But going to the DMZ opened my eyes to some of the struggles that South Korea has gone through. I have to admit, it's a tough little country and it's people are truly survivors in my eyes.
As well as the DMZ, we went downtown and saw Namdaemun, the destroyed gate. It was really sad to see such an important treasure destroyed. There were tons of people there taking pictures and just mourning the loss of the gate. I still can't believe that I saw it only two days before it was set on fire. The government is planning to rebuild it since only the second floor and roof were destroyed, but it's still going to cost about $21 million and take about three years.
In other news, Kristen is officially relocated to the city. She is unable to start work due to visa issues, but she's here. We're planning on starting a dance class together once she gets her work schedule squared away. We felt like we needed to do something productive and good for our bodies during our afternoon breaks, so dance was the decision, since I hate running and Kristen hates gyms. There is a studio near the office that has hip-hop classes so we're hoping to check it out soon.
I am really happy right now with the way things are going. Work is going well. I have a lot of overtime this month so I'm making some good money. I'm incredibly happy with my friends. Lately, I've just been itching to pick up some hobbies again, like free-lancing or making clothes or anything. I'm sure dance classes will kind of fill that void, but I think I'm going to look into free-lancing for either some local English magazines or some travel mags back home.
I suppose that's about all for now, other than I'm seriously considering a second year in Seoul. I'm not making any official decisions until this summer, but I've been here for nearly 5 months and I feel like there is so much more for me to discover and experience here. Besides, Seoul has become home to me and I don't want to leave right away. I have made some really amazing friends who have become my family and I guess I don't want to think about giving that up just yet. But that decision is still a ways away and who knows how I'll feel this summer. But as a heads up, I wouldn't expect me in the U.S. living anytime soon.
- Location:The Office
- Mood:
content
Naturally, my friends and I (Ruth, Meghan and Kristen) decided that this would be the most opportune moment to finally get in all the sightseeing that we had been dying to do. So, out we set to conquer the city. We were busy everyday and yet we still didn't get to see everything. Aw well. Most of it is best seen in the spring time anyway. February is still deathly cold in Korea.
Wednesday:
Wednesday did not involve much. We all did our own thing the night before (mine was dinner and a movie at a friend's house. I think some of the other girls went out to the casino or something...) and met up together around 2:30 pm on Wednesday when Kristen got into town from Guui. We had coffee and then headed out to COEX. Kristen and Ruth still needed to do some shopping and Meghan and I mainly just joined to window shop. We then separated for dinner and planned to meet up to go to a soccer game later in the evening and meet up with some other friends from Berlitz later. Unfortunately, we read the starting time wrong and ended up missing the game. So we headed up to meet our friends, Yoav and Shelly, early at a place called Woodstock. The guy who owns the place has a massive music collection and will play almost any request. We spent the evening singing and dancing along to Tina Turner, the Beatles, the Eagles, Janice Joplin, Prince, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, etc. It was a lot of fun and reminded me a lot of the get-togethers Mom and Dad use to have at home. I even did the "Proud Mary" dance in honor of Dad. Everyone was quite impressed that I knew all the words to the songs despite my young age. I just told them that my parents raised me on good music.
Random Korean guy, Yoav and Kristen dancing at Woodstock
Thursday:
Thursday dawned bright and early. We met up at the train station and headed up to Itaewon for some cheap, market shopping, a jimjilbang and North Seoul Tower. We wandered around the sidewalk market for a bit and then got lunch at a Mexican restaurant that doubled as a salsa club at night. Itaewon is definitely where most of the foreigners in the city hang out, mostly because of it's nearness to the military base. But I wasn't too impressed. I thought it was dirty and kind of trashy looking (similar to LA) and it was the first time I've really felt somewhat frightened in the city. Just too many scary-looking foreigners running about. I feel much safer around all the Korean business people.
Despite being disappointed in Itaewon, the jimjilbang was quite nice. A jimjilbang is a public bath done in true Korean style. Basically, you go in and there is one bath for the men and one bath for the women. Once you're down in the dressing room, you strip down and put all your clothes and belongings in a locker. The bath house provides you with a towel and you can buy things like shampoo, cleanser and such there, but most people bring their own. Once ready, you step into the huge shower/bath room which consists of three large baths (really hot, slightly hot and cold) and rows of showers, half of which are mounted on the wall while the other half are hooked up to little vanity like counters that you sit at. You must shower before getting into the baths in order to get all lotion, make-up and other things off. Once you've showered, you soak in one of the hot baths for a period of time. You can then choose to go sit in one of the saunas or soak in the cold bath. Afterwards, you use a rough cloth to scrub all the dead skin off that the bath loosened up and rinse underneath the shower again.
