Bloggyback

So I think its become pretty clear that this blog of mine will never follow any clear linear path. Its subject to my whims and may leave out entire chunks of my world here and focus instead on things like funny Korean snacks (Crunky!) and funny Korean brands (Mr. Pizza!). And while those of you who know me best may have expected this from me, as I have never put my pictures in order and can't even load the dishwasher efficiently (we prefer organizationally challenged), I have decided to piggyback myself on to some other blogs. Maybe you have noticed these blogs on my page and clicked on them (or maybe my page doesn't lead you to them since I have no idea what I am doing as far as the layout goes) but if you ever find yourself thinking "I love Heather's blog and everything but I really wish I knew what she was getting up to over there in Korea" you can check out the blogs of my coworkers. They are much better picture takers and documenters (is that right? Surely its not documentarians? That would be someone who makes documentaries?) than I am. And also the activities here tend to happen in packs.

Dore The Explorer http://doreb.blogspot.com/

Dore's blog is great. Her photographs are way better than mine and she has blogs dedicated to describing the other foreign teachers at our school (a task I probably wouldn't be up to), including a very flattering blurb about myself which I believe makes her very astute. Her blogs are also very focused. If I am organizationally challenged, then Dore is organizationally stellar. And it was Dore's blog that gave me the idea for bloggybacking in the first place because her blog referenced mine and Elizabeth's blogs and I thought I should really direct my friends to her blog. So check out Dore's blog.

Krunk In Korea http://hagwonheaven.blogspot.com/

So let's start by saying that what she probably meant was Crunky in Korea. This is Elizabeth's blog. She is from Texas so maybe Krunk is something from Texas or someone from Texas? I think I asked her once but I don't remember the answer. Elizabeth takes a million pictures and her blogs are packed with details. Don't let her most recently slowed blogging activity fool you. Elizabeth has been sick a lot recently but I think that once she gets acclimated, her blogging will be back on. And did you know that Elizabeth and I both went to the same college (although we didn't know each other and we only overlapped for about a year)? You would if you read Dore's or Elizabeth's blogs but I don't think that I have mentioned it yet.

So I don't really have any pictures to go with this blog. And I won't even count this blog towards my secret internal goal of 1 blog per week that I never vocalized because I didn't think I would adhere to it (and I'm still not sure). But I will post some random pictures that I like. These were taken on the bus, The Party Bus. Or The Christmas Bus. I'd like to call it The Party Bus in hopes of it sticking around past Christmas but I think its only The Christmas Bus. Anyway, it sure got the party started. I also added Dore at the Peter Pan Bakery because I thought that the computer thought I was trying to make a square of pictures but the preview showed them stacked. But I think it works anyway because of the Christmas lights. There was one of me there too, but I looked like a weird, pale turtle so I didn't use it.

Winter Wonderland

Last Sunday it snowed here. I had just been relaying to my mother how I had heard that no, it really didn't snow that much here and then my neighboring coworker came up and told me to look out my window. Here's what I saw.

Normally I hate snow because I have always had to manage it. But this snow was great. Elizabeth (my coworker) was really excited and it was infectious. I bundled up and we went decided to walk to Lotte Mart in it. We also took lots of photos. These are right outside our door.

Here we are in the snow. It was fun. It also warmed up the air. The previous 2 days had been unbearably cold. After that it wasn't nearly as bad. So it was a really positive snow experience. I was kind of sad when it started raining a couple of hours later and melted it all away.

Photo Blog

Here are some photos. To the left is my bathroom with my Korean shampoo, conditioner and body wash. I keep my toilet paper in a plastic bag so it doesn't get wet from the shower. Below is this building I like across from the bus stop.

To the left is my "kitchen." Obviously, my cooking habits will not be changing. Below is my "Super Single" bed. Isn't it super?

To the left is my shade. What a surprise, when I first pulled it down, to find this lovely little airbrushing. Below, the building across the way. My view while waiting for the elevator (if the door is open).

School and Such

Teaching. Who would have thought?

