Heather In Korea

Taipei- Don't Go There Right After Hong Kong

2009-09-27T18:33:00.007+09:00

I think I did Taipei incorrectly. I didn't like it that much. I saw a protester. I saw lots of dogs. I got some nice cardigans and and enjoyed a great night market. It was fun. But it was no Hong Kong.

*** The style with the kids in Taipei was long fake eyelashes and glasses without frames so that the eyelashes would come through the glasses. I wish I got some pictures. It was strange-ee.

Love Letter to Hong Kong

2009-08-04T16:52:00.011+09:00

sidenote: If any of my many, many readers know any bankers in Hong Kong that want to marry me, bring me there, and give me money for dresses, please let me know.

The last week in July was our summer vacation. I ad an exciting, jammed packed week. My first day of vacation, I went to a Botero exhibit, here in Korea, which was excellent. For what I've seen in Korea, it was pretty extensive and impressive. I loved it. Then, I went to HONG KONG!!! I only spent a few days there but my impressions came quickly. I LOVE HONG KONG! As soon as sunset on my first night there, I was wishing that I were moving there rather than visiting.

Hong Kong by day is a wonderful enough place. If I thought I were going to any sort of heaven, I would assume it would be similar to the H&M in Central Hong Kong (thats right, I had to specify because they have MORE THAN 1 H&M!!!). The abundance of western foods and items (and fashions!) and the use of the English language were exciting, particularly coming from Korea, where they mostly seem to have embraced the western stuff I dont care about or like (WHY would you put sugar on garlic bread?!?!?). I felt a little overwhelmed and didnt end up buying that much. My goal of 7 dresses was not met but that just means that I have to go back. Soon. Most of my days were spent roaming the Central and Wan Chai areas, popping into shops and looking at everything. I heard British accents from Chinese people. I enjoyed the old street markets as well as the modern, contained markets and department stores. I used red phone booths. I rode in red taxicabs. I took (red) pictures.

One day, though, I went to the island of Lamma and it is why I think Hong Kong is perfect. Hong Kong is a city. There is public transportation, there are lots of people, places to go and things to do. It is busy and active and lights. But a short ferry ride brings you to Lamma, a lush, green, beautiful island with huts and hiking and beaches and banana trees. This is what they mean by the best of both worlds. Not far from that wonderful city was this wonderful island. My day on Lamma was perfect (despite the "Family Trail" which was actually a mountain that Lonely Planet tricked me into climbing- I probably would have done it anyway but Lonely Planet is the liar).

Night is Hong Kong is amazing. All of the buildings light up. And its not just lights so you can see them. They are A LIGHT SHOW. I also went on the Victoria Peak Tram one night and got a great night view of the city. Hong Kong is FANTASTIC!!!

Okay... I have about a billion photos I want to share so I started uploading them but I think I am going to try to make a slideshow or something and I will edit this post and add it in later.

Poor Toby

2009-07-24T09:13:00.003+09:00

This is Toby. He is a very emotional and highly excitable boy in his last year of Kindergarten. Toby plays air guitar, needs to be first at everything, and only really wants to use the blue crayons. He has an unhealthy obsession with puzzles and is known for his very own special brand of "Toby" fits and tantrums. He sometimes yells "Who likes Toby?" and raises his hand. Then when none of the other children raise their hands, he cries and wants to know "Why no one like Toby?" Clearly, he will already be needing lots of therapy if he ever wants to be a productive member of society. Toby does not need any new obstacles to be sent his way. So, the question is- WHY WOULD YOU PERM THIS CHILD?!?!?!?!?

I am of the opinion that perms don't look good on anyone. ESPECIALLY MEN (or boys as it were). To borrow some phrasing from my friend Adam (with whom I share an apparent shoe shopping bond)- I'm against them. I am really against them. I've never seen a perm I liked. Perms are bad. Mee Teacher said that maybe I just don't like that style. That is true. I don't like that style because it is ugly and looks bad.

So, to recap: A perm is a bad idea. A perm on Toby is Tragic.

Dr. Fish!

2009-07-20T09:34:00.003+09:00

Have you ever wanted to stick your feet into a tub of water containing a bunch of fish that wanted to bite at them? I have!