I have to admit that I was slight terrified at the idea of being naked in front of a bunch of strange women. Didn't really appeal to me. But everyone told me that it was a part of the culture that you have to experience. So, I went along with Ruth and Kristen. After the initial shock of being completely exposed (and getting over the several cultural faux paux we committed) the bath was quite relaxing. After a few minutes you kind of forget that you're sitting around naked. It wasn't so disturbing to be surrounded by naked ahjummas (older or married women) And a woman who could speak English was kind enough to explain to us the rules of the bath in order to save us further embarrassment. (She also called us Barbies, which was a little odd.) I felt incredibly refreshed afterwards and my skin was incredibly soft.
After the bath, we headed out to visit North Seoul Tower which sits on a mountain in the middle of the city. The view was amazing. We hit it just as the sun was setting and got some amazing pictures. Seoul is absolutely huge and incredibly beautiful when you look at it from up high.
After the tower, Kristen and I went out for another exciting round of norebang, which is the Korean version of kareoke. When I first arrived, I really disliked norebang because most of the time I would end up sitting around listening to others hog the mike and sing. Plus on the group songs, they never really sang songs that I knew or liked. But lately, we've been going in smaller groups which has been a lot of fun, especially since we've been singing pop songs from the 80s and 90s that everyone knows.
Friday:
The girls and I met up early Friday morning for day two of touristy things. We head up to visit the Seodaemun Prison History Hall. Seodaemun is a prison that was used by the Japanese to imprison and torture Korean freedom fighters during the Japanese occupation of Korea from 1919-45. It was an incredibly somber visit. The main jail buildings were freezing cold with small cells that would house about 10 prisoners a piece. I couldn't imagine what it must have been like. There was also an old guardhouse and execution building that had been kept up. It was really sad and kind of a difficult start to the day.
So, we decided we wanted to go to City Hall and catch the Van Gogh exhibition at the art museum. Unfortunately, the exhibit was so crowded that we didn't make it inside and decided to go tour a palace that was across the street from the museum. It was incredibly cold, but we held out and took some pictures around the amazing architecture.
The rest of Friday was spent wandering around markets in the city and window shopping. Kristen and Ruth were the only ones really looking for anything. Afterwards, Ruth and I met up with Colleen and Matt and spent a low-key evening hanging out and talking about baseball, boys and everything in between at our favorite coffee house.
Saturday:
After two full days of running around the city, Kristen and I decided we needed a day to ourselves so we slept in and spent the afternoon wandering around Coex. We got our hair cut and just relaxed most of the day. We then met up with a bunch of the guys and had dinner together before heading out to see one of our favorite Korean bands, Phonebooth, perform a live set. They rocked and we had fun listening to them, despite some of the rowdy GIs at the club. And, as usual, we headed out once again for more norebang. We ended up paying for two hours and getting a third hour free. By the end of the night, we were all tired and unable to talk from singing too much, so we said our good-byes and headed home, slightly sad that our vacation was nearly over.
Sunday:
Really didn't involve much. We slept in again then met up with Ruth, Matt, Meghan and James for dinner and coffee. We raided the local Olive Young store for make-up, loofahs and Ritz crackers then enjoyed "reading" magazines together at the Coffee Bean next to it. We all turned in early (mainly because most of us had progress reports to finish before Monday). Kristen headed out around 6:30 p.m. and I finished up the last of my reports and settled in to watch episodes of Studio 60 before turning in early.
All in all, a very enjoyable break. Though, we all wish we could have had just one more day. Oh well. I suppose that's how all holidays go...
- Location:Home
- Mood:
busy - Music:Last Arpeggios~ Coffee Prince Soundtrack
Wonderful news, all! I'm officially off probabtion at my work. That means I am now a fully certified English instructor. And it also means I can now use my vacation days. Hooray! Typically, new employees are on probation for the first 3 months of work, but my manager and director felt that I was doing so well that they took me off probabtion early. Granted it was only a couple weeks early (I was suppose to be on probation until the end of January) but still, it counts. And it means that they feel I'm doing good work and am a good employee. So, I'm happy.