Teaching is going well. The kids are actually pretty funny. And they work very hard. I have a kindergarden class and a class with a couple of 15 and 16 year olds and a range of students in between. The kindergardeners get to do a little more because this is their only school (I think) where the older students just come in for specific classes after regular school. I went on a field trip a couple of weeks ago with the kindergardeners. They have birthday parties and gym and science, of which I am not a fan. Science is always a chaotic mess and the projects never seem to work for me. They also have an English concert in February. My kindergardeners are learning the lyrics to Dancing Queen by Abba (apparently Abba remains a big deal here). They are funny because they all know the chorus and they sing it REALLY LOUDLY but then they only know the last words to some of the lines of the rest of the song so they just start dancing.
They are a very smart, very funny bunch with great English but they are also SO competative and I believe they would do just about anything for a sticker. They all want to be first at everything. It's gotten so bad that the other day, they started trying to line up by the door (to leave) 10 minutes into class. I was like Okay we still have 30 minutes left. My other classes are far less eventful because a lot of the older kids won't really speak to me. And if I ask them to speak they seem mortified. They will laugh uncomfortably and look at their friends and then they read or talk so softly you can barely hear them with their faces turned down so they are staring at their papers. There are exceptions in most classes where there are 1 or 2 students who don't mind talking to me and in those cases, its hard to get them to shut up so we can get through our lessons. I don't think I am very good at discipline. I feel like I am getting a little better at it but still I think they can tell that they can get away with more around me than they might be able to with some other teachers. Fortunatly, its not even close to those 9th grade monsters I subbed for so I am not too concerned. The clothes and haircuts here can be a little adrogenous (or super girly) and sometimes they really mess up the whole English name selection so my least favorite problem is when I can't tell if a child is a boy or a girl. It's hard because I don't want to use the wrong pronouns. I had a student who I was unsure of for a week or so. I finally had to ask one of the other teachers. My students seem to love playing with toilet paper. Now this is apparently not a generalization of Korean students or students at my school but only the students who are in MY classes!!! Or at least according to the other teachers. I don't know what it is I am doing that drives these kids to seek fun in toilet paper but it happens. There is a big roll of toilet paper some of the classrooms (?????). My kids rip it up and throw it like confetti. They tape it to the tops of their heads and tie it around their faces. It's a little strange but kind of nice. (So Anna, when you read this, take note. When Batman grows a little and she is asking for all sorts of expensive toys she sees on commercials, you can just tell her to be happy with her roll of toilet paper like Auntie Heather's Korean kids were). This concludes my boring, informational, school blog. Next time perhaps I will address the much more important topic of Korean commercials, a new interest rivaling that in Mr. Pizza. Or maybe I will make a list of all of the great accessories that I want to buy. By the way, I have a new Korean sparkling headband and its fantastic!

Crunky and Other Korean Snacks

I was going to make my next blog about the kids because I have already made so many observations but right now I am very interested in snacks, so I will blog about them. Today in one of my classes, the kids were eating squid. SQUID. Dried squid. Possibly similar to meat jerky. I don't know exactly but it doesn't smell good. (Technically, they are not supposed to eat in class but they reasoned that since I was chewing gum, they should eat squid and since I am ever the disciplinarian, I didn't argue.) The kids love to share their food so I have tried all sorts of snacks here. Most of them are pretty good. A little different but not too odd. Not everything is squid. Today I tried some corn chips that were softer than corn chips I am used to and a little sweet. My favorite things so far is Mychu. I don't know the spelling because its all in Korean, but when the kids see them, they always yell "MYCHU!" (Or my chew?). Anyway, good stuff. Like soft fruity taffy.

Today I stopped at Lotte Mart (Lotte is the new Target) on the way home. What was I looking for? I forgot but I got caught up in snacks. And I bought the crunky. Crunky is like a Crunch bar, maybe? I don't know. I haven't tried it yet. But Crunky! CRUNKY! Come on. That's funny. Crunky. There are lots more crazy snacks. I will continue to share in the future.

Mr. Pizza: Love For Women

Now I have been here for almost 2 weeks. I am feeling pretty comfortable. The language barrier is not that bad. Sometimes it poses a problem when ordering food but a lot of menus have pictures and I just found a great interpretation of a popular menu online.

http://maryeats.com/2006/11/16/kimbap-nara-menu/

A lot of the sales people will show you how much something costs on a calculator and if you are looking for something, just ask a school aged child. Most of them know at least a little English. A lot of children will approach me on the street and start talking in English. I think they like the practice, although I have had more conversation with some children on the street than I have had with some children in my classes. I think the kids in class are shy about their English, especially in front of their friends. This is sad because I am consistently impressed with these kids, when they talk. And Korean kids are CONSTANTLY studying. They fill their days with school and tons of extra lessons and studying and then they go to school 2 Saturdays a month!