Sometimes you've been wanting to do something for a long time but then your best friend said he wants to do it with you and then could never seem to find the time. Then you get tired of waiting and you decide to go with your other good friend, Kate, and your other friend Stacy. Except then the place where you wanted to do it has closed down. So then you try one somewhere else but that one is closed too. So then you are angry because you waited so long and its closed. But then there is another one and you go the next weekend with your good friend Kate and its fun. But it probably would have been more fun to go to the original one because that one didn't have a time limit and this one does.

Happy Birthday, USA! From, Korea

2009-07-06T23:46:00.006+09:00

Haunted House at the Wolmido Boardwalk- It was scary!

I spent the 4th of July- one of my favorite holidays- in Incheon. Conclusion: Walking around with a beer in your hand, lighting off fireworks wherever you want is exactly the freedom our forefathers were fighting for. Some people ate hot dogs. Some people hit baseballs. It was all very American. We also went to the boardwalk. I rode the Viking twice. It was scary and fun. I won a bear key chain for throwing darts at balloons (all my dart throwing practice has really paid off). Some of the pictures are cool. I think they look like war zone photos.

Best Friends Style

The Triumph & Tragedy of Being on my Own... In Korea

2009-07-01T12:01:00.004+09:00

(to paraphrase Loyal Frisby)

Tragedy:
A couple weeks ago, I lost my phone. Normally I like Korea. I like my life here and I have fun. But every once in a while tragedy strikes. Losing my phone was devastating.

If you know me at all, you are probably familiar with my itty bitty mood swings and tendency to react extremely and emotionally. I reacted as such when my phone disappeared. I lived without a phone for 5 days, during which I felt out of touch and depressed. Not only did I have no way of communicating with anyone, but I had lost all of my phone numbers, pictures, Zoozooclub high scores, notes I had made for myself about all sorts of things, my T-money (bus fare) phone charm, and my sense of security. I had my Korean friend call my phone repeatedly, hoping that some kind Korean taxi driver would answer it and agree to meet me and return it. Nobody answered.

It all worked out in the end. My friend Tracy (who I love) 's boyfriend (who I also love) gave me his old phone. I didn't have to buy a new phone. I didn't even have to pay any sort of reactivation fee or anything. The only thing I had to do was buy a 2,000 won adapter for my charger and a new T-money charm. But I learned a lesson. Korea feels safer than America and I'm sure it IS safer than America but caution never hurt anyone. So, I'm back to locking my door most of the time.

On the other hand...

Triumph:
I got an air conditioner! I'm going to sleep so well! And since my apartment no longer feels like a sauna, I can start doing my hair again. asaaa!

Heather and Elizabeth Go to Jeju

2009-05-31T23:38:00.009+09:00

For our Children's Day long weekend, Elizabeth and I went to Jeju Island. It was FANTASTIC. We stayed at Lotte Hotel. It was beautiful and special and I would recommend it to anyone. We ate huge western style breakfasts every day. Every night they had this show with water and music where a dog monster comes out of a cave and the good dragon saves us all. We could watch it from our balcony. We went to the beach and I got a spectacular sunburn. We saw tons of those fantastic guardian statues with the hands on their bellies and we went to several parks. We also drank orange juice out of a hollow orange peel (Mt Halla...). We mostly didn't want to leave our hotel though, because it was so beautiful and amazing. Here are some of the 500 photos I took there.

I LOVED these things:

The view from "Our Table" where we ate most of our meals. I don't think we at inside one time the whole trip.
View from our room.
View from our balcony.
Hotel at night.

Hotel grounds, lobby. Beach.

Go (Doosan) Bears!!!

2009-05-18T02:11:00.004+09:00

On Easter, I went to my first ever Baseball game. I used to say, "Baseball is boring. I don't like Baseball." And then people would say back, "You need to see it live and then you will like it." And then I would say, "No I don't think that's true."

But I was wrong. It was the Doosan Bears vs. the LG Twins (in Korea they don't pretend that its a town that owns the sports team, they are all called by the names of the corporations that own them). We sat in the Doosan Bears section and someone gave me some Doosan inflatable bats to bang together and instantly, I was a Doosan Bears fan. It was pretty exciting because Koreans LOVE baseball. They cheered the ENTIRE time. There were cheerleaders and confetti cannons and lots of signage and a wave that seemed to go on forever. At first the Doosan Bears were playing really poorly and I cheered thinking that they had no shot at winning. However, my spirit must have been just what the Bears needed for they came back at the end and ended up winning. Go Bears!