I suppose that's about all. I'm feeling tons better. I stayed home last weekend and rested up. And I'm ready to go out and have fun this weekend. Tomorrow night we're going out to Hongdae to celebrate a friend's birthday, so that should be a good time. And I'm learning more Korean from Se Won and Yong Sang, so all in all, I'm doing really well. Life is good and has finally regained some sort of normalicy after the holidays.
Well, I'm off. It's time for my next class to get started. Annyong my friends!
- Location:The Office
- Mood:
bouncy
Yes, I am sick. Again. All those 11 and 14 unit days and working Saturdays finally caught up to me. Today I was only scheduled to have three classes so I thought I could handle work. I found out after the first one that work was not a possibility and thankfully my last two classes cancelled so I didn't have to go through the pain of leaving work early. I went ahead and called in for tomorrow as well, seeing as I'm more sick this time than I was last time. Congestion, sore throat, head ache, light headedness, chills, hacking cough. Sounds like the usual suspect. I suppose the upside is that I'm finally getting a break from work...
Outside of being sick, things really haven't changed too much. Work is the same, other than I got a couple of new students that I really like. One is a recent college grad starting out in his first job. He is a level 6 (which is high fluency and only abotu 4 levels from being native) and enjoyable in class. I feel bad because I was suppose to have him in class tomorrow for the second time but now he'll have to have someone else. The other is a woman who is the product manager for XBOX at Microsoft. She is a level 6 as well and we discovered that we have the same interest in Japanese and Taiwanese dramas and actors. (She knows Johnny's, guys. She loves Johnny's.) Anywho, we get along amazingly well and she is such an interesting person. Before working on the XBOX, she worked with Sony on the Playstation and before that was in the movie industry. I was a little worried at first because typically middle-aged business women don't take to me too well, however we get along swimmingly.
Outside of work, there isn't much else going on. Just hanging out with friends and meeting new ones. There are two new instructors at the center, both girls and both really nice. One is from Austraila and we became fairly good friends right off the bat. She's hoping to get an apartment in my building so that we can be neighbors and such.
I've been doing a little shopping. I was in dire need of work clothes that actually fit me since I had dropped weight. (The LC director had made a comment about my clothes...I knew it was time...) So I've purchased some pieces that should last me a bit. I've been slowly converting my wardrobe over to Korean styles bit by bit for the last few months. This last round I got two pairs of dress pants and a skirt. And some new black work shoes, one pair of flats and one pair of fun stilettos that I'll only wear around the office. It's too dangerous to walk around the sidewalks in the city in them. The pants and skirt go wonderfully well with the two new sweaters that I bought a couple weeks ago.
This weekend is going to be a slow, stay-at-home sort of weekend. One of our instructors is leaving tomorrow to go back to the US and so last week was one long series of going out nights. I'm exhausted. Plus, I have to work on Saturday. So the girls and I are planning to have a girls-night-in on Saturday night and just hanging out watching movies, doing our nails and such. Talking girl talk and everything. I'm completely looking forward to it.
Oh, and a happy note, my apartment is complete. I purchased a fridge, coffee table, night stand, iron and ironing board from the aforementioned instructor who left to go back to the States. I also have his queen-size bed, but unfortunately it's not mine to keep. I'm storing it for Kristen until she gets her own apartment nearby. My bed is currently in pieces in the closet. I have a feeling I'm going to get spoiled with this new big bed...
My next step is to work on decorating it. I need some drapes, maybe some plants and area rugs. I definitely need something on the walls. They are so bare and white. I'm also thinking about covering the cabinets with some sort of colored fabric just to add a pinch of color to the place.
I suppose that's it from me. Annyong my friends! And may you be enjoying warmer weather than I am right now... -10 degrees Celsius. It hurts to walk outside...
Me and Kristen shopping in Dongdemun Stadium Dongdemun Stadium
Kristen at my housewarming party Lisa, me, Jamie and Kristen. All friends from IWE, the church I attend.
- Location:In Bed
- Mood:
crappy - Music:Mazzy Star~ Into Dust
Sorry I haven't posted in awhile. Things have been busy lately. My birthday was this week, as well as it being the first week of the month which means a new schedule at work (excluding a few IPs) on top of the center moving to a new location. Ack, it's Monday and I feel exhausted...