Apartment: I am living in Ilsan. I like the city- there is so much here. There are many tall buildings covered with advertisements for the places within. Most of them are in Korean but sometimes an English word sticks out and it makes it easy to find things. There is also a lot of neon. The pictures at the beginning are of the view from my window. I will try to take lots more. I tried to put them below but it didn't work. My big shocker was that my shower head sticks out of my wall. No shower stall. My bathroom is the shower. I just could not believe it! Now I have become used to it. The only thing is that, since my bathroom floor is my shower floor too, the part near the drain never seems to get dry. Sometimes in the morning, I have to wear my shoes to brush my teeth. You'll find a picture of my shower head and my washing machine above as well. I like that there are places to eat in my building so that when its winter and very cold, I can get food without being exposed to the elements. In my building there is a place called Mr. Pizza. Here begins my fascination. Everything about Mr. Pizza is fantastic. Slogan: Love For Women. That's right. Mr. Pizza: Love For Women. I can't say one without the other. Mr. Pizza: Love For Women. The toppings selections are wild. The commercials are awesome.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c9sUnElxKuQ&NR=1

and

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jcsKInW305g

Food: I have been able to try quite a few things. Sometimes I order the wrong thing, though, and one time I took out my food "cheat sheet" of things I like so far and, in trying to order 1 of them, I ended up with several. I am getting used to the spicy. There are some things I really love. One is from the street vendors. I forget what its called, but its sort of bread like with bean paste inside and its in the shape of a fish. YUM! There is also Tuk Boki or I am not sure on the spelling. One of my students told me 2 Ts (TTuk) but I have seen it a few different ways. Even Duk. But it is good. Duk/tuk/ttuk whatever is this delicious rice dough stuff. Its hard to describe. I have seen it described as rice cake which to me is like crunchy rice cakes which this is not. Anyway, great stuff. Then there is gimbap or kimbap or kimbab or gimbab. Convenient and tasty. Seaweed, rice, (vegetables, egg, fish, meat) all wrapped up and sliced for easy transport and eating.

One last 1st impressions because I am tired:

There are lots of dogs in clothes here.

Heather moves to Korea

My trip went very smoothly. No long lines, no hassles. I had packed 2 large suitcases, trying not to pack too heavily and exceed the 50 lb each weight limit. I didn't. The bags were around 35 and 37 pounds each, which caused me to spend what hours I was awake dwelling on the 20 lbs more of clothes and shoes I could have jammed in there. I also had a carry on bag and my laptop bag jammed with stuff but leaving for at least a year? I don't think its easy without a uhaul involved. Because my flight was ultimately international, I arrived at the airport about 3 hours early. I had about 2 1/2 hours to spare. At least the Hartford airport had WIFI. Hartford to D.C. I missed the pretzels because I was sleeping. I sat in a middle seat. To my left was a lady o imbibing in a morning cocktail. Afterwards, she watched tv without the headphones. She laughed and gesticulated madly. I slept most of the way. The second leg of my flight was from Washington DC to Tokyo. I sat by myself and used 2 pillows and 2 blankets. The plane was enormous as I guess it would have to be in order to carry enough fuel to get us that far. It took about 17 hours. And it was about 7,000 miles. I became obsessed with the map that showed where we were. Especially near the International Date Line. I wanted to watch us cross but for a while we seemed to be flying parallel to the line so I gave up and went to sleep. I was really impressed with Alaska. I saw mountains that were very thickly covered in snow and what I think were glaciers. I would fly over Alaska again in a heartbeat. The food was abundant and actually very good. They served like 4 meals. I kept waking up to more food sitting there. I think I slept a good amount. I also watched parts of Get Smart and that Step Brothers movie with Will Ferrell. I was a little disappointed because the people going in the other direction (Tokyo to Washington) had a better selection of movies. One of the flight attendants was kind of rude but I didn't have to interact with her much and it wasn't just that she was rude to me, she was rude to everyone. I even heard other flight attendants talking about her. My feet and ankles and I think part of my legs got so swollen and stayed that way for days. I took off my shoes for most of the flight and they barely fit when I put them back on. Last flight was Tokyo to Seoul. Again I sat alone and used both blankets and pillows. During take off, we had to wait in line and it probably took like 45 minutes to get off the ground. I had headphones on and I was sort of dozing. Well, they kept playing this one song. When the plane would move it would start to play and then when the plane would stop it wouldn't stop. Then when it moved again the song would start over. It's not a horrible song but I definitely had my fill of it for a while. I was going to try not to sleep so that I would be good and tired to sleep through the night and make it easier to get on my new schedule. I did sleep though. A lot. I think I am doing pretty well though in adjusting to the time change. When I got off the last plane, I sailed through immigration and customs, and my bags were just coming out when I reached the turnstile. There was only a small line to exchange money and then the person who was picking me up recognized me right away. Besides a little turbulence on the descent to and ascent from Tokyo, and a moment in during the first flight where it sounded like there was something not working right with the landing gear, everything went so smoothly, its hard to believe. I expect my return flight may end up like that show lost, just to even it out.