Lotus Lantern Festival

2009-05-12T00:02:00.004+09:00

The Lotus Lantern Festival took place the weekend before Buddha's Birthday. I didn't see much of the festival, really, but I wasn't really there for the festival. I was there for the MASSIVE LANTERN PARADE!!! Some people aren't impressed by things deemed "MASSIVE." Perhaps its because such people grew up in places where everything is really big. But to me, the term MASSIVE is not to be used lightly. And I assure you, it wasn't. But, let's start at the beginning.

I journeyed towards the Lantern Festival on my own, ill-prepared. I had expected it to be like the Cherry Blossom Festival, where you could just follow the stream of people from the subway to the festival. My friend Sophie had to rescue me- I was at the wrong subway stop. But I made it. Upon arrival, I was gifted with a lotus lantern. It was very open and beautiful and pink. I love gifts. Even if there are a lot of other people getting them too, and even if they cause an inconvenience in that I have to lug them around all day, gifts are fantastic.

Once I met up with Sophie and her friends, we started walking away from the lanterns and towards... PINEAPPLE ON A STICK!!! It's one of my favorite things that I had no idea existed. Pineapple on a stick is better than just plain pineapple because its just as delicious as regular pineapple but the stick makes it more fun to eat and probably easier to eat as well.

After pineapple on a stick and some tea, I met up with my BFF Zach (perhaps you should check out our BFFBlog: http://www.bffbinkorea.blogspot.com/) and new coworker Kaleen (Flagler College Whoop! Whoop!). We went back to the lantern station and tried to make our own lanterns.

Kaleen and I did okay, but Zach's was SPECTACULAR. His lantern was so amazing that the lady who was helping us gave him her own lantern. She said she just couldn't bear to look at her mediocre lantern anymore, knowing that such an incredible one existed (or something like that. It's hard to tell- English was her 2nd language.). It was really sad for her.

(Zach, Me, Kaleen Showing off our lanterns for some Korean guys in the park. I won't say who made what.)

(Zach as a lantern handed creature.)

Soon after, we met up with more friends and the parade began. I know that whatever I say about this parade will not even begin to describe how massive and amazing it was. I think it took about an hour and 15 minutes to pass. Maybe a little more. Its been a few weeks now (I should have blogged right when I got home, then you would have been able to feel my excitement). There were probably thousands of people in this parade, walking by with lanterns (although I am not usually good with estimates, this feels right). There were tons of huge beautiful lantern floats shaped like elephants, or dragons, or Buddha, or peacocks. Some floats had moving parts or breathed fire! It was exciting and beautiful. I don't have many photos because my camera died but I found these videos on youtube that I implore you to watch. They are not that long and extremely impressive.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x5WvF2LluXM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SKK4Wh4M8Xo&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vu5xDln858c&NR=1

Best Friend Blog

2009-05-10T09:07:00.002+09:00

I wanted to let my friends know that I am also working on a Best Friend Blog with my BFF Zach. It's a very important, very interesting blog that focuses on us being Best Friends Forever, in Korea. So, please check it out. http://www.bffbinkorea.blogspot.com/

Cherry Blossom Festival!!!

2009-05-08T02:32:00.007+09:00

So, lately I haven't been a very good blogger. However, I have made a mid-year resolution to get back on the ball. The weather warmed, the flowers bloomed and I somehow became an outdoor kid. In April, there was a Cherry Blossom Festival. It took 2 attempts on 2 consecutive weekends but I got there. It was very beautiful. There wasn't much as far as the festival: I did have some cotton candy and there was a police parade. (police mascot) There were also some dancers and a guy juggling fire maybe but when we got up there, he had just stopped with the fire and was juggling knives instead. Boring. The cherry blossoms were lovely. We also saw this lady with super crazy hair. It was sort of a mullet but the back was cut into 2 really long layers. Like maybe 1 layer ended at her shoulder blades and the other one ended at her ass (there were no layers in between). The hair was black. EXCEPT probably about the last 3 inches of each layer. And the bottom of the "bangs." They were red. And it wasn't like a natural red. No. It was bright manic panic red. It was fantastic. Kate and I took some glamour shots like all of the Koreans were except that being as not-tall as we are, we couldn't reach any flowers to pick. (Heather) (Kate) And, for those who don't know, when you are at the Cherry Blossom Festival, you MUST take photos with flowers either in your hair or in your hands, near your face. Or both. And it turns out that in Korea, it is okay to ask somebody else's boyfriend for flowers. So, MISSION ACCOMPLISHED.