My bed came this week, so now my apartment is one step closer to being complete. I'm still on the hunt for a fridge and now an area rug, coffee table and night stand/book shelf. I'm in no rush though.
I had a housewarming party on Saturday night. I had a nice turnout and everyone had a good time. We ended up moving it to a bar nearby since 15 people in a studio apartment tends to create a lot of noise when everyone starts talking at once. A couple of neighbors complained so we thought it best to go somewhere where we could be loud without disturbing anyone. And of course, the night ended with norebang in true Korean style. There are three right down the street from my apartment, apparently.
Anyway, so it was a good weekend in Seoul, though very tiring. I've pretty much spent my entire break today sitting on my sofa wrapped up in my comforter watching episodes of Gossip Girl online. My next class doesn't start until 5:30 p.m. and it's a travel class to Asem Tower which is nice. It means taking the subway, which means I only have to walk outside in the cold for about 5 minutes instead of 15 minutes. Samseong Station is connected to Asem Tower through an underground shopping mall called COEX, which I love. Korean winters are so cold. It's been about 30 to 40 degrees everyday for the last few weeks and I'm told that this is just the beginning of the winter. Often it's about 20 degrees when I walk to work in the morning. Of course, this made me extremely happy to hear that we were moving to a new office that was closer to my apartment. Especially when I found out there was a Starbuck's on the first floor of the building. Though, I will have to watch it because Starbucks is quite expensive here.
Today was our first day in the new office, and there are still a few bugs to be worked out. The heat didn't work today, so it was very cold. But they said it should be ready by tomorrow. I think it looks a lot nicer than the old office. It's definitely more modern. And we get a couch for the teacher's lounge. Yay!
I've also been learning some Korean. It's mainly been a few words and phrases from my friends, but I've loved picking up things. And I seem to pick up the language fairly easily, despite it being a really difficult language to learn. My Korean friends said that I have good pronunciation and one of my students, Jin, said that my accent was cute when I speak Korean. Hopefully, I'll be able to take lessons or something soon. If anything, I'll just keep hanging out with Se Won, Yong Sang and Sei.
And it's definitely the Christmas season here in Seoul. They Hyundai Department store put up a huge Christmas tree and there are Christmas songs playing in every coffee shop and store. It makes me excited even though I have no idea what I'm doing for Christmas. I get Christmas Day off, but I have to work the rest of the week. Christmas is a little different here. It's mainly celebrated by couples and is seen as a time to be with your special someone rather than your family. Which has the possibility for it to be a very lonely holiday for those without a special someone (*ahem* me). But I'm not too worried. I think the instructors who are not going anywhere for Christmas are planning to get together. Though, I have to admit, it's going to be a little odd not opening presents with the family. Oh well. I suppose I could see it as a time to celebrate new traditions. Oh, I suppose I should start thinking about Christmas gifts for people...
But I suppose that is about all that is going on here. I go to work, I come home and then go out a bit on the weekends, but not always. Pay Day is coming up in 11 days, which makes me happy. I'll finally be able to go buy a few articles of more winter appropriate clothing, namely a sweater and a pair of boots. And also, maybe a pair of pants and a skirt that fits. I've dropped about 10 pounds since I got here. Thank you healthy Korean food and walking everywhere. ^_^
Annyong my friends. I hope
- Location:My Apartment
- Mood:
awake - Music:Hawk Nelson~ Zero
Don't let the look of it fool you. It's really good.
More happy news, I've officially bought my first piece of furniture. I bought a couch this weekend, so now I don't have to sleep on the floor anymore. My bed should be coming sometime next week, depending on when my friend Se Won orders it this week. But I'm so excited. My apartment is starting to feel more like a home now. I'm cooking and I have a couch. Once I get the bed and fridge, I shall be set. ^_^
But please, allow me to take you on a short tour of my new, very own apartment.
Here is the street that you walk up to get to my building. For the most part, it's a nice, quiet little street. My neighbors are sometimes a little loud though. Be careful to watch out for the many delivery scooters that like to zip up and down the street.
And that concludes the short tour of my house. Thank you for stopping by and I hope you enjoyed your visit. Hopefully next time I'll have some pictures of people. ^_^
- Location:My Apartment
- Mood: amused
- Music:Jay Chou~ San Hu Hai
Oi, I think my hours are starting to catch up to me a little. I got a sore throat last night and I'm still feeling a little icky today. I couldn't get much sleep last night, either. It's not very comfortable to sleep on wood floors, even if you do have blankets and mats. But only a few more days of dealing with it before I get my air mattress. Then there will much sleepy happiness.
But days like today are always bleh. My 8:30 class was cancelled, so I had every intention of going home until my noon class. But then I texted a friend about it and ended up sticking around the office because it sounded like he wanted me to meet him for coffee. Then he never texted back after a bit about coffee, so I waited and now it's nearly pointless to go home since I have less than 2 hours until class. I suppose I could go to a nearby coffee shop and get a bagel and some coffee but I hate going places like that by myself without a book to read or something. Plus it's been really cold lately and I've been a baby about not walking outside unless I absolutely have to.
So I suppose I'll end up bumming around on the computer until my noon class and then hopefully after that someone will want to go get lunch somewhere. If not, I'll brave the market near my house and pick up some sandwich or soup stuff to help my throat.
Oi, right now, I just want a nap. I might go lie down in the sleeping room for a bit. But I really hope someone wants to go to the gimbop place for lunch. A bowl of warm mondong kok (dumpling soup) sounds really good right about now...
- Location:The LC
- Mood:
blah
It was a peaceful protest with no violence breaking out. I'm fine. I'm not sure where in Seoul it was since downtown Seoul is a very vague description. There are several parts that could be considered downtown Seoul. Most likely it was in City Hall, which I was near for a little bit in the afternoon. However, I never left the subway station since I was only meeting a friend there and was only in the station for about 15 or 20 minutes. But if it was near City Hall, there was obviously no danger since it was happening right above and I had no clue there even was a protest until Monday or Tuesday.
So, no worries, everyone. I'm fine. ^_^
- Location:The LC
- Mood: amused
My friend Jamie (who is Korean) offered to help me look for apartments at church last week. So she checked the internet and set up the appointment with an agent to take us around and look at several apartments. The first two were really bad. One was really small and the other was really dirty. But the third one was really nice and decently priced. Plus it had a washing machine and balcony with a good sized bathroom and kitchen area. And it was only a 10 minute walk from work (BIG plus.) The fourth one was a little smaller and a little cheaper but in the same area. Though it didn't have a washing machine, which was quickly becoming a determining factor. Lastly, they showed me a full option apartment (furnished) which was nice, but expensive. On top of the $600 a month, I would have to pay an extra $60 to $70 for the furniture. Then there was the utilities and maintenance fee.
I really liked the third apartment and the real estate agents went in and negotiated with the landlady (who seems really nice) and got her to take the price down. The catch was, if I wanted the apartment, I had to decide that and move in this weekend.
Thank goodness Jamie was there. She negotiated with them, got them to get the price lower and helped a lot with translation. She really took care of me and yea. I could not have done it without her.
So, I sign the lease today and move in on the 18th (though we're going to see if I could move in on Saturday. More o\convenient for the people helping me move). I'm going to be packing up this week and trying to figure out exactly home I'm going to get all my things to the new apartment. Jamie suggested hiring movers, but I don't know if I can afrod that. Might be able to use taxi, since I don't really know anyone with a car. If anything, we'll probably be walking the 20-30 minutes from one place to the other which will suck but oh well. I need to start recruiting people to help...
Everyone at the center is in awe of how quickly I'm moving out. And to be honest, I'm in a little awe myself. I seriously didn't think I would move out this fast, but que sera sera. It was a good deal, I'm closer to work and I finally have my own apartment. Yay! I'll post pictures once I get some (which will probably be Monday).
Hooray for new apartments!
- Location:The LC
- Mood:
accomplished
I have discovered how to use my washing machine today. I have to say it’s quite rewarding to figure something out. I’ve never been so happy to do chores or to find laundry detergent in a convenient store. You wouldn’t think that it would be so hard, but when everything is in Korean, it can be quite difficult.
And the down side is, they don’t have dryers here, so I’m forced to hang my wet clothes all over my apartment in order to get them dry. I meant to get a clothes rack at E Mart the other day, but it was so crowded I just wanted to get my food and go. Plus, now I’m slightly terrified of the store. The grocery store is in the basement of the store and I didn’t realize that if you paid down there, you couldn’t go back up stairs to leave through the front door. So I ended up in the parking garage and couldn’t figure out how to get out. Talk about embarrassing. I stood down there texting a friend for 20 minutes trying to figure out how to get out without just walking up the ramp. I finally found an elevator, but yea. Definitely learned my lesson.