(Kate and Heather Glamour Shots)

Lotte World - a wicked good time.

2009-03-23T22:34:00.008+09:00

So I (FINALLY) went to Lotte World and it was Fantastic. Lotte World is the largest indoor amusement park in the world, I think. Part of the park was outdoor though and both parts were equally fun. And the people working there waved at you with both hands. This is something I am trying to implement. It's hard to do all of the time because my hands are usually full but I sure am trying. I definitely want to go back.

Most of my photos were taken indoors, from a balloon ride that brought you around the indoor part. SO fun. Indoors there was all sorts of weird entertainment. I didn't get any photos of the entertainers but at one point, the stage was shared by Peter Pan characters and Wizard of Oz characters. Here is a video I took of some animatron monkeys playing instruments. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JpU9I8SFcuc&feature=channel

It was Masquerade Festival so all of the people working there were wearing feathers in their hair and there was a fantastic parade. There was a song that went "mask festival, mask festival, mask festival - YEAH!" Or something like that. Below is a photo of the parade. Here is a video I took of the parade. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MrQypE4lA18

The outdoor part was called Magic Island. I didn't really take many photos outside but here are a few. Seriously, what a fun place.

Watch your head! Okay!

2009-03-15T23:19:00.008+09:00

Dore and Heather's day of fun! Last weekend, Dore and I went on an Adventure Korea trip. We had to leave REALLY EARLY and it was all outdoor stuff but I had a good time. We started off on a ferry. Then we had a ferry transfer to another ferry. On the 2nd ferry the scenery got exponentially more beautiful. And we saw a very famous mountain.

Then we went to the Gosu caves. We saw no bats but it was cool anyway. This was my first caving experience and it seemed really huge. According to Dore, some of the cave was alive and some was dead.

After the caves we went to this place with 3 rocks in a formation that tells this story. I guess there was this couple who couldn't have a child so they got a mistress to have one for them and things got bad and now they are angry rocks. Something like that.

At the same place there was this "hike" we went on. Mostly it was climbing stairs. First we climbed up to the gazebo in the first picture. Then we kept going to this wooded area where there was this giant stone arch- 2nd picture. We were able to walk across the arch. It was so high but the view was beautiful- 3rd picture. It was pretty awesome. And exhausting.

Sarah's Last Day

2009-02-24T02:05:00.005+09:00

Today was Sarah's last day. She is (was) one of my kindergarteners. We took some pictures.

This is Sarah.

Toby, Alex, Me, Anica, Sarah

Anica, Sarah, Toby, Julie, Lina, Alex

Anica, Sarah, Me, Julie, Alex

Anica, Sarah, Me, Toby, Lina, Alex

This is Anica, Toby, Lina, and Alex giving Sarah a Goodbye Hug. Julie did not participate. She was too busy telling me that she would miss Sarah, but she would not miss Heatherteacher.

Then Toby started crying.

Olympic Park, "Fortress," and Pit Huts

2009-02-23T01:04:00.007+09:00

A few weeks ago, while my computer was down, we had a Saturday meeting for school. This meeting was FAR AWAY and so some of the other teachers and I decided to explore that area while we were down there. We started off in Olympic Park. It was pretty neat and there was a flame and lots of people roller blading. Right by, there is a building that looks like a glass cathedral.

Next we tracked down the "fortress."

Apparently fortress translates to big field in Korean. But thats okay. It was still beautiful.

Next we went to the Amsadong Prehistoric Settlement sites. There were pit huts and old ceramics. It was interesting. There were tons of manequins everywhere and you could make a print of a secret agent badge.

And who doesn't love a place where you can stick your face through a cardboard hole and take a really great picture?