Of course, after great failure comes great success. I met a friend for lunch yesterday and I ordered in Korean for the both of us. I was so happy. Of course, this means that I need to learn more foods so that I can ordered something besides dwae jong chigae.
I have to admit, life is good. I get up and go to work, have my break where I run errands, work more, then come home, cook dinner and go to bed. I’m getting a long with my co-workers, meeting friends for lunch and hanging out with more friends on the weekends. For the first time in my life, I’m living independently and discovering things on my own. It’s so refreshing to pay my own bills and be in charge of my own accounts. I feel like I’ve finally grown up.
And the search for an apartment will be beginning soon. There are several instructors who said they will help me as well as a friend from church. So hopefully I’ll find one in the next few weeks that won’t be too expensive.
I suppose that’s all for now. Despite living in a bustling city, I lead a very normal life. Maybe tomorrow will bring more excitement.
- Location:Morning Studio
- Mood: chipper
I suppose one of the many interesting aspects of my life here in Seoul is that I pass three love motels on the side street that leads to my apartment from Teheran-ro. In a way, it makes me giggle, since I had heard a lot about them in Asian culture. Seeing them makes me go, “Oh, so they do exist outside of movies and TV.” I never see anyone go in or out of them, but I assume they must stay busy because I see a lot of cars in the parking garages underneath with boards in front the license plates for privacy. And in fact, they look like they could be fairly nice hotels on the inside. Of course, I’ll never go in one to check it out.
Someone told me that the love motels are so prevalent because many people in Asian culture live with their parents until they get married. So, if they want a little romantic night with their special someone, be it a boyfriend, girlfriend, lover or fiance, they go to love motels which apparently look really nice on the inside. It’s an interesting little look into the Asian culture.
I find myself becoming more comfortable with my surroundings each day that I’m here. The more days that pass, the less I find myself in my apartment alone, because I’m either out working or hanging out with friends. (A habit I should probably watch until I get my first paycheck on November 22. Granted just about every time I‘ve been out, someone else has paid for me. That‘s a big part of Korean culture. BIG part.) I find that I’m not so afraid anymore. The subway has been tamed and shopping is no longer terrifying as I can now add the phrase for “How much?” to my arsenal along with “yes” and “no”. Of course, I’ve known, “thank you”, “hello” , “good-bye” and “please” for awhile. I learn a little bit more each day and keep challenging myself to learn more phrases and use them. My latest phrase that I’m trying to remember is “Do you have…,” which is “…issoyo,” if I remember correctly.
And I’m planning on starting to study Hangul soon, so I can read signs and menus. Then I’ll be able to order at restaurants and read store signs. I’ve been told that it’s not as hard as it seems. There are actually only 24 characters in their alphabet, which is less that the English alphabet. I just keep learning a little at a time and bit by bit.
Another interesting bit, some of the subway stops have entire malls built into them. The one a Kangnam station is huge. I was trying to find exit 7 and got lost among several purse, shoe and hosiery stalls. And even if there weren’t entire malls, there are always people setting up little booths around the subways. Felicia and I picked up several scarves for about 1,000 won a piece (roughly $1). And they are wonderfully warm scarves.
Though sometimes subway stations and streets as well can be slightly dangerous. You have to watch out for the ahjummas, or older women that Korean culture demands that you give the upmost respect to. Often they walk around bent over with wide visors on. They will often push you out of their way if they are trying to get by or if there is an open seat on the subway. It doesn’t matter who was there first, the ahjumma always gets the seat. And if you are walking slowly on the street, it doesn’t matter if there is a whole slab of sidewalk to the right of you, they will elbow you out of their way. It’s slightly humorous, actually.
And I’m starting to get use to the stares, though I don’t think I’ll ever get use to the business men’s stares. For some reason I didn’t think about that before I came, but Koreans are not used to seeing foreigners living in Seoul, so if you don’t look Asian, you will get stares. Mostly it’s out of curiosity, but sometimes the men will stare at you more out of attraction. An instructor here said that many of the Korean men are attracted to foreign women, but will often never approach them. It’s mainly because of the cultural differences. Foreign women are very independent while Korean men are very macho and don’t really know how to treat foreign women like the foreign men do. Which is fine with me. If all they ever do is stare, I will be completely happy. I’m not sure how I would handle getting hit on in Korean by a bunch of Korean business men (though some of them look very smart in their suits. People here seriously know how to dress.)