Koreans Love Obama

2009-02-20T02:29:00.004+09:00

... but then who doesn't? Obama's Story: The Boy with the Biggest Dreams

Building 63 Aquarium!

2009-02-19T22:35:00.005+09:00

Dore and I went to the aquarium, "Seaworld" at Building 63. We saw lots of amazing stuff and they had this Dr. Fish set up where you could put your finger tips in and the fish would eat the dead skin off of your hand! I couldn't get enough. We also saw a diver with a tutu and a tiara on. And an itchy otter. And lots of great fish that weren't going to end up as dinner, which was the point of going for me. It was nice.

Dore and Dore.

Otters Jellyfish

Piranha? Eels.

Lobster Princess Diver

Feed the Penguins Rays

Monitor Pregnant Seahorse Dad

Shark!!! Dr. Fish

Help! Pretty

This was the one of the last things I saw at the aquarium. I thought it was a beautiful octopus.

English Concert

2009-02-19T20:33:00.006+09:00

Sorry it's been so long - COMPUTER PROBLEMS!!! But I am back and we recently had our English Concert. I tried to upload a video of my students but it was too large so I put it on youtube. This should be a link. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bwo5Wl5Zjpo

Here are some photos:

Anica, Julie, Toby, Sarah, Lina, Lucy, Alex

Alex

Lucy Lina

Sarah Julie

Toby Anica

Dancing Queens

2009-01-22T09:36:00.000+09:00

Our school has an English concert every year for the kindergarteners. My class is performing Dancing Queen by Abba. They sing and dance and will wear fantastic costumes. The concert is in February but we have been rehearsing. Here is a video of one of our rehearsals. Most people on facebook have already seen this but I wanted to share it with those who are not. Enjoy!

Vacation Week 3

2009-01-07T17:27:00.000+09:00

To the left is Jimjilbang. The red symbol that looks like a hot bowl of soup means jimjilbang.

As promised, I am here to talk about Jimjilbang. Jimjilbang is amazing. Jimjilbang is why it is great to be a Korean. I think that Jimjilbang translates to sauna room or something like that. Bang is room. Jimjil must mean awesome.

A few weeks ago, some of my friends went to Jimjilbang together but I declined to go because I just wasn't ready for public nudity. I decided that the first time I should go by myself. It might have helped to have a Korean with me but I am glad that I got to experience it on my own. Being naked with strangers is a lot easier than being naked with people you know and work with, right?

The jimjilbang I selected was right down the street from me. When you arrive, you pay 6,ooo won and they give you shorts, a shirt, and 2 hand towels. It's open 24 hours and there is a sleeping area so I suppose you could just stay there forever if someone brought you food (actually they might have had some food and drinks there but if you are living at the jimjilbang, you probably can't afford to be buying all of your food like that.) They give you a locker for your shoes and a second locker for your clothes. Once you disrobe you, you go into the bath area. Every jimjilbang is different but this one was great. There was a steam room which I sat in for a long time, a "kiln" that I couldn't stand for very long and a 3rd door which I didn't see until I had decided to leave and taken my final shower so "I'll have to get back to ya" on that. Then there were the baths. The had them labeled by temperature (Celsius). The biggest one was hot and wonderful. There were jets and waterfalls of water that you could put your back to. There was also a cold one and a warm one. A lot of the children were in the warm one and they were splashing. Now I normally don't like public pools and this would seem like its even worse- a public bath!- but I just loved it. It was so relaxing and there was a shower area where you could see everyone cleaning themselves before getting in the bath, which was reassuring.

Then there was an area where they would scrub you or give you facials. I got a full body scrub which kind of hurt intensely but I feel like I would do it again. The best thing was afterwards when they rinsed you with hot water. It really felt good to have all of that new skin. New year, new skin. So I spent a few amazing hours at jimjilbang on New Years Day and I am looking forward to going back. It was really amazing. The rest of my vacation was good and fun as well.

A Poem by Rooney

2009-01-05T16:53:00.001+09:00

First of all, let me point out my new classy blog layout. This is, in part, thanks to Dore because she told me that I could actually change my layout without being a computer genius web designer and she also told me about the website where I found such a cute layout: http://www.thecutestblogontheblock.com/

OK So I know I said I was going to do a 3rd installment of my Vacation Week blog and I will still do that soon but I just wanted to post this real quick.