TV has proved to be an interesting endeavor. My apartment (which I just found out that my school was paying $800 a month for by accident) has cable, so I have a wide array of channels. Of course, there are a few English channels like CNN, Discovery Channel, Arirang (which is a Korean channel in English for foreigners) and a couple channels that randomly show American dramas. And there is one movie channel that shows a random assortment of foreign movies. This morning it was showing “Home Alone” but last night when I got home it was showing the second Death Note movie (which is in Japanese). Of course I only watched it for a little, it was late and the subtitles were in Korean so I didn’t understand what was going on.
Mostly I like to watch the Korean channels. Some times the shows will have English subtitles and it’s fun to see that their primetime dramas are not so different from ours. Other times, I just like watching and guessing what’s going on.
My mornings during the week start off at 6:45 a.m. everyday. I start off with group classes until 8:15 a.m. and then run off to an IP class from 8:30 a.m. to about 9:30 a.m. or 10. Then I normally have a break until I have to come back for my last class of the day at 6:45 p.m. It’s an odd sort of set up, but I work about 8 hours a day plus every other Saturday. I get a nice big break in the middle of the day to go do my grocery shopping or meet up with someone for lunch or coffee. (Coffee shops are another big part of the culture. Everyone goes to a coffee shop at some point during the day and often more than once. Plus there are a million of them around Seoul.)
Everyone at my center is very nice and they often go out and do things after work. Sometimes it’s for drinks, sometimes it’s to go around the corner to the casino which serves free drinks and food (really good food too) and only foreigners can get in. Whatever it is, we normally don’t stay out too late because most of us have to teach at 6:45 a.m.
On Fridays I’m starting a habit of going up to Yeoido to meet up with the instructors from the center. They are a fun bunch and we always have a good time. One instructor, Sei, is so fun and we’re making plans to go do stuff. And of course, my weekends are mainly spent with Felicia. We normally do something on Saturday then go out for lunch before going to church on Sunday, then have Bible study and dinner Sunday night. It’s a fun sort of set up/
And I love my classes. I have four group classes and three individual lessons, two of which are travel classes around the block to a gaming company called Neowiz. Of course, on of those lessons is with one of the highest execs who I am told cancels two out of three classes. While it means I don’t get to teach, it is not that bad a deal because as long as he cancels after I sign the schedule (which I already have for Monday) I still get paid for the class and the travel units. I haven’t met him yet since he cancelled our lesson on Friday, but I hear he’s nice.
My two other individuals love to talk, which is nice. One is a market manager for Neowiz, who is single about mid-30s and still needs some work with his English. Our lessons mainly consist of learning vocab and grammar and applying them to his work (he does a lot of product and project management though I couldn’t understand him when he was telling me specifics). Of course we also talked about his blind date experiences when learning about being fashionably late. (Another big part of Korean life if you are single and in your 30s.)
My last individual is a Japanese businessman who has been living here for a few years working for a Japanese finance company. He is soft-spoken, but fluent and very intelligent. We spent part of our lesson talking about the tension between Japan and Korea and how he still wants to be a freelance writer.
The group classes are delightful, at least the two that I have already taught are. They are talkative and outgoing and always seem to make class interesting. I don’t know why I was ever worried about teaching. Of course, I’m being monitored first thing in the morning, which has me worried, but I think I’ll do okay. At least I hope I do.
And I suppose that’s about all from my life for now. I kind of combined two or three posts into this one. But it’s getting later and I need to go get ready for church. Annyong!
- Location:My apartment
- Mood:
calm
Sorry I haven't really written anything since I got here. Internet is rather dodgey at my apartment, especially since I've been borrowing wireless from a nearby by building. Though, once I get into my own place, I should be able to get something more reliable set up. (Which might be sooner than I thought, because an instructor at Samseong just left.)
Life in Seoul has been rather interesting. Yesterday, I decided that since I had nothing better to do, I would try to find my office from my apartment. Well, I ended up taking the scenic route, and found the office by sheer luck. (Good thing the road signs are in English.) But needless to say, I felt very calm the whole way because I knew that if I could just find the Samseong Subway station, I would be fine.