Because I teach at a hagwon, which is like supplementary school that the parents sign the kids up for and pay for, we tend to lose and gain students all of the time. When I got back to school today, I realized that one of my favorites was gone. This kid was not a great student and sometimes he was a pain but he was funny. He was in this class of 5 boys that are probably in their early teens. This class is sometimes hilarious, often frustrating, and never goes as planned. A recent unit in our book was on poetry (Why are we teaching poetry to a bunch of teenage boys who are still trying to learn English?). They were being difficult around that time so I extended the unit by making them write more poems, stand up and read their poems out loud in front of the class (my own form of torture) and, finally, rewriting their poems with my corrections and illustrating them. I threatened to hang them all up in the hallway, but in the end, I only hung one up above my desk. The following poem "The Bear is Terrible" is by Rooney. The illustrations are wonderful and I really hope you can see them clearly in the photo.

The bear is terrible

The bear is scary

The bear sees people and thinks they are cute

The people die

Vacation Week 2

2009-01-03T02:27:00.001+09:00

This week I also went to the DMZ and the war memorial in one day. When I type it, I know it sounds like a pretty heavy day but I had fun (and on the way home I bought shoes in the subway for 10,000 won!). To go to the DMZ, I had to get up REALLY early. For anyone, it would have been early but for me it was not much later than when I normally drift asleep. Side note- That morning I went to the ATM for some extra cash, thought I was getting 30,000 won but ended up with 300,000 won! oops. Anyway, I went to the DMZ with a small group of friends, and friends of friends. On the tour bus, the tour guide told us some interesting stories about Koreans. Sometimes I couldn't hear her but one was about how Korean women never let their boyfriends see them without makeup until they are married and that's why there are honeymoon divorces in Korea. Funny right? She also told us about her friend that had the surgery on her eyes that Koreans sometimes get during school vacation in high school but that it was messed up and she looked weird for years while she saved money to get it fixed. Then eventually she got married to a man who had big eyes but then they had a baby and the baby had her eyes! So right after the baby was born, the lady started saving money for his surgery. She also talked a little bit about Kim Jong Il but I couldn't really hear her at all. So anyway, we made a few stops at the DMZ. The first was to the Freedom Bridge and the Peace Bell. It was strange because in the parking lot, there was an amusement park. From the bridge, you could see a train coming from North Korea. There was also what looked like an empty swimming pool. Most of what you could see of North Korea was wilderness.

These were guarding the Freedom Bridge:

The end of the Freedom Bridge was covered in notes from people who were in South Korea to their family members in North Korea. I guess when the border was drawn there were families divided.

And here is the Peace Bell:

There were numbers involved in the design that were all symbolic but I don't remember what they were now. I'm sure anyone who is interested can google it, OR they can visit me in Korea and we can take the DMZ tour together. See? It's a fun place!

I believe our second stop was the tunnel. Tunnel #3. Before we got off the bus, the tour guide told us to make sure we stayed with her so we didn't step on any landmines. These were the most terrifying instructions I had ever heard. We were forbidden from taking photos down there so I have to rely on my memory. Before we went in the tunnel, we were brought into the tunnel museum. We watched a movie that told us what a great, fertile place the DMZ was and how it was a place where animals thrived. It didn't specify what animals were living there among the landmines but I thought it was little humorous.