I got to the office just in time to go out to lunch with a bunch of the instructors. It was fun and I got my first taste of Korean food. Bulgogi is quite interesting and extremely filling, but I think I ate a little too much... Then Matt, one of the instructors showed me around the area and helped me get some essentials. He then showed me how to use the hot water in my apartment (it's quite tricky actually. And I still haven't figured it out on my own.)
Today was acutally a lot of fun. I had orientation with the two other instructors and then we went out to eat with a current instructor who happened to be friends with one of the new ones. She then took us to the COEX which is the largest mall I've ever seen. I mainly windowshopped, but I have to say, the clothes are ridiculously cute and I fell in love with about a million pairs of shoes. I'm planning on going back sometime soon and getting a pair of brown heels, since I seem to have made it to Korea with no brown shoes at all. Though, I suppose the best part is the fact that everything is really well priced. The shoes I looked at ranged from about 19,000 to 25,000 won which is roughly about $19 to $25, which I figure is a fairly good deal since most shoes in the US run from about $30 and up.
Work is about a 25 minute walk from my apartment. The weather has been so nice lately that I've taken to walking instead of taking a taxi or the subway. Plus it takes just as long to get there by subway as it does walking. I suppose when it starts getting colder, I'll start taking a taxi. But I rather enjoy my exercise.
Tomorrow training starts, which should be fun. We're going out to lunch with J.J. , the president of Berlitz Korea. And we'll spend all day training. And, luckily, I'll get my handphone which means I'll be able to contact people here in Seoul. It's been an absolute pain not being able to contact anyone. Especially, Roh. The poor guy got lost trying to find my apartment yesterday and finally gave up and went home...
All in all, everything has been okay. The language barrier has been a little frustrating, but I think it's the staring that will take the most getting use to. There are actually very few foreigners here, so people will openly stare at you as you walk down the street. Most of the time, I don't even really notice it because I'm too busy looking at my surroundings, but sometimes I do and it's a little weird. I suppose the fact that I have red hair doesn't really help that either.
Well, I suppose that's all from me. I think Roh was going to attempt to try coming over again, but my internet is on the fritz again, so I don't know. Hopefully, I'll have pictures up soon! ^_^
- Location:My apartment
- Mood: calm
So, it looks like I'm not going to be heading to Seoul tomorrow. Most of you are familiar with my visa issues. (I didn't get my issuance number until Tuesday from the Korean government, overnighted everything to the consulate in Atlanta and sent an overnight slip to make sure I got it back by today at the latest.)
Well, I thought everything was taken care of, but unfortunately, FedEx mis-sorted my package and it was sent to Houston and not Fort Myers. So, it's looking like the earliest they can get my visa to me is tomorrow, which means I have to push my flight back to Sunday or possibly Tuesday in case it doesn't get here until Monday. Either way, I'm looking at it costing me $500 to change my flight. Not fun.
But, I'm trying to take it in stride. I've gone from angry to frustrated to depressed to whatever. There have been a lot of tears, some yelling and a lot of waiting. Right now I'm waiting to get confirmation from FedEx that my package will be in tomorrow, and then I have to call Delta and reschedule my flight, then send an email to my manager telling her my new arrival time. It's absolutely crazy...
But at least I'm packed and ready to go...
- Mood:
frustrated
307ho, Morning Studio Villa, 729-22, Yeoksamdong, Kangnamgu, Seoul, KOREA
I'm still not sure about the zip code, but I'll figure that out soon. I'm so excited! I just found out that I'm definitely in my own apartment, and it's only one metro stop and about a 10 minute walk away from work. Of course, I have no idea how the subway ride will be, or the walk from my apartment to the subway station. But I'm sure I'll figure out before I have to get there. Who knows, maybe I'll like it enough that I'll stay. ^_^
- Location:The Sofa
- Mood: amused
I'm about two days away from departure and still have some packing left. My mother told me that my goal today was to get all the odds and ends around the house packed up either in a suitcase or a storage bin. Plus, I have a lot of running around to do today as well as going to the bank and getting my traveler's check, but I've got some time, I'll get everything done before it's time to go.
And after the little mishap with my visa, I'm just ready to get on the plane and go. I'm so glad that things are finally working out. Anywho, I'm off to pack and get a haircut. I might have some pictures up later of home. See you all later!
- Location:The Sofa
- Mood: chipper
- Mood:
drained
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