Then we were told to store our bags and coats in lockers and make sure we put on a hard hat. It had to be a yellow hard hat because the blue ones were for people who were taking some sort of monorail down instead of walking. The tour guide told us that the tunnel had been created by North Korea. It was 1 of maybe 4 that had been found. She said that the North Koreans had initially painted the inside of the tunnel with coal paint and said it was a coal mine. Then they said they didn't build it and that it must have been built by the South Koreans but I guess they could tell from the dynamite marks and water levels that it had been built in a southward direction. So I guess the South Koreans were like we don't believe you but whatever and started doing tours. And once they starting making money, the North Koreans asked for commission because, after all, they had built the tunnel. So we went in and immediately I got confused and separated from my group. I didn't understand that you were just supposed to take a locker and go, and I had a small panic attack where I envisioned myself trying to navigate home between landmines. Finally I located 2 members of my group, got the instructions, begged them to wait for me, stowed my stuff and grabbed my hard hat (and boy do I wish there was a picture of me in a bright yellow hard hat!). The tunnel was SO steep. There were seats installed at intervals along the sides so that people could take breaks on the way back up (but I was too tough for that!). There were also periodic drips of spring water coming from the roof. At the end was the first barrier. Apparently there are 3 but the first was as far as we could go. You could look through a window and see through to the second and third barriers though. That was cool. It was very eerie and I do wish that I had some pictures. After the steep climb back up, we got back on the bus and went to the third stop. This was an observatory on top of a mountain. It was windy and freezing! It had some of those viewfinder things you put money into and for 500 won, you could see North Korea and actually see cars driving there and people in towers. You could only take pictures from behind the yellow line and I couldn't do that because there were too many people blocking my view. There was also a building and a guy was showing us something and saying something but I really couldn't tell what because I couldn't see over the people in front of me. So I have no pictures of this stop. The last stop was what I believe is or, possibly, was a railway station. You could get North Korean passport stamps there but the tour guide urged us several times not to put them in our passport. I put mine in my Korean pocket dictionary.

After this last stop we went to lunch and then the War Memorial Museum. There was a lot of interesting stuff there. Lots of little videos and mannequins in fatigues with red paint smeared on them. And a great diorama about a guy who killed his family because his wife asked him to *just in case* they didn't win the war and he didn't survive battle. He didn't survive after maybe 5 battles but talk about jumping the gun! There is more to my week off but I am tired now so I will be back with Vacation Week 3. Next installment? Probably jimjilbang! One of my new favorite places.

Vacation Week 1

2009-01-03T00:08:00.000+09:00

I had this week off from work. Most of the time I just roamed around here, slept in, did shopping and some exploring but there were a few things I did that were pretty interesting. First I went to Myeong Dong my friend Aska. That was the best place ever. Myeong Dong is My(eong) Favorite! There was lots of shopping, beautiful lights, and street vendors. I can't think of anything I enjoy more than street vendors. Buying something in a store is better than alright but there is just something so much more exciting about buying something from the side of the road. I would have been a sucker for those traveling salesmen from the olden days who came through with those wooden carts. Sometimes when I am buying something from a street vendor, I think about the Teddy Ruxpin movie my brother had where somebody bought some sort of hair growth stuff from a traveling salesman and it just made plants grow on his head. I bought some shoes and tights from street vendors and the street snacks were delicious! We also watched these guys make this treat where they start off with a hard block of honey, poke holes in it, and stretch it into thousands of fine hair-like strips with corn flour. Then they cut it up and wrap it around chopped nuts and things. It was a very good show and actually a very tasty treat. The guys were very charming and there were Japanese, Americans, and Koreans watching so they chanted everything in all 3 languages. And quite honestly, if I hadn't watched them being made and enjoyed myself so much, I probably wouldn't have put anything in my mouth that looked that hairy but I am glad I tried them. Delicious. Aska says they are even better out of the freezer. I wish I had captured their performance on camera (don't worry - my New's Years Resolution is to take more and better photos!) but I found someone else did on youtube. I think its different guys and they are only chanting in English but its the same place and the process is still impressive! http://kr.youtube.com/watch?v=mSWrIXm_d-c

Aska and Heather with the card guard guy from Alice In Wonderland Dressed up for Christmas? Lotte Department Store, Meyong Dong

We bought some things. Aska is exploring purple. And I got the shoes I have been coveting for probably a year now. We were happy with our purchases.

Now it wasn't even the shopping that I loved about Myeong Dong. It was the atmosphere. And I wish I could describe it and I have tried in the huge paragraph that precedes this but I don't know that I have succeeded. Myeong Dong is AWESOME.

I have decided to stop here and make a second part to this blog because I am not sure of what will happen if the file is too big and I have quite a few pictures to post for the next part.

Bloggyback

2008-12-19T04:31:00.000+09:00

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

2008-12-14T23:50:00.000+09:00

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

2008-12-07T13:49:00.001+09:00

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

2008-12-03T22:58:00.000+09:00

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

2008-11-27T00:07:00.000+09:00

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

2008-11-23T21:43:00.000+09:00

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

2008-11-15T03:39:00.000+09:00

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.